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aetherdoesthings · 3 months

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LUFFY X READER - PART THREE

forethoughts: ahhhhhh this is probably gonna be the last part i'm gonna post for this series FOR NOW, i have so much stuff to write (cough hanahaki) so after this one luffy's gonna be put on hiatus for a while :).

notes: angsty? it's definitely sad. a lot of robin in here because she's been in my mind.

You didn’t know what to do. Where to go. You decided to duck into your room, hiding yourself in the bathroom as you sunk, curling up into a ball against the wall. Tears started to flow down your face, your heart absolutely shattered and mind racing for conclusions. What did you do wrong? Why was Luffy acting like this? What’s happening?

Your heart fell to your stomach as one thought crept into your mind.

No… but how could he? You only called whenever he was asleep. Of course, there was that one emergency call Admiral Akainu made, but it was only that and that time only. Could Luffy have eavesdropped onto your conversation?

He was acting all jumpy and weird once you came out. Your mind reminded you, as your head dropped onto your knees. He knew. He had to know. That’s why he kicked you out. He knew you were a marine.

Damn it… damn it! You wanted to scream. You wanted to throw a tantrum and cry. But that’s not what marines do. That’s not what you needed to do.

“You want me… to go onto the Straw Hat’s ship and pretend to be a pirate?” You looked at Admiral Akainu.

“Yes. Is that a problem, cadet?”

“Well, what if they find out-”

“They won’t. We’ll take care of that on our side. All you need to do is get into their crew, learn about them. Go undercover.”

“What for?”

“Are you questioning me, cadet?” Akainu glared at you.

You looked down at your boots. “No, Admiral.”

“Hmn. Call every week to report your findings. Eventually… we’ll have enough information to destroy the Straw Hats and triangulate their location. Grow close with them. Make them trust you, cadet.”

“How will you know my location while I’m on their ship?”

“Kizaru will handle that. Now, cadet, this is a very important task and mission you’re going to be sent on. Failure to complete your mission will result in death.”

“Death?!”

“The Straw Hats must never know you are a marine. They must never know we are trying to do this. If they ever find out, we’ll find out. And your punishment for failing will be death. You can walk away and turn around. Or you can prove yourself and make yourself the hero that saved the world from the Straw Hat Pirates. Which will you choose, cadet?”

You balled your fists, looking up at the Admiral. “When do I leave, Admiral?”

A sly smile grew on Akainu’s face. “Tomorrow morning. You better not mess this up, cadet.”

“I won’t.”

You should’ve walked away. That was a very clear option and the smartest one. You could’ve just continued your life as a cadet working for the marines, but no, of course you wanted to prove yourself and do something as ridiculous as join the Straw Hat Pirates.

But if you never had accepted Akainu’s offer, you wouldn’t have met Monkey D. Luffy. You never would’ve felt the love Luffy gave you and you gave him. Even if it was all a ruse, there was still a connection you had with the boy. He was charming. Even though you were told to believe he was a ruthless pirate, taking down the likes of Arlong and Crocodile, a warlord of the sea, you started to see him in a different light.

And you saw the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates in a different light too. Roronoa Zoro was a ruthless swordsman, but he was always sleeping and getting lost. Nico Robin didn’t live up to her ‘devil child’ moniker the World Government gave her. She was a peaceful soul that always accommodated to your needs and wants, and was always there to listen to your rant, even if you were just doing it to learn more about her. Hell, even the perverted cook was nicer to you than the entire marine corps. Unbeknownst to your naive self at that time, you had actually done what Akainu intended you to do: Get close with them.

And now you were too close.

Your feeling of resentment to the Straw Hats had turned into love and care.

You had become a Straw Hat Pirate, you had become their Nakama.

And you couldn’t turn back now, now that they knew your secret.

They’re going to hate you. They’re never going to see you in the same way. They’re never going to like you again. You’re going to be alone again.

Tears flowed freely down your face, as you sobbed uncontrollably, not knowing what to do or how to handle your dilemma. You had failed your mission. Luffy knew that you were a marine. You were going to die, that was Akainu’s exact words. But you had a band of pirates that cared for you and would fight for you. Perhaps… no. You were asking too much for them. You were a traitor. A mole. They wouldn’t help you, even if you explained your situation to them. You had joined their crew with the intention to betray them. There’s nothing pure about your intentions that would make them want to help you.

So that left your fate.

You were going to die.

You sat there on the floor, staring at the sink as you leaned against the wooden wall, tears streaming down your face. You stared at your arm, glaring at one specific spot.

“What’s that, Admiral Kizaru?” You asked the Admiral who held up a mysterious looking device.

“That’s a tracker, cadet.” He answered simply. You sat on an operating table, your right arm extended outwards as the Admiral moved around.

“Is that going in me?”

“Yes. We’ll be able to track your location with this.”

“And that’s all it’s going to do?”

“Hm… that’s information you don’t need to know. Now, try not to scream, will you?”

That damn device was going to kill you the moment the marines found out you had failed. They might activate it now. Maybe seconds later. Minutes. Hours. They were going to find out you had failed. And you were going to die.

Suddenly, you heard a gentle knock on the door, causing you to jump and scream.

“It’s alright, Y/N, it’s just me. May I come in?” You heard Robin’s voice appear from behind the door. Shit.

You wiped your tears away with your eyes, clearing your throat. You looked at your reflection in the mirror, clear evidence of your breakdown written all over your face. There was no hiding the fact you were crying; you couldn’t even think of a way to hide it.

Reluctantly, you opened the door, letting the archaeologist walk into the bathroom. Robin looked at you with a somber and sympathetic look, pulling you in for a hug. “Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into Luffy… you don’t deserve to be blasted like that. How are you feeling?”

You wanted to push Robin away, scream at her until she left. You didn’t deserve her kindness, nor the care and love she was giving you. You were a filthy traitor, and you deserved to die.

“Robin…” You croaked, as tears started to flow down your face. They were immediately wiped away by Robin’s slender fingers, as you refused to look her in the eyes.

“What is it, Y/N?”

“I…” You were going to die anyway. That damn device in your arm was going to kill you any minute. Robin deserved to know… all of them deserved to know… at least you could die that way as your true self: a filthy traitor.

“I have to tell you something.”

#one piece #op #monkey d. luffy #luffy x reader #nico robin

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inactive02 · 1 year

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the opportunity chapter 4

a/n: hey my fellow heimdall crusaders, i have made another chapter of this chaotic yet steamy serious. from here on this is where the good stuff starts to come wink wink but besides that im sorry it takes me a while to post i work on other things like drawings and edits too, which eventually i will post art of him.....eventually but for now enjoy this please.

warnings: just heimdall being heimdall, a little steamy, nothing else to warn you about you knew what were you getting yourself into when you clicked on this. IF THERE'S ANY MISTAKES MY BAD

It was another calm afternoon on Asgard, Heimdall decided to wake up early for work, standing in the middle of his room getting dressed. As clouded as his thoughts were, he only thought about the day before when he apologized to you, even while being outside on top of the Asgard wall and observing the area.

The wall is the only place where he can get a piece of mind with himself. These days weren’t busy for him, since Odin didn’t assign many things to him, you bother that man every thought. That look in your eye when you weren’t expecting an apology, he never saw that before. Speaking of you, “I forgot she has sparring today” he tells himself, taking a long walk back to the elevator.

Maybe today he’ll decide not to be a total asshole to you, not yet though. Getting off the elevator, he went to the town's shopping plaza, going to where Odin made you set up after the move.

Coming to the front door of the shop, he opens the door and is greeted by a sight to see. You were talking to a very handsome customer, that mouth of yours was brandishing a good smile Heimdall hadn't seen in a while, and this guy…, this guy is making you smile easily. You’d smile at anything that can make you laugh.

“I didn’t know blacksmithing came with slacking off”

Heimdall being unannounced, you looked over seeing him “I didn’t know you were coming this early”

“Well, If I can get you out of my hair for the rest of the day, then sure” he looks over at that male who was talking to you, being on Heimdall's level and looking at him with a bright smile, putting a nasty feeling in his stomach.

The male opens his mouth, “I'm kamur” he knows Heimdall since he’s seen him once or twice whenever he patrolled the plaza, kamur could tell the look on Heimdall's face that he couldn't care less what his name was, and turns his attention back to you.

“I will find you later, y/n” walking out of the shop to tend to his own shop next door, the watcher's eyes watched him leave.

“Now, if you are done with your play date, I’d like to go ahead and get this over with” you weren’t in the mood to waste his time in any way possible, coming around from behind the counter. You’d made sure to close up the shop before following behind him to take you wherever you two were going. The walk was silent until you decided to ask a question.

“Are we sparring like last time, my ass ending up on the floor?”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing you covered in mud, sunshine,” he said sarcastically, “but all father wouldn’t be happy about that” looking over his shoulder at you, you hate to admit it, but there were a few times this man puts a scare in you. Not only was it because he was bigger, but he also beat you in combat, of course, knowing damn near everything coming at him.

You could say it was admirable, you thought. Earning a hum of approval from the aesir, was he reading your mind again?

Brushing from your thoughts, you realized you were back at the lodge, on this training ground again. “Since you obviously aren’t ready for a weapon, we’ll start from the basics” you stood in front of him, only looking up slightly since the height difference wasn’t too big. “Throw a punch,” he told you, feeling like he was planning something, but you swung, testing your fate, and he caught your fist before it reached his face, giving you a slight smile.

“Is that how you really punch?”

“Well, I didn’t want to ruin your face more than it already is” his grip on your fist tightened, as he got closer to your face, him being this close allowed you to examine his face more. Seeing a few beauty marks, a five o'clock shadow, and those bifrost eyes he’s so famous for.

“Hit me as if I'm a threat to you, commoner” gazing into your eyes.

Letting go of your inflamed knuckles, he stood straight again looking at you with a scrunched expression, telling you to swing again, and you did.

Over and over, for probably hours in the day, him blocking your swings, Maybe even stepping back a little. It wasn’t to mock or tease you, just to make you learn, it makes you swing faster each time.

“How did you learn to fight?” you asked.

“You can't swing, and talk at the same time. Way out of your league” he keeps catching your fist that came at him with one hand.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Heimdall” your question was met by silence as he continued what he was doing before.

He rolls his eyes “I learned from all father, he has taught me many things” You should’ve guessed the answer would be that, I mean who else would teach him how to fight?

“It’s quite impressive”

The compliment from you surprised him, looking at the very soft knuckles that he caught each time. “Well of course it is, I’m the watcher of Asgard” he holds your balled fist without letting go, looking at you. Becoming confused by him grabbing it, you look up at his face.

“Is something the matter?” You asked, there were a million things going through his head. Watching your eyes look at him with softness he hasn’t seen from anyone in a while, making his palms a bit heated and sweaty. Releasing his hold on you, he scoffs, putting his hand down.

“I think that’s enough practice for you, don’t want to drain you out” he crosses his arms, a lot of things in his mind were trying to deny him of that warmth inside him from that compliment. Throwing the poor man through a pit of confusion.

“You should report to all father about your training, I don’t want him to think I’m not doing my job” walking past you to lead the way back inside the lodge, he would never let any women blind him from his duty, but it seems like you're making it hard for him. Knocking on the door of all father’s study and coming in to inform him why you are here.

While you and Odin talked, heimdall leaned against the door just listening while staring at your backside, what were you doing to him? Everyone hated him to the bone, not one could barely talk to him but you, you can tolerate him. Completing him earlier, he didn’t hate it either, it was like scratching his ego more than it already has.

“I can tell you two are bonding a little more than how it first was” Odin comments.

“That’s only when she isn’t talking” there he goes, talking again without thinking.

You look at him for a second before turning your attention back on Odin, “trying my best every day, I can tolerate him” you tell Odin with a slight smile.

“That reminds me, tomorrow I will be expecting a guess so please behave” this was directed towards Heimdall and not at you, after his sigh of annoyance you bid goodnight to Odin before leaving. Heimdall, closing the door behind you.

“More people, more problems”

“Not every person who comes here is a problem” you walk up the stairs heading to your room.

“I mean look at you, your problem for me, intervening with things I usually do” he snaps back at you, watching you stop at the door of your room.

You turn to him with a look on his face he knows all too well, “do you have a problem with me?”

“I have more than just a problem with you commoner” he looks down at you.

You scoff at him, opening your door “And why do you think I should care?” Saying it in a baby tone only to mock him, walking inside your room with a mischievous grin.

“I’d be honored if the commoner cared, please you think I do”

“I have a name or does your ego block your train of thought” there was a slight spark in his eyes, a slight laugh that rumbled in his chest.

Stepping a bit closer into your personal space.

“You think you are so funny”.

“I find myself quite hilarious, sunshine” there was that shine again, in those devilish purple eyes he always gave you. You were so focused on his eyes, you didn’t even notice how close you two were, feeling him take a breath each time. It wasn’t quick either, it was slow, his eyes looking between your eyes and lips. Mincing the same thing you were doing, his pink lips look smooth, you bet they felt soft too.

Not even knowing who leaned in first, but all you felt was his lips on yours, they felt as soft just like you thought they would be. Your hands found their way to his neck, and his slender fingers came to hold your waist, making him open his mouth wider, the kiss turning a bit sloppy. As much as you hated him, His mouth felt so good on yours, you bite his bottom lip, hearing a whimper from him, pulling away. A trail of saliva split after he broke the kiss.

Catching each other's breaths as you two stood there, Heimdall’s face behind dark red, lips looking bruised and wet as well as yours. He steps back a bit, calming down, looking everywhere else but at you.

“I..- heimdall”

he left, leaving in a hurry without giving you the chance to speak. If he didn’t hate you now, he hates you even more right now, is all you could think about.

——————

Closing his cabin door in haste, he starts to pace around letting words fly, asking himself why did he kiss you? Why did you kiss him? Even all these unanswered will still have an awkward encounter in the morning, did you bewitch him? What were you doing to him?

Leaning against a wall while looking down at himself, seeing nothing but a noticeable bulge on his thigh. Only touching the cloth member once, seeing how sensitive he was, cursing under his breath. He’ll just sleep this off and deal with it in the morning, he can always sleep something like this off.

“God damn, commoner”.

a/n: that bifrost on him melting a bit, I'm joking but i hope you enjoyed this chapter

#god of war heimdall #gow heimdall #heimdall god of war #heimdall x reader #heimdall #hes so fine #jesus christ #hes so babygirl #i need him #gow x reader #gow heimdall x reader #hes so cute #heimdallbeingheimdall

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ghostxrose · 2 days

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Of Monsters and Men | Bakugo Katsuki x OC

Part One |

Summary ~ The war between humanity and aliens began in 2013 when the first Kaiju hauled itself out of the depths of the ocean. It rampaged through three cities, destroying everything in its path and killing thousands before it was finally taken down. As more Kaiju emerged from the sea, nations put aside rivalries and hatred in order to ban together and find a solution to save the human race.

Azusa had never imagined that this would be the world that she would grow up in. Mankind using giant robots to take down massive alien monsters sounds like the stuff of movies not the reality that she’s forced to live. She had also never imagined signing herself up to battle the monsters from the sea, but somebody needed to avenge her brother’s death and her father sure as hell wasn’t doing it.

Tags/Warnings ~ Fem!OC, angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff, enemies to lovers, potentionally triggering content, universe-typical violence, Enji Todoroki (yes, that is a warning, he's trash), character death, (more tags to be added as story develops <3)

Note ~ Heyy, Lovelies! This fic is my twist on MHA characters in the Pacific Rim universe. I am absolutely obsessed with Pacific Rim, it's probably my most favorite movie! So this fic is my mash up of two of my fave things. It is xOC instead of xReader, but I hope that you enjoy it all the same. I'm one of those readers who will imagine myself as the main chacter no matter what, so this can be read as reader-insert. Anyway, enough with my rambling, enjoy the story My Lovelies! <3

“Get going, Azusa!” He says with urgency as he ushers her out of the kitchen.

“I’m not fucking going anywhere without you, Toya! I have a bad feeling about this one! Please listen to me, don’t go with Dad!” She pleads over the sounds of their younger siblings crying.

“Dammit Azusa, I have to! Dad doesn’t have another co-pilot! We’ll be fine, just go!” He borderline shouts at her as he makes his way to the door.

“Don’t go! Please, don’t go!” She cries, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the door.

“Fucking let me go! This is a job, Azusa, and I’ve been called to go do it! Go help Mom with Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Shoto!” He yells, ripping his arm out of her grasp and rushing out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“Dammit, Toya-”

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Jolting upright in her bed, chest heaving and tears wetting her face, Azusa slams the button on her alarm. Letting out a groan, she wipes at her face and tries to even out her breathing. It takes a few minutes, as it always does, but she finally manages to recover and drags herself out of bed.

“Thanks, subconscious.” She mumbles bitterly as she makes her way to the bathroom. She goes through the motions of her everyday routine; getting dressed, putting her hair up, brushing her teeth, staring at the old family vacation photo on her dresser for too long.. Numbly, she finishes lacing up her boots, then stands up ready to answer the door for the knock she knows is coming.

The predicted knock does happen and she opens the door to greet her sister, “Morning, Fuyumi.” She says as she steps out of her room, closing the door behind her and locking it.

“Good morning, Azusa! You ready for today?” Fuyumi asks her as the two make their way to the elevator.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” She says with a slight shrug as they step into the elevator.

After pressing the button for the Mess Hall, Fuyumi joins her sister in leaning against the back wall of the elevator. She bumps her shoulder against Azusa’s with a small playful smile on her face.

“It’s a big day for you, kinda thought you’d be more hyped.” She comments, her features taking on a bit of concern.

“It’s just another day, Yumi. Just another day of being one of his soldiers that he couldn’t give less of a damn about.” Azusa replies in an emotionless tone to cover up the anger burning beneath her skin.

Fuyumi lets out a heavy sigh as the elevator doors open, “He does care, Zusa… And I know that it won’t be the same without Toya there to cheer you on.. but it’s been three years. There was nothing more you could have done that day to stop him. He’s gone, you’re here, and you worked your ass off to get to this point. You deserve to feel excited about today.” She says tiredly as they walk up to the food line.

“Yeah..” Azusa responds quietly, letting the conversation fizzle out. They fill up their trays with no further conversation being made, then head for a table with open seating.

Unfortunately for both of them the only table with open seating just so happens to be next to the table that Katsuki Bakugo and his group are sitting at. Azusa rolls her eyes at the comments and praises she hears being thrown the blonde’s way as she sits down. It’s been two years since her group entered the Ranger Program and Bakugo’s arrogant personality hasn’t dimmed a bit. Not even being behind the scenes during humanity’s war against aliens has done anything to lessen his pompous attitude.

“Who do you think you’ll be Drift-compatible with, Bakugo?” Azusa hears Mina’s perky voice ask.

“I don’t think any of you extras could handle being in my head and I sure as hell don’t wanna be in any of your idiotic brains. I’m just gonna ask the Marshal to let me pilot by my damn self.” Bakugo replies with a tone full of annoyance, earning himself a few gasps of shock and a bit of laughter.

“Oh c’mon man, you know single piloting is impossible even with the tech we have now! Plus, I think we’d be Drift-compatible! We work well together and we’re both super manly!” She hears Kirishima exclaim and she lets out a small huff of laughter at the pose she knows he’s doing even without looking at him.

“I don’t need a damn co-pilot and if I am forced to have one, it better not be any of you idiots!” Bakugo bites out and Azusa rolls her eyes once again as she digs into her breakfast.

“What a jerk, Dad’s gonna be pissed if Bakugo actually puts in that request,” Fuyumi comments quietly before taking a sip of her juice.

Azusa silently nods her head in absentminded agreement as she takes another bite. Suddenly, everyone around her quiets down, their heads bowing in respect and words becoming low whispers.

“Good morning, Rangers.” Marshal Todoroki greets, his booming voice echoing throughout the Mess Hall and demanding attention.

“As many of you know, today is the day that groups A through D will be testing to find their Drift-compatibility partners, or rather, their co-pilots. All other groups will be excused from their training to witness the event, but do not mistake this as a free day. Learn something from what you witness. As for groups A through D, tests will begin at 0800. Be prepared and be on time.” He continues, his stern tone making everyone give an intimidated nod of understanding.

“Ranger Azusa Todoroki,” Marshal Todoroki calls out, causing everyone’s eyes to turn toward the girl. Azusa clenches her jaw and her eyes meet the cold blue ones of her father.

“Come to my office once you have finished breakfast. Thank you, everyone, you may carry on.” He finishes with a slight bow of his head before he and his second-in-command, Marshal Shota Aizawa, turn to leave. Noise ensues once again with the disappearance of the Marshal’s presence. Meaningless chatter and the clattering of dishware fill the room, but one voice, in particular, catches Azusa’s attention as very much intended by the voice’s owner.

“Aww, the princess get in trouble, again?” Bakugo’s taunting comment grates at Azusa’s eardrums and her grip on her chopsticks tightens.

Other than the whitening of her knuckles, she gives no reaction toward the blonde, her eyes cast down toward her food tray despite wanting to glare at Bakugo. She numbly finishes her breakfast, tells Fuyumi that she’ll see her later, then stands to clear her place. She can feel eyes on her as she takes her tray to the trash bin, but she maintains her facade of emotionless neutrality as she walks out of the Mess Hall.

“The fuck does the old man want now?” She mumbles out angrily under her breath as she steps into the elevator.

Jamming her finger against the button for the floor that the Marshal’s office is on, she lets out a long breath. Stepping back to the middle of the elevator, Azusa crosses her arms over her chest and closes her eyes. A minute or two passes and the elevator groans as it comes to a stop. She prepares herself, mentally and physically, to step out of the elevator when the doors begin to open but pauses when she comes face to face with Marshal Todoroki.

“Marshal?” She questions, bowing her head slightly, confusion flashing over her features before she settles back into her neutral state.

“We will be going down to the Shatterdome instead.” Marshal Todoroki says, his voice taking on a much different tone than earlier.

He stares at Azusa with an expectant look as he waits for her to move back so that he can step into the elevator. Azusa shakes the confusion from her mind and dutifully steps back to let the large man through the doorway. Tense silence fills the cramped-feeling space as she presses the button for the Shatterdome. The elevator groans once again as it begins descending.

“Why are we going to the Shatterdome, Sir?” Azusa asks, tone neutral and emotionless and the Marshal lets out a tired sigh.

“Azusa, please, it’s just the two of us you can call me da-”

“I stopped calling you that a long time ago, Enji. Why would I start again now? Just tell me why you wanted me to meet with you instead of letting me go get ready for my Drift-compatibility tests.” Azusa bites out, cutting off her father’s words.

Marshal Todoroki’s jaw clenches and his fists clench before the tension deflates from his body and a look of defeat fills his features, “I want to show you something.” He replies vaguely and Azusa sends him an incredulous look.

“You want to show me something?? This is ridiculous! I need to be getting ready, not dealing with your feeble attempts at earning my forgiveness ba-” Azusa’s anger gets the better of her until she cuts herself off, clamping her mouth shut as the elevator doors open.

Marshal Todoroki stays silent as they step out of the elevator, only opening his mouth to greet others. They move through the hustle and bustle of the Shatterdome, walking past Jaeger after Jaeger and all of the people working on said Jaegers. They finally stop at the far end of Bay 12, both of them turning their bodies toward the Jaeger standing tall against the wall. Azusa’s neck cranes as she looks up at the gigantic robot, a tidal wave of emotions flooding her as she takes it in.

“Bravo Inferno,” Azusa whispers out, tears building up on her lash lines and the Marshal quietly nods from beside her. “The day Toya died.. I thought she was too destroyed to salvage, I mean, you barely came back in one piece.. H-how is she here?” She asks, her voice thick with emotion and tears slipping down her face.

“It took the repair techs a long time, but they were able to put her back together. In fact, she’s better than she was before.. on the inside, that is. I made sure the outside was redone to look the same as when she first came out of production.” Marshal Todoroki says quietly, his hands clasped behind his back professionally but his face full of emotions.

Azusa stares up at her brother’s old Jaeger with a mixture of awe and sadness. The blue flame-colored paint reflects the lights of the Shatterdome, giving it a pearlescent shine. Bravo Inferno’s emblem, a flaming phoenix, is stamped proudly on the left side of its chest along with the numbers from the year it was made. From head to toe, the Jaeger looks just like it had the day Azusa watched it leave the base being piloted by her brother for the last time.

“What was the point of this?” Azusa asks, coming back to her senses and remembering that she is standing with the man responsible for her brother’s death. “You piloting again or something?”

Still looking up at Bravo Inferno, the Marshal shakes his head, “No, my piloting days are long since over with. I’m passing Bravo Inferno on to you, Azusa. It’s.. it’s what Toya would have wanted had he thought the war would still be going on.” He says looking at Azusa with the ghost of a smile on his saddened face.

It takes a moment for Azusa to work past the lump in her throat, to straighten her back even though she wants to fall to her knees and sob. A strained “thank you” makes its way out of her mouth as she blinks away the tears in her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Azusa cracks her knuckles before crossing her arms and waiting for the tests to begin. She and the other Rangers who will be testing today are gathered around the training mats, most idly chatting as they wait for Marshal Todoroki and Marshal Aizawa. She does a quick glance around and sees some of the other Rangers stretching, so she follows suit.

“Hey, Azusa!” Someone calls out excitedly right as Azusa hears footsteps approaching her. Turning her head, she catches sight of Tetsutetsu and Kendo making their way toward her. She sends them a small smile and waves, Tetsutetsu’s bright smile making her want to put on sunglasses.

“Hey guys,” she says when the two get up to her, narrowly dodging Tetsutetsu when he tries to engulf her in a hug.

“You nervous?” Kendo asks when the three of them fall back into warm-up stretches.

“Nope. I just hope that I get a good co-pilot.” Azusa answers simply as she leans further into a leg lunge.

“How are you not nervous?? Literally, everyone will be watching; Rangers, Rangers-in-training, Marshal Aizawa, Marshal Todoroki.. You’re seriously not nervous about your dad watching the tests??” Tetsutetsu rambles out before he is whacked upside the head by Kendo.

“Dude, shut up!” Kendo reprimands and Azusa huffs out a laugh.

“No, I’m not nervous. I don’t care who’s watching.” Azusa says with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Attention, Rangers!” Marshal Aizawa’s stern voice calls out and everyone stands at attention.

“At ease,” Marshal Todoroki calls out next as he steps up next to Marshal Aizawa. Everyone relaxes but keeps their full attention on the two men at the front of the room.

“We’ll go over a brief explanation of how the tests will work, then we’ll get started.” Marshal Aizawa starts as the bleachers along the walls of the room begin filling with the other groups of Rangers-in-training that aren’t testing.

“The tests will work like this; one-on-one melee combat with bo staffs. You all have been broken up into smaller groups based on your results from previous Drift simulations and screenings. These one-on-ones will help better identify who exactly you work well with. Remember Rangers, these are dialogues, not fights. The goal is to find a co-pilot that keeps up with your moves and keeps the scores even. Should one of you outright win a match then we’ll know that person is not a match for you. The cementing stage of this test will occur at a later date when you and your co-pilot are assigned a Jaeger and go through your first real Drift together.” Marshal Aizawa explains in his normal serious yet tired tone.

“Rangers Bakugo, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, Todoroki, Kendo, and Hado, grab your bo staffs then step onto the mat. Each of you will have one match with each other then Marshal Todoroki and I will review your scores later. Your co-pilots will be announced tomorrow if we get through everyone’s tests today. Marshal Todoroki, if you would choose the starting pairings, please,” Marshal Aizawa says and Marshal Todoroki scans over the six Rangers lined up in front of him.

“Kendo with Bakugo, Tetsutetsu with Hado, and Kirishima with Todoroki.” Marshal Todoroki says, tone firm as always and his gaze already full of judgment.

“Rangers spread out across the mat with your respective opponent and assume position. You will begin when I say so.” Marshal Aizawa commands and the Rangers listen accordingly.

Once they’ve reached a space far enough away from the other pairs, Azusa faces Kirishima with her bo staff positioned diagonally in front of her. She takes in a deep breath, steadying the few nerves that have crept into her system, and bends her knees slightly ready to move to either defend or attack. Kirishima does the same, winking at her when their eyes meet with a playful smirk on his face.

“Rangers begin,” Marshal Aizawa commands, and the pairs begin their matches.

The match between Bakugo and Kendo ends quickly with the score being; Bakugou 4 and Kendo 1. That’s not to say that Kendo didn’t try her best to keep up with Bakugou, it’s just that the blonde was relentless. Despite them all being told that the matches were supposed to flow like dialogues and not fights, it’s just like Katsuki Bakugo to do his own thing. Tetsutetsu and Hado’s match ended a bit better with their scores being; Hado 4 and Tetsutetsu 2. In both of their typical fashions, they shook hands at the end of the match, both of them wearing confident smiles.

Kirishima and Azusa started out neck and neck, but that changed quickly when Azusa got the upper hand. Their match ended with the scores being; Azusa 4 and Kirishima 2. Azusa helped Kirishima up after her final time taking him down and wished him good luck on his next match. Kirishima, being the ever-bright ray of sunshine that he is, smiled warmly at her and thanked her for a good match.

The next three rounds of matches seemed to fly by while simultaneously feeling dragged out. Azusa had won by 1 point against both Hado and Kendo, which made her feel pretty good about ending up being co-pilots with either of them. She, unfortunately, lost by 2 points against Tetsutetsu and she was a little disappointed by the fact that one of her two best friends wasn’t a very good match for her to be co-pilots with. At the end of their, match Tetsutetsu gave her an encouraging smile and told her that he would have been honored to be co-pilots with her.

“Time for the final matches for the first six Rangers. The pairings will be as follows; Hado with Kendo, Tetsutetsu with Kirishima, and Bakugo with Todoroki. Get ready, Rangers.” Marshal Aizawa calls out, and Azusa’s entire being fills with dread.

“Prepared to lose, Princess?” Bakugo goads arrogantly as the two get into position and Azusa’s blood boils a bit.

Marshal Aizawa tells them to begin and Bakugo doesn’t hesitate to make the first move. Azusa blocks his bo staff a couple of times but ultimately Bakugo lands a hit to her shoulder.

“1-0.” Bakugo comments with a cocky smirk.

Not wasting another moment, Azusa swings her bo staff knocking the blonde’s bo staff away and rushing him. With quick movements, she brings her bo staff up, then swings it down, stopping it only inches from his face.

“1-1.” She says quietly, challenging him with her eyes while her face remains neutral.

They go back and forth for what feels like hours, both of them having stopped keeping track of the score after they hit 2-2. Both of them panting and sweating, their match continues on and on until a booming voice pierces the bubble they seem to be in.

“That’s enough! Bakugo, Todoroki, your match is over. Put your bo staffs away and get on the sidelines.” Marshal Todoroki sternly tells the two and Bakugo releases Azusa from the hold he had her in.

The blonde stands and walks off to put his bo staff away, not bothering to offer Azusa help. The two don’t even look at each other once they’re both situated on the sidelines of the training mat, standing as far away from each other as possible. Kendo and Tetsutetsu both send Azusa twin looks of surprise mixed with heavy confusion, but she chooses to ignore them in favor of watching the next group of matches.

Note ~ I know that there may not be much to go off of but let me know what you think so far! Should I post chapter/part 2 sooner than planned? Idk, I'm just loving how the story is turning out and wanted to share it with yall! I love and appreciate you, Lovelies! <3

Ps, @tr-mha-fan I'm doing my best to work on your (second) request, I promise that I didn't ignore your ask, Lovely! <3

#bakugo brain rot #bakugo katuski #bnha bakugou #mha bakugo katsuki #mha bakugou #bnha #bakugou katsuki x oc #bakugou x reader #reader insert #mha fanfiction #mha #katsuki bakugou #katsuki bakugo mha #bakugo

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midnightshard06 · 3 months

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The Bound By Fate au brain rot continues. I bring you something written this time. An expanded version of one of my flufftober prompts from the au. This one in particular, so that whole fic is within this one just some things mildly changed with the new context. There's still plenty of new stuff here though lol. I will likely eventually put this up on ao3 but it's just gonna be here for now.

Summary: Sonic meets Tails for the first time after the fox saves his life. Upon Sonic's return after their initial meeting to where Tails lives he realizes that the town has been taken over by a group of thugs and decides to do something about it.

Warnings: Mild blood and injury (not described in detail)

Word Count: 4747 words

Sonic moved as slowly and quietly through the maze like canyons as he could. He knew there were people on his trail and any wrong move could give away his location. It was dark, so at the very least he’d be able to see any lights approaching. His ears perked up as he heard the crunching of rock from not too far away. Pausing he scanned the area; entire body tensing in preparation to run. Honestly he really should have been more careful, something like this hadn't happened in a long time. Though he should have known that when he saw that group of hunters during the day that he should have just skipped town. Tired or not.

Once he was satisfied that there was nothing immediately near him he kept moving. If he was lucky they’d lose interest. Though he’d also just take keeping away from them all night at this point. Even if he’d be exhausted come morning he’d still be able to get away. Though keeping away from them was easier said than done. This was a decently large group and well organized he’d give it that. Their leader, an overzealous jackal who called himself Infinite, had proven to be pretty skilled. Sonic had managed to convince the jackal to spar with him during the day so he could get a feel for Infinite’s skill level. It had been closer than Sonic was expecting, but he hadn’t been in danger of losing. The massive downside to that fight though had been Infinite trying to recruit him all day until he’d left to prepare for a hunt with the rest of his group.

What was a group like that doing in a more populated place like this anyway? As far as he’d learned those that believed in “monsters” and actively seeked them out tended to stick to small towns. They always thought they’d have a better chance at finding something that way. Not that Sonic even really knew what these people were going after in the first place. They’d been established long before he was born and he’d never seen anything else like him.

Another nearby sound had him freezing. His ears swiveled around to try and figure out the source of the noise. It was hard to tell because of how the sound bounced off the canyon walls. As he concentrated though he realized that there was sound coming from multiple directions. His heart sank. They’d caught up.

“You’re quite slippery, but we won’t let you get away that easily.” Infinite emerged from the darkness. He was hard to see due to his black fur, but the glint of a metal sword by his side was unmistakable. “Now you stand no chance of escape and we’ll finally be able to prove to the world our worth.” Sonic’s eyes darted around as the other jackals that made up the group made themselves known. He was surrounded. It was starting to look like his only way out of this would be to fight them. While he didn’t really want to hurt them he also wasn’t just going to lay down and die. “Now!” Infinite shouted before the whole group jumped forward to attack Sonic.

At first he did his best to avoid their strikes and keep an eye out for an opening to escape, but it quickly became clear that the strategy wasn’t going to cut it. By the time he first struck one of the jackals away from him, doing his best to avoid digging his claws into them, he already had a collection of cuts across his body. From there instincts kicked in and everything became a blur. For those moments, however long they were, his world became fight or be killed. By the time all but their leader were knocked out on the ground Sonic was panting heavily. Blood sluggishly dripped from the many cuts and gashes the hunter group had managed to inflict on him. As he stared down Infinite he could barely keep himself from toppling over. Although it was hard to tell in the darkness he’d be willing to bet he’d lost a lot of blood.

Infinite narrowed mismatched eyes at him. “You’ll pay for doing this to them.” He bared his teeth. Sonic couldn’t help but mentally quip back that the jackal had started this but he felt far too tired to say anything out loud. All he could do as the jackal charged him was raise his arms in a lackluster defense. Though much to his surprise Infinite suddenly stopped, pain twisting his face before he collapsed right in front of Sonic. Sonic blinked slowly in confusion before trying to look in the direction Infinite had been coming from. He could only make out a vague silhouette of what he thought was a fox before he felt himself collapsing.

Sonic slowly peeled his eyes open. He felt tired and sort of sore. Where was he? He carefully pushed the blanket that had been draped over him aside. Clearly it was daytime due to him currently not being a werehog. Now his biggest question was, where was he? The room he was in didn't look lived in really. There wasn't much in the way of personal items but he could tell that someone did in fact live here. The scent of someone else was all the proof he needed for that. There were some bandages wrapped around most of his body so he’d be willing to bet that whoever did live here didn’t want him dead. Why waste the time to patch someone up if you were just going to kill them? Of course he felt like he was already mostly healed up, but he’d leave the bandages on for now. Might be weird if he didn’t. Deciding he wasn’t going to figure out anything by staying in the room he opened the door and poked his head out. His ears swiveled around trying to pick up any noise but he couldn’t hear anything. He frowned. Was whoever lived here out? That seemed irresponsable. He decided to slowly walk through the house. Maybe they were just somewhere he couldn’t hear them. He paused. Wait, why was he even here? He couldn’t really remember much from last night but surely something must have happened. Did whoever this was see him in his werehog form? Shaking his head he decided to worry about that later. If this was going to become a problem he could easily run off. They probably wouldn’t be expecting him to be able to move around so soon. It was a nice little house he had to admit, and pretty neat too. If he had some permanent place he stayed he doubted it would stay this clean. Suddenly he heard a noise and he spun around to where it came from. A young looking fox stared back at him, clearly surprised to see him. “You’re up already?” The fox asked. “Uuuuh yeah?” Sonic answered. The two stared at each other in awkward silence for a bit. Sonic knew if he started talking it would just be a flood of questions. “Do you… need anything? Water maybe?” The fox nervously messed with his gloves. Sonic just nodded and gave the kid a shaky smile. Where were his parents? Why would anyone leave their kid alone, especially with a stranger? “Sooo I have to ask, where am I?” Sonic asked after the fox came back with a glass of water. “My house. I brought you back here after I knocked out that guy who was after you last night.” The fox looked down.

Sonic briefly choked on the water he was sipping. “U-uh last night? Like actually at night?” He gripped the cup tightly and had to mentally make sure to not use enough pressure to break it.

“Yeah?” The fox seemed confused for a moment before understanding passed over his face. “Oh! I uh did see your other form, but don’t worry!” He waved his hands in front of him. “I don’t mind, and I’m not going to tell anyone!”

Sonic supposed that was probably the truth. If he was scared of Sonic he wouldn’t be here right now. He relaxed his grip and nodded. “Right, ok. Cool.” He sighed and tried to remember what had happened. It started to come back slowly. Being chased by that monster hunting group that had shown up not long after he’d transformed. Getting cornered in the unfamiliar landscape. Not wanting to hurt them even as they attacked him. Then the same fox that was standing in front of him now somehow knocking out Infinite before he could finish Sonic off. “Thank you.” Sonic supposed that was the bare minimum he owed the fox for saving him. He held out a hand. “Name’s Sonic by the way. How did you even know I was in trouble?”

The fox took the offered hand. “Miles Prower, and I may have been following you.” Miles rubbed the back of his head guiltily.

“So you… saw me transform?” Sonic wasn’t really mad he found, just curious.

“I did.” Miles nodded. “I saw you earlier when you came into town and you seemed so nice and cool. I don’t know…” He kicked the ground. “I just wanted to know what you were doing I guess.”

“Fair enough.” Sonic shrugged. “I feel like if I was in your shoes I’d do the same.”

“You’re not mad?” Miles looked up in surprise.

“Why would I be? You saved me dude! How could I be mad at the guy who saved me?” Sonic grinned. Shyly, Miles returned the grin. Before Sonic could ask something else he noticed something about Miles he hadn’t before. The fox had an extra tail. “Oh you have an extra tail?” Admittedly it was pretty hard to tell because of the way Miles was trying to curl the two tails together.

Sonic did not expect Miles to jump and suddenly look very, very afraid. He stood there dumbfounded for a moment, even looking behind him to see if someone or something else was there. There was nothing. He turned back to look at Miles. The fox’s eyes were still blown wide and he’d started shaking, his two tails were curled up even tighter around one another. Sonic frowned and suddenly it clicked. He immediately felt awful. Ok this was fine. He could fix this.

Slowly he put a hand on Miles’ shoulder. Predictably the fox flinched. “Hey it’s ok. I think it’s cool. The extra tail. Makes you unique.” Sonic gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Miles looked down and grabbed both his tails. “It makes me a target…”

Sonic hummed. “Well whoever’s been messing with you are just a bunch of jerks who don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Miles looked at him in shock. “B-but I’m different a freak I-” He paused as it sunk in who he was talking to.

“I know a thing or two about that Miles.” Sonic tapped him on the nose. “Take it from an expert, you're no freak. Those jerks have no idea what they’re talking about.”

Suddenly he had an armful of fox and he happily returned the sudden hug. It was an odd feeling, to not be slightly on edge around someone. It was a feeling he’d happily embrace though. No one before Miles knew about his werehog form, and the kid was fine with it. Maybe others could be too… He quickly shook that thought from his mind. He’d been gone after far too many times to entertain that for very long. “Thank you…” It was muffled but Sonic could still hear it.

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry that you don’t hear enough people say that.” Sonic rubbed Miles’ back. Eventually Miles let go and gave Sonic a shaky smile. “Hey how bout this. What if I give you a nickname?” Sonic gave Miles a wide grin.

“A nickname?” Miles tilted his head.

“Yeah! I have a feeling I’ll be sticking around a lot and while Miles iiiis a pretty cool name I have an idea for something I think would fit you.” Sonic winked. Miles nodded excitedly. “How about I call you Tails? Cause of how cool yours are.”

Tails gave him a big smile. “I love it.” “So…” Tails glanced over at Sonic who was carefully undoing the unneeded bandages. He’d stuck around for about a day, dealing with a restless night inside to avoid Infinite and his group, but he was eager to get away from here even if he was hesitant to leave Tails alone. Sure he’d just met the kid but Sonic hadn’t met anyone else who he felt completely at ease with before. It wasn’t something he was keen to give up too quick. “How long are you going to be here for?”

Sonic hummed. “Not too sure. I should probably stick around at least one more day to make sure everything’s healed up ok.” He inspected his arm after successfully removing the bloody bandages. He tried to not think about just how close things had been as he ran his other hand along the fur of his arm. Good news was his arm seemed more or less fine. Not even scars to indicate where one of the jackals’ swords had sliced him.

“O-oh right.” Tails grabbed his arm and looked away. “Guess it makes sense that you want to get out of here as soon as you can.”

Sonic put his arm down and frowned as he took in the sad look on the fox’s face. “Hey, buddy. Look at me.” Sonic said gently. Hesitantly Tails looked over at him, hunching in on himself. Sonic’s heart twisted painfully at the sight of the distressed fox. There was no way he could leave the kid feeling like this. He knew all too well what it was like to be alone. How could he in good conscience leave Tails feeling the same way? He opened his arms in silent invitation and it was quickly accepted. It was odd that even after only really knowing the fox for a day he felt protective of him. It felt like they’d known each other much longer. “I’ll come back ok? I promise.” Here he was breaking one of his personal rules for the fox. Never come back to somewhere that people had seen the werehog.

“Really?” Tails’ voice was muffled and soft, but Sonic managed to barely hear it.

“Yeah.” Sonic ruffled the fur on the top of Tails’ head. Tails laughed weakly and pulled himself away from Sonic.

Tails seemed to search his face for a moment before nodding. “Alright. I believe you.” He wrung his hands. “Don’t be gone too long ok?”

Sonic gave him a soft smile. “I’ll be back before you know it buddy.” Sonic grinned as he caught sight of Tails’ town in the distance. It had been a couple months since he’d first met the fox and in that time he’d finally managed to shake off the apprehension he felt coming back here. It would be good to see him again; see what the fox had been up to. As he sped towards the town he did subconsciously avoid the canyon he’d been caught in before. He also happened to notice something was wrong. As he slowed down and started to walk into town he noticed that everyone seemed to be off the streets. The town looked practically abandoned. He would have thought that too if he couldn’t pick up the occasional noise of someone moving in one of the buildings.

Suddenly a pang of panic shot through him. Was Tails ok? With no more hesitation he made his way towards the fox’s house. As he expected, the door was locked. Thankfully Tails had been insistent on giving him a key before he left the first time. Sonic felt that the move was maybe a bit irresponsible on the fox’s part, him and Sonic had only known each other for a few days after all, but it would come in handy now. After fishing the key out of one of the bags around his belt he quickly unlocked the door and opened it. Before he could turn around to close and relock it he heard the sound of some sort of mechanism releasing and felt something wrap tightly around his legs. Unable to keep his balance he fell to the floor in a daze.

“Take that you…” Tails popped out from behind some sort of barrier Sonic hadn’t noticed before. His slightly defiant expression faded as soon as he realized it was Sonic. “Sonic!” He scrambled over the makeshift barrier before hastily untying Sonic’s legs. Tails glanced around before closing the door and relocking it. “What are you doing here?” Tails asked as he helped Sonic up. “Not that I'm not happy to see you!” Tails hastily added. “I uh, sort of thought you weren’t going to come back… but you’re here now!” He grinned.

“I was coming back to visit you. Like I promised.” Sonic shook himself out. He’d file away the information that Tails didn’t think he was coming back to address later. For now he needed to figure out what was going on. “What happened here?”

“A couple of skunks came here a few days ago and started acting like they owned the place. They started taking anything they wanted and were forcing people to do things for them.” Tails gently guided Sonic around to the back of his barrier. “Most of us just blocked ourselves in to hopefully avoid them though sometimes them or some of the others they brought with them have been breaking into people’s houses.”

Sonic hummed. “No one here to stop them? Not even… Infinite and his group?” He cringed as he suggested the very group that had hunted him down and nearly killed him the last time he was here. Surely though they’d have been able to handle some rouge group of petty thieves that had rolled into town. Something told Sonic that Infinite wouldn’t like some other group encroaching on his turf, even if they weren’t another hunter group.

“They’ve been gone for a while now, looking for you I think.” Tails frowned.

Well that was… not great news. He’d have to be extra careful to avoid the group when he came back to visit Tails. “Alright.” Sonic nodded as he started to quickly stretch. “Guess I’ll just have to take care of them myself.”

Tails’ eyes widened in panic. “You can’t fight them on your own! There’s way too many of them.”

Sonic shot him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about me. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with guys like them. Probably won’t be the last either. Just point me in the right direction and this’ll all be over in no time.”

Tails frowned and looked down. Sonic thought for a moment that maybe the fox wasn’t going to tell him before Tails sighed and gave him a determined look. “I’m going with you.” There wasn’t any room for argument in his tone.

Well it could be helpful to have someone watching his back… even if he didn’t love the idea of putting the fox in harm’s way. Though he was pretty sure there was no way he could convince Tails to stay here. Instead he grinned and nodded. “Alright. Just do your best to keep up.” “Is this all you’ve got?” Sonic smirked triumphantly as he quickly spin dashed into the last of what he was calling the lower level thugs. “Geez you guys are really all talk huh?” He crossed his arms.

Tails crawled out from behind the crate he’d been hiding behind and looked around in awe. “That was amazing!” He looked at Sonic with pure admiration and he almost couldn’t handle a look like that being aimed at him. It was so different to what he was used to.

Instead of letting the fox pick up on that though Sonic just chuckled. “Well of course. I just so happen to be the coolest guy around. Now then. Let’s go have a chat with the people on top shall we?” Sonic cracked his knuckles as he turned to the door.

Tails hummed as he looked at the door. “I have an idea actually.” He pulled the backpack he’d grabbed before they left off his back and started looking through it. “If you can lead those two out here… then the fight should be over before it can really start.” Tails pulled… something out of his bag that Sonic had no idea what it was. He trusted his friend though.

“You got it. How long do you need to do whatever you’re doing?” Sonic gave him a thumbs up and decided not to comment on the way Tails relaxed as he agreed.

The fox glanced around the room they were in, picking up a nearby piece of rope. “Five minutes.” He said after a moment.

“Heh. Easy.” Sonic nodded before kicking down the door that led to the two that started all this. The two skunks that were in the room looked surprised for a moment before both looking annoyed.

“Just who the heck do you think you are!?” The smaller one yelled.

“Who me?” Sonic rose a brow and put a hand on his chest. “Oh you know just someone who’s passing through.

“Then you can keep passin through right back out that door before we make you.” The larger skunk threatened.

Sonic gave the duo an assessing look. They looked capable enough but he was pretty confident that even if Tails didn’t have a plan he could take down these two. Plus they were making it real easy to stall for those five minutes Tails needed. “No, I don’t think I’ll be the one going anywhere.” Sonic grinned and crossed his arms. “I’ll give you two one chance to pack up and leave on your own though.”

“Alright that’s it.” The smaller skunk growled. “Get ready for a beatdown.”

“You better be humble.” The other chimed in.

“There’s no way you’re gonna beat-” The first chimed in again. What was happening?

“Rough and Tumble!” The two finished together.

The two struck a pose and Sonic stared in stunned silence for a moment. Then he couldn’t hold back his laughter at the whole scene. As he held up a hand while he tried to get himself under control the two looked offended. “Sorry sorry.” Sonic chuckled as his laughter died down. “I have to know. How often do you two do that?”

Instead of answering him the two rushed at him. Well if Sonic had been keeping track of time well enough then Tails should be good to go. As the two recklessly charged at him he quickly sidestepped out of the way and watched as the two crashed into the other room. The moment they were in there multiple ropes and nets shot from various parts of the room and practically cocooned the duo of skunks. Sonic poked his head in to make sure everything was good and smiled as Tails emerged and gave him a thumbs up. “Got them.”

“Sure did buddy.” Sonic walked over to Tails and held his hand out for a fist bump. Tails happily returned the gesture. “Great work.” He looked over at Rough and Tumble. The two were trying in vain to escape. “Now we just have to deal with these two…” Tails stuck close to his side as local law enforcement led the defeated thugs away. Sonic knew that the two of them were attracting a lot of attention from the townsfolk who had slowly been wandering out of their houses to see what was going on. He really didn’t like the looks some of them were giving Tails, and the fact that the bit of confidence that the fox had been showing while helping was completely gone had Sonic about ready to snap.

“I would like to sincerely thank you for your help sir.” One of the officers, a cat, came over and gave Sonic a thankful nod. His eyes lingered on Tails far too long for Sonic’s liking.

He frowned as he placed a gentle hand on Tails’ head. “Miles here helped too. I couldn’t have done it without him or his inventions.” He could feel Tails’ head turn to look up at him, probably in disbelief.

The cat blinked in surprise. “You don’t need to lie-”

Sonic held up his free hand, frown deepening. “I’m not. His help was invaluable and I want to make sure everyone here knows he’s just as responsible for saving the town as I am.” There were a lot of murmurs as the townsfolk all started to talk to each other in hushed voices. What things Sonic could make out he didn’t like.

The cat tried to regain his composure. “I’m sure you would have been fine without the mons-”

Sonic swiftly laid a hand on the officer’s shoulder. It was light, but he knew his look was intimidating regardless. He didn’t get mad often, but people had described it as pretty scary when he did. “Don’t you dare finish that.” Sonic narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. The officer shakily nodded before Sonic let him go. He turned to scan the crowd that had formed; careful to keep his angry gaze off of Tails. “I need all of you to understand something really basic. Take it from the guy who just helped save your town. Just because someone is different doesn't mean they’re a mon-” He took a deep breath. “Doesn’t mean they’re a monster.” He clenched his fists. “Miles is my friend and what he can do is amazing. He’s amazing. So all of you need to stop treating him differently for something he had no choice in. People don’t ask to be born differently but they are anyway.” He pinned his ears down and let his expression soften as he walked back over to Tails. “You ok bud?” He asked quietly, ignoring the murmuring which had started back up again.

Tails gave him a shaky smile as tears gathered in his eyes. “Yeah.” He sniffled. “No one has ever stood up for me like that before.

“Well as long as I’m around there’ll be at least one.” Sonic smiled.

“Thank you Sonic.” Tails wiped away the tears before they could fall.

“No, thank you Tails.” Sonic ruffled his head. “You helped me and I’m happy to help you.”

Tails gently pulled Sonic into a hug. Once again something Sonic happily accepted. “I don’t think you’re a monster.” Tails said quietly, so quiet that if he hadn’t been so close Sonic would have never heard it. “No one that’s as nice as you can be one.”

Sonic smiled into Tails’ fur. He felt warm. The fox couldn’t know how much that simple sentence meant for Sonic to hear. Well, maybe he could. “Thank you.” He said just as quietly as Tails’ statement. “Now let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah.” Tails’ reluctantly pulled away. His smile was stronger now. “Let’s go.” Sonic perked up as he heard the door open and shut. “You back Tails?” It had been a few days since the whole Rough and Tumble thing and Sonic had been staying with Tails. With Infinite and his group not here at the moment he felt way more comfortable staying around for longer. Plus he wanted to make sure he’d actually gotten through to the townsfolk with his little speech.

“Yep!” Tails happily called out before poking his head around the corner.

“Everyone nice to you?” Sonic stood up to go meet him.

“Well, not mean at least. It’s better though.” Tails rubbed the back of his head. “It’s probably going to take a bit of time for things to improve even more.”

Sonic hummed but nodded in satisfaction. “Good enough for now. You just let me know if I need to set them straight ok bud?”

“I will Sonic.” Tails nodded although Sonic was fairly convinced that Tails probably wouldn’t say anything to him. He’d have to work on that. For now he wanted to enjoy some peace with his friend.

“Good. Now wanna play some games?” Sonic smiled and the way Tails’ face lit up was all the answer he needed. Oh yeah, he was so glad Tails had found him that night.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fandom #sonic au #miles tails prower #sonic the werehog #fanfic #Bound by Fate AU

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softer-sunny · 9 months

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What To Expect

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Word Count: 3,395

Summary: Echo starts to learn that Crosshair has a particular brand of affection.

All the times Crosshair let Echo win at play fights and the one time Echo said something about it.

Inspired by @wormonastriing tags on this post

This is a tickle fic

The first time it happened Echo didn’t think anything of it. He was mouthing off that day, throwing around one too many of those witty remarks that always got him in trouble with Rex. Most of his squad was trying to ignore the sarcastic comments in their direction but their sniper was tossing them back just as quickly as Echo could think them up. Crosshair had always had a quick tongue so he knew they’d get along like a house on fire, especially when Echo was in one of these moods. They weren’t arguing, no, it was more bantering and amping each other up, and it made Hunter roll his eyes at them. Echo had thrown one too many comments at Crosshair and the sniper had retaliated just… not in the way he expected. He didn’t expect to crumble to the floor after one experimental poke to his midsection nor did he expect Crosshair to follow him and keep going! It was light, easy to handle, but the sensation was so new after having spent so long with no physical contact that he was laughing and squirming from just getting poked every so often.

“Crosshahahahair!” The sniper smiled down at him and traced a line up his side, instigating another round of light giggles to fall out of his mouth.

“I didn’t expect you to be so sensitive.” Echo tried for a glare but the fingers tracing his sides wiggled into him then and he barked a laugh at the change in sensation. He should’ve been expecting stuff like this to happen eventually. His new squad was tactile in the way most tight knit groups were, and certainly just as close as Echo had been to his batch mates. It was only a matter of time before that affection spread to him too, he just hadn’t expected it from Crosshair of all people. Echo could feel how tentative Crosshair’s touch was. There was a hesitation in it, probably so Echo could put a stop to it if he really wasn’t alright with this kind of physical touch, but every poke was still forcing him to squirm like mad and Crosshair’s grin had grown too big for Echo to expect mercy any time soon.

“Aw, hey! I didn’t know you were ticklish, Echo! Should’ve told us sooner.” Wrecker winked, like an asshole, posting up against the wall to smirk down at what was happening. While Echo really wanted to throw a smart remark at Wrecker he couldn’t get a word out before he was forced to try and contort away from Crosshair’s sneaky attempt to get under his arms.

“Yeah, reg, should’ve told us sooner!” Crosshair tsked mockingly. “Looks like we’ll just have to make up for lost time.”

Oh, fuck it. Echo chanced reaching his hand out, knowing exposing another spot to Crosshair would be a dangerous game to play but doing it anyway. He squeezed at Crosshair’s side and the reaction was instantaneous, the man jolting away and starting to curl in on himself. Echo took his chance then, pushing up and continuing to wiggle his fingers into Crosshair’s side. Yet another thing Echo didn’t expect was just how easy his brother was to take down. Once the sensation began it was like Crosshair didn’t have any fight in him and he sunk to lay on the floor even faster than Echo had. Even more interesting was that even when he paused to readjust Crosshair didn’t move away, just curled up a little more and… waited for it? It was then that he realized the sniper was letting him win, or at least letting him retaliate. Maybe seeing how Echo would react to the situation so he could better guess how to handle it in the future. Still, it was short lived, because Echo backed off almost as quickly as it started - still not completely sure how to handle this type of affection now. Out of pure habit Echo scruffed his hand over Cross’ hair before pulling himself up off the floor and offering a hand to his brother, who took it after a moment and let himself be pulled up onto his feet.

It was only a few days later when it happened again. Sure, maybe he was needling Crosshair a little bit that day but the man almost always deserved it and he didn’t even think it was bad enough to warrant getting pulled into another fight. Echo at least remained standing this time but found himself folding over to try and stop the hands that were now clawing at his stomach. Echo let out a laugh when Crosshair latched onto his ribs and gently wiggled his fingers in the most maddening way he could imagine. There was so little he could do to stop it in this position but he had to try or he was going to topple to the floor. Echo gently poked his scomp back at Crosshair’s middle and was rewarded with a surprised laugh and the hands immediately retreating. He wasn’t letting Crosshair off that easy though so he followed, reaching out with more confidence than last time but this time aiming for Crosshair’s ribs - somewhere he’d seen Wrecker tickle him. Somehow he got the sniper backed against a wall so it was easy to latch onto his ribs and wiggle his fingers into the spaces.

“yoU DIHIHICK!” Crosshair’s complaint only made Echo smile back at him, a lot like how Crosshair had reacted when Echo balked the first time at the attack.

“Think of this as payback for last time.” The sniper totally deserved it and Echo was almost having too much fun making his brother laugh to recognize that he wasn’t actually blocking Echo’s hand. Almost. It was a thought he filed away for a different day.

Sparring with the batch was a lot like sparring with the 501st. Their skill and experience made them formidable opponents and, since he had been out of practice for so long, he had admittedly been losing bad. He was paired up with Crosshair currently while Hunter and tech took on Wrecker at the mat next to them. The gym was basically empty except for a few other pairs honing their own skills and he was grateful more people didn’t see his back hit the mat for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He just wasn’t used to hand to hand anymore, not sure how hard or fast to move his limbs with the change in weight. It certainly wasn’t like learning as a shiny but he definitely wasn’t as confident in this skill as he was before.

“Get up.” The dry remark was punctuated by a gentle prodding at his side with Crosshair’s socked foot which Echo shied away from but still didn’t get up. Instead he threw an arm over his eyes and groaned, eliciting a sigh out of the sniper. He felt Crosshair sit down next to him, eyes watching intently for any sudden move just in case this was a fake out. “You just have to get used to it again. Then you’ll be back to kicking ass and… I don’t know… choking out droids for no reason other than you can.” Echo scoffed, a smile threatening to break onto his face even if he was determined to keep sulking. The sniper smirked at him knowingly, reaching out to scratch under Echo’s arm to try and make the smile worm its way out into the open. Echo knew it was coming, he was beginning to be able to predict things like this now after being with the squad for a while. Wrecker got bouts of energy right before lights out and it almost always ended with Echo getting dragged into a very unfair match with their biggest brother. He could always tell Hunter was about to reach for him by just a single indescribable look. The mischief behind that look was unmatched and Echo had learned to bolt if that look was aimed at him. Tech was the least likely to reach for him first but he did tend to give Echo pokes and prods every now and again, one’s that Echo had started to return. And then there was Crosshair. Crosshair, who picked fights and mouthed off too much and snuck his hands under covers so you trapped yourself under them while trying to squirm away from it. Yeah, Echo had gotten used to the affection by now and he couldn’t say that he didn’t find it fun.

Still, he had a reputation to uphold. So he pressed his lips together to stave off the reaction his brother was looking for. It just made Crosshair more determined. The sensation crawled down his side, a small noise escaping while he tried to squirm away from it, his brother just following him whenever he pulled away. Crosshair slipped his hand under the hem of his shirt to scratch at the exposed skin at his waistline, a place Echo found out was still ridiculously sensitive. His arm flew down faster than he thought it would, trapping Crosshair’s hand against his stomach but doing almost nothing to deter him from continuing. His brother reached out with his other hand but Echo was ready, hooking his arm around the man’s elbow and pulling him so he could flip them and pin Crosshair to the mat. He didn’t waste any time before scribbling his fingers right under Crosshair’s ear, the reaction so much more delightful than he expected.

The sniper’s nose scrunched up as he started to laugh, his cheeks starting to turn pink. Crosshair’s hand gripped his wrist but he didn’t do anything to pull Echo away, something that Echo had also learned to expect. At first he was sure Crosshair was just going easy on him to make sure he didn’t overdo it and to give Echo a chance to win the upper hand. Hell, they all did that every now and again even if they thought he wouldn’t notice. It was kind of them, at least, to make sure he was getting more comfortable and confident with it, but Crosshair let him win most often. Out of all of his brothers Echo found himself pulled into play fights most with Crosshair. Whether it was a wrestling match or petty squabble it usually always ended like this - with both of them laughing too hard to remember what started their “fight” to begin with.

Echo used his scomp to poke at Crosshair ribs then, and the sniper half heartedly tried to turn onto his side to defend himself. “Don’t! Dohohohon’t!” Before Echo could say anything back a towel smacked him in the side of the head, derailing his plans to give Crosshair a thorough taste of his own medicine.

Hunter pointed at them with a grin plastered across his face. “Quit messing around. It’s time to go.” Echo rolled his eyes, giving Cross’ stomach a good poke before pushing himself up off the ground and offering his hand so the sniper could pull himself up.

Another whack of a soggy toothpick hit Echo in the back of the head, making him huff in pent up frustration. It was just him and Crosshair on the ship, everyone else had went on a supply run, and the sniper was hellbent on making his life difficult. Somehow they had ended up sitting at the bunks while Echo was trying - the keyword was trying - to get a few things done before everyone got back. He clearly wasn’t giving Crosshair enough attention because the sniper had been trying to get Echo to abandon his task for the past twenty minutes and Echo was thoroughly over it.

Echo whirled around to confront him just as Crosshair threw another one, landing a good hit to Echo’s right cheek.

The defining silence that followed was so thick it could have choked them. Crosshair was staring back at Echo, wide eyed with a hand covering his mouth. It was such a clear indication that he was trying not to laugh and it only made Echo’s glare deepen.

“You have five seconds to run.” Echo gritted out. Crosshair knew that tone of voice, understood just how absolutely screwed he was, so he wasted no time. He booked it out of his chair and made a beeline for the cockpit. If he could get behind those doors and seal them before Echo could catch him then he’d just have to wait it out until the rest of the squad was back.

He wasn’t that lucky.

Echo caught him around the waist and yanked to knock the sniper off balance. They grappled with each other for a moment, Crosshair pivoted to get Echo into a headlock while Echo’s arms wound around his middle.

There were times Echo was shocked at how easy it was for his brothers to pull him into petty squabbles. Maybe he was just giving in a lot more now that he was comfortable with them, or perhaps he was just having one of those days where letting off steam was more necessary than he thought. Either way, Echo found himself huffing out a laugh when Crosshair adjusted his stance to make sure Echo could get any leverage. He should be annoyed but, dammit, he couldn’t be no matter how hard he tried.

“I’d give up now, reg. I’ve got the height advantage on you.” Crosshair teased. There was a clear smile in his voice, something that made Echo want to roll his eyes. He tried to knock them off balance but Crosshair held firm, making Echo huff in discontentment.

“Not. A. Chance.” Echo bit out through gritted teeth. He felt a chuckle rumble through Crosshair and it was far too mischievous for Echo’s liking. There was a sudden burst of sensation at his back as sneaky fingers collided with the exposed skin where Echo’s shirt had ridden up. He yelped at it and squirmed away as the tingling made its way around to his stomach, relentlessly scribbling there as laughter started to bubble out of him. He always found himself in this situation with Crosshair, goaded into a play fight and contending with the most ruthless opponent he could imagine. Well… ruthless in the way that Crosshair always found a way to turn their roughhousing into a tickle fight.

A particularly soft zip up his side made Echo jolt away, moving abruptly enough to knock the both of them over and onto the floor. Finally their holds were broken and Echo laid out on the floor of the Marauder, hand holding onto his stomach while his lungs tried to pull in some extra air. He looked over at his brother, sitting on the floor not too far away and grinning so wide his face might split.

“Looks like I won that round, reg.” Crosshair produced a toothpick seemingly from nowhere and flicked it so it perfectly smacked Echo in the nose. Echo let out a groan. He huffed, pushing himself up onto his elbows and narrowing his eyes at the sniper.

“That’s it!” Echo launched himself forward and gripped Crosshair’s ankle, yanking him forward and latching onto the first spot he could reach. With one hand on Crosshair’s knee he squeezed while he poked with his scomp at any other spot that might cause a reaction. That reaction was certainly something he was awarded.

The surprised laughter that came out of Crosshair’s mouth put an immediate smile on Echo’s face. The only thing that made it better was how Crosshair immediately curled up - allowing Echo to scoot even closer - and completely gave up on defending himself. At this point it was obvious how little the sniper was doing to keep Echo from reaching whatever spots he was aiming for - a gentle squeeze to Crosshair’s side, a good poke to his ribs, wiggling a few fingers under his arm. No matter where Echo grabbed it was always available to him and that was something Echo had grown accustomed to.

“Who’s winning now, huh?” Echo asked, aiming for Crosshair’s stomach and getting rewarded with the bright laughter kicking up in volume.

“You’re a dihihihihick!” The insult really was undercut by how big the smile on his brother’s face was and how badly he was starting to blush.

Like every other time they’d done this Echo backed off rather quickly, letting Crosshair catch his breath while lying on the floor of the Marauder. Echo sat back, crossing his legs and letting his hand card soothingly through Crosshair’s short hair. There was always the slightest hint of disappointment on Crosshair’s face when Echo stopped so soon. That coupled with the way that Crosshair tended to let him win was definitely something that Echo was dying to ask about. At first he didn’t think it was anything significant, just the sniper following everyone else’s lead and letting Echo control the amount of physical affection he could handle, but it wasn’t just that. It couldn’t be. He had noticed that Crosshair did the same things with the rest of their squad, not just him. By now he had put the pieces together but he hadn’t had the guts to actually bring it up or confirm what he knew.

He looked over at the sniper and let a small smile grow on his face. Crosshair was contently curled up next to him, eyes closed while he let Echo scratch at his scalp. The closeness was something he wouldn’t take for granted. “Ya know…” Echo waited for Crosshair’s eyes to blink open before continuing. “you don’t have to go easy on me all the time.” The pink on Crosshair’s cheeks started to turn a brighter shade of red, his body freezing like he was ready to bolt if need be. “Unless you want to lose, of course.” Echo continued to move his fingers through Cross’ hair as if he hadn’t noticed the change at all. He couldn’t resist bringing it up, especially as a blush started creeping up Crosshair’s neck. Part of the fun of having siblings was making it your job to tease them. Although he didn’t want to be too mean - partially afraid Crosshair would pull away if he got too embarrassed. “Don’t worry. I have just as much fun as you do.” Echo had to hide a grin at how Crosshair sputtered at the comment but didn’t say anything to defend himself, only tucking in a bit closer to Echo’s thigh to hide his face.

… maybe Echo could be a little bit mean.

He let his fingers travel over to Crosshair’s neck to force the sniper to scrunch up a bit then traced the outline of Crosshair’s ear as lightly as he could. Honest giggles started to pour out of Crosshair’s mouth then, the man shaking his head a bit to try and get the sensation to lessen even a bit. He was still trying to keep still so Echo could keep tickling him, the facade barely concealing anything now that Echo had caught on.

“I’m-“ Crosshair tried to protest but yelped when Echo’s fingers slipped to his neck again, lightly tracing patterns over the skin. The sniper was able to handle it for only a moment longer and eventually turned onto his back to dislodge Echo’s fingers from his neck. Another important Crosshair lesson: when he finally does give in and move away from affection it is best to let him. He put on his best reassuring look to try and make sure his brother knew his teasing was not malicious. It must have worked because Crosshair huffed and lightly smacked Echo’s knee in retaliation. “You are the worst.”

Echo hummed but let him get away with downplaying it, smiling knowingly down at his brother who was still laid out on the floor. He wanted to open his mouth again, get a few more teasing remarks in, but the door to the Marauder slid open to reveal their remaining squad members who were finally back from their supply run. The distraction gave Crosshair enough time to roll up off of the floor and escape the incoming much too honest conversation Echo was trying to have. Oh well. Knowing Crosshair he would only have to wait a day or two before being pulled into another play fight he was sure to win. By now he certainly knew what to expect.

#bad batch tickle #the b//d b//tch #the bad batch #star wars tickle #tbb echo #tbb crosshair #the bad batch fanfiction

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lu-dao-writes · 4 months

Text

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬

૮꒰ྀི∩ ∩ྀི꒱ა ꒰ྀི 𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨 The foxes meet a dragon and a family of felines.

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜(𝙨) Distressed WY, maybe slightly creepy JFM, angry YZ, angsty but it’s all okay in the end.

𝘼/𝙉 This is a repost. ꒱ྀི✿*:･

꒰ྀི 𝙂𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 A-Die = dad/father, A-Niang = mom/ mother, Shushu = a more affectionate version of uncle, Xiaoshu = means little uncle, didi = younger brother. ꒱ྀི ˗ˏˋ ꒰ Part 1 ꒱ ˎˊ˗

THE uncle and nephew duo traveled around until they found themselves in Lotus Pier in Yunmeng.

Xiǎo Xīngchén has a good grip on Wèi Yīng’s hand as they wander through the lively market. There’s been many times where little Wèi Yīng has run off and caused Xiǎo Xīngchén to age by 20 years. Honestly, he’s surprised that no silver hairs have appeared yet! But once he reminded the little black fox about the possible dangers it usually straightened him up…

Until something caught his attention again

(；´∀｀)…

While Xiǎo Xīngchén was looking at the local produce and listening to the sellers give their best pitch, Wèi Yīng spotted a toy stand several stalls down and was instantly enraptured, letting go of his uncle’s hand and taking off.

The silver fox continues on his shopping, buying some peaches, chilies, and a head of cabbage, putting it all into his basket. “Hmm, just need a few more items and we’ll have enough and be able to stay at an inn for a few days. Are you hungry, Ā-Yīng?”

…

“Ā-Yīng?” Xiǎo Xīngchén looked to his right and lo and behold, Wèi Yīng was missing from his side, sending ice cold panic through his veins. “A-Ā-Yīng!?”

Xiǎo Xīngchén nearly snaps his neck looking around for Wèi Yīng in the crowded marketplace. He starts running around, not caring if any of his goods fall out onto the ground in his hurried search. He got stares from the locals as his voice grew louder and more frantic. Eventually he started asking people for help.

“Please have you seen a little boy with black fox ears? He’s my nephew and left my side!”

“I’m sorry, Xiao-gongzi, but I have not.”

“No, sorry.”

“I’m really sorry but I’ve seen no little fox!”

“Maybe check the toy stalls?”

‘The toy stalls! Of course!!’ But unfortunately, there was no little fox. The crowd seems to grow all of a sudden and it makes him grow nauseous and hot.

And it only gets worse when he hears the sound of barking…

When Wèi Yīng got to the toy stand he was desperately trying to grab the drum that got his attention, but he was soon shooed away by the seller.

“Aye, you little thief! Stay away from my stuff!”

The ravenette was upset that he didn’t get a chance to play or look at the toy and was going to return back to his Xiao Shushu to beg him for it when suddenly his stomach rumbled loudly, his ears twitching at the abrupt noise.

“Hungry,” he whines, rubbing his tummy while he works his nose. He knows he should return to his Xiaoshu’s side, but the sight of the candied hawthorns is too good to resist, and then the smell of steamed buns, savory meats on sticks, and soups… Wèi Yīng is practically drooling. “I need to find Xiaoshu-.”

Wèi Yīng suddenly stiffens up, the little hairs on his arms and neck lifting up as he hears the sound of barking.

“Dogs!!” he screams before running without direction, squeezing past people and sometimes knocking their stuff out of their hands. He ignores their curses and shouts, actually they don’t even register to him, only the sounds of those dreaded beasts filling his ears, along with his own heartbeat.

“NO!!” he wails as he turns the corner to a dead end, the brick wall taunting him. The barks grow closer and soon three dogs enter from where he just came, causing him to tremble harder and clutch his fluffy black tail. “NONONO!! XINGXING HELP ME!!”

He backs himself into the wall while crying and begging for his uncle to come save him. But he’s not here. He regrets leaving his Xiaoshu, because he’s told him many times to not leave his side in the first place…

As the snarling young dogs stalk closer and closer Wèi Yīng ends up closing his eyes waiting for the attack to come.

“Jasmine, Princess, Love!? Where are you!? Come back!”

The growling stops and the little fox ends up hearing their paws shuffling and he timidly opens his eyes to see them leaving him behind, presuming to return to their master.

A sob of relief leaves him, but the relief is only temporary. He’s still lost, and thus he continues his crying.

Suddenly he feels a small tap in between his ears, startling him. When the raventte looks up he sees a boy his age dressed in all white with hints of blue, his eyes a soft gold shade and looking at him with concern. There’s a ribbon around his forehead and on top of his dark head are two small horns poking out.

Wèi Yīng sniffs back snot and wipes at his eyes. “H-Hello. Do you know where my Xiaoshu is?”

The boy in white only shakes his head and Wèi Yīng’s lip starts to tremble again. The boy panics and reaches into his sleeve and pulls out a toy drum that looked identical to the one he was eying earlier. The fox brightens slightly and takes the toy, shaking it so that the beads hit the sides.

Seeing the fox calm now the boy offers his hand to him and helps him up to his feet. “Let’s find your Xiaoshu.”

The two kids make their way out of the alley and walk hand in hand down the crowded street while Wèi Yīng talks the boys' ear off.

“My name is Wèi Yīng, and I am Huli jing. I’m this many years old,” he says before showing him how old he is with his fingers. “How old are you? What’s your name? Can I touch your horns? Oh! My Xiaoshu is also young and wears white like you!”

“I’m Lán Zhàn, and I’m the same age as you-.”

“Whaa!!”

Lán Zhàn smiles a little at his obvious excitement.

“My Xiaoshu is also a Huli jing, but his ears aren't all black like mines!” he says, his free hand touching one of his ears and giggling as he felt tickled.

“Mm,” Lán Zhàn nods determinedly while holding his hand a bit tighter. He’s quite relieved he didn’t ask to touch his horns again too.

While the young fox took to calling for his uncle, the dragon was scanning the people as they walked.

“Xiaoshu!? … XingXing shushu, where are you!?”

After almost 15 minutes and no luck in finding the older fox, Lán Zhàn stops walking. “Wèi Yīng? Maybe we should ask the sect leader for help.”

“But I don’t know what he looks like… And I can barely remember his name,” he says, his ears dropping slightly while his cheeks turn red.

“Don’t worry,” Lán Zhàn says immediately. “You have me. I will get my Xiongzhang and Shufu to help too.”

Wèi Yīng follows the dragon around, his silver eyes still darting around to find his uncle. He hopes he’s okay and that he won’t be too upset with him about running off… ‘I’m still so hungry,’ he whines internally. ‘I wonder if Lán Zhàn -.’ “Oof!”

Wèi Yīng crashes into Lán Zhàn ’s back. “Why’d you stop Lán Zhàn??”

“Wèi Yīng… Is that your Xiaoshu?”

The fox looks past the dragon and from up ahead there stands his uncle who was conversing with a man dressed in purple with a purple tiger’s tail swaying gently. There’s also a boy that looks practically identical to him. The sight of his Xiaoshu brightened his spirit but soon his tail was standing on end as the three dogs from before were circling his uncle, barking, sniffing, and jumping on him.

“T-The dogs! They’re hurting my Xiaoshu!” he cries, pulling at his ears before clinging onto Lán Zhàn. “Please help save him, Lán Zhàn!”

Lán Zhàn blushes a tiny bit but gives Wèi Yīng a promising nod. The two children storm over, Wèi Yīng staying a bit behind the dragon before he shouts, “Get away from my Xiaoshu, you ugly beasts!!”

Multiple heads snap towards him and Wèi Yīng yelps as the dogs are now looking at him, but they dare not move when Lán Zhàn gives them a fierce glare with a small growl escaping him, his arm thrown out to keep the fox safely behind him, causing the dogs to cower and whimper.

“Ā-Yīng!” Xiǎo Xīngchén calls out, sprinting towards him.

“XingXing!” Wèi Yīng calls back, running out from behind Lán Zhàn and straight into his uncle's warm embrace.

“Ā-Yīng I’m so glad you’re safe!” Xiǎo Xīngchén murmurs before pulling back to look at him sternly. “But don’t you ever run off from my side again, you understand? I could have lost you, Ā-Yīng.. My only family left…”

Wèi Yīng sniffles and gripes his robes tighter. “I’m sorry XingXing, the toys and food distracted me,” he explains before pointing an accusing finger at the dogs that stood by the man and child. “And then those dogs scared me!”

The boy looks offended, his cheeks puffing up while his arms are crossed.

“That’s why I tell you to stay close to me, Ā-Yīng, that way I can keep you safe,” Xiǎo Xīngchén explains while rubbing his back.

The man in purple and black slowly makes his way towards them and the boy, assuming is the man’s son, stays behind to tend to his dogs. The man is solely focused on him and the small fox doesn’t understand why, and it makes him cling to his Xiaoshu a bit more, putting his head under his chin.

Xiǎo Xīngchén was about to speak when he feels a small tug on his sleeve. At his feet is the child he briefly saw with his nephew.

��I found him and kept him safe,” Lán Zhàn says softly with a stoic face. The older fox smiles at him and bows as best as he can with his nephew in his arms.

“Thank you, Second young master Lán. We are in your debt.”

“Yeah, thank you Lán Zhàn! You’re my hero!! Oh! Here’s your toy!”

The golden eyed boy looks at the toy before looking at Wèi Yīng. “Keep it.”

“Wahh?! Thank you Lán Zhàn!” he cheers before pouting. “But I don’t have anything to give you…”

Before Lán Zhàn can tell him, he doesn’t need anything in return, Wèi Yīng seems to already get an idea.

“Aha! Gimme a second!”

Although the Lán boy was confused, Xiǎo Xīngchén knew immediately what he was planning. “Ah, ah, Ā-Yīng! You can’t just give your orb away.”

At that Wèi Yīng’s black ears drop and his tail stops wagging. “Aww…! Sorry that I can’t give you anything, Lán Zhàn…”

“Don’t need anything,” he whispers, his cheeks red.

“Didi!”

In the direction the two children came from there’s another boy almost identical to Lán Zhàn but just a little older. He’s waving his hand in the air to signal his attention and Lán Zhàn reluctantly states, “I have to go…”

“Bye bye, Lán Zhàn! I won't forget you!”

Lán Zhàn smiles again at this, a twinkle of hope in his golden eyes. “I won’t forget you either.”

Multiple pairs of eyes watch as the Lán boy returns to his older brother and they watch until they’re out of sight, disappearing almost like ghosts.

“Excuse me, Xiao-gongzi,” sect leader Jiang says, behind them. “Let me take you to our home and get you some food.”

Before the silver fox could politely decline the offer, Wèi Yīng is already speaking. “Food! Food!! Xiao Shushu I’m hungry!”

It’s impossible to say no now, especially since they were both pretty hungry…

“Well, If you don’t mind… We promise to not make trouble.”

Sect leader Jiang smiles more, his eyes almost twinkling as he gets what he wants. “I offered so we will not mind. Come.”

He turns to the boy next. “Ā-yín? Go on ahead of us and let your Ā-Niáng know we’re having guests. Make sure your dogs are put away as well.”

The boy with the tiger ears pouts a little. “Yes Ā-Diē…”

Xiǎo Xīngchén goes to grab the basket he had previously, but Jiang Fengmain swoops down and grabs it for him, smiling still.

The walk to the sect leader’s home is mostly quiet with Wèi Yīng having dozed off on Xiǎo Xīngchén’s shoulder due to the soft head massage he was given. Xiǎo Xīngchén also did not miss the way the sect leader would often gaze at Ā-Yīng with a soft look in eyes. It was nice, but… Something in his gaze made him uncomfortable.

Xiǎo Xīngchén knew that Jiang Fengmain had strong feelings for his sister and was sworn brothers with his brother-in-law, and Wèi Yīng is a perfect mix of them. He looks almost identical to his father and has his mother’s mischievous personality. The older fox is sure that he’ll try to pull something…

Finally, they arrive and at the stairs stands a beautiful woman with a stern expression, dressed in purple and magenta and a young girl at her side looking much like her mother but with a softer and kinder face. The boy from before was also there, his arms crossed.

Xiǎo Xīngchén gently wakes up Wèi Yīng from his brief nap. “Ā-Yīng… Ā-Yīng we’re here.”

The little black fox child blinks awake before letting out a big yawn, his limbs stretching and pushing his uncle’s head slightly in the process. “XingXing, we are here?”

Jiāng Fēngmián parts from the silver fox’s side after giving Wèi Yīng an adoring smile, approaching his wife.

“Yes, Ā-Yīng. Let’s greet the sect leader’s family. Remember what I taught you?”

“Uh… Yes!?”

The black and white eared fox chuckles softly as he sets Wèi Yīng down. He wasn’t worried about him getting scolded since he’s only a young child after all.

“My lady, this is Xiǎo Xīngchén and his nephew—.”

“Greetings to the sect leader and his family! My name is Wèi Yīng, but you can call me Ā-Yīng!” blurts the young fox as he gives a clumsy bow, his tail wagging rapidly.

“Aiyah, Ā-Yīng…,” Xiǎo Xīngchén sweats, smiling a closed eyed smile before looking at the family of tigers. “My apologies, sect leader—.”

“Did he just say Wèi Yīng? Wèi as in Wèi Chángzé?” Yú Zǐyuān inquires sharply, causing everyone (minus Wèi Yīng) to tense, especially as her ring sparks a few times.

Xiǎo Xīngchén purses his lips, not liking the tone she used. Wèi Chángzé was his Jiejie's husband and Ā-Yīng’s father. Wèi Chángzé was a good man, and the older fox wasn’t going to let anyone slander him or his Jiejie.

“That’s my Ā-Diē!!” Wèi Yīng says proudly.

“As Ā-Yīng stated, Wèi Chángzé and Cángsè Sànrén are his parents,” Xiǎo Xīngchén explains gently, giving her a slight pointed look.

But the leopardess’ lips curl into a sneer, casting a flaming look at her husband. “Of course, you took the chance to take them. You’ll always favor them, especially her, over your own flesh and blood and wife!” she spits. She then gives the two foxes a hateful look before she gives a longer one at the younger of the two, making him whimper and step back.

Xiǎo Xīngchén swiftly steps in front of the little fox and flares back at the purple dressed woman.

“Be angry at your husband for whatever reason but leave Ā-Yīng and his parents out of it. They have done nothing but live their lives, Jiāng-fu'ren. Please understand that.”

The purple leopardess stares with brief surprise before it turns back into ice, swiftly turning away with a huff and making her dramatic exit. The boy, Jiāng Wǎnyín, follows after her, calling to her.

The girl only remains, looking embarrassed and apologetic. And all the while the sect leader stands with his mouth agape watching his wife’s back before turning to face the two foxes, but before he can speak, Xiǎo Xīngchén interrupts.

“I think it’s best if we go. It’s very clear that we are unwanted.”

“X-Xiǎo Xīngchén please! I do apologize for my lady’s rudeness. Please stay and have something to eat since you came all this way!”

Unfortunately, he had a point…

“Fine,” he sighs, his ears twitching with frustration. “But we will not eat with Jiāng-fu'ren.”

“That is fine,” Jiāng Fēngmián replies instantly.

The older fox takes Wèi Yīng’s hand and whispers some encouragement to him. But what actually gets him moving again is the young lady who comes over, a gentle smile on her face.

“Ā-Yīng, my name is Jiāng Yànlí, but you may call me Shejie. I promise that you’re safe here. Here, I helped make the soup we’ll be eating today!” she says to him, offering her hand.

Wèi Yīng takes it immediately, his bright smile returning. “Okay, Shejie!”

They all ended up settling outside to eat and Wèi Yīng was perfectly content with sticking beside Jiāng Yànlí, the young tigress entertaining his every word while Xiǎo Xīngchén sat with Jiāng Fēngmián a short distance away, watching them.

Although, the silver fox was mostly staring at the sect leader who was very much gazing at his nephew with this impassioned expression as if he was the only star in the sky, the only purpose in his life…

An opportunity…

It was a little uncomfortable to say the least and Xiǎo Xīngchén knew that him caring so much for them will only cause problems.

“Sect leader Jiāng what is on your mind? You keep staring at Ā-Yīng with that look.”

A brief look of guilt passes on his face. “It’s just that he is the son of my best friend.”

‘And your crush,’ the fox thought.

“I cared for both him and Cángsè Sànrén deeply. What exactly happened to them…?”

Xiǎo Xīngchén sighs deeply, his ears dropping. “I don’t know only that they must have died on a night hunt. When I found Ā-Yīng he was on his own and covered in his own filth and blood from dog attacks. He told me they went on a hunt and didn’t come back… And Jiejie still hasn’t given me a sign of life…”

Jiāng Fēngmián looks crushed, gripping at his knees. “Xiao-gogzei, you’ll always have a place here, you and Ā-Yīng. This was Wèi Chángzé’s home and naturally it is yours too.”

The silver fox gives a rueful smile. “As kind as that is, Jiāng-fu'ren clearly holds a grudge and I will not stand for slander against my family, nor will I stand for her using Ā-Yīng as a punching bag.”

“I under—.”

“And… I’m not sure I can trust you,” he swiftly adds, his gentle tone becoming cold as ice, startling the purple tiger.

“I… You don’t trust me..? May you please explain?”

Xiǎo Xīngchén takes a sip of his tea before replying. “It’s quite obvious you seem to care about Ā-Yīng, but I fear your love and care will only cause problems for us and your family. Perhaps I’m overstepping, but in your eyes, I see that you think he’s yours just because Wèi Chángzé was your sworn brother.”

The man opens his mouth to defend himself, but the fox doesn’t let him get a word in. “You clearly still hold some love for my Jiejie and your wife clearly uses that as a jab, therefore I’m not sure I can trust you to care for us, especially Ā-Yīng. I’m also concerned you might get lost in some fantasy,” he finishes softly, staring straight at the sect leader with a piercing gaze.

Jiāng Fēngmián opens and closes his mouth a few times before he ultimately keeps it shut, softly clenching his jaw while he slowly grows red.

The fox sighs again though. “However, it’s clear that Ā-Yīng is quite attached to your daughter, so do expect us to visit here and there…”

The teenager didn’t wish to admit it, but he will be seeing Jiāng Fēngmián again. Really, he did not wish to rely on or be near that pushover of a man after how he was too stupefied to defend them from his viper of a wife. But Xiǎo Xīngchén would do anything to keep his nephew happy and clearly, he already saw Jiāng Yànlí as a sister, and he needed more friends near his age anyways.

Jiāng Fēngmián only nods, but Xiǎo Xīngchén sees the tension in his shoulders, but he’s not worried.

#꒰��𝐌𝐃𝐙𝐒 𓃹⋆⁺₊⋆#mo dao zu shi #hybrid au #mdzs #fox wei wuxian #xiao xingchen #wei wuxian #jiang fengmian #jiang cheng #yu ziyuan #lan wangji #lan xichen #mdzs fanfiction #dragon lan xichen #dragon lan wangji #wangxian

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divine-donna · 2 years

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*RUNS IN HERE* Wuah you have a multifandom blog (which I recently found out agwkshs)- Since I love your work, may I request Genshin headcanons for Ayato and another character of your choice reacting to their S/O getting kidnapped? :D

No pressure and take care ✨

hey alice!! yeah i have one!! it's been sitting here for a bit because i didn't feel any inspiration hit me to write anything until recently (so far, just dumping my stranger things stuff here and i got an obey me! post in the drafts). i've been meaning to write something related to genshin and this is the perfect prompt!! this blog is also a lot more quiet too so it’s nice.

but of course i'm happy to provide!! i've also included thoma because when i think of ayato, i think of thoma too!!

KAMISATO AYATO

a yashiro commissioner, the head of the kamisato family, and the leader of the shuumatsuban. he was used to the threats of kidnapping that came from people. after all, he was an important person.

except the news had a cute headline earlier that week.

kamisato ayato spotted holding hands with partner during a romantic stroll.

it was spectacle. pure spectacle. based on the fact that ayato had brought you down a scenic route known for being a popular spot for romantic couples.

you were fine being kept in the shadows. you understood the dangers that came with being involved with ayato even without the romance aspect. besides, it meant the intimacy between you two was stronger.

he stretched his arms above his head, sighing out of relief upon hearing the tension in his body pop. “finally done.” he yawns, standing up and stretching his legs. sometimes, he forgets how much his legs hurt when he’s sitting for such a long time. he walks over to your room, sliding the door open. “(y/n)! i’m do-”

he stops mid sentence, seeing your room was empty. your belongings were in disarray and there was even torn cloth. you put up a fight. and you weren’t here. which meant...

“lord ayato!” thoma exclaims, holding a piece of paper.

he sighed and took it. “so flowery. unnecessary.” he crumbled up the piece of paper.

“what do they want?”

“money, supplies, bail. the usual. and they even told me where they’re keeping (y/n) so we can exchange and negotiate.” he scoffs. “i didn’t think anyone bothered to read such trivial news.”

“should i prepare-”

“no, no.” ayato’s thumb traced the handle of his sword, feeling the silk fabric that wrapped around it. “i’ll go myself. i should be back shortly. say...two hours. three if things go slightly off.”

ayato arrived within thirty minutes. he was allowed inside and of course he didn’t expect to see you in the middle of the room. he was disappointed that they didn’t show you right away.

“kamisato ayato! you have come to retrieve your darling partner, yes?”

“yes, yes, i have.” ayato crossed his arms. he was quite nonchalant about the whole thing.

“here are the list of my demands-”

everything became a flash of blue. he could feel the gentle spray of mist against his hair as the water disappeared, leaving only unconscious men. they would leave with nothing but a few scratches.

ayato was quick to search for you, opening door after door, knocking on the walls in case there was a hidden one. eventually, he found you, clothes torn, blindfolded, hands and feet tied. the sight made his heart sink.

“(y/n)? (y/n)?” he kneels down before you. his calm voice soothed your raging heartbeat. “i’m here. i’m here now.” he unties the blindfold.

“oh thank heavens.” you released the breath you’ve been holding in for so long now. “ayato, i-”

“say nothing more.” he unties you and holds you close. “i’m sorry. i’m sorry.” he strokes your shoulder. you practically melted in your arms. “everything is going to be fine. we’ll go back, have some tea, read a book.”

“that sounds nice.” you mutter.

ayato picks you up, holding you bridal style. you notice that his grip is particularly tight, as if he’s afraid you’ll disappear again.

THOMA

his first instinct would be to wing it. wing a plan, improvise it on the spot. just run in to go get you. but he knew better than that. ayato taught him better than that.

he had plenty of fury within him that fueled the pyro vision he wielded. and while he tended to use it for the kamisato family, he had plenty for you. if not more.

after all, what were these kidnappers going to do to you? what could they possibly want from kidnapping the significant other of the housekeeper of the kamisato family? (though that in of itself did already make him a prime target)

“it appears to be a basic ransom note. but it could be more!” thoma rubbed his chin as he read the note over and over again.

“i don’t think so.” ayato was busy reading the papers in front of him. “it seems like they just want money. petty kidnappers. they’re not experts but it must be their third or fourth time doing this. besides,” he places the papers down and looks at thoma. “(y/n) will be just fine on their own. i’m sure they can escape soon-”

“okay but what if there’s a super strong person? or someone with a vision!” you didn’t have a vision. against a vision, you would be in trouble. “i need to go!”

“thoma, take a deep breath first.” ayato says calmly.

thoma stops pacing around the room and takes a few deep breaths. he feels his shoulders become relaxed and the tension in his muscles die down.

“good. i’m sure their base is nearby. bring some backup. i know you’re capable but one or two people wouldn’t hurt so you both are alright-”

“i’m going alone! i have to go now!” he felt his muscles tense back up again. “i’m so sorry lord ayato. but i’m going!” he ran out of the room before the lord could say anything.

thank celestia he had connections with people. it was easy to figure out where the suspicious activity was coming from and that you were probably being kept in a warehouse. he was crouched behind some barrels, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

all the guards were called inside. there was commotion. now was the time!

thoma emerged from his hiding spot, rushing to the warehouse. he stopped upon seeing the doors burst open.

and out came you, holding a staff and dragging behind a random man who thoma assumed to be the ringleader.

his mouth almost dropped out of shock.

“oh thoma.” you smile. “it’s nice to see you!” your smile fell noticing his worried expression. “is...everything okay?”

“i...i was worried! you got kidnapped! and...i kind of had a good breakout plan too!” he sighed.

“awww thoma.” your boyfriend was just the cutest. “maybe another time i’ll hold off on escaping so you can rescue me like the strong housekeeper you are~”

#genshin impact #kamisato ayato #genshin impact thoma #thoma x reader #kamisato ayato x reader #x reader #genshin x reader #gender neutral reader #gn reader #male reader #female reader

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nancypullen · 2 years

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First Thursday in October

It’s been a good day. This morning I ran up to Walgreen’s and sat down for my flu shot and a COVID booster. This was the view from my seat as I waited...

Is that just seasonal decor or can I bring the family up and use it for our Christmas card photo backdrop? The grandgirl would love that. Anywho, got a shot in each arm and received instructions to wait fifteen minutes before leaving. No problem. I had a coupon I was itching to use so I grabbed a basket and picked up a couple things.

If you see a 59 year old woman with purple and black Halloween nails, mind your own business. I wait all year for this month I intend to enjoy it head to toe.

I popped by the post office and sent a box of earrings off to my sister. I’m late with it but she’ll still have twenty days to enjoy the Halloween bits and another month after that to use the autumn leaves and pumpkins. Here’s what I’ve been cutting, cooking, and putting together...

I keep the wonky ones and give away the ones that aren’t as bad. It’s been months since I’ve worked with clay and I’m rusty. It was still fun. Any day spent creating with these two for company is a good day.

They think everything I do is wonderful. I could hold up a pair of sweaty socks tied together with a bow and they’d swear they love it. I make something, show it to them and say, “What do you think?” and I always get a rousing response. Of course, it’s the same response I get when I say, “Want a treat?” or “Ready for bed?” Everyone should have a fan club. You can see in that picture that I had the windows open today - we’re enjoying such nice weather, cool in the mornings, pleasant in the afternoons. We had a glorious string of chilly, rainy days and I confess I was a little disappointed by today’s sunny and warm forecast. Chillier, please. I’m seeing more colorful leaves in the trees, on the driveway and in the yard. They’re truly works of art. Look at this beauty!

Have I mentioned how much I’m loving my craft room? It is perfect. It’s the first thing I see when I come downstairs each morning and, I have to admit, it inspires me.

There’s still a bit to do, like a quote for the front of the desk, and a bit of foo-foo here and there, but I like it. I tried to make a video to share with you but I’m very, very bad at videos. This was my attempt. It will either make you seasick or annoy you with odd, unexplained noises.

youtube

For some reason I felt the need to zoom in on that little library mouse print. I was probably going to gush over the frame, another barn sale find from Tennessee. It used to be in the grandgirl’s room in Mt. Juliet, framing a map of NeverLand. She prefers it over (as she calls it) “the cozy chair.” Over on the top of the cabinet that holds all of my art supplies I repurposed a bird cage that once held plants on the porch. I just stuffed a fake plant in there. It’s not perfect, but I’ll figure it out. It works for now. But enough about that room. Just because it makes me happy doesn’t mean anyone else is interested. We still have plenty to do in this house.

In the video you may have noticed that the stair bannisters are still that orangey wood. Ugh. They clash with the new floors. The plan is to eventually rip up the awful carpet on those stairs and just have them stained or painted. We’ll do the railings then too. Until then I’ll have to ignore it. The upstairs bathroom floors also have to go. They are currently a really cheap and ugly sheet vinyl. I’ve got nothing against vinyl flooring, but this stuff is not well done and it’s not in fabulous shape. I do like that it’s neutral, and that’s about the only nice thing I can think of to say about it. In the Halloween bathroom it’s in slightly better condition than in the master bath. I haven’t done a whole lot in the master bath yet. I’ve got our ruffled shower curtain from TN in there, a couple of sage throw rugs in front of the double vanity (more orange wood), and one “art” piece hung on a wall beside a window. I’m too lazy to go upstairs and get a picture of it, it’s just a cute painted tin floral thing. It works in the space. BUT, this week I added a little something new. The toilet in that bathroom sits in a little alcove and it’s quite plain. I’ve eyeballed it and wondered if I should put a couple of floating shelves there and add a plant , some TP, and a candle or a couple of knickknacks. Nothing felt right. So I did what I always do and decided I’d come up with a little something, print it, frame it, and hang it. It’s a start, right? I’m pleased with it, and feel it adds a bit of levity to the room.

You finished the rhyme in your mind, didn’t you?

Felt appropriate for the space.

It’s not finished. I placed it a little high because I’d like to add a tray to the tank and put a plant, candle, whatever there. You get the idea.

Maybe a shelf would look better. I think I’m Team Shelf.

As I say so often, I’ll figure it out. So that’s what I’ve been up to - painting stuff, making stuff, printing stuff, decorating stuff, still trying to Nancify it up around here. After a summer that rocked me a bit, I feel like I’m finally getting my groove back. No surprise that I’m reborn in the fall.

Net week Matt arrives for a quick visit before attending a conference in D.C. Rumor has it there may be a family trip to the Renaissance Fair that weekend. After that the mister and I will be escaping to Chincoteague where the wild ponies play. It’s only about an hour from us, so an easy drive. Assateague (Maryland) and Chincoteague (Virginia) sort of all run together and Assateague is supposedly one of the best spots in the world to get night sky and Milky Way photos. Here’s an article about that: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/maryland/best-stargazing-in-the-world-md/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=maryland&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=nltitle1 You know that’s why my photographer husband wants to go, but I’m planning to bring a pony home. Just kidding. I’m just saying that we have different reasons for looking forward to this little get-away. If we end up with a pony that’s just a bonus. It’ll be a nice escape for him, work is stressing him out and he’s getting on my nerves. That’s what’s shakin’ here on our patch of the Eastern Shore. I’m vaxxed against everything but the plague, I’m staying busy, we have plenty to look forward to, and fall is in the air. It’s good, it’s all good.

Sending out loads of love and big hugs for anyone who needs one. Heck, even if you don’t. Consider yourself squeezed.

Stay safe, stay well, go get your booster.

Nancy

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adrenaline-whump · 1 year

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Cade and Chloe continue to evade mysterious enemies.

Subsequent to Running on Empty; full Chloe compilation here.

~~~

I couldn’t have been out for long. I remembered trying to stand up, remembered the sickening whirl and the impact with the floor, but it had to have been only a moment later I felt a weight leave my pocket, opened my eyes, and saw Chloe’s gun pointed at me again. “Oh, come on,” I said. “I dragged you all the way back here. If I was going to—” “Why?” she asked. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, still pale. “Why did I drag you back here?” Good question. “Fuck if I know.” “I’m serious.” “So am I.” I sat up, waited to make sure things didn’t go fuzzy again, and leaned back against the wall across from her. “That guy who almost shot you looked like a real piece of work. I didn’t like him, so I took your side.” “You don’t like me either.” “That’s for damn sure,” I said with feeling. “Then...” she trailed off, shook her head, and dropped her hand so the gun went thunk on the thin carpet. “Why are you on the floor?” “Because I’m short a few ounces of the red stuff too. Your friend creased my leg before you killed him. We’ll have matching scars. Super cool, huh?” The blood loss was going to my head...or away from it; that was the problem. “I did kill him, didn’t I?” she said softly, like she was talking to herself. When she didn’t say anything else, I said, “Yeah, you did. Good thing, too, or he would’ve shot both of us.” She pushed a lock of hair out of her face with a trembling hand. “I need to know what’s going on. If it was just him, or...where’s my phone?” “I don’t know. Were you holding it when he showed up?” When she nodded, I said, “Then most likely it’s back on that hill, in pieces, along with a little bit of your hand.” She looked down at her wounded hand, then did a double take back at me. “Is this your shirt?” “Yeah. You were bleeding pretty hard. I didn’t have anything else to use.” She stared at me for a long moment. Then she pulled her hurt hand into her lap and carefully unwound the shirt. “Not as bad as I thought,” she murmured, “given how much it hurts.” Now that it wasn’t bleeding as hard, I could see that what I’d thought was a missing chunk was more of a deep slice, and she was able to press it closed, although blood still oozed up through the cut.

She gravely handed the bloodstained shirt back to me. “Thank you.” “...Am I supposed to put this back on?” “I don’t care.” She rolled up onto her knees and stood up slowly, keeping her good hand on the wall. “But I don’t have anything else here that would fit you.” She walked off toward the kitchen. That would have been a great time to do something smart, I guess, but I was fresh out of energy and ideas. I checked my leg, and it looked disgusting but had clotted up OK. I went ahead and pulled the shirt over my head. With the bloodstain, it looked like I’d been shot in the side. From the kitchen, I heard water running and drawers opening and closing. Eventually Chloe came back with her hand bandaged. More of that gauze I’d used earlier, I guess. She looked out the window by the front door and her shoulders tensed. “Whose car is that?” “Your friend’s, I think.” “Keys?” “Probably still in his pocket.” She muttered something under her breath, followed by some stronger words as she sat down abruptly on the floor. “If you get any more pale,” I said, “I’m going to be able to see that door through you.” “We still...need to leave. I don’t know if we’re...if it’s safe.” “Where are your keys? The other keys, I mean.” The car in the garage was the one she’d stolen when she extracted us from the shootout. She half-focused on my outstretched hand. “No.” “Come on,” I said. It was my turn to try standing up, which went better than expected. “I'm driving.” I took a step toward her, and she flinched back, like literally flinched, though I wasn’t anywhere near her yet, and she lurched up to her feet with the gun still clamped in her good hand.

“Fuck’s sake, Chloe, if I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve left you with the dead guy!”

“There are a lot of ways to hurt someone.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure you’re an expert at that, but it’s a lot of work, and all I care about right now is leaving. You’re not in any shape to drive, and I barely am. If we keep fucking around here, one of us is going to pass out, or—”

She swayed and went down like a sack of bricks.

“See?” I said.

Fucking inconsiderate, if you ask me. Because then I had to drag her out to the garage and load her into the back seat. At least it let me get the gun away from her again, along with the car keys. And yeah, for about two seconds I thought about securing her there, which would have been completely fair, but I’d meant what I’d told her: it was just too much damn work.

Some paint got exchanged and a few flowerbeds got flattened while I got around the Buick, and then I drove aimlessly for a while until I found a main road and figured out where we were. My plan was to drive straight back to base, to showers and decent hot food and, most importantly, the rest of my crew, who could deal with Chloe and watch my back.

So I got really, really mad when I realized there was a car tailing us.

#headwind #cadeverse au #cade #chloe

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teaandthoughts24 · 4 months

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So we went out last night…actually let me start at the beginning. My roommate, we’ll call her AB, invites me and my other roommate, AW, out to a club bc her guy is going to be there and she doesn’t want to go alone. I’m initially excited of course but then I’m like oh i don’t know if I’ll go bc I’m tired. In reality, I’m thinking about my boyfriend because he doesn’t like me to go out without him which is totally fine because I don’t want to go to clubs without him. So I’m really not planning to go and then I’m like I’ll invite him and that way we can all go and have a great night right? So I call him and I’m like hey AB invited us out to a club tonight but I said no initially bc I want to see if you want to come too (we both worked that day and had work the next morning so I was really on the fence). To my surprise, he says yes and sounds excited about it so then I’m getting excited right. Now I’m getting ready, I’m cleaning, making sure my dog is set up Etc. He shows up about 30 min to an hour after our call, showers and then gets in bed and starts playing games. All cool, then I shower, I start doing makeup, it’s about 8:30/9 at this time. Then he's hungry so he asks me to make him a grilled cheese. I didn't really want to but i do it because i love him duh. Now it's getting later, I'm trying to figure out what to wear, I'm trying on my roommates clothes and stuff. He makes some comment about why I'm trying so hard to look good, and why im acting "lesbian" (whatever that means???). So im like ??? are you good? Should i go out in my work clothes instead?? so that pissed me off but i let it go. Around this time he's like im gonna take a nap wake me up to get ready. im like did you set an alarm he says no. cool. so im basically ready but then i realize he didnt feed the dog when i asked him to. now i gotta feed my dog, switch bags, etc. its a little hectic but i have a sec to get in bed and lay down. he tries to make out in bed but im like babe my makeup. so hes knocked out and around 10:30/11 im like waking him up to get ready. of course he doesnt want to get up. so i wake him up like 3 times and then hes just laying in bed. i really hate to repeat myself so i ask him if he still wants to go and hes like "well you cant go alone" or something like that so now i feel like hes cranky and he doesnt want to go. anyway AB and AW are fully ready, ready to call ubers and hes like putting underwear on. Anyway we (me, AB, AW) take a shot and then we all get in the Uber. Now we’re heading to the place, we’re on the list so we go right in, get to our table, get some drinks. It’s a club so you know the vibes. We eventually move to the dj booth bc the guy that AB knows is the dj (not her dude tho). Now we’re posted up in the dj booth, musics going, got some more drinks and I’m trying to throw some ass on my boyfriend. He just stands against the wall THE WHOLE TIME. He’s not dancing, not drinking, not smiling, not talking just standing on the wall. So I’m dancing on him the whole time, drinking talking with AB and AW, we met her guy, it’s a good time. Later in the night, AB leaves with her dude so it’s me, AW and my boyfriend. At one point he leaves (???) or I leave (???) details are fuzzy because I was wasted. Anyway, we’re going back to get into the dj booth, me and AW walk up first and then the security guy doesn’t let my boyfriend in because they don’t want guys up there anymore. I’m assuming because when it was a female dj there were guys and girls up there but then it switched to a dude and they wanted all girls I DONT KNOW. Anyway we (me and AW) walk back out because we’re not gonna ditch him obviously. We go back to the first table we were at initially and there’s a guy there that we met at a party with AB and again when we went to see this same dj dude at another club. He hugs AW and then hugs me. I think this pissed my boyfriend off because we were sitting there not talking I don’t think. Just sitting while AW is talking to this guy. I know she’s not into him so we start talking about leaving soon. (1/2)

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therealpeelz · 4 months

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2023 Game Log Thoughts

This year was kinda dogshit, right? I don’t think I’m breaking a lot of post-2020 ground here by saying that. A real “we’ll fix it in post”-ass year. A real, “at least I was only psychically scarred” kind of year. A real half-hearted “we’re building a dynasty for a great 2025”-ass year.

Here are some thoughts about the best non-game games I played in 2023.

Ball (2023, My Own Home ft. Two Cats)

Living with two kittens is like being in your own home as the naval officers that show up at the end of The Lord of the Flies, perpetually in a state of arriving to see two of your home residents locked with conch shell above head on the verge of enacting some kind of easily-accessible metaphor about man’s cruelty to man or life in a post-WW2 society or whatever. When they aren’t engaging in colonialist-tinged symbolic combat or sleeping, sometimes the cats like to play. Sometimes they even want me to play with them! This is very good for my mental well-being and health, but it really interrupts the flow of me grabbing them under the arms, getting nose to nose with them, and informing them that they’re my favorite idiot gremlin angels.

One of the games they like to play is ball. Ball is a game that the boy of the pair, Hamish, really enjoys. The goal of the ball is to take the small felt ball with catnip essence inside it (our conch shell, as it were, sucks for your asthm-ar or whatever), and throw it across the room. Hamish then runs around like the devil himself were tickling his prominent butthole, grabs the ball, and eventually returns it within about three and a half feet of where you’re sitting. Wait long enough, and Hamish yells some more, demanding the tickling finger of the devil once more. Hamish is desirous of the ambulatory symbology ball, and will yell until it takes flight again. This process continues until eventually Hamish is satisfied, which is never. Instead you eventually take Ball away from him after he holds it in his mouth and growls at shadows on the walls. Pig’s head on a stick, and all that.

Ball has a few flaws that I hope get patched out in a future update. The ball is just small enough to roll under pieces of furniture that are too low to get a human arm under. This is generally a stressful time for all players of ball until it gets resolved.

On the whole though, Ball has probably done more for my mental health than any game released in 2023. And that’s saying something - I went to therapy this year and everything! Ball is our 2023 Game of the Year.

Managing My Blood Pressure (2023, My Own Home and Elsewhere)

In contrast, managing my blood pressure did the opposite of Ball re: mental health. The mechanics of Managing My Blood Pressure involve putting on a dread-inducing cuff either at home or in a Doctor’s Office (read: hard mode), pretending like you don’t feel the creeping shadow of the ghost on the back of your neck, and making some little numbers that indicate your likelihood of an early stroke stay down.

Eventually you get a series of pills to help out with the numbers, and your life otherwise remains the same. It’s been good for me, and I’m glad to have done it. Playing Managing My Blood Pressure was a real meditation on the role that genetic circumstance and behavioral choice really blend into morass of indecipherable personal responsibility RE: The little death fraction that appears on the screen after the cuff pinches your arm. Do I deserve to feel the creeping death because of Life Choices? Was all of this unavoidable due to the genetic lottery of coming from two parents with various forms of neurosis and longstanding health issues of their own? Who knows! Managing My Blood Pressure is an ambiguous little koan in that way. Great game, very necessary, glad to have found an active lifestyle game that really clicks with me, can’t wait to have to keep playing it for the rest of my life while coming to terms with loving my own body. Great stuff.

Managing My Blood Pressure is our 2023 Game of the Year.

Todoist (20XX, Phone App ft. My Mind Palace)

After a series of heady therapy conversations and important conversations with my wife, it was suggested to me by people who love and care for me a lot that having your personal phone notes app filled with your own creative thoughts ALSO contain your ever-encroaching to-do list was a recipe for a bad time. All items on the list exist in a state of permanently being the most and least important thing in the world at all times, each with an ambiguous lifespan (“Will this task take months or six minutes? Who knows, in this mind palace!”), flattening everything into Schrodinger’s Most Important Item.

Now, those fun creative thoughts exist in a separate space from the mundane things that need to happen in life via Todoist. Todoist forces you to write deadlines for things - wow! Great innovation in the “Remember to log in and check your latest blood test results” space.

All the mundane and necessary life things now exist in a little chevron’d redd circle app on my phone, away from the really important stuff like the app containing half-remembered dreams and a list of all the video games I’ll never play but buy anyway. Priorities.

Todoist is our 2023 Game of the Year.

Therapy (2023, Also My Mind Palace)

That’s ridiculous. Therapy isn’t a game. Get outta here.

Video Games

Now’s as good of a time as any to talk about video games. Here’s all the ones I played this year according to every company having a Spotify Wrapped nowadays. Ordered roughly in the order I played them this year. Light to medium spoilers for everything discussed here.

LA Noire (2011)

In one of the many Sliding Doors realities where Rockstar didn’t find the cheat code for capitalism by making a sandbox open world multiplayer streamer content-production machine in Grand Theft Auto Online, every 18 months or so we’d have a new LA Noire. A game that you could put on like an HBO season DVD, play on the couch with a spouse, and chat through as you go. A game that you wouldn’t feel weird recommending to your dad.

LA Noire had the gall in 2011 to try to make human empathy a gameplay mechanic and kinda stick the landing. If you squint there’s even some fun ludo-narrative tension between being a “good cop” (lol) and getting high ranks in missions compared to being a “Good Person.” It’s neat! It inherits the problems of most fiction in this style - thin character writing for women, an abrupt and slightly unsatisfying ending. And it inherits some of the Rockstar pedigree as well - atomized little mini gameplay moments that are meant to break up the progression loop but mostly do a better job of making apparent how mechanically uninteresting the main game really is.

But LA Noire had the gumption to try something that really should have been obvious and good, a narrative-driven experience that makes emotional intelligence a Gamer Skill. Maybe someday we’ll be dignified enough as a people to give this format a go again.

Neon White (2022)

Introducing an action economy to one of these speed-focused time-shaving challenge games is a really brilliant way to teach a player speedrunning concepts like routing. Brilliant pedagogy here, and it feels really nice with gyro controls on console. You go, Neon White (2022).

Rogue Legacy 2 (2022)

Action rogue-like-lite games have a tough design challenge imposed on them. The differing playstyles and strategic approaches of a more tactical rogue-alike-athing need to be appealing and brain-tickling, but the equivalent in an actiony rogue-amajig also has to feel like tactile fun. This is, I’ve counted, what made about 20% of Hades (2020) a thin-air miracle. The core mechanical feedback loop of Shock Troopers-like dodging, ability management, and understanding of effective ranges that made each playstyle feel sufficiently unique while all harboring the same skill-transferable-nugget at the center.

By contrast, Rogue Legacy 2 never felt consistently fun to me. Under the veneer of its charming-if-2011-y internet humor and quality visual assets were a set of combat encounters that all managed to feel like some form of flailing no matter what your class or playstyle was. Henry Ford said your Model T could be any color you wanted, so long as it was kind of tedious.

Anyway, I spent about 80 hours on the game, most of it as the class that felt the most like Symphony of the Night’s Alucard. Oops. Guess I didn’t have that much not-fun, right?

Fire Emblem Engage (2023)

Christ alive. We just can’t trust these people anymore can we. Engage belongs to a special category of RPGs that I believe Aeveebee described where the main pleasure comes from navigating the systems of character building and progression such that you’re “breaking” the game. The joy comes from cleverly identifying the interlocking systems the developers meticulously planned for, making something that doesn’t feel like it should be fair, and then steamrolling with it. In that sense, Engage goes further than any other FE game I’ve played in making it feel like you’re Getting One Over On Them.

However, the narrative structure of the game and the resource allocation necessary to do all that fun game-breaking stuff is still on a Fire Emblem timeframe. For reasons I won’t necessarily spoil here, the game makes it impossible to actually make good on all that tasty theory-crafting until the very end of the game, and forces you to play by the usual FE rules of scarcity until you very abruptly don’t again. Engage exists in the Nintendo liminal space of games that might be more mechanically fun without all the hassle of that part where you actually have to progress in the game to build out your team of twink’d-out stat monster babies - what scholars call “The Pokemon Problem”.

Unlike a pokemon, or even other FE games, Engage doesn’t have a great narrative or compelling characters to fall back on. I clocked the visual designs being reminiscent of Vtuber avatars before a friend told me that was literally the intended choice. If these are meant to be appealing to someone, I’m not the demo. And the story zips straight past the endearingly kitsch anime style of recent entries straight into the forbidden zone of anime storytelling that exists on shows you're embarrassed to talk about.

F.I.S.T. - Forged in Shadow Torch (2022)

What a cool Shinra Midgar-core, defamiliarized Character Action Game Metroid platformer, Mandarin voice-acted thing. By the end the combat starts to feel a little thin, with some exploitable moves and patterns that work against most enemy types and situations, but hot damn is it fun to see a bunch of people making something with all of their influences front and center and loving it (foreshadowing for this year’s Actual GOTY? Perhaps!). The first hour of this game manages to do the Metroidalike thing better than basically any other game in its class by dint of fast forwarding the player to the part where basic movement feels really really good. I love Hollow Knight to death, but even that game spent its first 4 hours or so making you feel like a pathetic worm (lol) before giving you basic mobility options.

My only complaint is that the game is too legitimately good to be a 7/10. It has the dubious honor of being a really genuinely great 8/10. Sorry, buddy.

Metroid Prime Remaster (2023)

So much of this game aged so well. Such a cool little transition piece between what Nintendo was, what it would become, and what the rest of the AAA first person genre would be. The things Metroid Prime does well are obvious - its worldbuilding and environmental storytelling, its neo-Ocarina of Time combat, the tunes. The things it does really really well are less obvious. Prior to getting the double jump there’s a set of rooms that have surprisingly strict jump timings and positioning, getting you just to the point of frustration before unshackling you with increased mobility options. Masterful stuff.

Also it turns out that the hardest part of the Omega Pirate fight wasn’t its health or damage output, it was “being 13 years old”! With that difficulty modifier out of the way it was a breeze. What a chump.

Deathloop (2021)

Deathloop is decidedly not a Hitman. Sorry about those misaligned expectations, Deathloop (2021). Immersive Sims have this thing about them where some of the earliest hours are the most difficult, before you get your brain octopus’d around its gameplay systems and you get your first batch of upgrades and doodads. My first few hours with Deathloop, the first (but not the last) I’ve spent in an Immersive Sim in a long time (more GOTY foreshadowing??? Perhaps!!!), were a slog. It clicked when I starting playing the game as an extremely fucked up action game rather than a tense stealth-puzzler. From that point on, the movement-focused abilities all blended together and turned into something special. And with confident visual styling on top! Nifty.

I played through most of the game while dealing with my living room’s electrical circuit tripping intermittently every few days. It added an additional layer of tension and uncertainty around everything I was doing, but can’t really recommend the experience to anyone else.

The ending I chose involved two characters emotionally reconciling and rebuilding their relationship together eternally. A lot of people online say this is one of the “bad” endings. Oops! Guess we have different opinions about things. What can I say, I’m a sucker for two people choosing to love each other in the face of nihilistic absurdity.

Portal (2007) and Portal 2 (2011)

I played these two at least partially as a bit of gamer theater, that thing we used to do every now and then before we outsourced it to streamers, as a way for my wife to enjoy now that she has a bit of gaming literacy. The first one is still an immaculately-paced, tight little thing. The second game occupies a weird spot in an internet landscape where memetic culture was really taking off. It’s hard not to imagine the creators of Portal 2 writing and knowing which bits would be recycled at awkward parties for years to come, and that takes a bit of the wonder out of the whole thing. Being of a certain age and sheltered little privileged status I also never clocked any of these games for being as Sapphic as they are, so that was a fun rediscovery!

Portal 2, much like one of the other games of the year (MORE FORESHADOWING??? HOW???) also manages to nail the feeling of megastructure and New Weird vastness. Just let me hang out in the megastructures with my magical physics gun in the future, thanks! Another game for the sliding doors alternate present we’d have a lot more of if the AAA service model didn’t break capitalism in half - life woulda been better. But Valve is content to be the cable company rather than being HBO these days, so here we are.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)

If you’re the kind of person to have made it all the way here, you don’t need another person telling you much more about anything related to Tears of the Kingdom. Here’s an attempt.

The effort put in place here to make you consistently feel like a lateral-thinking Immersive Sim gremlin wizard in solving these micropuzzles for dozens of hours on end is remarkable. No other game designed to be this broken has ever made you feel quite so clever and cool for breaking it, and then subsequently giving you a little gremlin treat and a pat on the head for doing so. And when it doesn’t work, it’s usually a resulting physical comedy that you can only find in a Souls game!

In Tears of the Kingdom, you are the quest log. You are the little dude making a list of things to do and things to solve and crannies to nook. You’re free to sequence break the themes and plot, to run around and just be a spanner in the works. And everyone is so Nintendo Tastefully-Horny for Link the whole time without it feeling too gross or weird.

Breath of the Wild was a nostalgic game talking about Nostalgia and how we live in our own blasted future that the nostalgic past produced. Tears is a game about building on top of that rubble, forging something new with it, and manages to do an admirable job animating those themes over the course of its playtime. The ending made me cry tears of the Me-dom. I’m only human.

Tears of the Kingdom is our 2023 Game of the Year.

Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015) and Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)

Sometimes it’s just a lot of fun to play something that has a lot of money thrown at it. We like playing money games, don’t we folks? Just a lot of complex lighting effects and tasteful geometry and lived-in worlds. It all makes for a good time, doesn’t it? Rise is probably the better of the two here, with a more focused final act and something resembling some real theme work. I like the way the game dangles the ludonarrative of “go collect all the fun shiny things” alongside the narrative-narrative of “is this colonizer even here for the right reasons?”. It’s a nice touch, and that’s ALMOST like contending with the imperialist past of the series and the British Empire at large. Almost! In a way that definitely really isn’t. Nice work, team. Shoutouts to all the work here making a bow and arrow almost feel as cool as a DOOM shotgun. I’m also shocked this whole thing isn’t littered with more nostalgia for the older games. Again, something bordering on taste and restraint here, who woulda figured!

Viewfinder (2023)

Viewfinder is 2023’s breakout Portal-alike of a game whose primary mechanic was envisioned as a tech piece before blown out into a soft narrative-driven action puzzle romp. Where Portal traded in tight highly-refined rigidity in its puzzles, every stage in Viewfinder kinda feels like you’re doing it wrong but succeeding anyway. The story, heavy with the harbinger clouds of Climate Change Symbolism, is the thing that pushes this out into being an aggressively 2023 game. I hope the aliens that find us in a few thousand years after we’re all gone judge us based on things like this and not my obsession with taking long hot showers.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003), Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002), Timespinner (2018), Katamari Damacy Re-Roll (2018), Wario Land 4 (2001), Space Invaders Extreme (2018), rRootage (2023 re-release)

Around October of 2021, our household’s cat starting showing signs of being a mortal being put on this earth 17 years ago, rescued from a dumpster, and living a sheltered perfect life being our toxoplasmosis dispenser. To say I didn’t handle his end of life well would be euphemistic and an insult to my wife. I was an anxious spiraling mess, a hungry ghost made of all my fears feeding off the oxygen in every available room and suffocating the people I cared about most. It wasn’t good.

All the games listed above didn’t do the job of adequately supplementing (much less replacing) therapy, medication, mindful introspection, and honest difficult conversations that I needed. But gosh darnit they did an admirable job trying while I curled into a ball on my bed with an Analogue Pocket (or Switch) and attempted to put my brain into an empty carnival music mode. Here’s one sentence about each of them.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is shockingly boring, and a reminder that the Iga-vania games have succeeded in their maximalist goals maybe three times out of the dozen made.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance is way more fun than I gave it credit for in its day, and has some sweet Giallo-adjacent background colors.

Timespinner is probably fine.

Katamari Damacy Re-Roll, in the highest compliment I can give it, was powerful enough to calm the monkey brain of my anxiety for a whole 2 hours one night.

Wario Land 4 has a level of excessive quality in all its individual assets that should really be made illegal.

Space Invaders Extreme is the pinball of shmups and I wish it were my brain’s screensaver.

rRootage is Nintendo Brain Training for freak shmup mutants.

Armored Core VI (2023)

About a third of the way through my first playthrough of Armored Core VI I realized I accidentally walked backwards into a forum-post-spawning meta build that invalidated half the bosses and most of the non-bosses in the game. What can I say, see a shotgun use a shotgun, that’s the motto. And this game’s shotguns rival DOOM for chrissakes.

No game has done a better job making you feel like a mosquito with rocket boosters (sorry Buck Bumble fans!!! You’ll get your critical rehabilitation someday!). Zipping through and around megastructures while playing as a flying megastructure while dealing with the post-capital military-industrial hellscape you’re dropped into is just phenomenal. This is a game by people who can seemingly just generate the best-feeling action combat as a matter of course, and craft a series of escalating challenges that force mastery along the way. Armored Core VI has about a hojillion weapons that each feel as good to use as at least the middle of the road cool guns in an Id Software game. And there’s some bone-dry bleak humor on top of the whole thing!

Armored Core makes video games feel cool again. The Ice Worm fight is the best gimmick boss Fromsoft has ever made. Armored Core VI our 2023 Game of the Year.

Spider-Man 2 (2023)

But no seriously, what if we gamers played a game with A LOT of money thrown at it? Like, just an ungodly unhinged amount of money. That’s fun, right? We like seeing the intricately-modeled city load very quickly, don’t we gamers?

Some lost Forever War-ass console wars veterans were complaining that New York in these games feels like a big jungle gym setpiece level you zip around in rather than a real town. And like, yes? It’s me, the person who enjoys seeing an entire metropolitan zone turned into the stage where I perform my zip zip thwips.

Someone I used to know talked at distressingly labored lengths about the Marvel comic book ethos being about finding The Superhero by way of The Human. This is a game that goes out of its way to show Spider-Man being a normal person, sitting and talking with people to make their days just a little better. It’s nice. Peter Parker is Marvel's Marvel Superhero.

The game also manages to replicate the feeling of reading an entire wiki’s worth of character and plot summaries - the best way to enjoy a comic you don’t really care about. I know just enough Marvel to know what’s being changed and altered here, which is really a sweet spot. There are like seven different dangling plot hooks in this game that feel like they could be fleshed out into full sequels, which is cool because it seems like Insomniac might be in indentured servitude to make these things until the wheels fall off. Thanks for your immortal service, Insomniac!

Combat feels like the exact middle point between superhero hyper-mobile nonsense, character action buttons-y-ness, and Dynasty Warriors “mash the special button for big fun”. If you’re not going to make AAA mass-appeal Godhand- Of War combat, this is probably the way to go!

Just like our friend Geoff “Jingle Keelhaul” Keighly, we are happy to say that Spider-Man 2 is not our Game of the Year 2023.

Mario Wonder (2023)

Mario Wonder is the first true sequel to Super Mario World, in that it’s rich with finely-tuned mechanical design space and pleasant action feelings that only barely get explored in the game's levels proper. Lurking somewhere in Mario Wonder’s physics values on a spreadsheet is the best platformer Nintendo has made since Mario 3. Someone else is going to have to make it though.

Some of the Wonder Seed gimmicks really don’t add anything to this game, and there really coulda been about six more special world levels and I would have been pleased. But at the least, they finally buried the guy at Nintendo who made New Super Mario Bros’s default slippery physics. I wish nothing but good things for the person who did that, but please do not hold us hostage to those 2D platformer physics ever again.

Alan Wake Remastered (2021)

The original Alan Wake is a platonic ideal of a 7/10 video game. Narratively ambitious, mechanically loose, a few elements that feel like they came perfectly-formed from a team of creative geniuses (Wake’s novel writing! So impressively bad on purpose) alongside a smattering of things that just barely work. Combat in Alan Wake is a loose, slippery telephone-game version of Resident Evil 4 that feels neither cathartic nor scary. As a sort of knowing in-joke (oh phew, this game needed more of those) it feels like a defamiliarized Max Payne system, which is fun for about an hour. It’s a means to its end as a video game with a narrative. So it goes.

But what a nifty little narrative. A game brazenly determined to wear its influences as a chest tattoo and show them off to anybody else in the bar. Hearing Alan Wake say “just like in The Shining!” after someone breaks through a door with a hatchet. Masterful stuff. No cowards with subtext here. Every piece of Alan’s writing feels like it has the immaterial quality of someone looking around the room and trying to come up with a pen name based on objects they see. The man at one point describes in his writing something having a "mammoth-sized hole in the wall." The page with that passage is in a room that has a mammoth skeleton in it. The skeleton doesn't even have anything to do with the hole in the wall! No notes.

Under all the fun, winking metatext Alan Wake has the gall to be about something. Others have written more and better about what that is, but from my vantage I’d say it’s about as good of a story about self-loathing and artistic labor as we can expect from a game playable on an Xbox 360 computer entertainment system. It’s retroactively our 2010 Game of the Year. Condolences to our previous entry, Playing Super Street Fighter IV With Friends While \Being at an Age Where You Don't Have to Pay Back Your Student Loans.

Alan Wake 2 (2023)

I’ll refuse to spoil the exact contents of Alan Wake 2, because even if you’re one of six people to ever read this I’m not going to put that evil out into the world. Go forth and experience it.

To Alan Wake’s mix of Lynch, Stephen King, Resident Evil 4, and Lovecraft comes a helping dose of Fincher, Bryan Fuller, Resident Evil 4 Remake, House of Leaves, and Eurovision kitsch. It’s a game so preposterously confident in its own Thing that it feels impossible to exist as a big budget game in 2023. At the micro level, Alan Wake 2 is a tattered rat king electrical cord ball of metatext and nonsense. Bits of language, themes, ideas, feelings all together in a bolas that’s impossible to untie. But in aggregate, it all takes on its own dream logic in a way that’s totally coherent. I hate to say the words aloud, but it feels like literature. Gross!

The Remedy Connected Universe manages to feel more meaningfully comic book-like than most attempts at shared narratives cropping up in the last decade, all without ever losing sight of an unabashedly earnest emotional hook at its center. A lot of games feel like they walk backwards into being a treatise on existential hope in the face of consuming psychological nihilism. Alan Wake 2 earns it from the jump.

Late in the game there’s a depiction of a character’s anxiety that absolutely floored me. After a year of struggling to express what it feels like, there it is. It’s not mine, it belongs to a character who belongs to everyone. But there it is, stark and messy and angry.

Alan Wake 2 is not the most fun I had playing a video game this year. It’s probably the game I want others to replicate and learn from the most. It’s fearlessly a video game, and one that has the audacity to grasp for something and mostly get there.

Alan Wake 2 is our 2023 Game of the Year.

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penguin0104 · 1 year

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A lot has happened since I last posted anything, so since the hospital night. Actually same night I find out she’s “moved on” and already seeing someone? Who was also there that night, which is the reason why I didn’t get to see much of her since she was too busy with him. I found out after she came back from being with him, they went and spoke alike in the car for 2 hours and I sat next to her begging like a dog, because that’s where I am at right now and then her phone rings and it’s a guy. She doesn’t call guys at night, I insist on asking who that is. She lied to me at first then eventually told me, she’s known him for a month now and they have been talking and have surprisingly seen each other more in a week alone then I have over the course of 9 months! Anyways I balled my eyes out that night and many nights following that night, I’m balling my eyes out as I write this. Anyways I walked home that night from the hospital, an hour walk until she was “worried” as told me to take a taxi. She says she doesn’t love me at all anymore and wants nothing to do with me. Can that be true? You don’t love someone anymore who you planned your future with? Can it be true?

Anyways, I’ve never cried so much for anything in my life, not a death nothing. And here I am crying like a baby every night and throughout the day, more stuff happened but no need details. My mum and sister found out, and I got her a promise ring with a note (which she got today but was too busy since she was out on a date with whoever that guy is). Yes, she was out on a date! While I was balling my eyes out at home, mind you she promised me to take it slow. If this is slow then what was the initial plan???? I begged her for 9 months to go out, we only went out alone 3 times! “Someone might see”, “I can’t lie to my parents”, “I don’t have time” always had an excuse! Always! And honestly I respected that excuse. But what changed now? Was no one gonna see? Did you tell your parents you’re going on a date or you lied? And you are the busiest now then you have ever been with everything going on with your family.

I just hate to see that there is more effort and attention being put with this new guy then there was with me. It hurts so bad 😭.

I know she cares about me, she says she does, but every time I try to mention something she says I have a lot going on right now and I don’t know what I’m doing. Yet she has the time to go out on a date and know what she’s doing there. Back to the promise ring with a note, she still hasn’t read the note, why? Because she was busy, I thought busy with family which I fully understand, but nope more like busy with dates and “getting to know him”.

Holy fuck my chest burns, my heart aches, my mouth is dry, I don’t know whether to cry or laugh or scream. I wanna punch the wall, I wanna punch someone, I’ll punch myself. I’ve never been this vulnerable and just plain pathetic. I cry uncontrollably, like someone’s died (I haven’t even cried like this when people I know died). I want her back, I need her back, I love her so much.

She told me to focus on myself and work harder and all that shit, give her time and space and “maybe” we’ll work out. And trust me I’m more than willing to give her all that, I’ll do anything for her, but how can I give her space and time while she’s out there consciously going out and getting to know a guy and talking to him and seeing him and everything? How can I sit by and watch all that? Please tell me how? Just how? I’m in love with this girl, I can’t stop thinking about her, I can’t!

It’s hard as fuck, but it would have been a little easier if there wasn’t a guy involved. She says she needs to focus on herself, then why is she already having someone in her life? Does she really need someone in her life right now? It just doesn’t make sense, nothing makes sense. I wanna fucking kill myself, fuck my fucking life, I hate it so much, FML 😭😭😭

Also also also, the day I found out she was already talking to someone I told her that I write about her everyday and I showed her, she read it…guess what, nothing, she said nothing, she said move on. I’m pouring my heart out here and nothing, why does this hurt so much 😭

I miss her so fucking much and I’m so insanely in love with her. But she’s already going out on dates and meeting up with this dude and getting to know him and everything 😭

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that-bipolar-journey · 1 year

Text

A Nice Development

Hello There!

So I have more news on the Insurance dealio. For months I was waiting for my insurance to be updated to a more helpful plan. I didn’t hear too much from the insurance company so I had to make some calls. This is always a dreaded task to undertake due to being Autistic but nonetheless, I buckled down and did it. First I called my insurance provider and asked if my benefits were upgraded. They were not. The plan I was on basically covered a portion of the cost of visits to the doctor and medications I might be prescribed. That’s absolutely better than nothing but it didn’t include dental or vision. Due to being both mentally ill (meaning there are days when dental hygiene is difficult) and extremely nearsighted, I need both of those. The insurance company gave me a number to call to ask about how to get my benefits upgraded and if it was a possibility. So some days pass and I finally get to calling that number. When I called the number they gave me and asked them my questions, they referred me back to my Insurance provider and said that they were in charge of that. They were gracious enough to transfer my call to my insurance provider. I spoke to them again and they again said that they didn’t work with that side of things and to call the other place. So essentially, I was put in a phone call roundabout. After being told to call the other office the second time, I just decided to call my caseworker from the clinic I mentioned in a previous post who had actually helped me sign up for insurance in the first place. She told me to call if I was ever having troubles with the insurance company or if I needed any help with insurance at all. So I did. Let me tell you, this woman is an absolute boss and a blessing. When I called and told her what was going on she called the office herself and said she’d get back to me when she spoke to someone. The night passes and then yesterday morning I get a call from her. She had not only called to check in on my insurance herself but she took it all the way up to a supervisor in the office. Long story short, there was a mishap and it just needed to be switched over. She said that it hadn’t been done yet but that she would call me when she was notified that it was taken care of. Like I said, she’s a total boss and an extreme blessing. Fast-forward to today, I get a call from her saying that she was notified that it had been changed over and that she even checked my status herself to make sure that I had the proper benefits. I swear, I have her to thank for even having my insurance, as well as so much more. So now, I have proper coverage and I can begin looking into psychiatrists and therapists. I’m nervous but I’m sure we’ll get to that good point eventually and I’ll find a good psychiatrist and therapist.

So my piece of advice to you is: If you can, find someone good who can be your caseworker or advocate. It makes all the difference and it can help you get past the brick wall that some insurance companies have.

I hope you are well. Remember to take your meds, drink water, eat something, maybe get some sunlight, love yourself a bit, and all of that good stuff.

Love Always,

#bipolar disorder #bipolar #bipolar blog #Bipolar Treatment #mental health #mental illness #mental health treatment #dealing with health insurance

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wildcatofgreen · 2 years

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She let her sister be, for a moment. Let her calm down. Let her breathe. Poor girl had every right to have a little sob break--everyone needs one, eventually. Corazon just decided to finish fixing up the wall. The wall mud looked dry, by now--their little fight made time pass just a little quicker. It just needed to be sanded down and painted over--

. . .

Corazon you moron why didn’t you tell her to buy paint. Fuck.

A sigh. There’s probably paint around the palace, right? Carol can just paint it over herself, no biggie. Everyone and their grandma knows how to paint.

Whatever. The wildcat sanded the dried mud to be level with the rest of the wall, making the whole thing smooth. Again, paint’s the only thing that’s left. She looked over at her sibling, sitting on the bed and staring at that stupid gem. Paint can definitely come later.

The elder took a chair from the younger’s desk, dragged it over to Carol and placed it next to her. She then proceeded to sit in the chair backwards, leaning forward on the chair’s back. “You good now?”

A sigh, a nod. Carol looked over to her sister, “Yeah.” Her voice was croaked.

“Aight. Then lemme ask--who’s this Sierra Head sittin’ in your gem? We’ll get that one over with, since it seems like the most important.”

A look of shock on the scarfed cat’s face, then a mousy frown, looking away from her sister as much as possible.

Wait...

Was she fucking blushing?

“He’s... my boyfriend.”

“Heh? Ain’t hear that one, sis.”

“My boyfriend.”

“One more time? You’re not bein’ very--”

“My BOYFRIEND, Cory. He’s my boyfriend.” She crossed her arms and pouted, still averting her gaze from her sister.

Corazon sat there, flabbergasted. And... confused. She squinted, raising a brow at her. “I thought you were gay.”

“!!! “CORY!!!”

“No, seriously--weren’t you crazy for that dragon girl?”

“CORY!!!”

“What, you give up or somethin’? Was her leaving really that bad of a deal breaker? Stones know it’s a family tradition to bounce without saying anythin--”

She glared daggers at her sister, muttering, “If you keep talking, I’ll call you Cora--”

She puts a hand over her sister’s mouth nope not doing that one no no no no no. “Siiiiiiiiis, siiiiiiiiiis,” she tried to sound as friendly as she possibly could, “You know there’s no need to do thaaaat! C’mon, we’re family! Such great sisters!!!”

Her glare did not falter.

Sighs. “I’ll shut up, I’ll shut up. Ain’t gotta tell me twice.” She uncovered her sister’s mouth and started to lean on her arm.

. . .

“She was so cute, too. Iunno why you’d--”

“CORALCORALCORALCORALCORALCORALCORALCORAL--”

HAND BACK OVER MOUTH, “SHHHHH, SHHHHH, SHUT THE FUCK UP, SHUT UP, SHUT.”

---

“Besides, I’m bi,” she mumbled, arms still very much crossed.

“So you did like the dragon girl.”

“CORY!!!”

“Sorry, sorry,” she was chuckling, waving her hands in front of herself, “I couldn’t help it.” She folded her arms over the top of the chair’s back, “So, what’s the deal? What’s so wrong with your boyfriend? Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

“No! Nothing like that,” she shook her head, flopping on her bed. “It’s just...,” she sighed, “I’m a burden.”

“Eh?” Quirked an eyebrow, “Burden how? You like, stealin’ his cash or something?”

“No!! I would never--”

“It’d probably be easy money,” she looked up at the ceiling, tapping her chin.

“CORY!”

“Don’t mind me just thinkin’ out loud. Keep going.“ She waved it off, still staring at the ceiling.

Small whine, but she complied, “It’s just... There’s a lot, I’m worried about. I mean, he... he loves me so much, but... What if somethin’ happens to me?”

“You’re not dying, sis.”

“What if I do die! He’d be super devastated...” Whimper.

She rolls her eyes, “If you die I’ll just bring you back. Get you an extra life--you know we have nine, right?” She snickered.

“Not. Funny.” Scowled at her sis as hard as she could.

“Seriously, you’ll be fine. You got no reason to be worrying about that stuff, your death date is way farther than you think.” ‘Specially in her line of work.

She shook her head, hugging herself, “But, what about...”

“ ‘Bout what?” Tilts her head.

“... “Brevon.” She shuddered.

“Sis that guy’s probably dead.”

She raised her head off the bed slightly, ear twitching, “Huh?”

“Didn’t you destroy his spaceship or something? And fucked him up so bad that he went home in like an escape pod? Or whatever?”

She nodded, slowly.

“Then lemme tell ya somethin’, sis,” the wildcat sat up in her chair, “If his ship was already damaged, and most of his army got it’s ass kicked by you and your friends, then his ‘lil pod is probably somewhere in space right now, floating aimlessly around like a dead body in a river.”

She shuddered at the comparison, “How can you be so sure?”

“ ‘Cause there ain’t no way that dude had enough fuel to get anywhere. Those kinda guys never actually plan that far, trust me. The escape pods were a super last resort, I imagine, then when he had to use it he probably neglected to keep up with it’s fuel. Seen it happen too many times raiding other sky pirates ‘round Avalice.” She rolled her eyes, remembering all the hotshots who just weren’t prepared for a fight and ended up dying for it, or getting stranded for it, or whatever else. People who weren’t cut out for the gig, people who had a couple spare bucks lying around and thought they could just hop in any old ship and go, or people who were just too young to know what they were doing. Didn’t hold back enough, didn’t have enough self preservation. Was a damn shame how many bodies she’s seen in her line of work.

Carol just seemed, skeptical, of her sister’s words. Her eyes looked like she was deep in thought.

The mercenary just shrugged, “S’what I’ve seen, it’s what I know. Big shots like that guy never have a good enough plan B to last long.”

Whimper, “Guess you got a point there.”

“You ain’t convinced?”

“No, it ain’t like that. Just, I’m still worried.”

Rolls her eyes, “If you were a burden I wouldn’t be so concerned about ya, y’know--”

“No, that’s exactly why I’m a burden. People have to worry about me. I’m dangerous, Cory. I beat baddies on the daily and get myself thrown around all sorts of different universes and meet all sorts of different people and--”

“Hey, hey, hey, what the fuck. You can not just let that one out in the open and not expect me to ask what the hell you’re talking about.” Has her sister been going on fucking multiversal travels??? Like, huh???

“Oh, right.” She holds up the gem again, it’s pulsating glow having calmed down by this point, “This thing kinda just... throws me around, sometimes. I’ve met a whole bunch of different people like that. Sometimes it’s interplanetary, but most of the time it’s multiversal. And sometimes it’s just... random.”

Magic talking glowing rock that teleports at random to different fucking universes. “Sis you need to sell that fucking thing.”

“No!!!”

“Why? This thing sounds like more of a burden than you’re making yourself out to be.”

“I just,” she sighs, “Iunno. I’ve still made friends like that. This thing ain’t all bad, y’know? Even if I have to deal with a couple jerky comments from those Anons.” She groans.

“Please speak English. Anons???”

“Sometimes, the Gemerald speaks to me. Apparently, guys from all over the multiverse can just,” pause, trying to find the word, “message me, I guess? Through the gemerald. But you don’t like, know who they are. It’s all just guys hiding behind a mask. Anonymous.” She shrugs. “It’s been like that as soon as I got this damn thing. ‘Bout a year after the whole Brevon thing.”

She stares at her sister, trying to parse her words. Trying to really get at how crazy her life has been since that fuck came around to try and fuck over their planet. She sighed, leaning forward into the chair’s back again. “Okay. How many people know about all of this?”

“Like, besides you?”

Tilts head, “...Yes? Sis, don’t tell me you haven’t actually told anyone about this shit.”

“I mean, Sonar knows. I think.”

“You think?”

“Iun’t remember if I actually told him or not. But I think he deals with those Anon guys too! That’s like, enough, right?”

She just glares at her sister, unamused. She’ll just... wave it off for now. She’s getting it out now. That’s something, right? Better late than never. “So, you talk to a buncha random creeps who contact you via this random gem and presumably make fun of you and stuff. Cool. Your mental must be so normal.”

Groan, “I’m fine, Cory.”

“Sure you are. That’s why you were acting fine all day, right?”

She averts her gaze, hugging herself tighter.

“I ain’t blind, sis. I can tell when you’re off. Maybe you don’t think I do, but I do know what my little sis is like. You’re my flesh and blood!” She gives a toothy grin.

“I guess.”

“Nah, no guesses. Straight facts.”

Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, “You’re so lame.”

Corazon chuckled, “Someone needs to be the lame one, if you insist that you’re so ‘‘awesome’‘ all the time.” Airquotes over awesome.

The younger actually chuckled too, “Yeah, guess you’re right about that one!”

---

“So, what’d be big mean Anon say to my lil sis, anyway?”

“They, uh.” She paused, hiding herself with the gem--badly, at that, “They teased me about wanting to marry Sonar.”

“Excuse me you wanna do what.”

#carol's cruisings #corazon's keen #sister's intuition - corazon #ic update #long posts #carol's adventures

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