#oof this wasn't meant to be this long but oh well

[omnipointmuses]

"Fluer de Lis? I'm afraid I haven't seen her now if you'll excuse me..." Mayor Mare lead off as she slowly, but firmly closed the door on a pair of royal guards just as a belch bellowed it's way up her throat and out of her maw, dragging a pair of expensive panties and jewelry through the aged mare's bloated gut with it causing them to land on her carpet with a soft thump while the earth pony took a deep breath to collect herself before collecting the discarded items.

"Phew~ that was much too close..." She sighed out as she made her way back to her private study casually tossing the earrings into one of her desk drawers and was about to do the same to the pair of sodden panties before a perverse idea came over her. With a shaky hand and shy smile she reached under her business skirt before pulling down her own panties, pearly white and unassuming it looked practically conservative compared to the thin dark-purple fabric she was stepping into. With a few tugs the thong stretched itself over Mayor's wide hips and wedged itself deep into the crack of her ass before she waltzed over to her full-body mirror and showed herself off before giving a soft chuckle at the sight of the expensive, almost gaudy underwear stretched to it's near limits, sinking into her cellulite dotted ass, with a bloated, gurgling gut hanging over it's waistband, she could practically see the look of horror on Fleur's face at the knowledge that not only was one of her more private clothing was not only being worn by someone else, but also being destroyed by this very act. With a satisfied sigh she gave her stomach a firm pat causing it's contents to slosh softly within before she stepped back into her business skirt enjoying the fact she was wearing her catch in more ways than one.

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

GOD chapter 59 was SO GOOD n i have a lot to say so sending an ask instead of leaving it on the post.

i /love/ when you make things hyper detailed, because your shading techniques are so much fun to sit n stare at and soak in for a while. that being said, the coloring of the wine spilling is what does it for me this time. it still would have been really cool in bw, but not as cool as seeing all the shades of red over the dark blue bg. you did the glass really well too!! I don't think there's a noticeable difference between the wine color inside and outside the glass which is fine bc it's clear, so it RLY makes me appreciate the lighting you have around the glass rim to show the edge in contrast. that tiny little detail makes the image for me. stellar work. i love it

also i do wanna throw in appreciation for the handwritten serif. super well done at first glance it did look like you'd jus typed it out. idk what texture you have on the brush you use for words but it's rly nice to look at up close.

i think the color kinda tipped me off but i waffled bc i couldn't remember if either of his parents spoke in serif font and was a bit daunted to dig thru 50+ chapters to confirm who it was if it didn't turn out to be them. i'm glad i looked at your tags tho haha saved me the trouble. what a way to end the act too!! i read this one on my phone and was scrolling thru the images at full size and after four or so i kept expecting it to cut off. it was a very pleasant surprise to have it keep going, worth the wait to have a longer chapter :)

maybe it jus wasn't meant to be a la sabo getting the letter from sally. it might have to be stelly after all tho there are things that come before then. what a bad time to have one or both of his parents speak to him for the first time that night. oof can't wait for the next act lets goooo

Oh wowww what a beautifully long review!

Thanks so much im glad you like how it turned out, i’m really happy with it, too! Ive never drawn fluids like this before, but i really needed this page to have that extra kick because it was such a short one.

Because i couldnt figure out how to make this moment look slow mo with multiple different panels on one page, I really wanted to make a piece that is like,, frozen in time instead.

A page like this, you can keep on it as long as you’d like. You can make it as slow mo as you want it to be.

The serif lettering is that of outlook’s!

I dont know if you can see the difference between this and my usual handwriting, but it’s supposed to look taller. Higher up. Neater. Cleaner. (Still my handwriting though so like so actually neat or clean, but you know like,,, in comparison to the norm.)

His dad only talks in one scene, and his mother has never said anything yet, so i dont blame you if you couldnt find it. In my. Large repertoire of chapters ive accumulated.

I definitely felt the same about the pages when drawing them. But probably the opposite feeling lol. Mine was more like “ugh i forgot theres so many. How many more of these do I have to get through??? How did i do this the first act ending with 11 pages???”

Im so glad you guys are on the edge of your seats with the letter :)

Thanks for the ask!

[cookiepie111]

Flowers For My Valentine

A/n: where the boys give both traditional and untraditional bouquets/flowers. Sorry, Killer. I couldn't think of anything for him😭 not proofread. Let me know which one is your favourite!

Features sanji, Law, Zoro, Corazon, luffy and Kid x (black) fem reader

Sanji-

A giant bouquet!! A basket bouquet that's spilling with all kinds of flowers roses, peonies, camellias!! like a scene from a movie he's running towards you with flowers all round. Of course that's only one of the many bouquets you'll get this valentines week

Late in the evening, Sanji is in the kitchen, gently rolling modelling chocolate out, shaping the thin disks of chocolate into Petels. Eyes focus on wrapping each one around the chocolate dipped strawberries. When each strawberry is wrapped, he pulls them together and wraps them. He's excited and nervous to give these to you. A show of his love, a product of his own hands just for you, he put his everything into this gift. He couldn't think a better gift to you.

Law-

Working at the hospital means long hours, he knew he'd be late but he thought he was prepared. Making a stop at the florist in the morning to buy your bouquet, so he could make it to you quickly after work at 9.

But plans never go right, now it's 9:48, and he's just done with work. Flowers in hand and running down the street. Shit, he's always making you wait. This is the one time he should be there. It's fine he still has your gift... and you're in sight! "Y/n-ya!" You're so happy to see him!

"Law, its okay you didn't have to rush I know you're busy with work" what did he do to deserve someone do understanding.

"Here happy valentines Day" bringing the bouquet up to you,what he wasn't expecting with the confused look on your face

"umm law? What happened?" "

What do you mean? Gone... The flowers were gone. All that was left in his hands were a few broken stems, most with their flowers buds. 'FUCK!?'

All that running and the bouquet was ruined "y/n-" "Hey, this one is still good!" You said, pulling the tulip out." Law was dishevelled, hair a mess 'she liked it, I guess that's enough' he thought,he let out a sigh of relief looking up, wait when did you get so tall, oh he's floor. All that running, he's had an asthma attack. He can hear you're panicking above him, though he can only make out your blurry outline. Guess he's spending valentines Day in the hospital after all.. well, at least he can look forward to you being his nurse.

Zoro-

What was zoro supposed to give you!? You were a florist for goodness sake!? No supermarket flowers would be good for you. Would you even want flowers? You spend all day with them,would he even be able to get the right kind? These thoughts consumed him for almost a week. Shit should he even bother....

In the early hours of the morning, you're setting up the shop when the door chime rings, "we're not open yet - Zoro!"

Any other day he'd happy to see your bright smile but today it made him falter, his eyes looking everywhere but you. He didn't want to see your smile drop when you saw his gift.

"I'm so glad to se- oof." Zoro's hands quickly moved in front of you.

"Here Happy valentines day" it took a minute to process everything, but here, your boyfriend was blushing nervously all over a valentines Day gift! For Zoro, this felt like too long. He wasn't the sappy type but just wanted to do something for you- 'Oh, you're smiling.' Your face lit up, jumping happily at the man

"A bonzi tree! Zoro I can't believe it thank you!" Planting kisses all of the man. You loved it, a wave of relief washed of zoro, feeling his jaw and shoulders relax

A few months later. " I love you very much, you're going to grow up strong, you're the cutest swordsman ever!" You would say kind words to the tree whenever you had the chance supposedly to help it grow faster. Of course , hose words were meant for Zoro too , but he didn't know if he should be proud or jealous of the tree.

Corazon-

Corazon had planned a valentines date with you at the botanical garden. He couldn't think of a more romantic place!

That memory was far away now. It had been a difficult week, his brother was on his antics again, and Law was stressed,busy with school. When law's stressed, so is he. Now pacing around his room until he tripped. Thinking to himself "... I should just stay here for a bit. " Pulling his body up from the floor, he saw up he a photo."It must have fallen out." A photo, from the botanical garden..... corazon felt all the stress melt away from him as his goofey grin returned on his face. How much joy you brought him. Seeing you like happy, a wide smile across your face surrounded by the greenery, it squeezes on his heart. Yes, the week may have been bad, but at least he had your smiling face to get him through it.

Luffy-

Whenever Luffy saw flowers he liked, he'd shove them into his pockets to give to you later. The issue was that he wouldn't always see you right away.

Sabo found a bunch of wilting flowers when doing the laundry and asked luffy what the flowers were for "oh they're for y/n!" He smiled so brightly ,sabo's heart ached for this brother.

"Well they're wilting I don't think you can give these to her now" luffy pouted, he knew he couldn't give them to you now but seeing those flowers you loved reminded him of you. Sabo spoke up "hey here what we'll do...."

The two brothers sat at a table with glue, paper scraps, and all sorts of felt scattered about. It looked like arts and crafts time

"Hey, but I like this picture of us better!" Luffy shouted "alright just stick it down. " The two spent the afternoon decorating some photos of the couple with dried flowers that luffy had collected that week. Even with his best efforts, Sabo couldn't keep the picture clean. He could see how messy it was getting. "Where did he get the glitter from!?" But luffy couldn't be happier, lifting the picture frame to the high."She's gonna love it!"

Kid-

Kid had made a fuss about valentines a week before. "Don't expect any flowers from me! I don't do all that sappy shit. " But here, Kid was handing you a bouquet of your favourite plushies. "Aww, Kid, this is so sweet! Are you getting soft? " You grinned poking at him.

"Whatever" he said, avoiding your eyes. He was right, though, no flowers, but this was even better. You couldn't wait to put them in your room, wait... "Kid ..did you hot glue these on???? Kid, how am I supposed to take the plushie off!"

Kid didn't think that far, and honestly, he was regretting not watching the youtube video like Killer said ... he thought it couldn't be that hard(his toxic trait is thinking that he can make everything cause since he's good at metal work. He can't) shit he was panicking now. What good would they be ripped up. He moved to grab the bouquet from you. "Wait y-"

"You spent a lot of time on this, didn't you, Kid?" your eyes softened, looking down at the cute packaging of the bouquet. The paper was rumbled and creased from failed folding. You giggled to yourself, 'I'm sure he spent all night working on this.' " Thank you, don't worry, I can sow them back up, thank you"

[elacular-kink]

Poly-techhic 1

So, this is the first (and currently only) entry in a non-fanfic universe for hiccup fiction. It's about four polyamorous women in college who are all dating each other, all complete disasters, and one of whom has a hiccup fetish. This story does have some hiccups in it, but it's mostly dedicated to introducing the four main characters and their dynamics.

TW: Anxiety, Self-deprecation, big autism energy, accidental misgendering, religious trauma

Kinks: Honestly, mainly just hiccups. And not the most hiccups ever. Also Teasing I guess.

"*HIUK!* Oof! Oh fuck, I–*HUK* fuck, that was waaaa–*UCK*–aaaay spicer than I *HUK-UP!* thought it'd be!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Maya, I should have thought of that! Do you need water?"

"Nah, na–*UCK*–ah, I'm good! *HUK-ULP* Oof, I got my soda."

"And also it's not your fault," I managed to force a few words out of my mouth. Across the table from me, my girlfriend Maya was currently gulping down her soda at a truly horrifying speed while her date, Kiran, fretted over her, flapping her hands anxiously. "You tried to warn her it was too hot, but her dumb ass decided to eat it anyway."

"Oh fu–*UCK* fuck you, dude! *HIC-OLP–urp!* Fuck, 'scuse me–*HEEP*. You know that Li–*HIP* Liv's, like, ninety per–*UCK*–percent of my imp–*HUP*–pulse control!" Maya thumped her chest and let out a larger burp, which didn't help her hiccups, because of course it didn't. She knew perfectly well that it wouldn't. "And you're su–*HUP*–pposed to be the oth–*URK* ten percent, Su–*HOOP* Susie! *HIC–bwoorp* So really this is y–*HURP* your fault! *eeuuurrp* fuck, 'scuse me again. *HULP!* Shit, I think I re–*HEEP* really got the hiccups. *HIUP!* Oof!"

"No fucking kidding." I hoped that I could keep my voice as flat and unimpressed as possible. I also hoped that I would spontaneously develop telepathy so that I could yell at Maya from across the table just by glaring at her, but the world sadly continued being free of superpowers for now. Even if it had worked, I doubted it'd make the grin she kept sneaking me any less shit-eating.

Maya Heffernan was a beautiful fucking nightmare of a human being. She was five foot four with a mane of curly red hair that would have gone all the way down to her ass if she straightened it, which she never did. Her skin was more orange-brown freckles than it was its shockingly pale base, and she was built like a tank, her thighs, arms, and trunk all visibly loaded with muscle and fat. Her bright blue eyes looked even bigger than they actually were through the magnification of her glasses, and the rare times she was seen without a smile were only marginally more terrifying than the common times she did wear one.

Right next to her, currently still not getting that this wasn't in any way her fault, was Kiran Mandal, an over six-foot goddess of a trans woman with a soft, fat, feminine body, dark skin, long black hair, and brown eyes that were always desperately, worriedly flickering around. Her hands would flap in response to most strong emotions, no matter how hard she tried to stop them from doing so. It was really fucking cute.

And across the table there was me. Susanna Butler. Four foot ten. Adopted from China. Tannish skin and short, straight black hair. Swathed in a black hoodie and desperately trying to prevent my stupid girlfriend from eating this poor woman alive while she was actively in the process of torturing me.

Absent from this shitshow was my best friend Olivia, who would have made it so that there were two girlfriends to keep a leash on Maya instead of just one. Without her, this whole operation was basically fucked. And it was particularly fucked now that Maya had given herself the hiccups, because that meant that I was gonna have to continue refereeing this date with a large part of my brain turned off. Or turned on, as the case may be.

Perhaps this required some explaining.

Olivia and I had met Maya last year when she barged into our freshman dorm and demanded we join her for Women's Rugby practice. Olivia decided to go and dragged me along with her, where we found out that Maya was, in fact, just a sophomore and not one of the higher-ranking members of this team. Despite this, she'd managed to bring in the most freshman prospects by far, the vast majority of whom lasted less than a single practice. Those who remained mostly did so because they were already athletes, but a few stayed because they discovered that Maya was actually fucking half of the team.

"Solo Poly". That was what Maya said she was. Granted, this was after she used the more widely understood label of "the classic slutty pansexual polyamorous stereotype." While I still didn't really get it, the gist of what that meant to her seemed to be that Maya was sort of open to making out with and/or fucking just about anyone while still maintaining a bubble of personal autonomy. However, she was also open to having closer, more consistent connections (albeit without any expectations of monogamy or enforced cohabitation on anyone's part), which is what she ended up developing with Olivia and me.

And so now, a year later, I was somehow still on the Women's Rugby team despite consistently getting my shit wrecked, Olivia and Maya were still there because they were actually good at it, and this poor freshman goddess Kiran had been wrenched into a managerial position because Maya noticed that I had a crush on her and decided the correct way to "help" me with that was by starting to date Kiran herself and then dragging me into it too.

It seemed she'd also decided that it wasn't too soon for her to start getting my stupid fucking hiccup fetish involved. Olivia's blunt, autistic ass and Maya's drunken flirtations had resulted in her finding out about it within months of meeting me. Weirdly, I think it was part of what ended up attracting her to Olivia and me as more serious partners. I was honestly really grateful for that, even if I wasn't good at showing it. But I was also unbelievably fucking screwed every single goddamn day because she was not afraid to torment me, and apparently not afraid to do so when on a date with another person either.

"But se–*HEEK*–seriously Kiki," Maya just had to give everyone she was interested in (which was most people) a stupid fucking nickname, and Kiran clearly still wasn't used to hers. "Susie's right. *HMK!* It's super not y–*HUP* your fault that I'm *HLP* a total dumbass."

"Yeah, don't try and take responsibility for the shit she does. You'll be cleaning up her messes forever." Maya stuck her tongue out at me and I flipped her off. Kiran looked worriedly between the two of us, though she'd at least stopped flapping.

"I sti–*IC!* still really liked it though! *HIULP!*" Maya was grinning and I braced myself for whatever the fuck would come out of her mouth next. "Totally wo–*URK* worth getting the hi–*ICCUP*–s for! Even tho–*UCK*–ough they're bouncing my gut and my b–*HOOP* boobs all over the pl---place. Thank god for sp–*HUP* sports bras, am I right? *HICCULP!*" Aaand there it was. Maya deliberately leaned back away from the table, giving me (and Kiran, presumably) a much better view of the rounded belly and boobs compressed under her rugby shirt. Despite their compression, all those round parts were, in fact, bouncing all over the place. I took a deep breath through my nose and thought as hard as I could about baseball. "But see? This–*IC!* is why I just brou–*UCK* brought you to the *HUP* cafeteria for this date. *HMK!* I'd need, like, a–*UCK* all the adderall to *HMK* be on my best be–*HUK*–havior in an act---tual restaurant."

"Don't let her lie to you," I grumbled. "...I mean, she's right, she can't behave like a grown-ass adult, but we're mainly here for my cheap, scruffy-looking ass."

"I-I don't mind!" Kiran had understandably been distracted by whatever the fuck Maya was doing, but the little smile that she got on her face when she said that made my heart just fucking burst. Even though she was visibly still anxious, I couldn't doubt that she meant that when she said it. "I-it's very rare for me to have been in establishments like this, and I've been a bit too nervous to try many times on my own, so this is...this is nice."

We didn't exactly know each other very well yet, since we were only a month or two into the school year, but Kiran was obviously from a super wealthy family. I didn't know quite what tax bracket they were in, but I was positive that it was infinitely higher than mine. The fact that she sincerely wanted to experience things like a college cafeteria was ridiculously endearing to me.

...of course, that also begged the question of what the hell she was doing at this school instead of some Ivy League place, especially considering she was studying some kind of supercomputer-type shit, but hey, if that meant I got to meet her, I couldn't complain.

"You're g–*OCK*–goddamn right this is *ICCUP* nice, Kiki," Maya sat back up and slung an arm over her shoulder. Even if I had the bravery to try something like that with Kiran, I doubted I actually could, given our height differences. Which was a shame, because, from the way she was blushing and wriggling, it seemed like she liked it. "I got a cu–*HOOP* cute girl here, I g---got Susie out of h–*URK*–her dorm room...what e–*ULK*–else could a lady poss–*HIP*–bly need?"

"A psychiatric intervention?" Maya pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at me, and I couldn't help but snort.

"Um, maybe some water?" Kiran said gently? "I think it could help with your case of the hiccups."

God was I glad I kept my hood up all the fucking time. It'd be suspicious as fuck to hide in it in response to that. Since it was already on, my face was already shadowed, so hopefully no one would notice how the H-word made me blush. Fuckin' Maya.

Fuckin' Maya continued to be fuckin' Maya when she sat up straighter and snapped her fingers. "Right! *HIP!* Good idea!" Kiran started to get up, but Maya pushed her back down. "Nonono–*HOP*–nonono, you stay he–*EEK*–ere. I'm a big gal, I'll g–*UP*–get my own water." There was no way she was actually gonna drink any water. No fucking way. And now my introverted ass was stuck alone with the beautiful girl while half my brain was still trying to listen for hiccups. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"I...I hope that this isn't awkward or anything." Well, now I wanted to slap myself. Of course Kiran thought it was her fault. And from the look on her face, she wanted to slap herself too just for saying that. "I mean, I—I-I know that you and Maya are sort of...dating? But I've also gone on a date with her, and I'm still kind of on a date with her but she brought you here too and—"

"Hey, it's fine, dude." I realized what just came out of my mouth and actually slapped myself this time. "Fuck, sorry. I call everyone dude." Kiran looked away and didn't say anything. I sighed and continued. "It's fine, Kiran. I don't really get how Maya works either most of the time. But I don't mind her being with other people, and I don't mind being around her while she does that. It's honestly kind of cute."

Kiran looked uncertainly down at me. "Cute?" I briefly considered the benefits of sewing my mouth shut. 

Rather than vocalizing those thoughts, I sighed and leaned on one hand, wondering how stupid the massively oversized sleeves of my hoodie made that look. "Yeah. Maya's the kind of person to get stuff out of people. She brings things out that nobody expects. Puts 'em off their guard. It's kinda fun seeing people get all vulnerable with her." Kiran went back to avoiding eye contact in the normal way she did rather than in an anxious way. I folded my arms and slumped down into them, then blew my bangs out of my face. "Not so fucking fun when she does it to me, but I guess that's the price you gotta pay. Can't go out with a chaos agent and not expect some chaos."

"You are so–*HOK*–oooo right, Sus–*EEP!*" I turned to glare at Maya as she jogged back over, an empty cup in her hand. "Sorry, water did–*NKT*–n't work. Still got a se–*HEEK*–irous case of the *HIC-CUPS* here." That motherfucker. She did that on purpose. She did every bit of that on purpose.

"N-no need to be sorry, Maya." Kiran continued to be impossibly sweet. "It's not your fault that you have a case of the hiccups."

"Yes it is," I grumbled from where I was hiding my face in my arms.

"I mean yea–*UCK*, she's right, it kinda–*HUP* is." Well, at least she'd admit it. "Spicy and sod---da togeth–*HURK* are a hiccup nu–*HOOP*–uke for me. *HEEKUP!* You got an–*HEEP*–nything like that, Kik–*HEEK!*? Something that ma–*UCK* makes you hic-hic hi–*ILK*–cup as bad as *HMP* me?" Despite my years of churchgoing, God utterly failed to answer my prayers and smite Maya dead with a lightning bolt.

Kiran pursed her lips. She was genuinely thinking about that stupid question. God, she was so fucking cute. "I don't think so. Not off the top of my head." She looked at me before avoiding eye contact again, but that was normal for her. "What about you, Susan? Do you have any foods that trigger hiccups?"

"Nah." Thank fucking god for all of those theater summer camps and oration extracurriculars my mom forced me to do. "I've got Olivia. She does all my hiccuping for me." And thank fucking god that I'd retained enough from them to even get through the fucking word without stuttering. I'd definitely avoid it moving forward, though, no matter how awkwardly I'd have to phrase shit. I didn't trust myself to get through it twice.

"Oh yeah. *HMK* Liv gets the hiccups a-a–*UCK*–aaalllll the fucking time. *HIUP!* I'm pretty s---sure that Susie put some voo–*HOOP*–doo curse on her and a–*UC*–ctually transferred her hi–*IC*–cups over." Maya giggled and grinned like the fucking supervillain she was. "Somewh---where hidden away Su–*HOOP*–sie has a doll that l---looks just like Liv, and whenev–*URK*–er Susie'd get the–*HUP* the hiccups that doll starts bou–*UP*–b-bouncing and squeaking and stuff. *HMP!* Oof. That was a big one." Motherfucker.

"You want me to make a voodoo doll of your ass too, Maya?" I said. "You shed enough hair, I could definitely do it."

Maya laughed. "God, you're fucking ad---dorable, Susie." She reached over the table to muss my hair under my hood and I took a snap at her, trying to bite off her finger. Sadly, she continued to be some sort of sports demon while I continued to be short and angry, so she pulled away just fine. "Aren't I right Ki–*HEEK* Kiki? Isn't Susie fu–*UCK*–ing adorable?"

"A-aah!" Kiran sat bolt upright, and I could see her brown cheeks get even darker. "I—I, um! I just—"

"Chill, Kiran. I know there's no right answer here." I sat up and grabbed a bread roll from my half-eaten dinner and threw it at Maya's head. "And fuck you, Maya. Don't put people on the spot like that."

"Ugh," Maya rolled her eyes as she started eating the bread I'd pelted her with. "If I don't pu–*UK* put some people on the spot then---they'll never get up ont---to the spot themse–*UCK*–elves. Like you."

"Fuck the spot. I hate spots. Fuck all locations and every dog ever named 'Spot.'" Maya snorted and laughed, then half-choked on her bread. Good. Fuck her.

I just barely noticed that Kiran giggled too. That...that was way better than Maya getting her comeuppance. Way way better.

Kiran caught me looking at her. Fuck. She looked away rapidly. Fucking fuck. "I...I think I'll get up and get myself another drink." Fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck. She walked off quickly and disappeared into the crowd. God fucking dammit.

"You're fu–*UCK*–ing welcome, Susi–*EEK*." I turned my glare towards Maya who was scowling performatively at me. "You are so---o lucky that you've got oo–*HOOP*–oodles of bad-boy charisma, or you'd nev–*URK* never get any girls."

"Have I ever told you you're going directly to hell?"

Her grin came back. "Awesome, I'll se–*HEEK* I'll see all my friends the–*URK*–ere! Especially yo–*HOUP*."

"Mmf. Got me on that one." I sighed and leaned against my hand again. "'Bad boy charisma' though? Don't bullshit me, Maya. I'm creeping her out. And I'm especially creeping her out thanks to you and your goddamn soda."

"Damn, what's it like *HUP* to be super wrong about everything? *HUKULP* Why do you thi–*IC*–ink you radiate this pe–*HUP*–ervy energy all the time? *HIULP* You don't. Is this some kind of we---eird catholic thing? 'Cause Li–*HUP* 'cause Liv isn't like this, she's norm–*MMP*–mal."

"Don't say that to her face, she'd be really offended." I squinted. "Also, aren't your ancestors Irish? Shouldn't you know if it's a catholic thing or not?"

"Bruh you think an---nyone was dumb enough to try and pu–*HUT* my ass in a church?"

"...got me there too."

"Look, your myst---sterious vibes are sexy, dude. Pe–*HEEP*–ople wonder where you a–*URK*–are whenever you're not around. Nobody kno–*HUK*–ows that you just play Mari–*OUP* Kart all day."

"You do and you're still fucking me."

"I mean yeah, but I'm spe–*UCK* special like that."

I huffed out a laugh. "Won't argue with you on that one. You are truly one of a kind, Heffernan. Thank god."

"Yeah, the wo–*URK*–orld couldn't handle two of me."

"Um, h-hello, girls. I'm back." I was surprised I hadn't seen or heard Kiran approaching us. For as gorgeously tall and fat as she was, she could be weirdly stealthy sometimes. She put two glasses of water down on the table, then held out a bread roll to me. "I, um, noticed you...lost your first one."

I snorted. "That's one way to put it. Thanks, Kiran. That's really sweet." She nodded rapidly and I started eating the roll that she'd got me. "You thirsty there?"

"Well, yes, but I also thought that maybe Maya could try drinking water again. It seems kind of dangerous, eating around all those hiccups."

God, she really was fucking sweet. What an angel. And just like an angel, she was also saving my ass. I smirked at Maya. "Well, May-May?" She glared at me, and I knew she hated that. "You're not gonna deny this water of life, are you? Haven't you watched that video about that one Robert Heinlein book with the sex cult? This is a sacred bond you're setting up here."

Maya glared more and huffed, and Kiran started flapping her hands nervously. "Um, you don't have to drink if you don't want to—"

"Nah, that'd be silly. *HMP* Not drinking a thing that a re---ally cute girl brought me? *HIUP* Fuck no." Maya took a first sip of water and I immediately knew I was saved. All it took was a little water and she and her goddamn hiccups would fuck the fuck off. "...shit, it worked this time!" She was good at acting like that was actually a surprise. If my legs could reach, I would have kicked her shins under the table. "Damn! Cute girl water really has some power! Thanks, Kiki!"

Maya hopped to her feet, and before Kiran knew what was happening, she'd stood on her toes and pressed a wet kiss to her cheek. A split-second later, Kiran squealed and hid her face in her hands. "Fuck, that's cute," I said, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Right, dude?" Maya smooched the hands Kiran was blocking her face with, getting another squeak out of her. "She's super blushy and shy! Kiki cured my hiccups, but I can't cure all those blushes she's got in her cheeks."

I rolled my eyes and used the opportunity of Kiran having her eyes covered to give Maya the finger. Maya returned one in kind. "Let the girl live, Heffernan. Sit down so she can recover." Despite the grouchy noises she made, Maya complied and sunk back into her seat. Kiran carefully, shakily returned to her own seat, folding her hands in her lap when she saw she was flapping them. "There you go, Kiran. Take a break from Hurricane Maya. You can chill for a minute." After a long moment of squirming and nervous noises, Kiran anxiously tilted to the side, then pressed a kiss as quickly as she could to Maya's cheek before pulling away. "Atta girl."

"Hell yeah, Kiki! Kiss the girl points!" Maya slapped her back and I wondered if I had imagined the popping vertebrae I heard. The noise Kiran made sounded more surprised than pained, so I wasn't too worried. "We'll graduate you to kissing girls' lips in no time, cutie!"

"Eh, what's the rush?" I said. "She may be some kind of genius, but she's still a freshman. She's got four years."

"I don't got four years, Susie! I only got two! And I wanna kiss this girl a lot!"

"You wanna kiss everyone a lot."

"I mean yeah, but her especially!" Maya pulled Kiran's hands away from her face. From the angle, I couldn't see Kiran's expression, but I could see Maya's. It was her other smile. Her soft one. Her warm one. The one she wore for me when we first got together. Damn. She really did want to kiss her especially. Not that I blamed her. "My emo-ass girlfriend is right though." I rolled my eyes, but with how soft her voice was, it felt pretty performative. "You've got time. You've got all the time in the world, Kiki. So kiss whatever girls wherever and whenever you like. I'd love it if one of them was me and one of the places was my lips. And I'd especially love it if the time was soon. But that's up to you." She pressed a kiss to the tip of Kiran's nose, then another to her forehead before letting her hands go and sitting down again. "God knows you'll be good at it, though. You've got super kissable lips." Kiran groaned and covered her face again.

The rest of dinner was relatively incident-free, as much as any meal with Maya could be. But I had a feeling she was planning some bullshit, and at the very end, I realized what it was. "Oh, shit! Just remembered I wanted to go to the gym today! Sorry, Kiki! Sorry, Susie! I gotta go pump my lats or some other muscles, I dunno what they're called." I didn't even get a chance to respond before she leaned down and kissed me on the lips, then popped up and smooched Kiran's cheek. "Bye, cuties!" And she was gone.

"...Somehow I keep forgetting how fast that bitch can move." I stared out into the mid-October dark that'd fallen. "You'd think I'd remember it better with how many times she's tackled me. Guess all those micro concussions are adding up." Kiran didn't say anything, and when I looked up at her, I saw that she was playing with her fingers. She was playing with her fingers in the desperate, uncomfortable way that told me she was doing everything she could not to flap. I'd gotten pretty good at reading autistic people thanks to Olivia. It wasn't one-to-one, but I'd noticed some commonalities, and I also thought I could make an educated guess as to what she was anxious about. "Hey. Kiran." She looked down at me, eyes wide, having flinched slightly at my voice. "Your off-campus place is a little way out from here, yeah?" She nodded. "You want me to walk with you there?"

"I—!" Her back straightened and she started actually flapping, not seeming to realize she was doing it. "I-I wouldn't want to impose or—"

"I'm offering 'cause I'm offering. And you can say no if you want." I shrugged. Hopefully she actually believed me when I said that. I realized after starting on this that I could come across as a creepy stalker.

"...no." Yeah, that made sense. She surprised me by grabbing my sleeve when I started to leave though. "N-no, I mean...I don't want to say no. I'd really appreciate it. If you walked with me."

God dammit. I was smiling like a fucking moron. I just knew I was. And now I'd have to thank Maya for ditching us. Fucking devious. "Alright. Let's get going then. I'll let you lead the way." As we started walking along the campus sidewalks (and Kiran studiously avoided unpaved desire paths carved into the grass), I noticed that she was rapidly rubbing her arms. Her short-sleeved dress had seemed a little off for the weather, now that I thought about it. "Hey. You okay?"

"O-oh, yes, I'm fine!" She tried to smile down at me. I could see goosebumps on her skin though. "I, um, I should have checked the weather report before leaving. That's absolutely my fault. I really need to—" Her voice stopped as I held out my hoodie to her. "...um?"

"It's zippable. It probably wouldn't be able to close over your chest, but you can wear it like a cape and keep your arms warm at least." She stared down at me and my hoodie and I sighed. "Come on, Kiran. Don't make me admit that I'm too short to put it on your shoulders."

"It's...it's yours though," she said softly.

"So? Why do you think I wear clothes two sizes too big? It's exactly for shit like this." As a matter of fact, it was actually because I insisted on not shopping in the kids' section and had to suffer the consequences, but it also happened to help with shit like this. And saying it that way sounded a lot cooler.

"Won't you be cold?"

"Nah." The wind was biting a little, but I shrugged. "I'm wearing jeans, so at least my ankles are toasty. You keep your upper half warm. I've got my lower half."

"Th...thank you, Susan." Kiran slowly took my jacket off of my arm and threw it over her shoulders. She definitely wouldn't be able to zip it, I'd been right about that, but having the dense, black fabric draped over her arms clearly helped. I smiled at her, then motioned for her to lead the way.

The first part of the walk was blessedly silent. Or awkwardly silent. I wasn't sure which. It wasn't raining right now, but it had previously, so the leaves were damp and pasted to the sidewalks. I tried to figure out in my head if I'd be able to catch and stabilize Kiran if she slipped on one of them, despite the answer obviously being "no". While I was trying to make the math math on that, though, my train of thought abruptly derailed with a "*HEEK!*" I turned way too fast and stared way too hard at Kiran, who had both hands over her mouth. She looked down at me and quickly closed her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, excuse me!"

"...'sfine." I just barely stopped myself from automatically adding "dude" to sound casual. "It's just a single."

"A single?" Fuck.

She'd pulled her hands away from her mouth and started walking again, so I kept walking with her, but I could feel her eyes on me. I kept my face turned away, pretty sure my cheeks were bright red, and I shrugged. "Like, just one. When you're friends with someone who h-hiccups like Olivia—" fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck "—you start having to classify shit. Get some fucking...phylums or something for them."

I heard her stifle a giggle, and my brain started being slightly less on fire. It still desperately drooled for one of those giggles to set off another hiccup though. God dammit. "Phyla. I see. That makes sense. Hiccup taxonomy." We kept walking and I kept thanking god for the cold because that was the only thing keeping my head from exploding. "You've been Olivia's friend for a long time, right?"

"Eh, yes and no. I mean yes, we were friends all through high school."

When I glanced back at her, she tilted her head. "I thought she said at some point that you met in preschool."

"We did, yeah. But then she went to public school and I stayed in catholic school. Fuck those little skirts, by the way. Never wearing a fucking skirt again. Not if I can help it. But, uh, I think that she thinks all those years in between didn't count or something, 'cause she just tried to pick right back up where we left off when I met her again. It was kinda awkward, but Olivia's super perceptive, and she was able to tell I actually did want to be friends." She was able to tell a lot of complicated things. I owed a whole lot to her and her ability to hear the words people weren't saying. And her openness. And her bluntness. And her everything. Goddamn, I owed her so much.

"...I'm a bit envious of her for that." I looked up and she met my eyes, then darted away and started flapping anxiously. "F-for her ability to understand people like that! N-not for her knowing you in high school or preschool. Um, n-not that I would have minded, of course! B-but it's probably not an appropriate thing to—"

"Chill, Kiran. Take a breath. You're fine." I took a deep breath to demonstrate, and after a second she nodded and followed along. "I get it. I'm jealous too. I dunno if I'm as perceptive as she is, but I definitely can't just...say shit the way she can."

"You can't?" She sounded surprised. "But you're so ru—...uh!"

I laughed. "Rude? Ruthless? Ruminating openly on ways to kill Maya? I mean, yeah, I can say all that mean shit. And I can tell people exactly what they can go and do with themselves. I'm really good at that. But saying stuff I actually want to say? Nah. Not unless I wrap it in seven or eight layers of irony first."

Kiran looked away in a different way from her normal avoiding eye contact. "...is there a way that I can tell?"

"Hm?"

"A way I can tell. When you're saying something ironically."

I frowned. "I dunno. I guess you could ask me...if you feel comfortable doing that." The way she shrunk in on herself told me she didn't. "...I'm not walking you home ironically, just for the record. Don't even know how I could do that. But I'm doing it 'cause I want to." I bit the inside of my lip and tried to force words out of my fucking face. "I'm doing it 'cause I...know that it sucks when Maya leaves you in the lurch." Dammit dammit dammit!

"Ah." She sounded...disappointed. God fucking dammit.

"...and 'cause I have fun talking to you." Fuck. Okay. Apparently, that was emotionally neutral enough for me to fucking say it. I still felt like I was going to explode though.

The feeling got worse when I felt her eyes weighing down on me. "You do? I..." she laughed softly, and when I sensed her turn away, I looked up and saw a sad smile on her face as she picked at her nails. "I've been told that I'm not much of a conversationalist. I either say too little or I monopolize everyone's time."

Oof. Yeah. I'd heard Olivia talk about struggling with that before too. That gave me a little knowledge of what to do though. "Well, I don't mind not talking. And it's not like I use any of my time wisely. So whichever way it swings, I'm fine with it."

"You are?" 

She was looking somewhere to my left, but I knew I was in her peripheral. So I smiled. "Yeah. And if I'm ever not, I'll let you know. You've seen me with Maya, you know that if someone's annoying me I'm gonna tell 'em about it. 'Cause I'm not much of a conversationalist either. I use words like a serial killer uses upholstering equipment: incorrectly and with malice." Kiran let out a shocked laugh, then quickly covered her mouth. I chuckled.

God, she was so fucking cute.

We'd reached the house that she was staying at. I wondered why she was staying off-campus as a freshman. Was it for privacy? She was openly trans, but having a roommate might have still been awkward. I didn't get much more time to think about it as Kiran surprised me by draping my hoodie back over my shoulders. It was so much warmer from her. "Um, th...thank you for walking me home, Susan. I..." Her hands were flapping again. "I enjoy talking with you too, goodnight!" She spat all the words out in less than a second, then ducked through the door and slammed it behind her.

I just barely managed to keep myself from laughing. Laughing at that would be such a dickhead move, but...fuck. Instead, I zipped my hoodie back up, basking in how warm the body of it felt as I pulled out my phone and started walking back to the campus.

Susie Q(ueer): Date's done. Think I'll stop by the music hall before I head back though.

Olivia E. Jones: Mind if I join you? I'm at a 4 right now.

Susie Q(ueer): Pff. After what Maya did to me a four's fucking nothing.

Olivia E. Jones: I don't think that's how your thing actually works.

Susie Q(ueer): I think I'd know better than you about my own fetish.

Olivia E. Jones: Are we actually using the words now?

Susie Q(ueer): Fuck!

I quickly edited the message above, replacing "fetish" with "brain".

Susie Q(ueer): No! No, we are definitely not using the words now! Fuck, thanks for catching that.

Olivia E. Jones: I still think this is stupid.

Susie Q(ueer): I know. And I still owe you for doing it anyway.

Olivia E. Jones: Maya's going to break you down at some point. And then we can finally use words that actually mean what words mean instead of inventing some kind of dumb thieves' cant for only two people.

Susie Q(ueer): The terrifying thing is that you might be right.

Olivia E. Jones: I'm always right. I'll bring your guitar.

Susie Q(ueer): Thanks.

When I reached the music hall, Olivia was already there waiting for me. She was noodling with my guitar, and I was very happy to hear that she hadn't tried to tune or detune it and was just playing random notes instead. Olivia was tall and thin with very dark skin, and she kept her tightly coiled black hair just a little too long to be called a buzz cut. She glanced up at me when I walked in, her reading glasses hanging from a chain around her neck like she was some kind of librarian. Even after three years of her having them, I still wasn't used to it. "Hey Su---sanna. You look happy. *mmp*."

"Do I?" I touched my face. My mouth didn't feel like it was smiling.

"You look hap---py to me."

"Yeah, well you're psychic, so that doesn't count." I walked over and stole my guitar back, tuning it.

...that left her stomach covered by nothing but her long-sleeved turtleneck. It jolted out hard, and I was close enough to hear the thump in her chest. I blushed. That was okay though. Around Olivia, it was okay to blush.

I still tried not to stare though. "Anyway, you got any requests?"

"Something by Ta---Taylor Swift."

I groaned. "Ugh, why is my best friend such a basic bitch?"

"We can't all be c---cool enough to listen to ban---nds with names like...*hmp* Phallic Cymbal or...*hmp* Üümläüt."

"Love how you waited to make sure you didn't interrupt the names." I glanced at her. "Hey, you don't need to hold those in if you don't want to."

"I'm not, they're juh---just like this tod---day."

"Okay. Cool. Now let me figure out a song that's not about young love or new relationships or some heterosexual bullshit like that."

"Don't pre---pretend that you don't know ho---ow to play them already."

I sighed and put my guitar down, moving over to the piano bench instead. "Yeah yeah, call my bluff, why don't you. Here. Have a sad song about people who suck at relationships."

"Isn't that---also heteros---sexual bullshit?"

"Yeah, but at least it'll make you feel bad." I lifted my hands over the keyboard, then gawked as Olivia hopped up onto the instrument's closed lid. "Hey. Darla Dimple. Wanna get your butt off my piano?"

"It's not y---your piano." She pulled her legs up.

"Oh come the fu—at least don't put your shoes on it, christ." She paused and removed her sneakers, dropping them beside the piano before crossing her legs in just socks. "...yeah, walked into that one, I guess. Seriously, what the hell are you doing?"

Olivia maneuvered herself until she was facing me. She sat mostly straight, so I could see the way each hiccup made her belly punch out, her chest jump, her shoulders rock, and her head snap back. "You ne---need to get better at be---ing distracted while you play."

"Oh fuck off," I glared at her.

She shrugged. "You can't m---make me."

After a long moment, I sighed and started playing the goddamn Taylor Swift song. "Yeah. I can't. Lots of stuff I can't get rid of lately." Olivia, Maya...

But somehow I found myself hoping I'd get even more.

[libraryofneith]

Out of Mind Chapter 1 (Joel Miller x Reader)

Chapter 2

This is my first The Last of Us fanfic : D This is based on the HBO show, not the video game - i don’t know how to video game. I’m also still getting to grips with how Tumblr works so if my fanfics don’t look as swish as some other fics do, bear that in mind. If you have any tips let me know! I’m also on AO3 under the same username and I tend to update that first. You can check out this fic and my others here.  

Summary:  You're a pickpocket trying to make a living in the Boston QZ, what happens when you cross two of the most dangerous smugglers in the city? 

Well if you've read any TLOU self-inserts, or any self inserts at all for that matter, you can probably guess : )This is probably gonna be a long one, we're talking some serious slow cooking here. But I promise you it will be worth it. There is gonna be some serious lemony goodness when it comes, like really really lemony, so look away ye minors or people of delicate sensibilities (no seriously i mean it).Until that comes we're gonna have it all - morally ambiguous characters, angst, more trauma than you can shake an hbo show at, hurt and comfort, maybe a little fluff if you ask nicely and so. much. pining!!!!!

Preview:  You were almost disappointed at how easy it had been. One cheeky smile, a suggestive lilt in the voice and that guy could barely tell his ass from his ear. So much for the Clint Eastwood of the Boston QZ.

Warnings/Tags: [18+ minors DNI], Boston QZ era Joel, Pre-Ellie, not Tess slander, reader and Tess are friends, slow burn, like really slow burn, slow roast cooker here, mutual pining, age gap - reader is 27 and Joel is 50, he’s my depiction of a fictional character and I’ll thirst if I want to, angst, hurt/comfort, trauma, attempts at healing, not everything about these characters and their relationships is healthy but it’s an apocalypse so sue me. 

Joel

Today was not a good day.

The sun was beating down unrelenting on Joel as he stalked through the streets of Boston trying to get as far away from the unconscious FEDRA soldier as humanly possible. Apparently that little shit thought that five ration cards for a bag of anti-depressants actually meant three ration cards and a gun in his face. The only thing Joel had taken away from that trade was the look on the guard's face when his fist connected with his jaw. At least he'd gotten the drugs back. If he'd come back to the apartment with ration cards and the stash gone Tess would've been pissed - or more pissed than she was already going to be. Maybe if he stopped by the courtyard he could trade with...

Oof!!!

Joel cursed as he crashed headlong into some stupid girl.

"Oh shit sorry."

He gave no response to her apology except a grunt.

"Oh... shit, sorry," she repeated, the words now laced with innuendo. "Wouldn't want to harm a hair on your lil' head." Who's that short-ass calling little'?

"Don't sweat it. Takes more than a bump to bring me down."

"Oo I bet it does." She was standing toe-to-toe with him now, eyes glinting, her hand stroking up and down his arm. "I wonder what it takes to bring you down." Her hand lingered and her smile threatened to draw him in and for a moment, he almost found himself leaning towards her. Then he snapped back to reality and brushed her off.

"Sorry. Not interested." Last thing he needed today was Tess giving him the cold shoulder all night. Still, he let his eyes follow her a little. She was too young for him by half but no harm in looking. Just looking. She wasn't unattractive, not unattractive at all. Like almost everyone in the QZ she looked like she'd seen better days but there was something in the way she walked, bounced almost, like she was ready to take on every fucker who tried her. And her eyes... shit. Her eyes had caught him staring. She flashed him another smile but he tore himself away, already burning her image out of his mind. A cold shower, a few pills, and a glass of whisky and it'd be gone.

"Took you long enough." Tess was already nursing a bottle when he got home.

"Hello to you too."

"What happened?" Joel sighed. He could never keep anything from her.

"Stupid fuckin' kid wouldn't pay up. Things turned ugly."

"You ok?"

"Yeah, but if that FEDRA bastard wakes up he's gonna have one hell of a headache." Tess grinned.

"So you got the stash back?"

"Yup. Gottit right he-" Tess's face fell and Joel's stomach sank as he pulled out a clear plastic bag filled with marbles, not pills.

"Joel what the fuck?!"

"Someone must've switched the bags."

"Without you noticing, how?"

"I don't know." His entire body was quivering with rage.

"Maybe it was that stupid FEDRA kid..."

"No. He's not that smart." The apartment was filled with a stony silence as he tracked back everything that had happened after the deal had gone south. He knew he had the bag after. Then he'd gone straight home, he hadn't seen or spoken to anyone after. Well, except...

"Oh." Then it dawned on him.

"What?"

"That fucker."

"What Joel. Who was it??"

He could picture her now. The glint in her eyes, that confident stride as she walked away from him, that smile, that damn smile.

"I'm gonna kill her."

---

You

You grinned as you examined the bag. One week's worth of happy pills. And after you met with Robert that bag would be seven ration cards.

You were almost disappointed at how easy it had been. One cheeky smile, a suggestive lilt in the voice and that guy could barely tell his ass from his ear. So much for the Clint Eastwood of the Boston QZ. You'd still have to lay low for the next few weeks until Tess and Joel gave up on finding you. From what you'd heard these people were not to be fucked with. Of course you had anyway but after tomorrow you'd be able to kick back and relax until your supplies ran out. Tiny Dancer blasted through your walkman as you laid back on your mattress surrounded by books, sweets, cigarettes and everything else that almost no one but you had.

Things were finally looking up.

Hope you enjoy, more to come. Like and reblog if you enjoyed, if you didn’t send it to your enemies.

[matchbet-allofthetime]

Promises, Promises

Nero/Dante/Vergil x GN!reader (can be read as platonic or romantic between nero/reader, dante/reader, or vergil/reader. whatever you prefer, just meant to be comforting i guess)

Word count: 1020

A/N: just wrote this, idrk what to say. reader claws at themself in their sleep even though they're lucid enough to know they're dreaming. they don't realize they're in actual real-world physical pain until they wake up, but frankly, the pain doesn't bother them. it's kinda about the boys being concerned because the reader doesn't seem to notice/care about their wounds past "fuck, that's gonna be a bitch to heal" and "damnit now i need new sheets. did i stain my mattress????" and it's also about a promise being made to protect each other bc the amulets they wear gave my brain ThoughtsTM

also demon boy cuddles and napping bc it's a need, not just a want

here's your warning for: blood, nightmares, reader tears themself up in their sleep bc nightmares, but they also don't feel much care about that in particular past "oh no i stressed my boys out oof"

reader is okay and vergil and nero cry. dante nearly does.

long A/N, so sorry, but i needed to kinda show my thought process after not sleeping for 24 hours lol

please enjoy!

─────────────────⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅─────────────────

It cycles through me like a storm, leaving me gasping for air. I jolt and can't manage to pry myself from the images in my own head.

Woefully overwhelming.

Equally underwhelming and boring as hell.

Shame I couldn't seem to care past my exhaustion. Even still, my body seemed to do the job of 'scared human' pretty well without my internal fears interfering.

Now if I waited just a moment longer, it should-

I cry out (against my brain's irritation and advice against doing precisely that-) and my eyes meet Dante's worried ones immediately. He's cradling my face and I see Nero nearly run in, arms full of medical supplies of all kinds. My arms feel warm- liquid warm. I groan in frustration, shutting my eyes.

They open again as I hear Nero openly crying through his concern and Vergil comes crashing like a hurricane into the room. His eyes are cold as always, but it's a new type of cold.

My throat is hoarse. I woke them up. I try to lift myself up on my arms before- ugh, fuck it. I slam myself back down and groan again.

Time for new fuckin' sheets. Again.

As Dante cradles me close, Vergil sets down a plastic tub filled with warm water, probably to clean the blood off of where I apparently tore myself open in my sleep. Had I been thrashing that badly? The dream was bad, but it wasn't anywhere near what the real nightmares were when I was a kid, so why…?

Nero wipes away his tears and gets to work wetting one of the many cloths he brought in the room; he soothes it over the flesh of my shoulder.

I look down groggily. Still not awake yet, it seems. Not fully, anyways.

It appears I've mostly gotten my shoulders, arms, and sides- the meatier parts of myself. Not sure if I did it because they were easier to grab onto or because there's more there to damage. Either way, the cloth feels nice and I slump relatively comfortably into Dante's warm arms and Nero's gentle hands.

I try to speak but really, no words come out. I taste blood. They can't smell the blood in my mouth versus the blood soaking into my sheets. My fingers curl into the blanket underneath me. Nero had gotten-

Oh fuck.

Now I start to panic, truly, in full, because Nero had gotten my this blanket and it was my favourite and if I ruined it with my blood, I swear to god-

"Darling, shit, breathe, okay? I know…" Dante sighs, his blue eyes watering and glossy, before continuing, his hands curling against my tensed ones, "…I know you don't really process your nightmares or physical pain the way normal people do, so I know that isn't the problem. Talk to me, what's up?" His voice is comforting, though extremely pressed for an answer.

I clear my throat, once, twice. Swallow down my blood. Don't care much about that part.

"…I got blood on the blanket Nero gave me."

The room goes dead silent. Vergil storms over and drops down to the floor next to my bed with bruising force and I'm not shocked when I hear the floorboards crack underneath the weight of his fall.

My hand reaches to thread through his silver hair and I am shocked when he lets out a sob. He whines into my hands and Nero finally finishes cleaning off all my blood. As his twin lay dormant and sob-choked, Dante starts to bandage my body. The damage wasn't good by any means, but it could've been much worse.

I rake my fingers further through Vergil's hair in apology. He accepts it graciously; didn't blame me to begin with. I know this, but silently apologize nonetheless.

As Dante finishes wrapping my arms, Nero lifts me up (which much protest from his father) and drags the blanket from under me. I'm set back down as Dante lays on the bed and Nero goes downstairs to throw the blanket in the wash before my blood stains it. Luckily it seems to have caught all of my blood, so no new sheets. Just a guilty conscience and burning shoulders for me.

Dante pulls me into his chest, purposefully warming himself as best he could without DTing to soothe my wounds and I snuggle into his body heat. Vergil lays beside us both and nuzzles his face and body closer to our warmth as we comfort one another.

Soon, Nero walks back in as Vergil's tears slow and he too lays in bed, curled into the opposite side of Dante.

Together we all snuggle as Dante turns on a movie. None of us pay attention, of course. Can't seem to make ourselves and we don't really care, either. I half think idly that even Dante isn't sure what movie he put on.

Nero's wings pull a thick comforter over us and we're enveloped in each other's scents as we start to drift off.

We all hold each other.

A promise.

A promise to never leave, to always be there for one another, to take care of one another.

A reminder that there will never be anyone who could hurt any of the others in the room without coming face-to-face with some of the scariest, most vicious motherfuckers on the planet and dying by their hands.

A reminder that us Spardas stick together- even the ones rallied in not by water of the womb but blood of the covenant- and that no nightmares would be allowed without some ass-kicking in this place.

That was our promise.

My fingers reach up to curl protectively over my amulet, at match to Dante's and Vergil's and Nero's- swirling with gold and silver, blue and red. Three initials written delicately into its metal- DVN.

Dante. Vergil. Nero.

It was our promise and they'd never break it so long as they all lived.

I smile and hum contentedly as the three men drape their arms softly over me.

No nightmares could ever reach us- not as long as we were in each other's arms.

[riddle-me-ri]

Here for the smut writing prompts!  One Bad Day Penguin saying “You’re cute when you’re whining for more.” (number 16) to female reader, pretty please! I need to have my praising kink fed 🫣

A/N: hnnggg oof–me too anon, ME TOO. I see you’re an anon of culture. This was so delicious and right up my alley. Thank you anon for the prompt idea and for letting me exploit my own praise kink rip. Also, you can thank finnie for putting this thought in my head:

That that alone has fueled so much of this asdfghhfds

Trigger Warning:  18+ ONLY MINORS DNI explicit sexual content (vaginal fingering, biting, making out) and strong language

Word Count: 1.8 k

One Bad Day Penguin x F!Reader - Sweetness

Everything was perfect. The night couldn't have gone any better…

Well, it could always be better…at least for you.

It was another successful night at the Iceberg Lounge now that Oswald had the club and the rest of Gotham's Underworld back under his control.

You loathed being under the Umbrella Man's thumb. When he snatched the rug out from under Oz, he made you stay put. If not just to rub the salt deeper into Oswald's open gaping wound. 

When Oswald needed you most, you couldn't help him unless it meant you wouldn't be here at all. 

“Hey, sweetness.”

You try not to think about the past anymore. You and Oz were right where you two belonged, with each other. However, things have been hectic. Changes in management of Gotham's criminal underworld wasn’t something that just happened overnight. 

As happy as you were to have Oswald back at your side, it’s been difficult to spend any intimate time with him alone. 

“Hey Ozzie, another amazing night in the books.” You commented. You set the folders down on his desk and unceremoniously propped yourself on top of his desk. 

Oz was looking out at the city skyline. Long ago, he put up his top hat, overcoat, tie and suit jacket. All that was left was his dress shirt which had a few buttons undone and his dress pants. 

He glanced over at you and smiled dreamily. "I know you were busy, but did you get to enjoy yourself at all, baby?" 

"I..uh..er…well." You wracked your brain for a decent excuse but nothing came up. 

"Take that as a no." Oz concluded. 

"Ozzie, it's fine. I enjoy helping you, having you back, the club is livelier than ever. I enjoy seeing people actually enjoying themselves." You explained. 

You noticed Oz watching your legs as you crossed them. 

"As sweet as ever, but I want you to have a good time too…I…I know I've been neglectin' ya lately."

Oswald walked over to you and stood in front of you as you stayed perched on top of his desk. You leaned down a little, and wrapped your arms around his neck. 

"Baby, don't get me wrong…I do miss being with you, just the two of us. But I'm still over the moon of having you back. Our time will come, it always does." You gave a comforting kiss to his forehead. 

Oswald hummed. This is what he loved about you. There were many things, but the biggest one being how much you understood him and how you tried to put him at ease. He's never known this level of comfort in so long. When Umbrella Man took you away from him…he wasn't sure he'd make it. 

"How about now?" Oz breathed. 

You perked your head up and tilted it to the side. "What do you mean?" 

"The club is closed. Everyone's gone home. Even then the door's locked.." 

Oz scooted himself closer to where he was in between your legs. One of his hands teased at the hem of your skirt. 

"Oh..y-you mean now, now." 

Oz chuckled. "Yes, sweetness. That is if you want to." 

Uh…Hell yeah. 

"Yes…more than anything."

Oswald tilted his head to the side and collided his lips with yours. Your hands went up and cupped his face into your palms, trying to somehow pull him in closer and keep him there. 

Meanwhile, Oz's hands went to work. He teasingly crept his hands up your skirt. This thumb teased the underlining at the bottom of your underwear, tracing it but not going past it and to where you needed him to be. 

He brought his hands up to the top of your panties and began slowly stripping them off you. You could feel some of your fresh wetness keep you connected to the fabric until the string finally broke once your underwear was exposed from under your skirt. 

You lifted your legs to help him take them off. He brought the pitiful undergarment up to his face. His thumb ran along the crotch of the panty, collecting the slick there. 

Oz hummed. "Damn, baby, you should've said something sooner…I hadn't even done anything to you yet."

You couldn't even think of a response. Maybe in any other circumstance you'd be embarrassed but you were way too wound up to care. Oswald must've seen the absolute desperation on your face because he brought his hands back down on your thighs. Not before pocketing your underwear into his pants pocket of course.

Your arms remained around his neck as he leaned in for another kiss. Completely distracting you from his slow assault on your lower half. You felt his tongue slip out to lick your lips, asking for entrance. As you let his tongue invade your warm wet cavern, his fingers were making similar headway. 

You moaned softly as you felt the slightest intrusion from his fingertip. Gently stroking just the edges of your lower lips. He gathered more of your slick along his middle finger. 

You were still swirling your tongue around his as he finally slowly pressed his finger through your folds. Oswald reveled in the way your moans vibrated into his mouth. 

You broke the kiss as it started to become harder to catch your breath. Oswald's fingers may not be the longest, but god what they lacked in length was made up in girth. They stretched you out so deliciously, you could swear you were splitting in two. 

Oz had a nice steady pace going, just to get you warmed up, but he knew your body almost just as well as he knew Gotham City. He knew it wouldn't be long for you to do what he missed the most. 

"O-O-Ozzie…" You moaned. 

"What is it, sweetness?" He asked, almost teasingly. 

"P-please…baby, please.." 

Oswald began slightly picking up his pace, your moans got a tiny bit higher. Before Oz removed his finger entirely. 

You groaned miserably. "Ozzie…" 

"Hm?" He didn't look the least bit perturbed. 

"Please…Ozzie, baby…don't tease me. Haven't I been good, babe?" You whined. 

That. That right there.

He leaned his head to the side of your face and he gave you a sweet kiss on the cheek. 

"You have been amazing, darling. I'm just a selfish little animal." He growled into your ear. "I can't help it, you just look so cute when you're whining for more.."

Oz began kissing down your neck and he slowly inserted both his index and middle finger into you. You cried out slightly from the pain but more so the pleasure you knew was coming. Oswald began thrusting his fingers faster and deeper into you. 

"O-Ozzie…yes, please yes.." Your knuckles turned white at how tightly you held at the measly fabric of his dress shirt. 

The kisses at the nape of your neck slowly turned into softly suckling at your skin. One of your hands moved up from his shoulders to his hair, pulling at the thick jet black strands there. 

Oswald brought one of his hands out from under your skirt and began undoing your button up blouse. However this caused the fingers pumping in you to slow down, and you couldn't have that. 

You helped him with the rest of the buttons, you still wore it open as you undid the front clasp of your bra. 

Oswald's eyes were blown at the sight of more open skin, just waiting to be painted in many love bites from him. That's what animals do, isn't it? Mark what's theirs. He immediately took to your chest licking and suckling along the skin, teasing the nipple until finally sucking on it with fervor. 

Your head fell back as your eyes rolled into the back of your head. His fingers regained their pace back inside you, occasionally Oz scissored his fingers in you, stretching you out all the more despite how tight your walls were sucking his fingers in. 

"F-fuck…Oz…mmm…fuck..f-feels so good."

Your praise made Oswald take a particularly harsh bite into the top of your other breast, but the tingling sensation caused more pleasure than it did any pain. 

You glanced down and slightly gasped. You were so lost in the pleasurable knot in your gut, you hadn't even noticed the absolute purple and blue bruised mess he left your skin in. 

"Gorgeous…Absolutely gorgeous.." Oz commented almost dreamily as he followed your eyes to his handiwork. "Just one more…" He muttered. 

As his head came back up to your neck. Oz added his rough thick thumb to start circling close right circles on your clit. You almost jolted off the desk but Oz's weight kept you steady. 

He kissed and licked lovingly at the apex of your neck and shoulder. Preparing you, this will be his most imperative mark yet. 

You were once again distracted by the onslaught of your core. Like a ball of rubber bands if they were nerves to your entire body. It kept getting tighter and tighter waiting to burst from the pressure. The tiniest jolts of pleasure from the friction on your clit and the pressure of Ozzie's fingers filling you to the brim. 

You almost missed the very last sensation that sent you over the edge. 

Oswald bit down on your neck. Hard. Possessively. You could feel the most miniscule of skin slightly break from the pressure. 

The pain, the pressure,  friction and finally the thought…the very thought…

These were the same teeth that…that (if you know, you know)

The realization made you clamp down tightly on Oz's fingers, as the tight rubber band ball of nerves in the pit of your gut finally snapped. Shock waves of pleasurable, tingling electricity sent your nerves into overdrive. 

Your legs were quaking around Oswald, your fingers shaking as they still held onto his shirt and hair like a lifeline. You could feel the vibration of Ozzie's groan as you slightly pulled his hair. 

His mouth was still latched onto your neck as his fingers continued to thrust slowly, working you through your orgasm. Soon your legs started to try and cover your entrance away from Oz's hands as you got overstimulated. 

When Oswald removed his hands, he made sure to also collect some of your wetness that no doubt probably stained his desk and your skirt. 

He finally let go of your neck from his teeth. Oswald kissed and lapped up the little specks of blood that showed up. 

You were a breathless, bruised, and sweaty mess. However you couldn't get yourself to care at the moment as you tried to regain your breath, still relishing in the afterglow. 

"You know why I call you sweetness, Y/N?" Oswald asked. 

"Because I'm sweet?" You guessed in a tired, but pleased tone.

"Exactly." He popped two of his fingers that were soaked in your slick into his mouth. You were entranced as you watched him suck his own digits clean. 

"You're the sweetest thing, inside and out."

[r0-boat]

So like, Imagine.

Emmet is ranting to the substitute hero.

"Honestly, Months of scheming all for some Nobody to waltz through the door."

"Wow harsh."

"Ah well, even with your sub optimal brain activity you'll make a verrry good meal for my Joltiks."

"Wa-wait a minute I didn't Ask to cock block you. Ya know! I've got my own nemesis who's probably really confused why (Reader Hero Name) is crashing our work date instead of me...crashing my own work date. You get the idea!"

"I am Emmet and I am confused. You did not Choose this assignment?"

"Nope, I'm supposed to be down town watching a terribly adapted book flick. I mean, stopping my nemesis from destroying a movie theater...playing the terribly adapted book flick. We'd throw some one liners, throw some debris, Accidentally destroy those awful movie files in the process. Then sit in the wreckage and eat some popcorn together."

"But instead I'm Here being insulted by, you, because one of our company supervisor's doesn't believe Hero Nemesis relationships should be encouraged. So neither of us is having a good day."

"I see...and what is the Name of this supervisor?"

"..."

A few minutes later after the Substitute hero is untied.

"Okay so this is the Supervisor's name and image on the company website. Asshole doesn't even set Foot in the office half the time. Just constantly telling us 'lowly workers' where to go otherwise we get our asses chewed. Last week he said if he catches us taking 'too long with our villian interactions' we could suffer a pay dock. Can you believe that shit?"

"How awful." Ingo agrees as he buzzes around readying their transport.

"Verrry unprofessional. But please continue." Emmet prompts taking notes.

"Oh that's the Tip of the iceberg, there's also a gag order on heroes communicating with their nemesis on the clock otherwise it's Major disciplinary action. Like how does that make sense!? How are heroes supposed to go Meet their villains in battle if we can't communicate!? Also his car looks like this...and..."

Meanwhile at the Movie Theater. The Hero Reader is consoling the Substitute Hero's Villan.

"Like, we planned this date for Months. I know Pookie said work was really cracking down, but I never expected they'd pull This!" CRASH! "IT'S SO NOT FAAAAAAAIR!"

You patted the now monstrous form of the villain on the shoulder as they sobbed. Slow day at the movie theater meant minimum evacuations and without your own villains your heart really wasn't in it for battle.

"There there, I know the feeling you're going through. My day as a hero just isn't complete until I've heard my villains' monolog at least once."

"WELL WAIT NO LONGER MY DARRRLING!"

The hero reader swivels to see the twins and the substitute hero standing in the entrance to the movie theater with snacks from the concession stand.

"Boys!?"

"POOKIE!!!"

"Hi babe! OOF!" You were too stunned to laugh as your coworker was engulfed in a twirling hug by their nemesis. "I'm So sorry babe. I wanted to tell you what happened but-"

"Shh," The other villian assured, now back in their more humanoid appearance. "I know you didn't mean to hurt my feelings Pookie, I'm just happy you found a way to be here."

"Well, I can't take full credit for that idea." You coworker gestured to your own villains. "Now, let's go tear that movie to shreds!"

"YEEEES!"

The two ran further into the complex with a STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP to find the flick that had apparently offended them so.

You were still a little bewildered but smiled after them. Two peas in a pod it seemed.

"What's on your mind, dearest?" Emmet cooed, draping his arms over your shoulders and pressing his lips to your temple.

You leaned into the warmth. "That was a sweet thing you two did." You commented. "Giving up your own plan so those two could have their date I mean."

"Technically it was a mutual exchange." Ingo supplied coming to your side and taking your hand so he could bring it to his lips for a kiss.

"Indeed, coming here led us to you. We would not have done so otherwise." Emmet assured, with almost complete confidence.

"True, but you could've goaded my coworkers villian into coming to You. But instead you did the opposite." You felt Emmet tense. "Gotcha, you big softie."

"I am Emmet and I am Not Soft."

"Okay but you are though."

"I am Not!"

"Are."

"NOT!"

"Are~"

"No-Mmph! Mmm...mmm..." His protest was cut off by him melting into your affection.

You smiled against Emmet's lips as you broke the kiss. Then you whispered "are~"

Emmet blushed and grumbled, but didn't release you from the hold he had on your back. Ingo even let out a small chuckle before taking his turn for some of your affection.

"Mmm," Ingo's lips parted from yours only briefly before he went back for more. You'd all missed this.

"But don't worry. That's why I adore you both so much. My nemeses." You cooed happily. "Now Ingo could you step back a moment dear?"

"Hm? Of course." He did so. "But may I ask wh-?"

You wrapped your arms around one of Emmet's and fuckin TOSSED his ass, (but landed him gently) over your shoulder onto the movie theater carpet.

He was stunned for a moment, before a huge grin broke across his face even as he lay flat out on the floor. "You are going to regret that Hero!"

You felt warmth pool in your cheeks and body. "We'll just have to see about that. Villians!" You hopped back, feeling your power course through your veins as your twins readied their offense.

"En garde Boys!

And so on that day a new loophole was discovered regarding heroes and nemesi double dates, the public loves a good collaboration after all.

Well, there was One person who wasn't thrilled about the outcome. But as one person might say "They had barely enough brain activity to satisfy a Joltik, so who cares what they think?"

Can you imagine a giant monster of a villain just sitting in a tiny seat being consulted by the hero and the just hand them a small tissue. The huge monster thanks them politely and takes the tiny tissue with their sharp claws.

Also thank you so much for this Beaker! this describes exactly the kind of tone this Au would have.

Also also, I would like to imagine the Board is confused and very concerned when all of their Heroes just started banging their villains, and they don't know what to do. Obviously, they couldn't fire all their workers, so they basically just said no work PDA...lol.

Emmet had "no talk, me angry" energy and I love it.

[butmakeitgayblog]

44 🫶🏽

44... out of lust

///////////////////

"Since when did you get signed on for bartending duty?"

Lexa's head whipped up at the sweet sound breaking through the smoke and thumping beat that pulsed around her, having gotten lost in the various tipsy 'wooo's and sloppily called orders. She paused long enough to shoot a flustered smile over the back end of a bottle of Jack before passing the drink off to another shout of her name.

"I didn't," Lexa half-shouted. "I was trying to make us drinks and then people just kept asking—"

"See, this is what I mean," Clarke laughed and leaned heavily against the island in the makeshift kitchen. "You're too nice for your own good."

"I'm not nice."

Clarke watched her pass off another solo cup of something that probably had an alcohol proof that was illegal. "Right."

"I have scowled at each and every one of them, thank you very much," Lexa sniffed and finally slammed down two glasses for herself. "Now. What's your pleasure?"

Lexa knew what Clarke was doing.

Lexa knew that Clarke had always known what she was doing just by showing up in the top that made Lexa sweat. So between the dancing and the touching, the shameless flirting and all the kissing in her dorm room still fresh on her mind, Lexa figured there was no real harm in letting her eyes drift south when Clarke leaned foward on the cross of her arms.

"I think you can guess, sweetcheeks."

That fucking name.

That fucking name that made Lexa flush and squirm with how violently it made her insides flop.

Because while nothing had really changed from the day before and that day, everything had one hundred percent changed between them in every way.

Because now Lexa knew Clarke maybe just might feel the same...

Because now Lexa knew what Clarke's lips tasted like and just how breathy she could sound when she moaned. She knew that Clarke was more comfortable laughing than being serious, that she tried to be brave even when her hands trembled. Knew she was passionate in the ways she had grabbed at Lexa, but it'd left Lexa breathless how she had soothed and been supple with everything she took.

And all that caring attention very much included the bountiful fistfuls of her ass.

She just hadn't realized it result in that damn name.

"Clarke," Lexa warned through a smothered smile and wasn't one bit surprised when all she got was a shrug in exchange. "I meant what's your drink?"

"Oh," Clarke nodded in feigned realization. "Well, in that case, surprise me."

Steadying her nerves as best she could with blue eyes trained on her every move, Lexa went about grabbing various bottles and mixers and adding splashes here and there. She heard her sorry excuse for an RA snort at the ridiculous performance (or possibly the very clear display of her inept mixology skills) but Lexa was confident that whatever she'd made would be just sweet and sour enough to appease any palate.

And also make them a little more handsy.

Either way, she'd consider it a win.

"There," she declared as though she'd nailed exactly what she was trying to do.

A blonde brow lifted dismay.

"Lexa."

"Yes?"

"That's eighty percent alcohol."

"It might have a kick to it."

"A kick?"

"Don't worry, beautiful. I'll grab you if you fall."

"Oh you'll grab me, huh?"

"Off the ground. I meant off the ground, obviously. Gentlewoman and all that," Lexa grinned and nudged the drink closer.

"Of course." Clarke took the cup and raised it just under her nose, letting out a soft 'oof' at the sharp scent of alcohol mixed with fruit. "Fuck, Lex, this is toxic."

Lexa bit her lip and leaned across the bar. "What? You don't trust me?"

"Shut it."

"Well alright then." 

"What exactly is this again? 'Gonna get me fucked up' juice?"

Lexa wet her lips and said fuck it. Kissing Clarke was better than any friendship. "It's just what's gonna get you where I need you to be."

Rounded cheeks pleasantly heated despite the narrow-eyed shake of Clarke's head. She went to tip the undoubtedly lethal mixture back, but paused when Lexa reached out. "Wait."

"What?"

"… Look at me when you drink it."

Blue eyes darkened as Lexa held them, silently daring Clarke to look away, and she had no idea where the confidence came from but something about this girl made her feel brave. And she wanted her so goddamn badly as Clarke tipped the drink up, never wavering in the silent but heated exchange as she took a healthy gulp.

"Whew," Clarke breathed and finally allowed herself to blink away the slight watering at the burn.

"Terrible?" Lexa laughed through a few claps from onlookers who'd watched the freshman brave the concoction when Clarke stifled a cough.

"Not terrible. Just strong," Clarke waved her off through another look and a much daintier sip. "But it's sweet, so that helps."

"It's sweet?"

"Yeah, but good."

"Can I have a taste?"

Her heart pounded as Clarke stared at her, face flushed from the moment or the fresh rush of alcohol, Lexa didn't know. But whatever she had been expecting it hadn't been what Clarke did.

Because Clarke gave her a look, and took a pull from the cup in her hand. And then she leaned across the counter to draw Lexa into a kiss.

The burn of alcohol and cherry juice bit at her tongue as the warm liquid spilled over into her mouth with a slow massage of lips. She swallowed it and fought a hiss to instead chase the hungry swipe of Clarke's tongue. It felt desperate, the hard press of her kisses, each stretched across the island as she licked into the sweet relief of Clarke's mouth.

Lexa felt herself echo the moan that shot down straight between her thighs and it felt criminal when those delicious lips suddenly pulled back.

Wild eyed and panting, she watched Clarke breathe a laugh even as she continued to cradle Lexa's jaw in her hands. And the sounds of the party fell on deaf ears when she grew serious again, catching Lexa's eyes and holding them with her own. She gave a brush of her thumb to the apple of Lexa's cheek and made her weak with a smile.

It was perfect.

This girl was perfect.

"Wanna go up to my dorm?"

[a-lonely-dunedain]

20 for tossdir & meneldir mayhaps?

ok this one uh. ended up So Much. was not expecting the levels of angst here but then Tossdir decided he was going to mention their parents and. ;-; they get hugs at least. pre-epic Tossdir and Meneldir are. a lot huh (I wasn't able to get the Exact wording of the prompt in there to sound natural so it was changed slightly, but I think what I wrote fits the overall point of it. I think. idk I make the rules here)

20. "Please. For me." "...okay. For you."

“Trying to leave again?” Meneldir hears. He freezes, then curses himself under his breath. He made a little too much noise in his hurried attempt to pack his belongings and woke his unwelcome companion who really should be at home.

“Yes. and I would ask that you do not follow me this time.” it’s a futile request, hardly the first time nor the last time he would make it, but he felt the need to say it nonetheless. Tossdir does not belong here in exile, but he was going to follow Meneldir anyway, and Meneldir would try to lose him. Maybe he’d get lucky and actually convince his little brother to go home this time. Maybe.

“Can… Can we not do this right now? I really don’t want to spend today trying to track you down…”

“Then go home. As I’ve been trying to tell you–”

“That’s not what I meant!” Tossdir sounds… almost angry. Meneldir is taken aback by it. “...do you even know what day it is?”

“I was not keeping track, but I do not see how that–”

“It’s February twenty-first.” he states, his tone sharp and hurt.

Oh. That time already… These dates have a way of sneaking up on him.

He understands the reason for Tossdir’s mood now. This is the day their parents died.

“I just…” Tossdir continues, trying to hide the shaking in his voice, but whether it is from anger or sorrow Meneldir cannot tell “I understand that you still want me gone, but I really don’t want to be alone today. Please. Just be here for me. You can run all you want afterwards but… just not today.” sorrow then, Meneldir thinks.

“Ah.” He clears his throat uncomfortably and stops packing “That… changes my plans then. I will stay for now.”

Tossdir had always been a very sentimental person, holding keepsakes from people who were close to him and keeping track of dates such as these was always something he placed a great deal of importance on. It’s not an unusual trait for a Dúnedan, but it made anniversaries like these very difficult for him.

Meneldir still thinks it would be better for him to be at home, with Bregadir and the other rangers –the family who is actually worthy of him– but it’s not as if that can be arranged right now. Dour as it may be, Meneldir’s company will have to do.

He walks over to where Tossdir is standing. He opens his arms slightly in an invitation for a hug, but he’s not sure if Tossdir would even want it. He has every right to be pissed at him, he just tried to abandon him in the wilderness on the anniversary of their parents’ deaths for fuck’s sake. The guilt threatens to eat him alive. Another mistake to add to the long list–

Tossdir suddenly hugs him with nearly enough force to knock him off his feet, forcing a slight ‘oof’ sound from him. Meneldir wraps both his arms and cloak around him, staving off the late winter chill.

“...and for the record, I don’t want you gone. I just want you to go home, where you’ll be better off.” he says quietly, words steeped with shame.

“...I don’t see the difference.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve been a terrible brother.” he sighs.

“You’re my only brother, I’ll take what I can get.” Tossdir hugs him a little tighter. Meneldir thinks he might be crying- nevermind, they're both crying.

Meneldir promised he wasn’t going to try leaving today, but he thinks to stick around a little longer than that. It’s winter, traveling is unpleasant and the snow would make him easy for Tossdir to track. No sense in trying to leave until spring at least. They’ve found a good location for their camp anyway, it would be a shame to waste it.

Well, those were the justifications Meneldir told himself at least. In reality, he simply didn’t want to be alone either. Running from seemingly the only person who still loves him is the hardest thing to do, and selfish as it is to stop, he just can’t manage it right now. There is still some flight in him, but not today. 

It’s better for Tossdir to be away from him. It’s selfish, Meneldir thinks, to put his desire for companionship over Tossdir’s long-term wellbeing, and he hates himself for it. But regardless, he can’t leave right now. He does not wish to be alone either. Not today.

[robinruns]

What a day. Oof.

(editing Robin here, this got long, sticking it under a cut)

I couldn't get up to get a workout in... or make lunch for myself... or breakfast. I did pack my gym bag with the intention of going to the gym after work because it is both hot (summer) and the air quality is garbage (Canada blowing smoke on us). First hour of work was literally one of the most excruciatingly boring meetings I've had to sit through. We got a massive software update and it will taking used to since so many things are just like second nature to me. There are lots of bugs still that kinda make me question why they weren't sorted out in the literal years this has been in development. It's gonna be even more of a cluster fuck tomorrow I think because we have to do the end of the month work. Oh and the fuckin window washers were there so I think I lost a solid hour and a half right off the top this morning. Ugh.

Not having a lunch meant I had to go to the grocery store for lunch. Going to the grocery store meant going out in the gross haze, and then of course, bad choices were made. Bad choices that involve getting a big bag of chocolates and then eating like 90% of it, so my therapist will be hearing about that on... whatever fuckin day I have therapy again. Next Thursday? I dunno. I had to cancel my appointment this week because I had to take my car to the mechanic. Then karma came around and I got my massage appointment (that was supposed to be this afternoon) canceled on me. Whatever. It's not like it wasn't already rescheduled once.

So with a gut full of chocolate, almonds, and bad choices, I went home instead of the gym. Well not directly home, I stopped off at the library and got the book I placed on hold last week. I dunno how long I have it for though. Whoops. My mom says the shortest time that you can have a book checked out is typically 2 weeks, so I'm gonna try to have it done in two weeks.

With all the commotion this morning I completely forgot about Frank's reverb sale until about 10:30 and of course like everything was gone. Oh well. I did get the We Didn't Start the Fire (1989-2023) (Fall Out Boy's Version) (from the Vault) 7" vinyl though. And the Benadryl Subreddit 7" from LS Dunes as well the other day. And new Taking Back Sunday is coming on Friday. Small glimmers of hope on the horizon.

I just feel mentally and emotionally spent this week and we're only halfway through. Tumblr hasn't been the refuge it sometimes is, so I deleted the app from my phone with the intention of just clearing my head from it for a while. I get notifs of asks and I'm like "Oh great, what method of suicide will the anons be suggesting now? Will they be creative this time, or go with an old standby?" Fun times.

I lowkey (highkey) hate that I'm hungry right now. Like I know mentally that I have had a disgusting and inappropriate amount of food this afternoon, but sadly chocolates are not filling. The self loathing is high. The desire to do something desperate is high. The knowledge that my clothes won't fit well is weighing (ha) down on me like crazy and it just makes me panic and again, makes me want to overcorrect in the other direction. How did I end up on the mailing list for 75 Hard? Probably another time like this. But maybe it's what I need? But do they account for dangerously hazardous weather with their outdoor workout requirement? Like? I get the idea of getting out in the rain or cold, but like wildfire smoke? Eh.

So the last few days have not been fun. Could be worse (NOT A SUGGETSION UNIVERSE), but sure as hell could be better.

[farmerlesbian]

5, 15, 21, 33

5. Are you “out” publicly? yeah! i am visibly lesbian and visibly trans/nonbinary/gnc and i flag very obviously almost all the time. i am publicly out to everyone. i'm not really able to hide it either if i wanted to.

15. How has your identity changed over time? oof well.. i .. hm. i spent a long time essentially unlabeled for my orientation because i struggled to reconcile being nonbinary and being into Ladies. and i hadn't really had many homo experiences so i wasn't even sure who i was into.

ok let's wind back a bit. so when i was a kid i knew something was.. there. i was incredibly afraid of it. (i guess now we're gonna answer the neurodivergent question haha) i couldn't even name it for myself in my own head. i would not. i was absolutely terrified.

now for context you need to know i was somewhat.. ostracized? i was lowkey bullied and i was very self-conscious, socially awkward, insecure, lonely. you know how people say little girls can tell someone is neurodivergent better than doctors? yeah. so i was extremely concerned with being Normal and being like accepted and having successful social interactions. i did not face concerns about family acceptance or religious homophobia or transphobia. this was about peer acceptance and social isolation/success.

so this is why i was terrified of the ... thing i could not name. so i wouldn't even say i was closeted because i wasn't out to myself. i remember.. telling myself something along the lines of.. like needing to be strong, and keep this secret forever and never let it out never tell anyone, ever. if i can do that it will be okay. this hyper-vigilance.

so i self identified as "boy-crazy", as a half-subconscious strategy to avoid scrutiny. i also tried very hard to make sure to act very Normal about girls and not be too avoidant with my eyes. i developed crushes on boys. now to be clear looking back on it, i intentionally did this and made sure to be conspicuous about it. oh what a time. i even had boyfriends.

around high school time i was on the internet a lot. i added tumblr to the websites i was going on and i found nonbinary people. i was fascinated by androgyny and nonbinary people, and i was learning about like social justice stuff a lot and i was like kinda Ally mode. i can't remember much exactly, i was also very much sleep deprived for much of later high school and mentally not well. i was friends with some gay people. i knew some people who were out by this time. i don't think i was thinking of myself as gay at this time yet. probably open to the idea of neutrality as a gender at this time. if i'd known a word for it i probably would have claimed it and identified with it.

then i went to college and i think something inside me knew i was like planning to be gay in college? like i completely subconsciously was like waiting for it. i was still deeply nervous and afraid but i was around a lot of new people and it's socially acceptable / normal to like experiment and stuff in college. i started experimenting with expressing attraction to women when talking with friends, or using words for myself like butch or dyke. (i didn't really know what the words meant i just was trying them on). i was around a lot more people who were out. i started trying out flirting with girls. i probably thought of myself as bi around this time.

then sophomore year i ended up on in 'gender inclusive housing' - a floor of one door building where any people could be roommates regardless of gender. we called it the queer floor. my RA was trans, manyyy of my floormates were lgbtq. there were a handful of straight people of the floor but the majority were queer. it was dramatic but fun honestly and an incredible experience being surrounded by that, and all the people i met through these people. i definitely started identifying as nonbinary and neutrois and using they/them around this time. i think i used demigirl a little bit but didn't feel super strongly towards it. i met my now-wife in the spring. i don't recall using any super specific words for my orientation other than like queer. i didn't know for sure what my orientation was so i was just keepin it vague. i didn't even really know for sure my gender i just knew somethin was going on!

couple years went by and i met a lesbian friend i became close with and i became more comfortable claiming it as an identity, at the same time as being nonbinary. around that time i started this blog.

and more years have gone by and i still feel like lesbian and nonbinary are true. I feel more secure and confident in being able to be both not a woman or girl or aligned with it at all and also being a lesbian, as well as confident in being into some nonbinary people and still being a lesbian. i think the specifics of my gender labels would include: trans, nonbinary, transgender and transsexual, transmasc (i guess? i'm unsure how i feel about this label and its usefulness in general or its accuracy for me. i kinda feel like sure i guess it is technically correct), neutrois, androgyne, neutral. stuff along those lines.

21. What message would you give to your younger self? bro... i don't even know. "it doesn't have to be great or even good, it just needs to be done". "it's okay to be gay it's okay to say it, it isn't going to help you to try to hide it and you shouldn't expect yourself to keep that hidden away forever it will eat you up inside and you don't deserve that".

33. What about your LGBT identity do you feel proud of/ want to recognize/celebrate? I'm proud that I'm me! I'm proud to be a dyke. I'm proud to be nonbinary. I'm proud to be exactly who I am, whether it's popular or not, whether anyone else gets it or not. I'm proud to be one member of a vibrant and beautiful and messy family. 🌈

send asks / #ask farmer lesbian

[sunflower-emoji]

I wanna know about you and Shoto!

2, 6, 11, 16, 20

Aaah, thank you Neon!! 💛

2. What are your pet names for each other?

Kaye: I'm real sappy when it comes to pet names (platonically and romantically), and Shoto gets the brunt of it I'm afraid. The ones I use most are "sweetheart," "love," and "honey".

Shoto: "My beloved" makes her so flustered even after all this time, so that one's my favorite. (K: So rude!) But usually it's just "dear" and "love/my love". They just feel the most natural.

6. What do you think the others love language is?

Kaye: I'm not the most touchy-feely person, but I know how much physical closeness means to Shoto (man is like a goddamn cat when it comes to playing with his hair) so I try to be better about it. Although it's not *that* hard.

Shoto: Quality time is so important to her. I feel guilty every time there's an extended patrol or long mission, but that just means I have to make sure the time we do have together is well-spent. I try to have time everyday that's just for us, even if it's just lying in bed for a little longer.

11. When did you know you were in love?

Kaye: Oh god, this is so embarrassing, because I didn't know until I accidentally said "I love you" one morning. I was super stressed out and he made me coffee and packed my lunch, and then I said it and-well, I gave it a quick thought and realized I very much meant it.

Shoto: And I'm the oblivious one. I knew a while before that-it was when we were having dinner with my mother and siblings. Seeing them all together and how well she got along with them-it felt like this was how it was always supposed to be. How I always wanted it to be.

16. What do you two find to be the most attractive about one another?

Kaye: I mean, his everything? His voice drives me crazy like nothing else. (And between you and me, when he loses a bit of control and lets that righteous fury shine through? Oof.)

Shoto: She has the most beautiful hands and they're always soft, even in the dead of winter.

20. What went through your head when feelings were confessed?

Kaye: Honestly, at first I thought it might have been a joke because lol trauma, but I had to remind myself Shoto would never do something like that. Still, I was fully prepared for feelings to be unrequited, so it took me a minute to reboot and realize I wasn't dreaming, aha. ^^;

Shoto: I was a little relieved, and glad. I'm aware I'm not the best at reading people, but I think I can recognize signs now. And I really wanted it to be true, so I asked.

Send me a self-ship ask!

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 040: Hitman's Back In Town (ASM 172-175, Ann 11)

MASTERPOST

In this batch, Peter (tries) to shoot a movie, Aunt May is a delinquent, and we see a few villains return!

Let's go through Annual 11 first!

So Aunt May's at a protest (we've previously seen she's invested in politics now!) and gets arrested because the cops think she's violent. The bail (because I forget the US has bail) is 200 dollars, which is a bit more than 1000 current dollars. Oof. No wonder Peter is stressed out.

I think she meant, "You can't make a Tomlet without breaking a few Greggs". Understandable mistake.

So May kind of sucks.

To cheer Peter up, MJ suggest he comes with her at work. She's an actress, you see! Well, an extra, but that's a detail. The villain is none other than... Man-Spider, to Peter's sadness. Mishaps happen, and Spidey ends up saving our villain. The crew offers him a role, which is something we've seen a few times before. It never goes very well!

The costume creator is NOT happy about that though, and he recruits three goons to fight our hero with some of his costumes.

I guess the artists wanted to draw aliens.

Look, it's been a long time for Peter, you know? Let's forgive him for all this mess.

So these spiders go at it for a while, and naturally, Spidey wins the fight. But suddenly... the place EXPLODES!

Turns out the evil guy wasn't the costumer, but a producer all along! Spidey takes care of him.

...Okay, whatever. If you couldn't tell, I skimmed through the issue. Do bails even get refunded? What the heck?

The issue features a second, shorter story. At the Coffee Bean, Peter and MJ are under attack. Turns out the nice musician was in cahoots with the gangster, oooh! At the end, MJ's angry at Pete for abandoning her.

A n y w a y.

ASM 172 time!

The story starts right in the action, as Spidey pursues Rocket-Racer, a McDonald's cosplayer. Spidey catches our clown, and more importantly, we get some panels with the other members of the cast, thank Lord!

I KNEW IT!!!! He's back! He's baaaaack! I did say he'd be back, hell yeah.

Afterwards, at a restaurant, Harry asks Peter to be his boyfr---I mean, his best man. Then they notice Liz, agitated, passing by. However, she runs away before Harry can catch up to her. Harry's understandably taken aback, and Peter tries his best to comfort him.

No, there's no kisses involved, to our great dismay.

At the Bugle, Gloria seems to strive just as before. Jameson is upset, as usual. However, when Dr Madison calls him, only joy remains in his brain and he dismisses Peter. Jameson's not quick enough to avoid Peter seeing Madison, however.

Great, Peter's finally caught up. Dear Lord.

Turns out Liz Allen is in a cell! She tried to steal things at a hospital, but can't bring herself to tell Peter WHOMST she did it for. Peter calls Robbie, and the latter accepts to bail out Liz.

Spidey tracks the Molten Man, who complains that his gloves didn't last long. Friend, here's a tip for you: your underwear is stronger than anything else, maybe you should study it and understand what's going on with it. Just a thought.

They fight, then police interrupt them. Onto #173!

The most important thing right off the bat is that one of the doctors does kung-fu.

Completely random, but I love it.

Meanwhile, the Molten Man finds himself a scientist who will ~willingly~ help him create the serum he needs to become human again. And it works!

Or not. Well, this is depressing.

Meanwhile, with our cast, Liz tells the reader that Harry will soon have the hand on his father's business. Oh. The sketchy shrink miiiiight be interested in that. The cops barge in and ask Liz to come with them. Raxton wants to have a discussion!

Later, Peter receives a letter from ESU. They say that he can't graduate since his grades are insufficient. Oops.

He also receives a call from Robbie, asking him to take pictures of the Raxton/Liz situation.

Raxton tells his step-sister he knows he's dying.

She makes a point, and Raxton obviously forgets he's in a comic book. Also, I love this moment between Liz and Spidey? It's small, but it's great.

The two super-powered people fight. Liz begs Spidey to not attack the MM, but he replies that he doesn't have a choice. To this, I answer... really, Spidey? Really? He wasn't particularly antagonistic before. He apologized to the earlier scientist and he had a civil, resigned conversation with his step-sister. Every time the Molten Man comes up, Spidey acts like an asshole.

At least we get an... interesting panel. Does anyone have Tarantino's phone number?

That's a cool setpiece, honestly.

Raxton says once more than he has no chance to survive this time, which we all know is bonkers, and the more he talks about it, the more ridiculous it becomes.

The Molten Man begs Liz to not let him die alone, then he explodes. Liz is depressed.

Oof. This is an awful parallel, not only to what happened a few panels ago, but also, and most importantly...

...to this.

:(

In the readers' letters, the team says that they made a mistake previously: nobody knows Harry was the Green Goblin, they just believe he thought he was. Okay. Makes more sense.

Also, this:

Uh-oh.

Onto #174!

The covers during Len Wein's run have been interesting. They're beautiful, but they seem a bit too busy.

The issue begins with Frank Castle, alias the Punisher, going through a frankly nice battle (I don't say that often!) with the People's Liberation Front.

Spidey's about to fling into his window when his landlady opens it herself and throws out ammoniac water right on Pete's costumed face--it's cleaning day, after all! That's funny.

Meanwhile, the PLF wants Jameson out of the picture and hires the Hitman to get rid of him. I'm on their side, Jameson sucks any time he tries to kill our hero.

Later, Peter stumbles on Harry and Flash not being boyfriends, nor sir, go away, there's nothing to see here! I ship them.

Turns out Liz has broken up with Harry, who's dismayed. Flash makes a disparaging comment about Liz, and Harry loses it. He's not a fan of Flash's attempts to cheer him up.

To help Harry, his two friends bring him to his doctor. Hmm. Sure. Yeah. What a great idea. Nothing bad will happen, I presume. Huh-huh.

What's funny is that after his few few cameos, they really toned down the doctor's creepiness. But there's still something unsettling beneath his eyes...

On a date with Marla Madison, Jameson enters his office... and finds the Hitman comfortably sprawled on his chair. Marla is a smartass and opens the intercom while the Hitman and Jameson hit it off to let the Bugle know of the kidnapper's plans.

She kind of slays, but I can't imagine we'll see her for much longer.

The employees don't quite know if it's a joke. The Hitman quickly discovers the trick and blasts the machine.

Spidey and the Punisher find themselves escalading the same building to save Jameson. That's a fun idea!

By the time the police enters, it's a complete clusterfuck (so it's really entertaining).

When #175 rolls about, they're still at it! The Hitman takes off with Jameson in a makeshift helicopter. While Spidey and the Punisher follow them, Marla gets a heartwarming scene where she's comforted by Robbie and Gloria.

In his car, the Punisher tells Spidey about his life story, and particularly about that time the Hitman, pre-costume era, saved him in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Harry and Barton Hamilton, the shrink, are having an enlightening conversation. By which, I mean, Hamilton purposefully riles up Harry, and the latter attacks him.

Well well. Seems like the therapy hasn't worked that well now, did it?

:(

I hope he's not dead.

The final act takes place on the Statue of Liberty. The Punisher and Spidey save Jameson from the PLF, who planted bombs all over the big statue. This gives Ross Andru and his mates a chance to depict a grandiose and quite impressive SoL.

The clusterfuck is back! What are you going to do, Frank Castle? Who are you?

Damn.

That was a good batch. Not excellent, but solid.

Poor Harry, though. I'm sad he's the Goblin again, and so soon...! I love the Green Goblin, he's my favorite villain by far, by far! But oof. Just... oof.

On *that* website, everyone is convinced that the therapist is dead, but is he really? I'm not so sure. I kind of hope he's not. The events certainly surprised me!

Look... I might... start the Green Goblin batch now... we'll see if there's no issue with SSM... I'm too invested :(

[imperatorisaureinova]

FTF thoughts

hookay FTF thoughts here we go! It's long so it's under a read more hah! There are parts about FTF I liked but a lot...also not really. I will say as a disclaimer I do understand that due Disney cutting the show things changed and things that were planned or set up had to be altered or dropped entirely. But there are so many choices in terms of writting and some personal biases from the crew that really just make me wonder "BUT WHY" Philip! Augh again an episode where he spends doing....nothing. Though this is more a general complaint of mine in the series over all esp now I've watched trough toh a couple times is that as a villain Philip doesn't really do all that much. Anything intresting he does do is either cut short, or we only learn about it via flashbacks/background info. I know Dana said she hates writing him and it shows! Which is honestly a shame because even if you dislike him, he's not just a cut and dry villain there's a lot of substance to him. And it's really sad to watch that go to waste.

I DID like the scene with Ghost Caleb, I had theorized for a long time that he was being haunted by the ghost of his brother/previous GGs and it's nice to see I was correct about that. And him saying "Oh, shut up." to them was funny, AND I WAS RIGHT ABOUT HIM HAVING ONE FINAL GRIMWALKER, but sadly much like anything intresting it wasn't meant to be. And now he's possesing Raine.

Which I apolgize for anyone who likes Raine, I really don't. And I'm sad that I don't but Raine just has such little substance, take away the fact they're Eda's ex and...there's not a lot there. Now of course Raine isn't the only character who suffers from this issue but Raine is more in your face because being Eda's ex means they're supposed to be more revelant but there's just not a whole lot there. Raine roleplayers I beg of you, PLEASE help me like Raine! I know they have potential but the show will not provide!

And to close my thoughts off on Philip so far, I'm sad they're just having him do the same thing, all signs point to him going to restart the draining spell, which kinda makes the whole DOU thing feel pretty moot. Sadly the way things are just makes so that there is just not a lot they can do with him in general. I've been expecting him to die by the end of the show since Hollow Mind and I figured he was going to kick the bucket by the end of King's tide so they could give all the attention to the collector (we'll get to him next). But guess he'll still be there for the finale. Regardless RIP Philip Wittebane, you were a great villain but you wound up being wasted.

Now onto The Collector....

Oh boy. Now given he was included because of the cut I was already a little iffy on him since Philip WAS already a great villain for the show, but ok fine, lets see what they'll do with him.

OOF. They pretty much declawed him instantly, compare to how TC acts in season 2 vs how he is in FTF. We got some intresting tidbits such as the collectors having been an entire species, who as their name suggests collect. But if something prevents them from collecting they'd go nuclear and kill everything, except we are shown TC doesn't like this. Which honestly is stupid as hell given HE LITTERALLY HELPED PHILIP TO PLOT GENOCIDE, but no, he gets excused of that because he's "uwu baby" ugh. I am willing to bet that the collector who caught the owl beast will be a different collector and not the one we know (it was a nice nod to see the Owl beast act up when seeing the collector, poor creature was tortured basically)

I also wasn't impressed by the Weirdmageddon but watered down. (The bit with Terra was funny) And Odalia...well she's there...yay? They said they were going to go ham,but fail at going ham F

So The collector so far is just a watered down Bill Chiper and not even a good one at that.

Huntlow, fucking hate it, sorry not sorry. As a trauma survivor I'm honestly so tired of the trope that we need romance to be "fixed" I don't give a shit if "Plus sized girls should see they can get the hot guy too" as a plus sized person, there are different ways they could've done that. Body positivity is important yes but this isn't the way to do it. Did we really need half the episode spend on Boscha and Kikimora? I don’t think so Stringbean? Her design is hella adorable but her being a “shifter” just feels like fan service to me, since many people have been speculating what her palisman was going to be Dana just said “Oh, she’ll be ALL the things so nobody is wrong” they should’ve just been her base snake form. woof, I really don’t want to be so negative but it’s hard to ignore bad writing when I see it, to quote what someone said in my discord server “So far, TTT and FTF really just feel like nothing more than afterthoughts” and honestly, I agree. I will be excited to watch the Finale in April (provided Itunes doesn’t fucking leak it again) but my hopes are all but gone, I don’t have much if any expectations 

[mwolf0epsilon]

Whumptober Day 22: Pick Your Poison

Prompt: Withdrawal

Summary: Stimpack usage out in the field was useful for keeping troopers going no matter how tired, hungry or stressed they might be. The problem was that sometimes campaigns lasted months on end...

[Withdrawal is a bitch and I doubt the stims used in the battlefield aren't addictive. This is also not the first time I've written a chatlog type fic but I'll doubt it'll be my last... I have elected to borrow a few medics for this so shoutout to @lost-on-kamino @ermakeys @purgetrooperfox @kkrazy256 and @gaeasun . I assigned your ocs some silly chat-handles for my own entertainment.]

THIS STORY IS ALSO ON AO3

---

The private medic comm channel was full on chaotic that day. Not that it wasn't generally chaos most other days, but this time it was for more than just info dumping or even venting one's frustrations over medical limitations or mishaps.

The 104th were back from a two month long campaign, and the on duty medics were besides themselves with worry.

All of the vode had come back severely addicted to the stimpacks.

Stimpack usage out in the field was useful for keeping troopers going no matter how tired, hungry or stressed they might be. The problem was that sometimes campaigns lasted months on end, which meant troopers who were regularly using stims to keep functioning, tended to become dependent on them even outside of battle.

Going through heavy drug withdrawal was not an easy process.

The symptoms made the vode volatile and somewhat unpredictable, and having an entire battalion going through it at the same time was beyond hellish.

The bouts of insomnia and irritability, mood swings, instances of depression and anxiety, full body aches and pains, constant cravings, fatigue and hallucinations, and the nausea spells came in waves. There was no resting for the medics.

But at least they had the medic comm channel to rely on.

---HyenaDon't has connected to The Hospital Clubhouse---

HyenaDon't: One of the vode I'm currently treating has gotten to the later stages of withdrawal.

HyenaDon't: His hallucinations are so bad he needs to be restrained.

HyenaDon't: Problem. He's allergic to the materials of the restraining straps.

RemRemRemRem: What are the straps made of? Leather? Polyester?

CMOric: Have you tried sedation?

HonHonHonCroissant: Have you tried sedating the vod?

HonHonHonCroissant: You owe me a drink.

HyenaDon't: I think they're polyester but I'm not sure...

RemRemRemRem: Swap out the straps for something else. If not just sedate and hope for the best.

HyenaDon't: Aite. We also have another vod that keeps vomiting.

HyenaDon't: None of the nausea medication is working.

PhylumPorifera: Are they on methadone or buprenorphine? A lot of the vode have weird reactions to buprenorphine.

HyenaDon't: He is. I'll swap the medication.

JackOfAllTrades: Besides the obvious how's everything going your side?

GoodnightMoon: Probably not great. We've had our fair-share of vode coming off stims after riots, raids and galas. Always sucks.

Twitch'ika: Oof...

HyenaDon't: Oh no yeah it's bad. We're down an entire battalion :(

KixxyCatDoll: :O

PitchlessWhisper: Just reminds me we're off to Umbara soon. Not gonna be a quick one either...

HyenaDon't: Join me in my misery Blue Boys :')

CMOric: We'd rather not.

JackOfAllTrades: :|

Optimist: Least your men are all intact. Withdrawal's a bitch but they'll live.

NotAThief: Way to set the mood Hopeless.

Optimist: Am I wrong?

MotherHen: Well no but that kind of killed the mood...

HonHonHonCroissant: What mood? We were already talking about allergies and hallucinations...

HyenaDon't: Gotta go, one of the boys just broke off into a sprint and my CMO is gonna have my shebs if I don't keep things in check.

MotherHen: Oh? Who's doing a runner?

HyenaDon't: .... Commander Wolffe...

GoodnightMoon: Isn't that one of Fox's ori'vode?

RemRemRemRem: Send holos. I need something to lure Fox in for a checkup.

HyenaDon't: Lmao will do.

Twitch'ika: Are we allowed to blackmail our superior officers into checkups?

JackOfAllTrades: When they're as stubborn as a CC?

JackOfAllTrades: Yes.

Twitch'ika: :O

PhylumPorifera: You're corrupting him...

JackOfAllTrades: Nah, just opening up new horizons for the kih'vod :)

PhylumPorifera: You're corrupting him!!!

Twitch'ika: I have seen the light.

PhylumPorifera: Twitch no!

KixxyCatDoll: No...

CMOric: We lost another one boys :(

Optimist: Alas they grow up too fast.

MotherHen: We shall miss your innocence Twitch

NotAThief: Lol what innocence? Twitch is a little fiend.

RemRemRemRem: Someone who smiles that much has got to have a dark side to them...

-HyenaDon't sent I_wasnt_decanted_for_this.png-

JackOfAllTrades: AHAHAHAHAH

KixxyCatDoll: Where are his clothes????

Optimist: Ah.

PhylumPorifera: MY EYES

Twitch'ika: How did he get up there?

GoodnightMoon: :O

CMOric: :O

HonHonHonCroissant: :O

MotherHen: :/

NotAThief: Oh I didn't need to see that.

RemRemRemRem: Uh, guess it runs in the batch.

PitchlessWhisper: What the kark does that mean?!

RemRemRemRem: Wouldn't you like to know.

HyenaDon't: I'm going to have to get him down somehow.

HyenaDon't: Force help me...

JackOfAllTrades: Lmao good luck!

---HyenaDon't has disconnected from The Hospital Clubhouse--- Yeah the medic comm channel helped cope with the horrors of having to deal with several hundreds of men going through different stages of withdrawal. It still didn't save the medics from having to deal with the shenanigans that came out of it, however.

Now how Hyena was going to get Commander Wolffe safely down from the rafters, he did not know...