#probably should have tried resetting everybody but . .

[analyzingadventure]

You know I actually never realized this before-- so you remember how tri. retconned Original Chosen fighting and defeating Apocalymon into them fighting the Dark Masters instead? (To be fair it is possible they could've ALSO fought Apocalymon afterwards but that isn't the Epic Final Showdown tri. decided to depict so it's borderline a retcon)

If the Original 5 Chosen fought and defeated the Dark Masters once in the distant past, doesn't that mean that

A) They survived and hid for just a few thousand years until they came back for a Round 2 at conquering the world

B) They died, were reborn, and THEN went for the Round 2

You know I've just DYING with curiosity, desperately wanting to know if any of the villians in Adventure would ever be reborn after Adventure, right. Because according to the lore they should, right (unless their data was like somehow absorbed by Apocalymon and destroyed along with him (though that would still leave Piemon as an exception (and Vamdemon but we all know what happened to him) and the sole survivor))

And what tri. has essentially done is confirm that most of them should, in fact, be reborn sooner or later

But that just raises the question of if Apocalymon was lowkey driving the Dark Masters nuts (as suggested by the novels), and if tri. was kind of about destroying the last remnants of Apocalymon's data (within Meicoomon), if they were reborn this time would they be free of Apocalymon's influence

If so, would their third (?) lives then turn out different? Would they still try to take over the world all over again for funsies (this time just without Apocalymon giving them power etc), or were they just the same as Ken was in Zero Two? I mean Apocalymon was supposed to be a spawn of Milleniummon and Ken was infected with Mille's malice directly, so while it may have been a bit filtered it was still the same source of malice and corruption, right

And like regardless of how their next lives would turn out, shouldn't the kids (OR AT THE VERY FUCKING LEAST GENNAI) like realize that this is going to happen eventually and like. Go and see if they can find them (either as their pre-Ultimate forms or even when they're still in their Eggs) and try to figure out what to do BEFORE shit hits the fan

I JUST

[itjazzbicch]

Unraveling Truths

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Fem Reader

Summary:A request from my Wattpad: (Also for the sake of this fic, Kuina is alive)

The reader and Zoro are inseparable BFFs, but when Zoro suddenly isn’t around, the reader learns that he ran into his old friend, Kuina. Zoro starts ignoring the reader because of Kuina, who sees how close he is to the reader, creating a huge turmoil that finally opens Zoro’s eyes and makes him realize his true feelings for the reader

Warnings: Kuina is toxic (as per request) Soft Zoro! Sword duel that leads to injury (read is stabbed but she all good lol) Reader is mentioned to have incredible abilities. SMUT! (18+ ONLY! MINORS & AGELESS BLOGS DNI! YOU WILL BE BLOCKED!) (Fingering, oral F receiving, first “I love yous”)

Word Count: 4.1k

It was a normal routine to explore and at least attempt to relax while the log post reset.

Thankfully we landed at a island where they weren’t so frightened by pirates. So we could just enjoy the towns, shop, do whatever we needed to.

I woke up, ready to tackle the day, the first thing I planned to do, train with Zoro like always.

He was my best friend, the one person who truly lit up my world and for some reason, I couldn’t find him anywhere.

He probably just got lost again, but after searching for what felt like forever, I found Nami at a store, going to ask if she had seen Zoro till I heard his laugh and a woman’s too.

We were right across from a swordsmith where Zoro was laughing with a girl with short black hair.

I didn’t recognize her, but it looked like they knew each other well.

“Hey Zoro!” I called, heading over, ready to introduce myself, but they started walking away, “Hey, Zoro! I’m talking to you-“

Following them around a corner, they were suddenly gone. It was weird as if they disappeared. My voice was loud enough, so he had to of heard me.

I tried not to stress myself out about it, going back to the Sunny and doing whatever to distract myself.

Before I knew it, dinner time came around, Sanji serving the fresh food as we heard:

“Hey everybody. I brought a guest.”

“Oh yeah? Who?!” Luffy jumped up excitedly, all of us watching that girl from earlier walking in:

“Remember my friend Kuina I told you guys about? She’s in this village. What a coincidence, right?”

The way he smiled at her made me feel sad, a bit jealous even. All of them welcoming her and I was so zoned out, watching as everyone introduced themselves, Luffy tapping me:

“And this is Y/N!”

Trying to smile, nothing but anxiety came out, the silence so awkward as Kuina just stared at me.

“Y/N is a swordsman too. Well, swordswoman,” Zoro sat next to me, and Kuina followed, looking me up and down as she passed:

“Mhm, interesting.”

I was so anxious that I could barely eat, Zoro managed to make some small talk with me. Saying that he got caught up with the swords smith where he ran into Kuina.

Zoro sounded genuine, so I smiled at him:

“Can’t blame you there. They did have some nice swords. We should go back tomorrow. I have the money.”

“Looks like you need a real sword instead of that pocket knife you have,” Kuina mumbled, not thinking I heard.

If anxiousness wasn’t enough, that pissed me off. I had one of the rarest katanas on this whole planet. I tried to ignore it and eat, but my stomach was in knots, having to put my fork down, covering my mouth.

“Hey, you ok’y?” Zoro said with his mouth stuff, patting my shoulder, looking at him, I saw Kuina’s eyes darting at me and I said quietly:

“I think I need some fresh air is all. Excuse me, please.”

Leaving the dining room and going up deck, staring at the moon with deep breaths, it helped my nausea, but I couldn’t build the courage to go back in there.

Maybe I could just train with Zoro tomorrow morning. Not bothering to go back to the dining room, I just went to bed, curled up in my pillows, hoping tomorrow would be a better day.

“Rise and shine, Zoro,” I said sweetly, going to his room and peaking my head in the door and no one was there.

“What are you doing?”

Turning around, I found Kuina, arms crossed with a scowl on her face.

“I was just looking for Zoro. We train every morning. It’s practically a ritual,” I explained, trying to be as kind as possible.

“You know, calling yourself a swordswoman is pathetic. I can just tell that all you are is a giant weight strapped to his leg, holding him down.”

“You’ve never even seen me wield a sword!” I scoffed, baffled by her assumptions.

“I’m sure I’d want to gouge my eyes out if did. You stay away from-“

“Kuina! Y/N! You ready to train?!”

I just stood there, puzzled by how quickly her manner changed, looking at zoro with a smile as she nodded:

“Always ready! Y/N was just hear showing me her katana. I’m ready to see what she’s capable of!”

That made my jaw drop, Zoro so oblivious as he laughed at me:

“I bet that’s nice to hear from Kuina, right?”

“Just a bond, between swordswomen,” She giggled, glaring at me as Zoro had his eyes closed, still laugh, wrapping an arm around him and practically flirting with him, “How about you and I do our traditional warm up first though. You haven’t taught her, huh?”

“No, that’s just for us,” He smiled at her, falling right for it, saying to me, “It won’t take us long though-“

“That’s okay. You two just practice,” I whispered, walking away while fighting tears, “I’m nauseous again. Probably from that squid Sanji made.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” He chuckled, changing moods so quickly as he took Kuina, “Time to train, Kuina!”

“Im always ready!” She smiled back, but glaring at me as I stopped and watch them walk away.

For the entire day, I sat out by some rocks that where by the shore and I could see the two of them training, walking into town together.

Zoro and I were practically inseparable and now that Kuina was here, it was like I didn’t exist. If I was even the tiniest bit quiet towards Zoro, he’d be asking what’s wrong. Now nothing.

Heading back to the Sunny as I was starving, I found Nami reading, sitting at the counter with her.

“Hey you, haven’t seen you at all today. You alright?”

“Is it okay if I ask for your opinion, Nami?” I asked, taking a deep breath as she nodded:

“Of course.”

“So, ever since Zoro ran in Kuina, he’s being treating me so differently.”

“Define differently,” Nami tilted her head at me as she was intrigued.

“Like I don’t exist,” I said while fighting tears again, “He ignores me and only pays attention to her. He won’t even train with me. And that Kuina, she keeps saying smart things under her breath. She even threatened me this morning! But the second Zoro comes around she acts like some Angel. I’m not overreacting am I?”

“What? She threatened you?!” Nami’s response made me feel somewhat at ease, clearly agreeing with me, “I could punch Zoro for that. It’s completely unfair to you.”

“Thank goodness, I thought I was going crazy,” I sighed, Nami being the great friend she was as she rubbed my back.

“You’re not crazy, Y/N. You know what actually? Skip Zoro! Let’s go have a girls day or something. What do you say?”

“I’d like that a lot,” I smiled softly, holding her hand as she dragged me along calling out:

“Oh Sanji! Y/N and I would like to go town! Would you be so kind to escort us?!”

I realized then what she was doing, laughing as Sanji was so far away his voice echoed, but he zipped right over:

“COMING MY SWEET ANGELS!”

Putting down the ramp so we could exit the Sunny, he held both hands out for us

“Shall we go, my dear princesses?”

“We shall,” I giggled with Nami, taking his hand and heading for the town.

“First things first!” Nami pointed at a boutique, smiling at it and Sanji running to get the door.

“Buy whatever you want, my loves. My treat.”

“Say less!” I laughed, heading in and this was exactly what I needed.

Trying on so many clothes, we left with handfuls of bags, trotting along with Nami and Sanji, but darting an eye as I heard:

“What the hell are you doing shopping at a boutique?”

Zoro. It made me remember when he ignored me at the sword smith’s yesterday. So, I did what he did to me. Ignored him and kept walking.

“Y/N?” Turning at the wrong corner, we finally lost trail of him.

I hoped that I would be the last I saw of him till we all went back to the Sunny. Sanji treated us for dinner and while sipping an excellent glass of wine, Nami and I glared as Kuina approached the table with Zoro.

“We can join you, of course right?”

“Why of course!” Sanji’s lovesickness was a pain, but I acted as if she wasn’t there. Only talking to Nami.

“So, uh-, you see that swordsmith today?” Zoro leaned towards me, staring with a cocked eyebrow as I only shrugged.

For a change, he sounded nervous, trying to talk more:

“You really should. I saw a katana I think you’d like.”

“Tomorrow,” I huffed, looking and focusing on the food being served.

Zoro wouldn’t stop staring at me, not knowing why I would only talk to Nami and Sanji.

Sanji did keep his promise of paying, going to leave and I was last next to Zoro.

“You going to finally tell me what’s wrong?” Zoro pulled me aside where no one could see, growing angry at my response:

“Nothings wrong.”

I went to walk away, but he pulled me back, claiming:

“You’re lying. Now tell me what’s wrong, damn it.”

No words this time, I snatched my hand away, going to leave to, of course, find Kuina who was waiting.

“Taking my advice huh? Good girl.”

Referencing what she told me in the morning, I only stared at her, stopped dead in my tracks, ready to lose it on her.

“Not getting lost again, are you Zoro?” There went her good girl act again, and it made me clench a fist, “I’ll make sure you don’t get lost.”

“Leave me alone,” He groaned, rolling his eyes at her, “I have you two to guide me.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I shook my head and headed for the Sunny.

Luffy apparently found a bunch of things he liked and wasted his allowance again, but it was nice seeing the whole crew practically on the main deck, dancing and laughing, Sanji serving drinks.

I decided to stick with Sanji, who was tending to me as if I really were a princess. I wasn’t so blue or angry, but I shouldn’t have given my hopes up.

“Want another glass, my love?” Sanji offered and I smiled at him:

“You’ve been treating me all day, dear. You stay put and enjoy yourself. I got it.

Heading to get more wine, I stopped as a request caught my attention:

“Mind bringing me a refill too? Since you wanna be so sweet?”

Zoro was sitting against the wall, holding up and empty bottle. I was conflicted but my soft spot for him softened some more, going to take it but it was snatched away.

“Don’t worry, Zoro. I know what you like.”

“I thought you haven’t seen each other since you were kids. Unless Zoro has been drinking since he was a child, I don’t know about that.”

Finally, something in me snapped, not tolerating Kuina’s fake attitude anymore.

For a change, she was speechless. Zoro looking at us confused, Kuina starting to show her true colors as she was breaking too:

“What did I tell you earlier?”

“Guy, hold up,” Zoro quickly rose to his feet, but I ignored him again, raising my voice:

“Why don’t you tell me again? Tell everyone for that matter! Especially Zoro, who’s eating up all you’re fake bullshit!”

“Y/N!” Zoro tried pulling me back, but I swatted him away, silence falling with all eyes on Kuina and I.

“I’ve had enough,” Kuina was bold, pulling out and wielding her sword, “Y/N, I challenge you to a duel.”

“Nothing Id love more,” I smirked, circling around the deck while wielding my katana, “You’re going to regret this, Kuina.”

“Y/N! KUINA! STOP THIS NOW!” Zoro was pissed, but shocked by the anger he’s never seen from me:

“YOU BUD OUT OF THIS!”

“For once, she’s right,” Kuina agreed, taking her stance, “I won’t bother to lie. I’ve never liked you and I will finish you.”

Everyone was in pure shock and I was done talking, only motioning her with a finger and as she charged me, one swing of my sword, striking hers, sent her flying into the wall.

Needing to pick herself up, there was fire of anger in her eyes meanwhile, I stayed composed, not even a hitch in my breath.

Blinded by anger and charging me again, we exchanged one clash before I knocked her to the ground, sword falling out of her hand.

She was quick enough to grab it. Rolling back just to get met with a strong hit from me that nearly knocked her down.

Able to regain balance, she went to strike me, but the moment she rose her katana, I sliced it in two, breaking it and sending it flying into the wall. 

“I’m done wasting my time with you,” I growled, putting my katana away as she kneeled before me, “You’re no match for me.” 

“Holy shit,” I heard Zoro whisper, that making me chuckle, ready to return to my wine, but freezing as everyone gasped. 

There was this sharp, pierecing burn in my stomach, shaking as I looked down, blood oozing out of me as Kuina pretended to stand but rammed her ragged blade through my stomach, close to my belly button. 

“Y/N!” Everyone yelled, Kuina hiding the space between us to twist while pulling out her broken blade, making me fall to my knees instantly, Zoro screaming:

“WHAT THE HELL, KUINA?!” 

“Oh my god,” She tried playing little miss angel again, even putting on fake shaking, “It was an a-accident.”

“Accident my ass!” Luffy screamed, running to my side along with Chopper and Zoro, Zoro making it to me first. 

“Don’t worry, I have you.”

Before he could touch me, I slapped his hand away, holding my wound with pressure and snapping:

“Don’t you touch me!” 

Managing to make it to my feet, it was hard to ignore chopper who was only trying to help:

“That’s a deep wound! Please let me-“

“I’m fine,” I groaned, staring at Kuina, “I’ve been through far worse.” 

Blocking Kuina from my sight, Zoro had his back turned but I could tell how pissed he was, screaming at Kuina:

“What Luffy said! Accident my ass! You were trying to kill her! You were taught better than that. I can’t believe you! Get out of here! Leave!” 

“Right now!” Luffy added, Zoro’s last words making me tear up:

“I don’t want to see your face ever again.” 

I didn’t imagine him saying something like to her, but the last thing I needed was more drama, biting my lip as the pain started to kick in and Chopper was right, this was deep and bleeding more than expected. 

While everyone was distracted by Zoro’s yelling, I limped to my room, tossing my shirt and getting my first aid kit. 

I was able to stop the bleeding and just as I expected, I needed stitches. Nothing to numb it either. 

Putting a towel between in my mouth, I got a needle ready, starting to stitch but hearing the door open:

“The least you can do is let one of us help you, Y/N.” 

Shutting the door and seeing that I had stitching started, he rushed over: 

“I got it. Bite the towel if you have-“ 

“I don’t need your help,” I muffled, watching as I stitched carefully, biting the towel as the pain increased some. 

“You just don’t want it, and why?” He barked at me and I had enough, spitting the towel out and yelling:

“Because! For days now, you’ve been an complete dick head, ignored me, and all for that stupid Kuina, who just tried to MURDER ME!” 

Standing there silent, I didn’t stop there:

“I get it! You haven’t seen her since her since you were a kid but how LONG have we been friends, huh? All we’ve done together! DOES THAT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?!” 

There were tears streaming down my face, but rage still all over it, straining my voice:

“She’s threatened and bullied the hell out of me from the second we met and you didn’t notice a got damn thing! Some friend you are, huh?

I was an emotional wreck, crying more as I admitted, “and to think I actually love your dumbass.” 

As I was crying, I felt blood on my stomach, looking down and seeing that I made my wound bleed some again, patting it away then stitching it as Zoro stood there looking stupid. 

“Will you just leave?” I sighed as I finished, “I need to shower and clean this up.”

“No,” He breathed in, squatting to me, “I messed up and I feel like shit, seeing that this is what it took to realize what was going on.”

“Serves you right,” I murmured, trying to stand but sitting back down from the pain, Zoro fixing me back on the bed softly, sitting next to me.

“You know that I love you too, right?” He whispered, my eyes about popping out of my head as he confessed, “I’m sorry and I don’t know how I could ever make this up to you. I was stuck in the past when I reunited with her and it blinded me and my judgement. You can be mad at me, I understand. Know that you’re right. We’ve spent a lot of time together and I cherish those moments more than you know.”

Zoro wasn’t the type to talk like this unless he was serious, his every word making tears stream down my face more. 

I knew he wasn’t lying, I could see it in his eyes. All of these emotions, the pain from my wound, it was all too much, needing one thing and getting that as I wrapped my arms around his neck, Zoro hugging me back delicately. 

“I love you,” He whispered, brushing his nose against mine and kissing me. 

I had to press my lips hard to believe this was real, and it surely was, melting as his lips parted a bit and came right back, soft and full of passion. 

“I love you too, Zoro,” I whispered back, needing to breath, but feeling at ease as he gave one more kiss, sitting up:

“Now, you stay here and trying to ease up. I’ll clean you up.”

The massive weight that I felt was on my shoulders finally started to ease away into nothing. Zoro did as he said, helping me clean up, then even stayed in bed with me as I surely needed the sleep. 

In the morning, as I expected, Chopper came in to check on me along with Nami. 

“Wow, you stitched this well,” Chopper complimented, leaving some medicine and herbal tea, “These should help you heal quickly.” 

“I don’t doubt it,” I smiled, patting his head, “I’m feeling better already.” 

“I don’t understand how you guys have superhuman bodies. You got stabbed, you know?” Nami was only concerned, but that made me laugh, shrugging:

“I don’t get it either, but I’m grateful. Thanks again guys.” 

“Yeah, I got her,” Zoro came in, holding something behind his back, “Now that I’m back.” 

I must’ve slept well. I didn’t even realize that he left, looking to try and see what he was hiding. 

“Mhm,” Nami side eyed at him, leaving with Chopper and once they were gone, I asked:

“Whatcha got there?” 

He was fighting a smile as he sat next to me, showing me a sheath.

“It’s the katana that I thought you’d like at the swordsmith’s. I spent what I had left just so you could have it.” 

“Zoro-“ I cooed, touched by his gift, in awe as I slowly pulled out the katana, seeing that the blade was red. It was beautiful, “You sure know my taste. I’m in love with this.” 

“I knew you’d love it,” He smirked, teasing, “Better start training with it as soon as you can.” 

“Hell, I will right now. I feel fine!” I was actually excited, ready to get up, but Zoro took my hand, putting the katana away:

“Maybe later.” 

“What? You have other plans?” I wondered, oblivious till he made his next move and kissed me. 

“You’re gonna be my girl?” He whispered between kisses, nodding slowly as I kissed back, carefully laying me back on the bed, throwing his shirt off in the process, “You sure you feel just fine?” 

“Oh, I’m sure,” I murmured while admiring his massive chest and toned abs, already helping with my hands on my shorts. 

“Good,” He hummed, taking my shorts for me, burying his head between my thighs the second my panties were gone. 

“O-Ooh,” I moaned shakily, biting my lip as his lips closed around my clit, hands holding me carefully, but tongue working into me with his beastly instincts. 

 After so much of his tongue fucking me, I was whining and shaking, a higher pitch in my voice making him pick his head up. 

“You-“

“Don’t stop,” I said quickly, panting softly as my high was starting to drift away, “I was so close.”

“Oh,” He snickered, head dipping back down, “Let me make it up to you, then.” 

“Pleaseee-“ I whined, thighs trapping his head this time as his tongue went after my clit again, making the high I was feeling before come right back, “Yeah, that’s it, Zoro!” 

He watched my every move as my hands went above my head, gripping onto the pillow, breathless as my orgasm flowed over, his humming while eating it right up making me shake. 

Sitting up, he rubbed the shake in my thighs away, hand slipping between my legs, slowly adding a finger, then a second, pumping softly. 

“Gonna let me love you some more, hm?” He whispered, looking down to meet my eyes as they opened, moaning softly at his fingers, but responding:

“What are you waiting for?” 

It was a lot to process that this was happening, but wanting it, wanting him more than anything like I always have, chest heaving at the sight of him naked. 

Not sure if it was a hex or if I was just madly in love with him, but I felt like I was in a different world, his eye staring deep into mine while coming to me, noses nuzzling with he positioned himself, pushing in.

“F-Fuc-“ I hissed through my teeth, the friction so strong already, that hiss melting into moans as he worked his cock into me with few inches at a time. 

“You can take it, baby,” He cooed, kissing at my neck, promising, “I’ll keep taking it easy.” 

Looking up as I shook my head, even he was a bit astonished by how my wound wasn’t affecting me in the slightest, telling him:

“I want all of it.”

Up straight and watching carefully, he fed every inch of his cock with a slow thrust, barely pulling back as he started rolling his hips at a steadier pace, smirking as I fell into deeper thoughts, spreading my legs wider and throwing out:

“Faster, Zoro.” 

“Faster, huh?” He huffed, creating a shake in the bed as he did so, having my head nodding frantically, just a small series of those thrusts making another orgasm run after me. 

“Uh huh!” The burn I was feeling was the best I ever felt, walls clenching him hard and my hands shooting out to grab him. 

Wrapping my arms around his head, he gave me the contact that I needed so badly, knowing I was close again, sneaking his arm up to hold my chin: 

“Look at me.” 

Doing as so, I never felt such a deep connection between us before, eyes swelling with tears as he panted out with some soft groans:

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, Zor-,” I meant that whole heartedly, but words being broken up by the moans signally my orgasm, “Zoro-oh! Oh!” 

With his lips smacking against mine, I held his shoulders so tight my nails dug into him a little, air stuck in my chest, gasping hard against his lips as my walls pulsated then let my slick smother his cock, dropping limp from how hard it hit me. 

“Damn, Y/N,” He huffed, buried deep inside of me with his head rested against mine.

“I just got an idea,” I whispered, making us both laugh as he looked for an answer, “This should be our new training.” 

“I’m just that good huh?” He laughed, kissing me and I nodded with a smile as I kissed back:

“You are and I love it.” 

2023 © itjazzbicch — do not repost or translate my work. Likes, reblogs, and comments are always welcome

[genderdoe-sly]

Time off, and the myth of a religious monolith

I think what makes some people (especially conservatives) scared about the idea of time off for holidays other than National and Christian ones is the idea that once we make all holidays special nothing will be, and then therefore there will be a reset, where there is no holiday time off.  

There is a little merit to this idea; you could probably find a holiday for every week if you tried. Simultaneously, corporate deciding the beliefs of their employees doesn’t help, they are always going to be wrong about somebody (unless they are not, which is a whole ‘nother problem). 

The next solution brought up might be this: let corporate know of your community’s practices in advance, and you will be given time off on those days. Again, problems! Not all religion’s follower’s observe the same, Not everybody observes the same each time an event comes up, and NOT EVERYBODY IS RELIGIOUS/OBSERVES. Non-religious and non-observing people should still have the same amount of time off. 

The solution becomes obvious. Give the amount of time usually given for holidays back to the workers to use as they see fit, not how the employers do. By giving workers the time and respect they deserve, productivity is raised. There are many who would want to work on Christmas, and many who can’t on Yom Kippur. 

[superkilometerfilter]

Odometer Correction Tool In The Digital Age: Technological Advancement And The Major Risks

Odometer correction tool is a device that can quickly change or remove the mileage information in your automobile, however, it contains some legal issues. Even though it is highly promising for car owners, this gadget has its risks. As time passes, these tools are becoming more demanding on the market. Hence, many manufacturers try to create more advanced versions of it to meet customers’ expectations. Still, there are numerous factors that everybody should take into consideration before deciding to use the device. 

WHAT IS AN ODOMETER?

Before we discuss the mileage correction tools in detail, it is crucial to answer the question – what is an odometer? We daily see an instrument cluster, whether it is digital or mechanical. Despite this, some know little about it. Everyone knows that a speedometer measures the speed of a car while it’s in motion. And what about the odometer? This is where starts getting complicated. 

An odometer is a tool within your vehicle that measures every mile you cover and displays it on the dashboard. An odometer adjustment tool, on the other hand, tries to reprogram the software if the odometer doesn’t work properly. Hence, every time you check your total mileage, you look at the odometer. This mileage data is very useful if you know how to take care of your vehicle. To make the whole process easier, people use a mileage adjustment tool. It helps cars to adjust incorrect mileage. It should be highlighted that it is not always the case; sometimes, individuals use them for unethical purposes.

HOW DOES ODOMETER CORRECTION TOOL WORK?

There are various mileage correction tools that have been utilized for different goals. Each device has its unique way of functioning. Some reset mileage, while others rollback tools remove some already recorded distance. The two most common practices are the following:

Reset tool – an odometer reset gadget ignores all the mileage and visualizes the zero mileage on your instrument cluster. It shows as if your car has not covered any miles. 

Rolling back – such odometer adjustment tool interferes with the odo and reduces the mileage amount from the system. Therefore, after using a rollback device, your instrument cluster will display less distance than it is in reality.

These devices have one big flaw – they are easily detectable. No matter which method or gadget you use, the purpose is the same – change the original odometer showing. This is why we have to discuss the importance of it. 

THE ROLE OF CAR MILEAGE

At the core of every vehicle lies the odometer, a humble yet crucial component that tracks the distance traveled.  And yet, why is this information so crucial that it hugely impacts the prices and people use a mileage adjustment tool? 

Overall conditions – cars with high mileage are associated with old vehicles with many risks and costs. Hence, when you sell one, the price will most probably be a lot lower than for new ones. 

Maintenance – the older a vehicle is, the more it requires maintenance. The mileage is one of the main indicators to detect maintenance.

Resale price – the odometer correction tool is usually used to change the mileage. Automobiles with less mileage have higher prices, and people often manipulate odometers. 

Services – if you properly take care of your car, you know how many miles you need to visit a specialist for service. Mileage is an important factor in determining the proper gap between services. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF MILEAGE CORRECTION TOOLS

As shown above, mileage has a huge importance on our vehicles and maintenance. It influences the price, condition and people’s perceptions. This motivates people to falsify the original mileage and display the wrong digits on their dashboards.

Even though it sounds strange, the odometer adjustment tool can be useful both for mileage calibration and diagnostic. Many use this device to illegally modify the correct miles in the system and make it display wrong numbers. Such practices are common nowadays, and you should be able to identify the wrong mileage showing. 

On the other hand, a professional can use a mileage adjustment tool as a scanner to detect any malicious activity and odo manipulation. In this case, the device will be used for good reasons and may prevent or identify fraud. Therefore, how you use the device depends on your personality and the main reason. 

WHAT IS ODOMETER FRAUD

Vehicle prices and mileage has become so important recently that people started adopting new methods to bypass the law. They started using an odometer correction tool. This device can change the digital odometer of your automobile and manipulate the numbers. Do you wonder why they need this? Well, if someone wants to sell their truck or vehicle, this will give them extra profit.

The more important question here will be – is it legal to use mileage correction tools? In most countries, using any program, app or device that interferes with the correct functionality of an odometer is prohibited. Depending on the state or country you live in, the consequences vary. For example, it can be a fine of a specific amount or sending you to jail. 

It is the same in the United States. The Federal Statute regulates this issue, and any prevention of normal functionality will cause legal disputes against you. Think carefully before using the odometer adjustment tool to reset mileage in your vehicle. 

BEYOND MECHANICAL TO DIGITAL: WIDE APPLICABILITY

Modernization has touched all the sectors of the modern world. Of course, the car industry is not an exception. The older cars had a built-in mechanical odometer. Hence, the appropriate mileage adjustment tool was also mechanical. They didn’t need any software or a programmer to alter the mileage. 

As time passed, the reality changed rapidly. The older tools or methods are no longer applicable to modern challenges. New odometers are digital ones, and they use smart systems for calculations. This means that with older approaches, people could not change the mileage artificially. As a result, companies created new mileage correction tools. Cars with digital odometers are trickier to manipulate. They save the information in numerous storage units, and erasing the data from the system is problematic. With an upgraded version of correction tools, it is easier to get the desired result. 

If you think that now odometer fraud is unstoppable, you are making a mistake. Although odometer adjustment tool can change the odometer showing, the main issue is still unresolved. An OBD2 scanner, programmer or scanner tools can easily identify the trace of such manipulation. 

CHOOSING THE RIGHT ODOMETER TOOL

The mileage adjustment tool has gone through many advancements. Odometer reset and calibration is not an easy task. You no longer need a professional to artificially change the odometers. However, as we mentioned, covering its trace still remains the major problem. 

In order to fill the gap and improve the devices SKF team has created a mileage blocker. The blocker simply prevents the system from adding up new miles. This device has multiple features that distinguish it from any other odometer correction tool. 

Untraceable effect – thanks to a new approach, neither diagnostic tools nor digital scanners can track the mileage blocker. The mileage blocker does not store the mileage information in ECU. Hence nobody can detect the actual mileage.

You have multiple modules, and you can choose your favorite driving modes. Plus, you are able to change between modes during driving.

The device has premium quality materials that guarantee that the mileage blocker works in any weather without an issue. 

Unlike previously used mileage correction tools, the mileage blocker has a mobile application. It enables you to control the device remotely from your phone. 

With DIY instructions, you can install the device by yourself. 

ETHICAL CONDITIONS

Employing an odometer adjustment tool is not a difficult task nowadays. With a cheap scanner device or basic knowledge of software will be sufficient to achieve the goal.  Even if someone doesn’t know how to do it, unfortunately, there are many simple tutorials. This all made the whole process messy and hard to control. Moreover, the number of sellers is increasing daily, and people want to stand out in the huge market. Therefore, many decided to use a shortcut and use modern gadgets unethically. Of course, such actions are illegal, and the person responsible will face legal charges. However, the most important step in the field is to avoid the utilization of these tools for daily practices and on highways. 

The initial purpose of a mileage blocker, in contrast to a mileage adjustment tool, is to help professionals in service centers with vehicle testing and tuning. Therefore, take into consideration that we should use the tool ethically; it is not recommended to use it on public roads and can cause problems. 

TAKEAWAY

The odometer correction tool is a device that can modify the mileage information. There are several ways, such as rollback, reset and deleting the mileage. Despite which option you take, the reason is the same – to somehow manipulate odometers and modify the actual miles. remember that these tools have an issue. They are easily detectable by scanners or service centers. 

[seven-thewanderer]

Okay this isn’t the third thing of the three things I wanted to share, but I kinda wanna share this too

(This is Sun & Moon show related, and it’s related to that video called “SUN and Moon BREAKUP! in VRCHAT”, so if you haven’t seen that one yet then 1. How it’s been out for a few days now & 2. This is spoilers for u then)

so after what happened in that episode of SAMS where Moon tried to stop Sun (and sadly failed), I got a silly idea, because of a song I found after watching that episode

so the song I found was called “Reverse” by Minimall (it’s a good song u should listen to it)

and I had possibly one of the worst thoughts to have:

What if Sun died trying to kill Eclipse, and it ruined Moon so badly that he took the star & reset everybody to try and make things better?

what if Moon changed it so that everything was perfect for everybody, and nobody bad was there. Like Sun, Lunar, and Earth are all fine, Monty’s fine, Bloodmoon’s a good guy (and alive), Solar Flare’s good (and alive), and other bad characters like Eclipse & Ennard (I think? I actually don’t know Ennard’s lore at all really) aren’t there, and characters like Rocky are fine (just like Ennard, I don’t know Rocky’s lore, but I know more about Rocky than I do Ennard.)

But here’s the thing: What if Moon did all of this, but made it so that nobody remembered he existed? It’d be a perfect world, but without him (and technically without KC too cus he’s still in Moon)

Sun, Lunar, and Earth wouldn’t even remember Moon’s existance.

but of course, Moon would still visit their dimension, because if he didn’t, they’d probably go bankrupt, so he has to keep them supported.

I imagine in this little AU, Moon would live with the Sun in that dimension where Moon never existed, and the two of them would stay together, as Moon helped that Sun out, and that Sun tried to help Moon out to make him feel better (but Moon would refuse to talk about his world at all probably)

And I can imagine Moon could look something like this when visiting his dimension to help pay for the place?

(Idk it’s not that much, but I wanted him to have a mysterious robe, I tried okay?)

But yeah nobody in that dimension would remember him…

…except Golden Freddy of course, but that’s just Golden Freddy, he’d probably know everything.

But yeah I guess that’s all the lore I have for that little SAMS AU I came up with!!

[victorluvsalice]

GUESS. WHO. COULDN’T. USE. THE. FIRE. TO. ROAST. WEENIES.

I have NO CLUE why, either. Both Emmett and Nikal acted like they couldn’t reach the fire whenever I told them to get roasting! I moved it around a few times, but nothing doing! They could interact with the fire in other ways -- warming themselves, telling stories -- but using it for its intended purpose during this shindig? Nothing doing. *grumble*

So, I decided our party-goers would do something else to see out summer -- a nice water balloon fight! Everyone likes those, right? Certainly Emmett and Nikal do. And that went well for a while -- lots of splashing, and taunting, and. . .weird bright lights?

YES LOOK WHO’S BACK. Just like that, Emmett was getting yanked into the sky by another one of those damn UFOs! Looking back at it with the benefit of a few week’s hindsight, I realize that this is probably because both he and Nikal are scientists and have contacted aliens with their satellite dishes, but still! My only thought at the time was “NO NO NO I HAVE NO ROOM FOR AN ALIEN BABY IN THIS HOUSE!” *facepalm* Oh game, why do you do this to me. . .

So, uh, how did everyone take one of the hosts being plucked from the party by extraterrestrials right in the middle of their party?

[hard--mode]

Here's the notes for everything that would happen up until the end of the story.... as far as I had it figured out. You'll notice things are a lot less fleshed out the later things go. That's a big reason why this never got finished. the longer I tried to keep the thing running, the more I realized I never had any idea what I wanted to actually DO with this story which made it pretty hard for me to keep up. it's hard to write a story you're trying to take seriously if all you really have are jokes, it turns out.

I haven't reread any of this or edited it at all so who knows what kind of notes I might have written in between things haha

P: so as i was saying about undyne-

C: who’s undyne?

Everyone freezes. Chara just walked right up to papyrus without being noticed. Paps freaks out for a sec before he pulls sans into a huddle. Chara frowns and tries to peek around.

~Montage of papyrus’s excitement and harder puzzles, death montage

~Junior jumble: its sudoku now

Chara’s doing puzzles and sees flowey spying. They shout him over

C: HEY! still following me, loser? Don’t you have anything better to do? (but they smile)

F: somebody’s gotta make sure you don’t get killed too much out here

Flowey pops up closer to them

C: nah, I’m fine! I’ve got that reset power!

F: not for long considering how much you use it (mumbles. Rolls eyes??) (some depiction of chara dying a lot in the bg)

C: by the way…. In the ruins you were telling me to use it… care to tell me more about it since you seem to know so much?

F: I-... uh… well you already know the most of it. It just resets you back to your last SAVE point like nothing happened. Only beings with a powerful SOUL can use it, so monsters with their weak souls can’t.

Chara stops their puzzle work and sits to even the heights: Can flowers?

F: what the heck are you-... oh, no no no. I’m different.

C: so you have the power too.

F: No! I mean-, i used to before you came around. Yeah.

C: so you’ve done resets. (urging him on)

F: yep.

Chara waits a while: ...thats all you have to say?

F: yep

Travel scenes from here on out depict chara and flowey together

Gauntlet:

Flowey remarks that he doesn't remember a save point being before it. Chara goes along and gets paps’ bit. He does to activate it

C: wait this isn't for real right? U can't be srs!!!

P: yeah I am, this is hard mode!

Just show chara repeatedly spawning at the save and running back in with flowey watching them

Then cut to the end chara on the other side of it panting and exhausted, papyrus shocked but also beaming

P: wow you did it!! I'm so proud of u human! I didn’t think you would actually be able to get through it--- I mean- drat! Foiled again! I'll get u one of these times!

Papyrus runs off and Chara watches him with a look of wonder in their eyes.

F: don’t get too excited. his pride is cheap, he’s proud of everyone and every thing

Chara grumbles and marches forward: whatever. I don’t hear you saying you’re proud of me, so why do I have to listen to what you have to say

F: You know, you’re gonna have to fight him soon. Didn’t sans say so? What are you going to do then, die over and over until you give up or are you going to try to murder him just like you did with Toriel? :)

C: I am not! I’m gonna talk him out of it and go right past him like everyone else. Who knows! Maybe he won’t even fight me because he’s that cool. Even if he does, he’s probably a wimp anyways.

F: I wouldn’t be so sure! I bet you don’t stand a chance.

C: shut up! Quit following me if you’re gonna be this useless.

Paps fight

As papyrus carries their body to the shed to rest. Opens on their vision returning and they see their hands hanging toward the ground.

C: why didn’t you kill me? You’re stronger than everyone else, you could easily do it. Why dont you finish me off so everyone can leave or whatever it is you need me to do? Why did you hold back?

P: OH! YOU’RE AWAKE!

C: you held back…

P: OF COURSE i DID! I COULD NEVER KILL YOU, YOU’RE MY-- I HOPE I’M NOT BEING TOO FORWARD, BUT I LIKE TO THINK OF YOU AS MY FRIEND! AND EVEN THOUGH WE DO NEED YOUR SOUL, YOU DESERVE A FIGHTING CHANCE TO DO… WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE TRYING TO DO.

Chara is too shocked and confused by the sentiment: I don’t… I don’t understand?

P: WHAT’S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT A FRIEND NOT KILLING YOU? HUMANS ARE SO STRANGE ...OH! I SEE NOW! THE REASON WHY YOU CARRY YOUR KNIFE LIKE THAT. IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE MORE AFRAID OF US MONSTERS THAN WE COULD EVER BE OF YOU!

He sets them down in the shed on the dog bed.

P: I’M SORRY, HUMAN! I WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU MORE WARNING IF I HAD KNOWN HOW YOU FELT.

C: then… does that mean you’re going to let me go?

P: ABSOLUTELY NOT! I ALREADY CALLED UNDYNE TO MEET ME SO SHE CAN TAKE YOU! AND YOU NEED TO REST NOW AFTER ALL THAT!

C: !! I-I don’t know who Undyne is, but I can’t do that. I’m in a hurry to get out of here.

P: HMM… IF YOU’RE IN A HURRY THEN… NO, NO YOU CAN’T! WE NEED YOUR SOUL, I CAN’T JUST LET YOU LEAVE. UNDYNE’S REALLY COOL TOO, YOU’LL LIKE HER!

C: No, I have to go.

P: AGH, WELL… I SUPPOSE IF YOU CAN GET PAST ME BEFORE I CAN CATCH YOU, THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO. BUT I WON’T GO EASY ON YOU!

Cut to chara walking toward waterfall, papyrus calling after them to come back and hang out sometime. They keep walking and mutter to themself: Sorry, but I’ll get out of here before that ever happens.

WATERFALL

They see monster kid and side eye sans as they charge in, hurriedly.

Chara keeps flowey around and asks him to read the words for him. FLowey says it’s not important at all to anything they’re doing. It’s just monster history junk that means nothing if chara’s trying to leave. Chara’s like shut up cmon help me out maybe there's clues. FLowey reads some history stuff in waterfall treating it like shit they already know

F: why do you care about all this garbage anyway?

C: I dunno, I guess it just sounds familiar. Like a story I heard a long time ago.

Chara stops suddenly and checks their phone. Flowey asks what’s up

C: i thought it rang… you didn’t hear-

The phone starts ringing. Papyrus is cheerfully on the other end and they walk and talk.

He tells them about how he heard so many horrible things about humans and the surface but chara was much nicer than he ever expected. Chara asks where he heard that and he says a flower told him. Chara covers the receiver and looks around for flowey, suspicions of him raised.

Montage w monster kid and umbrella

Chara falls from undyne’s spear attack and wakes up in the trash with flowey over them.

F: hey, wake up. I can tell you’re not dead so hurry up and get moving.

Chara’s kind of bummed: she killed me four times back there. And it wasn’t even a fight. I couldn’t talk her down or… i couldn’t even talk to her, I could barely see her.

F: what, are you giving up or something? You know she can kill you as much as she wants and you aren’t gonna die.

C: I know that! I know this is just like a game where you can keep on going but… it hurts. And it’s exhausting.

F: what will you do then? Sit here in this trash and do nothing?

C: *sigh* no. I’m just feeling down in the dumps.

They smile and get up.

As they’re walking out, they hear a click and someone to tell them to “hold it”

Mad dummys behind them and she just has a gun. Pointed directly at chara. She starts on her thing about the cousin and then blook saves the day.

Chara meets up with blook again. They go to where the snail races used to be. It’s all busted and unused

C: what’s this supposed to be…?

B: oh…. this used to be a snail farm…. And this was a race course…. For snails…. But a long time ago people started to call the races “insensitive” so we had to close them…. Sorry you can’t have any fun racing snails…

C: why was it insensitive…?

B: ...i’d… rather not talk about it………..

Timeskip

C: hey flowey! What’s up with this place and snails?

F:...i wouldnt know.

montage

After waterfall where undyne says how many souls they have

C: flowey… if they have 6 human souls, that means 6 others fell down and died here, so…

F: what?

C: i just- i mean you were the first one i met-

F: no, no, no, ive never killed anyone. You’re the only human i’ve seen since i woke up

Chara relaxes: ok. So you dont know anything about them.

F: no. i heard some things from toriel, not much. It’s too late to try asking her, but she’s seen all of them. She was there at the beginning even.

C: the beginning?

F: you know…. When humans started falling down here and monsters started killing them.

Chara goes silent in thought: wait… how… long has this been going on? How old is toriel?

F: dunno

Chara after having a rough time: it’s hard, but no matter what happens i can just keep trying. I’ll make it out of this! You believe in me right, flowey?

F: no i think you should give up.

Page/chapter ends there. Next is chara going up to fight undyne.

Open on a riff on the “long ago” cutscene that chara cuts off by saying they already know this story

Undyne screams SHUT UP!!! I’m doing my HEROIC MONOLOGUE!! Whatever, I bet you haven’t heard the part about the King and Queen’s human child who died of illness and their other son who was killed by the humans when he tried to return their body to the surface?!

C: No I think I heard that one too? Why are you telling me all this anyways??

U: because this is an UNSKIPPABLE CUTSCENE!! NYAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!

Chara’s getting their ass beat and on low hp: I’ll die in a hit or two. But that’s fine because I’ll just start this over. I’ll start from… where was the last save point…

A vision of them with flowey. Their eyes go red and the flashback cuts in between shots of them running from undyne

F: I think you should give up

Ch: what… give up?? I thought you were on my side with all the telling me to keep going and-and the hanging out with me?!

F: as if you had any other choice but to keep going! We both know you don’t.

C: so you’ve just been following this whole time waiting for me to give up and die, huh?! Why, are you trying to steal my soul just like everybody else?!?

F: it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’re going to die! And die and die and die! You can reset as much as you want, it won’t change that! So what if I am waiting for you to give up? You’re the last thing keeping monsters trapped down here. If you give up, you’ll give everyone what they want!

C: I thought you wanted to help me?! I thought you were my friend!

F: I would never be friends with a human! You’re all nothing but killing machines!

C: I haven’t killed anyone!

F: You killed Toriel! No number of resets can change what you did! You’re a horrible, disgusting human just like all the others and everyone would be happier if you were dead!

Flowey could say something about dying down here is better than their inevitable death on the surface. Their death would at least be worth something. Mean something

Chara escapes the fight, undyne collapses, and they walk away. they tell themselves they won’t give up. They don’t need help, especially not from that dumb flower. They’ll live to spite him and everyone else who tries to kill them

Chara goes in and meets alphys and overall is p meh abt it bc bad mood. Alphys helping them through the underground makes them talk to themselves about how they dont need flowey, they can do this themself. Friends are no good.

hotland is as normal. probably figure out some indication of things not right. make the game seem broken bc they arent supposed to get so far like this

Chara meets with sans at mtt resort for food reluctantly. Lets him say his piece. After he’s done threatening to kill them chara says to his face that they really don’t like him.

Need some hubbub about them having to kill asgore to get out. Theyll be like yeah I know that (somehow)... oh but I need a plan… how will i come up with a plan..

Flowey finally appears to chara again just before they get to new home and tries to talk them out of leaving. Disparaging the surface and telling them they could live happily down here. Chara says no, it’s too hard because people are constantly hunting them down and being the last soul, no ones going to stop that. He says that he’s sorry for the way he was before

Chara smiles back, and then looks away: What you said before… about.. My inevitable death on the surface…

F: that was… don’t worry about that.

C: are you afraid of it?

F: well- yeah, it’s a dangerous place. Everyone knows that.

C: I’ve died a lot more times down here than I ever did up there.

A beat

C: you go back and forth a lot between talking about how I should stay down here because it’s better… but also if I die down here… everyone gets to go free… to the horrible, awful surface.

F: uh,, did I say all that…? I may have contradicted myself a little… I guess… in the end I just wanted an excuse for you to stay around. I really don’t want you to die.

C: so you did see me as a friend after all?

F: well…you reminded me of someone who was my friend. I wish we could have been friends.

C: Do you think… If I reset back to the beginning and did this again, if I said the right things… we could have been?

F: No… You could be as nice to me or as mean to me as you want. No matter how many times you reset, some things never change.

C: ...Did you ever… have to reset because you killed someone?

F: ……….once… and then I never reset ever again. The power to reset… makes you do bad things. It’s wrong. I had to stop because i knew… I’d make someone really upset if I kept messing around.

C: well, in that case… I guess I’ll just have to get the rest of the way out of here without any resets!

Flowey smiles: I dunno, keep one or two under your belt. You’re a pretty big klutz.

C: Thanks for helping me out of here, flowey. Even if you just did it because you were begged.

Can you imagine a more paranoid flowey who is less interested in attacking you and regaining the reset ability, but is pleased af that you have the reset ability because that means you can't die, and instead he spends the entire game trying to convince you that humanity is hopeless. That there is nothing on the surface world returning to. That it's safer, down here.

he's part of the reason why things are so much harder

he's the one that starts the rumors about the dangers of teh surface world

there's a definite sense of paranoia all across the board

When they approach new home, flowey appears one last time and grabs chara by the hand, telling them not to go. They can live in the underground, they’ve made a lot of friends here. Chara says that they have to go, they’ll find a way to get out without killing asgore. Flowey says that he tried to stop them, this is as far as he’ll go. This is goodbye. They bid their farewells and chara goes along, but flowey secretly follows them, much less detectable than ever before. It’s revealed when he’s hiding with the flowers.

Chara walks up to new home, regarding it as a vaguely familiar sight. They walk down the many halls knowing exactly where to go. The monsters speak as they go through the motions. They find a cookbook in the kitchen with a page for snail pie missing. Chara mumbles about already knowing the story and that they should all shut up. They walk more quickly to stay ahead of them. Then one mentions the snail pie and chara stops dead in their tracks. No that’s not how it happened- they stop, and take back off.

They are stopped by sans in the judgement hall, glaring at him.

S: well I had a whole speech to give ya, but you look like you’re in a hurry. You’re a weird kid, but you’re fine. The king’s up ahead.

OTHER alternative: chara realizes something’s wrong and runs back to get everyone, probably threatening to kill asgore to convince them to come quickly. Sans is avoided due to the mob approaching behind them “I heard the word that you’re on your way to kill the king.” c: are you here to stop me? “Nah. But you’d better have a good plan to back yourself up, kid. King’s up ahead”

They run up to asgore, no nonsense. Some time is taken to progress things. As they leave the throne room, flowey watches from the flowers, chara looks back to confirm he’s there.

Asgore draws up the souls, the fight is about to engage, before he can smash “MERCY” chara yells: ASRIEL. Get the souls.

Everything stops. Flowey is behind them, stunned and confused. Chara turns and asks him what he’s waiting for. Hurry up and take the souls before everyone else gets here. Nearly every last monster is coming, if he can become godlike and absorb them, it will be enough strength to break the barrier.

Flowey is confused, how do they know that? Chara tells him he did it before. Doesn’t he remember? Doesn’t he remember them?

Either flowey does it and something happens, or flowey waits too long and chaos erupts which gets them killed, and then chara and flowey have to meet up and workshop.

Final fight:

He probably says some shit about frisk and how he cant lose frisk again, chara must insist that theyre not frisk. When they say their name is chara, he hesitates for only a moment. Finally, when chara’s pinned and about to seriously die…

C: you remember it now too, don’t you? It took me a while, I couldn’t remember a thing until i started hearing your name around. You’re an all powerful god now, you should be able to remember it all better than me

A: shut up.

C: would frisk want us to fight like this?! Would frisk want you to kill your own sibling?!

A: c-.... You’re… you’re really chara?

He lets them go

They reach the conclusion that frisk messed with everything and put them here with no memories so they could do something frisk could never do. Frisk thinks they deserve to live, no matter how much the two may disagree. They have to play along. Asriel is a god and can use his powers to break the barrier and bring EVERYONE back to life so they can live together happily.

go to final fight and everyones already there, things are very confused, flowey takes the souls and things glitch out (screen phases between bosses) and chara realizes this isnt how things are supposed to be, tells asriel theyre sorry for their baggage but he doesnt understand bc he isnt theirs, and then they gotta find frisk somehow

OR... they realize things in the speech and don't go to fight asgore bc theyre finding flowey... they feign fighting asgore and then suddenly tell flowey to take the souls("Asriel! get the souls!" and thats the first time they call him by name)...? i like that a bit better. they start going on about crazy shit that makes roided out flowey kind of lose it at them which leads to them apologizing to their own asriel but then realizing they need to find frisk

but HOW do they find frisk

The end shows chara asriel and frisk hugging eachother, all alive and well. Then the two are “processing…” and remember that oh, theyve done some dark messed up stuff.

[just-someone-online]

I think something interesting about Gwen, had she been in No Way Home, is the inevitability of her death.

Cos everybody pulled into Earth-199999 (Miss me with that 616 shit) were pulled there minutes, maybe even moments, before their deaths. Well, the three who actually died were. Norman before he tried to impale his Peter, only to impale himself. Otto before his fusion reactor went critical. And Max when Gwen and Peter reset the power grid.

And we can assume that Gwen was pulled in while she was falling. What’s Peter going to do for her? She died during the fight with Harry, not Max, so he can’t just go ‘We fixed Max, so you should be good.’

 And I’m a little torn on how the movie could have handled that. On one hand, you could have Peter stressing out over how to save her and being forced to learn that sometimes, you can’t save everybody. On the other hand, I like when Gwen Stacy gets to not die. Either way, it would probably be one too many plotlines for the film.

And then you have to think about how that’s affecting Gwen (I mean, that should probably be the first thing you think of-). She just got pulled into another universe. And not just that, she was seconds away from dying. And unlike the villains, some of whom didn’t even die, there isn’t some magic cure to save her.

And even if they do think of something, it’s not 100% guaranteed to save her. Give her a web shooter? It might jam, or she could miss her shot, or anything else. The iron spider suit? For one thing, it’s not in one piece for most of the movie. And even then, that’s probably not the kind of thing you banish to another universe.

There’s always the option to keep her in 199999, but that puts her in the same boat that Peter is in by the end of the movie. She wouldn’t have her family, her friends, her Peter. She basically wouldn’t exist.

Gwen’s either fucked or has to hope for the best.

[bluejayblueskies]

the before, the after, the in-between

Chapter Three: return states Words: 3.3k

Relationships: Jon & Daisy, Jon/Martin Tags: Post-Canon, Scottish Safehouse, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mute Jon, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Nightmares

Work Summary:

There was no knife, no blood, and Jon was not dead. And when he heard a strangled noise from beside him and looked over to see Martin standing in the doorway of the safehouse, flung open and letting in the frigid bite of near-winter and sunlight, there was sunlight, he felt such a dizzying, intense wave of relief that he could hardly breathe around it.

Then, he opened his mouth to say Martin’s name, and nothing came out, and all of the relief fell away in an instant.

.

Jon wakes up in the safehouse in October of 2018, alive and well but without the Eye and without his voice. In the days that follow, he finds himself confronted with a world that has reset itself in space and in time, a version of himself that is no longer the Archivist, and the fact that death during the end of the world had not been so permanent as it had seemed.

Chapter Summary:

Daisy's mug rests beside her, emptied and with a small ring of tea leaves at the bottom of it as the three of them sit around the kitchen table and try to work out what, exactly, the state of the world is at present and what it means for them.

Apparently, Daisy tells them, things are “rough.”

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Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five| Chapter Six| Chapter Seven

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(cw for mentions of death and blood)

Daisy takes her tea with no milk or sugar, oversteeped enough that it sticks to her tongue and the roof of her mouth when she drinks it. Jon recognized the faint twitch of Martin’s nose when she told him this, the one that meant he was trying to hold in a look of displeasure, and smiled to himself, burying his grin in his own mug of tea. Now, her mug rests beside her, emptied and with a small ring of tea leaves at the bottom of it as the three of them sit around the kitchen table and try to work out what, exactly, the state of the world is at present and what it means for them.

Jon has his notebook now, which makes things easier. Still, it remains mostly closed and set to the side as Daisy explains, in greater detail, how she found her way here. How the farmer who had found her offered her clothing and, hesitantly, a meal and a ride. “He said I couldn’t stay,” Daisy says with a sigh, rubbing the handle of the mug between her fingertips. “Makes sense, I suppose. Everyone’s still scared, unsure what’s next. I don’t think he was particularly keen to take in a stranger. Especially one covered in blood, waking up days after everyone else. Still don’t know why. Wonder if it didn’t want to let me go or something. Don’t know if it matters much, though.”

The radio had been on in the kitchen when the farmer had slid a hastily-made bowl of soup in front of her before settling across from her with his own. They hadn’t spoken, so Daisy had listened instead.

Apparently, she tells them, things are “rough.”

“Rough,” Martin echoes, curling his hands around his own mug of tea. “What does that mean?”

Daisy shrugs, leaning back in her chair. “It means they’re rough.” At his sour expression, she sighs and continues, “There’s a whole world of people who have memories of horrible things but who opened their eyes a few days ago to find themselves sitting back at their desk in their office or lying in their bed or in the middle of walking their dog.” She laughs, a small exhalation through her nose. “The radio host tried to claim it was a ‘mass hallucination.’”

Jon taps his fingers on the cover of his notebook, trying not to let the sick feeling in his stomach bleed over onto his face. He tries to focus on Daisy’s words so he doesn’t get swallowed by the swirling mass of guilt and regret and frustration and self-loathing that’s currently forming in his chest. He’s only partially successful.

As far as Daisy’s been able to put it together, the situation is this:

When the Fears exited this reality, it reset itself in space and in time, putting people back in the places they had been when the first eye in the sky blinked open. Like turning back the hand of a clock, Jon thinks, except in the time it had taken the hand to traverse the face of the clock, it had seen and felt and experienced irreparable horrors that stuck with it even as it was adjusted back into place. People still have their memories; he still has his scar, the one that Martin won’t look at.

But Daisy is alive. And as far as she can tell, she’s not the only one.

The farmer who had found her had been trapped in an End domain. He’d only told her because he’d asked if she’d been in “one of the death ones as well”—said that she had the same glassy-eyed, confused look of someone who was sure that they’d died only to find themselves very much alive and well again. She’d said no and had left it at that, and he hadn’t mentioned it again. On the drive to the safehouse, he’d had the radio on again, and one of the hosts had talked at length about return states. People who remembered being twisted and reformed had woken up humanoid once again; people who had forgotten which face was meant to be theirs had looked in the mirror and recognized the version of themselves that they thought they’d lost. And people who had died opened their eyes just like everybody else, hearts beating one again.

It makes sense, Jon thinks as he scribbles two words in the notebook and holds it up for Martin and Daisy to see: dream logic. At least, it makes as much sense as any other outcome he might have expected. A reset button of sorts. Reality stretched and warped, snapping back into place as the things warping it were sent away.

It would explain how they’re here, at least. How Jon woke up unbleeding and Martin found him and held him and sobbed into his shoulder and neither of them quite remembered the transition from being unraveled and undone to being solid once more. Maybe he did die, standing in the center of the Panopticon with tape spilling out of his mouth and the wound in his chest, and he was simply reborn.

“And that’s all I know,” Daisy says with a small shrug. “Remembered that I had a safehouse in Scotland and got a ride. Didn’t expect to find the two of you here, though.”

Jon scribbles quickly in his notebook as Martin says carefully, “We had a… a bit of a rough time of it and needed somewhere safe to stay.”

Jon holds up the notebook, which reads pulled martin from lonely hid from el jonah didn’t work. Then, while still holding it up, he writes messily, like it here. And then: shitty books though.

Dryly, Daisy says, “I didn’t come up here to read, Jon.”

Jon rolls his eyes, then settles the notebook down on the table so he can write, more legibly and in complete sentences now that he’s not rushing, Yes, I gathered that much. The pulpy romance novels were a nice touch, though. Then, he hesitates, his pen hovering over the page for a long moment. Daisy and Martin are patient, though Daisy cranes her neck to read what he’s already written, laughing under her breath as she reads the words. He shoots her a glare without much heat, then turns back to the page and writes, slowly and carefully, We I like it here. Do you Would it be all right if I would like to stay.

He doesn’t bother holding up the notebook, given that Daisy is already reading the words as he writes them. Instead, he sets the pen down in the center of the notebook and looks at her, not quite able to write the last sentence. The one where he asks her if she’s going to stay.

He doesn’t know if he wants to know the answer. And the answer, for now, is yes, which is all that matters.

“Okay,” Daisy says with a small shrug. “I’m not kicking you out if that’s what you’re worried about.”

It’s really not. But Jon gives her a shrug anyway, because that’s as easy an answer as anything else, and writes, I mean, it technically is your house.

Daisy snorts at that. “Sure. And it’s my pictures hung up on the fridge and my vegetables planted in the back and my clothes in the bedroom, then?” She laughs again, quieter this time. “You can have the place. It’s got a draft.”

“Speaking of,” Martin says, “I should go get some more wood for the fire. And, um. Probably some supplies from town.”

He looks a bit uncomfortable at the thought, and Jon understands. They haven’t been to town yet, having had enough supplies to last them the past few days, and after what Daisy’s told them, he imagines Martin isn’t keen to face whatever situation is outside the safety of the walls of the safehouse. Jon is about to offer to come with—for support if nothing else—but he’s not halfway through inking the words on paper when Martin shakes his head, placing a gentle hand on Jon’s shoulder to prompt him to stop writing.

(The first day, when Jon had been getting used to writing down his thoughts and Martin had been getting used to waiting for them to appear, Martin had placed his hand atop Jon’s to interrupt him, and the words had smudged across the page. Jon had looked at the marred sentence, something twisting and choking spreading in his stomach and throat, and he must have looked distressed because Martin had stammered out an apology and held his hands up in the air, his mouth twisted into something equally as upset. There was just something about seeing his words sat upon the page, smeared and ruined, that Jon couldn’t stand to look at.)

“I’ll be quick,” Martin promises. “We don’t know what it’s like out there, and I just… I think it’ll be best if it’s just me. For now.”

Jon wants to argue. Instead, he worries his bottom lip between his teeth and then nods, twisting the pen back and forth between his fingers. “Okay,” Martin says, sounding relieved. “I’ll go get the wood, and then I’ll be off. We’re, um. We’re all out of tea.”

Jon remembers the thing that was not tea, and even though it’s not particularly funny, he still finds it within himself to laugh, albeit a bit humorlessly. He nods, and Martin leaves, and then it’s just him and Daisy, sat at the table with three empty and tea-stained mugs. The yellow daisies in front of them sit directly in a beam of sunlight, bright and cheery.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Daisy says at length, standing and making a displeased expression when her back pops. She looks at Jon for a moment, forehead pinched as if trying to make a difficult decision, before saying, “You can come. But only if you stop making that face.”

What face, Jon wants to ask. He settles for a glare that lacks significant heat and that only serves to make Daisy huff out a breath and turn away from him. “Your choice,” she says as she walks away, disappearing around the corner. There’s no soft click of the bedroom door closing, and after a moment, Jon stands, takes his notebook and pen in hand, and slowly makes his way to the bedroom.

Daisy is standing in front of the bed, unmoving, a strange sort of tension in her body. Jon frowns and steps into the room, coming around so he can see her face.

She’s staring at the bed—sheets slightly rumpled from where Jon hadn’t quite pulled them taught when making it this morning, the firmer pillow that Martin prefers and had packed with him settled next to the cheap thing Jon uses and Martin insists is bad for his neck. Jon’s glasses are settled on the nightstand next to his side along with the book he’d been working his way through before things had gone wrong and a small framed picture of the Admiral that Martin had definitely made fun of him for but had admitted later he found incredibly endearing. Jon looks at the bed, then back at her, then places a hand on her arm just below the elbow, trying to convey his confused concern with his expression and body alone.

Daisy stares at the bed a moment more before sighing and turning away. “I’ll take the couch,” she says, starting towards the door. Unthinkingly, Jon tightens his grip on her arm and pulls her back. She pauses and gives him a flat look that he takes in stride, not letting go of her arm. “I’m not sleeping in your bed, Jon. It’s not…” She pauses, then says with the slightest hitch in her voice that Jon wouldn’t have heard if he hadn’t heard it dozens of times before, back in the Archives, “It’s not mine.”

Jon thinks that’s ridiculous, frankly. He doesn’t mind, and he knows Martin won’t mind either, and the couch is absolutely atrocious—a threadbare, broken-down thing that Martin had glared at quite thoroughly their first night here before declaring that if they stayed here any longer than a month, they were going to have to buy a new one. Jon, pleased at the thought of staying here for the near future, had agreed readily, even more so once he’d sat on it and found that the springs sagged considerably under his weight. He pulls on Daisy’s arm, nodding towards the bed, and gives her his best come-on expression.

Daisy stares at him for a moment before sighing. “Fine. But I’m getting my own pillow.”

She does, swapping it out for Martin’s before curling up on his side of the bed and giving Jon an amused look as he crawls in beside her, sitting against the headboard, pulling his knees to his chest, and balancing the book from the nightstand on top of them. But she doesn’t say anything—just closes her eyes and lies still until her breathing levels out and she begins to snore, a heavy, rumbling thing that Jon had come to find comforting when it had just been the two of them together in the Archives. He lets it fade into white noise as he opens the book to the first page, resigning himself to starting over from scratch rather than trusting his memory, and begins to read.

.

.

.

Martin is still in the village when Daisy wakes with a gasp, mutters something about needing the toilet, and disappears into the hall before Jon can fully disengage himself from his book. He tells himself it’s fine—it’s not like he has any shortage of nightmares, and neither had Daisy even before the world had ended—and returns to the text, trying to get back into the rhythm of the words. After ten minutes though, he finds himself still distracted, rereading the same paragraphs over and over as he waits for Daisy to return. At fifteen, he finally snaps the book shut, slips out of bed, swaps his book for the notebook, and makes his way to the bathroom.

The door is firmly shut, so he knocks. Then, he knocks again, wishing he could call Daisy’s name but resigning himself to standing outside and affixing the door with a rather impressive scowl for being in the way. After a moment, he hears a faint rustling noise from inside before Daisy says, sounding somewhere between exasperated and resigned, “It’s not locked.”

Jon doesn’t know if that’s an invitation to enter, but he does so anyway. Daisy is standing in front of the vanity, staring at herself in the mirror. She looks away when Jon enters, and at his questioning expression, she says, “Figured you were just going to stand there until I let you in.” Then: “I’m done anyway.”

Jon frowns and flips open the notebook. Daisy watches him, something vaguely amused on her face, as he writes, Are you okay? then holds it out for her to see. She shrugs—an overly casual gesture—and says, “Less than a day ago I was dead. What do you think?”

Jon frowns and writes, Can I help?

Daisy pauses, then sighs. “Nothing you can do about it.” She glances back at the mirror, then down at her hands, turning them over so she’s staring at her palms. “It’s all in my head. Just… lingering memories, I think, of what happened. Of who I became at the end.”

Not your fault, Jon writes in thick, dark lines.

“It’s not a matter of ‘fault,’” Daisy says. “I made a choice, to help you and to protect Basira, and people got hurt because of that choice. It just is.”

Jon bites his lip and writes, slowly and unsure of whether or not the words will be helpful, They’re probably alive again. If everything really has reset itself. It occurs to him that that means Trevor and Julia as well, and a small thrum of anxiety rushes through him that he suffocates. They don’t know about this place, and even if they did, they’re not Hunters anymore. They’re safe here. They’re safe.

“Doesn’t change what I did,” Daisy says, still looking at her hands. Her fingers curl in slowly towards her palms, and she drops her hands to her sides, looking up at Jon as she does so. She looks haunted, he thinks; it’s a look he’s only seen on her once before, and it had been partially hidden by the dirt and sediment packed in around them. “It’s like I can still smell the blood. I can’t hear it, so I know it’s gone, but every time I look at my hands, I swear I can see it, just for a moment.” Her fists tighten, knuckles pulling white and fingernails biting into her palms. “I can’t decide if I’m glad or not that when I blink, it’s gone. I don’t feel weak, it’s not… it’s not calling to me, but I still feel as if something’s missing. Like I’ve… lost something. Some part of me. And I can’t decide if I’m meant to miss it or not.”

Oh. Carefully, Jon sets the notebook down on the vanity and reaches for one of Daisy’s hands, giving her time to pull her hand away before taking it in his and uncurling her fingers, one by one, until her palm is laid bare in front of him, clean and unmarked save for angry red crescents where her fingernails had bit into her skin. He rubs a thumb over one of the marks, squeezes her hand gently, and looks up at her, glad that he doesn’t have to try to put into words the tangled mess of sympathies and placations that she won’t want to hear that are currently swirling around in his head. He thinks some of them bleed out into his eyes and onto his face, though, because she gives him a look and says, “I’ll be fine.” Then, after a moment: “You feel the same.”

It’s not a question, though Jon’s sure he could refute it if he wanted to. But he doesn’t. He feels that ache inside of him, the itching at the back of his throat sometimes when he wants to ask a question but can’t find the voice to do so, the pressure behind his eyes when he automatically goes to Know something and finds only black nothingness where once there had been everything. And he feels an ache all his own, in the center of his chest where his heart still beats, so intense at times that it steals his breath away as he mourns the loss of something that he had loved and despised in equal measure.

So Jon nods, looking down at where their hands are joined, and rubs his thumb over one of the marks again, watching them begin to fade beneath the fluorescent light. They’re human-shaped, nothing like the sharp claws that had once torn through the fabric of his trousers or the sharper teeth that had torn through the skin of his leg soon after. Daisy lets out a slow breath, her other hand relaxing in increments at her side, and neither of them makes a sound for a long while.

The rattle of the front door opening breaks the silence, and Daisy slips her hand wordlessly out of Jon’s, the marks fully vanished and the tension having vanished with it. “I hope he got Ceylon,” she says with a twitch of her lips that Jon thinks is meant to be a smile. She steps to the side, brushing past Jon to get to the bathroom door. Just before she opens it, though, she bumps her shoulder against Jon’s, lets it linger there a moment, and says, “Thanks.”

It’s short and unelaborated on, and Daisy pulls away a moment later, opening the door and slipping out into the hall. But Jon feels a warmth spread through him all the same, concentrated at the point on his shoulder where Daisy had pressed hers. And when he collects his notebook off the vanity and catches his reflection in the mirror briefly before he follows her out into the kitchen, he finds that he’s smiling too.

[alexjcrowley]

Hi! This fanfiction is based on an idea by @idrilearfalas , she wrote the entire concept and the iconic/important lines you'll find in this fanfiction, check out her blog, she is great.

The Pompeii mission, Mobius thought it would have been an easy one. Everybody knows what should happen in Pompeii and it's usually all natural. You just have to make sure someone dies- eh, sorry Plinius- and someone lives.

It's an easy mission, normally, but not when you have to handle a certain norse God of Mischief. One who likes to throw a tantrum on every other occasion.

It's usually nothing more than bantering, playful and witty at its best, sharp and bitter at its worst, but it's something Mobius can handle. He can even enjoy it, when he makes a stupid joke and Loki tells him how stupid it is and they both chuckle. Loki has to learn something new about being a TVA agent and most of the times he makes a fool of himself before getting the thing right, so Mobius can tease him a little and Loki will respond sharp as ever, but with a sort of...endearing note in his stubborness.

Those are good days, days Mobius comes back to his apartment with a smile and when he closes his eyes he can still hear the God's laughter at whatever funny thing happened that day, or replay the moment when they looked into eachothers' eyes and they suddenly understood what to do with the mission, with a single glance.

Today was not a good day. He didn't know the reason. Maybe Loki woke up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe Mobius accidentally made an unpleasant comment, but the norse God started their mission with a pout you could see on the face of a child when they don't get the Christmas present they wanted.

"Oh well" Mobius had thought. Oh well, it's just another bad day, a day in which he had to watch his mouth, because you don't want to deal with an angered God. The general mood was low, the Minutemen looked already tired before the mission had even started and Mobius knew from the moment he passed through the portal he wanted to come back home as soon as possible.

But this wasn't an ordinary bad day. Mobius was prepared to deal with a bit of coldness, with a lack of enthusiasm from everybody, what he wasn't ready to deal with- he didn't want to deal with Loki acting like an asshole.

"And that's it? Really?"

"What did you expect me to say, exactly? You brought me here, you told me I was living a delusion and you gave me no choice other than being your hound. I apologise if I can't think of you as one of my dear friends."

"One of your dear friends? Who would the others be? Just curious, because I have seen your entire life and there is not one person, except maybe Thor, you actually build this strong and trusting relationship with-"

"Wonderful, so why did you expect you'd be the first one I'd decide to grant the gift of my friendship to? I am not even your colleague, I am subjected to this stupid organisation and to you in particular. We are not friends, we forcibly work together and that's it."

Mobius and Loki had been speed walking during the entire discussion, but Loki stopped for a moment.

"You can't fool me, I know very well I am not anything more than your ticket to the Variant. I'll be damned before I put my trust in you, we both know, after all of this has come to an end, nothing will be between me and that resetting stick."

You see, on an ordinary bad day, this would have never happened. On an ordinary bad day, Mobius wouldn't have seen all of his efforts to build a decent relationship with Loki shattered. Was he used to a suspicious Loki? Yes. To a Loki who said that trust is for dogs and children? Also yes. He had been used to that Loki since he first opened up his file. But he had also started being used to Loki's rare moments when he opened up, to his hidden heroic side which desperately seemed to call for attention, to his awkward, genuine reaction when he was showed any form of affection. Mobius had seen Loki spitting his "trust nobody" one liners with less and less convinction everyday, and then they were only mumbled comments to keep up a façade, and then they had become whispers, and then eyes rolls, to the point that Mobius had thought Loki had started warming up on poeple- warming up on him. But he was wrong. Just because Loki didn't voice his dissent, it didn't mean it wasn't there.

It didn't mean he saw Mobius as more than just enemy, even after everything they had been through, even after Mobius took on himself the risk of whatever would have happened to Loki and because of Loki, even after the trust he had shown him, even after the laughters and the lunches and the jokes and the stolen glances- now, look at who was the delusioned one.

Did this upset Mobius? Absolutely. But it also fired him up. Frustration, anger, embarrassment, Mobius erupted with a fiercety matching the volcano explosion just minutes ago.

"Do you really think I would just let them reset you?"

Although shorter than the God, Mobius stood up in front of him looking him in the eyes.

"After all I have done to keep you alive, after all we have been through, do you believe I'd just abandon you to your de-"

"What else would you do? Keep me with you, as your 'friend'? What, you took pity on me and were planning to give me a desk so I can spend the rest of my eternity working for the same people who robbed me of my future?"

"Now stop it, you two, the passage is open, we need to leave" said Hunter B-15, but Loki and Mobius didn't seem to have any intention of listening to her, so she just signed at the rest of the group.

"Come on, hop through it, they'll come when they're ready" she ordered. She waited for the Minutemen to go through the passage, she looked once again at Loki and Mobius and she shook her head, following her collogues back to the TVA. She closed the passage, aware that Mobius could have opened another when he wanted to.

"Just because you are a selfish, uncaring bastard it doesn't mean we all have to be. Is it so difficult for you to accept some people care about you? Like your mother or your brothe-"

"Don't you dare talking about them, you know nothing about them-"

"I literally know everything about them-"

"And stop pretending you care about me or trust me, I am the God of Illusions, I know all your stupid tricks, I used them before-"

Loki and Mobius were shouting very loud, they barely heard the footsetps of someone approaching. A Variant, not the Loki Variant, another one, an enemy of the TVA, probably.

Mobius noticed them in the corner of the eye and turned around fast enough.

Loki was not minimally done with the discussion, but if Mobius was looking away from him, something must have happened.

Loki has been in battles. Battles on Asgards are usually more "traditional" than what you see on Midgard. Sure, they can use magic, but it's mostly swords and axes and arrows and, sometimes, good old-fashioned punches. When he had been on Midgard, Loki had learned war had incredibly evolved. The glorified Midgardian technology changed the face of battles. He had seen a few of the new weapons, nothing that impressive, incomparable to magic. But he remembered them very well, he knew he was not a good idea to underestimate them. So he remembered the sound of a bullet. It was loud, violent, fast. It lasted a few seconds, and then there was silence. If you aim right, your enemy is not just wounded, he's already dead.

They both turned to see the Variant pulling out a gun, and then Loki heard it.

The sound of a bullet.

He shoved Mobius away, before the agent could do anything about it. Mobius heard the sound of a bullet as well, he heard Loki moan in pain and he knew he hadn't been fast enough. But he made up for it pulling out his gun as well, shooting the Variant right in the chest, it only took one bullet to kill him.

Mobius was suddenly grabbed by the arm by a bleeding Loki, who was trying to stand up in vain.

Mobius kneeled next to him, holding him and putting his head on his lap.

Blood. So much blood. The bullet hit the stomach. A normal bullet? You take him to the hospital and chances are he'll be fine. A bullet like that, with a venom release? Kills you in a matter of minutes.

'He is not going to survive' a voice declared in Mobius's head.

He had seen scenes like this too many times to ignore the truth, even if he was desperately trying to. So many missions ending up with corpses, Mobius had witnessed so many deaths like this. It was useless to try and save them, the most merciful act was to immediately reset them to spare them the pain.

But not with Loki. Mobius had already started pressing on the wound, trying to stop the blood.

Useless, all of this was useless.

Loki was uttering verses more than words, normally at this point he would have neen already unconscoius, but the whole being a God must have come with some sort of enhanched healing capacity.

"I am not...ugh, not surviving this?"

"No, no, you are, I just have to take you through the passage-"

"I am...the God of...lies, I know one when I heard...one" Loki coughed.

No, no, no, one thing was seeing Loki dies in a stupid video, another was to witness him dying between his arms, Mobius thought. He couldn't bear this.

Loki looked so scared. He didn't even have the strenght to talk to pretend he was fine with this, he accepted this death. He just looked pained and frightened. He tried to tighten his grip around Mobius's arm, but he couldn't, he was loosing too much blood too fast.

"He looks so young, God, he looks so young" was all Mobius could think. He had seen Loki die, he had seen him a hero, a son of Odin, a troubled man with a controversial life, but this Loki, he was too young. He was just learning what his life could amd couldn't be, he still hadn't make up with Thor or heard his father tell him that he loved him. There was an entire future for him ready to be rewritten, he couldn't die in that moment, he couldn't die on him.

"Aren't you...you tired of watching...me die..."

"You are not dying, Loki, we just have to press on the wound for bit longer, enough for it to stop bleeding, then I'll take you through the passage and-"

"It's always...so pathetic..." Loki coughed again "of a scene..."

Mobius looked around him for another piece of cloth to press on the wound. He had already sacrificed his jacket, but, in absence of anything else, he ripped part of the sleeve of his shirt and pressed it on Loki's stomach. The white cotton was soon impregnated by dark red blood.

"At least...both times...I died for someone I-"

Loki coughed again, exhaling his last breath.

Mobius stopped pressing on the wound. He stared at Loki's corpse in a silent horror.

His body wasn't cold yet, the blood was still flowing, but he was dead. Loki was dead.

Mobius conceided himself a few seconds to fully realize there was nothing left to do. He wanted to scream, but his mouth didn't emit any sound.

His hands still rested on the wound, wet woth blood.

"It should have been you, is that what you're thinking, isn't it?"

Mobius reluctantly teared his gaze off Loki's corpse, to meet the eyes of another God Mischief, one alive and on the run.

Towering over Mobius with his dark cloak, the Dangerous Variant casted a shadow on the two TVA agents. He then kneeled beside Loki's corpse.

Mobius looked at him is disbelief.

"Why are you here?" was all Mobius managed to say.

Why are you here now? Where were you five minutes ago, when Loki was still alive, when you could have done something? How are looking at your own corpse- they were, after all, the same person- without any anger, or surprise or shock?

Mobius wasn't scared of the Dangerous Variant, on the contrary. Although TVA insisted on branding him as this big enemy, he had on several occasions helped him and Loki out, even saved them from some very bad situations. He had never constituted a threat for him or Loki. Sure, he was a mass murderer, but that was kind of a Loki characteristic in general.

"Okay, here's the deal" said the Variant, without looking away from the dead body "You use your...your- ah, what's its name, the- the remote to go back in time, I'll take his place and it's happy ending for everyone. Except for me" he mumbled "but that was mever in the plans, wasn't it" he smiled bitterly, pushing a lock of the dead Loki's hair away from his face.

"What?" Mobius exclaimed.

"Just do as I say" the Variant kept looking down at the corpse "You turn back time, I take the bullet, you two live, I die. It's easy, Mobius."

"How the hell should this be easy?" Mobius shouted, prey to grief and confusion "Why would you do that? What's- what's the meaning of this?"

The Variant had been willing to lend a hand in moments of need, but he was no suicidal.

Finally, the Variant pried his eyes away from his other self and looked at Mobius.

"You asked me once why I was doing what I was doing, remember?" he began.

Mobius slowly nodded.

“Killing TVA officers, trying to destroy the system" the Variant continued "It was just... revenge. Against the TVA. For taking away the thing I cared the most about."

He then looked Mobius in the eye, with a strange intensity, some sort of regret.

"...I was that Loki"

He looked once again at the corpse.

"Then they killed you." he paused.

Mobius didn't say a word, but he kept looking at the Variant astonished.

"And I decided it was time to stray from my written path again. Because nothing else mattered anymore, except making them pay for what they did and making sure what happened to you in my past... did not happen in your present."

The Variant idly run a bony finger over his other's self pale cheek. He then raised his eyes at Mobius.

"I will take his place because he still has you" he then declared "and he still has time to accept" he made a small gesture with his hand, encompassing his dead alter ego and Mobius "whatever you’ve got going on."

Mobius looked at the Variant ever so bewildered, but the Variant simply closed his eyes for a few seconds, looking for the right words.

"He still has time to tell you...all the things I never said." 

The Dangerous Variant was on his knees, teary eyes and a lump in his throat, but he then stood up and cleared his stance. Despire the shaken voice, he proclaimed with all the courage he seemed to own: "I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose." He screamed that to no one in particular, or maybe just to himself.

Mobius had been shocked into silence until that moment. Still looking at the Variant, he stood up too, hesitated for a moment then extends his hand to Dangerous Variant. The other one looked at it for a moment, and then firmly grasped it, shaking it.

Mobius was still very confused over what has just happened- what was going to happen.

"Are you sure?" he asked "You...would die. For good. I- I don't think there's a way everybody can get out safe from this- even if you consider time travel and-"

"I know. That's why I am doing it. So that you two get to live, you still has reasons to do it." the Variant said, no hesitation.

"I was right, you know," Mobius said, still reluctant to leave Loki's hand- the moment he did, the Variant would have to die. It was still hard for him to sentence someone to death. But his lips curled into an almost amused smile, even though with a note of sadeness "You're not a villain."

The Variant snorted- oh, Allfather, he had missed Moby's antics- and rolled his eyes, then looked at Mobius again, trying to hide his amusement. You had to have a sense of humour to live his life, Loki thought, there weren't many moments to laugh in his existence, he had to learn to appreciate rare moments like those, when fate graced him with the last sight of the love of his life.

"Turn back the clock, Mobius."

After a slow nod, his hand still in Variant Loki's, Mobius did as he was said.

***

Two days later those events, ut was a good day. In the previous two days, the TVA had finally declared that one of his most wanted Variants was not a problem anymore. Mobius simply stated he had "been cared about", with a hint of sadness nobody cared for. Loki had been quite shocked to witness his death, he had tried to do something for him, but Mobius had looked at him the way he rarely did- with resignation. Nothing left to do. He had offered Loki to spend some time together after the whole thing, to buy him a drink if he needed, to simply listen to him or leave him alone, if he wanted to. It wasn't easy to be a spectator of their own death.

Loki had recovered quicker than Mobius would have thought. Sure, you could still see Loki lost in his train of thoughts when he was left on his own, but he had seen himself die once, he could handle twice.

"Paperwork. To distract you. As a treat." Mobius put on his desk a stack of papers the size of an encyclopedia.

Loki frowned: "And you call this a treat?"

"Well, you can always go help Casey cataloguing the infinity stones, if you like it best" Mobius chuckles.

Loki mindlessly started playing with the Tesseract on his desk- yes, they let him keep it. After all, it was no more than a glowing blue lamp at the TVA.

"Mh, whatever" Loki sighed, picking up a paper, still glaring at Mobius.

"Oh, you have to file these for the end of the day, which gives you around...hmm, something between one and four hours in earth time, I don't remember now. Good luck." Mobius added before starting to walk away.

An irritated "what" that was probably heard in the entire pocket reality of the TVA made him stopped in place. Mobius couldn't help but smile, but he didn't turn around.

"You must be joking! This is- this is unacceptable! What is even supposed to mean between one and four hours? I may have king ambitions but you are the real tyrant!" Loki shouted.

"Oh, Loki" said Mobius, finally turning to face the God "This is very flattering, but I am no more than a mere bureaucrat."

"Yes, and the worst kind." the other replied. He then looked around him, noticing that everybody has stopped whatever they were doing to listen to his shoutings. With a faint flush on his face, Loki sat back in his chair, just after glancing at the whole room and snarling a "What are you looking at?"

He then looked back at Mobius, sighing a "I hate you so much".

Mobius simply smiles.

"Sure you do, kitten."

I am sorry for the spelling mistakes, I tend to make a lot of them and also I am not a native english speaker, so I hope I everything I wrote makes sense.

[easily-infatuated23]

The Tub: Draco Malfoy x Reader

a/n: this is my first one of these so sorry if it sucks but here goes nothing!

Part Two Here

warnings: just some light fluff, small mention of bullying

summary: reader is having a really hard day and when she goes to relax in the prefects bathroom the unexpected occurs 

word count: 2k

The castle is enormous. So enormous that getting lost becomes part of my daily routine. But sometimes, its so crushingly small it's hard to find a place to be alone to get away from the constant noise of what feels like hundreds of middle and high school students. Everyone’s first choice of escape is the astronomy tower, so much so that a Ravenclaw tried to institute a sign up sheet as to insure the crowds wouldn’t mass as much. They were unsuccessful. The truly hidden places of the castle are few and far between and for those of us who aren’t lucky enough to find the Room of Requirement, we must get creative. The most recent spot I have found is the Prefect’s bathroom on the sixth floor. Moaning Myrtle will sometimes float through but we are on good terms so she generally will leave me alone.

As a Seer, the noise of the world is extra loud in my head. It's bad enough to have the regular noise, but the passing through of others’ thoughts is exhausting. I have gotten better at shielding myself but it takes a lot of energy. The Prefect’s bathroom has been a wonderful solution because within the chamber is a large bathtub which I use as a jacuzzi, to relax and reset. I am just so tired. The added layer of being Seer as well as a non pure-blood in Slytherin, takes its own individual toll. My family had been pure-blood until my parents. My mother had married a muggle man.

I started late in the sequence of years at Hogwarts. My family moved from America to England which meant I transferred into school third year. For a while people were interested in me but that died down within the first month. However, when I let my family heritage slip, I became as talked about as Harry Potter. As a descendant of Merlin himself, people began to attempt to get close to me just for the idea of “fame” rubbing off onto them. Harry and I have had discussions about it together but I know he secretly enjoys it, even if he doesn’t know he does.

Today wasn’t just any typical Thursday. The excitement for Christmas break was buzzing around the castle, practically inescapable. The world was loud and I was tired. Luckily, today is a short day so I was able to escape to the Prefect’s bathroom after lunch. I usually waited until I knew most of the castle was either at a meal or doing homework but today the world had been especially loud. I tentatively filled the tub checking my surroundings for a stray ghost or student. Once it was full I climbed in and allowed myself to fully relax. The noise melted away and it was like I could finally breathe.

After only fifteen short minutes I heard footsteps and looked up to see the last person I would expect or want to see, Draco Malfoy. The Prince of pure-blood Slytherin, the cruelest person within the castle besides Professor Snape. He had never gone out of his way to be mean to me in particular, but if one of his buddies started something he would be sure to join in. When people found out about my abilities, I had been forced to read him in front of practically the whole school. I saw such pain and fear in his life that I nearly passed out. To prove to him that my abilities were real, he told me to tell him something from his past only he would know. I said “a talking diary and a ripped page from a bookstore”. Ever since then, he never challenged me again. And yet here he was now, invading my hidden corner, my escape from everyone.

We locked eyes as he walked in and we both froze. “What are you doing in here?” he asked sharply. I didn’t reply but simply began to get out and grab my things when his voice interrupted my actions. “I’m not gonna make you leave I was just asking. You looked dreadful during Potions today, are you ok?”. For the first time, his words and his tone matched and seemed genuine. “Everyone has been really loud today. Let's just say that if I never hear the sentence ‘is he gonna ask me to the Yule Ball’ again it will be too soon” I remarked. He chuckled and looked down at his shoes. I now became acutely aware of the fact that I was standing in front of him in just a bikini in a steamy room. My cheeks flushed and I slipped back into the tub. “Why are you in here Draco?” I asked. He looked up at me and sighed. “This is usually where I come to hide but I got here a bit later than usual, I didn’t think there was competition for this spot”. I frowned and looked away from him. “Yeah that’s my bad, I usually am in here much later in the day. It’s just been such a loud day already. I needed to decompress earlier than usual”. He walked closer to me, then circled the tub to sit on the window sill. After a few minutes he spoke. “Does it actually help quiet the world? To sit in there I mean”. He gestured to the tub. “Yes it does actually”. I replied.

This was the weirdest but nicest conversation I had ever had with him. I had never been fully alone with Draco before, was this how he was when he was removed from his asshole friends? In a moment of impulsive thought I blurted “You are welcome to join me if you’d like”. Shit. Why did I say that? This guy is literally the worst. “Wouldn’t that just add noise in your head?” he asked. “No, when its a group of ten or less I can actually turn everybody off quite easily. Anymore then that and it gets harder and harder”. He nodded and then looked out the window. I could see his mind working through his grey eyes, deciding if he would stay or go. Finally, he shrugged. “What the hell”. He kicked his shoes off and began to loosen his tie. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t help myself watch him undress. I finally looked away and closed my eyes, relaxing my head on the edge of the tub.

The tub was big enough around that he could sit on the other side and we wouldn’t touch. The water churned as he got it. He sat closer to me than I had anticipated but I tried not to think about it as I took a deep breath and let my mind wander. “This is surprisingly relaxing”. His voice for the first time didn’t sound as strained or coarse as normal. “How did you find out about this?” he asked. I opened my eyes and looked at him, puzzled. “Have you never been in a jacuzzi?”. He shook his head. “Wow well that’s one thing wizards should definitely adopt from the muggle world” I replied, with a smile. He looked away from me quickly. Was that a hint of blush coming from his cheeks? Probably just from the heat of the water I rationalized. “Do you do this everyday?” he asked. “At least once a week. It's good for the soul”.

There was then a long period of silence. At first the silence was uncomfortable, but the longer it persisted, the more comfortable it became. A couple times I could have sworn that the water churned in a way that would indicate him moving closer to me. I didn’t dare check. I kept my eyes closed as the odd smile would flow across my face without thought. When I finally did open my eyes, he was less than two feet away from me. We locked eyes and I smiled. He gave a timid smile back before looking away again. I wanted to use my abilities to slip into his mind and hear what he was thinking but I held myself to a strict rule. “This seems like a pretty necessary time to use it” the voice in my head remarked. I physically shook my head to expel that thought from my mind. I felt his eyes on me. “I wasn’t inside your head by the way. I thought about it but decided that didn’t hold up with my rule so I shook it out of my head”. “You can if you want” he replied. I looked at him and sat up a bit. “My rule is I only purposefully do it if absolutely necessary or if the person gives me permission or asks me to do it. Are you asking me Draco?”.

The words flowed out of my mouth before I could filter them. Was that flirty? Did I just flirt with Draco? The thoughts swirled in my head only to be broken by his response. “Yes I am” he said sincerely. “Can I have your hand? It’s easier if I have physical contact”. I said. He nodded  and stared into my eyes as I moved closer to him. I clasped his hand and imagined his energy and thoughts flowing into my brain. His head was relatively quiet, besides one thought practically screaming. I opened my eyes and looked into his, stunned. “What was I thinking?” he asked in almost a whisper. I swallowed hard. “You were thinking ‘is it wrong that all I want to do is kiss her’”. I felt my cheeks turn red but I didn’t break eye contact. “Is it?” he asked. “No” I replied, unaware that a smile had crept across my face. He smiled back as his eyes darted from my eyes to my lips and back. I moved his hand which I was still holding to my cheek. His free hand moved underwater to my lower back as he pulled me onto his lap. Our faces were so close together I could feel his breath. He moved his other hand to my waist as I cupped his cheeks with mine. In a tender moment, not overly embroiled with passion or lust, we kissed. It was innocent and sweet. It made everything else seem unimportant. It was as if time slowed to a stand still. After a few moments we both pulled away and shared a smile that became a laugh. “I can honestly say this is not how I thought my day was going to go” Draco chuckled. “Me neither” I added. Suddenly a thought popped into my head. “Wait what time is it?” I asked. He checked his watch. “Two o’clock, why?”. “Damn, I promised I would meet Ron for a game of wizard’s chess. I always beat him but he insists on constantly challenging me”. I started to pull away when I noticed his face drop slightly. I pulled close to him again. “I am not making up an excuse to run away from you. Believe me I don’t want to go but if I don’t Ron will come looking for me and this would be a hard situation to explain” I remarked with a chuckle. His face picked up a little. “Are you staying here over Christmas?”. “Yes I am” I replied. “I think I will too, I’ve recently started to fancy you and I kinda want to explore this without the pressure of the whole school being here, if that’s ok with you” he smiled. “I would like that”. “But for the moment we can’t tell anyone what happened here or that we are even friends” he remarked suddenly. “It’s not my favorite reputation to uphold but if my father finds out I am seeing or being seen with someone who is not a pure-blood..” he trailed off. I pulled his face close to mine again and looked deep into his eyes. “You don’t have to explain. Remember, when I read you two years ago? I saw all of your past. I understand why”. His eyes were sadder now but he still managed a small smile. “Ok now I really have to go” I said as I kissed him one more time before climbing out of the tub. He watched me as I changed back into my uniform, smiling a bit more smugly now. “When can I see you again?” he called after me as I walked towards the door. “Friday night, let’s meet in the common room. Everyone will be gone for Christmas by then”. “Its a date!”. I turned back and blew him a kiss which he caught and immediately pressed to his lips. My heart fluttered as I jogged to the Great Hall. “Oi, where’ve you been?” Ron questioned impatiently. “Sorry, got a bit caught up” I remarked, smiling at the secret Draco Malfoy and I now shared.

[kirnet]

For the micro story prompts: 12. candles 🕯 or 49. nightfall 🌃 with the necromancer☠️??? I love the voice you write for them!!!

1.5k words about the necromancer and henry bc they intrigue me

Los Angeles may be the City of Angels, but its summers were hotter than hell.

The heat was oppressive, burning the air and turning it stale even as the sun settled low near the horizon line. Everybody across the county, maybe even the whole lower part of the state, reacted the same way. Windows were pushed open as far as they could go in a desperate attempt to funnel any slightly cooler air through security bars and cut up bug screens. Shirts and pants were shed in favor of underwear and blankets were discarded on the floor as people settled into bed. If the nighttime air wasn’t enough, and it wasn’t, then AC units were pushed to their breaking point, with every device across every home and apartment building straining to keep up with the heat.

You were in a no different position. Nightfall brought little relief, but you dutifully opened every window and stripped to your undergarments as you tried to ignore the stench of sweat that had adhered itself to your skin. Running your head under the tiny kitchen sink of your studio apartment helped somewhat, leaving rivulets of water running down your back as readied yourself for bed. Your upstairs neighbors, most likely their young kids, were shaking the ceiling, rattling your collection of knickknacks as you pulled back the covers and reached for your deskside lamp.

You didn’t need to. The light flickered off before you could turn the knob.

A cacophony of sighs and obscenities permeated through your thin walls as every air conditioner in the complex switched off, the weight of their collective strain finally catching up to them. The darkness was no matter, however, you were going to bed anyways. You blinked your eyes closed and turned to get comfortable, doing your best to block out the screaming kid a few feet directly above your face. 

You should have remembered that you were you. After a few moments of strained silence, you sat up and pulled yourself out of bed. Blackouts like this happened often enough that you kept a few lighters and candles on hand. You brought a candle out of your stash, a small gardenia-scented one that you had snatched from your brief stint as a Bath & Body Works cashier. It did the job well enough, and a tiny amount of warm light illuminated your corner of the room.

Shit. You rubbed your neck, grimacing at the sticky residue it left on your hands. Insomnia was a curse, but insomnia without electricity to power your television or provide lighting for your increasingly growing pile of failed hobbies was a fresh hell. Maybe you could light a few more candles and pretend that you were some Regency-era romantic protagonist who had to read by candlelight for historical accuracy. The noise around your apartment didn’t lend well to that fantasy, however.

You picked up the candle and stumbled towards the kitchen. If you were lucky, the power would come on soon and the only headache would be resetting the time on your microwave. If it went on for too long, though, it would burn through everything perishable you had in your fridge. Better to get a head start on that coffee-flavored ice cream before it could meet that tragic fate.

A noise near your door stopped you in your tracks. It wasn’t like the steady complaining or fumbling you heard around you as everyone tried to find their collection of candles and flashlights. No, it was a scraping sound, one right at your door. One that you were familiar with.

You set the candle down on your small dining table and dropped into a crouch, inching towards the door with your hands balled into fists. Your pocket knife was somewhere else in the room, probably lost in your discarded jeans pockets, but you wouldn’t need it if you were quick.

The door creaked open, and the intruder entered, submerged in shadow as they stepped into the threshold of your home. You waited a few moments for them to close the door silently behind them before you lept out from your dark corner. You threw yourself straight into their torso, knocking them to the floor with a loud grunt. Within moments your arm was around their warm throat. 

You tried to squeeze, but a burst of electricity trailed from the base of your spine to your limbs, paralyzing you before you could move. The intruder pulled your arm off of them and let you drop to the floor. Pain shot up your shoulder as you hit the ground, but the muscles in charge of your mouth didn’t allow you to make a sound.

“Seriously, kid?” Henry pulled himself to his feet and straightened his jacket, because apparently demons weren’t affected by the heat like normal folk. You could only loosely trail your eyes after him as he strutted around your apartment. “Do we need to brush up on your self-defense skills?”

After a few moments of you not answering, Henry must have remembered that you were still in the room. He snapped, and the paralysis that held you fell away, causing you to flop against the floor as you tried to regain your fine motor skills. “You picked my lock?” you managed to shout after a few labored breaths.

“If I knocked on the door, would you have answered?” You ignored Henry’s outstretched hand and pulled yourself to your feet, the residual effects of his technique causing your muscles to twitch. Henry shrugged beelined to your kitchen. “Want something to drink?”

“Please, make yourself at home,” you scoffed as you stumbled to the table. Henry grabbed a cup from your cabinet and opened the freezer. He paused as he extracted the ice tray. “Why do you have a Ziploc bag of frozen mice in your freezer?”

“For reasons. Why do you care?” He should know to expect your necromantic eccentricities after all of these years. You plopped down on one of your mismatched dining chairs, arms crossed as you watched him struggle to pop an ice cube from the tray. “Whatever you want from me, the answer is no.”

Finally victorious against the ice cube, Henry filled the cup up with tap water. He let it fill for a few moments, watching the uninterrupted darkness outside. “There’s a job,” he eventually murmured. “I’ve been hired to steal a body from the police precinct. Pay’s good, if you’re behind on rent.”

“I just said I’m not interested.” The gall of this asshole. Apparently listening to your previous sarcastic statement, Henry pulled the chair opposite from you out and sat down, his legs spread fall apart. “Henry, I have a job now, ok? I’m going legit, and I’m not blindly walking into whatever deathtraps you’ve managed to get yourself hired for.” Not deathtraps for you, but for whoever had the misfortune of being Henry’s foe. He had taken advantage of your childhood naivety and eagerness for any familial relationship for far too long. If he wanted a lackey to clean up his messes, then he’d need to find somebody else. “Now, can you get the fuck out of my apartment?”

“Freezer looked pretty empty,” he said instead, dark eyes glimmering in the candlelight. “So what’s the job, huh? Or have you lost it already? Be honest with yourself, you can’t hold onto any job that doesn’t have you in combat or life-or-death situations.”

“I don’t know. Retail is basically combat.” You couldn’t meet his glowing eyes. Of course he had found his way right to the truth. Money was tight ever since you had put your foot down during your last blood-soaked mission and cut ties with him for the umpteenth time. Henry, as awful and neglectful as he was, never allowed you to starve, and no job had ever held your attention like exorcism and theft. A drop of sweat rolled down your temple to your cheek.

Henry leaned forward, causing the table to creak under his weight. “Job’ll be a hell of a lot more complicated if I do it alone. Your involvement would avoid any bloodshed, since you’re apparently so squeamish about that now.” The ice cubes jostled in the cup as he brought it to his lips. “Easiest route is to have that corpse walk itself right out of the door.”

You could ask him the details of who hired him and why, and hell, he might even tell you. Maybe it was some powerful sorcerer with skin chock-full of cursed energy, or maybe it was a John Doe who somebody wanted to keep unidentified. It could even be a case of organ harvesting. The more you thought about it, the less you wanted to do it, but the thought of replacing all of the groceries in your melted fridge was even more unappealing.

You reached across the table and snatched the cup from his hands before bringing it to your lips and taking a long drink. Henry’s face split into a wide grin, his coffee-stained teeth afire under the candlelight. “So,” you finally said after you wiped your mouth with the back of your hand, “what’s the pay?”

[theonceandfutureking6481]

BBC's Merlin Season 1 Episode 5: Lancelot Analysis

It's Lancelot's first episode which is tremendously exciting. I remember the first time I watched this show (last year- I really make it sound like it was much longer than it is), I wasn't particularly attached to him but on my second rewatch I loved him, I loved his and Merlin's friendship and I loved his sheer nobility and decency. Lancelot is of course typically one of the most central characters in telling's of the Arthurian legend, so of course his appearance is exciting. Also excitingly an episode where I talk about someone other than Arthur! Yeah, if you can't tell Arthur's my favourite character. I'm not sure how clear my point is throughout all of this, its hard to articulate but I hope I've done it justice.

"Sir Lancelot, the bravest and the most noble of them all"

This is a quote from much later in the show but it explains something very fundamental about Lancelot's character. Lancelot is supposed to be the chivalric ideal, in most versions of the story he is portrayed as such, as the only knight who really comes close to fulfilling it. Lancelot's fault that puts the dent in him being the true epitome of the noble chivalric knight is his love for Guinevere, and its actually his son Galahad (who doesn't exist in Merlin) who achieves this ideal. However, the point remains that Lancelot is almost there, his character is typically about a person who almost achieves this ideal of chivalry, and they run with this in Merlin, out of all the knights he is the most knightly, the most committed, the one most devoted to its ideals.

Lancelot talks like our idea of a knight, its kind of hard to explain but the way he talks is straight out of chivalric romances, out of films about knights. You notice it because everyone in this show talks in quite a contemporary way, its an Arthurian legend for people of today and the characters talk like it, but Lancelot just doesn't, he talks like a knight from a fairytale. It's just a small detail, but it really plays into the perception of Lancelot as the epitome of chivalric honour.

I'd argue that he represents a knighthood Arthur believes in, before he even realises it himself, a kind of honour that's about devotion to one another and helping others and fighting injustice. Arthur and Lancelot do get on extremely well, despite the fact that Lancelot, in Arthur's own words, doesn't sound or look like a knight. His passionate defense of him to his father, as well as the fact that Arthur releases him from prison without his father's approval is because Arthur respects him and admires him and probably because he sees him as a friend. King Arthur's court is often the ideal representation of chivalry, stories like these about chivalrous knights were very important to aristocratic culture in medieval times, and Arthur's court was at the center of it. The thing is that there is a code of honour and chivalry before Arthur in Merlin, the knights of Camelot already exist, and they are often honourable. But Arthur's task will be to reset the idea of chivalry and honour on new grounds, in new ways and Lancelot in many ways exemplifies this ideal

There is a huge emphasis in Lancelot's character in serving with honour:

"It's not my freedom I seek. I only wish to serve with honour."-Lancelot

"He laid down his life for me. He served with honour."- Arthur

"He meant no harm I am sure of it... he only wished to serve."- Arthur

I'm not exactly sure how to define honour, its kind of an abstract concept but I do know what it means, its acting with integrity and respect and honesty. It's a concept central to the Chivalric code, that knights should behave with honour, so its inclusion here further cements the idea of Lancelot's character as representing the ideal of chivalric knighthood. Also the concept of servanthood comes up again, Merlin emphasises (through Merlin most of all) the honour in being a servant, you don't need to be great or noble or a great leader, the world needs people who are willing to serve and that is just as noble as leading.

Chivalry as a concept is inherently bound up in the concept of nobility. The etymology itself is from the French word for knight/horseman, of which only nobles could be. However, one of the points of Merlin through many of its characters is upsetting this class divide so prevalent in Arthurian stories, not just in also including the stories of those who aren't noble but in setting up a code of honour that applies to everybody. Lancelot epitomises this, he is the knight who most represents the ideal of chivalry to Arthur, he's also not a nobleman. Just like making Gwen and Merlin servants, making the most noble knight not a noble sets up this shift, highlighting the capability of everyone to the kind of goodness and nobility that Camelot's ideal will represent. Because fundamentally what's the point of an ideal if it only applies to some people, ideals should inspire everyone to be better, they should make everyone's lives better not just a small subset of people.

As Gwen says that in Arthur's knights "we need ordinary people like you and me."

Arthur and Uther

Importantly Arthur realises the injustice of laws in his father's kingdom and you see the contrast between him and Uther.

"The code bends for no man."

"Then the code is wrong."

Uther is stubborn, we know that, he's unwilling to admit the fault in his rules, in his ideas even when the evidence is right in front of him and that is a fundamental fault, you can see it in his treatment of those who use magic. Arthur by contrast is someone whose views haven't been set, partly because he is still young, but also because he is a better person than Uther in the ways that matter. He's not going to purposefully blind himself to the truth. For Uther he is also one with a worldview of absolutes, all magic users are bad, laws are laws there is no room for argument or nuance, and I'm sure Uther would see accepting argument or nuance as a weakness.

It is also important that in recognising that the code should bend, Arthur recognises the essential flaw in Uther's construction of society and chivalry. The idea that knights should all be noble, Uther literally says that it is the fact that all knights are noble that binds them together, and this is emphasised by the fact that Uther created the first code of Camelot (also the fact that its the first code- makes this seemingly small law much more important). This is a premise Arthur does not agree with it, this episode proves what it really means to be a knight in Lancelot, its a willingness to do your duty and act with honour and self-sacrifice. It is not confined to class, and thus plays into merlin's wider subversion of chivalry as only being for knights, its a code of honour and behaviour that all people can aspire to, and the ability to live and die for noble causes should not be the sole preserve of knights. The Arthurian ideal is so premised on nobility, for the rest of the kingdom, yes they have a just king and presumably they are protected and safe but they are kept from the dignity of being allowed to be noble, being allowed to be considered a part of the nobility and goodness of the Arthurian ideal. It's significant that the first figure to represent this isn't noble.

Other Stuff

"I owe Lancelot my life and I am paying for that in the only way I can."- Merlin--> This is the worldview of knights and debts of honour in its own way as well

Gwen and Lancelot are just awww, like so sweet

"Merlin would do anything for anyone."- Gwen--> True and I love that about Merlin, even as he becomes more jaded as the seasons go on this doesn't change that much—>he's wonderfully decent

"You're the only thing I care about in this world."- Gaius to Merlin--> That was just sweet and kind of sad He's encouraging Merlin to put himself in danger and Merlin reacts with anger because its like does anyone care what happens to him—> but the point is Merlin can help Arthur and no one else can so he has to do it because its his job and its his job because he's the only one who can do it--> Duty is doing what you have to do, doing the right thing even when you don't want to

"It's my duty knight or not."---> Similar to Merlin—> Lancelot believes in being a knight so whether or not he actually is one he has a duty to act like one—> he is a swordsman he is skilled and (theoretically- if they weren't creatures of magic) could defeat a Griffin so he has to do it—> because he can and its his duty to his worldview And Gwen's response- "You really believe that don't you. I don't think I've ever met anyone like you."

"You've already proven that to us"- Arthur "But I must prove it to myself."- Lancelot--> Isn't there just something very noble in that- In the desire to prove your ability to yourself above all others- to hold yourself to a high standard not just to expect things to come Will parallel Arthur in later seasons as he tries to prove his right to be king to himself--> It's funny the scene when Arthur pulls the sword in the stone (much later) is the moment when he proves his right to be king in every version of the story- but usually its proof to others- In Merlin it was trying to prove to himself

"Till next time then, Sir Lancelot."- Merlin- wonderful way to end the episode on an acknowledgement of Lancelot's role in the wider story- he is a legendary figure

[justletmeplayminecraft]

xisuma doesn’t smooth over a server glitch fast enough. the others have to save him from the consequences.

in this fic, i play loosely with minecraft mechanics to create angst. very loosely. don’t think too much about ‘em. you can also date how long i’ve spent on this by the projects they’re working on. 

featuring: being an admin gives you a connection to the server, xisuma has a less than stellar day, angst/comfort, zed is an ender hybrid, false & tango are minor admins, getting stuck in blocks is not a fun experience, the hermits care a lot about each other.

warnings: sensory deprivation, starvation, suffocation, its a death loop babyyy, a fair amount of panic, fighting code, glitches, helplessness, it’s pretty whumpy before the comfort. let me know if something’s missing here.

also on ao3. link in replies.

Xisuma sighs as the sun beats down on him. It's barely let up, even on the outskirts of the jungle. He enjoys the brief stints in the shadow of the giant quartz walls. Even then, waves of heat come off them. All of the structures in his base are a heat trap. Clearing out several layers of dirt and stone is a necessity he should've left for another day. With a click, he tugs his helmet off his head. The humidity outside is worse than his filtered air. He tucks the helmet under his arm, pushing sweat slicked hair from his face.

He's made good progress levelling this arena space. He leaves his helmet on his bed and heads to the temporary storage chests. They're filling up quickly, he notices, as he starts emptying his inventory into them. Except, something's broken. The stacks of blocks aren't all moving. He tries a few times before sighing, ruffling his hair. When he turns to the area he's been mining, it's still empty. It's been a long time since they've had desync this bad. He's not even sure when it started.

Stepping gently across the stone, he can feel the heat rising from them. He'll rollback the world and then he'll relax by Keralis's river. The farm is delightfully cool. Anything will be better than this oppressive heat.

He's almost reached his bed when something takes hold in his chest and pulls.

He stumbles forward with a gasp. Of course, the server decides to fix itself this time. He forces his feet forward, trying to reach his helmet so he can smooth things over. He only makes it two steps until his eyes are forced shut as the server reloads. For a split second, all he feels is the chill of the void as chunks reload around him.

He opens his eyes to darkness. It feels like he's suspended in space, unable to move. There's a suffocating pressure around him. Though it's with shallow breaths, he can still breathe. Did something go wrong? He blinks hard. All of his limbs are accounted for, he's certainly present. Even when he's working in the void there are still particles around him. His attempt to raise his arm fails, finding it impossible to open his back up admin panel. His helmet is- where even is his helmet?

His breath hitches, a feeling of panic escaping his controlled calm. He feels like he can't breathe. He can't move. He's trapped in his own body.

What's happening?

-

[MumboJumbo] anybody else just experience some major desync?

[Keralis1] Oh, is that what that was?

[Zedaph] I had nearly finished my redstone! All of that work, gone!

[FalseSymmetry] didn't you notice you weren't actually... losing anything from your inventory?

[Tango] he was probably too caught up in his supposed mastery

[FalseSymmetry] everybody okay though?

[Grian] all good here!

[Zedaph] Only my pride's wounded.

-

False looks down at the bedrock layer at her base. Like half an hour spent placing glass, all gone to waste. She groans, closing her chat as it pings away. Sure, she can rib Zedaph, but that doesn't change the fact she just did the exact same thing. She kicks off the sidewalk, gliding to the bedrock layer. She can feel the cold of the void float up with specks of grey.

"Good going, False," she murmurs. Some patches of glass survived. It's almost worse, that's going to be so much less satisfying to fill in. She takes her goggles off, tugging her hair loose to tie it in a low ponytail. Usually Xisuma gives them a warning before the server resets like that. It always messes up her hair, leaves it floaty and static.

She adjusts her goggles on her head, opening the player menu. Xisuma's currently online. She checks chat. He hasn't said anything. She considers it strange, but it's not unusual. Maybe he's been at a farm and isn't AFKing. She types out a private message, sending it across to him.

[FalseSymmetry to Xisuma] hey x, server blipped, might need to check it when you get back.

She'll see if he returns her message. She's got glass to place.

-

Iskall looks through his in-progress sorting system with a frown. It's broken somewhere. The stupid server reload has glitched it out and he can't find how. He's checked the redstone, he's checked the hoppers and he's checked the chests! Which means it's glitched. Either Xisuma reloads the chunk for him, or he's going to have to tear it down.

Actually, he'll probably have to tear it down anyway. Reloading the chunk will only roll it back.

At least he's not the only person who's redstone has been ruined. The thought brings some comfort. If he has to be miserable, somebody else should be too. He opens his communicator, checking who's around at the moment. That might take his mind off it.

He notices that Xisuma's online. Their admin has been quiet in chat since the reload. Maybe there's something going on behind the scenes he's having to sort out. He'll reach out to Mumbo and Grian, but first, he sends a message X's way.

[iskall85 to Xisuma] hey is everything alright? nothing broke?

[iskall85 to Xisuma] don't forget you can reach out to us if you need help.

-

He has no idea how much time has passed. Usually he's connected intrinsically to the server. It helps him keep track of the world, dig out any errors or mishaps - sometimes before his suit alerts him. It's essential for his job in order to keep things running smoothly. The server is always there, at the edges of his consciousness.

In this nothing, he can't even keep track of his internal clock. Perhaps it's his own panic, but the code he tries to reach out to feels fuzzy. It feels like it's glitching, sending shooting pains through his head if he focuses too hard. He couldn't take a guess how long he's been trapped. His breathing still comes too fast and shallow, ignoring his attempts to calm down.

He's completely helpless here. And he doesn't even know where here is.

-

Tango stares up at the stars on his ceiling. He checks his inventory again, counting aloud. He flicks it off with a frown. Yeah, he's definitely missing some. It's not a massive deal, Impulse will be happy to help out. But if he's having problems then some of the other hermits might be. Perhaps they fell and despawned in the reload. Either way.

"Tangoooooo!" The cry is accompanied by several rockets, something hitting the ground and the sound of damage. He chuckles, stepping away as Zed soars over the edge, stumbling forward with a flutter of his elytra. Tango straightens him up with his free hand.

"No, I'm not doing your redstone for you." Zedaph gasps, dusting off his jeans. He bounces up with a grin.

"You really think I'd come all this way for that?" Zed questions.

"So why have you come all the way here?"

"I'm bored," Zed replies. "And it still stings too much to do my redstone again." Tango laughs, opening up his chat. Xisuma's online, though Tango doesn't expect an immediate response.

"How do you feel about some wither grinding?" He types a message to Xisuma, Zedaph attempting to peer over his shoulder.

"Mmm, I don't see why not."

[Tango to Xisuma] Hey, seem to have lost some stars when the server reset

[Tango to Xisuma] might wanna check nothing important got eaten.

"Right, let's go."

-

Keralis hums, staring at the plot he was about to start building on. The area has been a bit... Funny. He'll break and replace a block, only to have it switch again. He might have to work on another area until it sorts itself out. His attempts at working here started after the reload, so he doesn't know if that caused it. He's not been able to spot Xisuma nearby either. He's been online, but Keralis hasn't spotted him in chat for a while.

He sighs as he watches the last blocks he placed switch back as if nothing happened. Crossing his arms, he examines the area. He wonders how big this is. Definitely more than one chunk. His new house is going to have to wait. He was excited to show Xisuma around, too.

With a glance at the sky, he realises it's late afternoon. He yawns, stretching his back out. Perhaps it'll be best to settle in his office and work on some future designs. He'll drop a message in chat first, in case this is affecting anyone else. It might give him an excuse to hunt down Shishwamy. He always feels guilty bothering him about things. Their admin takes far too much responsibility on his shoulders. They’re all adults. Keralis wishes he’d ask for help sometimes.

-

[Keralis1] Has anyone else been having glitchy blocks?

[iskall85] some of my redstone is broken but it's no biggie

[Tango] lost some of my nether stars with the reload but it's been fine since.

[FalseSymmetry] been placing glass without any problems since the reset

[MumboJumbo] I haven't had any problems either.

[Keralis1] A bunch of chunks around our bases are glitching

[Keralis1] but it seems like Shishwamy is busy :(

[Grian] well it looks like he just went afk

[iskall85] that answers that lol

-

His mind is becoming blurry. It's hard to focus on... Anything. He can't tell if it's because he's struggling to breathe, or something further, tugging him down and away. He tries to fight against it but there's nothing he can do to stay present. He can't hear anything, barely even his shallow breaths. He can only feel the consistent pressure on every inch of his body, the wet tears on his cheeks. He tries pulling on every one of his senses, but nothing comes up.

He slips under.

-

False empties the last of this glass stack, stepping back at a job well done. She smiles, rubbing her aching hands. It's nice to finally work on this part of her base. Even better now it's not going to pick itself up. At least she hopes so. She'll be right annoyed if it happens again. Something's been tingling at the back of her head, though. She wonders if it's because of the reset.

She looks up at the late afternoon sky. That's enough work for today. As she stretches, she can feel each and every ache in her body. She brushes away her hair, already falling loose. Maybe she'll have something nice for dinner. Some steak, potatoes and pumpkin pie. If she has pumpkin, of course. Xisuma was planning to build a pumpkin farm, wasn't he? His traditional pumpkin and melon combination. She chuckles to herself as she pulls out her rockets.

No matter how things change from season to season, there will always be things that don't. Hermits might come and go, but they'll always be her family.

She launches up, shooting through the water barrier. It's fast enough it doesn't stick. She lands gracefully, making her way to the kitchen. She hopes this nudging in her head doesn't get worse. She just wants to enjoy a nice meal. That's all.

-

"Well, I think we have a plan," Grian declares, grinning from his perch. His legs are crossed, hands resting in his lap.

"I mean, we didn't exactly need a plan to fix our redstone," Mumbo replies, slouched in his chair the way he only ever does in front of them. Iskall chuckles, resting his hands behind his head. They've really helped take his mind off the broken redstone. Mumbo had a similar problem, so tomorrow they'll meet up again and attempt some fixes.

"Always helps," Iskall says, shrugging. "Especially when one of us spends so much time in the Nether depths, now." Grian laughs, his legs kicking.

"Hey, I'm doing good work out there!" Mumbo yawns, looking between them.

"Well I don't know about you two, but I'm exhausted."

"Food then sleep?" Grian suggests. Iskall nods. It's been a long day.

-

It's dark as Zedaph and Tango return from The End. Zedaph yawns, running a hand through his hair, messing it up. Tango rubs the side of his own hair. Something's been bothering him, but he can't tell what. Like there's something just not... Right. Zedaph is chatting beside him, a bounce in his step. It's like he doesn't feel it at all.

"Do you want to have dinner together?" Zed asks, twirling his sword by his side. They've repaired their tools, done everything properly. It's been a hard day's work, but they've achieved a lot, even with the setback.

"Yeah, dinner sounds good." He looks at the night sky, squinting his eyes. Zedaph tilts his head at him. The purple eyes are concerned, particles floating up in his worry.

"Tango, are you okay? You seem... Off." Tango sighs, waving Zedaph's worry away.

"Something's nagging me. It's not a big deal." Zedaph's still frowning, but the particles die down.

"Let's just get you something to eat, yeah?" Tango nods, leaning into Zedaph when he squeezes his shoulder.

"Sounds good to me."

-

Keralis watches the night sky overhead. He's sat in the doorway to his office, a blanket around his shoulders. The stars are always a beautiful sight. It's the perfect way to relax after such a, hm, busy day. Not busy in a conventional sense, no, but still busy. His specially commissioned noteblock song plays in the background, a perfect accompaniment in the peaceful night. He thinks it's strange how the stars always seem the same no matter what world they're in. Maybe he should ask Xisuma about it in the future.

He pops up his screens open. Xisuma is still afk. He misses seeing his neighbour out and about. Xisuma often spends time at his farms, it's nothing new. But Keralis enjoys saying hello to him! Especially after missing well... Years of his life. He tries not to think about that.

With a sigh, he lies against the doorway. Time for bed soon. He laughs at the sound of Bubbles' voice in his head. His communicator beeps and he glances over to it.

Huh. That's interesting.

-

Xisuma is thrown into full consciousness. His stomach is still cramping with phantom hunger. He opens his eyes and finds...

Black.

No, no, he died. He died. Why has he respawned here? He chokes on his sob, realising no air is entering his lungs. His cheeks are still wet with tears, more leaking out as he gasps at nothing. His lungs burn, unable to take the shallow breaths he needs to. Would it even help? He wants to curl up, clutch at the growing pain in his chest. But he can't move an inch. Heaviness sinks into his limbs and head.

He wakes again in the same place. He doesn't know if he wants to scream or cry. There's not enough air for him to scream, anyway.

-

[Xisuma starved to death]

[MumboJumbo] X?? mate?

[Tango] X?

[FalseSymmetry] do we need to get your stuff?

[Keralis1] I'm by his base.

[Tango] he's not afk anymore

[Grian] x???????

[iskall85] maybe he's getting his stuff rn

[Keralis1] Shishwammmmyyyyyyy

[MumboJumbo] starving isn't a nice way to go

[Zedaph] It really isn't.

[Xisuma suffocated]

[iskall85] oh no

[FalseSymmetry] x???? im going over

[Keralis1] so am i

[Tango] this isn't right, this really isn't right

[Xisuma suffocated]

[Grian] what's going on???

-

False shimmies back into her elytra, reaching for the one jacket potato that finished cooking. So much for having a sit-down meal. She rubs her head, pushing away the fear that has something to do with this. Her communicator continues beeping as she grabs her rockets. She runs to the entrance, kicking off and launching into the air.

-

"We should go and help," Iskall decides, already picking up his armour.

"Thought you'd never say." Mumbo straps his elytra on, grabbing a spare shulker box and an ender chest. Grian nods with a seriousness that doesn't fit on his face.

"Let's go."

-

"We're going?" Zed asks. He's already stuffing food into his mouth. Tango rubs his temples, nodding. He takes the elytra that's thrusted into his hand.

"Yeah. We're definitely going." He watches the particles floating off Zed in waves, glowing the same purple as his pupils. Tango presses his eyes shut against another spike of pain as their communicators beep. "C'mon."

-

Keralis scrabbles until he balances on the tower roof. He's searched each one and not found X anywhere. Tapping his foot, he meddles with his communicator to turn some settings on. He has no minor admin powers - that he has to leave to False and Tango - but he can at least try this.

"Ah-hah!" He grins as hitboxes light up beneath him, hopefully a better clue where his currently red coloured friend may be. He scans the towers closely, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. There are a few mobs, especially as night sets in. Then he sees Xisuma's new build.

He has to take a step back at the sight. The chunks look- a mess. The outline of the blocks are overlapped or flickering. It hurts to look at. Blocks aren't meant to highlight like that. He glides across the treetops. It not only covers the area he was trying to work earlier but spreads into Xisuma's current build. Yeah that's- that's bad. That's not good. His communicator has continued to beep with messages as he searched. He goes to read it, and spots different colours in the mess. The red of an eyeline. He stands on his toes, leaning off the leaves. The outline flickers in and out, accompanied by a beep.

He thinks he's found X.

-

[Xisuma suffocated]

[Keralis1] he's in his new build!

[Keralis1] I think I can see him in the ground

[Keralis1] it is very very broken

[FalseSymmetry] tango? you on your way?

[Tango] as we speak

[Tango] been a long time since we've had to use these powers

[FalseSymmetry] not long enough

-

Tango and Zedaph are the first to land by Keralis's side. They kick up loose powder from the road, taking in the massive structure in front of them. Tango's shoulders raise, cringing at the sight.

"That's definitely broken," he agrees, his eyes twisting as they focus.

"And Xisuma's in the middle of it?" Zedaph looks at Keralis. He nods, usually big eyes sharply focused. He points beyond the walls.

"You can just see his name tag. I think the glitched blocks have got him stuck. I tried to build there earlier but nothing would stay." Tango presses his lips together in thought as False lands. They nod to each other in acknowledgement.

"How long does it take until the blocks pop back?"

Keralis hums, tapping his chin before answering, "About ten seconds, I think."

"That's not going to be enough time to reach him," Zed says. "Can't you just teleport him?" He looks at Tango and False. Tango opens his console menu, typing something in. Zed can tell the answer before Tango says it.

"What ideas do we have?" Keralis asks. "We can't just leave him there!"

"Of course not!" Tango replies, sounding shocked at the suggestion. "We just- need a plan." False nods.

"We're not as powerful as X," she explains, "Together we should be able to roll back these chunks but- I have no idea what that would mean for Xisuma. We don't really work with player code." She brushes her hair back. The conversation is paused as the trio of Grian, Iskall and Mumbo land beside them. The three slot in, listening as they're caught up.

"There has to be something that's making him spawn there." Iskall points out, his hand held towards the structure. False searches through the control panel, whilst Keralis and Tango simply examine the messed up blocks.

"He has a bed in there," Tango answers. False taps where Xisuma's spawn is tied to on her screen.

"Since the blocks are glitched, it must mean the bed isn't like... Registering them. Since they don't fully exist." She thinks about it carefully, putting the pieces together as she explains.

"So if we break the bed, he'll respawn at the world spawn?" Grian suggests.

"But how do we get down there?" Mumbo turns to look. It's pretty far down in the ground. They'd have to move quick to get near where Xisuma is.

"There's a few of us." Iskall waves at the gathered group. "I say with enough TNT and manpower, we could do it."

"Wait-" Zedaph holds his hand up, "-Get me close enough and I can teleport in there, get the bed. Less blocks to destroy."

"Zed." Tango turns to him, glaring at the blond. "That's a stupid idea, don't you get how dangerous that is-"

"Xisuma is stuck in a death loop, Tango!" Zed cuts in, raising his voice. The others fall silent, not sure how to handle this exchange. "Sure, I might die a bit! That's nothing compared to what Xisuma's currently experiencing."

"TNT will destroy a fair amount, but it already puts us on a time limit," Grian adds, a sideways agreement.

"I'm willing to do it. Either we reach the bed, or I teleport in." Zed says it with finality. The others don't argue. False checks his spawn point. Zedaph will respawn back in his cave, safe and sound. Even if it goes wrong, it'll be recoverable.

"We need to be ready to roll back the chunks," False says, focusing on Tango. "If I have this headache for much longer I'm going to go insane." Tango smiles tiredly.

"Fine. Let's try this." He shrugs. "I don't think we have a better idea."

"Well, come on! Let's go!" Keralis claps, placing an ender chest. Tango sighs, typing in a command.

"I think I'm allowed this time," he says, a stack of TNT appearing in his hand.

"And other times?" Grian asks. Even through the teasing, they can hear the fear in his voice.

"Don't push it."

-

There's noises. He blinks his eyes open into the unending darkness. He tries to focus past his burning chest and the weight of his body. There's... Definitely noises up above him. It sounds like explosions. The space he's stuck in shakes slightly. After another lapse, he gasps back to life in the same position. He wants to scream, tell somebody he's down here. This opportunity might not come again.

Then he feels a sharp stab of pain. Something is there, near him. Everything hurts and he still can't breathe. For a moment, he thinks he hears the trill of an Enderman. His tired mind can't figure out how as he runs out of air.

He wakes up to a chill. He slightly opens his eyes, spotting yellow sand as he falls, blacking out.

-

[Xisuma suffocated]

[Zedaph suffocated]

[Grian] have we done it?

[Keralis1] he's at worldspawn! got him!

[iskall85] YES!!!

[Zedaph] Oh thank goodness I don't want to do that again

[World reloaded]

[Tango] Z, you okay?

[Zedaph] I'm good. Bring my stuff? I'm going to worldspawn

[FalseSymmetry] will do

-

"Keralis!" Zedaph's elytra beats as he lands, feet digging into the sand. "Is he okay?" Keralis nods. Xisuma's head is resting in his lap. The admin's eyes are closed as he breathes slowly. His expression is relaxed. It's a good sight to see. The spawn island is lit up well, but Keralis keeps his eye on the surrounding oceans.

"He's sleeping," Keralis says, messing with strands of brown hair. "I don't think I'm strong enough to move him on my own." Zedaph drops onto the sand next to them, crossing his legs. There are still bright particles floating off him, his eyes fully purple. "What about you, Zee?" Zedaph seems to notice Keralis's focus, ducking away to hide his eyes.

"Um, not the best. That kind of sucked. But, it worked, and that's what matters!"

"Make sure you look after yourself, too," Keralis tells him. "Fighting the server's code isn't easy." Zedaph laughs, resting on his hands.

"Can say that again. Forgot we have anti-enderman griefing." Keralis cringes, realising why Zed looks so much like he might collapse. It'll pass, but it's never fun to go against programming like that. The architech trio arrives next. All of them look relieved to see the three on the island.

"Oh, Zedaph, I have your stuff." Mumbo starts emptying it out, the few things Zedaph couldn't fit in an ender chest. Zedaph smiles, tugging his helmet on and feeling a lot more comfortable. He tries not to meet anybody's eyes.

"Tango and False will be on their way. They're just checking everything's good," Grian tells them, hands moving quickly as he talks.

"Should we try moving X somewhere safer?" Iskall suggests. "The shopping district isn't that far."

"If you're willing to boat him." Keralis is firm. "I don't want him dropped in the ocean."

"I swear nothing will happen to him under our watch." Grian puts his hand on his heart. Iskall and Mumbo nod in agreement.

"It'll be the safest boat journey on the server." Iskall's hands are on his hips. Keralis tilts his head up.

"Look into my eyes and nothing but my eyes, if anything happens to my Shishwamy, I will not hold back." The architechs look suitably threatened.

"Can I boat with someone?" Zedaph asks. "I nearly crashed so many times flying over here."

"Hop in the back of mine!" Iskall calls, placing one in the water. Grian plucks Xisuma into his arms, carrying him to the edge of the water. He sets the admin in the boat before climbing in himself. Keralis checks him over before nodding and allowing Grian to keep him.

"I've told the others to meet us there," Mumbo says. "I'm going to fly across and see where's best to bunker down. I think we could all use some sleep."

Zedaph looks at the moon hanging overhead, "Yeah, I think we could."

-

[MumboJumbo] we're heading to the shopping district.

[FalseSymmetry] thats a good plan

[MumboJumbo] any idea who's shop we could stay in?

[FalseSymmetry] my dimension shop is pretty empty

[FalseSymmetry] plenty of room for some beds. pretty warm.

[Tango] we'll get it set up for you

[MumboJumbo] ok. ill protect the others

[Keralis1] so will I.

-

The first thing Xisuma picks up on is the talking. He stays still, trying to tell if his brain is playing tricks on him after so long in the nothing. His body is like a rock. He's barely able to move. His lungs still ache and it takes some conscious effort to continue breathing. He blinks his eyes open, wincing at bright lights. Light. There's light. He rolls forward, a sob leaving his lips before he can catch it.

"Xisuma, hey, hey." The voice is soft, casting a shadow over him. Xisuma forces his eyes open now the worst of the brightness is blocked out. Keralis is crouching in front of the bed. His fingers gently brush across Xisuma's cheek. For once, Xisuma doesn't feel the dried tears that had become his constant. "You're okay, you're safe. We got you." Xisuma takes a shaking breath in, squeezing his arms to feel the pressure of his own touch.

"Do you want your helmet?" He flits to look at False. The mere sight of his helmet is overwhelming. He reaches out and wraps it close to his chest. Keralis laughs gently, scratching through Xisuma's hair. The admin sighs, his eyes slipping closed once more.

"There you go." He can hear the smile in Keralis's voice. "We've got you, right here." The sound of movement. Cracking his eyes open reveals False sitting in front of the bed, weaving her hand into Xisuma's. He squeezes it gently.

"You're in my shop, in the shopping district," she tells him. "It's past midnight. You're completely safe here. We've got things sorted, there's nothing you need to worry about." A tear slips from his eye. Keralis wipes it away.

"What happened?" He can't make his voice louder than a whisper, and even that hurts.

"Something went wrong with the world reload," False tells him. He can trust her not to sugarcoat things. "We all had a few bugs, but the chunks around you glitched out badly. Created a bunch of like... Invisible blocks, but they were visible, if you get what I mean? They weren't fully there. Ugh, Tango's better at all this technical stuff." Xisuma tries to peer around for him, but the light still hurts if he looks for too long.

"You were stuck in a bunch of them," Keralis finishes. "We didn't realise until you starved and got stuck in a death loop. I'm really sorry, Xisuma."

"We broke your bed to get you out. Well, Zedaph did. The others got him close enough then Tango and I fixed the area. It's all sorted." Xisuma forces his sluggish brain to put the pieces together. He didn't dream up that enderman sound. That was-

"He's over there, sleeping. Tango's with him." Keralis points at a bed nearby. Tango's back blocks any sight of their part Ender friend, but Xisuma can see purple particles floating into the air. A concerning amount of them.

"What did Zed do?" He asks, the vice around his lungs tightening in concern.

"Um," Keralis answers, False looking at him. "He mentioned fighting the anti-enderman griefing code? So I think he picked the bed up." Xisuma's stomach drops. He tries to push himself up but collapses onto his back again.

"Hey, X, careful," False warns. Her voice is stern but Xisuma shakes his head.

"No- I-" He shuts his eyes, fighting off disorientation. "The server's going to keep fighting him. I've got to reset it." False helps him sit up, but she still watches him with concern. He picks up his helmet, pulling it on and relaxing slightly as all the displays flicker to life. Now when he looks at Zedaph he can see the extent of the damage. His very code seems to be fighting itself. "Help me up?"

False gets an arm around his chest. He ends up leaning his weight against her to stand, his legs shaking. She's firm, grip only tightening to accommodate his need. Keralis hovers nearby, ready to jump in if he has to. They take slow steps across the room. Xisuma strains to see under the light, but the tint of his helmet helps. He can see the architechs sat nearby, watching without any attempt at discretion.

Tango looks up as they approach. Xisuma can see the resignation on his face.

"This isn't going to fix itself, is it?" He asks. His hand in clasped tightly in Zedaph's, whose usually bright expression is twisted in pain. His skin is all too pale, black freckles spreading into larger patches across his face. He doesn't open his eyes, not even as Tango moves so Xisuma can sit down. The grip on each other's hand remains tight.

"I need to reset the code that's attacking him," Xisuma explains. His words have a tired slur he can't quite hide. "I'm gonna write an exception, I can't believe I haven't already just- not right now. Don't wanna do it wrong."

"Xisuma, it's okay." Tango smiles, pinched but genuine. "I'm sorry you need to do this." Xisuma shakes his head.

"It's nobody's fault," False says, "Do what you need to do, X. Then you're going back to bed." Keralis hums in agreement. Xisuma laughs softly as the command screens in his helmet boot up.

He zones out the others around him, leaning on Keralis's shoulder when his friend perches beside him. He scrolls through information as he brings up Zedaph's data on one screen. With one eye on it, he unlocks the data packs, searching through them. He gives voice instructions with his microphone muted to the outside world. Finding the pack he needs, he disables it and checks Zedaph's data. It looks like his code is straightening out again. Thank goodness. He makes sure all activity is deactivated before he turns the pack back on.

"That should do it," he mumbles, before realising his microphone is still off. He reactivates it before repeating himself.

"Maybe you should teach us a bit more sometime," False squeezes his shoulder, helping him up. Xisuma slings his arm over False with a nod. That would be good.

"Thank you, X." Tango smiles. He rubs his thumb across Zedaph's hand. The ender hybrid has relaxed, face slack. It looks like he's properly sleeping now. Xisuma can finally rest.

"Come on. Don't you fall asleep here, I don't want to carry you across." Xisuma hums, too tired to commit to any words. Before he knows it, he's sitting down on the comfortable bed again.

"Shishwam, lemme get your helmet." Xisuma nods, tilting his head up so Keralis can unlatch it and bring it off. His head rolls onto his shoulder the moment it's gone. Keralis giggles, ruffling his hair. "Come on, sleepy time." False lies him down, his helmet tucked safely in his arms. Keralis's hand slips into his. Xisuma shuts his eyes, before blinking them open again.

"Stay?" He asks, too tired to worry about being needy. He doesn't want to be alone in that darkness again.

"Of course," False replies.

"We're not going anywhere," Keralis adds. Xisuma smiles at them both, eyes slipping closed. The darkness is manageable with his friends by his side.

-

"Don't you dare wake them up," False hisses, watching as Grian and Iskall play with redstone. The morning sun is beginning to shine through the cracks in the windows. She's exhausted, having only caught a quick nap. Keralis is asleep next to Xisuma, sitting on the floor with his head resting on the bed. Tango's slid into bed beside Zedaph, holding him close to his chest. Mumbo's dead to the world across the room.

"We won't!" Grian calls, trying to figure out the game he could make out of this mechanic. Iskall has a Statues book open, an armour stand sat in front of a piston.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if the two people who have done this with armour stands were helping," Iskall points out, flicking through the pages.

"We're fine, it's part of the adventure!" Grian watches as the piston shoots the armour stand across the room. False smiles, leaning back against the bed. Some of the other hermits have been coming online with the early morning. Thankfully, they don't seem to know about everything that went down yesterday. It's best things are quiet for Xisuma whilst he rests. She's sure he’ll tell them about it. She'll make sure he does.

As the sun grows higher with the dawn, she dozes off again. Grian is yawning, him and Iskall only catching a few hours of sleep. He's still buzzing with activity. He'll crash later, easy enough.

It's to this quiet atmosphere that Xisuma wakes up. Iskall and Grian are still experimenting. Grian’s laughter rings out as the armour stand bounces in the air. The beat of the piston is monotonous, but they're nearly falling over each other at the sight. Xisuma watches with a soft smile, eyes barely opened.

"It we got one on top, do you think it would-" Grian holds his hand up, demonstrating an armour stand shaking up and down aggressively. Iskall chuckles, shaking his head.

"It's only the morning, we don't need to break physics yet."

"It's for science," Grian protests. He sounds breathless, half-delirious with his need for sleep.

"Please don't make me do work," Xisuma whispers, all too aware of the sleeping hermits around him. Grian perks up, Iskall turning to him with a grin.

"'Suma!" Iskall calls. Xisuma smiles at both of them, making no attempt to move. He's comfortable here and he doesn't want to wake his friends.

"Exy-Suma!" Grian slides across, leaving a gap from the sleeping hermits. Iskall stands by his side, resting his hand on Grian's shoulder. "How are you feeling?" Xisuma wraps his arm tighter around his helmet.

"Not the best, my friend," he answers honestly. "But I'm certainly better than before."

"Well, we'll just have to make that even better then." Grian is committed to the cause now. He's going to make Xisuma's day.

"You don't have to rush back into things," Iskall says, offering a smile. "I'm sure we can handle ourselves today."

"I don't think I'm getting out of this bed anytime soon." Xisuma looks down at Keralis, dark hair brushing Xisuma's chest plate. False is asleep slouched in the chair beside him. Even without being able to see the other occupants of the room, he can still tell they're sleeping. "Feels a bit weird not going for a jog at this time, though."

"I'm sure your legs won't wither away after one morning, X," Iskall jokes. "Be lazy like the rest of us." Grian grins.

"We could always play some mini-games later, too!" Xisuma laughs, stretching as much as he can without shifting Keralis. He's beginning to regret sleeping in his armour, but it's too late now.

The three chat with each other, Xisuma offering advice now he's awake. They're gradually building up a system to launch the armour stand across the room. Sure, they'll have to clean it all up later, but it passes the time and it makes them laugh. Hearing Xisuma laughing is good for all three of them, despite the roughness reminding them of last night's ordeal. It's safe to say that nobody envies Xisuma's experience.

The three jump at a strange, shrill noise, until the realisation kicks in. Zed is sitting up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Hair is falling into his face, ruffled from sleep. Tango remains slumped against him. He even rolls into the warmth Zedaph leaves behind. It takes a few seconds until the hybrid notices his audience. Zedaph jumps, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh, hi, sorry! Forgot I wasn't alone." His eyes are glowing brightly in the morning light. He looks down at the arm lazily clinging to his waist. "This oaf is used to it."

"No, no, you're okay," Xisuma tells him. False is stirring beside him, blinking to life, but Keralis remains out. "How are you feeling?" Zedaph taps his chin, resting his finger on his lip.

"Pretty well-rested, actually." Then his attention turns to Xisuma. "What about you? I should be asking you that question!" Xisuma laughs, flexing his fingers against his helmet.

"I'm okay. Taking it easy." He tilts his head towards Grian and Iskall. "Whether I like it or not, it seems."

"Too right," False agrees, yawning. "T'others can handle admin duties for today. You're ours."

"Is that a threat?"

"We can make it one!" Iskall tells him, his voice a lot more cheerful than the implication of his words. "We just need a good leash-"

"Oh absolutely not! Don't you dare!" Keralis pokes his head up next to him, trying to tune into the conversation. Zedaph laughs from across the room. He's tugging a bleary Tango to rest on his shoulder so he can wrap the blanket around them both.

"Oh come on, X, it'll be fun!" Grian wraps his arms around Iskall's shoulders. Xisuma shakes his head.

"You two are terrible. Absolutely terrible. Goodness me."

"I'm sure X will agree to take a day off willingly," False says, sounding far too threatening as she rubs sleep from her eyes.

"I already agreed. No leash required!"

"Why are we talking about leashes?" Keralis finally asks, looking more confused than anything. They break down into laughter.

-

[Grian] hello everyone

[iskall85] HALLO!

[iskall85] we are stealing your admin for the day!

[Grian] yeah he's ours.

[falsesymmetry] x had a rough night so he's having a day off

[falsesymmetry] so if any admins besides tango, x and i could step up please?

[cubfan135] yeah I'm on it.

[joehillssays] of course, and send our well wishes to our dear admin!

[Xisuma] your dear admin thanks you :-)

[Xisuma] please try not to break anything

[Etho] have a fun day lol

[joehillssays] don't make us lock you out of your screens, x!

[Keralis1] Nothing will get past us.

[iskall85] he's been suitably threatened.

[Renthedog] Should uh... We be concerned?

[Grian] about x-i-sooma finally getting a break?

[falsesymmetry] he's in safe hands. promise.

-

"Should we get this day started?" Tango asks. Grian is about to answer, only to yawn. He covers his mouth, face turning red.

"Another hour of sleep first?" False suggests. They look around the room, everyone in varying states of awareness.

"It never hurt anyone." Iskall shoves Mumbo over, fitting into bed beside him. "See y'all in an hour." Keralis smiles at Xisuma. He bumps their heads together.

"You deserve a break without being traumatised first, you know that Shishwamy?" He checks. Xisuma laughs, pressing their foreheads together.

"Yeah, I know." He leans back. "And I think I've got some good friends to remind me." False pats his back, getting comfortable enough to doze off again.

"And don't you forget it." Xisuma looks around the room. The architechs are fighting over the bed, Tango and Zedaph curled back up on theirs. He smiles, the fear from last night already on its way to being a distant memory.

"Don't think I can."

[tsuumu]

the haikyuu boys’ phone password headcanons.

the karasuno boys have very interesting approaches to how they pick their phone passwords, it got me laughing at like 4am so i decided to write it down for absolutely nobody but myself

‎

daichi sawamura:

• you cannot tell me daichi isn’t weirdly dramatic about his phone’s password protection, literally for no damn reason

• “i have PERSONAL INFORMATION on here, what would i do if someone stole my phone and could just log in? i’d look like a fool.”

• scolds hinata for not having a phone password

• tsukki once taught him that you can add symbols to your password to make it stronger and it changed. his. life

• he thought ‘£&@(%€$¥’ was an acceptable password LMAOO

• changes it often so much so he once forgot it and had to go get his phone manually reset

‎

sugawara koushi:

• this little baby boy. :(

• he uses a number password on his phone but it’s extra wholesome, like the day and month karasuno went to nationals or the year of his future s/o’s birthday

• he’s never worried about the safety of his social media or phone password

• in fact, if a stranger asked him straight up to use his phone for something he’d oblige without much thought he’s so precious nobody better do him wrong

• he’d only change it if he got a new phone or gave in to daichi’s pressuring

• “daichi, it’s FINE.”

“no, it’s NOT.”

• to conclude: he gave in

‎

asashi azumane:

• i can’t imagine asahi using his phone or socials much

• maybe for school purposes and for family and friends. the third years are always in his recent calls and texts

• for this reason he’s not that attentive about his password too

• maybe a little, he’s spooked when daichi goes on one of his tangents about hackers stealing information and wonders if it could happen to him

• his password is just ‘asahi123’. it’s easy to remember. maybe ‘321’ if he’s feeling a little spicy but we won’t bet on it

• “should i change it? i don’t know...”

• ends up changing it out of paranoia and fear poor thing

‎

tanaka ryunosuke:

• this boy spent AGES thinking of a password

• literally 2 hours just on a few letters...

• he wanted it to be cool, but kinda safe, but not nerdy ‘cause what if hypothetically some hacker saw his password and judged him for it?

• ‘tanakaistheb3st’, ‘ryu1ace’, smth that really puts across his abundance of maturity

• his password is the same across the board, so once you get access to it, you get access to EVERYTHING

• by the way, his search history is.. questionable

• the password requirements infuriate him

• “why do i need numbers in my password? i don’t want numbers! they ruin the look”

• striving for a cooler password than noya (this isn’t that much of a challenge)

‎

nishinoya yuu:

• just like tanaka, noya spent ridiculously long on it

• they probably know each other’s passwords off by heart

• classic cool dude behaviour

• ‘god’, ‘legend’, ‘king’ something along those lines would not be out of the ordinary for noya

• he might have made it when he was twelve

• noya’s phone contents are shamelessly embarrassing (excessive shirtless pics and blurry images of him jumping around at home) but he doesn’t understand that so his passwords are easy to guess, the karasuno boys have hacked into it and clowned him many, many times

• he still doesn’t change it though ‘cause of childhood sentimentality

‎

tsukkishima kei:

• believe me when i say that this boy knows what he’s doing

• he cares about his privacy the most out of them all, the thought of anybody touching his phone annoys him to no end (yamaguchi might be an exception though)

• good luck finding his phone anyway, he’d never leave it open for anyone to get their hands on

• his password is ideal, all the right symbols and letters

• hinata has tried to guess it on multiple occasions

• “... is it your birthday?”

“no.”

“is it your mom’s birthday?”

“no.”

“is it anybody’s birthday?”

“shut up, shoyo.”

• you’ll never know what it is, so don’t even bother

‎

yamaguchi tadashi:

• his password is as simple as suga’s

• his favorite meal, book, colour, something sweet and short that can easily be remembered

• tsukki told him it was too simple to guess but he doesn’t mind

• a heart of gold, this baby believes that phones are for taking pictures and capturing memories and that’s what holds the most value

• tsukki thinks he’s a total idiot

‎

hinata shoyo:

• he doesn’t have a phone password at all

• literally loses his phone 3 times a day and it stresses everybody out way too much

• it’s probably in his pocket, he just never checked

• if he did have a password he’d probably yell it out for everybody to hear so there���s literally no point

• he’s trying his best, poor baby...

• asks if you can use emojis in a password: he was very disappointed that you can’t

• kageyama threatens to break hinata’s phone on the daily because he keeps trying to take ugly pictures of him during practice breaks

• tsukki once set a password on sho’s phone and made him do his bidding for the entire day in order to get it back

‎

kageyama tobio:

• this is going to be a  p r o b l e m.

• kags knows that passwords are important and should be thought about thoroughly but has no clue where to start

• why am i like 80% sure he has some sus shit on his phone he doesn’t want anyone to see lol

• he’s also terrified that hinata will somehow get his hands on it to look for games or take no less than five million selfies and clog up his storage

• he quickly learns that ‘kageyama’ is not an acceptable password.

• neither is ‘volleyball’.

• like tanaka, kageyama is also deeply critical about the extensive requirements needed to make a password

• “this is so stupid, just let me put what i want! if i get hacked that’s on ME.”

• yells at his phone a lot, thinking somehow that’ll solve everything

• he gets locked out of his phone for hours on end for forgetting his own password. trust me, he’s not happy.

[hq-lovin]

request : Could we get the Karasuno boys' reaction to a girl Libero who could receive the freak quick? Like she is just as good if not better than Noya?

this was originally requested on my bnha blog @your-local-bnha-writer​

the boys meeting a good libero (with a little bit of noya x reader)

honestly, I don’t think this was one of my better works... 💀💀

━━━━━━♡♤♡━━━━━━

➣ pairing : noya x fem!reader (although karasuno boys react to you)

➣ scenario [1587 words]

➣ warning : swearing

━━━━━━♡♤♡━━━━━━

karasuno boys // yuu nishinoya 

“Dang she’s good,” 

“Maybe even better than Noya,” Hinata stares in awe at the sight of you receiving the spiker’s hits effortlessly, causing the usually energetic libero to elbow him in annoyance. But it was true, as time passed Nishinoya realized you were pretty badass on the court. 

“Y/n’s the girl’s official libero, she’s amazing despite only joining a couple months ago,” Yamamoto boasts, standing proud as the Karasuno boys gape at your skills before Yaku hits him on the back of the head apologizing for his teammate’s actions. 

“Shut up, I’m so sorry. Though he’s not wrong, Y/n’s pretty cool huh?” Yaku smiles at Nishinoya nudging him cheekily. Nishinoya ignores his friends' antics instead choosing to carefully observe you, your footing and how you dive for the ball. You truly were an amazing libero. 

“Alright! That’s it for practice today, don’t forget we have a game against Fukurodani tomorrow so get some rest,” Your coach says as she hands out towels and water bottles around. 

“Practice is over! Let’s go see her Kageyama!” Hinata yells excitedly, dragging the clearly bothered setter before Daichi could scold them. You were making your way to the door when 2 boys from Karasuno had approached you while a third one trailed behind stomping angrily. 

“Hi! I’m Shoyo Hinata from Karasuno, you were super cool out there!” The orange-haired one smiles, flattering you and making the blood rush to your cheeks. 

“Tobio Kageyama,” the second one bows and you're careful not to look too shocked. Tobio Kageyama, the setter with pinpoint accuracy, the King of the Court. 

“O-Oh ahh thank you, I’m Y/n L/n libero for the Nekoma girls volleyball team,” You bow respectfully, before your eyes droop in worry as another guy comes up from behind them and grabs their shirt collars. 

“I am so sorry for them, Daichi Sawamura,” Their captain, you were assuming, says before scolding the two boys who looked scared shitless. 

“Oh don’t worry about it! It’s okay,” You wave him off sheepishly, hoping the two boys didn’t get in too much trouble. 

“Could we try our quick attack on you?!” Hinata asks eagerly with a certain glimmer in his eyes making the whole gym fall silent. Confused, you look around and notice everybody staring in your direction. Feeling a bit self-conscience, you pick at the hem of your shirt and look back at the boys in front of you. 

“Hinata you dumbass!” Kageyama yells before hitting him on the head, causing you to stifle your own laughter. The rest of Karasuno runs down and quickly apologizes for Hinata’s actions, you smile before saying it was fine. 

“I would like to see their quick attack though, if that’s okay,” You smile nervously, and Hinata cheers loudly, the other crows Karasuno boys looked at you as if you were insane. You opened your mouth to say something when another one stepped up dragging their shortest member of the team with him.

“Listen, I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with because Noya over here can’t receive their quick attack, and he’s the best libero around,” a bald guy says putting an arm around Noya’s shoulder and your eyes light up at the sight of him. 

‘“Oh! You’re Yu Nishinoya right? I watched one of your games in middle school, you’re really good!” You smile, beaming at him. The usual cool looking libero, was now blushing and stammered over his words over a compliment from a pretty girl. 

“O-Oh I see, it’s nothing. I’m not that good…” He continues to blush and wave off your compliment. 

“Noya’s the Guardian Deity of Karasuno!” Hinata exclaims, eyes gleaming before groaning in pain as Kageyama scolds and hits him again, telling him to be quiet. Looking over at Nishinoya, he tries to brush off the nickname, all the while blushing the whole time. 

“That’s a pretty badass nickname,” You wink at Nishinoya, before looking back at Kageyama and Hinata (who was still getting scolded by Daichi). Smiling confidently, you stare into their eyes. 

“So about that quick attack…” You suggest, sparking the two boys' spirits as the rest of the team look at you with another nervous expression. 

━━━━━━♡♤♡━━━━━━

“Let’s see the freak quick attack first,” Placing your hands on your hips, Kageyama and Hinata get into position. Kageyama sets the ball with the usual spot on accuracy, but what really impresses you is the height of Hinata’s jump. Within a split second after Kageyama’s set, Hinata’s hand connects with the ball and slams it down, looking proud of himself. 

Smiling to yourself, you walk over to the two and ruffle their heads. 

“You guys are really impressive,” You beam, “Kageyama’s sets were perfect and Shoyo your jump was incredible!” the two boys blush at your words and are eager to try it again. 

“Wow she has a natural gift for flattering people, like Hinata,” Suga chuckles as you continue complimenting the freak duo. 

“Yeah she really got Noya!” Tanaka laughs, pointing at the now embarrassed libero, who yells at his best friend to shut up. 

“What? You getting shy that a cute libero girl complimented you?” Tanaka teases, before ruffling Noya’s hair. 

“Dammit Tanaka! Shut up won’t you?” he grumbles before turning his gaze back to you. 

“You guys ready? Don’t go easy on me now,” You taunt, successfully provoking the two boys. Kageyama throws you a playful glare, before getting into position. Yachi throws the ball as Hinata runs up, you take a deep breath in before getting into your own position. 

Kageyama sets the ball and as soon as Hinata’s hand connects with the ball you lift your feet up, resetting your position so you move around easier. Spotting the ball, you immediately dive towards it, successfully bumping the ball back into the air. 

The gym fell silent, the only sound was the volleyball dropping onto the gym floor, the ball leaving a stinging sensation on your forearms. You stand up with a smile plastered on your lips and look over at the Kageyama and Hinata who looked very shocked at your receive. 

“She actually… got that,” Daichi’s jaw drops. Taking a glimpse towards Nishinoya’s direction, you give him a nervous smile as his eyes widened. 

“Woah! Y/n-san that was totally cool!” Hinata cries excitedly, you blush and brush him off telling him that it was probably a fluke. You’re about to suggest trying it again when a new voice appears from out of nowhere. 

“No way! Your position was on point and everything, that was no fluke,” spinning around, you spot Noya walking towards you as your stomach does flips.

“You think so?” 

“90%” he replies and your eyes widen. Simply shrugging him off, you turn to see the other Karasuno members with their jaws dropped on the floor. 

“It really wasn’t that impressive,” You tell them, embarrassed at the fact everyone was staring. It was just a simple receive. 

“That’s probably the first time we’ve seen someone perfectly receive their quick attack,” a guy with blonde hair says, placing his hand on his chin looking amazed. 

As time passed, you practiced receiving the freak duo’s quick attacks, sometimes hitting it spot on and other times you completely missed out. Unfortunately, it was time for Karasuno to leave. 

“Bye Y/N-san! I had fun, but we’ll get past your crazy receives next time!” Hinata jumps up and down, flailing both of his arms wildly into the air. Kageyama only nods along with his energetic boyfriend

“I’m looking forward to it!” You laugh and wave as they’re loading up the bus. You turn to leave when you see Nishinoya smiling at you. 

“That was some impressive skills you got there,” He smirks, looking at you determinedly, you only raised a brow. 

“Oh yeah? Well I’m looking forward to that as well Yu-kun,” You say winking at the nickname. Nishinoya’s ears go red before he speaks again,

“W-Well for the time being, I think we should exchange numbers, you know for when we need to share new tips or cool tricks,” He huffs, holding his phone waiting for you to put your number in. You smile shyly before giving him his number.

For a moment, you both stood there staring at the setting sun. Sure, you met today and barely know anything about each other, but at the time you did spend together it went well, just vibing with each other, you couldn’t help but yearn for him to stay, just a little bit longer. 

“I should go,” Noya mumbles ever so softly, looking at you with gentle eyes. You nod before glancing up at him with a tender smile, your heart flutters as you fiddle with your fingers as an idea pops up into your head. 

As Nishinoya turns to leave you grab his wrist stopping him, spinning him around you press your lips softly, smiling as he kisses you back. Wrapping your hands around his neck, you pull him closer, as he places his hands around your waist. 

“Damn Noya! Get some!” a voice interrupts, you gasp and pull away seeing his team standing there making you blush. 

“Dammit you guys! Sorry about that,” He apologises scratching the back of his neck nervously, knowing he will get the mom talk from Suga, as well as teasing from Tanaka. 

“You’re good, uh… text me later?” You suggest, observing your feet oh so carefully. 

“Yeah, yeah! Sounds good,” Noya smiles, before waving goodbye, bracing himself for all the bullying that was already starting.