#person who never treated him like shit and then it cuts to an ed that implies a nonexistent reverse harem. So good man

[sharkface]

Bucchigiri is like a 6/10 at its best and even that feels generous but that fucking credits theme is sooo good. Banger.

[estrellami-1]

For steddie prompts, what about….Eddie introducing Steve to the band!

Maybe they’ve been quietly together for a while and Eddie finally feels ready to be more public. BUT he’s dating “king” Steve. How will his friends react?

Feel free to skip if you’ve written something similar ❤️

Ooh okay I LOVE this idea. Please keep in mind I know nothing about the band or how to do their voices so. Like I’m only 84% sure it’s Gareth, Jeff and Freak. Whom I’m naming Frank. Also I don’t remember who coined Emerson as Gareth’s last name but yes you are correct and I’m stealing it please and thank you.

“Hey, uh, guys?” Eddie coughs, turning around to face the rest of the band. “Listen, you, uh. You’ve been really cool, about the whole framed for murder thing, and the whole…” he wiggles his fingers, signifying everything he can’t talk about. “All of it. And, uh. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

Gareth shares a look with Jeff. “We know, man. You’re seeing someone.”

Eddie blinks. “How?”

“You smile, like, all the time, dude. It’s kinda concerning. Your face is gonna get stuck like that.”

“Fuck off,” Eddie says, but he’s laughing. “Shit, man. It’s that obvious?”

“Kinda,” Jeff agrees.

“At least it is to us,” Frank adds. “We know you, man.”

“Listen,” Gareth says. “Whoever this person is. Do they make you happy?”

Eddie pulls a piece of hair across his face. “Yeah,” he murmurs.

“He’s blushing!” Jeff crows. Eddie flips him off.

Gareth flaps his hands at both of them. “Shut up! Children, both of you! Eddie!” He grasps Eddie’s shoulders. “They treat you well?”

“Better than I thought I deserved.”

“Goddamn,” Frank mutters. “Where do I find someone like that?”

“Right here,” Jeff croons, batting his eyelashes and leaning in. Frank, unimpressed, pokes his forehead with a drumstick.

“I work with children,” Gareth mutters, which is funny considering he’s the youngest in their ragtag group. Eddie chooses not to mention it. “Listen, man, we’re not gonna care. Man, woman, somewhere in between, as long as they make you happy.”

“Exactly,” Jeff adds. “As long as it’s not, like, Jason Carver or some shit.”

“Or a kid,” Frank points out. Eddie makes a face.

“God, no, never. To either of those. Listen, just. He’s changed, alright? Can you trust that?”

Gareth and Jeff share another look. Jeff steps closer. “You’re the best judge of character we know, Eddie. If you say he’s changed, we’ll do our best to listen.”

“Okay,” Eddie says. “Because he, uh. He’s gonna come pick me up today.”

Frank hits the hi-hat, letting it rattle. “You’re shitting me. We’re gonna meet him?”

Eddie nods, pulling another piece of hair in front of his face.

“Oh, man,” Jeff says. “You’re gone on this dude. Can you tell us anything about him?”

Eddie bites his lip. “I mean, you’re about to see him. But during the whole… everything. He saved my life more than once.”

“Then we owe him a whole lot,” Gareth says seriously.

Eddie smiles at his friends. “Thanks, guys. Alright, back to practice, Frank, count us in!”

Towards the end of practice, a car pulls up. Eddie doesn’t notice, he’s got his eyes closed, focused on what he’s playing. Jeff and Gareth give each other another look.

Steve Harrington steps out.

Frank misses a beat.

Eddie turns around, brow furrowed in question, then turning back to the front and grinning when he sees Steve walk up.

The song’s barely over before Eddie’s putting his guitar down and practically launching himself at Steve, who laughs and wraps his arms around Eddie. “Hey, Eds.”

“Stevie,” Eddie murmurs, hugging him tighter before just as suddenly releasing him and turning to the rest of the band. “Steve, these are the guys. Gareth, Jeff and Frank. Guys, Steve.”

“Nice to meet you, Steve, Eddie’s said literally only good things about you. Today.” Gareth offers him a hand, and he accepts, laughing.

“Yeah, we’ve been wanting to tell you for a while, but he never did it. I finally realized I’d have to actually come up here if he’s ever gonna do it.”

Jeff frowns, cutting his eyes over to Eddie. “You wanted to tell us, though?”

“Yes, definitely! It was my idea, actually, just. You know how my brain is about things sometimes.”

Steve frowns, poking Eddie’s head. “Be nice.”

Eddie pretends to bite at Steve’s retreating finger. “To who? I am!”

“To yourself,” Steve laughs.

“Oh,” Eddie says, then grins slyly. “Why would I, when I have you to do it for me?”

Steve grins back. “Because if you don’t,” he starts, finishing by whispering something in Eddie’s ear that has him gasping.

“You wouldn’t.”

“See, that’s your choice, isn’t it?”

Eddie frowns. “You’re mean.” But he leans into Steve’s side anyways.

“Eddie,” Frank says, “how in the hell did you get together with your high school crush?”

“Aw, you had a crush on me?” Steve says happily. “How embarrassing.”

“We’re dating, Steve.”

He just shrugs. “Still.”

Eddie rolls his eyes. “To answer your question, Frank…” he locks eyes with Steve, and they both start giggling. “Threaten him in a boat shed?”

“Try to get him back with his ex?”

Eddie groans, hiding his face in Steve’s shoulder. “Are you ever gonna let that go?”

“Probably not.”

“Somehow I have more questions now than I started with,” Frank says, “and I’m scared of what the answers might be.”

“Hey,” Gareth says suddenly, loud enough Steve and Eddie jump apart. “What the hell are you thinking, man?” He addresses Eddie, walking past them to the mouth of the garage. He doesn’t miss the way Steve angles himself in front of Eddie, trying to protect him. Good. He shuts the garage door. “You know how nosy my neighbors are, man, you can’t just do whatever you want! If people see-”

“Shit, man,” Eddie says, relaxing. “You’re right. Sorry. Thank you.”

“I’m happy for you,” he says, noting the way Steve’s shoulders go down. “But you’ve gotta be careful, man, we just got you back.”

“I know,” Eddie says. “You’re right.”

Gareth smiles, then. “Let’s go inside. You know my mom made lemonade, and I think we all want to hear how exactly this happened.” He smirks, gesturing at Steve and Eddie.

“You guys go ahead,” Eddie tells them. “I’d like to say hi to him first.”

Gareth rolls his eyes, moving towards the door. “I’m coming back out here in two minutes,” he warns.

He gives them ten.

[bruiserelliot]

Spoilers for Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death

Dammit I like Izzy now.

For real though I am so happy with how this season treats trauma? Idk, but the way specifically they're acting with Lucius, Izzy, Stede, and Ed.

Like Lucius is traumatized, he has been through hell, he knows exactly who's to blame, and he is Angry. I love it when characters get to be angry about the shit they went through, and I love it even more when they get to confront the person who's responsible. Like he really got to have his moment with Stede and say 'you broke him, and he broke me cause he pushed me off the fucking boat,' like can you imagine how long he's been wanting to say that, do you think he might have accepted he might never get to? And then he gets to, but he still sticks with Stede, and takes his advice. Like he knows Stede is responsible for a lot of the really awful shit he's been through, but also that he isn't. I love that that exists.

I love how Stede is reacting to Izzy, like he is not giving this man, the man who sold them out and nearly got them executed, the time of day. Izzy may have been looking out for Jim and Frenchie and Ed, but he fucked up a lot of Stede's life, when he was happy, like really happy, and he did that for Ed too, to an extent Stede doesn't even know about. Izzy might have changed, hell he might not have, but that doesn't change all the horrible shit he did, and I love that that exists.

I love how we still root for Ed, even after he has done these really, really really awful things. I love that his struggle is still there and important, and we want him to live, but everyone makes it known that he has severely fucked up his crew, Izzy, himself, the entire bleeding ocean. I love that the show allows these dynamics to exist

I love how Izzy is still a dick, and he may or may not have changed from the end of the last season, but we still feel sorry for him and want him to get out of his toxic relationship with Ed.

I love how this show doesn't shy away from acknowledging hurt. Like just because you love someone doesn't mean they can't hurt you and others, and just because someone hurt others doesn't mean you can't love them.

Please know this is all from a writing, tv-watching, loving complex characters and the narrative of healing, perspective. In real life if someone cuts off your toes, you run away from them.

[o-wild-west-wind]

A Biracial Reading of OFMD, ft. Iggy’s Revenge Izcourse

a.k.a. I typed out a sentence that turned into an accidental essay of meta, whoops!

Y’all…I love this fandom to pieces, but I don’t think some of you realize why not all of us love Izzy/may be critiquing him. And major disclaimer—I am in NO WAY telling anyone to stop enjoying him as a character. This is NOT an anti-Izzy post (I will go into more detail on why I in fact encourage you to keep doing so later, and to the people who are sending unsolicited hate mail to Izzy fans & haters alike: please don’t!)—I’m just tired of seeing vitriolic hate against the people writing about him as an antagonist, or critiquing his actions based on canon, or post after post of “why don’t people love Izzy like I do!!” and then aggression when people explain their honest opinions. Look: we all have our skrungly little bad guys. I get it!! I’ve got my own collection!! I too have become a consumer and enjoyer of the Izzy fanon!!! PLEASE don’t take this as an attack—I just want to provide some personal, potentially fresh context from at least one (obviously non-exhaustive) perspective for those who want to know why Izzy isn’t universally adored, and also to make a plea for a safer fandom space where we can talk about our perspectives on these fictional characters without escalating to unnecessary vitriol, especially as s2 be upon ye (bc holy shit fandom is supposed to be fun, we’re having fun and that’s an order 😤)

(Oh, and I know I’m potentially stirring the pot with this post, but this should go without saying: don’t send each other death threats. What the fuck. Nobody do this?!)

So now that the legalize is out of the way: I want to share that the reason I initially imprinted on this show—and on Ed specifically—was because I’d never seen an explicitly biracial character treated with such complexity, nuance, and grace. While our ethnic makeups are vastly different, I too am half-white & half-brown—which means we’re absolutely nothing culturally alike, but our worlds view and treat us as pretty much the same regardless. And like Ed, my dad resents my mom and my racial makeup, and is prone to what I like to call “white violence.” Not going to overshare on the internet, but let’s just say that all this compounded makes Ed feel highly relatable to me (although for legal purposes I promise I have not krakened my dad 🙃).

When I first watched the show (and honestly also until my 3rd or 4th rewatch), Izzy IMMEDIATELY made me think of my dad. He also immediately made me think of Ed’s dad. Their mannerisms, word choices, and tones of voice; the obsessive need for control; the default of violence; the gradual dehumanization until an ultimate kraken-ifying breaking point—it all read to me like an intentional parallel. A shadow of white violence following Ed around that he hasn’t been able to shake, and mirroring to him the things he fears the most, including the things he fears within himself and feels forced to become (he is half-white after all, and this is a whole other post, but tl;dr there can be a lot of baggage that comes with being half-white/half-poc in regards to grappling with your toxic relationship to that white side of yourself, and especially if your white parent was racist and/or violent). And you can claim a different reading of all of this if you want (I genuinely mean that, like I’m in favor of meta & I think it’s great to analyze these things) BUT. that does not change the fact that I felt what I felt as a result of what was portrayed on screen and combined with my lived experience. Because fictional characters are just that—fictional—and are vessels by which you can process the world; we will always bring our personal lived experiences to anything we consume, and that’s okay—that can be the point, even. Art imitates life imitates art. Interpretation is the name of the game!

(more under the cut)

So when I watch this show, it’s a helpful tool for me to process my own feelings of being victimized by the white violence that’s followed me around my whole life, as well as the ways in which I’ve rebelled against it/tried to make peace with a non-toxic version of whiteness (in parallel to the more overt theme of masculinity, which is—ding ding—inexplicably tied to whiteness and western colonialism) via chaos, love, hurt, and sometimes giving up and giving in—and in this process, Izzy is a safe target. And you know why that is? Because he’s FICTIONAL. I can feel rage towards him because he’s NOT REAL. I can better understand and process the pain I’ve felt and rarely seen societally acknowledged by watching it paralleled on screen via actors and writers who have likely also grappled with similar feelings (I mean, I genuinely have made more progress with my personal biracial trauma via this show vs. years of therapy), and if I want to assume the worst of Izzy based on my interpretation of canon to help me through this? That’s fine! Because I can’t hurt his feelings and he can’t hurt mine!! Because he’s not real!!!

And here’s why I still support the Izzy-enjoyment: I am sure that many of the people who love Izzy and defend him to the ends of the earth probably feel a similar way that I do about Ed. It’s why we get all riled up and protective of these characters, why we might take attacks on them as attacks on ourselves; recognition of the self in the form of the other, and all that. Izzy is a vessel by which to safely work through the dark feelings and the pain you’ve bottled up—and he’s a safe way to do that because he’s FICTIONAL. And that’s a beautiful thing imo!! That’s truly the beauty of art—it is what we make of it, and what we make of it helps make ourselves better. It’s good to be open to interpretation.

HOWEVER: that does not give you permission to discount my relationship to this show (as I will not discount yours), and more importantly: that does NOT give you permission to reject the notion that canonically in s1, Izzy is literally and thematically (emphasis on thematically) an antagonist who is purposefully written to cause harm that can be interpreted as a hate crime, especially to those with lived experience of homophobia/racism/ableism/bullying/etc.—and you cannot harass people about this when conversing about theories of canon. If someone sees Izzy’s dialogue as cutting, degrading, and even triggering, that’s extremely fair of them to do so—clearly Ed was written to feel it that way! Con himself has paralleled Izzy with Judas! And can interpret it all differently? Sure! But you CANNOT assume that everyone else will, and then get upset when people don’t. I can’t believe I need to spell this out about an angry white guy in a show about toxic masculinity, but if someone does not like Izzy, it is likely due to a personal history of harassment (or worse) that he is reminiscent of; by making a point to defend him to someone—even if you are well-intentioned—you are very much putting salt in a wound.

I want to take this opportunity to further emphasize some tenets of fandom in general:

you can like characters who do horrible things without needing to jump hoops to argue their morals as pure 👏

conversely, you can critique their actions and still like them (encouraged, even) 👏

you can like characters who do horrible things simply because they’re cool and hot and interesting—don’t worry, we know it’s not the same as liking people like them irl 👏

your liking a villain archetype says nothing about your own moral virtue 👏

you can like horrible characters and see reasons for why they are the way they are/view them as tragic/note sympathetic dimensions of their personality/root for them to have redemption arcs while acknowledging that said redemption arc may not have happened in canon yet and that these are implicit, not explicit, readings of canon 👏

and you can also reimagine canon and change their contexts in fan works so that they ARE morally virtuous 👏 but PLEASE just be mindful and accountable when you do this in a context where not everyone will see a character the same way as you, and where multiple of people of marginalized identities have spoken out about the harm not doing so can cause. Just be honest, sincere, and kind, listen and learn, and don’t harass people for understandably needing space from a character that symbolizes something different to them than it does to you.

Also: blocking tags or people just because they have character opinions different than yours is totally okay and does not mean anything other than “I am curating my online space to have a better time,” it’s NOT personal

And most importantly: FANDOM IS FOR FUN! This isn’t our day job! We come to fandom to decompress. Don’t ruin people’s safe spaces!!!

Like I said, I’ve grown to enjoy Izzy over time thanks to fandom and fanon, and I think it’s fantastic that fandom can have such diversity in the way it interprets canon. I can’t wait for his probable redemption arc (it will likely be a healing thing to witness for many of us) and I’m truly glad that we can all have different relationships to the same characters. But please—when some of us need Izzy to be a punching bag, just let him be a punching bag. No, it’s not homophobic and DEFINTELY not misogynistic to view him as an obstacle in Ed and Stede’s relationship (baffled by the amount of times I’ve seen this take—it’s a funny joke but if you actually think Izzy is treated the way female characters related to other mlm ships have been treated, the point is very much going whoosh). You don’t have to engage; it’s not personal. It’s not about YOUR relationship with him—it’s about MINE. Please let me feel and even discuss rage towards him when I think about episode 10. Please let me throw as many sandwiches at his head as I need to. Because I PROMISE, it won’t hurt him—because he, and none of these characters, are real; and yet we, the fans, very much are.

[candlecoo]

One good man au: what if bakugou looked up to izuku for a good while, like an older brother figure, and then when he was kidnapped and sees Izuku there he feels a sense of betrayal and calls him a villain.

Izukus just like 'bro I just work here, it pays well and the people treat me like a person, yknow?' And bakugou feels a sense of. Guilt. Bc he wasn't very nice to izuku growing up, but izuku didn't seem to care at the time.

When all might arrives, bakugou is already gone but izuku is still working, cleaning the bar. All Might maybe recognises Izuku from a few pictures bakugou has, of a small bakugou and a younger izuku. And he's like 'you... betrayed him?' And izukus like 'not really, I just work here man. It's like, the only place that doesn't treat me like a parasite bc of my quirk status lol'

What if izuku is offered a job at UA after the raid on the bar, maybe the bars closed down and he's like 'dammit I gotta find ANOTHER job :/' but nezu slides in like heeeyyy you have info abt the villains maybe and now you have no job! UA has a position open, wanna be my secretary the pay is Great and you get to rat out the villains? Qnd izuku is hesitant bc it's a hero school and people just are not super great to quirkless people but nezu assures him that any mistreatment will be punished accordingly.

I love the energy of izuku in this au, 'bro I just work here I don't do crimes'

At first Bakugou feels betrayed like this person that he has known since he was born, who in all but blood is family to him works for the villains!

After being called out by Katsuki Izuku has a long conversation with the boy.

Izuku: "Contrary to what you may believe Kacchan, I'm no villain I'm just a bartender. And before you say that I should 'work' somewhere else, I'll tell you I've tried. But nobody wants somebody who's quirkless and if they do it's so they can cut my pay, make me do all the hard labor and treat me like an animal. Here I'm treated like a person, like I matter. That's all I ever wanted."

Bakugou: "You could've gone to someone, told them all this shit, I would've listened, a hero would've!!"

Izuku: "... Heroes won't do anything, last time I trusted a hero they destroyed my dreams and told me to learn my place in the dirt with the other worms. They never would've helped someone like me. And as for you Kacchan last I remember you were going around saying how much of a worthless, useless Deku I was. I may be older than you, but I still here the gossip."

And the funny thing is Bakugou knows he is right, Katsuki has never been nice to Midoriya even when all the older boy wanted to do was help him. And it weighs heavy on him.

All Might also accuses Izuku of betrayal and of being a villain, but Izuku looks him dead in the eye and goes "I'm just the bartender, I've never committed a crime in my life." And All Might just blanks like what??? He turns to the young man and is like "then why didn't you report the kidnapping??" To which Izuku throws back "And lose the only job that will hire, let alone treat a quirkless individual like a person? No thanks. The perfect symbol of a corrupt quirk society would never understand that struggle. We quirkless are treated like victims waiting to happen if we haven't killed ourselves before fifteen, that is."

And that throws the Hero for the loop, since gaining OFA he never thought about the struggles of quirkless people, he didn't know it had gotten that bad.

Nezu finds out about Izuku, and after some research finds out that he was wrongly rejected from UA even though his tests would've gained him a seat in Gen Ed at least!!! So with some negotiation gets Izuku a position on the UA staff as his secretary. As long as Izuku helps where he can during investigations. And he promises the man that he will be paid correctly and treated fairly this time around, or there will be hell to pay for any offenders.

Izuku has major "we live in a society" vibes and I love it.

[felicitysmoaksx]

Summary: Then the girl coughed, “Sarah Reese. Fourth Year Med Student.”  As soon as the words passed through her lips, a pleasant burn came over the upper part of his arm where he knew his words to be. He had never experienced what happened when his words grew dark, but he had treated enough patients to know his words were darkening to black right now.  Connor Rhodes had just met his soulmate.

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: Vague depictions of a train crash and probably inaccurate depictions of getting medical stitches. Along with probably many more inaccurate medical procedures.

Read On AO3 | Fic Playlist 

Your Words (Burned into My Skin)

Sarah Reese. Fourth Year Med Student.

The words were etched into Connor’s skin in a dark grey meaning he hadn’t met them yet. When he met her, the words would darken to black,  like the ink of one of his tattoos. (Though these days he wasn’t sure he would meet her at all. He didn’t expect to meet her on his first day at Chicago Med, especially in the middle of a train derailment.

Connor blinked slowly as he became conscious. All around him he could hear groaning, crying, and even some screaming. Connor pushed himself up and quickly moved from person to person, assessing injuries and seeing who needed his help the most. 

When he moved to the second car, he caught sight of the badge- GAFFNEY CHICAGO MEDICAL CENTER PERSONAL- before his eyes moved to the woman, who was awake and alert trying to get her bearings. She was a little bit younger than him, with curly brown hair pulled up into a bun, giving him a clear view of the cut she had on her forehead. 

“And you are?” He asked as he moved forward to help her up. He felt her stiffen momentarily as she glanced up at him.

Then the girl coughed, “Sarah Reese. Fourth Year Med Student.” 

As soon as the words passed through her lips, a pleasant burn came over the upper part of his arm where he knew his words to be. He had never experienced what happened when his words grew dark, but he had treated enough patients to know his words were darkening to black right now. 

Connor Rhodes had just met his soulmate.

But now was not the time to dwell on that. Now, there were dozens of people who needed his-their help. He pulled her up, keeping a steadying hand on her arm when her knees buckled. “I’m okay. I’m okay. Far as I can tell the cut isn’t too deep. But I think my arm popped out of its socket when I fell and I’m not concussed. It’s 2015. I’m on my way to Chicago Med to start my ED rotation. Grew up in New York.”

His soulmate-Sarah Reese was right. Her left arm was popped out of its socket. He gripped it and pinned her with a sympathetic look, “I can pop it back, but it’s going to hurt.”

“Okay. Just do it,” She nodded. 

“On three. One, two…” Connor didn’t say the other number, before he moved, snapping her arm back into place. 

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

“Sorry, sorry. But how do you feel? Can you move your arm now?” Connor asked. She could. It was a little sore now, but manageable. She told him as much. 

“Then do you feel up to getting some practice in before your ED rotation? We have a lot of people that need help.” Connor half asked half told her. 

“Guess, I can’t say no with the number of injured people. But technically, I’m not supposed to perform procedures without a Chicago Med doctor supervising.”

“Good thing, I’m Chicago Med’s new trauma fellow. I start today too.” He said his thumb, rubbing her left wrist to try and find her pulse, just to be sure she was okay, but she flinched and Connor soon saw why. Banded like a bracelet around her wrist were the first words he had ever spoken to her. ‘And you are?’

He opened his mouth to apologize. Touching someone else’s words was highly frowned upon.  Even though he was her soulmate, he didn’t know her like that yet. She waved her hand backward, waving him off, “Let’s get moving.” 

And moving they did. Sarah was a little hesitant with procedures and it grated on Connor’s nerves at first, because people needed help before he remembered today was her first day of her ED. This was probably her first experience with treating people outside of a textbook, especially to this degree. 

“You good?” He asked in between people, glancing back at her. 

“Yeah,” she answered him before turning to the woman on her phone as they passed her, “Miss, are you calling 911?” 

“Yeah, they said firefighters and police should be here soon.” 

They continued to press forward. Only to stop a moment later when they saw one of the train cars. It looked like an accordion in a way, being half on the train tracks and half off of it. But that wasn’t all. The was another car after it. It looked as if it had been tossed on its side like a toy instead of the real thing.  There was a yellow electrical pole going through it. 

“Oh, this just went from really bad to catastrophic. ” Connor mumbled more to himself than anything. His soulmate, however, turned back around to the woman calling out, “Ma’am? Can I use your phone? I dropped mine when I fell.”

“What are you doing? She said she already called 911.” Connor said, after checking the car for any major injuries. Biting her lip, Sarah pressed the phone to her ear, “I know. I’m just trying to give us a leg up.”

The line trilled and trilled before going to voicemail. Sarah sighed, shooting a text off to the same number then she tried to call again. This time the person picked up. 

“Can’t talk right now Sarah. I’m on my way to a call.” Kelly’s Severide’s greeting was brief and to the point. 

“The train derailment.” It wasn’t a question. With the size of this crash and the number of injured people, there were bound to be at least three firehouses on their way, if not more. 

“Yeah, but how would you know? We just got the call about a minute ago. Not enough time for Chicago Med to get wind of it yet.” 

When Sarah was silent, her step-brother sighed heavily. “You were on the train, weren’t you?” 

“Technically, I’m still on the train.” 

“Shit Sarah, we really need to get you a car,” Kelly swore. 

“We can debate that later. Right now we have a lot of people who need help and that’s just who I saw. We still have two whole cars that we can’t get to. It looks like an EMS plan 2. Mass Casualty,”

Kelly swore again. “I’m buying you a damn car.”

“Accidents still happen with a car,” Sarah told him before she hung up. Handing the cell phone back to the woman she thanked her. 

“CFD should have some idea of what to expect now.” She said to no one in particular as she turned back to survey the scene. She could faintly hear the sirens. It wouldn’t be long now.

An hour and a half later, after narrowly avoiding Kelly, Shay, Andy, Brett, and anyone else she saw of 51. Or any of Kelly’s other friends from other firehouses; Sarah was in an ambulance on her way to Chicago Med, trying to keep a little girl calm as she yelled for her father while Connor was in the ambulance ahead of her treating a man they found in the car on the ground. He had major crush injuries.

“My daddy! You have to go back for my daddy! I want my daddy! I love my daddy!” The girl continued to wail 

When Sarah arrived at the hospital, a doctor took over with the little girl and Connor called for her to assist him. 

“Can you do a Cortis line in the groin?” He asked as she slipped on a pair of gloves.

“Mmhm,” she mumbled, stepping forward and because of the way her morning had gone, Sarah was quick to get the line set up. But when it came to getting the line in-she couldn’t.

“I can’t find a vein!” She panicked, her hands shaking so much from the adrenaline finally wearing off from this morning. A woman sighed, “He’s a patient, not a pin-cushion.”

Her hands shook even more. The patient flat-lined and Sarah’s heart fell to her stomach before a hand reached over and gently pried the needle out of her hands, sticking it in one go. Connor’s voice appeared behind her back, “Okay, charge to 100. Clear!” 

Everyone in the room echoed him as they took a step back. The monitor continued to flatline. Her soulmate (and if it hadn’t already been a disastrous morning Sarah would cringe at how bizarre that sounded even in the comfort of her own mind) called out again, “Charge to 200 and clear!” 

The monitor stopped its one long beep abruptly and instead started to beep. Not steadily, but close enough that they could work on getting it back to steady. 

“And he’s back,” Connor took his blood-soaked gloves off as did Sarah as she backed slowly out of the room while he addressed the nurses.

“Sarah Reese?” Sarah looked up to see an official-looking woman standing there. She wore glasses and held an air of professionalism in her black blazer and skirt with a white blouse and dark flats. The outfit brought out the warm hues in her brown eyes.

“Yes?” She asked nervously. The woman offered her hand, “I’m Sharon Goodwin. Chief of Services. We had decided you were a no-show when you didn’t show up this morning. But clearly, that wasn’t the case. Speaking of as soon as we have a doctor available, I’ll have someone stitch up your forehead. Other than that, do you have any other injuries we need to be aware of that need more immediate attention?”

“No ma’am,” Sarah accepted Mrs. Goodwin’s hand and shook it. Wincing slightly because her dominant hand was linked to her dislocated shoulder she had this morning. “And can I apologize for being late? This is not like me.” 

“It’s not like you could control a train coming off its tracks and Nurse Sexton vouched on your behalf. But I wanted to welcome you officially to Chicago Med and I’ll see if I can get a doctor to see you soon.” 

“It’s not that big of a deal I can-”

“I can do it,” a male voice said from behind them. 

“Doctor Rhodes,” the chief of services, turned to face Sarah’s soulmate. She offered her hand to him as well as she introduced herself again. “Welcome to you also. Oh, you’re hurt as well.”

“I’m fine. Is every day like this?” He questioned dryly and their supervisor responded in kind, “Well, some days we’re busy.”

He laughed as another ambulance rolled in with a frequent flier with Cystic Fibrosis, named Jamie. He seemed to be a little younger than Sarah, just entering his early twenties.

“I can wait,” Sarah assured the chief of services and Connor after Mrs. Goodwin asked him to look after Jamie because all of the other ED doctors were attending to crash victims. She shrugged, “Head wound isn’t going anywhere.” 

Connor narrowed his eyes at her. She rolled her eyes. How come he could claim to be fine with an injury and she couldn’t? “I’m serious. It’s fine. Blood’s dry and I’m not even feeling dizzy.” 

Then she walked away before he could argue with her. Soon she was pulled into another case. This one started with a mom running out of a treatment room, screaming that her daughter couldn’t breathe. 

Sarah moved without thinking about it. Pressing the code blue button, she started chest compressions. It would be later after she had broken the girl’s ribs, that it was the same girl from the ambulance ride.

“Hey, I‘m waiting on some test results for Jamie so I can sew you up now,” Connor said a little while later, then he paused when he saw the expression on her face. His soulmate seemed…lost for lack of a better word, “…Are you okay?” 

“I just broke a little girl’s ribs to restart her heart.” She said dimly, almost unaware of who she was speaking to or speaking at all for that matter. 

“So you saved her life,” Connor said slowly, slightly louder than he normally would when talking to someone right next to him. Maybe he could get her to focus on the fact that she had just saved someone’s life. 

“But I broke her ribs.” She repeated. Connor sighed softly, reaching out to grip her shoulder. He squeezed until his soulmate met his eyes. She had brown eyes. Which he knew already, but now he could take the time and study them. He was a sucker for brown eyes, but it seemed like he was a sucker, especially for her. They were soft brown like milk chocolate. And warm. So warm.

“To restart her heart,” Connor said in a serious but soft tone. He squeezed her shoulder again. Dimly he wondered if he would be trying this hard to make her feel better if she wasn’t his soulmate. “Broken ribs can always heal. We can’t always restart a heart. But you did that for a little girl.”

“I guess,” she mumbled and Connor had to accept that for now as he led her to an empty treatment room. He had her sit down on a treatment bed while he gathered what he needed to stitch her up. 

“You believe in them, don’t you? Soulmates?” She asked. He was cleaning off the dried blood from her forehead. 

“My mom and dad weren’t soulmates. But my mom had one. He died when they were in college. She always talked about how special and important soulmate bonds were. I guess somehow that got impressed onto me, being the one out of me and my sister to receive a soul mark. You don’t believe in them?” He didn’t have to ask. The way she asked said that she did. But Connor asked anyway. 

Sarah shrugged as he threaded the needle. “I’ve watched my mom go through two nasty divorces and I’m part of the two percent of the U.S. population born with a soul mark when neither parent had one. The only people around me that are soulmates or had met each other were my brother’s best friend and his wife. So I…I’m not quite sure what you want from me.”

At least she was honest. And to be completely honest with himself, Connor wasn’t sure what he wanted from her either. In the beginning, when he first received his mark, he wanted a relationship like his mother had had with her soulmate. But as the years wore on and he didn’t find her, he started finding other people. A few serious relationships and a longer than he cared to admit list of one-night stands. Yet the stories his mother would tell to him and his sister kept swirling in her head. 

He put numbing cream on her skin, before tilting her head to get a better angle for the stitches. Sarah hissed when the needle first made contact with her skin. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” He muttered to her out of habit. They sat in silence while he worked for a few minutes until…

“I know how to do a groin line,” she told him abruptly. But Connor didn’t even so much as falter in his movements as he tied off her wound. He nodded, “I’m sure you do. It was probably just your adrenaline wearing off.” 

“Your adrenaline was probably wearing off too. But you stuck it in one go.” 

“I have four years more experience than you do. It’s only your first day. Give it time and you’ll get there.” He paused, “You up for helping me now? I can stitch myself up. But I can’t tie off my wound myself from the angle I’m going to have to come at it with.” When Sarah nodded, he moved, changing his gloves,  picking up a new needle, and threading it. Then he stripped off his shirt and got to work.

“So can I ask you a question?” He asked while she put on a pair of gloves. 

“Sure…Oh wow. Your stitches are nearly perfect.” She said, watching as his practiced easy movements. She looked into his eyes, “Is that a trauma surgeon thing or a you thing?” 

Nothing he didn’t already know. So Connor smirked slightly at his soulmate, “I’d like to think it’s just a me thing. But it’s just years of practice. After my residency, I spent a year in Riyadh where I was paid very well not to leave unsightly scars.”

“So you’re not full of yourself at all,” she deadpanned. Connor's smirk morphed into a grin as he struggled to contain his laughter. Well, Sarah Reese wasn’t as timid as she seemed.

“Were you a firefighter before you decided to go to medical school?” He asked and to his slight surprise because she seemed to know about the CFD. While he hopped in the back of the first ambulance he saw with Jorge, he caught Sarah staying back to talk to a very tall, broad-shouldered man with dark umber skin and inky black hair. From the way he was dressed before he wrapped a firefighter jacket around his large frame, he seemed to be someone of importance.

“But you were talking to that man at the scene. You seemed to know a lot of their shorthand,” Confusion dawned in her brown eyes so he clarified, “The one with the white shirt?”

“Oh, you mean Boden. Yeah, he’s the battalion chief over at firehouse 51. But no. I’m not a firefighter. Probably should’ve been, considering how I was raised but I can’t run for shit. My brother is though. He’s a lieutenant. I guess some of what he’s been saying since I was twelve finally sunk in.”

Connor hummed in acknowledgment, pulling another stitch closed. “You said you were from New York on the train?” 

She nodded. “Yeah,  I moved to Chicago when I was ten though. Left for college and then came back to the city for medical school. Wanted to have more family around. You?”

“Chicago. Born and bred. Been away for a while.” He made the last stitch, before glancing up at her. “Can you pinch the sides together now?” 

“Well then welcome home,” she said with a smile and he grinned back.

There was a knock on the window before the glass door slid open. Sarah looked up and saw April standing there with a stack of clothes and a tablet. 

“Dr. Rhodes, Jamie’s scans came back, and oh, here are your scrubs. And Ms. Acosta, Jorge’s girlfriend is here.” She said, before pivoting to Sarah, handing her a set of blue scrubs. “And these are my backup scrubs, but at least they’re not bloody or covered in dirt.”

“I may need to start carrying a change of clothes with me because this seems to happen to me a lot at Med.” Sarah smiled gratefully at the nurse, “Thanks April.”

“Oh, and Herrmann and Andy Darden are here, dropping off belongings from the train. I think Darden is also looking for you though.” 

“Thanks, April,” she said once more. Shooting her brother’s friend a smile in thanks and then one at Connor, “And thanks for stitching me up. You probably saved me from a lecture that I really don’t have the energy to deal with right now.”

She paused by the door as she rolled her eyes fondly, “That’s big brothers for you though.”

Then she was stepping out of the treatment room, sliding the glass door shut behind her as she walked away. Connor glanced at the nurse. April, Sarah had called her. “She isn’t really as timid as she seems is she?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve known Sarah since she was ten. I went to school with her brother. It takes a little while to get her out of her shell, but once you do…” She trailed off while a smile slowly grew on her lips and Connor nodded as he looked down at the tablet. He understood what she was saying.

Andy had her phone. They found it during the overhaul and apparently he came to check on her because Kelly couldn’t. Squad Three had received another call after they finished helping Truck with the clean-up of their assigned train car. He hissed when he saw her forehead, after pulling away from the hug, he had pulled her into upon seeing her. 

“How many stitches?” 

“I don’t know. He didn’t say and I wasn’t paying attention.” 

“You know Kelly’s threatening to buy you a car.” 

“And how long has he been saying that? For the last four years?” Sarah rolled her eyes, “I want a car like what he has. I want a car where we rebuild the motor like we did when you were two were in high school.” 

“You want a 2007 black and yellow Camaro where we rebuild the engine.” Andy corrected with a smirk folding his arms over his chest, “Because you love the movie Transformers and want a Bumblebee.” 

“Kelly promised after I finished my first year of college,” Sarah laughed. Her brother’s oldest friend nodded with a snort, “I know. Who do you think has been going to car graveyards and car dealerships with him?” 

Herrmann called out to Andy and both he and Sarah turned. They were ready to head back to the crash site for the next load of belongings. She waved to the older firefighter as her bonus big brother planted a kiss on her forehead. As he made his way across the room, he turned and was walking backward when he called to her, “Oh! And Heather says you better be at the baby shower! She’s counting on you to keep her sane since Shay’s got baby fever these days.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there.” Sarah waved her hand flippantly and Andy laughed again as he turned back around jogging after Herrmann. 

“The central line. Can’t tell you how many times I missed it before I got it.” He said as he found the one person he had been searching for all day. She looked back at him, a frown pulling her lips down. She eyed him warily for a moment before she returned to her task. “I’m fine with him. I never miss.” 

Connor moved so he was standing more in the room, folding his arms. “Yeah, that’s because he’s the ideal patient. His life isn’t in the balance and you can’t hurt him.”

Sarah huffed, eyeing him again. She clicked her tongue, “If this wasn’t a requirement, I wouldn’t even be here.” 

She turned back around, the sleeve of her lab coat falling slightly, and now he could see his words on her skin. Still banded like a bracelet around her wrist were the first words he had ever spoken to her. ‘And you are?’

Connor forced his eyes to look away from her wrist and back to her face. “And where would you be?” 

“I’m a lab person,” she admitted quietly. Connor raised an eyebrow, “Pathology?”

“Maybe,” she admitted quietly. He nodded and then told her, “Every med student feels that way when they first start treating patients…I did.”

“You? Mister trauma?”

He chuckled quietly, “Hey, that’s Dr. Trauma. Most people call me Connor though. But yes, my first day dealing with patients I swore, when match day came up, I was going to pick pathology.”

“What happened?” 

”Somewhere along the way I just fell into a rhythm of things and figured out I liked helping people way too much to be in a lab all day.” Connor shrugged, “I’m not saying it’ll be the same for you. But don’t make any decisions yet based on your first day in the ED. Give it some time.”

Then he was walking away, leaving Sarah to stare after her soulmate. 

“Hey!” Kelly said, spotting his step-sister at the end of the shift. He smiled sympathetically at her, “Hell of a first day huh?” 

“Yeah. What are you doing here? I didn’t figure I’d see you until I got home tonight.” Sarah yawned, rubbing her eyes.

“Oh, I have a date-” Kelly Severide looked sheepish. He rubbed the back of his neck, “-with April. But these plans were made before this morning so if you want me to, I can cancel and take you home.”

She knew when they were made. She also knew her brother had been really excited about this too. And Sarah wasn’t about to let them cancel just because she had gotten hurt. “No. It’s okay. Go on your date. I’m just a little sore. Nothing I can’t handle and if I need anything, Shay will be there. I already talked to her.” 

Truthfully she didn’t know if Leslie Shay would be there or not. But she didn’t want her big brother to worry about her. And it seemed to satisfy her brother as he nodded. “How are you getting home?” 

“I figure I’d just take the bus,” Sarah shrugged, but Kelly shook his head and reached into his pocket, “Take my car. I’m sure April won’t mind dropping me home after.” 

When he dropped the keys in her hand, he saw her words. No longer dark grey but black. “So you met them? When?” 

“Yeah. Today on the train.”

“What’s he like?” There was a pause before her brother corrected himself, “Or she? What’s she like?” 

When Sarah said nothing, Kelly continued to squirm, “Or they? What are they like?” 

 “He, or at least I think so. He hasn’t corrected me otherwise.” Sarah laughed, before shrugging, “And he seems alright so far. But it’s only been a day.” 

After her step-brother surprised her and told her to keep an open mind about her soulmate, (Mister Made His Way Through Half The Female Population of Chicago) he pressed a kiss to her forehead as a goodbye, saying he needed to find April or she might think he stood her up. 

So Kelly’s advice was the only reason Sarah could think of that propelled her to offer Connor a ride home when she saw him start to leave for the night.

“Hey, my brother had a date tonight and left me his car. Do you want a ride home?” Her soulmate turned and blinked at her. Considering her. Then he nodded with a tired smile, “Sure, that’d be great.” 

“Just...Keep an open mind, Sarah. I know you have your perception of love. But he might surprise you.” 

[murryumthecreator]

Caterpillar

Authors note: This is 1/? of my Fezco series, enjoy!

Pairings: Fezco x Black! Skater!Fem reader

Summary: Reader is a skateboarder who is signed to a crew and Fez likes her and gets upset with how she addresses their ‘situation’.

Warnings: Cursing, possible bad grammar, toronto/jamaican slang, one sided love(slightly) and angst(slight), Credit card(ing/ed) is when you get a board to the crotch (i kind of took influence from the movie skate kitchen for it)

🤎🤎🤎

“What are you yute saying? Are y’all ready for me to take over the Honey Bee ‘Ig’?” You ask, grasping your phone with ring-clad fingers. This moment felt surreal, you being a face for black femme skateboarders. You were signed to a skate crew after years and years of falling and scraping your knees trying to be seen. You were patient. You had to be with the amount of rejection you had received. Every year you reached out to different skating brands in hopes of joining their team but you were only met with radio silence. The silence didn’t stop you it pushed you to learn more to keep moving, you had seen what impatience had done to your mother's dreams and her mother's dreams. Your mother had always wanted to own her restaurant but it never seemed like her time. The banks wouldn’t give her her loan money on time, pregnancy had put a hold of her plan coming into fruition, nobody had operated in an orderly manner and your mother just gave up while she was ahead. You refused to be doomed to follow in her path of quitting, so you pushed and pushed, and here you were enjoying the fruits of your labor. “Ayo Y/n chill with that Instagram shit” Fez mutters, blunt placed between his lips as his eyes look in the rearview mirror to peek at you. Ignoring his words you continue with the live, before reading a multitude of comments. You squint your eyes looking at the small screen of your phone, ‘Who Dat in the back talking🤨’, ‘ Y/n, say swear you got a man?’ standing out to you before you let a loud cackle out. “Y’all gotta chill I’m hanging out with my hb’s. Last time I checked I don’t have a significant other! I’m single till the right person asks me,” you giggle out, running your fingers across your lips. You hadn’t noticed the piercing blue eyes that were peering at you with every word you let out. Though you were oblivious to the longing glances Fezco had shared with you Ashtray, Faye and Rue weren’t. They saw the impact you had on the bearded man, your presence is the difference in how his day would go. You never tried to isolate Fez from his brother and you treated Faye like a close friend when others just pushed her around and dismissed her. And even though Fez wouldn’t admit it, Faye had started to become a sister to him and he greatly appreciated your effort to befriend her. Fez loved your passion, voice, and patience. He had always felt like his life had never extended further than the familiar business he was destined to, seeing you persevere through challenges that would kill others internally. Fez patched up your bruises from time to time, even took you to the emergency room when you got credit carded by your board and started leaking blood. He’d admit to being your biggest fan with the biggest grin making you cover your face with your hands as you told him to stop playing. You were his little caterpillar, you hid behind the challenges thrown at you, growing as you learned to push through and then transitioning into the full beauty you were. It was a cycle of growth and he loved that. Fez grips the leather steering wheel before he boasts in a low voice, “Cut that shit out”. Your face scrunched up at his response, Fez had never been one to dim your light he often was the one shining a bright light on you; you look at the ginger in disbelief for a minute before turning back to your phone, “Your mad for what?” You ask, facing Fez. Your wrist snapping in a confused manner. “Ain’t nobody mad. You doing too much,” Fez mumbled causing your eyes to narrow. Doing too much? Did he just say that shit? “Drop me off,” you said as irritation filled your body. Though your voice was clear Fez kept driving. “Fezco I swear to fucking God if you don’t let me out of this damn car!” You said voice raising with every minute that passed. The comment section went wild, wanting to know what was going on. Fez mumbled out a ‘Nah’ before glancing at the rearview mirror. Your blood pressure raised before the ginger finally pulled over to let you out. Unbuckling yourself, you get up and slam the car door walking to your house. Flipping Fez off.

[absolutepokemontrash]

MC’s Half Demon and They Look Awfully Familiar Lessons 18-20

Series Masterlist

T-the season finale… *sniffle* it’s been a wild ride y’all… I’ve never actually written and stuck through with something for so long, so this is a real achievement for me! I really hope you guys have enjoyed this completely weird fluffy/angsty/mildly crackhead adventure! Please enjoy the last part!

All is well, the family is back together, everyone’s fine, the school year is almost over-

Wait, the school year is almost over?

Upon realizing that, everyone settled into a state of mild panic.

MC couldn’t just leave, they were part of the family! An integral part! They were the only thing keeping everyone from murdering each other during family game night!

As for Lucifer’s personal feelings on the matter, things were… tough.

When the exchange program was announced, Lucifer expected it to end like most of Diavolo’s ideas: annoying to clean up, it certainly couldn’t have ended worse than when he and the Crown Prince ended up getting cursed to hold hands for 25 hours straight. What Lucifer didn’t expect was for a child he didn’t even know he had to end up as the human exchange student and for his entire life to be thrown out of whack. That child of his was busy finishing up their final paper of the year.

“Hey, father,” MC looked up from their paper with a cheeky smile. “Do you think that the next exchange student will be as fun as me?”

“I sincerely hope not.” Lucifer sighed, continuing to sift through his paperwork on his desk. “Your kind of ‘excitement’ has completely worn me out.”

“Aw,” MC giggled, then went back to work. “So you don’t want me to stay here then?”

Lucifer stiffened and looked up from his paperwork. “Don’t put words in my mouth, MC.”

“So you do want me to stay. Interesting~” MC said as they began to sweep the eraser shavings off their paper. “Well, if you want me to stay so badly, you could have just asked.”

“P-pardon?” Lucifer blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. “You want to stay?”

“Since you’d be so sad without me, I guess I just have to don’t I?” MC stood suddenly and slapped their finished essay on Lucifer’s desk. “The sacrifices I make for this family, I swear!”

We stand with you, MC, sacrifice your sanity for your weird-ass familia.

Anyway, Lucifer was thrilled that MC wanted to stay with him in the Devildom, the problem was… MC’s other parent may not have been too keen to just give up their baby.

You know, the demon child they raised all by themselves, with no help from Lucifer because he didn’t know MC existed…

Someone get MC’s ren on the phone! Stat!

“Alright dear little brothers of mine, listen closely because I’m not repeating this.” Lucifer looked over the living room couches at the other six rulers of hell. Belphie was sprawled out on one of the couches and was drooling all over Beel’s lap, Satan was making a point to look as disinterested as possible and kept sneaking glances at the book he was holding, and Mammon was wrestling Levi dangerously close to where Asmo was filing his nails.

Sighing in defeat, Lucifer continued. If any of his brothers misbehaved he couldn’t say he didn’t warn them. “MC‘s parent will be coming to visit.”

Everyone’s attention snapped to Lucifer. Wonderful.

“They’ll be staying for a few days and will decide if it’s in MC’s best interest to primarily stay in the Devildom from now on.”

Asmodeus slowly raised a hand. “Luciiiiiiferrrr!”

“Asmo, is your question overly personal in nature?”

The Avatar of lust brought a manicured nail to his cheek and daintily tapped it. “Mmm… I don’t think so.”

“Ask.”

“How long were you and MC’s parent dating for? Won’t it be awkward to be around your ex?”

Lucifer dragged a gloved hand down his face. “It was a one night thing.”

“Really?” Asmo knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “It wasn’t a long drawn out forbidden romance? You must have had some Olympic swimmers down there!”

“Okay!” Lucifer clapped his hands. “Add that to the list of things Asmo is not allowed to say.”

“We have to take something off the list then…” Beel said through handfuls of chips. “The list’s full.”

“Fine,” Lucifer grumbled. “He can say [CENSORED] again.”

“Yippee! [CENSORED] [CENSORED] [CENSORED]”

The group collectively groaned as Asmo continued to spout his profane nonsense.

“What did I just walk in on..?” MC stood in the doorway to the living room, still in their PJs.

“Oh, MC, your parent’s coming over to stay for a few days.” Lucifer quickly explained.

MC’s face morphed from confusion to horror. “What does that have to do with [CENSORED]?!”

This house is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE-

Anyway, after the initial confusion/horror, MC got really excited and rushed off to get ready. Meanwhile, the boys solemnly swore that they would be on their best behaviour!

Everyone needed to convince MC’s parent that everything in the Devildom was perfectly safe and that their little hellspawn was in good responsible hands.

Mammon tried to come up with a plan in case MC wasn’t allowed to stay with them, and let’s just say it involved kidnapping. But like- a chill kind of kidnapping where MC would be totally fine.

This idea was immediately shot down in favour of Beel’s plan B.

Beel would just… eat MC’s parent. No biggie, right?

Lucifer shot that one down the moment he heard it.

The only accepted plan for if MC wasn’t allowed to stay was just letting them go. They’d visit the Devildom. A lot. Many visits would be necessary.

So, the hour of MC’s ren’s arrival had come, and the student council assembled to greet them.

Greet the human. The completely non magical human. Greet them and then let them see the Devildom…

Was this exchange program really that good of an idea..?

MC frantically attempted to do some last minute fixes to their hair as they sat themselves down in their seat in the Assembly Hall. Ugh… stupid hair…

“Why are you so nervous?” Satan asked. “Is our visitor a neat freak basket case?”

“No!” MC huffed. “They’re not! I’m just making myself presentable so they don’t think I’ve gone completely feral down here.”

“Well, feral no, crazy, yes. Have you seen yourself lately?” Belphie snickered.

“SHUT UP BELPHIE.”

“Would you all be quiet?” Lucifer snapped. “You’re all acting like children.”

“I am a child.” MC snapped back. “What’s Belphie’s excuse?”

Belphie’s retort was cut off by the portal opening and a figure leisurely floating to the ground. They had an open parasol in their right hand that seemed to be aiding their gentle descent, and a large container full of what smelled like cookies tucked into their left side. The moment their toes touched the floor, the human gracefully closed their parasol and gave the assembled demons a sparkling smile and a polite bow.

“Thank you for allowing me the honour to visit,” the human’s voice was as soft and sweet as Cotton candy. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet the princes of hell themselves.”

:D yay!

After floating down from the sky like Mary Poppins, MC lost all sense of propriety and ran over to tackle their ren into a hug. It was that kind of thing where you really miss someone but you don’t realize exactly how much until you get to see them again.

Lucifer was, of course, the picture of elegance and “this isn’t awkward at all”-ness.

MC’s parent didn’t even seem to be all that concerned with the fact that their baby daddy was, y'know, LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR. THE MOST POMPOUS FUCKWAD IN THE DEVILDOM.

Please don’t tell him I said that, he’s still mad about the Go Fund Me…

MC was absolutely ecstatic to finally show their parent how much they’ve grown in terms of their demonic powers and all the friends they had made, but MC’s ren was more concerned with how much they had grown in terms of their height.

“You’re just so tall now,” MC’s ren giggled as they fixed their child’s hair. “You’ll get things off of shelves for me, won’t you?”

“Yeah yeah,” MC said, rolling their eyes good naturedly. “Like you can’t reach anything in your kitchen.”

“Okay,” Mammon, Satan, Levi, Belphie, and Beel were lagging behind Lucifer, MC, their parent, and Diavolo. “Change of plans, we ain’t eatin’ ‘em, we’re keepin’ ‘em.”

“We were never going to eat them in the first place, idiot.” Satan sneered. “And what’s with the change of tune? You were ready to wage war on the human world fifteen minutes ago.”

“…cookies happened.” Mammon mumbled. He had only gotten one of the human’s totally amazing offerings before Beel proceeded to eat everything. The cookie was perfect… so delicious…

“I say we keep the human.” Beel put a hand on his stomach. “I want more human world cookies.”

“They’re so cute too…” Asmo cooed. “A solid 10/10, and that’s such a rare ranking coming from the only 20/10 in existence!”

“Asmo, your vanity never ceases to make me want to roll over and-” Belphie’s insult was interrupted by him passing out and letting out a cartoonishly loud snore. It was a good thing Beel was able to quickly catch and throw Belphie over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

“Asmo has a point, they’re just so totally moe! Kawaii to the highest degree! That parasol, the homemade cookies, it’s just like something from a slice of life anime!” Levi squee-ed.

“So it’s settled, we treat ‘em nice, then we get ‘em to stay.” Mammon nodded to the rest of his brothers, who for the first time in the Demon King knows how long, his little brothers nodded back in full seriousness. They were actually doing a Mammon plan! Holy shit!

So, the brothers liked MC’s ren, what about Diavolo and Barbatos?

Well, MC’s ren had heard all about Barbatos’ amazing cooking from MC and Barb’s totally outstanding reputation, so the two got along swimmingly.

Dia. Loved. That. Human. They’re cute???? They’re sweet???? They brought COOKIES???! They don’t seem to be afraid of him at all????? Please be the exchange student next year :D

Oh yeah… he made a rule that said they couldn’t summon someone with kids… it would be cruel to rip a parent away from their child…

But apparently not a child away from their parent cough cough

Other than the uncle squad, MC’s ren got to meet the Purgatory Hall gang too!

MC was being just the most adorable tour guide, but that didn’t stop Lucifer from having a miniature heart attack any time a demon even looked at MC’s parent the wrong way. If MC’s ren got attacked or felt threatened in any way shape or form, he could say bye bye to his time with the one person in the HOL that didn’t live to make him pop a forehead vein. The human seemed outwardly unconcerned with any Devildom oddness and was amicably chatting with Diavolo while MC pulled them from place to place.

“And that’s Hell’s Kitchen, they have good sandwiches, and that’s Madame Scream’s, they have really good macarons.” MC helpfully pointed out the places as they passed them.

A much to familiar trio of voices called out from down the street. Father dammit, why were they here..?

“Hello Lucifer, what are you all up too?” Ugh… Simeon…

“From the sight of the rest of your brothers skulking about, it appears like they’re acting as bodyguards.” Solomon…

“MC? Who’s that?”

Oh good grief… that nasally little voice… the chihuahua was near… Now… Lucifer was a respectable demon… respectable demons don’t tease children in front of the parent of their child…

“Hello chihuahua.”

DAMN IT HE COULDN’T HELP HIMSELF!

“I’m not a chihuahua you demon!” Luke yapped.

MC’s parent daintily tilted their head and looked over at MC. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“Right, Luke, this is my ren, ren, this is a chihuahua.” MC grinned cheekily as they gestured between the two. Lucifer suppressed a laugh which resulted in a very ugly snort. It was a good thing the sound was drowned out by Luke’s exclamations of betrayal.

The chorus of “how could you?!”s and “I thought you were over that awful nickname!”s was put to an abrupt halt when the visiting human elegantly offered a handshake to the fuming angel.

“MC spoke very highly of you,” they chirped. “It’s very nice to meet you, Luke.”

Luke blinked a few times, then quickly straightened his posture, adjusted his hat, then shook MC’s ren’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“That’s Simeon.” MC jerked a thumb in Simeon’s direction. “And that’s Solomon.”

“Luke got a whole introduction and we get that? Come on MC, I thought we were friends.” Solomon fake pouted at MC after giving a polite nod to MC’s parent.

“We stopped being friends after one of the potions you had me test out turned me into a-” as quick as lighting, Mammon had shoved his hand into MC’s face.

“A-ah, MC’s rememberin’ stuff wrong, nothin’ potion related happened to ‘em. Right, Solomon???!”

Taking the hint from Mammon, Solomon smiled and nodded. “Nope, nothing related to turning MC into a frog for a few hours.”

“Hm, well I’m quite happy that absolutely nothing frog transformation related happened.” MC’s parent said.

“Yeah, must’ve hit their head on somethin- YEEEOW!” MC had bitten down on Mammon’s hand and slapped it away from them.

“I did not hit my head on anything!”

“Yeah,” Beel nodded. “Nothing’s hit them since the Fangol ball.”

“The what ball?” MC’s ren asked.

“The Fangol ball that hit MC a few months back and broke their glasses.” Five of the brothers slapped their hands to their foreheads.

“Oh my…”

“Eh,” MC patted their ren on the arm. “That’s nothing compared to the giant snake at the retreat.”

“Oh! Do you mind letting me tell that story, MC?”

Lucifer was frantically signalling for Diavolo to stop talking but the crown prince was already beginning his retelling of the events. Luke would chime in with an anecdote from an even worse misadventure the two had gone out on every once and a while. This… this wasn’t going well at all…

MC’s ren was… weirdly chill about the whole thing…

“Oh, it’s so nice that you’re having fun, sweetheart. That reminds me of when I was young and your aunt Clytemnestra and I would go out and have adventures.” “Really? You went on weird adventures too?” “…what kind of adventures could possibly compare to being chased by a giant snake in an underground labyrinth..?”

The side characters ended up needing to abscond for various reasons and all that was left was the brothers, MC, and MC’s parent.

They made it to the HOL without issue, which is when Lucifer remembered that he did not put all the cursed objects out of reach… shit.

“Asmo… Asmo!” “What is it?” “Take MC’s ren out of the house in half an hour, keep them occupied in the living room!” “What? Why?” “I need more time to human-proof the house! Distract them, but no funny business!” “Dear brother, for the first time in a very long time funny business is the second thing on my mind! Wait… no, it’s the third… what have I become..?”

Asmo and Satan, super graciously by the way, led MC and their ren to the living room to distract- I mean entertain them for a bit!

Lucifer and the rest of the gang got to work moving certain things around and closing certain doors- shit where was Cerberus?! Did Lucifer forget to walk him that morning?!

So much to dooooooo…

So maybe bringing a human into Majolish and letting them roam around unsupervised wasn’t the best idea Satan and Asmo had, but it sure as heck was an idea. MC looked through shelves of hairpins and bracelets while their ren disappeared around a corner to look at scarves.

“We’re doing such a great job babysitting!” Asmo clapped his hands. “If MC had just been a normal human I bet they’d last the entire year under our care.”

“Hm, you might be right.” Satan smiled and nodded. “Humans are surprisingly entertaining.”

“Yes… speaking of, where exactly is the human?”

The sudden sound of metal slamming against flesh and the delayed sound of something incredibly heavy hitting the floor jolted Asmo and Satan from their conversation.

“Honestly, some people have no fucking manners!”

It was such a different voice than what Satan and Asmo were used to that the only thing that tipped them off to it being MC’s ren was the fact that MC began to giggle. MC’s ren stepped back into view carrying a metal staff that quickly transformed back to their parasol.

Asmo and Satan rushed over to check if their defenceless little human guest was okay, only to find some lesser demon passed out on the floor with an incredibly nasty bump on the side of their head.

“I’ve heard that humans are apparently quite delicious to demons but I didn’t expect someone to actually try and eat me.”

“I-um…” Satan sputtered, looking from Asmo to MC’s parent. “We’re uh…”

“You alright, ren?” MC called from over by the bracelet shelves.

“Yes, I’m alright.” MC’s ren gave the fourth and fifth born a calming smile. “No harm done, well, except to that poor bastard. I do hope I haven’t killed him… that would be such a nasty thing for the poor sales associates to find.”

Okay so maybe the defenceless human wasn’t so defenceless. That was a good thing… right?

“So where exactly did you manage to get your hands on such a weapon..?” “Ah, I come from a family of witches. This was a college graduation present.”

…doit doit seems legit.

The four made it back home just in time, Lucifer and the others had finished human proofing the house.

Yay!

The house tour went by smoothly, everything was all well and good until Beel and Belphie asked MC’s ren to make more cookies.

Oh god dammit the human said they would.

“Oh Beel, you shouldn’t eat the cookie dough raw… the eggs and raw flour will make you sick!” “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Besides, it’s best not to interrupt Beel while he’s eating.” “Yeah it might end like the custard incident.” “Custard… incident?” “MC and Mammon ate my custard and I ended up breaking the wall that connected to MC’s room.” “Hunger tantrums, am I right?”

After that it was Mammon and Levi’s turn to babysit. It went about as well as you’d think.

Levi explained some anime plot in an attempt to make it seem like the Devildom was totally safe and that MC and their ren could stay forever no problem, while Mammon desperately suppressed the urge to swipe the cool parasol.

Finally, it was time for the verdict. Would MC be allowed to stay in the Devildom..? Or would they go back to the human world..?

“Lucifer?”

The demon in question looked up from his paperwork and tried to nod in the most casual way possible. MC’d ren was standing in the doorway, Lucifer must have missed their knock. “Yes? Do you need something?”

MC’s ren smiled and nodded. “It’s about MC’s living situation going forward.”

Lucifer stiffened and got up from his desk. “Y-yes… what about it?”

“MC has expressed that they want to stay here full time with frequent visits to the human world.” The softness that their voice had earlier in the day was completely absent as the human stepped forward into the study and closed the door behind them. “I want to know what you think about that.”

“Well,” Lucifer cleared his throat and tried to shake off the stupid sense of nervousness that had wrapped itself around him. A weak little human’s decision should not make him so anxious! “I would like for MC to stay here as well, I think it would be best for them.”

The human raised an eyebrow and twirled their parasol in their hand. “Really now? In your year with them you truly believe you know what’s best for them?”

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. I do.”

MC’s ren went quiet for a few seconds before replying. “I see.”

“And that means..?”

“I knew this day would come, but I didn’t think it’d be so soon.” MC’s ren sighed, and for the first time all day, they actually let their exhaustion show. “I raised MC knowing that one day they’d end up in the Devildom. They’ve told me over and over again how much they like it down here…” the human took a deep breath and slowly shook their head. “If this is what they want… then I give my permission for them to stay with you.”

A wave of relief swept over Lucifer as he finally took a breath. “Thank you.”

“Mm… I’m going to have to use my favour though.”

The relief completely vanished as the Avatar of Pride’s blood ran cold. Memories flooded back from the one night the pair had spent together, the human had offered a cursed record to him that he had spent decades trying to find, in exchange, Lucifer let them have one favour. A favour from a demon was like a single pact order, Lucifer had to do literally anything this human wanted.

“Protect MC, even if it costs you your life.” The human’s words were careful and measured as Lucifer felt the order sink in. “You’ll do that for them, right Lucifer?”

Lucifer nodded as life flooded back into his limbs. “I would have done it without the order.”

So, the brother’s plan to make MC’s ren stay forever failed because they were going back to the human world with MC for summer vacation. Listen, it was needed, MC needed to see the sun lest they shrivel like a sad houseplant.

At least Lucifer technically had primary custody of his little heathen! Victory!

MC said their goodbyes to the friends they had made over the year as they prepared to leave for the next two months, it was filled with so many bone-crushing hugs that MC was surprised that their spine didn’t snap.

MC and Luke had lagged behind the much larger group as they made their way to the assembly hall. MC’s ren was dazzling the miniature crowd with stories of just how adorable MC was as a little kid. The half demon rolled their eyes and silently mourned the loss of any cool points they had gained over the year. Their little companion was oddly quiet, MC lightly nudged him and smiled.

“Aren’t you happy to be going home? You’ve been griping about being stuck down here the entire year. Don’t tell me you’re getting sappy, Luke.”

Luke puffed his cheek out and crossed his arms. “Of course I’m happy to be leaving, the Celestial Realm is the best place ever, the Devildom is completely terrible in every way.”

MC smirked and rolled their eyes again. Just let the little guy go on his rant…

“But… I am going to miss you…” Luke mumbled, MC’s eyebrows shot upwards as they turned their head to look at him. “Th-thanks for being my friend down here… MC. You’re… you’re really nice.”

To their absolute horror, MC felt a lump form in their throat. Oh dear Grandfather… the chihuahua was what broke them?! They quickly looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, then quickly pulled Luke into a hug. The hug was over as fast as it began, but it seemed that Luke didn’t particularly care and was more shocked at the sudden bout of affection.

“If anyone, and I mean anyone asks, I didn’t hug you.” MC murmured, quickly swiping at their eyes.

Luke nodded, a small smile spread across his face. “Got it!”

So the side characters left… *sniffle* everything’s okay… the DDDs work in any of the realms… they could still talk.

Soon, it was time for the final sets of goodbyes…

“Come on, Bean, we’re going to the human world!” MC tried to take the cat from Satan, who didn’t move a muscle.

“If you think you’re taking the cat from here, you’re delusional.” Satan’s smile didn’t leave his face, but the force behind his words was almost enough to make MC back off. Almost…

“My caaaaaat!” MC whined, they ended up getting lightly pushed away by Satan.

“Remember, the summer’s a good time to catch up on anime!” Levi advised. “There’s 24 hours in a day, and an average anime episode is 22 minutes long, you have loads of time!”

“I’ll keep up with my anime only if you promise to listen to the Death Note musical, Levi.” MC giggled and patted Levi on the shoulder.

“Remember MC, take care of your cuticles and your skin.” Asmo took MC’s hand and checked their fingernails. “They were an absolute mess before you got here, so I expect you to keep up your routines this summer!”

“Yeeeeeeeeeeees siiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrr.”

“Bye MC,” Beel handed MC a half opened cup of custard. “I almost ate it, but I didn’t. Make sure you don’t skip any meals this summer.

MC jumped up and gave Beel a quick hug. “Thanks Beel! I’ll be sure to enjoy the custard!”

“Bye, MC. See you next year.” Belphie stood awkwardly stiff, not exactly sure what to do. MC pursed their lips, then quickly wrapped him up in a hug.

“Bye Belphie, I hope all your pillow forts are structurally unsound.”

The avatar of sloth snickered and rested his head on MC’s. “I hope you get really comfortable and are fully ready to go to sleep, then realize you have to pee.”

MC gasped in fake offence and swatted Belphie on the arm.

Mammon put both his hands on MC’s shoulders, his face unusually serious. “Do ya remember what the great Mammon took painstakin’ effort to teach ya?”

“Payday loans are scams, witches are scary, bowline knots are the easiest to undo, don’t wear reflective sunglasses to a poker game aaaaaaaand…” MC grinned mischievously. “Any plan thought up by the Great Mammon should be subject to intense revision.”

“That’s ri- hey!” Mammon laughed and shoved MC towards Lucifer.

MC looked up at Lucifer, the pride demon looked down at them fondly. He reached out and gently ruffled their hair. “I’ll see you next year, MC.”

“Y-yeah…”

Lucifer crouched down slightly to get to their level and gave MC a smile. “I’m very proud of you, you’ve been an immense help this year. Thank you for everything.”

“Thanks for not being a stereotypical supervillain dad, father.” MC smiled softly and fixed their glasses. “Loveyoubye!”

MC turned and rushed to their ren’s side as Lucifer let out a soft chuckle.

“I love you too, MC.”

As Barbatos readied the portal to send the pair to the human world, MC couldn’t wipe the grin off their face. Geez, if this year was a metric mess of fun and insanity… what was the next year going to be like? The half demon’s grin morphed into a bit of a smirk. No way in hell their next year in the Devildom was going to be as insane as their first year.

MC almost giggled as they gave their family one last wave. That wasn’t the time to think about the future, besides, MC knew that it would take two insane chaotic humans to be summoned into the Devildom to even come close to the chaos MC managed to create, both on purpose and by accident.

And what were the odds of that happening?

——————

Authors Note: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ITS DONE SEASON ONE IS DONE!

I wasn’t able to fit the Anti Lucifer League stuff into this one, I’ll put it in a separate fic later!

I NOW NEED TO WORK ON GETTING THROUGH SEASON 2 IN THE ACTUAL GAME. To get mildly serious for a second, thanks to everyone who has stuck around to listen to me spout my fic-y nonsense, you all are nerds (affectionate) and I love you.

[bi-bard]

What a Shame I Put Up with You - Ed Nygma Imagine (Gotham)

Title: What a Shame I Put Up with You

Pairing: Ed Nygma X Reader (past)

Based On: firearm

Word Count: 1,166 words

Warning(s): violence, major character death, toxic behavior on multiple fronts, gun, blood, knife, small cut

Summary: Ed was never good to (Y/n). Anyone who saw them could tell. Someone finds (Y/n) after Ed abandons them and promises them exactly what they had been craving. A little bit of revenge.

Author's Note: Love a good ol' fashioned unhinged reader. I'm currently rediscovering my love for writing villains. I've missed this shit.

This was a very chaotic interpretation of this song.

-----------------------------------

I believe that my origin story started when I came home tipsy one night.

After Ed finally decided that he was bored of treating me like shit, he ran for the hills. I had to find a way to cope. No one has healthy coping mechanisms all the time.

I had dressed up and tried to have fun. All I got were intrusive thoughts and too many memories to even try to enjoy my night. No amount of booze could erase what I needed it to.

So, after a shitty night, I wasn't capable of being shocked by much.

I noticed the man as soon as I walked in. I just didn't care.

I grabbed a wine glass out of my cupboard before going to get a corkscrew for the bottle of wine I had bought on my way home.

"If you're gonna kill me, make it a little speedy," I said to the man as I opened the bottle.

"You're not scared," the man said. More of an observation than a question.

I poured myself a glass before turning to face him, "More curious than anything. I'm a nobody now. Who went the trouble of hiring Victor Zsasz to take me out?"

He chuckled at how fast I identified him.

"Oh, you're nowhere near a nobody," he replied as he walked toward me. "And no one hired me."

"Shit, you're killing me just for kicks?"

"I don't want to kill you," he explained. "I want to offer you something."

"Hmm, what is that then," I asked.

He was incredibly close at this point. I was still leaning against the counter. He stepped close enough that I could study every detail of his eyes.

"Training."

"Why?"

"I saw you and that... what do you call him... dick?"

"Another person with an opinion on my relationship," I laughed. "I know. Okay? Ed treated me like shit, I know."

"That's why I wanna train you," he replied. "I have... a past with him. I'd be happy to see him gone."

"You want me to kill him?"

"You don't wanna kill him?"

I grabbed Victor's wrist as he swung his arm up at me. I looked at his gun before my eyes fell to his arm. His sleeve had slid up so I could see the tally marks that I had heard about.

"I could help you get your first," he offered.

I looked away from his scars, shocked when I found myself close enough to feel his breath against my skin.

"You deserve something to be proud of," he whispered.

I let a smirk grow on my lips.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah," I replied. "But... I'm not using that gun."

He tilted his head.

"Ed left a little... something in the bedside drawer," I explained. "If I get revenge, I wanna do it right."

Victor smirked at me, "I like how you think."

"I'm glad."

"Ready to start?"

I let out a hum and smiled before nodding, "Teach me something fun, Zsasz-y."

--time skip--

After a few weeks of training, I found myself pacing and twirling as Victor moved a tied-up, blindfolded, and gagged Ed to the end of the pier.

"Ready," he asked.

"Mmhmm," I nodded excitedly. He smirked at me before pulling the blindfold off of Ed's eyes.

Ed frantically looked around before his eyes trained on me. I waved at him with his gun. His eyebrows furrowed. I walked over and pulled the gag out of his mouth before stepping back again.

"Hi, Eddie," I said. He frowned. "What's wrong? Have you not missed me? I even wore my best outfit for you."

I walked over and knelt in front of him.

"Well, the outfit was really for that one," I motioned at Victor over my shoulder. I held the gun up in front of Ed's face. "This... This is all for you."

"What," Ed asked as I stood up and took a few steps back. "What are you talking-"

"For an evil genius, you're really fucking stupid," I snapped. "You don't recognize this, do you? You're the one who left it behind."

"My gun," he muttered.

"Yeah," I said with a giddy laugh. "Isn't it pretty?! I made sure to take care of it... the way you couldn't take care of me."

"I was-"

"Pursuing an evil plan," I squatted in front of him again, aiming the gun at his head. "You mentioned it. Fucking wannabe badass."

He just glared at me.

"I was always the smart one, wasn't I?"

"What-"

"All of the best parts of your plans came from me," I smirked and stood up. "All you had were stupid, half-assed riddles."

I let out another giddy laugh.

"God, you could've had it all," I bounced on the balls of my feet. "You could've inspired fear and still had someone to go home to. But you were so, so stupid."

"If you're so done with me, why am I here?"

"I said I had moved on," I corrected. "That doesn't revenge is off the table. What did you think would happen when you tried to rise to power again?"

"What are you doing-"

I pointed the gun at his forehead.

"You're on a pier, figure it out."

His eyes went wide.

"Gotham will celebrate me for this," I said.

I leaned down to his level and pressed my lips to his cheek. I grabbed his chin, so he had to look me in the eye. I giggled at his devastated expression.

"If only you had been a better man," I put on an exaggerated frown before stepping back. "Hey, Zsasz-y?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Rate my form, would ya, sweetie?"

"(Y/n)-"

"Shut the fuck up, Eddie!"

He froze.

"You'll ruin my focus."

With that, I pulled the trigger and watched Ed's body fall backward off the pier with a smile.

"10/10, baby," Victor said from behind me. "You learned well."

"I had a great teacher," I replied as I walked over to him and started going to the car. "Come on. I'm getting tired of the smell around here."

"Wait, wait, wait," he stopped me, motioning me back over with his finger. I tilted my head in confusion but listened to him. "You didn't forget the most important part, did you?"

He took his knife out of his pocket. I smiled and shook my head.

He grabbed my arm and pulled it up so could both see it. I hissed a little bit as he cut a tally mark into my skin.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby," he gushed, leaning down to kiss the spot. "I should've done a countdown or something."

"No, no," I shook my head. "It's fine."

"Congratulations," he said. I leaned over and pressed my lips to his for a moment. "I'm so proud of you."

I let out an appreciative hum. It was nice to have someone say that. It was nice to feel like it meant something.

"Can we go now," I asked.

"Whatever you want, baby."

-----------------------------------

Masterlist

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

folklore/evermore Writing Challenge (and Masterlist)

Maisie Peters - “You Signed Up for This” Writing Challenge Masterlist

[yourfriendlyneighborhoodsimp21]

Genshin Impact Boys NSFW Headcanons

Pairing (Separate): Xiao, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe & Zhongli x Female! Reader

Warnings: Sexual Content, Harsh Language, Degradation, Terrible Writing Because I Hardly Proofread-

Minors Do Not Interact | NSFW UNDERCUT

A/N; I’ve been playing this game for a good while and I’ve been waiting for the chance to write for my favorite husbandos (´-﹏-`；) I may make more hcs for this game in the future and maybe a separate blog!

[] Being in an intimate relationship with Xiao was already a hard thing to accomplish, so getting him into bed will definitely take longer.

[] It’s not that he doesn’t want to have sex with you, he’s just scared. Scared of being so close with someone, scared of you not enjoying it, scared of hurting you.

[] In the beginning he treats you like a fragile piece of glass, he doesn’t want to do anything that would bring you displeasure, so it’s up to you to tell him what feels good and what doesn’t.

-

“You can touch there, Xiao.” The H/C female murmured as the Yaksha above her hesitantly buried his face into her neck. He slowly thrusted his hips to meet hers while his lips latched onto her neck, causing her to let out a small sigh in pleasure. Xiao wasn’t used to the feeling of being an amateur at something.

He didn’t know where to place his hands so the were just resting besides the girl’s head. He didn’t know how slow or fast to go, so he just stuck with slowly pounding her. He didn’t know any other positions, so he stayed in the vanilla missionary pose. To say that Xiao was clueless when it came to having sex was an understatement.

“Hey..” y/n said softly, placing a hand on his cheek to gently get him to look at her. “You’re doing great, just don’t hold back, m’kay?” With those words, the Adeptus nodded and slowly but surely got more comfortable.

-

[] After a few times, the Adeptus is willing to open up and let go of his cautiousness a bit. During the past times, he was able to pick up what things would make you squirm and what would leave you whimpering in pain, so he’s not as clueless as before.

[] You knew he had a tendency to growl at times, so hearing that during sex wasn’t unusual, but he also let out his own sensual moans as he thrusts in and out of you. His noises may be a little quiet, but Archons do they turn you on even more.

[] Teasing him will definitely leave you with some bruises the next day. He doesn’t necessarily mean to be so rough with you, it just..happens? What? Whenever you sway your hips in front of him or ‘accidentally’ brush you fingers inside his thighs in public, he can’t help but lose some control. Besides, if you didn’t want it then you would’ve behaved yourself.

-

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” Xiao muttered into her ears as his fingers skillfully massaged her insides, making her whimper and grab onto his shoulders. “Answer me, y/n.”

“I-I..No..!” She wailed, crying out in pleasure as he felt his fingers hit her sweet spot. The walls inside her room at the inn were particularly thin, so she was sure the others could hear. Before she could clamp a hand over her mouth to quiet her moans, she felt a hand on her wrists pin them above her on the bed. “Oh, so now you want to be all quiet when you had the nerve to openly tease me in front of everyone? Tch, how pathetic.” The Yaksha spat, roughening his pace as he watched y/n with pride in his eyes. The way she moaned and reacted to being treated in such a way made him feel more powerful than he already knew he was.

“Perhaps I need to teach you a lesson on how to respect the Adepti, because surely you didn’t think you would get away with teasing me without a punishment, correct?”

[] This little shit is such a tease in bed, there’s not a moment when he’s not throwing out comments on your every move. (And honestly? He’d tease you in public too, he personally enjoys the thrill of getting caught).

[] Not to say that he wasn’t a virgin when you both met, but you were sure he knew his way around the bed from how he skillfully and easily lulled you into such a desperate state.

-

“Kaeya..” Y/N whimpered softly, the feeling of his clothed erection grinding against her was something her body would never get used to. The girl sat atop the desk in the Calvary Captain’s office as his hands roamed her chest from underneath her shirt.

Kaeya smirked as he watched the desperate girl try shift her hips to get more momentum, they were going at a painfully slow pace and he knew the more he touched her the more she would submit to him. “Can I help you, Princess?”

“I..I need more..” The woman whined, staring into his blue eyes with needy ones. She groaned slightly as she felt him back away slightly, a pout on her lips. Her mind was hazy, the only thing she could think of was how much she wanted her lover to quit teasing her and just fuck her senseless. But her thoughts were immediately cut off by the hand that popped up from under her skirt and play with her sensitive area.

“Good things come to those who wait, no?”

-

[] Once you both finally get to the real deal, such sinful words fill the air as he pounds into you.

[] Kaeya is definitely one to degrade, the reactions he gets from it are just too addicting to stop.

[] Words and sayings like “you’re such a slut for me” , “you look so beautiful putting that mouth to good use for me, baby” and “little whores like you don’t get what they want” are definitely used during intercourse.

[] But there are times where there’s such a soft moment between the two of you that you forget he’s such a flirt.

[] During soft sex, Kaeya lets down his charismatic facade and take time to appreciate you and your body, kissing areas on you that you may not like so much and just give you words and gestures of praise.

[] This usually happens if you’re both just quietly holding each other in bed or either one of you need some extra affection. With commissions and work for Jean, you both don’t get as much time to spend together as you would like, so moments like these are something that both you and Kaeya treasure.

-

The knight softly held his lovers hips, gently thrusting himself into her as he let out soft pants into her neck. The atmosphere was different from past times, but if was surprisingly more enjoyable.

Kaeya lifted his head up and looked at her with eyes of adoration while she placed a hand on his cheek to caress it gently, small moans leaving her lips as she couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face.

Seeing Kaeya so vulnerable was something y/n wasn’t that used to seeing, knowing that he trusted her to do something so intimate while he usually pushed others away filled her heart with love.

This wasn’t just sex, this was love making. And the two of them wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“I love you..” She murmured, wrapping her legs around his waist as he captured her lips in a passionate kiss.

Once the kiss ended, Kaeya couldn’t help but smile down at her. “I love you too, Princess.”

[] Like Xiao, Diluc’s incredibly careful when it comes to having sex with you. The last thing he wants to do is hurt you and make this moment something you won’t enjoy.

[] Sex is something extremely intimate to him, so there won’t be any shenanigans in public or somewhere where people are around. Him being in such a vulnerable state is something only your eyes should see, as well as vise versa.

[] The first few times, Diluc would be so careful with you, not as cautious like Xiao, but cautious enough to do everything slowly to see what reactions you make. If you make a noise/face of pleasure, then he’ll make a mental note to do it again in the future, but if he can see any discomfort then he’ll immediately stop that and place a small kiss over the spot that he hurt.

[] Could but most likely won’t degrade you- He loves you too much to say such hurtful words to you, but he may throw in a few if he’s feeling it.

-

“You’re such a slut.” The red-haired male muttered as he watched y/n’s bare body lay sprawled against the counter in Angel’s Share. He had closed earlier than usual due to his lover decided to throw a few teasing glances his way and sway her hips in front of him whenever she would pass by. “Look at you, dirtying up my counters after all I did was play with your chest, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

A moan of pleasure escaped the h/c-ed girl’s lips as she felt two fingers enter her, gripping onto the edge of the counter for some sort of support as Diluc began moving his hand at a fast pace. “N-No.” She stammered, turning to look at him with a lazy smirk on her face. “It’s n-not my fault you can’t h..handle yourself when I’m with Kaeya- I’m sure h-he could do mu..much better than you.”

The second she saw the look in his eyes, she knew she made a mistake as Diluc took his fingers out of her and forcefully grabbed onto her hips. Without a moment to react, he entered her at full force, causing her to let out a loud cry in both pleasure in pain. His fingers wrapped her hair around them and he brought her head back to meet his, his eyes filled with nothing but anger and lust.

“Say that one more fucking time and I’ll show you something that damned man could never give you.”

-

[] But most of the time, it’s just regular vanilla sex. He doesn’t need much, but if you wish to try something new then he’ll be all ears.

[] His ultimate goal is to please you. He doesn’t care much about himself being satisfied, if you’re happy then he’s happy. So of you ever chose to switch things up a bit and pleasure him, he’ll be reluctant at first but immediately melt into your hands. Th poor guy has been through a lot in his life and can get tired of being the owner of Dawn Winery by day and the Darknight Hero by night.

-

Small kisses were pressed against the male’s neck as he let out a small content sigh, lazily wrapping his fingers in y/n’s hair. Although he wasn’t used to such attention, he sure as hell was enjoying it.

y/n looked at him with gentle eyes as she slowly rode his hips, occasionally letting out a few breathy moans while she looked at him. Seeing Diluc in such a state warmed her body. She was the one who was bringing him such pleasure, she was the only one he let see him in such a vulnerable place, she was the one who could relax him by the touch of her fingers.

“Tonight’s all about you.” The woman murmured, staring into his fiery red eyes with such adoration. A soft blush covered his cheeks as he looked back, never had he ever felt so loved and appreciated. Although he was used to the praise he got from being the mysterious ‘Darknight Hero’, it had been so long since he felt genuinely..loved. Diluc stayed speechless as he placed his hands on her hips, loving every second of their intercourse.

[] Gentleman in the streets, gentleman in the sheets.

[] Zhongli will always make sure to please you in every way possible, whether you’d like to take the lead or just want him to just play with something that’s sensitive to you.

[] Absolutely refuses to degrade you or go too rough, mortals are fragile beings and while you may find pain pleasurable, he couldn’t bring himself to hurt you. As for degrading, he just doesn’t feel comfortable with calling you such hurtful things, so please respect his boundaries.

[] He usually moves at a fast enough pace, not to slow but not too fast to hurt you.

[] The Geo Archon has lived for thousands of years, and while he understands the concept of sex, he wouldn’t know anything about kinks or different positions, so you would have to slowly teach him about them.

-

“Just sit down, alright?” y/n said as she guided her lover to the couch, watching as he sat down on it with a curious glint in his eyes. “Is there anything else I should do?”

The female smiled softly and sat on his clothed thigh, placing his hands on her hips while she shook her head. “No, my love. But you can touch me wherever you’d like.” She mumbled, beginning to roll her bare hips against him as a soft blush overtook her cheeks.

y/n had said that she wanted to try something new, and while Zhongli didn’t know what to expect, he didn’t turn down her advances. Whatever made his princess happy, he was willing to comply. But he couldn’t deny that the look on her face as she rode his thigh was something he would love to see again and again. The way her eyebrows furrowed and her lips parted ever so slightly were just so enchanting that his grip on her hips tightened to move them himself, helping her get to an orgasm.

This is something that Zhongli wouldn’t mind doing again.

-

[] Zhongli isn’t very vocal during sex, he’ll just let out small grunts and groans here and there, but nothing more. He usually likes keeping quiet so that he can hear your own moans better, he finds them absolutely heavenly and honestly can’t get enough of the whimpers and whines you let out.

[] Aftercare with him is absolutely amazing, he’ll clean the both of you up and draw you a warm bath (even offering to wash you up if you let him).

[] If you let him, he’ll go into the bath with you and just wrap his arms around your waist, holding you from behind. From there, you get a pretty good look at his toned arms, tracing the designs that were on them quietly as you lean against him.

[] But I will say that while he may be oblivious to your advances, the outcome is always worth it.

-

Moans and grunts filled the once quiet air as y/n desperately gripped onto the Archon above her who was currently thrusting himself into her. “Z-Zhongli, I’m close..” She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut as the all too familiar knot in her stomach began to form. A hand was placed on her cheek and she felt it gently caress it.

“Go ahead, my love.” He murmured with his usual charming smile. Watching y/n fall apart was the highlight of his night, he was the only one that could bring her such pleasure, he was the only one she trusted enough to be so vulnerable around, he was the only one she let touch her in such a way.

Pride filled his eyes as he watched the woman release, a long moan leaving her bruised lips as she arched her back. Words couldn’t describe how privileged he felt to see such a beautiful being.

[] Please this is little shit number two, he’ll tease you 24/7.

[] As the 11th Fatui Harbinger, Childe knows most people’s weaknesses. And to say he knew yours was an understatement, he knew exactly what strings to pull to get you into a drooling mess.

-

“You’re such a fucking slut, you know that?” Childe chuckled as he leaned against the wall in an empty supply closet, watching as y/n desperately clawed at her clothes with a desperate look in her eyes.

“I barely just grabbed your ass and now you’re all over me like an animal in heat.” He mumbled, pausing her actions by placing a hand under her chin to look at her. She couldn’t help but get even more flustered as she looked into his eyes, the look of absolute lust and dominance in them was enough to make her weak in the knees.

Amused, the harbinger leaned down slightly so that his lips were hovering next to her ear, his breath causing her to shiver. “I’m going to try and teach you not to be such a dirty whore, but knowing you, this little lesson won’t teach you anything.”

-

[] While Tartaglia can be a mean dom, there’s moments where he can be soft as well. He’s a family man at heart, so sometimes he doesn’t want to be led by lust and instead by pure love.

[] You may even forget that he’s even ever part of the Fatui, he’s being so vulnerable in front of someone he can trust with his whole being. It wasn’t everyday that the Childe would actually shut up for once and pour out his love for you into soft thrusts.

-

“You’re so beautiful, you know?” The harbinger murmured as he watched the woman beneath him ride out her orgasm. It was such a gorgeous sight to him, and for once, instead of teasing her he just continued to shower her in nothing but affection.

y/n laid limp against the bed, panting as she opened her eyes to look at the hydro user. This was the first time they had done something so...intimate. She felt him pull out and lay against the bed, holding her close as they sunk in the events that had just occurred. Childe was allowed to have a day off from the Fatui and he decided to spend it with his girlfriend. A soft cuddle session led from one thing to another and ended in a soft intercourse between them.

There wasn’t a hint of lust in the air, just pure love and adoration for each other and honestly? They both like that way much more.

[nygmobblepot-trash]

It was odd for Riddler to get visitors. He wasn't exactly popular with anyone. Oswald would show up when he wanted something and was desperate which was more often than you would hope for from Gotham's mayor/king/whatever he was calling himself these days. Gordon would show up with arrest warrants. The last group would be considered random. They would show up when Riddler got bored and let someone else take over so he could save the puzzle later on.

Riddler hadn't lost control recently... at least he thought he hadn't. He hadn't done anything since being released and Oswald doesn't believe in having to knock. So why at 10:46 pm was someone knocking at his door?

Instead of playing the guessing game, Riddler decided to throw the door open and deal with whatever or whomever was making all that noise behind it. Except when it swung open he saw no one.

That's odd.

Another mental break down perhaps?

Whatever.

He'd deal with it later and shut the door. He didn't get very far till he heard the knocking again.

Ignore it. It will stop eventually. Just distract yourself.

He looked around the room to find something fitting for the task. Which was a old torn up book hidden under the couch. He brushed off the cobwebs and collapsed on the couch.

The knocking persisted.

Riddler tried to focus on the words with all his heart but the pounding wouldn't stop.

He had enough. Please don't be Ghost Oswald, he thought as he threw open the door for a second time.

Still nothing.

He went to close the door for the second time when he felt something grab onto his arm in order to prevent the action.

Riddler quickly looked down and everything clicked into place.

He wasn't expecting a child. "Oh it's just you, Martin." He sighed happy he didn't accidentally drug himself. The calm quickly disappeared when he repeatedly his words, "Oh it's you! What are you doing here?"

Martin must have already assumed that question was going to be asked because he only had to flip to a page in his notebook and show it to the annoyed Riddler.

"Oswald dropped me off." Ed read aloud with a frown. "I doubt it. He would never leave you in my care without an hour lecture. As if I need a lecture on how to keep a child alive."

Martin gave Riddler an, 'Are you sure about that?' look.

"I forgot to feed you one time! I've gone days without eating and no one throws a fit. You go without dinner one time and I never hear the end of it!" Riddler yells as he retreats back into Ed's apartment.

Martin follows and closes the door behind him.

Riddler quickly turned around. "Oh no you don't. Go back to Oswald. I know you're lying about him driving you here."

Martin shakes his head no.

Riddler aggressively digs into his pockets to look for his phone but finds nothing. "That's odd... I had it in here an hour ago." Riddler scans the room and sighs when he immediately doesn't find it. "Once I find my phone you're gone, Buddy."

Martin shrugged and made his way into the kitchen as he was hungry. PB&J sounded real good. He had managed to find all the supplies while Riddler threw stuff around the apartment. The more the man looked the angrier he got. Now all the boy needed was a knife to put the jelly and peanut butter on his bread. He found one fairly quickly. What was even quicker was Riddler grabbing the knife away from him. He was paying attention?

"You cut yourself and i'll get blamed." The green man announced.

Martin expected to hear the knife go back into the drawer, but it didn't. Instead Riddler with a roll of his eyes quickly smeared the toppings onto the bread. When he was done he tossed the knife into the sink with a loud clank and went back to look for his phone without another word.

Martin quietly ate his sandwhich and when he was done put the dirty dish into the sink after washing it off. Like Oswald said, 'no one likes a pig.'

The boy took this opportunity to clear out any unusable pages from his notebook. He didn't see certain responses being used soon, if ever again.

"I haven't left all day. It should be here." Riddler mumbled from under the couch he retrieved the book from. After throughly checking the couch Riddler turned to the boy. "Shouldn't you be... I don't know... in bed?"

Martin shrugged knowing damn well the answer.

"Bed." Riddler commanded.

So the boy did as told... well almost. The man yelled, "not my bed," as the child climbed into his bed ignoring him.

"I'm going to kill Oswald." Riddler promised under his breath.

The boy quickly wrote in his note book and turned it to the man when he was finished.

"I don't care if Oswald reads to you. I'm not Oswald." Riddler answered coldly.

The boy scribbled down more.

"I do have great stories! Way better than any of Oswald's." Riddler hissed.

So Riddler lost again and told the boy a story. But he boy refused to shut his annoying little eyes. So he said another one, which turned into another one. Riddler wouldn't admit that the stories were infact true and about himself and Oswald.

After the 3rd story Riddler stood up. "You said he reads you one story and I have given you three. It isn't my fault you're still up, so go to sleep."

Martin quickly wrote in his notebook and threw it at the Riddler as he was leaving.

Riddler quickly bit his lip to avoid yelling at the boy and picked up to see what the runt wanted now. "...you want to know what my parents are like?" Riddler was about to tell him no when he read the next sentence, "I'll go to bed and never bother you again, I promise." He ripped the note out of the note book and placed it his pocket. "This is legal now." He sighed and sat back down.

Riddler opened his mouth to answer the boy's request but the words seemed to leave his lips.

You technically don't have parents. A voice not belonging the Riddler echoed in his head.

"Shut up." Riddler hissed through clenched teeth.

For someone who thinks he's the best of me is terrible at taking care of kids. This one doesn't even speak and you're losing it.

A pain started pulsing behind his eyes.

As Riddler grimaced in pain the boy stuck another note in front of his eyes. It read, "Is it Ed?"

Hey kid.

"Please be quiet." Riddler whisper as he put his head into his hands.

Martin upset at what he seemed to cause quickly ran out of the room. Riddler don't notice this at all. He hadn't known how much time had passed even he managed to look farther up the bed where Martin was last seen. The issue was the boy wasn't there anymore. In his place were a couple of pills and a note, "I'm sorry I bothered you, Mr. Riddler. My dad seemed more happy when you're around. I came here to figure out why Oswald and you don't get along. I even left a note for Oswald hinting you took me. I wanted him to show up and see that you do take good care of me. It's my fault that you don't see each other anymore. I refused to eat that day and you still took the blame. I'm going back to Oswald's to explain what I did. As an apology I'll give you a riddle, 'I can be a salty treat for some, and a breath stealer for others. What am I?' -Love Martin."

Riddler quickly looked at the time on his watch, it read, 1:07 am. "Oh dear." Riddler and Ed said in a worried tone.

Riddler wasted no time finding the peanut butter in a cabinet. Please don't be ruined and please be what I hope you are, he though.

Ed on the other hand was trying to calculate all the possible routes the boy could be taking.

Riddler spun the lid off and shouted, "Yes!" as he quickly unwrapped the napkin that was in the jar. It was his phone which he may need later. It was the nuclear option.

Then suddenly the front door swung open and crashed into the wall harder than it ever had.

Shit. Riddler though as he hit the floor to avoid being seen.

"EDWARD DUMBASS NYGMA." An angry mother penguin shouted louder than should be possible.

'What did I do?!' Riddler heard Ed scream in terror.

'We have to avoid him at all costs, when he's like this he won't listen to a word we say.' Riddler told Ed.

The pair listened as Oswald stomped around the apartment. Once they could hear him in the guest bedroom he bolted to Ed's room. Going out the front door would get them spotted immediately.

Riddler could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He has never moved this fast and quietly in his life, including all the other personalities. He threw open the window and leaped out of it. He fell about 6 feet before he was able to stop his fall by grabbing onto the fire escape ladder. The force made the ladder extend closer to the ground. Once it stopped a few feet above the ground Riddler let go and landed in the snow.

He didn't feel the coldness nor acknowledged it was even winter in Gotham as a voice from above him dripping with hate, "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME."

'There's no way he'll come down this way. Just go.' Ed commanded.

So Riddler did what Ed said for the first time in his existence. His mind was a blur, but that was okay because Ed was giving him directions. It wasn't long until he spotted the boy walking under the street lights on a particularly dangerous street.

"Hey! Kid wait!" Riddler yelled very out of breath. When the boy stopped and turned Riddler finally noticed how tired he was.

He was about to collapse when adrenaline shot back up his body.

"I TOLD YOU."

Riddler's eyes widden as he turned to see Oswald quite a bit off into the distance hobbling towards them. "...how?" The three questioned together.

He was running out of time so Riddler whipped back to the boy to say what he wanted to say. Unfortunately Oswald was faster and had a gun pointed directly at him.

'And you're the bad parent?" Ed questioned.

Martin quickly stood in front of Riddler to his surprise. He frantically waved his arms around and shook his head. All three men noticed the tears in his eyes.

"Martin I want you to step to the side, put your hands over your ears, and face away with your eyes closed. Do. Not. Make. Me. Ask. Again." Oswald said with a reassuring yet offsetting tone.

Martin stood his ground.

"Oswald I need to show you something, you're only making the situation worse." Riddler pleaded.

"You won't ever stop crossing the line will you? Every single time I let you live you make sure I regret it. Well not this time, old friend."

'Well we're dead.' Ed sighed.

Martin dropped to his knees with his hands together, no doubt pleading for Riddler's life.

Oswald's moved his finger to the trigger. Since he was aiming for Nygma's head, Martin wouldn't get hit. "Haven't I taught you anything? Don't be like me. Don't let anyone stab you in the back ever. I wouldn't be doing what I preach if I don't do this."

Riddler slowly moved his hand to his pocket.

'Stop you idiot' Ed screeched.

Riddler grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and held it above his head. "He thinks we aren't..." Riddler didn't know the right words, many of them made his stomach flip. "you know... a team anymore, because of him. He blames himself, Os."

"But it isn't his fault." Oswald's finger slowly backed off from the trigger. "Let me see. I doubt this will save you."

Riddler nodded and handed the note back to Martin. The boy whiped away some tears before running to Oswald.

Oswald held the note in the air under the street lamp to read the pencil words.

Ed, Riddler, and Martin watched with baited breath to see how Oswald would react.

Paying attention to microfacial expressions wasn't Ed or even Riddler's strong suit, but this time they caught everything. How Oswald bit him bottom lip as tears brimmed in his eyes. How he quickly turned his head away and blinked those tears away to avoid Martin seeing them. Ed and Riddler watched as he shook silently. Then he took a sharp breath and blew it out. "It was never your fault and it never will be. Edward is an idiot-. No we are, grown ups are. I'm sorry you had to see us flight. I promise to be better and I think me and him going our separate ways will ensure that."

Martin shook his head.

'Wow look at Oswald Cobblepot being the adult. I guess you got what you wanted.' Ed's voice still echoed in Riddler's head, thankfully without the migrain.

"You're wrong, that's not what I want." Riddler said out loud to his and Ed's surprise.

"What the hell-" Oswald started to yell again but Riddler cut him off.

"I don't think we should go out separate ways. It would be a shame if Gotham's best duo faded into nothingness. There is still greatness for us. Our story isn't done yet, Ozzie." Riddler closed the gap inbetween him and Oswald. "I'm sorry... for some of the things I did. Sometimes you deserved it though."

'Please shut up.' Ed begged.

It was Riddler's turn to bite his lip. He then took and deep breath and through clenched teeth spoke, "The truth is..." Riddler felt his face go warm and suddenly realized how terribly cold it was. "I'm happier when... you're...around...too."

Oswald covered his laugh with a cough. Ed did not follow that courtesy. 'I knew it!'

"Oh God damn it." Oswald sighed. "You're going to make me regret this, aren't you?"

"You know me so well." Riddler answered with a coy smile.

"Holy shit it is fucking cold. Can we go inside now before I actually turn into a penguin? And you..." Oswald pointed at Riddler with a smirk. "Shouldn't you hate the cold."

"Nope." Riddler shrugged as he tossed his suit jacket onto a shivering Martin. "It reminds me how I saved your sorry ass."

[cobraghost]

STUDY: BJC & HIS PERSONAL MUSIC

it occurs to me i never shared  a headcanon on Billy Joe’s more personal music, the kind of tracks that would never have seen the light of day. so here, i’ll elaborate real quick for those who are interested.

basically. i hc that to cope with the shallow poppy trash his record label makes him push out ( even if he's still defensive abt it he isn't fond of how generic and shallow he has to make it ) he starts producing songs tht are much more emotionally charged / sad in private. 

they are LARGELY consisting of the following subject material: making fun of pop songs, his failed and cut off relationships ( romance or even just friendships included ), how lonely it is at the top for him, how he feels he's nothing without fame, body dysmporphia, EDs, addictions, being used and abandoned repeatedly, things that happened to him -- traumatic things -- that I won’t be delving into here, but are just horrific....

 The list goes on. He has a lot of issues that he hides from the public, and you’d never guess in your life that he was this fucked up. His public mask is just THAT strong.  But music is his only outlet, so .. he’ll just record a lot of vent stuff like that, on the fly or fully produced if he needs to get all his frustrations and such out.

it's a side of him that's never seen by the public, and everyone honestly believed he was all peaches and gravy ( minus his concerning actions he  did for attention and shit. ) ..... until  about seven years after he's died, when all these private tracks leak once spence encourages billy to let em be released. before that, he never let anyone hear them -- where he usually LOVES letting people hear his tunes, these are songs that he is very apprehensive about letting play. Especially when he knows what emotions they’re charged with-- he doesn’t want anyone to be fucked up from it... But it would be both a good way to be put in the spotlight, AND to expose a hidden side that Spencer wanted to expose Hollywood for. 

So, they released it. 

To nobody’s surprise. every single one topped charts. Of course -- nothing less for the Cobra’s music! but man, are they fuckin' sad and hollow. most of it is piano or acoustic guitar music, but he still fully produces them.  they sound along the lines of "so soon”, the song "ever after" by MT, or "dying in LA".

when these songs were released to the public, however ... with the billions of fans of his, you better fucking believe this sent the whole world spiralling into a deep depression as they charted the tops for a few weeks. It was the rawest emotions from BJC anyone’s EVER heard. MOST of the songs the public had were shallow and intended to influence people to love him, or to flex -- but this added a whole dimension of depth that the world never got to see.  It started to make people think more ... like, sympathetically? He was thrust into the spotlight again for a little while, talks on social media analyzing how rough stardom is. How rough being a child star was -- uncovering the abuse from hollywood he had to grow up with, the things he had to do to get to the top.

needless to say, it was devestating . it was as though the world mourned a second time for the Cobra, but not for the loss of his talent -- this time, for the loss of a frustrated man who’s life was only just beginning. they mourned the person he never got to be in life rather than a brand, a status, as they had before. but thanks to him, i’d like to think people started getting more critical of the way pop /  rock / child stars are treated by the public. And though his death was tragic, it set into motion new laws to protect them, to try and assure that a hollywood soldier like Billy was never created again. His life was as horrificly sad as it was glamourous. Now, thanks to his music?

Nobody will ever have to live the way he did again just to get to the top.

[datleggy]

I need both of your “surprise Buck was/is pregnant with Eddie’s baby and they find out because Chris finds him” anons to finish their drabbles. I need the Buddie confrontation scene with all the angst and betrayal from both sides. (Meanwhile Chris happily keeps his baby brother occupied and whispers about how he’s gonna parent trap their dads.) Please and thank you.

he anon sent more and here it is! it's wonderful, pls read!! <3

ANON: As the anon who your last ask was talking about might I just say I am sobbiiiinnnnnggggggg 😭😭😭 that was so good omg but ALSO now I have an addition to my earlier blurb 👀👀👀

Eddie is frantic, from the moment Buck called to now. Let's rewind a bit though, for context.

After running into Buck in Austin, they did meet up, without Chris, to talk. Buck had Eddie meet him at his new fire house, which. Hurt? It hurt, in a weird way that Eddie couldn't quite place at first, but he realizes now what he was feeling; jealousy that Buck has moved on and seems so comfortable here, longing for Buck to return to them, to the 118 (if he's being honest though, it's him he wants Buck to return to more than anything, but that's hardly fair after everything), regret that he treated Buck so poorly that the other man not only felt he couldn't tell him about the baby, but that he felt he had to move states.

Eddie met him there regardless, though, because ultimately it was Buck's choice. Eddie was grateful Buck chose to talk to him at all, so he wasn't going to argue over the chosen venue.

They met up, and they talked, and Buck confirmed that the baby he was carrying was Eddie's. He was in shock at the confession, upset for the first few moments, even. And it showed on his face, because the next thing Eddie knew, Buck was backing away from him, arms crossed over his stomach and tears running down his face, begging Eddie not to try and take his baby from him.

"I know I shouldn't have ke-kept this from y-you, but Eddie pl-please! He's all I h-ha-have left, I won't make it if you t-take h-him!" Eddie was shocked, and horrified at Buck's words. It took him a few minutes to calm him down, and weeks of slowly increased communication between the two of them (and Christopher, of course) before Eddie was able to convince Buck that he wasn't planning on trying to gain custody of the baby. He had explained that, yes, he wanted to be in their son's life, wanted Chris to be in his brother's life, but he wouldn't do anything to hurt Buck anymore then he already has.

It took almost the remainder of the pregnancy, but they were finally close to where they had been before everything went to shit. Not that they were lovers again, Eddie doesn't think either of them are ready for that, and Buck agrees, but they were on the fast track to becoming best friends again.

So of course he's the first person Buck calls when he goes into labor.

"I'm sorry, you're what?"

"In labor," Buck says sheepishly over the phone. "Or at least, I think I am? I mean, I'm three days overdue so I doubt these are practice contractions, but I guess there's always the possibility, and oh my god if I called you at 3 in the morning because of practice contractions, Eddie, I am so sorry oh god--" he can hear Buck working himself into a panic attack, so he cuts in.

"Hey hey, none of that. Even if these are Braxton Hicks or whatever they're called, I'm glad you called me. We agreed we would be in this together, right?" There's a pause on the other line before Buck speaks.

"Yeah. Together."

Eddie smiles at the soft tone of Buck's voice, and he can picture him perfectly in his mind's eye as though he were there in front of Eddie. Sitting at the end of his bed, both hands framing his belly (which has gotten big since the first time they ran into each other three months ago, the doctors estimating that the baby is somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds, which Buck was Not Pleased to hear, and blames Eddie for, especially when he found out that Chris was nearly 8 pounds when he had been born), and tears in his eyes despite the smile on his face at the prospect of meeting their baby soon.

Eddie takes a deep breath to steady his own racing heart and asks "So, what do you want to do?"

"Huh?"

Eddie can't help the breathless laugh that leaves him, every passing moment feeling more and more surreal as he realizes that /this is happening/. He's going to be a father for a second time, he and Buck are having a baby together and they're going to meet him soon.

"Do you want me with you, Buck? Because I can leave now, fly down there and be with you when he's born. Or we can stay on the phone, or you can FaceTime me. Whatever you wanna do, babe." The endearment leaves his mouth before he can stop it, but he doesn't try to back track.

"I--" Buck cuts himself off with a cry, more surprised then in pain, but Eddie still hates the sound. He starts to wonder, if Buck wants him there, will Eddie even be able to face seeing him in that amount of pain? He'll do it, of course he will, he would do anything for Buck and their boys, but god it might just break him. This isn't about Eddie, though.

"Breathe, baby. Deep breaths, just like in those classes TK took you to." Everytime he and Buck talk, the other man has stories either related to the baby, or related to his new family. Sometimes even both, like when he told Eddie about the Lamaze classes Buck's friend TK took him to, highly recommended from when TK went himself with his boyfriend Carlos leading up to their son being born. Eddie couldn't help but feel that ugly, burning jealousy, but he tried to sound as happy as possible over the phone. Buck wouldn't appreciate the jealousy, since Eddie lost out on what they could have been thanks to his own anger and mistreatment of Buck.

A few moments pass before Buck comes back on. "That hurt," he says with a small, pained laugh. Eddie can't tell if he wants to cry, punch something, or both, but he tamps those feelings down.

"I know, I know. But you've got this, Buck. You're gonna kick labor's ass, right?"

"Right," Buck responds weakly.

"Damn right, right. You're so strong, Buck. There isn't anything you can't do, and nothing you won't do for your kids. You've got this." He hears Buck take a deep breath, steeling himself.

"Yeah... yeah! I've got this. I've got this!" That golden retriever enthusiasm is back in full force, and Eddie grins.

Buck announces that he's going to start packing some stuff and getting his things together, so Eddie will be in speaker phone. For the next few minutes, Eddie listens to Buck ramble off random facts about babies and labor between verbalizing his hospital bag checklist. He hums in the appropriate places to show he's listening, asks clarifying questions so Buck knows Eddie isn't bored or just humoring him. Before too long, Eddie can tell that Buck has picked the phone back up, removing it from speaker phone.

"Hey, Eds?" His voice is quieter, more subdued then it has been for most of their time in the phone.

"Yeah, Buck?" His own voice is soft, curious but undemanding.

"I-- you said, earlier, that you would-would come down, if that's what I wanted? Like, to be here when the baby is born." Eddie feels his heart start to race in his chest, not sure if he's eager to hear Buck's decision or dreading it.

"I did," he confirms anyway, wanting Buck's comfort more than anything else.

"... Is that offer still on the table? You coming down here, I mean." Eddie can feel his breath catch in his chest, and he realizes that, yeah, he was eager to know what Buck wanted him to do. He feels like jumping into the air and cheering, knowing Buck wants him by his side as he delivers their baby boy into the world.

"I can leave in ten minutes, and be with you in four, five hours at the most." His response is almost immediate, and Buck laughs on the other end of the line. "Is that what you want, Buck? Me to be there, with you?" Eddie hears a sniffle and he knows Buck is in the verge of crying.

"I-- is that alright? I don't-- I can't do this alone, Eddie. I know I have everyone from the 126 here, and all of them would sit with me through this in a heartbeat, but... I need it to be you that's here with me. I want you to be here when our son is born, want you to cut the cord, be one of the first to hold him, all of it. I... I need /you/." And how could Eddie ever say no to that?

"Give me a few minutes to pack a bag and make some calls, okay? I'll call you right back, and before you know it, I'll be right beside you, holding your hand and letting you break as many fingers as you want." Buck gives a wet chuckle and agrees, but both men have a hard time saying goodbye, even if it will only be for a few minutes.

"I'll see you soon, Buck, okay? I swear."

"Yeah, I know you will, I know. I'm just nervous, is all. Having you here, even just over the phone, it helps. So much, Eddie." He knows what he means. Hearing Buck's cheerful voice after a long day never fails to make Eddie feel better, make him feel that no matter what, everything will be alright. He can only imagine how much better things will feel for the both of them once they can actually see each other, touch each other.

"I know exactly what you mean. I'll be there soon, okay? I'll call you back in a second and you can tell me more statistics about babies born in cars, or whatever." Buck snorts a laugh and Eddie smiles at the sound.

"I swear to God if you jinx this and I end up giving birth on the highway, I will kill you." They laugh together, but Eddie knows now that he has to get things in order if he wants to be with Buck ASAP. Neither man wants to say goodbye.

"I'll be with you soon, Evan."

"Yeah, okay. Eddie, I-I..." Eddie waits patiently for whatever Buck was going to say. His heart hammers in his chest.

"... Be safe, Eddie." He can't help the bitter feeling of disappointment that floods through him, but he returns the sentiment, regardless.

They hang up, and for a moment, Eddie simply sits on his bed, head in his hands. All he wanted to do as they said their goodbyes was to tell Buck that he loved him. He doesn't feel like he's earned the right to say that to him yet, though. He has to earn it.

With that in mind, he starts packing a bag, calling Hen to see if she and Karen would be able to babysit Chris while Eddie is in Texas.

Dhdhjajsiejsj so sorry about that again, hope you enjoy (and thanks again to that person who sent that other ask, bc that was an amazing blurb they sent 😌) 😭😭😭

[love-fireflysong]

Oh my god, I'm so sorry that this one took so long holy shit. I have no excuses, other than the fact that I'm a terrible person who can't be trusted with deadlines it seems. But it is done! Yay! So, as successfully chosen by Miss '@clumsybookworm18' Mel, here's my entry for hurt/comfort (finally). This is actually the beginning part of a sole survivor chris/ash au I've been imagining for over a year now, and will very likely be the only part of that au I will ever share. That au is for me. And me alone, sorry lol.

Can't Undo the Scars can be read over on AO3 of course (and I would recommend it if only for the snazzy looking texting lol) but it is also under the link as usual.

Can't Undo the Scars

Tropes: Hurt/Comfort Fandom: Until Dawn Characters: Ashley Brown, Chris Hartley Words: 9749 Rating: Teen (mentions of past trauma, unhealthy coping mechanisms, separation anxiety, nightmares that involve death) Author's Notes: Will I ever be happy with this fic? No but I'm as content with what I got as I ever will be. What Chris and Ash are doing to try and get back to 'normal' is so stupidly not healthy for either of them, but they are young kids that just want to try and move on with their lives. So be nice to them (and me obviously lol).

"I think we should take a break."

Sitting across from Ashley at the table in the quiet cafe where they had gotten coffee together, Chris fumbled with the sugar cube he had grabbed. It bounced off the small table and tumbled to the floor, not that he was paying any attention to it anymore. Not when it felt like all his blood had frozen in his veins. Still, hoping and praying that he was misunderstanding what Ashley was trying to get at, he let out a forced little laugh. "...like a KitKat? Oh man, when was the last time I had one of those? Must have been ages ago, you're totally right we should go and grab a bar or two after this. A little snack and treat we both totally deserve and I'll break us off a piece of that—"

Chris let everything else he was about to say trail off when Ashley pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and shook her head fiercely as she refused to look at him. The loose sleeves of the sweater she was wearing were pulled far down enough that only the tips of her fingers were poking out, and those tightened around the mug of coffee she was holding onto. "No, I-I mean, I think we need to take a break from each other. At least for a little bit."

Forget his blood freezing, Chris felt everything around him freeze. His breath froze in his lungs, his heart froze in his chest, and time seemed to freeze around him. "Ash, are-are you," Chris swallowed roughly as he tried to keep himself together, "are you breaking up with me?"

Immediately Ashley's eyes snapped up to meet his, and they were wide with the same fear that Chris was pretty sure had replaced all the blood in his body. "No! No, that's-that's not what I'm doing! That's not what I want at all!" Her hands left the mug she had been gripping on the table and reached out to take Chris's, but hesitated and pulled back at the last second. "Why? Do you want to...?"

Chris closed the distance between their hands and grabbed hers in his, but was careful not to touch her wrists. He was more relieved than he had imagined it was possible to feel (and he had felt some pretty intense feelings of relief in the last half a year) when she responded by immediately turning her hands over so she could curl her fingers into his. "I don't! I can't think of a single thing in the world I want to do less than that."

The jerky nod that Ashley gave in agreement should have left him feeling better, but it didn't. "Good. So we're not br— not gonna do that then."

"Cool. Cool cool cool. Glad we're in agreement. But then, what did you mean by that, Ash? That we should..." Chris couldn't even bring himself to say the words, instead letting them die in his throat when Ashley slowly withdrew her hands from his and placed them back around her quickly cooling mug.

"It's just, this isn't healthy Chris. This can't be healthy for either of us."

"Healthy? What isn't healthy? This much coffee? The amount of sugar I put in my cup every morning? Is the amount of sugar I use turning you off Ash? Cause I don't think I can fix that sorry."

She didn't smile at that, not even a hint. No faint tugging at the corners of her mouth, no sigh of exasperation, nothing. And it was then that he knew that whatever this was all about, she was as serious as he'd ever seen her, and that terrified him.

"This, Chris. None of this. The fact that neither of us can sleep alone. That I'm terrified that the moment you leave my sight I'll never see you again. I hate that it feels like neither of us can go out in public unless we're both there."

"Oh. That. Yeah, I-I can see how that might be a problem. But Ash, it wasn't—it's not as if it's our fault. We're just trying to heal, I mean that's what all the doctors keep telling us at least. And if this is what it takes, then what's so wrong about that?"

Ashley looked up at him again, and while he wasn't shocked at the dark circles around her eyes (they were identical to the ones around his after all), the tears that had started to build up in the corners of them had him reaching over the table so he could take her face into his hands. Her hands cover his a second later, but not pull them away like he feared, instead she curls her fingers into the palms of his hands so she can hold him there. The two of them lean over the table to meet in the middle, likely looking like a romantic embrace shared by lovers in the corner to anyone looking on, but this is anything but. "But it's been months Chris," she starts and he wipes away the first tear that threatens to fall before it ever gets the chance to, "since, since..."

Since Blackwood, he finishes for her in his head, it's been months since Blackwood and it still feels like we're no better than when we first came down. And it has been, Blackwood had been nearly six months ago now and the two of them still jumped and grabbed for each other at what seemed like every little thing. A loud bang, even from something as small and normal as a car backfiring down the street, always sent Chris back into that room in the basement, watching as Mike aimed that gun at Emily. The sound of a glass cup shattering as it hit the floor would have Ashley locking up in fear, her grip on Chris's hand tightening to a point far beyond pain.

That first week of July had been terrible for them both. The smart thing to do would have been to get as far out of town as possible, but that would have left them basically stranded in the wilderness; surrounded by trees on all sides as they jumped at every little sound and animal call, wondering if it was yet another one of those creatures from the mountain trying to finish them off. Instead they had elected to stay home, cowering together in Chris's basement as the fireworks going off with loud pops and bangs from nearly every house in the area had managed to cut through their earplugs and send them both into a tailspin. Remembering every bullet that Chris had shot into the Wendigo that had chased him from the shed, none doing any damage at all except to push it back further and further from him. Remembering the sound as the lodge exploded into a ball of fire, leaving them to sit cold and alone in the snow as their ears continued to ring and ring. The coolness of the basement had done little against the summer heat either, reminding them too much of the heat from the burning lodge that had threatened to cook them both from the inside out.

July had almost been worse than February, and nothing would ever top those two days in February.

He's not worried about the scene the two of them are making in the cafe though. The table they had chosen—had been using since they discovered this beautifully quiet and peaceful cafe back when they had both finally worked up the nerve to leave their houses back in May—was in a secluded corner with no windows. It was a defensible position (or at least as defensible as a table in a public cafe could be) and as long as they stayed quiet then no one would pay any attention to them. Not when the other patrons were too busy chatting with their friends or typing away on a computer. And the employees? They had more to worry about then two nerdy regulars who for all appearances looked like they were having a romantic and private conversation.

"Can you at least just tell me why?" Chris whispers, his words choked as he continues to wipe away her tears. "Why now? What happened to make you think that we need a—" his m0uth moves but nothing comes out until he finally manages to force the word past the blockade in his throat "—a break."

Ashley leans into one of his palms and smiles at him sadly. "I know we both decided that we were gonna try and start school again in the winter semester, and that our admissions had already been accepted, so I was looking at dorm availabilities when you had fallen asleep last week. They only have a few single dorms and those are available only for married students. Which is fine, it's way too small to room two people at once for durations longer than a weekend. But it also turns out that there is no option for co-ed dorms, the school doesn't allow them. No exceptions."

"What? But, surely they must—"

She shakes her head. "No exceptions, they were very clear on that. I don't know how many times me or my mom or any of the doctors emailed them to try and explain the circumstances, but the response back was always the same. They 'feel sorry and understand how difficult this must be for us' but no exceptions means no exceptions. We either agree to separate dorms with roommates of the same gender or we have to find another set of lodgings."

"But that's...that's bullshit! So the thought of a boy and girl sharing a room apparently goes so far against their-their—what, good Christian values?—that giving our poor roommates nightmares while we scream ourselves to sleep is an acceptable alternative?!"

Ashley turns her head so she can leave a chaste kiss in the center of Chris's palm in an effort to calm him down, and decides to just stay and murmur her next words there. "I hate it too, but what other alternative is there? You know we can't get a place together, there's no possible way we could afford the rent for one."

"We can...we can..." Chris tries to find something, anything, he can say to make this not happen. "I can find a job, work and go to school or—"

"And we arrive back to the same problem, Chris. If we can't survive a separation at school, how are we supposed to do it when we're both out working as well, just so we can stay together. I don't want to do this anymore then you do Chris; I really really don't. You have no idea how much I don't want to do this, but we have to get used to not being able to see each other all the time. And I would rather do it on our terms then because the school or our roommates decided we can't."

Ashley's right, of course Ashley's right. It's Ashley Brown after all, she's always right, but he doesn't want her to be. Not about this. "Okay," he agrees instead, even as it feels like saying the word is stealing something away that he can't quite name. He hides this by lowering her head so he can place his lips on her forehead and say the words there instead. "Okay. Just-just tell me how long."

"A week." Chris feels something in his stomach turn into stone and sink to the bottom of his gut. He had been hoping for something like a day or two, not a full week. He isn't sure he can survive seven days without seeing her. "I-I thought long and hard about it, but a week. We're gonna have periods anyways where we won't be able to see each other because of exams or projects, so if we can manage a whole week then we can do those no problem."

"Are you sure that maybe we shouldn't, I don’t know, just build up to that? A day here, two days there, just so we can get used to it?"

Ashley shakes her head firmly enough that it jostles Chris's hands right off of her face, but keeps her hands in his anyways. "No. I want to get this over with. Prove to everyone, to ourselves, that we can do something as simple as this. I mean, we used to go periods all the time when we didn't see each other for ages, so what's so different about this?"

"Everything", Chris wants to say, "Everything's different now. It changed the moment we left that mountain behind." But he doesn't. He doesn't because he wants her to be right, that this is just a minor hiccup and if they can overcome this, then they can overcome anything. So with one last squeeze of her hands and a pained smile, he lets go and takes a sip of his coffee and grimaces at the taste. It's cold now, had probably gone cold a long time ago and he can tell from the shared frown on Ashley's face that hers has gone cold too.

With no reason for either of them to stay here now, they had only brought enough money for a single coffee each, it's pretty clear that their little coffee date is over. Neither of them say a word as they clean up their table and leave the cafe, their fingers intertwined as they usually are nowadays, but holding on tighter than usual. They separate only so they can get into Chris's truck, but the moment they settle into their seats, their hands find each other once again. And that's how Chris drives Ashley back to her mother's, hands gripping so tightly that they're fingers have turned white and not saying a single word the entire drive back. They never mentioned it, but neither of them have to. The moment they arrive at her place, then this is it. This will be the last time they're gonna see each other for an entire week, and the moment one of them speaks then any and all willpower they have to pull this off is going to be gone and they'll be back at where they started. They need to do this, even if neither of them want to.

It isn't until Chris pulls up in front and watches her let go of his hand to take off her seatbelt that it actually hits him. For the first time in six months, he's not going to be following her in. That he's going to continue the drive back to his own house alone. The realization shudders through him and he quickly finds himself fumbling at his own seatbelt clasp, and the moment he's free he's surging across the divide between them and taking Ashley's face in his hands as he kisses her like he's never going to be able to again. She doesn't hesitate to return the embrace either, throwing her arms around him and gripping onto him as though she never wants to let him go.

They spend what is probably far too long delaying the separation, but inevitably they do separate. And when they look at each other it's with tears in their eyes and their foreheads pressed so firmly together it's almost like they're trying to become one person.

"Just seven days, right? And that's it, we'll never have to do this again? You promise?"

Ashley doesn't say anything, she just nods and leans in for one last kiss, as though trying to memorize it and him for the coming week. And when she does pull away to leave, it's with her arms slowly untwining themselves from around Chris's neck, and then letting her fingers trail lightly over his shoulders, down his arms, and past his hands. Though she is stopped when Chris curls his fingers so that they catch on his, and doesn’t fight it as she watches wordlessly as he lifts them in front of his face and carefully lets the loose sleeves of her sweater drop so he can see the faint scars on her wrist that were left when the rope burns had healed. And as always, he makes no comment as softly places a kiss into the center of each wrist, followed by the palm, and then the tip of each finger, finally closing his eyes as he presses the back of her knuckles to his lips and holding her hands there. Just to remind himself that she was still here, that she hadn't died on Blackwood Mountain with all the rest.

He drops her hands when she pulls them back, but doesn't open his eyes when he feels her shaky fingers carefully remove his glasses and place them on the dashboard before returning her hands to his face in order to complete their little ritual. Gently, she traces the contours of his face with the pads of her thumbs, brushing them over his eyes, his nose, his lips, and following each with a soft kiss to the body part in question. Finishing as she always does by placing her lips in a closed mouth kiss to the area where his jaw and neck meet, and lingering just long enough so she can feel his pulse thrum beneath his skin. The minor burn from where he had once held the gun to his jaw had faded a long time ago, but he doesn't think that either will ever forget exactly where it used to be. And when she leans back, the usual expressions of relief and awe are hidden so far underneath the absolute heartbreak that they may as well not even exist. "I—" he starts, but stops just as quickly. It's far too overdue, but the timing isn't right. "I guess I'll see you next week then."

Ashley looks like she has something she wants to say, but instead reaches out to put Chris's glasses back on his face with shaking hands and as she opens the passenger door and gets out of the vehicle, she gives a weak smile. "Yeah, I...I'll see you then."

Chris just watches as she walks up to the building, gripping onto the steering wheel as hard as possible in an effort to hold himself back from trying to follow her into the building like every fibre of his being is screaming at him to do. And after sharing one last shaky and teary eyed smile from the top of the steps, Ashley unlocks the door and enters, leaving his sight for what feels like both the first time in forever, and the final time he'll ever get to see her.

He rushes the rest of the way home, and the moment he gets back he just about runs to his bedroom and hides under the covers of his bed, ignoring both the surprised greeting his mother sends his way and the inquiry about where Ashley is. He just wants to sleep.

The week will be over quicker that way.

***

By the end of the first day Ashley is ready to scream. Not because she misses Chris horribly (she does), or because waking up without Chris at her side had sent her into near hysterics (it did). She had expected these things after all, they were all things that she had to get used to again, he wasn't always going to be there with her after all. It still hurt—good god did it hurt—but all in all, it wasn't going terribly for the first day. She'd had no nightmares thankfully, and had spent most of the day reading, with some minor tidying up in her room and helping her mother around the house.

Oh no, the reason she was about to scream was her mother in question. Who after finding out why exactly Chris hadn't come home with her yesterday, and never made an appearance later on in the evening just before bed, had been frantic. Saundra wasn't angry, she didn't scream or yell or try to do anything that might set her daughter off, but she was being horribly insistent that maybe Ashely and Chris should have thought this through more. Asking why Ashley had never brought this up to her, and if she even mentioned that they were doing this to their doctors. She hadn't of course, because Ashley was fully aware that they would have done almost everything in their power to try and talk them out of it, telling them that the two of them weren't ready for separation of his magnitude yet. And of course neither of them were ready for this—they likely never would be—but it needed to be done if her and Chris had any hope of even trying to return to a normal lifestyle in time for them to return to college in January.

And, well, she was terrified about what would happen to them if they didn't. Sure it was deemed 'healthy' for now, as they tried and struggled to recover from what everyone around them said was a horribly traumatic series of events. But what about when it wasn't simply seen as healthy and therapeutic, but harmful and co-dependant? Ashley loved Chris, even if neither of them had said the words yet she felt it in her entire being everytime she looked at him, and the idea that one day they might grow to hate or resent each other for being unable to let go was too much. And so the completely necessary trial separation came into being. If they could prove that they could successfully be apart for something as short as a week, then this wasn't codependency in the making, it was healing pure and simple.

Now she just had to convince herself of that.

***

By early morning of the second day, Chris had finally admitted to himself what he had figured out a few short hours into his self-exiled bedrest: sleeping the week away when he had been finding it hard to sleep in general for months now was quite frankly going to be impossible. And so he had with great reluctance rolled himself out of his far too empty bed and into the shower, passing his own mother talking in hushed voices on the phone. Voices that quickly stopped the moment Lilith realized that her son was finally up and moving again, and then immediately confronting him afterwards and pleading that he tell her that nothing bad had happened between him and Ash. He weakly assures that everything's fine between them (it's not, everything is not fine, it won't be fine until she's by his side again), and that he'll talk to her after. The only thing he wants right now is a hot shower. Lilith lets him go reluctantly, but Chris is also very aware that the moment he steps foot into the bathroom, that she's going to be back on the phone with Saundra speaking in hushed and worried whispers.

The rest of the morning passes by in a haze of motherly questions—mixed with the occasional fatherly one every now and again just for spice—and a large breakfast that tastes and feels like ash in his mouth, and it bleeds into the afternoon, and then into the evening. Which finds Chris both bored out of his mind and desperate for a distraction as he digs through a pile of video games to try and find something to play. But everything he finds was either given to him by Ash, or ones the two of them had played together (if not both), so he abandons his search and instead finds himself out in the garage digging through dusty and broken down boxes until he finds the old playstation and games that his parents had gotten for him before he had ever met Ashley or...or...

Well, the point was he had a game now that carried no memories of anyone or anything except being six and terrible at video games. It does nothing to wipe away the loneliness and despair that covers him like a heavy blanket, but it's a start. An extremely stalled start to a race he wants nothing to do with, but a start nonetheless.

***

On day three, Ashley is starting to think that maybe her mom had been right and that this was such a stupid idea. Last night was especially bad. No matter how many blankets she had piled on her bed, no matter how many childhood stuffed animals she had shoved back on to fill up the empty space, none of it had helped. She had never felt so cold in her life and all the open space on the bed had made her feel like she was going to be swallowed up into the emptiness. In desperation she had started ripping the drawers from her dresser and throwing clothes from her closet, frantically holding back burning tears of frustration and the scream building up in her throat.

And then she found it. One of Chris's sweaters shoved half-hazardly away into a dark corner of her room under the bed, and had been forgotten about by the both of them until now. The immediacy with which she had fumbled to grab the thing and throw it on probably would have frightened her any other day, but with the tears finally flowing hot and heavy down her cheeks as she buried her face into the dark fibres, all she could feel was bone-crushing relief settling over her. Her room a mess she could deal with in the morning, Ashley had crawled into bed hugging herself and the sweater as close as she physically was able. She wasn't cold anymore, and the bed felt less empty too.

As long as she had a reminder that Chris was still alive, that she could still smell him even on this dusty and long-forgotten piece of clothing, then even if he wasn't physically here with her she could manage. And she would manage, she would. They were already halfway through the week after all, and she would prove to everyone—to herself—that they (she) could do this.

Ashley wears the sweater all the rest of the day once she wakes up.

***

In true Chris Hartley fashion, day four finds himself absolutely glued to the screen of his phone. Shortly after forcing down a small breakfast in an attempt to alleviate his worried parents' concern, he had spent what was probably a far too long amount of time in his text messages just staring at Ash's name. His thumbs hovering nervously over the keyboard as he fought with himself over and over again, debating if texting Ashley would be okay. Yes, the two of them had agreed that this 'break' (he hates the word, hates it hates it hates it with every fibre of his being) was needed if they wanted to try and get themselves ready for the separation that college life would inevitably bring, but that was to try and prepare themselves for not being able to see each other for long periods of time. They wouldn't be able to see each other during classes or during periods of intense studying and working on projects, but they would still be able to talk. Hell, his entire first year of college while she was still in high school had been just that. They hadn't been able to hang out in weeks, but they had still texted all the time.

So biting the bullet, Chris had gone ahead and texted Ash a quick and easy 'hey'. No 'miss you', no 'this was a terrible idea', no ' i wish you were here right now'. Just a simple 'hey' and then he stared at his phone, face pale and hands shaking as he waited to see what she would do. He didn't care if she would just send back a scathing reply about how he was breaking the rules by doing this, he just needed her to respond and reassure him that she was alright. That she was still alive and his insecurities were getting the best of him.

The phone rumbling softly in his hand was a godsend, and so too was the affirmative 'hi :)' that she had responded with. After that, it was as though the floodgates had opened. The two of them texted each other back and forth the entire rest of the day, her telling him about the books she had been reading as he told her about his adventures through late 90's and early 2000's gaming. They told each other what they had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They talked about everything and nothing and it was so blissfully normal that Chris wondered why on earth it had taken him this long to text her in the first place. He thinks that he was so used to just having her there with him all the time, that the idea that they could still text hadn't even crossed his mind.

There are things he doesn't tell her of course. That the idea of falling asleep without knowing she's next to him and safe is so ludicrous that he had stopped trying, only sleeping in small, unintended fits that leave him feeling even worse than before. That despite at least continuing to eat, the food tastes like nothing and he can only manage a few bites before excusing himself. And what little he does eat almost always manages to come back up during the night, though thankfully when his parents are both sleeping (he doesn't want them to worry more than they already are). Chris doesn't want to worry Ashley, not when it seems like she's managing this whole seven-day long affair better than he is so far. If she can do this, then so can he.

So no matter how many times his thumb hovers over the call icon in the corner, he does not press it. Texting will have to be enough, he knows that the moment he hears her voice then every single shred of resolution he has built up will crumble in seconds and he'll be driving as fast as he can so he can see her again. And they're already four days deep into their seven days, the last thing he wants is for Ashley to decide that they need to start all this over from the top again.

***

Ashley is comfortable in her bed, more comfortable than she's ever felt in her life honestly. Chris's arm is draped heavily over her waist, and his breath is warm on the back of her neck as he peacefully naps the afternoon away. His body is solid against her back and she feels so, so safe and so, so loved as she continues to read her book, a favourite of hers that she had read cover to cover a million times but always felt like coming home in its warm familiarity. Contentedly, she flips a page and snuggles back further into Chris's body and she feels something warm and wet drip onto her neck.

"Chriiiiiiis," she groans, but not without an edge of laughter, "wake up. You're drooling on me, you dip." He doesn't move, and Ashley repositions herself a little, made difficult by the weight of his arm over her, and jabs her elbow into his gut. "I'm serious you dork, wake up. I swear to god, you sleep like the de—" The words die in her throat in horror when she turns her head to face him.

His head isn't there. Nothing is there. Just dark blood pouring hot and heavy from the open space above his neck, staining the fur lining his coat and the once clean, white snow as the blizzard rages around her. Desperate to prove that this isn't real, that it can't be real, she fumbles for the hand that hangs limp at her waist and threads her fingers through his, but his fingers are cold to the touch and black with frostbite, and no matter how hard she squeezes he isn't squeezing back. She's fully aware that she's openly crying and sobbing as she repeats his name over and over, begging him to wake up and tell her that this isn't real. Her tears are freezing on her cheeks the moment they fall.

From deep within the treeline, a high-pitched shriek that rattles the teeth in her mouth echoes long and loud around the wide, open snow-covered space.

Cries and nausea alike stick in her throat as she tries frantically to wiggle out from Chris's body, but his arm is a dead weight that keeps her pinned in place against him. "C'mon, Chris. We need to go. We need to hide. Get up, please please please get up."

There's a soft thump of a large body landing in the snow far off to the right, unseen but not unheard, and she freezes in place. Hoping and praying that the thing won't see them as she huddles in closer to the protection that Chris's body is offering, her blood stained fingers tightening painfully on his limp hand and around the leather bound journal she is still holding in her other. In fear she buries her face into the snow beneath her, the cold biting at her skin and the metallic taste of Chris's spilt blood filling her mouth and nose. For a moment, there's nothing. No sound except for the wind whistling through the trees as the snow whips wildly around them.

And then Chris is gone. The comforting and yet horrifying weight he had been is just gone as he's suddenly flung through the air and colliding into a tree with a sickening crunch. Her hand had been gripping onto his so fiercely and so tightly that she had been pulled with him for just a second before his hand had been violently ripped out of her grasp. Leaving Ashley to stare wide-eyed and terrified into the face of the thing—its body too long and spindly with far too many sharp angles to be considered human—standing above her as she lays on her back. Milky-white eyes gaze back down unseeingly at her and Chris's blood is dripping from sharp, deadly claws that splatter onto her face. The thing opens its mouth to showcase row upon row of crooked and yellowed razor-sharp teeth and it screams at her, spittle flying into Ashley's face as her ears ring and ring and ring.

Too scared to cry, too scared to move, Ashley just wishes that Chris was still here with her and not lying broken and mangled and headless at the foot of a tree as he continues to slowly bleed out into the crisp white snow. A small little whimper, barely louder than the whisper of wind blowing through grass and certainly going unheard in this howling blizzard, escapes past her lips but it's enough. In a flash, the same deadly claws are raking towards her face to rip her head off in the same way it had to Chris.

And Ashley screams.

She screams and screams and screams, and screams only louder when a pair of hands cradle her face and a voice begs and pleads with her to wake up. Ashley tries to fight back against the hands and the voice, screaming for Chris to wake up and help her, but her own words keep getting caught on the blood that is bubbling out of her mouth. There's another scream, this one not her own, and then the hands have moved to try and open her mouth but she won't let them. She doesn't want her jaw ripped off like what had happened to poor Jess. Like what she had seen in the pictures that the rangers had shown her and Chris so they could identify the half naked body discovered in the mines. So she fights back even harder, trying to claw at the person or thing that killed Chris and Jess and everyone else. And then there's a cry of pain, and the hands on her face have vanished, appearing around her wrists so they could try and hold her panicked flailing back.

The moment the hands appear on her wrists, Ashley's eyes fly open and she can't breathe. She can't breathe because she's hanging in the shed, the wood cold against her back as saws whir menacingly both in front and above her as Josh hangs limpy next to her. The lower half of his body an impossible mess on the floor and the grey intestines that had managed to stay in his upper half hanging down towards it like grotesque party streamers. From behind the steel chain link fence that partitions the room, Chris stands looking straight at her as he holds a gun to his jaw, his face pale as he smiles shakily at her and pulls the trigger.

Somehow, the scream that finally manages to break through is louder than all the rest.

There's more begging and pleading that she can't make out against the loud mechanical whir of the saws. And then a phone chimes, only just managing to cut through all the screaming and whirring and echoes of gunshots. And then it chimes again, louder this time. And again. And again. And she realizes that she recognizes it, it's the ringtone that Chris had set on her phone for his contact ages and ages ago as a joke, and she had just kept forgetting to change it back until it just became his notification, joke or not.

Slowly, the shed fades away until all she's left seeing is her mother standing in her brightly lit bedroom, screaming at someone through her phone. But all Ashley is paying attention to is the repeated chimes going off constantly on her phone one after another, the screen never getting the chance to go dark before another text comes in, and Chris's name appearing for every single one.

Saundra seems to notice that her daughter has finally stopped screaming, and although she continues to plead with whoever it is on the phone with her, she reaches out a hesitant and unsure hand. Ashley notices none of this as blood continues to dribble slowly out of her mouth as she picks up and unlocks her phone.

***

Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong and it isn't the fact that Chris is kneeling over the toilet as he retches into it for the second time tonight. Oh no, the something wrong is due to the fact that despite it being past midnight he can hear his mom trying frantically to calm someone down on the phone. It was the phone ringing that had woken him up in fact from where he had accidentally dozed off on the couch, waking up to find the old playstation controller hanging loose in his fingers and Crash idly spinning a piece of wumpa fruit on his finger in all his polygonal glory. Chris had dropped the controller the rest of the way to the floor in his rush to the bathroom though, startling poor Toby from where he had been snoozing the night away in his dog bed. He had only barely made it before he found himself throwing up what little food he had been able to eat during the day, and the coolness of the porcelain against is forehead was a balm of relief when compared to the burning in his throat and heat of his tears as they flowed slowly down his face.

He could tell the moment that Lilith had found him from the surprised cry of alarm behind him, quickly followed by a clatter as she dropped the phone to the linoleum floor in her shock as she reached out to take her son's face in her hands. Chris knew that he must have looked a dreadful sight, his face pale and drawn while his eyes looked at her with a glassy stare. The next second, she was yelling over her shoulder for his father to wake up now and turn on the car, but Chris wasn't paying any attention to that. Not when he was just starting to make out the sound of the voice through the phone, and more importantly, the screaming in the background of the call.

That was Ashley's scream. It was a sound he didn't think he would ever be allowed to forget and it hit him that she was screaming—screaming for him—and he wasn't there.

Clumsily, he ripped his face from his mother's hands and stumbled to the living room where he had left his phone on the couch. He had to help her. She needed him and he had to help her. The moment he finally had his phone in his hand he pulled up her contact name...and then he froze unsure of what to do. He couldn't call her, not because of this whole stupid break thing, but because the sound of her voice sobbing on the phone will cause him to break down with her and the last thing either of them need is to scream and cry while they're both so, so far away from each other. So he does the next best thing he can do:

He texts her.

C: what does a cloud wear under his raincoat? C: thunderwear C: why are teddy bears never hungry? C: cause they're always stuffed C: why do ducks have tail feathers? C: to cover up their buttquacks C: what kind of shoes do private investigators wear? C: sneak-ers C: why do i never tell jokes about pizza? C: they're too cheesey

And on and on and on. Even as his fingers shake he continues to text her stupid little jokes. The same ones he tells to her when he's there to hold her in his arms and remind her that he's still okay and that she’s safe. There's no describing the sob of relief he makes when she finally responds.

C: prime-mates C: what event do spiders love to attend? A: Cats C: webbings

There's a moment where he doesn't know what she means by that. How on earth could cats be the pun he was looking for in the joke? And then it hits him. She needs to know that it's really him telling these jokes and that she's not just making up everything she's seeing on her phone. Ashley is asking for the stupidest jokes about cats he knows so she can confirm that it's really him on the phone. Even tired as he is—and he is so so tired—they come naturally to him as only talking with Ashley and middle school dad jokes ever did.

C: what's a cat's favourite colour? C:purr-ple C: what do you call a cat that loves to bowl? C: an alley cat C: what's a cat's favourite tv show? C: claw and order C: what does the cat say after making a joke? C: just kitten

And so on and so forth. Ashley throws out a new topic for jokes and Chris replies with them as quickly as he can. He can hear his mom and dad talking in the next room, to each other and Saundra on the phone, but the only person he cares about is the one on the other side of his. He needs to call her. He knows what Ashley needs when she has a nightmare this bad, and the jokes are helping but she needs to hear his voice to be truly convinced that he's okay. But he can't hear hers without making things so much worse than they already are and he doesn't know what to say that would calm her down and—he stares at the last joke he had just typed out unconsciously it hits him.

C: what did the two volcanoes say to each other? C: i lava you C: i'm going to call your phone but whatever you do don't answer it C: just let it go to voicemail and please don't answer it C: please

Chris doesn't wait for her response as he shoves past his father to his bedroom, ignoring the startled shout as he slams the door behind him, and slumps against it to the floor. He doesn't want his parents to hear this. It's not anything that would worry them, but it's so so private and the only person he wants to hear this is Ash. He still doesn't look at her response as he frantically taps the call button and listens to the phone ring. And ring. And ring. And ring. And ring. And then, finally, he hears her voice for the first time in nearly a week.

"Hi, this is Ashley. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now but leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Promise!"

***

Please enter your password.

6279#

You have one new voice message. To play your messages, press one. To record—

1

"I love you. I'm so sorry that I'm not there so say it to your face but I love you so much that I can't fucking stand it somedays and I should have told you ages ago. I should have said it five days ago but I didn't. I should have been saying it to you before falling asleep and after waking up every day. On the helicopter ride down the mountain. When you kissed me for the first time. I think I was lying when I said that nothing was wasted between us, because I should have been screaming this to you from the first moment you smiled at me. I wasted so much time not telling you this so I'm going to say it now. I love you, I love you, I love you, I lo—"

To replay this message: press one. To go to—

1

"I love you. I'm so sorry that I'm not there so say it to your face but I love you so much that I can't fucking stand it somedays and I should have told you ages ago. I should have said something five days ago but I didn't. I should have been saying it to you before falling asleep every night and after waking up every morning. On the helicopter ride down the mountain. When you kissed me for the first time. I think I was lying when I said that nothing was wasted between us, because I should have been screaming this to you from the first moment you smiled at me over that diner's table. I wasted so much time not telling you this so I'm going to say it now. I love you, I love you, I love you, I lo—"

1

"I love you. I'm—"

1

"I love you."

1

"I love you."

1

"I love you."

1

"I love you. I'm so sorry that I'm not there so say it to your face but I love you so much that I can't fucking stand it somedays and I should have told you ages ago. I should have said something five days ago but I didn't. I should have been saying it to you before falling asleep every night and after waking up every morning. On the helicopter ride down the mountain. When you kissed me for the first time. I think I was lying when I said that nothing was wasted between us, because I should have been screaming this to you from the first moment you smiled at me over that diner's table. I wasted so much time not telling you this so I'm going to say it now. I love you, I love you, I love you, I lo—"

To replay this message: press one. To go to the previous message: press one one. To pause during message playback: press two. To fast forward a message during playing: press three. To hear this message, and the time it was delivered: press five. To copy this message to another person: press six. To erase this message and go to the next: press seven. To reply: press eight. To save this message and go to the next: press nine. To—

9

You have no new messages.

*beep*

A: I need you A: Please A: Please A: I need you A: I need you A: I need you

Please enter your password.

***

The car ride over was almost unbearable. Chris wasn't driving himself fortunately, with how tired and anxious he had been feeling for days now it would have been an absurdly stupid idea that likely would have ended in his death if he wasn't extremely lucky. As it was, he had been ready to go and beg a ride from his parents but had found Gabe already standing by the front door with the keys in hand. His almost pure white hair messy from being pulled from bed unexpectedly and leveling Chris with a glare that brooked no argument. It wasn't an argument that Chris intended to fight against as he hugged his father hard in thanks before climbing into the back of the vehicle.

But the drive had felt so much longer than it usually did, and Ashley having stopped responding to his texts certainly hadn't helped matters any. He still sent them anyways, more for his own reassurance than hers now. Lilith sat in the passenger seat next to her husband, still talking on the phone to Saundra to give progress reports and reassurances that yes the three of them were on their way now, even as she sent the occasional nervous glances at Chris in the backseat. Though worried for him or for the car upholstery in case the movement of the vehicle set off his gag reflex was anyone's guess.

The moment Chris felt the vehicle slow down his eyes jumped to the window and saw the familiar and welcoming shape of Ashley's building and he was already fumbling with seatbelt and opening the car door before they had even fully stopped. He hears his parent's cry out in shock as he dives out the still moving (even if very slowly) vehicle and he's stumbling towards the door. Chris realizes in horror that in his hurry to leave he had managed to completely forget his keys by the front door, and in the time it takes him to realize that the door has already opened. Saundra is standing in front of him dressed up for her overnight shift at the dispatch center that she is now extremely late for, and phone held up to her ear as she stares at him with wide eyes.

Chris doesn't even bother to say thanks or remark about the deep scratches on her cheek, the pair still bleeding just a little, before he's shoving his way past her and up the stairs to where Ashley's room is. He trips on the last step and falls forward, his phone skittering across the floor, but leaves it once he gets to his feet and just about barges into her room.

He takes barely a moment to stare at Ashley huddled up on her bed, looking so small in his dark sweater, and her eyes squeezed shut as her phone is pressed as close to her ear as possible as she rocks back and forth. There's a thin streak of dried blood from her mouth all the way down her chin and her eyes fly open in shock when he takes an unsteady step towards her. For a split second he's too scared to move, he doesn't want to frighten her anymore than she already is, but then the phone drops from her fingers and she whimpers out his name like she can’t believe he’s really here and he breaks.

He's already fully crying as he collides into her on the bed, but so is she so there's no need to feel embarrassed about that. He can hear his own voice as a tinny facsimile from the phone as the voicemail continues to play out before starting off into the electronic drone of the operator, but he ignores it for the feel of Ashley's arms wrapped firmly around him, her hands clawing into the back of his shirt to try and hold him closer as they both sob bitterly into each others shoulders. Chris is the first to pull back, though it's just so he can hold her face in his hands as he presses their foreheads together, thumbs wiping away tears that won't stop falling even as he continues to cry himself, just soaking in her presence in front of him. Ashley takes no time for her hands to start roaming all over his skin when they snake underneath his shirt, just feeling the unmarked bare skin as she searches for wounds and marks that no longer exist or have never even existed in the first place.

The two of them sit there like that for an unknown amount of time, just confirming that the other is truly alive and safe. Until Ashley slowly removes her hands from under his shirt so she can drag him down and forward into a deep kiss. A kiss that is by all accounts is downright awful considering that Chris never got the chance to rinse out his mouth and all he can taste is the blood in Ashley's from where she had bit her tongue during her nightmare at some point. Neither of them care. And he still doesn't care when Ashley starts to leave what may very well be slightly bloody kisses as she trails her lips from his mouth to the corner of his lips, across his cheek, and down his jaw until she finds the spot she's looking for and stops there so she can feel his frantic pulse thrumming beneath the skin. She holds her mouth there for what many would likely consider to be an uncomfortably long amount of time, but Chris says nothing. Not when he's now too busy picking up where Ashley had let off, letting his hands skate over the area of her stomach and waist beneath her shirt and his sweater.

The moment the two of them have calmed down enough that the sobs have lessened into quiet tears, Ashley finally removes her lips from his jaw and lowers one of her hands so she can place it flat on his chest and can feel his heart thumping steadily beneath her hand. Chris lets a hand cover hers to hold it there while he carefully places the other on the back of her neck, this thumb soothingly rubbing back and forth to comfort her. And gently, so gently, he brings their foreheads back together as they let the last of their adrenaline run out.

She's safe. He's safe. They're both safe and that is all that matters right now.

"I'm sorry," Ashley is the first to speak and words catch and almost shatter on the way out. "I'm so sorry. This was such a stupid idea and—"

He doesn't disagree with her. This had been a terrible idea from the start and while she's not wrong that they need to get used to not being around all the time, this was too much too soon. For both of them it seems. "I can't do that again Ash," he says instead. "We'll figure something out. Make agreements with our dorm roommates if we have to, force the college heads to accept our emails and the doctors advice, or rent the shittiest and cheapest apartment we can find. I don't care. We'll figure it out, but I can't do that again Ash. I love you but I can't."

Ashley nods weakly against his head in agreement. She can't do it again either. The two of them had barely lasted five days after all, and this whole failed endeavour had probably sent them back months. "I love you too. I love you so so much. You can't leave me, Chris, please. You can't. Not tonight."

He has no intention to, he doesn't know what his parents intended bringing him here, or if they thought he'd be going back home with them after this, but he's not going anywhere. They'll have to drag him kicking and screaming from the bed if they try, and now that the adrenaline has finally worn off, the lack of sleep he'd been having the last five days is hitting him and he is just so, so very tired. So tired, that all he gives in reply is just a reassuring forehead kiss in promise that he won't be going anywhere, not for a long time if he can help it, and then starts to bring Ashley down so she can lay on the bed with him. She follows without a fight.

It only takes them a moment to settle, Ashley laying so her front is flush to his back as is physically possible with her arm draped over his waist and fingers threaded tightly through his. Chris takes her other hand so he can softly kiss her inner wrist and then holds the knuckles lightly to his lips. The two of them slowly drifting off as Ashley continues to softly whisper declarations of love into the back of his neck.

Chris's eyes are closed, just enjoying her whispers that are meant just for him to hear, and even then he can tell that someone is standing in the door and watching them. But even if he opened his eyes to see who it was, with his glasses now resting in their spot on Ashley’s bedside table, he wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. And he’s just far too exhausted to even try right now. It’s only her mom anyway, or one of his parents—quite possibly all three of them—and he knows that come morning and after hours and hours of sleep, that there are going to be some conversations and intense worried scolding that need to be had. But with Ashley's fingers squeezing around his, and him squeezing back just as firmly, he doesn't care.

For the first time in a little over five days, the two of them fall asleep peacefully. Secure and content in the knowledge that they’re not gonna have to do this again, not for a very, very long time.

[coffeebeannate]

Nate Watches Things: A Saga

Or in this case, one thing. One thing that was far too long of a thing, but such a bizarre venture that I felt rather compelled to put an actual review of said thing together.

Why? Because I can and because others HAVE to experience this..this journey. A nice lil journey called Die Pfeiler der Macht/ A Dangerous Fortune. And I watched it solely because Luca looks cute in Victorian clothes, and I was intrigued by the gifs.

Curiosity has always been such a great human motivator, eh?

And..guys. I just. I don’t know what the 3-4 hours (it’s two movies, and I took a couple days to watch it) WERE, exactly, but they were..a thing? I know that it’s based on a book by Ken Follett and that this production is German. Despite being based in England. 

Oh, and Luca’s character Mickey Miranda, is uh, Spanish. Make of that what you will.

So the summary is this:

A shocking secret behind a young boys death leads to three generations of treachery in this breathtaking saga of love, power and revenge, set amid the wealth and decadence of Victorian England.

And no it does not do this thing justice whatsoever.

Review under the cut. It’s too long *again, two movies here*, and I took far too many screencaps of this absolute wtfery, and uh, it’s probably better suited for a real-time live blog but nah. You can have this instead.

Some images under the cut are NSFW because nefarious boning is a key point in this..thing.

SPOILERS. So many spoilers. This thing is a spoiler fest. The caps have a very obvious Luca bias, I know why we’re here everyone. Hehe. There’s also some triggering stuff in this thing, so be warned there too.

BEHOLD:

So, a point I want to make is that the costuming in this movie is LEGIT. If absolutely nothing else works? Note that the costuming absolutely does.

The opening credits are very nice, Luca’s very pretty, this cap serves purely to showcase that because I’m a very serious man doing a very serious review.

Pretty.

So the beginning is..confusing. We have a girl, Maisie Robinson. (Around 10-13 here?) Her father is very poor and it’s her and her two siblings. He works for a man who is part of our main characters, the Pilasters?  and they run this bank. The head of the bank commits suicide, since they’re having financial troubles and he cannot repay his workers. He pens a note to his young son *under 12 at this point*, Hugh. 

Hugh never finds out about this letter, but anyway. At the moment, it’s 1866. Maisie’s father was one of those employees. Destitute, he leaves Maisie to..raise her siblings, and goes to America.

We never hear from this man again.

Hugh goes to live with his aunt (Augusta/Augustina?), uncle Joseph, and cousins, Edward and Clara.

THEN IT’S 1877 (we jump ten years)

Maisie’s two siblings have died, and she has a daughter, Rachel now. Who is also dying. This movie is very keen on people dying. I’d also like to point out that there is like, endless plots all happening alongside one another, and it took me until mid-way into part two to even really grasp what the main plot is.

The movie has a LOT of bank talk as well. I cannot express this earnestly enough, there is SO MUCH bank chatter. SO MUCH. This thing does not have to be as long as it is but again, bank stuff.

Anyway, the one plot is that Maisie is from the poor area, she’s had a horrible life and has struggled from day one. She’s in a constant battle with Hugh, and they argue a lot. A lot. (They like each other, they met as kids, but they’re from very different worlds. Hugh has money, she doesn’t, but Hugh has suffered as well and basically it’s your normal class struggle social commentary thing).

Maisie and Hugh in 1866, as kids, after Maisie’s father left for America. This is the funeral for Hugh’s father. So that’s the theme I mean.

Anywho.

Back in 1877, this is Samuel *left*, Joseph *middle* and Edward. The Pilaster’s get marched into work like they’re freaking army Captain’s and not just rich ass bankers. Imagine saluting your CEO. At work. Outside of the military. WHERE IS THIS A THING? Maybe this was a thing in Victorian England I have no clue I’ve certainly never come across it in my studies. Ffs.

Anyway.

So while all this is going on, there’s this man that wants to marry Maisie. 

And his name is,

(That’s Rachel, Maisie’s daughter). Anyway, Solly here loves Maisie and wants to marry her. But Maisie loves Hugh, and neither of them realize this yet. Solly is a himbo and we mostly like him, but stay tuned because that doesn’t stick. Sorta. Depends on how-

Nevermind I’ll just keep going.

ANYWAY, more plot.

Here’s Edward again, doing drugs, being gay, and overall..useless. Edward is..Edward is kind of like a person who would make an interesting wall decoration. Fun enough to look at, but utterly freaking hopeless, and useless, and so dumb. Just so dumb. This character is given the substance of ash fault. Kinda like, only vaguely solid enough to be entertaining. Kinda.

I don’t know guys, BUT LOOK!

It’s his good old pal Mickey! And he’s slapped Edward awake out of his drug coma (okay he grabs his face and shakes him rather than slapping but given how much slapping happens in the rest of this movie I think I can be forgiven) and he has PLOTS.

Mostly it’s his dads plot, but it’s a plot. A very devious scheme and he needs our favourite wallpapers assistance!

(Sorry Edward, but it’s true)

So keeping in mind that the ‘theme’ of this movie is bone-and-soul crushing sadness paired with periods of intense chaos and insanity that  you never see coming, our plots continue to thicken.

What Mickey means here, is that Edward’s family denied Mickey’s father what he wanted *weapons deal*, and beat the crap out of Mickey in a carriage. But that’s fine that’s fine Mickey is not deterred! BECAUSE.

*sigh*

So.

OK.

This scene.

Remember what I said about how this movie goes from being incredibly boring to so off the walls bonkers without actually WARNING YOU that it is going to do this? Yeah.

Edward, you see, really does not ‘do’ women. He’s gay. He’s extremely gay. Edward’s mother wants him to marry Florence Stalworthy for idk rich people reasons.

So..Mickey. Uh. Mickey’s solution is..this.

What is this, you ask??

Fuck if I know.

Anyway, no, uhm. This is a brothel. So (not) pictured here (I can’t post the scene on tumblr guys we have a ban) is Edward on a couch across from mask-and-feathers MIckey and this tied down woman, with another woman who is not tied down. And this is Mickey..showing Edward..how to.have sex with women. Apparently. Sort of. His lesson falls very flat. It is not a good scene, Mickey’s ‘instructions’ get increasingly louder, and he at one point makes this noise that sounds like a Joker laugh.

It is...it’s something.

(Also note there’s some extremely uncomfortable, misogynistic name-calling on Mickey’s part here..so yeah).

Oh, and it doesn’t convince Edward. At all. IMAGINE.

Around all this time, the Hugh/Maisie/Solly plot is also ongoing. And that also encompasses bar fighting (bare knuckles boxing and wrestling I think? And gambling)

Hugh has gambling debt we’ll get back to this. (He’s also obsessed with getting Russian bonds into the bank, again, the banking plot losses me a LOT)

So meanwhile, Mickey meets up with Edward’s mother.

But why Edward’s mother, you ask??

Well. *sigh*. Something I didn’t mention earlier is that Mickey likes Ed’s mum. A lot. A lot a lot. Mickey wants to take that woman to town and then some, is a very basic way of me putting it and-

Fuck it. Mickey wants to bang Ed’s mum. BADLY.

(She’s not opposed either, at all)

So their little scheme here is that Ed’s mum wants Ed to take control of the bank, but with the father-in-law alive, that’s not going to happen. So they’re plotting to take down the next person in charge who would succeed said father in law, (Samuel) who is in a relationship with the secretary mentioned above, Michael.

Yes, another GODDAMNED PLOT.

(Samuel is fairly unpleasant like all of these people, so I don’t feel that bad for him. He also kinda treats Michael like garbage, and is called out for this by Joseph later in the movie)

So the scheme here is to get rid of the father-in-law, and get Ed married. Cake walk!

(Also, while ALL THIS is going on, Mickey’s got his own mini-plot about doing these things for his father, the weapons and stuff but we don’t actually find out about the main goal of that whole thing till the end, you’ll see)

Oh, and since we’ve not had a good dose of ‘WHAT THE FUCK’ lately, Solly proposes to Maisie with an honest-to-god Alice in Wonderland party.

Yeah.

Meet the Mad Hatter! He’s a guide, he says nothing. Other people are in costume too, but you know-I have enough caps as it is.

So anyway, Maisie and Solly get engaged, Maisie and Hugh meet up at some point and bang instead. 

And while that’s happening, Edward is convinced by Mickey to marry Florence.

So he does.

Lookit this shit faced smug ass grin.

(Also ahead is Samuel again, and Hugh)

BUT THEN the bank finds out about Hugh’s gambling debts. So he leaves. Taking his cousin Clara (Edward’s teenage sister-at her insistence) to the USA. And just like Maisie’s dad, another man abandons her for the States.

So the father in law is still alive, so! 

It’s murder time.

Perfect wedding time event yeah?

So Mickey murders the father-in-law. (He jumps on him, suffocates him with a pillow, gets caught by Augusta and then they do this..weird ‘tensely make the bed thing’)

Murdered.

And then, exactly five seconds or so later..

Nothing like some murder pre-boning with the dead guy two feet away amiright?

Anyway at this point I was just:

And yelling at my ceiling. Not pictured.

I was a Hannibal fan and I STILL went !?!?!?

END PART ONE.

Part two starts out in 1912, and then cuts back to 1882. So in this messy timeline, note it has been six years since part one. And Hugh is married now to Nora, an American singer, and Clara is older and pregnant. (Father is never determined, but he’s a married man and that’s why Clara didn’t stay)

SO the three of them are returning home. Maisie and Solly have a son, David, and Maisie is depressed and distant, so Solly is the one who spends all the time with David. He’s shown as a legit good dad and it’s quite cute watching them.

(The kids Hugh’s, btw, he and Maisie both know this, Hugh does not, it’s revealed dramatically later but we still have so many plots)

Edward and Florence are childless. Edward doesn’t sleep with her. Everyone knows this.

(At this point I kept asking myself when this would end, I cannot stress how LONG this thing feels at times)

So Hugh and Nora meet up with Maisie and Solly, and they chat and there’s more love plots, more bank plots and a masquerade party where at some point Maisie thinks a little girl at the party is Rachel (who died in the end of part one, sorry!) and there’s a fire and Maisie and Hugh make out and Nora and Solly are both upset and it’s a whole thing.

Samuel now does something of a side business that’s unspecified with Michael, and pregnant Clara is being persued by the only man who might be a good match for her (she’s not keen on getting married. But he’s also..really old.) PLOTS.

And Mickey and Augusta are..still a thing. And Edward being chlidless is becoming an issue. So what is the solution dear friends??

*BANGS HEAD INTO A WALL*

Why the fuck not.

Absolutely flawless! Eddie will NEVER notice.

SO with this plan in motion, Mickey sets out to seduce Florence, Eddie’s neglected wife. He starts in a church, and I have to admit, this one line he gives is quite funny.

“I don’t go to church.”

Cannot begin to imagine why.

Also, around this time is when we get the infamous scene about how he fcked the wives of the three men and then made the guys suck his dick one by one. I didn’t cap that since it’s in gif form, but yeah.

Hugh and Solly and Nora and Maisie are still having their love issues. And there is still bank stuff as all this is going down.

But while on his Florence quest, we see Mickey beat up a guy who was abusing a small boy, and Florence see’s him do this as well and:

He looks so baffled. 

‘Me? GOOD? I really don’t think so.”

She’s also holding a baby, and he gives the infant this face:

“Eugh, what is that?”

He also finds her in church again at some point and comes alongside her like this:

”Sup? Whatcha prayin’ about?”

Anyway, while doing all this, he’s still having some issues. He needs Eddie’s signature for a bank transfer (for his father, his father’s plot is STILL a THING) and so it is time to seduce someone ELSE. This time it’s Edward. This won’t be hard. Edward wants him so bad you could probably see it from fucking space.

Mickey is well aware of this.(I don’t think it’s one sided either, he looks at Edward all wide eyed half the time, but he’s so manipulative it’s hard to judge).

Actually me right now tbh.

So that’s this followed by the infamous gif set.

Edward takes him up on it.

‘Come along my dear there’s nefarious boning to be done’.

Absolutely vital screencap below (which is the most we get anyway and I didn’t cap the line about the freaking signature because fuck plots over nice images okay)

Vital

Anyway Edward gives him the bloody signature. And then Mickey goes along to talk to Augusta. But at this point Mickey is very much beginning to unravel. His goal seems to be more centralized to finishing whatever long ass convoluted job his father has been making him do for the last six years (possibly more tbh) and he’s sort of done with everything.

And Edward see’s this exchange. Le. Oof.

SO! IN BETWEEN ALL THIS. There’s some party where there’s drama and then basically Nora..willing gives up Hugh so he can be with Maisie and Solly just..I don’t even know, single dad for life and all. Edward knows that his family has basically been doing shit all around him, and Mickey STILL seduces Florence. He has her meet him outside that night at two am and they get together, but when he’s with her he kinda has these doubts but she wants him anyway so they bang.

Yeesh.

AFTER that there’s Edward again, because Edward knows shit is up, Mickey goes to a room to grab a bag and see’s Edward there. He tells Edward goodbye, but Edward pulls a gun. Mickey just...drops the bag, tells him to shoot. Edward doesn’t, instead he turns the gun on himself and then Mickey shoots himself in a chair.

Yeah.

DEATH! SADNESS! REMEMBER-THIS MOVIE LOVES DEAD PEOPLE~!

At some point in all this, Augusta goes to her daughter, Clara, apologies for being an absolutely evil mother for her entire life and then the movie sort of begins to wrap up.

Maisie and David were going to leave for the States together, but David wants to stay with Solly, who well DID raise him despite him being Hugh’s kid. So Maisie and Hugh are alone and David lives with Solly and the Pilaster bank has discovered the ACTUAL FREAKING PLOT OF MICKEY’S DAD AND THE ENTIRE BACKGROUND THING. Which was this:

THIS DIDN’T NEED TO BE ALMOST FOUR HOURS, GERMANY.

SO Hugh lets the mob inside. We don’t see what happens after that, but Augusta comes in to tell Joseph Edward shot himself.

Lots of sadness.

So the movie ends in 1912, with David and Hugh meeting up. David never saw Maisie again *she’s deceased now, as is Solly.* they talk, there is some moral lesson or something about love. The goddamned end.

OOF.

SO overall?

I don’t know.

It’s a movie. It has a script and plot and..it was put on screen? The costumes are legitimately amazing. They might be the best thing about this thing. But it REALLY feels like Ken really wanted to make a movie about banking, noticed that’d be boring and tried to make it spicy.

It’s so bizarre. So depressing. So many people are horrible. So many bad things happen. So much slapping, so much weirdness. There’s nothing happy in this thing. Not one. The so called ‘good’-ish ending falls flat amongst a sea of depression and I re-iterate, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SO LONG.

I distinctly recall lots of clock watching at times, wondering how I could POSSIBLY have more to go. It then goes so completely off the rails that you just don’t know what is happening and it’s just WEIRD.

At times that weirdness makes it fun, but overall it’s really not great. I probably would never rewatch it, and I can say that it’s an uh, experience in movie-watching.

A good one? I don’t know. But an experience, none the less.

[aion-rsa]

Mortal Kombat Easter Eggs and Reference Guide

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This Mortal Kombat article contains spoilers.

There’s a new Mortal Kombat live-action movie out on HBO Max, and it comes after nearly 30 years of games, cartoons, and movie adaptations. With such a long history to pick through, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the new movie has more than a few easter eggs and references to the series’ most famous moments and characters. Why wouldn’t there be? Why even make a new movie if you’re not going to throw your fans a bone or twenty exploding skulls?

We’re keeping track of all the neat easter eggs that fill the 2021 film, from obscure character references to loving nods to the games’ most gruesome Fatcalities. Here’s what we’ve found so far:

Kombat Jargon

Cole Young rightfully notes that “Mortal Kombat” is spelled incorrectly. Series creators Ed Boon and John Tobias each have their own explanation for the spelling. Boon claimed that “Combat” was a workshopped name for the game and someone added a K to be weird. Tobias said that the K was there just so they could trademark the term.

As it’s custom for the Mortal Kombat announcers to say who won each match, Kano takes care of this himself when he kills Reptile and smugly says, “Kano wins.”

When Kung Lao kills Nitara, he notes, “Flawless victory.” That’s what the announcers say in-game whenever someone has a perfect round. At least it’s used correctly here, unlike the original movie, where people would say, “Flawless victory,” in regards to fights where both sides took blows.

There are many deaths in the movie, but only Liu Kang announces, “Fatality,” like in the game.

Scorpion and Sub-Zero

Bi-Han killing Hanzo Hasashi has been depicted many times in Mortal Kombat media, though canonically in the game Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. The version in this movie more closely resembles the events of the animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge. The big difference that sets this movie apart from the others is the fact that Hanzo existed centuries ago and not in the present. That, and the depiction of Sub-Zero as pure evil. While Bi-Han is no saint, his killing of Hanzo is usually depicted as strictly business. In the games, the murder of Scorpion’s family is the doing of Quan Chi, who uses the tragedy to manipulate Scorpion into his service.

Outside of his feud with Scorpion, Sub-Zero’s villain status in this movie more closely matches the origin of Erron Black, the anachronistic Wild West gunslinger who first showed up in Mortal Kombat X. Centuries ago, Shang Tsung felt threatened by a potential challenger in the Mortal Kombat tournament. He hired Erron Black to assassinate the threat, and in return Tsung would teach Black the secrets to living for thousands of years.

Scorpion pulls off his classic Toasty Fatality, which also turns his mouth into charred bone. Scorpion’s always had this weird situation going on with his face where sometimes it’s flesh and sometimes it’s just a skull. Here, we get a bit of both!

Sonya Blade and Jackson Briggs

On Sonya’s research wall, there’s a book excerpt on a Native American tribe called Matokans, focusing on shamans and warriors. The clipping mentions a tribe member known as “the Night wolf.” Nightwolf is a character (and title) introduced in the third game. He strongly resembles the sketch included in the clipping. “Matokan Warrior” is one of his variations in Mortal Kombat 11.

Also on the wall is a photo of a sculpture of the Mayan God of War, Buluc Chabtan. In Mortal Kombat lore, this is the Outworld warrior Kotal Kahn, who for a time ventured into Earthrealm and was worshipped as a god by the Mayans. The character was introduced in Mortal Kombat X when he took over Outworld in the aftermath of Shao Kahn’s death. While still barbaric, his rule was considered more progressive than his predecessor’s.

While Sonya’s rings attack is treated as a superpower here, in the games, it’s treated as more of a high-tech wrist weapon.

The subplot about Sonya’s worth due to her lack of dragon tattoo could be interpreted as a commentary on how the original movie handled Sonya in the third act. Shang Tsung kidnapped her and chose to make her the finalist in the tournament, which everyone treated as a fight Sonya could never win in a million years. The way the original movie turned Sonya into a damnsel in distress annoys many fans to this day.

The origin of Jax’s metal arms has been told many different ways through the decades. He’s lost them at the hands of Baraka, Ermac, a Special Forces goon, and Goro. This is the first time Sub-Zero has been responsible.

Jax splattering his opponent’s head with a clap of the hands is a Fatality he’s had since Mortal Kombat II.

Kano and the Black Dragon

Kano has trouble using the GPS to track Raiden’s temple. This is probably a callback to the original movie, where Shang Tsung’s Island caused Sonya’s compass to go haywire.

Kano’s face gets clawed up, and later he’s able to shoot a red laser from his eye socket. In the games, Kano has a metal plate over his eye, giving him that laser ability.

The heart rip was Kano’s Fatality in the first game. He’s since introduced many variations of it.

The Black Dragon is brought up a few times. A scummier offshoot of the terrorist organization the Red Dragon, Kano’s group has included such characters as Kabal, Jarek, Kira, Kobra, Erron Black, and Tremor.

Kabal blames Kano for why he’s stuck in his respirator-based costume. In the games, Kabal was a Black Dragon member who left the group and became a cop. During the events of Mortal Kombat 3, Kabal was burned alive by Kintaro. Kano actually saved Kabal and hooked him up to the respirators in hopes of recruiting him. Shang Tsung tried to use magic to heal Kabal’s lungs, which gave him super-speed as a side-effect.

Kano refers to Raiden as “Gandalf” and considers his comrades’ magical attacks as “Harry Potter shit.” Fitting that Kano’s references keep with properties owned by Warner Bros.

Kano’s overall story here is a lot like the ’90s comic book Mortal Kombat: Rayden and Kano. In the comic, Rayden (they spelled it differently back then) attempted to hire Kano to help destroy Shao Kahn, as he was the descendant of a hero who liberated Outworld long ago. Kano ultimately betrayed Rayden, just as he betrays his teammates in this movie.

Liu Kang and Kung Lao

Kano refers to Liu Kang as “MC Hammer” due to their shared love of puffy pants.

Liu Kang brings up Master Bo’ Rai Cho, a character introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Bo’ Rai Cho (a play on “boracho” meaning “drunk” in Spanish) is an Outworld warrior who sympathized with Earthrealm and chose to protect it from Shao Kahn. Being from Outworld, he could not enter Mortal Kombat without it counting against Earthrealm. Instead, he’s dedicated thousands of years to training Shaolin warriors in hopes of one of them winning the tournament and ending Outworld’s streak. He mentored Liu Kang and Kung Lao firsthand.

Kung Lao mentions being the descendant of the original Kung Lao. The Great Kung Lao was a Shaolin monk who regularly defended Earthrealm in Mortal Kombat. He even defeated Shang Tsung at least once. But his streak came to an end at the hands of Goro. Later games revealed that the modern Kung Lao is a reincarnation of the original.

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Liu Kang is able to get the better of Kano by spamming the leg sweep. This is a reference to a very annoying tactic in the early games.

The way Kung Lao kills Nitara is similar to his Fatality from Mortal Kombat 9, the difference being that, in the game, the victim is cut apart crotch-first.

Kung Lao dying to drive Liu Kang’s story forward is a regular trope in Mortal Kombat. Lao’s death first came in Mortal Kombat 3. But in the Mortal Kombat 9 reboot, Kung Lao went on a major winning streak during the retelling of Mortal Kombat II, but then Shao Kahn grabbed him from behind and snapped his neck. Liu Kang reacted by punching a hole through Kahn’s chest.

Raiden’s Temple

The paintings depict the Great Kung Lao standing over a beaten Shang Tsung. Kung Lao is probably the victim of the painting of Goro tearing a poor guy in half. Other images show Bi-Han murdering Hanzo and the rule of Shao Kahn, the true villain in the Outworld invasion.

One painting shows Argus and Delia, protectors of the realm Edenia, watching over the prone body of a bearded man with some kind of war going on in a cloud above. This man appears to be one of their sons, either Taven or Daegon. Both were put in a slumber as part of a prophecy/contest to stop Armageddon, an event where so many Mortal Kombat characters were at war that it threatened to destroy reality itself.

There’s a fan on display belonging to Kitana. Kitana is Shao Kahn’s adopted daughter and brainwashed assassin. She tends to betray Outworld and align herself with Liu Kang. Strangely, while she isn’t in this movie, her clone Mileena is.

Shang Tsung and Outworld

While Reptile has been around since the first Mortal Kombat game, the design used for the movie is based on Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Like in the game, Reptile’s abilities include invisibility, an extended tongue, and acid saliva.

In the games, Nitara first appeared in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. She’s depicted as a loner and manipulator who wants to bring back her lost vampire realm. A very random choice to be sure, but she also had a cameo in Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, so somebody out there really digs her.

General Reiko was first introduced in Mortal Kombat 4 as one of Shinnok’s henchmen. He was given an extremely vague ending that had him running into a portal to parts unknown, but certain home ports expanded on it to show him putting on Shao Kahn’s mask, suggesting they were the same person. This was later handwaved away as Reiko just really liking Kahn’s mask and wanting power for himself.

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When Reiko was brought back in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, he was given the giant warhammer as his weapon stance.

When killing Kung Lao, Shang Tsung tells him, “Your soul is mine!” That hammy quote was Shang Tsung’s go-to threat in the first movie. Also, eating souls is Tsung’s go-to Fatality in just about any game.

Goro threatens to tear out Cole’s spine. While that is more of Sub-Zero’s thing, it’s also the iconic Fatality that Mortal Kombat is remembered for. Fellow Shokan warrior Sheeva also has a spine-ripping Fatality in Mortal Kombat 11.

Johnny Cage

The movie ends with a teaser for Johnny Cage, who will presumably appear in the sequel if that project happens. In the final shot of the movie, we see a cropped image of a movie poster for Citizen Cage, one of Johnny’s many established movies from the game’s lore. The poster shows him wearing his large “CAGE” belt buckle, which was introduced in Mortal Kombat 9. That makes it all the more likely that he’ll have “JOHNNY” tattooed across his chest.

There’s another movie poster to the side that we can’t see too much of other than it having “Fist” in the title. Going on the games, this could be The Gist of My Fist or Dragon Fist.

Let us know in the comments if we missed anything!

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