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melonn-soda · 6 months

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Kinktober Day 3 - Dazai Osamu

word count: 3.2k

warnings: HATE SEX, dubcon, cuffing, overstim, slight dumbification, edging, dazai calls u petnames and he's an ass, reader is a slight brat, bottom cis male reader, top ftm dazai

prompt: dazai visits his favorite mafia member and gives him a little reunion gift

notes: READ WITH CAUTION, THIS FIC CONTAINS DARK THEMES. tell me if there's any other warnings I should add, please. sorry these prompts are super fucking late. different texting style but I'll go back after kinktober prompts are all posted. still currently working on the other ones because this is taking longer than expected. too much plot going on with them lmao. anyways, I'm tired of ftm characters always being on the bottom, so I contribute this. trans dazai canon because I'm trans and I said so.

fem aligned dni

The air blew a cold breeze around Yokohama, chilling the residents of the city and keeping them locked up inside their homes. Nobody went outside without some sort of extra layer to protect themselves from the chill of the atmosphere, either wearing jackets or hoodies over shirts when they strolled down the streets. Dazai Osamu blew hot air into his palms to warm them up as he walked down the sidewalk, eyeing every shop that was on his right. The bakery he passed by was closing down due to lack of patrons and he made sure to get some pastries for Atsushi, Ranpo, and himself beforehand. Some clothing shops were bathing in money because of the upcoming fall and winter seasons approaching faster with people preparing for the cold days by purchasing thick layered clothes. Every store was having its own ups and downs at the moment.

Even with all the tempting things he could buy, he still passed by most of them until he was at the edge of the city, with fewer people and cars coming in and out of this area. There were a few supply trucks coming in and out because of all the supply shipments coming in but that was going to be all. However, Dazai didn’t come to the warehouse for no reason. After all, he always went to somewhere that had a purpose.

He walked through the gates without anyone stopping him, walking to a particular warehouse before pushing the doors open. It was dark and gloomy in the place, yet felt strangely warm from the contrasting colder outside weather. Dazai made sure his steps were slow and quiet, keeping his presence minorly hidden to avoid getting himself hurt if someone were to attack him. He made sure to peek around the corners of supply crates to make sure no one was going to blast bullets directly at his face, eyes scanning with caution in every area he invaded.

A loud clang alerted his senses, and the sound of sizzling came humming after. Dazai’s intuition was right, he was here doing exactly as he thought he would. Footsteps increasing in speed, he rushed towards the source of the sound, still making sure to look over corners rather than going in head-on. Since he wasn’t that far away from his target, it didn’t take him long to get there, seeing the person he was looking for with a mischievous smile. Oh, how he missed seeing his face.

The burned part of a shipping container was melted off in the shape of a circle, laying on the ground as the material was still a glowing red before returning to its original color. The man who stood next to it, the person who caused the eruption of a loud noise from metal hitting cement was none other than his long lost Port Mafia ex-coworker. [l.name], [name]. So many memories were shared with that boy since they’ve known each other since their teens.

Dazai watched you step into the shipping container, following after you and watching as you rummaged through products, putting multiple things up to inspect before putting them back in place. He knew which product you were looking for and where it was, eyes landing on the box before flicking back onto your figure. With silent steps, he walked in, but once his other foot was placed inside, a loud creak was made and it alerted you to fire a burst of flames that shot out from your palms. Dazai, of course, saw it coming as he leaned so that he narrowly missed it, feeling the heat on his chest before grabbing your wrist and moving his weight around to get himself behind you and out to safety before using his foot to swipe and make you lose your balance. Alarmed and unprepared, you fell onto your stomach as Dazai moved your arm behind you mid-fall, getting your hands effectively pinned against your back.

“Ah~, [name], always so reliant on his ability. It was always your biggest flaw, y’know?” Dazai began to tease, pressing his knee against your lower back to keep you on the ground. He watched you try and wriggle out of his hold, knowing that you were too physically weak to actually break free. Weaker than him, I dare say.

“Dazai! What the fuck are you doing here? Let me go!” You scowled, glaring at him over your shoulder, cheek pressing against the cold metal. Your eyes still held the deep fire as always, so bright whenever you got fired up or even mad. The ex-Port Mafia executive always found that really cute about you, but he never really admitted it out loud, only doing it if he wanted to get a reaction out of you.

“Looking for you, of course!” He chimed with a playful smile, one that always managed to piss you off, “I figured you would be here looking for that really important document from overseas, but I can’t have you getting your hands on it. After all, we’re enemies, are we not? I have to do everything in my power to foil your devious plans.”

You tried thrashing around a little harder as he spoke, not wanting to see or even be within a 100-foot radius of this man, “Can’t you just leave me be this once, you fucking psychopath!?” You yelled out, clearly upset with the predicament you found yourself in. Chuuya really needed those papers and if he found out you didn’t even get the chance to find them, you don’t want to know how mad he might get.

“Oh my, is that the way you should be talking to your past loving boyfriend?” The brunet gasped in mock offense, leaning in a little closer to your ear.

Your face flared slightly at the closeness, “Past!! We’re not dating anymore, sicko. We broke it off the minute you left the Mafia, or have you forgotten?” You glowered at him, “For years, I’ve wondered where and how you were, only to get a message from an unknown number that told me we can’t be together anymore. I knew it was you because of your texting style.”

“But I can tell that you still want me,” Dazai continued to poke around with your feelings, not caring about any of the consequences that might follow after. He heard you immediately deny it all within a seconds notice but, “Oh, but you do still desire me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be blushing so hard over me just whispering thiiis~ close to your ear.” He chuckles as you shift your face so that he couldn’t see it.

“Just get the hell off of me.” You threatened weakly, feeling him shift around slightly while still on top of you.

You could hear Dazai sigh in what seemed to be in disappointment before he yanked you up and got you to sit on his lap. Dazai was sitting on the floor and you could feel your face grow even hotter as his body pressed against yours even more in this position.

“Y’know, I could really care less about you taking those documents. I didn’t come here to stop you either,” The detective told you, causing your eyes to widen and look back at him, “I only decided to foil your plans because I wanted to see you again. Do things we never got to do with you. For instance,” with a pause, one of his hands let go of your wrists and teasingly slid down your waist, getting dangerously close to your sex, “now that we’re adults, you can lose yourself to me.”

The last parts of his words were said in a whisper, causing a shiver to go down your spine as your lips pursed to suppress a whine. However, your body decided to show your true feelings you held towards the brunet with your dick hardening and sensitivity going to overdrive. You still loved Dazai, you really did, but you didn’t expect to react this way. Maybe it was because of the stress from the Port Mafia? I mean, it has been months since you’ve last jerked off.

“Oh dear, it seems like you're getting excited.” Dazai chuckled next to your left ear, his hand gently brushing against your crotch as you let out a whimper, “and your sounds are just the cutest.~ I’ve been imagining this scenario so many times, and now that it’s happening, it’s hard to believe that it’s ending up like this.”

A strained moan left your lips as you could feel his hand press harder against the tip of your cock, head falling forward in shame over turning into putty from just his voice and soft touches alone. In a near desperate tone, you still attempted to resist his efforts, “S-stop- this isn’t right-!”

“You may say so but your lovely body still craves my touch.” You could feel his fingers undo your pants and slip into your underwear, his cold touch coming into contact with your blistering heat, “You still desire me, otherwise, why would you still keep pictures of me on your wall after so many years, huh?”

“Go.. ah- fuck yourself.” You growled, a loud wince ripping through your throat at a particular tug at your cock, your back unconsciously arching and the back of your head hitting against Dazai’s shoulder, “Shit, shit, shit!”

“When did you become such a brat?” Dazai huffed out annoyingly, “Have you been spending too much time with that stupid slug? It looks like he’s beginning to rub off on you.” His hand picked up in pace and technique with a squeal of surprise coming from your mouth causing the brunet to smile slightly, “Ah, but I think it might make breaking you even more enjoyable.~”

Tears began to spill from your eyes from the stimulation, whining and moaning pathetically in Dazai’s hold as he continued to pump your cock. He even noticed that you stopped retaliating against his ministrations, fully submitting from the pleasure racking your brain into a state of stupidity. God, you looked so good like this.

“Fuck!” You suddenly yelled, thighs quivering around Dazai’s legs, “I’m close, ‘Samu- can’t take anymore-!” Words slurring like you were drunk, your hips bucked to bring yourself to your release.

Much to your dismay, Dazai pulled his hand out of your pants promptly, causing you to whine in protest, “Not just yet, lovely. I wanna see you scream and beg me for mercy as I dumb you down into oblivion.” He whispered sweetly though menacingly, causing you to shudder in delight.

Within a blink of an eye, he slammed you back down on the cold metal floors face first, taking out handcuffs from his back pocket and locking them on your wrists. You took the time to catch your breath as he got up away from you to dig into one of the containers, pulling out a black box with gold lining on it.

He took a seat next to your slumped figure with a mischievous smile on his face, opening the box and pulling out a solid black strap-on and a bottle of lube. The dildo was about 5-inches in length as far as you could tell, although there was nothing on the other side to please Dazai. Did he just buy that thing only to watch you become fucked out in ecstasy?

Dazai grabbed a bag of toy-cleaning wipes from the box as well, making sure to wipe the strap-on down as he continued to look at you deviously, “Do you like my surprise, lovely? Are you excited?” He asked, removing some of his clothes to place the toy around his pelvis.

Your dick twitched in anticipation, drool pooling on the ground as you looked dazedly at the sheer size of it, “However,” Dazai interrupted, “Because you’re a virgin, you’ll have to wait. After all, you’re nothing but my fragile little doll. As much as I would love to see you crumble, I wanna take my time shattering you.” He smirked, popping open the bottle and spilling its contents over his long, pretty fingers.

Positioning himself behind you, he gently grabbed your hips with his non-lubed fingers to lift your ass up into the air. Pushing only one of his fingers in your hole, he continued to pour lube consistently onto his hands to keep your insides from tearing. It wasn’t even 30 seconds before he found your prostate, pressing on it harshly to see you jolt and gasp, easily making you into nothing but a plaything. Even still, the fucker avoided it on purpose for the next few minutes of stretching you out. He added finger after finger when he saw you ready for the next, but wouldn’t even press that specific area.

After what seemed like an hour of teasing, he pulled out his fingers as you trembled on the cold floors. He wiped his fingers on the inner parts of his trench coat, hands then finding themselves on your waist to make it so you could feel the silicon against your thighs that were pressed together. You don’t know if you were enjoying this, or hating this.

“You ready, dollface?” He asked you, hands sliding up your chest and pulling you up so that your back came into contact with his body. You could feel the toy slip through your thighs for a brief second before he positioned it so that the tip could press against your hole, pressing lightly against your rim as you let out a shaky moan.

Glaring at him from the corner of your eye, you growled, “Just put it in, you asshole.” Maybe Chuuya has begun to influence your attitude.

With a grin, Dazai shoved you down onto the silicon dick without any lousy comebacks, causing a loud wince to fall from your lips. From the tip of the cock pressing against your prostate, you wailed pathetically in desire as your body was beginning to give up, letting your torso fall back onto the ground with a light thud. Your limbs started to feel like jelly, trembling terribly as Dazai pressed his hips even closer, reaching even deeper as you sobbed out in pleasure.

“Ah-! F-fuck-” You cried as Dazai began to pull out briefly before rocking his hips into yours repeatedly, setting a rhythm for himself. Incoherent ramblings spilled out of your cute lips as he continued to press against your prostate, your body feeling extremely heated.

“Oh, aren’t you just the prettiest little thing?” He cooed into your ear, one of his hands trailing up from your hips and to your nipple, pinching and pulling on it lightly to stimulate you further. He brought it up to his mouth to wet those fingers then returned them onto your chest, the slight chill making you shiver when the cold air brushed underneath your shirt, “So sensitive, too. I hope I’m the first person to see you like this.”

“U-urgh~... Dazai..” Words slurring and hiccups turning into broken moans spurred the brunet even further, pistoning his hips even better when he took ahold of one of your ankles and lifted it into the air with ease. You were just so cute like this.

“Osamu.”

Staccato moans turned into full on wails as you could feel the tip of the dildo poke at your prostate, sending you into a mess of tears and babbling nonsense. It was too much. It was all so much for you. From the edging Dazai did earlier, the pent up stress from being in the mafia, now the dick inside you that was ramming you into stupidity, you could feel yourself getting close to your orgasm. And fuck, if it didn’t come fast.

You were sobbing thick tears as cum spilled out of your pathetic excuse of a dick, seeing Dazai’s face contort into one of amusement as you came all over the floor. Body shaking from the heightened stimulation, you wanted a break, wailing at him in hopes to tell him to at least slow down.

You should really know better, though, because he’s an asshole and would do anything in his power to watch you crumble for his own entertainment. And you acting like you hated him only motivated him to fuck you even harder. So here he was, bending your left leg so that your knee nearly touched your chest while continuing to move his hips at his brutal pace. It didn’t help that his toy kept pressing into your sensitive spot either.

“W-wait! Nnng!” You cry out, fingernails digging into the metal of the shipping container, “Osa- ah! Osamu, sl-slow down-!” Your voice squeaked as he used his hand that was on your hip to press down hard against your tummy, feeling the tip of the silicon dick disappear and come back.

The agency member giggled, raising that same hand and wiping away the abundance of tears flowing down your face, “Look at you~ just so adorable and begging for me to stop. Don’t you remember what I said? ‘I wanna see you scream and beg me for mercy as I dumb you down into oblivion.’” The attitude in his voice becoming condescending and dark.

His hand travelled down to grasp your dick, causing you to bite your bottom lip to quiet down the scream that nearly left your lips. Almost too quickly, your cock hardened once more with tears flowing down the sides of your face from overstimulation. Dazai only gave you a shit-eating smirk while he looked down at your pitiful face, feeling a rush of excitment through his veins.

God, you should’ve taken the day off.

…

Dazai took off the strap on with ease, letting it fall back into the box, shiny with lube and Dazai’s own slick. He didn’t care about his own orgasmic pleasures, just wanted to see you once more, even if that meant fucking you stupid. He wasn’t lying when he said that. Dazai was cruel, there’s no doubt about it. However, he still had the courtesy to clean you up with multiple wet wipes and redress you. Too bad he couldn’t do anything about the bruises and bite marks littered beautifully across your sleeping form.

The brunet pulled up his pants and closed the box with the sex toy in it, holding it by pressing it against his side while his other hand fished his phone out of his trench coat’s pocket. Quickly, as if he remembered the phone number by heart, he dialed one of your co-worker’s digits and his phone began to ring.

“Who is this?”

“Chuuya!” Dazai said in a chippy tone, hearing the other groan and spit out a “what do you want?” in response, “Well- for starters, [name] is in a shipping container, currently knocked out. You know, the one you wanted him to check? Could you be a good friend and pick him up safely? Oh! But be careful, he’s a little sore in the lower half.”

“What the hell did you do to him!?” Chuuya barked on the other side of the line, Dazai hearing him kick open doors to rush over to where his coworker is.

“Just a little reunion gift.” Dazai singsonged, pressing the “end call” button before he could hear his long time friend yell again, “Man, they sure are becoming too similar. I’ll have to fix that.”

#bottom male reader #male reader #x bottom male reader #x male reader #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd x male reader #bsd dazai #dazai osamu #dazai x male reader #bsd x reader #kinktober 2023 #sub male reader #bsd anime

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starry-bi-sky · 10 months

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Part uh, four? of "Clone Danny"

...taking a risk and @ing @minnesota-fats since they seemed pretty hyped about this au. So i figured they'd want to know when the next part came out.

So where did we leave off? Oh yes... Danny taking the stairs two at a time to book it away from Bruce Wayne before he realized that he and Danny shared the same face.

So safe to say after Danny calls Tucker and they both panic over Bruce's appearance, and he finds himself slinging on his black hoodie and stuffing his pockets with his mask and his jawbreaker gloves before scaling down his second-story window to book it over to Tucker's place.

(you never know when there might be a ghost attack)

It's of no surprise to him when Sam is already there when he arrives at Tucker's, and they all migrate to Tucker's room to come up with a plan of attack. Was Danny gonna tell Bruce Wayne that he was a clone? hell no! He decided to let the man live in ignorant bliss and he is sticking to that decision no matter what anyone says.

Besides, his parents can open that pandora's box, considering they created it.

So their plan of attack? Literally just "avoid Bruce Wayne like the plague until he leaves" which is... a bit difficult right now.

"you could stay at our place until he leaves?" Tucker says

"And what if he stays for a month?" Danny asks, overthinking as he's become prone to do. Ghosts are unpredictable after all. "I cant have a month-long sleepover at your place."

"You could wear a mask?" Sam suggests

and Danny makes a face, "What kid wears a face mask in their own house?"

"You could feign an illness."

...And so on and so forth. They discuss ideas for nearly an hour until Sam leaves and Danny needs to head out as well before his parents discover that he's gone. (he cant exactly tell them he snuck out his window)

(He crawls back through his window only to get the daylights scared out of him by Jazz, sitting on his bed and wanting to talk to him about Bruce Wayne being, apparently, in their living room. Danny kicks her out instead because he already talked about it with Sam and Tucker and doesn't want to talk about it again for tonight)

Skip to later that night when he gets woken up by his ghost sense triggering. He wakes up with a chill and mist breathing out of his mouth, tasting like what freshly fallen snow smells like and ozone. It makes his teeth chatter.

Danny doesn't bother checking the time, and grabs his mask from under his pillow and his knucklebuster gloves. he all but sleeps in his hoodie and padding so all he does left is his boots and vest and thermos.

(He grabs his bat on the way out, and keeps his mask in his pocket until he steps outside)

when he sneaks into the kitchen, halfway through pulling his hair into a ponytail, light draws his eyes and there, up at who-knows-o'clock, is Bruce Wayne on his laptop. In their living room. He looks up at the same time as Danny.

Danny makes direct eye contact with him. Again. But there's no door to slam in his face....and behind Bruce Wayne, standing ominously at the window outside, is fucking Skulker. of course it is.

"...Mister Wayne." He says after a considerable silence where he's not sure if he's staring at Skulker or at Bruce. Skulker just stands. Menacingly. Like he crawled straight out of a horror movie.

Danny's not sure if Wayne's seen him or not.

(Bruce has, indeed, seen him in the reflection of his laptop. And considered investigating the problem just before Danny appeared.)

"...Mister Fenton." Wayne says moments after, sounding pretty calm and uncurious about what he's doing up. "What are you doing up?"

…Nevermind.

"Go…ing on a midnight stroll?" Danny says, he's a terrible liar but people never seem to assume he's off kicking ghost butt.

"With a bat?"

(Note: this is the only time Danny curses the fact that the Fenton Creepstick is painted with glow-in-the-dark-ectoplasm-infused paint. It's saved his butt numerous times in both finding it and smashing it into ghosts' faces. But now its just a hindrance.)

"...We have a ghost problem." Danny says, feeling like he came straight out of a sitcom. "What are you doing up?" Skulker looks like he's getting impatient behind the anti-ghost glass. Danny promptly ignores him.

"Just doing some Wayne Industries work." Bruce says.

And Danny nods thoughtfully. "Cool. Cool... Bye." And he turns and books it out the door.

He just barely has enough time to make it to the street and put on his mask before Skulker damn near takes his head off with his usual proclamation of skinning him. Danny, pointedly, sarcastically signs back his retort until he can get further away from the house.

\\\\\

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 4.5 (Dani interlude) Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 7.5 (Dan Interlude) Part 8

#danny phantom au #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc #dc x dp crossover #dpxdc #danny phantom #dp crossover #danny fenton is a clone #danny fenton is not the ghost king #eventually all of my aus literally just become mini-fics because i spend too much time on one scene before i can move on from it #danny running into bruce late at night was the funniest thing to me #'what are you doing up?' same vibe as 'girl what are YOU doing at the devils sacrament? 👀'#im sorry damian you've become unintentionally irrelevant for now #he's staying in a magiclly procured guest room #he comes down after danny leaves to pester his father about fenton being up and leaving

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myhyperfixatedmess · 10 months

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Intrusion.

Tom Riddle × Fem!Reader

You always had a hard time understanding why Tom kept you so hidden away. One night something happens that makes you realize why.

Word count: 1.7k

Content warning: Hints of a panic attack, violence, depictions of torture.

Soft!Tom makes an appearance!

You were very aware that Tom kept you at a distance from his...business.

Even during your time at school, he only allowed you to attend the Room of Requirement meetings a couple of times after much pleading. Graduating didn't change the situation much, despite your marriage; you didn't mind not knowing every detail of his plans, but the extent of your seclusion felt odd. You just wanted to understand why he kept you hidden away so intensely.

Most days, you tried to convince yourself that being the wife of the Dark Lord was enough, even if you had no say in his world-altering decisions. It was hard to ignore that some of his followers were unaware of your existence, while others knew you only as "The Dark Lord's mistress," a term you doubted Tom was aware of or would tolerate.

Though a few Death Eaters knew you from your Hogwarts days, most remained tight-lipped around you, offering mere nods or quiet acknowledgments. It was clear they feared Tom greatly; making eye contact with you seemed like a perilous act. You weren't sure if it was due to his direct orders or their assumptions about his expectations. Either way, though you couldn't really fault them for hiding from you. While you weren't scared of Tom, you could understand why others would be.

Quiet apprehension gnawed at you as you contemplated discussing your concerns with Tom. But you reasoned that avoiding potential arguments and trusting him were better choices. After all, you were an adult now, not a teenage worrier. You had married him despite his questionable morals, so who were you to judge?

The muffled conversations behind closed doors and fleeting glimpses of secretive meetings became your new norm. Sometimes you managed to catch glimpses through cracks, only to have the door swiftly shut when you were noticed. While you occasionally wondered about his trust in you, you pushed those doubts away to avoid unnecessary distress. You remained silent, occupying yourself with your own pursuits, whether it was reading, writing, or wandering the halls of the inherited family estate.

On this particular evening, you found yourself in the library, Tom being out for the night, which didn't bother you. As you perused the shelves, a loud bang from downstairs jolted you. Frozen in place, you strained to listen for more sounds, until harsh, unfamiliar voices reached your ears. Loud and aggressive, they echoed from the ground floor.

Panic surged as you realized you were in danger. These voices weren't part of Tom's inner circle, and you backed away from the library door, realizing that someone had broken into your home. The thought of a robbery crossed your mind, but then a chilling realization struck—you hadn't considered the possibility that Tom's ambitious plans might have made enemies.

Your initial instinct was to leave the house, apparate, and contact Tom for help. But as your hand reached for your wand, you remembered it was in your room. Unlike Tom, you couldn't perform wandless magic. Trapped and helpless, the sound of angry shouting grew louder, approaching from downstairs.

With each thud of footsteps ascending the stairs, you strained to catch their words. The first voice, a man's, sent a shiver down your spine as he called out, "Where is that bitch?" It was clear they were after you, and this wasn't just a random intrusion; they intended to harm you.

Anxiety clenched at your heart. You had never felt targeted before, never imagined this vulnerability. You cursed yourself for not being better prepared, for letting yourself be defenseless and alone. As their voices drew nearer, panic coursed through you; you were trapped, with no means of escape.

With painstaking effort, you inched backward against the library wall, the cold surface offering a stark contrast to your racing heart. The air felt thin and suffocating, your breaths shallow and uneven, while beads of sweat dotted your forehead.

They were right outside the door now.

You pressed your hands against the wall, your pulse pounding in your ears, as you prayed for them not to notice you. They pounded on the door, and you clamped your eyes shut, fear tightening its grip on you with each thud.

A shiver of dread ran down your spine as the door gave way, crashing open under their assault. Two men stormed in, wands at the ready. Your body locked up, terror stifling your voice, and you blinked back tears that threatened to betray your composure. This couldn't be real, it couldn't be happening.

The realization hit that running was futile—your exit was blocked. Your heart raced as their eyes settled on you, and you weighed your chances against them without a wand. Your legs trembled as the fear that gripped you teetered on the edge of overwhelming.

"There she is," one of the men sneered, his gaze locking onto you. Panic gripped you tighter, the world narrowing down to their menacing forms.

"We've been looking for you. I'll take her. Come along." His companion's nod was a chilling confirmation, and your pulse quickened as he aimed his wand at you. Their grip tightened, hauling you forward, and you struggled against their grasp. Your voice wavered as you spoke, desperation evident, "Don't do anything foolish. Let me go!"

Their faces twisted with anger at your words, their cruelty evident.

"Voldemort's whore has a temper," the other man taunted, the use of Voldemort's name sending a shock through you. These were Tom's followers, but why target you? They had to know the repercussions of angering him.

"What do you want with me? What are you doing?" you pleaded, flinching when the grip on your arm intensified.

"Enough talking," he snapped, his wand slicing through the air to silence you. Before you could react, the curse fell from his lips.

"Crucio."

Agony erupted, a scream tearing from your throat. Pain seared across your skin, your body convulsing as the torture curse wracked you. Darkness encroached on your vision, and you were thrown backward, a collision with a bookshelf shattering your senses.

As your awareness wavered, a silver dagger gleamed in one captor's hand, your body too weak to move. The other man grabbed your hair, his wand trained on you, while the dagger-wielding one advanced with malicious intent.

"Please, no! Tom will b—"

"Shut it!" the man spat, the blade plunging into your leg. Agony shot through you, your body wracked with pain as your screams filled the room.

"That bastard doesn't even know we're here, but he's gonna regret making a fool out of us," the man hissed, drawing closer. Nausea swelled within you, tears clouding your vision.

"Unhand her." The voice cut through the chaos, familiar and commanding.

"Tom…" you croaked weakly, blinking teary eyes to see him standing behind your assailants. His eyes blazed with fury, and you clung to his presence, your savior in this nightmare.

The attackers froze, their surprise palpable.

"M- My lord," one stammered, and Tom's lip curled with disdain.

"Ah, so it is 'my lord' now?" he seethed, closing in. The men scrambled, leaving you slumped against the bookshelf.

"We meant no disrespect, sir," one attempted, while the other looked on anxiously. "We simply were…"

"Were what?" Tom's anger laced his voice. "Please do explain your assault on my wife."

"My lord," the shorter man bowed, "We didn't know—We just thought she was some intruder!"

The taller man nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we came for you and saw her! We thought she was breaking in, my lord, I swear!"

The lies were transparent.

"Not only did you invade my home and attack my wife, but you dare lie about it," Tom growled, his gaze steely.

"No, we're—"

"Silence!" Tom's command silenced them both.

"Both of you will go downstairs; I will address this later." The men hurried away, assuming they were off the hook. Tom turned to you, worry etched his features as he reached for your trembling hands.

"My love, can you hear me?" he murmured, his voice a soothing balm. His arms enfolded you, lifting you gently. Pain rippled through you, your vision swimming.

"Everything will be all right now, I am here," he assured softly, but your pain remained relentless. Tom's gaze shifted to your bleeding leg, his brows furrowing in concern.

"You will be fine," he said gently as he cradled you. The pain was overpowering, your vision blurring as you teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.

His voice reached you, your consciousness slipping away, but you knew he was there.

And then the darkness enveloped you.

When consciousness returned, you found yourself in your bed, the dull ache in your head the only lingering reminder of the ordeal. Your gaze shifted to your bandaged leg, confirming that the events weren't some nightmarish illusion. Sighing, you realized it had all been real.

You pushed yourself up, cautiously testing your body's limits. Muscles protested the movement, and a groan escaped your lips as pain surged through you. Memories of the harrowing experience played on a loop in your mind, each scene etched with vivid intensity.

Tom's voice interrupted your thoughts. "You need to rest." His presence filled the room, and you met his gaze as he spoke.

"How long was I asleep?" you questioned, trying to make sense of the passage of time.

"13 hours," he replied calmly, offering you a glass of water. He settled beside you on the bed.

"Thirteen hours!?" Shock colored your voice as you nearly dropped the glass. "I was unconscious for thirteen hours?"

Tom's reassurance came with a touch. "It is okay, you're safe now," he said, his arms encircling you. The glass of water quickly emptied as you downed it, your body yearning for hydration after the ordeal.

"So, what happened to the intruders?" you ventured, your apprehension clear in your voice.

"They have been dealt with," Tom's response was clipped, his demeanor stern. You understood the implication behind his words and chose not to press further.

"I'm sorry, Tom," you murmured, resting your head against his chest. Fatigue washed over you, threatening to pull you back into sleep.

"For what?" he inquired gently.

"Being reckless," you admitted, your eyelids growing heavy.

"I was careless too," he confessed, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "They are gone now. I will never let any harm come to you again."

"Promise?" you whispered, your eyes fluttering closed.

"I promise," his reply was tender, and with a content smile, you surrendered to sleep once more.

#tom riddle x you #x reader #tom riddle x reader #tom riddle fanfiction #tom marvolo riddle #tom riddle #female reader

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honeydippedwaffles · 8 months

Text

Smallest Drop - Part 5

Summary: Tav is beginning to struggle with her fate and the Underdark really isn't helping with that. Astarion is... really bad at comforting people.

Content Warnings: She/Her Tav

Word Count: 3.1k words

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

The Underdark lingered on her skin uncomfortably. Not even the strongest glow of their torches helped her feel safe beneath the cave ceiling. She never realised how much she loved the sun until she couldn’t see it anymore.

Though the mushroom forests intrigued her, she couldn’t shake the fear of assassins, drows, and everything else. They lurked in the shadows and watched even when she tried to shake free.

But she had no choice. If this route truly turned out to be easier, she couldn’t keep her companions on the route through the mountain pass. Enough had already happened there during their brief visit and Lae’zel hadn’t been handling the betrayal of her fellow gith very well.

They simply had to find the path forward.

“So, do you actually know where you’re leading us or are we simply walking and hoping for the best?”

She gave Astarion a sharp look. Though she knew he only wanted to tease, the day really hadn’t been working in their favour. After being attacked by a beholder of all things and getting catapulted into a wall by an exploding mushroom, she really didn’t have time to listen to his complaints about everything else. The lack of sun, the array of strange creatures, the general darkness… she’d heard every comment.

“Halsin wouldn’t lie to us,” she reasoned. “It may be a maze but we’ll be able to find our way through even if we need to take some time to look around.”

“Will that be before Withers finishes decaying?”

She rolled her eyes and continued to lead them back to camp. Her only lead was the destroyed village not too far from where they’d set up. After a night’s rest, she planned on exploring there a little more.

But first, they needed to rest.

Once everybody disappeared back to their chosen spots, Astarion included, she finally took the moment’s break to head for a small stream. Blood and dirt washed away in the cool water as she took some time to finally breath. Her body still ached from being thrown into the wall but at least she could distract her mind.

Every day that passed, they crept closer to becoming mind flayers. She’d started struggling to sleep for fear of waking up with tentacles sprouting from her mouth and her jaw dislocating.

Not to mention, she felt incredibly weary of the strange dream visitor who kept encouraging her to consume tadpoles like potions.

“You should avoid wandering off by yourself, my dear. There are plenty of critters who I’m sure are dying to take a bite of you.”

She jumped a little but Astarion’s casual demeanour soothed her somewhat. He appeared mostly clean of blood – the Underdark suited his fighting style well – so she imagined he hadn’t followed her to wash.

“I’ll be alright,” she reassured.

“Oh, so you wouldn’t like a little company to watch your back?”

She chuckled, somewhat uncertain still. “It depends. Are you going to complain about everything or will you sit there and look pretty.”

He preened under the casual praise and found a rock to lean against. “I’m always gorgeous. It isn’t much of a challenge.”

She suspected Astarion came through to ensure she remained safe. Despite his usual blasé attitude towards most of the group, he’d become more protective of late and even checked on Shadowheart after she’d taken a nasty sword wound across her leg.

Honestly, she’d be impressed if she wasn’t so worried about everything.

She continued to wash the last of the blood from her hair before she straightened. The droplets chilled her skin where they fell over her back and face and she shivered. She really missed the sun.

And then she turned and he was right there.

His fingers danced over her neck before he caught her jaw and led her into a soft kiss. Her breath caught in her throat; her eyes fluttered closed. He trailed a hand over the front of the armour, dipped into all the embellishments and fastenings, and her heart pounded in response.

He made it far too easy to fall into him. He chased every thought from her mind as he split from her and fluttered kisses over the side of her neck.

“You shouldn’t run off like that by yourself,” he said. “Whatever would we do without you there.”

He’d paused so close to her pulse point. It said something about how he’d conditioned her to tilt her head further to the side and allowed him access to her throat.

“Have you eaten recently?”

“Why do you ask?” he murmured. “Are you offering?”

She never minded when he needed to feed from her. It had turned infrequent after the first few times and the blood loss caused her to nearly get disembowelled by a gnoll. Down in the Underdark, it may be dangerous but she supposed he had few other opportunities to feed.

“If you need it, I don’t mind,” she said. “But only what you need. My reflexes are vital in these fights.”

And he may as well eat from her while possible, she supposed. It wouldn’t matter much if they could be mind flayers the day after.

He made a pleased hum against her throat and she shuddered when his fangs brushed against sensitive skin. “You really spoil me. I’m going to have to make it up to you, no?”

“You don’t need to.”

“But I want to.” He pressed a kiss right over her pulse point. “I can’t possibly take your delicious blood from you without giving something in return. Especially if it makes you a little lightheaded the day after.” He placed another one just beneath her jaw. “Believe me when I say, you won’t regret this evening at all.”

She wanted to let him make good on his promises. After all, what would it matter if she could die at any moment. Not to mention how Gale’s new plans involved blowing himself up and that might kill not only him but everybody on the Sword Coast and she didn’t trust Mystra’s word at all.

“You’re overthinking something,” Astarion said. “Why don’t you focus on me? I’ll make it up to you for annoying you today.”

She stepped away, suddenly confused by what he meant. A flicker of irritation across his façade only confirmed her suspicions. “Is that what you’re trying to do?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to make you feel better.”

“Do you even know what’s upsetting me? It’s not you.”

“Well, that makes it all the better. I couldn’t be a more perfect distraction for you, don’t you think?”

“I don’t want you to be a distraction.”

His lip curled. “Why not?”

“Because you mean more to me than that,” she said, not sure how she could express it without offending him. “I want to make you happy as well and I can’t do that when my mind is elsewhere.”

He shook his head as though she’d said something wholly outlandish. “Well, you can always make me happy some other time. Isn’t that the point of this whole, more thing, hm? I’m here for you and all that?”

“No.”

He moved back into her space and ran his fingers down her cheek. “You’d rather I left you to wallow?”

“No,” she sighed. He was trying to find a reason. First, the offer of a thanks for the blood but when she hadn’t shown interest in that, then an apology for what he perceived as irritation. Now that he realised why she was upset, a distraction.

“You can stop being the hero for one moment,” he promised. “You can be selfish every now and then. After all, we’re growing close to the center of this cult, aren’t we? We have something to consider there. Instead of doing the ‘heroic’ thing… maybe there’s another option.”

Her brow furrowed and her eyes flickered to his. “What do you mean?”

“I know you always want to do the right thing, save the helpless orphan, pick up the puppy, slay the monster, all of that,” he said and the words sounded slightly bitter. “But maybe we can find another solution and take some of the influence for ourselves?”

“You want me to take over the Cult of the Absolute?” she asked, confused entirely by the direction of this conversation.

“At the very least, consider it.”

She shook her head. “The cult is kidnapping people and putting mind flayer parasites in their heads,” she argued. “I cannot let that continue. Whoever these people are, they are behaving far worse than any monster.”

He looked unimpressed. Had he really thought she would agree to take over a cult? She despised the Absolute for everything it had done to her and her companions though… well, Astarion so far felt only the positive effects of their affliction. It wouldn’t be beyond him to want to keep it.

“Well, you’ll still get to be the hero,” he finally said. “You can help save me from the worst of my curse.”

“You’re really trying your hardest,” she said. “One day, I’m going to start taking offense to the hero comments.” He’d been getting worse with it as time went on, especially after she offered assistance to groups like the myconids.

Astarion looked almost pleading as he gestured at what was around them. “It wouldn’t be the first time you gave a ‘monster’ a pass, would it?”

“Are you speaking about yourself? Or about the owl bear?”

“Well, I don’t think the owl bear has killed anybody. Yet. If anybody could tame that thing though, I’m sure it would be you.”

She crossed her arms. “Killing people isn’t what makes somebody a monster. I’ve done it myself.”

“Not unless you had no other option,” he scoffed. “I saw you try and speak to a gnoll to convince her to nicely leave you be.”

“Exactly but that’s no different to you? I mean, I suppose I don’t know what you do in the evenings but I wasn’t aware it was running around and murdering children. If we let the Cult of the Absolute continue, they’ll destroy everything.”

Astarion mimicked her pose, defensive and defiant. “Oh, I’ve made the decision plenty of times. Do you really think that when I led hundreds of poor, innocent souls back to Cazador, I didn’t choose? He always gave me the option. I could spend the night with him or I could prowl the streets. A decision I made time and time again.”

“Do you consider that a choice?”

“What else is it? I chose to go out, watched the crowds until I found the perfect soul to drag back to his mansion, knowing all the while that they would die.”

“And what was the alternative? Because from what you’ve told me about vampire lords, they’re not exactly the best company in the world. What option did you truly have where you wouldn’t suffer for your choice?”

He tensed and she already had her answer. Perhaps he did blind her somewhat but she understood the position he’d been placed in better than he thought. How could she hold survival against him? That was exactly what she was trying to do currently with this tadpole in her head.

“I’m not going to take over the Cult of the Absolute,” she said. “Yes, it might give me power but I don’t want anything like that. I just want to be free of this.”

She stepped away from the riverbank to find a log she could sit on and stare up at the cave ceiling. The people she’d met on this adventure had truly been amazing. In a way, she’d actually been having fun. But now it felt as though the end lingered nearby, just out of reach.

Astarion watched her and she waited, not sure what he would say. Eventually, he settled on something separate from the cult.

“You would have made for the easiest prey,” he said. “If I had met you in the first few decades, it would have been simple to get you back to him.”

She chuckled sadly. “I’m not sure how well that would have worked. I’m rather immune to your charms.”

He smiled. “Oh, I wouldn’t have flirted with you at all. All I’d need to do is convince you that I was in danger and you needed to come help me. Just like that, you’d follow me anywhere.”

“Why only in the first few decades?”

“Well, after those, I stopped using any techniques other than the one that worked best.”

She pursed her lips together, unhappy. “I’ll have you know; I didn’t offer to help Halsin out. He chose to come with us.”

“Right, because normal people find a random bear in a goblin camp and choose to fight to the death for it.”

“Maybe I just hate goblins that much.”

She honestly never expected Halsin to join them on their path to Moonrise but she welcomed any assistance these days. He understood far more about these tadpoles than she did and she needed his expertise.

Still, perhaps Astarion was right. She’d have made for very easy prey if he tried to lure her away.

“Well then?” he asked and she looked up at him.

“Yes?”

“What do you want me to do if not distract you?”

She frowned at nothing in particular. She didn’t really want anything from him but she knew he wouldn’t accept it as an answer. He’d already helped so much just by being at her side while she simply spoke.

“Just be here,” she said. “That’s all I need. What do you want from me?”

The question slipped through before she could think it through, something she’d been wanting to know since the beginning but had always been too nervous to ask. What was it that he wanted from her? She didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer most of the time.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re always asking what I want you to do for me,” she explained. “Now I want to know what you want from me. Protection? A meal? Sex?” She didn’t think it to be the latter. Astarion seemed to think of sex as something she wanted as opposed to him.

He hesitated, uncertain. “I… I want you to continue being you, I imagine? If there’s anybody out there who can solve our little predicament, I’d put good money on you and your ridiculously good fortune.”

She supposed she did occasionally have good luck but she also doubted it to be reason alone for his loyalty.

“Nothing else?”

She feared he’d confirm for her something she already knew – he hadn’t really meant anything. He kept trying to hard to give her what he thought she wanted, to make her happy, when he didn’t really care for her by herself. Perhaps he didn’t even know he was doing it.

“I suppose I want you to want me,” Astarion settled on after she’d wallowed for a few seconds. “I mean, everybody does but you’re the only one who I want to be interested in me. Most of the time, I shudder at the mere thought of somebody touching me but I’ve come to rather appreciate it with you.”

A flush rose to her cheeks and she fought to keep it away. “I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“I also want you to say my name more. I’ve grown rather fond of the way you say it when you’re irritated at me.”

She almost started laughing and, though she hated to admit it, she felt relieved to hear something as trivial as his name. Because if all he wanted was for her to say his name, she could easily manage that.

“It’d be a crime not to say a name as pretty as yours,” she teased. “Even when you’re whining.”

“I do not whine.”

“Yes, you do.”

He rolled his eyes dramatically. “I also want you to compliment me more. I rather like what you have to say so you should feel free to spend some time with me and just talk or whatever. It’s a far better way to pass the time rather than eavesdropping on this strange group you’ve collected.”

He wanted her to be with him, then? In the same way she wanted to be with him. She didn’t know whether she should be relieved or saddened in how little he understood her wants when he mirrored them so closely.

“I’m not going to take over the cult,” she reiterated. “But I’m going to find a way for you to walk in the sun still so that I can continue to see you after all this is over.”

“Sounds like the kind of impossible thing only you could pull off.”

She laughed and she finally understood what she could do to help him get what she wanted. “I’ll find a way,” she said. “But for now, I’m going to focus on the three things I can do. Your name, compliments, and… well, just being there.”

“It sounds as though you’re trying to court me.”

“I am. I can’t do it properly now but maybe when we reach Baldur’s Gate, things will be easier.”

He laughed. “Oh no, you’re serious aren’t you. What are you, some kind of long-lost royal with ‘courting’?”

“You’re going to have to find out when we reach the city.”

Somewhere in the Underdark, something rumbled and she stood to look down the river to make sure it stayed far away. She doubted anything would attack her camp but she had to be sure. It felt like danger lurked around every corner and she refused to put her friends in trouble.

Because they were her friends, before anything else.

“You know, we don’t have to be more,” she said. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m not attracted to you but if you want to just be friends, you’ll still get all the compliments and the safety. It doesn’t have to be anything else.”

He rolled his eyes again and stepped into her space. “Don’t be stupid,” he said. “I don’t know how you managed to do it but you’ve captured my attention. I’m sure you won’t want to squander it.”

She certainly didn’t. When she lay on her back that night, thrown about in thoughts of transforming into a mind flayer, at least half of them spun instead with the vampire spawn who prowled around the camp and his awful attempts at comforting people.

Tag List: @voidinfernal, @mavix, @starved-kitten, @crowley--aziraphale, @zane2408, @umsolikeblog, @promptly-mercy

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate astarion #astarion #astarion x tav #astarion x reader

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insuke69 · 11 months

Note

hii, can you make a miguel x female spider reader where it’s like enemies to lovers, and she was like recruited, kinda like gwen (during a anomaly, by accident???) she could be v badass

Okay but deadass: I love that context sm, Idrk how to start that off so ima just- . Idk

Recruited

_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•_•

(This is sm longer then I wanted it to be, I’m gonna sob, btw this don’t have any smut more like how the ‘y/n’ specifically met Miguel, I’ll do a part 2 with actual smut though)

It was a regular night in earth 652 for Spider-woman, until one day there was a loud crashing sound coming from the mall of her Manhattan

𝖳𝖧𝖶𝖠𝖯 went the web as she swung over to the mall, she half-expected her Archnemesis: Doc-oc, also known as Olivia Octavius, she continue swinging as she webs building after building until she arrives

“Doc-ock, what’s with all the ruckus?” Spider-woman announces playfully as she webs into the mall where the crash was heard from to find the food court collapsed along with the escalators around it.

Suddenly she felt a tingle on her upper neck, she jumped out of the way as a piece of rubble from the torn McDonalds counter was thrown at her, making a big crash on the wall, Spider-woman whips her head to look in the direction it was thrown from to see a familiar masked face, but on a different ..Person? Who was this man, he had the metallic tentacles, the dark green suit and goggles, but he wasn’t the familiar Woman Spider-Woman usually battled with..

Spider-Woman began webbing to him, dodging the large rubble that was being thrown at her.

“Would you mind introducing yourself? It’s be boring to fight a stranger.”

Spider-Woman says as she dodges the strange-villain’s attacks, occasionally shooting webs to catch the rubble that’s thrown at her and throwing it back with force.

“I could say the same to you, where’s Spider-Man?”

The man retorts as he keeps on with his attacks, using some tentacles to hold him up, some to throw things at Spider-Woman and some to personally attack her

‘..Spider-Man? Who’s that? There’s just me, Spider-Woman..’ Spider-Woman thinks to herself for a moment before speaking up:

“I asked you first, tentacles.”

She responds, she’s damn stubborn enough to not even introduce herself until she learns who this rando is, she shoots webs to move herself closer and starts to try and web his tentacles

“It’s Doc ock you imbecile! You guessed it at first, now where is Spider-Man?!”

He says in a harsh tone as he avoids the webs and Keeps throwing in his metallic tentacle punches, he grabs her by the ankle and slams her into a pile of ruble, making a loud crash.

“There’s no Spiderman, i don’t know who the hell that is but I’m Spider-𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻.”

She responds as she gets back up and shoots more webs at him which he avoids while walking closer on his tentacles, the sound of the heavily metallic limbs hitting the ground.

They continue to fight, Spider-Woman getting good hits and kicks in but Doc ock doing the same, after a while of this Doc ock manages to her pinned on the wall by his metallic tentacles holding her by the abdomen and her arms at her sides

“You seem to be feisty in these things, Shame that not even you can beat me.”

Doc Ock comments sarcastically as he tightens the grip his metallic False limb tights on her abdomen, causing a small grunt to escape Spider-Woman’s throat

“Can you chill with that? It’s hella uncomfortable right now.”

Spider-Woman says as she squirms to escape his metal arms but to no avail

𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗵

A weird sudden portal slits open and Doc Octs head spins quickly and stares over to where the noise came from, Spider-Woman seized the opportunity and quickly threw a kick at his face, supporting herself with her wall sticking ability, the kick throws him to the side

She webs the ground on the sides of the man and throws herself at him leg first and kicks his chest down while webbing him onto the ground and then kneels behind him looking at the portal.

A large man jumps through, he has a dark blue suit with talons and a large red and nearly glowing red spider that makes lines that go by his arms and seems to be about 6’9, he doesn’t say anything but look Spider-Woman with an obvious cold and blank expression.

“Who- wha-“

She clears her throat and points her webs at him to be cautious, not planning to actually shoot him.

“Who are you?”

She asks as she stares up at him and keeps her other web shooter pointed to Doc Ock, who is webbed to the ground by his tentacles and torso.

“That’s classified.”

The man huffs in a deep and serious voice, he glances at the web shooters and at Doc Ock.

“Excuse me but it’s kind of only fair that you introduce yourself to be polite.”

Spider-Woman says as she gets up and lowers the web shooter she had pointed at him.

“I don’t know you so why should I introduce myself first?”

The man responds with a smug tone as he goes on a gadget he has on his watch and shoots his own red laser webs at the man.

“What kind of Spider-Man are you anyways? Why do you look like that.”

Doc Ock asks in a harsh and rude tone as he struggles and trys to escape the web, Spider-Woman slightly snickers at his comment.

“You two shut up, cállate.” The Spider-Man says to both of them as he picks up Doc Ock, the ‘Cállate’ more directed to Spider-woman with a slight annoyed look under his mask.

Spider-Woman feels a tingle on her upper neck as she see’s a strange green device where Doc Ock was webbed, she realizes what it is, she expects the other ‘Spider-Man’ to have a noticeable reaction, once she realizes he doesn’t, she instinctively jumps and shoves him onto the ground and crouching beside just before that strange device blows up with a loud pop that launches debris everywhere, Spider-Woman holds onto the ground to keep her from launching as well.

She watches as the Spider-Man claws to the ground, slightly sliding on the cracked mall tiles below.

Doc Ock slides along and try’s to break free but can’t with the Laser web layer that the Spider-Man put on him.

Spider-Woman’s ears start ringing from the blast, she was right beside the thing, she shuts her eyes and cups her hands over her ears, after a few moments she glances up to find small drones that are scanning the area and Doc Ock in a holographic and orange bubble-like thing

“Mind telling me who you are 𝗡𝗼𝘄?”

She asks once the ringing fades before standing up and looking at him, his taller figure that practically towered over her.

“Miguel O’Hara, leader of an elite spider task force over the multiverse.”

“..Multiverse? So you’re a Spider-Man and I’m just ‘a’ Spider-Woman?”

Miguel nods slightly, not glancing at her, a holographic woman appears from his watch-like device

“No further anomaly’s, ..and I was checking out this gal and she could have a good thing going.”

She says to him, her holographic figure glitching a bit as she speaks.

“Huh? What do you mean ‘good thing’? And where did you get the watch goober thing?”

Spider-Woman comments, slightly reaching out to his wrist.

“Its a multi-dimensional traveling device.. a bit cooler then a watch.”

He responds slightly moving his wrist back as she reaches out for it.

“..how do I get one? It’s only fair.”

Spider-Woman says with a shrug and a playful tone

“To join the Spider-society.”

He retorts before dramatically groaning and tapping a few things on his watch, another portal opens as he says something into the watch, after a moment he tosses a watch at her.

“Hurry before I regret this.”

He says before turning and stepping into the portal, Spider-Woman following after him

She looks around her at the pristine walls and hallways of many spider-people around her.

“So, mind telling me more about you Spider-Woman?”

He asks sarcastically as the two step through the busy halls of Spider-people.

“Spiderwoman, aka y/n.”

She says as she keeps looking around, the seemingly infinite halls of Spider-Woman and Spider-Men

“So this place is pretty much a bunch of spiders”

She comments playfully as she glances up at him through her mask, he doesn’t respond other then a small nod.

They walk into his office, Spider-Woman looks around and decides to take off her mask and rubs her eyes as they step inside, Miguel glances at her, taking in her features and beauty, like she were blessed by a Greek goddess, and then removes the holographic part of his suit that is over his face.

Spider-Woman hardly stops herself from staring at his chiseled features, his jawline sharp as a tack and his defined cheekbones and brown serious eyes.

“You seem fun.”

She says sarcastically with a small chuckle.

“Sorry for not messing around when the fate of the multiverse is often at stake.”

He retorts not sounding at all amused

“Fate of the multiverse? Damn you’re definitely fun at parties I see.”

She retorts with a small eye roll as she looks around

“I’m fun when I need to be.”

He responds looking down at the Spider-Woman beside him

“And when do you need to be fun? Why don’t you prove it now Mr hot-shot?”

She jokes in a challenging tone with a playful smirk.

“Why should I? What do I even- no.”

He responds not wanting to waste his time on something petty

“You’re no fun.”

She says with an eye roll.

#miguel o'hara smut #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel spiderman #fanfic #across the spiderverse #spider man 2099 #miguel ohara

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ashesandhackles · 1 year

Text

Precision in Grief and Rage

I wanted to talk about the shift in Harry's internal voice from Order of Phoenix to Half Blood Prince, and how his grief, guilt and immense self-loathing for his part in events around Sirius' death informs it. At the end of Order of Phoenix, Harry is a mess - of incoherent, unfocused grief, where he wishes he never wished more that he was anybody else:

“Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human — ”

"I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!” Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room.

The scene at Dumbledore's office is rife with how much he blames himself for his godfather's death. After one cathartic scene at the office, Harry spends the next year avoiding any and all mention of Sirius (he wolfs down his breakfast when Ron and Hermione bring him up) and suppresses his grief and rage surrounding the events of OOTP- unless he is sure that the person he is speaking to understands the weight of Sirius' loss: he hopes Remus would write to him, he mentions Sirius voluntarily to Tonks (under the impression that she is grieving him), and talks about him to Buckbeak ("Missing him? But you're okay with Hagrid, aren't you?"). His grief and rage manifests in precise, focused rage in this chilling Harry scenes:

Thank you!” said Mundungus, snatching the goblet out of Ron’s hand and stuffing it back into the case. “Well, I’ll see you all — OUCH!”

Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.

“Harry!” squealed Hermione.

Why do I call it a focused, precise rage? Mostly, because unlike the other times Harry is provoked with perceived disrespect to a dead parent, Harry has not forgotten his wand. (Cue the scene in OOTP that he is so angry he just beats up Malfoy with his fists). What Harry has done is not just grab him by the throat, he makes sure Mundungus (who is shorter than him) is nose to nose with him and then threatens him with a wand. (btw, a note from my reread: younger Harry attacks people bigger than him by grabbing their throats too - Vernon to get his letter, the troll etc etc. It seems to be something he had picked up from Vernon. We see Vernon grabbing him by throat in opening chapters of OOTP)

“You took that from Sirius’s house,” said Harry, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and spirits. “That had the Black family crest on it.”

“I — no — what — ?” spluttered Mundungus, who was slowly turning purple.

“Give it to me!”

“Harry, you mustn’t!” shrieked Hermione, as Mundungus started to turn blue.

There was a bang, and Harry felt his hands fly off Mundungus’s throat. Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case, then — CRACK — he Disapparated.

And Tonks has to throw Harry magically off Mundungus.

Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone.

And he doesn't stop until Tonks magically throws him off Mundungus. It is not a coincidence that we see Harry's darker and more chilling traits in a book where he is heavily paralleled with Tom Riddle. The parallel is explicit in the scene where he uses his mother's death to guilt Slughorn into giving him the memory. But here is a tiny mention of how Tom Riddle reacts to perceived disrespect to an heirloom from his parent:

“That’s right!” said Hepzibah, delighted, apparently, at the sight of Voldemort gazing at her locket, transfixed. “I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn’t let it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a ragged-looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, but had no idea of its true value — ”

There was no mistaking it this time: Voldemort’s eyes flashed scarlet at the words, and Harry saw his knuckles whiten on the locket’s chain.

Quite telling to me that Harry specifically notices how Voldemort's knuckles whiten around the locket, after Hepzibah pretty much talks about how Merope was essentially robbed. Harry understands.

When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head.

“You really understand him.”

“Bits of him,” said Harry.

#harry james potter #half blood prince #sirius black #tom riddle

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yourssinfullyquiche · 10 months

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In the wake of dawn...(D, no.22)

Hello, all you beautiful people🥰 This is a suggestive drabble Hope you enjoy~

Prompt 23: a kiss on the space between collarbones

Gavin x F!reader

He’s awake even before the alarm rings, he always is. He has to go though he wishes he could stay toasted under the blankets wrapped around them and the warmth of her body. Outside, it continues to rain, not the deluge that chilled the air earlier, but a soft rhythmic rain that has the mysterious ability to lull him back to sleep.

His movements are light, gently moving her hand away but it wakes her. She grumbles, hand returning to slap against his chest. His fingers tangle in her hair, ruffling it.

“I have to go,” Gavin utters softly.

“No,” she whines and places her head atop his chest, weight shifting against him. She continues laying there, relishing the pleasure she feels from his caresses. Lazily, his fingers travel down her spine, back and forth.

“Sorry,” he says and goes to kiss her head but she looks up, pouting. “I’ll be back at six today, as early as I can. Then my night belongs to you,” he goes to have his morning kiss but she looks away, shoving her bop of messy hair into his face.

Swiftly he avoids the “attack,” chuckling. Feeling a little mischievous, the fingers on her spine go to her hips and it’s one second too late before she realises. Because by then she’s laughing and struggling against him, trying to free from his locked grasp. “OK! OK!” she blurts out, panting and laughing from the ticklish surprise. Too bad for the officer, she’s yet to admit defeat.

“Hmm, you’re one naughty man, Gavin,” she says, voice oozing sexiness. She wears a sultry gaze and he knows he’s not leaving the bed until she has her way.

She taps her nails from the dark trail slowly inching forward to his collarbones where she kisses the space between them. Her lips move up to his open ones, her fingers circle his nipple before moving the opposite.

“Baby, not now,” he pleads, there’s no way this will end quickly. He groans when she grasps him, semi hard and throbbing. All thoughts of leaving early have gone out the window as he surrenders to her whims.

The group receives a text from their Commander explaining he will be late today and everyone is shocked, it is out of the Commander's character. Everyone wonders why. Maybe not everyone. Eli, with unfortunate speed guesses it and begins to wonder yet again why he has no girl to make him run late.

A/N: Thank you for reading❤️ This was supposed to be short and SFW but I guess it just happened. Making the reader feel clingy and possessive. Also poor Eli🥺

💌Asks are open: spots to kiss

Delve into my world

© YOURSSINFULLYQUICHE2023 — no part of this writing shall be plagiarised, translated or reposted in any way. Likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated! Taglist: @purple-cat-demon @rinharu-purple

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https-yuqiivdol · 1 year

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𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓞𝓷𝓮: 𝓐𝓬𝓬𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓼𝓪𝓿𝓮..?

Chrt/ Jeongin and Han(mainly Jeongin), Y/n

Genre: thriller/horror

Σ(°△°|||) Warning: mentions of blood, implied panic attack(Jeongin), Han is literally almost dead. Let me know if I missed anything!

Plot: You're just like the others, going to your basic university, and of course, you love the popular stray kids, but even then, you have a strange feeling about them and avoid them like a virus. Your suspicions would never be confirmed true. Until one day, life takes a particular path...

《Masterlist》

You work part-time at a convenience store, for you it was a good way to blance school and make money, as you only worked on mondays and wednesday. When you walk into the employees' room to turn off the power, you call it a day. Using your flashlight, you walk through the woods. It was sadly the only way you could get to your car, you have considered changing your parking spot but a couple of thirty minutes (the extra twenty walking through the woods ) versus trying to find a good spot on hours on end, just swerving your car is a much better deal, Then you hear a twig snap turning around with your flash light in hand. You hear a noise in a distance "Help" a blood curling scream reached your ears... full-blown panic. What do you do here? You're in the middle of the woods, just as the night sky bloomed, and there's a person screaming for help, and you don't know where the noise is coming from. So with no sense of direction where the person would be, you decided to walk ahead and see if you could get a clue of where the person might be, but after a few minutes you saw something you never thought you would see as you got to the source of the yelling, Han and Jeongin from your school, but... Han and Jeongin were in horrible condition but Han was worse, his hair is mess, his nose is bleeding and his mouth was dripping blood to his chin, was he dead?, his whole body is coved with restless scratches, were you right about these boys? What the hell happened to them? Jeongin nose is bleeding, his arm has a large cut on it, and his face has some cuts on it, and as tears dripped from his face, his breathing is heavier it's obvious he's been running for a long time. You hear something behind you as you walk closer. Before you can look behind, Jeongin pushes you behind him and grabs your flashlight.

That's when you heard it, it was something you knew if someone said they saw what you heard, you would tell them to chill out, and stop Hallucinating but you saw something, and it had sorts of long claws, it didnt have skin from what you saw, and... it just burts into flames the second the flashlight faced it. Just what the hell is the thing?, you couldnt see anything else, and you're glad you didn't. It then screams, reaching your ears. The shriek it led out was horrible, yet full of pain... can it even feel pain? you guessed by the way it was screaming. As it was basically being burned alive, but how, and why..? You thought they got attacked by an aggressive bear, wolf, hell, even a fox.. what... is that? After that question, though, it was over.

It was over..? All you see are ashes with flames covering the ground as your hand sat beside you with jeongin infront of you, you turn to Han who leaned on a tree but quickly turned back having questions that needed answers "What the hell was that?" You sat up and pointed at the ashes that monster was, Jeongin went silent for a second the spoke up in a very quiet tone " That was a creation of the Sound monster, the type was a Photothesitatic" Youre shocked by the lack of emotion he's giving off now, before you knew he was screaming his lungs out "And what are you doing here?, what the happened to Han and are there more of that monster? How did you kill that monster to begi-" "I'll tell you later, but can we please get Han to safety..?" You realize he was obviously overwhelmed with your questions and wanted to focus on what was more important, you now feel really guilty for getting carried away "okay, a convenience store I work at is this way-" you point to the way of your job "-the power is working there." Jeongin noded, letting you lead the way by giving you the flashlight and picking Han up.

The walk all the way back was silent, but you could tell Jeongin was on the verge of crying, you open the door and locked it behind you guys for the sense of safety. You sprint into the employees room turning on the power and pulling out a medkit in a attempt to disinfect and bandage his and Hans wounds, you were worried mainly about Han, you didnt have the correct or necessary resources to help him, and Han didn't wake up once but when you got close to him, he was breathing so you calmed down a little. You grabbed your phone and started calling 911. When the ambulance came, you and Jeongin were patched up, and Han was taken in the ambulance, two police officers came in to talk to you and originally Jeongin but he was too shaken up, crying too much to even answers questions. "What is your relationship with the young man?" You were shaken too, but the right now the only person able to answer the police is you, "I'm a classmate of him-" after a lot of talking to officers and officers talking to each other, you take the chance to clean up.

You were left with jeongin, who was able to calm down, closing the door, finally closing the store. "I wanted to thank you, Y/n, for coming to save us... if you waited any longer, we would've been dead, Han and I owe you." Your heart softened as the younger bowed to you. You grabbed him by both shoulders, making him lift his head up."You already owed up to me, remember? When you killed that... Photo thee-ahh?" You cringed at your very poor attempt to say the word. "Anyways- what I'm saying is that you don't owe anything to me... not you, not Han, not anyone, okay?" You smile as one of your hand goes to his cheek as a attempt to comfort him, he looks at you and stands up straight, his dried tear face forms a small smiles though its small, it's still there "I'm sorry, you must've had so many questions I-" "It can wait" you cut him off, you didn't want anymore pressure on him like you did before. "Can you walk home..? I can drive you to the dorms if you want! I'm going anyway." You say as you swing your bag over your head."Yes... thank you."

When you tell the police officers you and Jeongin will be leaving, thinking it's safer, the police officers follow you guys to your car. You thank the policemen as you start the car, during the ride, you drove slow, relaxing music plays on your radio to ease the tension, as you pull into the driveway and park your car, Jeongin speaks up "Um do you think you can put your phone number... O-or anything you're comfortable with, really, " He nervously says. You chuckle at his nervousness. "Okay, how about I give you my number, and we can go from there?" You reassure him, "right! Yeah, that'll work. " You pull out your number, Jeongin immediately pulls out his phone and starts typing down. You walk into your dorm, locking it behind you. In your bed you had a hard time sleeping, you couldnt help but think about what you saw, what you heard, you turn on you phone put on some relaxing music to ease yourself, slowly falling asleep.

▪︎ I hope you like the story so far! Please reblog and comment so more people see my work. Sadly, liking doesn't work. (╥﹏╥)

#stray kids x gender neutral reader #stray kids x y/n #stray kids x reader #stray kids #jeongin stray kids #they/them reader #poly!skz #poly!stray kids x reader #ongoing series

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dream-meister-translations · 2 months

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DREAM MEISTER & THE RECOLLECTED BLACK FAIRY

ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE x KING'S GAME - PART 3

━

A game to determine the king who will rule over the party participants.

Having decided to participate, we headed for the Great Hall located at the center of the castle, where everyone was told to gather. There were large windows that lined the walls, allowing us to peer out at the sky.

EMMA : The view of the sky is breathtaking! The moon looks so beautiful tonight!

BURN : Oh, what a beautiful setting! With the moonlight behind us, our heroic actions will shine brightly!

SPARROW : Wow...The moon is so big and round...I-It's beautiful...

YMIR : Hehe, Sparrow. You should say something like "Emma is even more beautiful."

SPARROW : Wh-Wha!?

LIEBE : Just ignore them, Emma. If it were possible, I would go up and pluck that moon from the sky to give it to you~

LEN : Is this the place idiots gather or what?

VICTOR : Emma, I'm curious, if you were to become king, do you have any orders or desires in mind?

EMMA : I haven't thought of anything yet. How about you, Victor?

VICTOR : Hmm. I want to develop a new cocktail~ There are limits to individual knowledge and creativity, so I'd like to gather a group of taste-testers and hold a cocktail symposium!

YMIR : Does that really count as an order?

VICTOR : Well, in the sense of making opportunities by forcing others to partake, yes, I think it is a suitable order. What about you, Ymir? Don't you have anything you'd like to order as a king?

YMIR : Me? Nothing in particular. Most people listen to me without having to order them around, and I can't think of anything I'd want to order people to do just for the sake of it.

VICTOR : Be careful not to get stabbed one day, okay?

LEN : It's inevitable for trash like him.

EMMA : It's a bit surprising that Ymir isn't interested in being king.

EMMA : (Considering how ambitious he is, I thought he'd be more proactive about aiming for the top...)

YMIR : Being a temporary king feels empty, don't you think? It's a different story if true power can be obtained.

BURN : A shiver just went down my spine! I sensed a hint of evil from Ymir!

YMIR : Haha, me~? Humans are evil by nature. I'm a simple man. I just want to see how far I can rise.

EMMA : What about you, Len? You wanted to participate from the start.

LEN : Damn straight. If I were king, I'd make everyone here do a handstand first.

EMMA : Why!?

LEN : 'Cause it's funny. Duh. Then I'd have rabbit races until the party is over.

VICTOR & YMIR : You are ridiculous.

LEN : I'm just kidding!! Sheesh...

BURN : I'll support you in your dreams, Len!

LEN : Shut up.

LIEBE : If I were to become king, I'd use all means to make Emma fall in love with me. I'd show her how serious I am about wanting her~

EMMA : You sure are insistent...And getting too close again.

BURN : Hmm, orders huh? No matter how much I think about it, I can't find any interest in such a thing. I'd rather be the kind of hero who knocks down the guys giving the orders!

SPARROW : Burn is so confident...It's amazing...I wish I could be...

VICTOR : Oh my, Sparrow. What about you? Is there anything you'd like to order?

SPARROW : M-Me!? No, th-that's impossible. I mean, giving orders only to be attacked for it later...Uh, thinking about it gives me chills!

YMIR : So, everyone here is a participant? There are about fifty people.

VICTOR : That means a tenth of the original party are participating. This is a lot of competition.

LEN : Having absolute power to order anyone around, even other families? There's a lot of value to it!

SPARROW : Huh!! W-What's that sound!?

BURN : Is the game beginning? Haha, I'm getting excited!

EMMA : (From here on out, I need to do my best no matter what happens!)

With that determination running through my veins Iー

EMMA : Wh-What's this...!?

Suddenly, an unfamiliar smoke gushed into the room. Although we hurried to cover our mouths to avoid inhaling itー

My consciousness was swiftly thrown into a world where only white stretched out as far as the eye could see.

#Otome #Yumekuro #Yumekuro Translations #YMKR translations #YMKR #Dream Meister Translations #Otome Translations #Dream Meister And The Recollected Black Fairy #Dream Meister And The Recollected Black Fairy translations #king3

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dungeonmastertyrant · 4 months

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Druid of Spores

Druids of the Circle of Spores find beauty in decay. They see within mold and other fungi the ability to transform lifeless material into abundant, albeit somewhat strange, life. These druids believe that life and death are parts of a grand cycle, with one leading to the other and then back again. Death isn't the end of life, but instead a change of state that sees life shift into a new form.

Druids of this circle have a complex relationship with the undead. They see nothing inherently wrong with undeath, which they consider to be a companion to life and death. But these druids believe that the natural cycle is healthiest when each segment of it is vibrant and changing. Undead that seek to replace all life with undeath, or that try to avoid passing to a final rest, violate the cycle and must be thwarted.

Your symbiotic link to fungi and your ability to tap into the cycle of life and death grants you access to certain spells. At 2nd level, you learn the cantrip Chill Touch.

At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level you gain access to the spells listed for that level. Once you gain access to one of these spells, you always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you gain access to a spell that doesn't appear on the druid spell list, the spell is nonetheless a druid spell for you.

Circle of Spores Spells:

Druid Level 2: Chill Touch

Druid Level 3: Blindness/Deafness and Gentle Repose

Druid Level 5: Animate Dead and Gaseous Form

Druid Level 7: Blight and Confusion

Druid Level 9: Cloudkill and Contagion

Halo of Spores: Starting at level 2, you are surrounded by invisible, necrotic spores that are harmless until you unleash them on a creature nearby. When a creature you can see moves into a space within 10 feet of you or starts its turn there, you can use your reaction to deal 1d4 necrotic damage to that creature unless it succeeds on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. The necrotic damage increases to 1d6 at level 6, 1d8 at level 10, and 1d10 at level 14.

Symbiotic Entity: Also at level 2, you gain the ability to channel magic into your spores. As an action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape to awaken those spores, rather than transforming into a beast form, and you gain 4 temporary hit points for each level you have in this class. While this feature is active, you gain the following benefits:

When you deal your Halo of Spores damage, roll the damage die a second time and add it to the total.

Your melee weapon attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to any target they hit.

These benefits last for 10 minutes, until you lose all these temporary hit points. or until you use Wild Shape again.

Fungal Infestation: At level 6, your spores gain the ability to infest a corpse and animate it. If a beast or a humanoid that is Small or Medium dies within 10 feet of you, you can use your reaction to animate it, causing it to stand up immediately with 1 hit point. The creature uses the Zombie stat block in the Monster Manual. It remains animate for 1 hour, after which time it collapses and dies.

In combat, the zombie's turn comes immediately after yours. It obeys your mental commands, and the only action it can take is the Attack action, making one melee attack.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Spreading Spores: At level 10, you gain the ability to seed an area with deadly spores. As a bonus action while Symbiotic Entity is active, you can hurl spores up to 30 feet away, where they swirl in a 10-foot cube for 1 minute. The spores disappear early if you use this feature again, if you dismiss them as a bonus action, or if Symbiotic Entity is no longer active.

Whenever a creature moves into the cube or starts its turn there, that creature takes your Halo of Spores damage, unless the creature succeeds on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC. A creature can take this damage no more than once per turn.

While the cube of spores persists, you can't use your Halo of Spores reaction.

Fungal Body: At level 14, the fungal spores in your body alter you: you can't be blinded, deafened, frightened, or poisoned, and any critical hit against you counts as a normal hit instead, unless you're incapacitated.

Source: Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

#dnd class #druid

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c7thetumbler · 5 months

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Quick Game reviews: 2023 (Part 1!)

Hey everyone! Apologies for the screenshots stolen from google; at the point I compiled most of this I deleted my Xitter account and didn't have the screenshots I typically share from there.

Additionally, since Tumblr has a 30 image limit this is going to be split into 2 parts! How exciting.

Let's get it goin

This group of 8 games were beat in the first week of 2023! Do not set such goals; games are made to be fun on your own time and turning it into a job is a lot like seeing how the sausage is made. But I digress;

Tinykin (Steam)

A very fun 3D puzzle-platformer collectathon. It has many pikmin-like elements in that you control a bunch of little guys to carry, push, or interact with various objects in fun ways, but I would hesitate to call it a full Pikmin like game because they really serve as collectibles which when you have enough of let you access certain areas. There's really not strategy element to it. But, it's still a fun 3D platformer, and I recommend it

Super Kiwi 64 (Steam)

This is a weird one. Another 3D platformer that will last you at most 1 hour, Super Kiwi 64 is an unsettling but intriguing little experience where you navigate a number of levels with challenges and items to collect. I say unsettling because the music has a very mysterious vibe, and the environments go from the bright forest above to some almost liminal, dark areas devoid of interactable characters and littered with strange skeletons and glyphs. It was interesting; I would say pick it up on sale if you're looking for a chill hour of playtime, but it's also only $3, so you do you

Toree 2 (Steam)

Another retro 3D platformer that's more like the PS1 era, Toree 2 is focused on quick, optimizable movements and levels design to be speedrun and 100%'d. This one is also only an hour, but also only a buck to play! Keeping with the unsettling theme, it's levels are nostalgic and bright, but the main antagonist seems to be drawing on some glitchy, bizarre power that causes some strange effects to happen in levels. It's a small but fun nostalgic experience that it's difficult and a well done series of levels

Toree 3D (Steam)

Same review as above, the sequel! Sure, the 3D may lead you to believe it's different mechanically, but it was already 3D so it's really just more of the same.

Dead Estate: Bombs Away Update (Steam)

This update added a new character, some new enemies, and some alternate rooms. Again, my Dead Estate recommendation is high for those who are into the rogue-like, top down arcade shooters, and this free update was more goodness to complete, though BOSS can very easily be broken with a number of explosion-based items.

Mechanibot (Steam)

Is this auto chess? I don't know what auto chess is as a genre. kids these days

Mechnibot is a top down tower defense like game with rogue-like elements. You start off as mechanibot, a tiny robot who has been tasked to fix the sun and has a number of robots to choose from. Robots act as "towers" that grant certain effects depending on their type and description, and can even have multiple types and effects. Your job is to keep these robots alive and attacking by frantically running around and placing them in and out of danger. You get money for each wave, which can be spent on given options at the end of each wave to upgrade robots, get new ones, and some upgrades for yourself as well. It's a lot of fun, a good 8 hours of content and replayable. Try out the demo and see if it's for you

Minit Fun Racer (Steam)

Another short game! This is a spin-off from Minit, and is much more arcade like. You start off on your little bike and have to avoid all the obstacles and collect coins to get to the end. You won't be able to progress very far for a while, so you get upgrade to last longer and get some upgrades for your scooter until you eventually can. Took me about an hour and a half to get all the achievements, but there was surprisingly a lot of cute hidden stuff along the way. Again, a fun arcadey experience with lots of charm for almost nothing.

Chico and the Magic Orchards DX (Steam)

This one was fun! I was on a big GameBoy kick this year, and the DX for this actually came out I was playing it. It was a little aggravating with some of the boss fights, but overall I had a fun time playing it! Recommended for a nice little nostalgic GBC puzzle game, would definitely be best on a portable console.

A Little to the Left (Switch DL)

I wanted to play more simple games, and this one seemed like a lot of fun as a recommendation from a friend. It's a little short, but it speaks to me as someone who hops between obsessing over doing things perfectly and finding it difficult todo anything at all. I especially like the way there are multiple solutions for several puzzles, which when compared with another player let you understand the different ways people can "organize" the same thing. A casual puzzle game that's worth a try, though don't expect hours and hours of entertainment from it

Game & Watch Gallery 3 (Switch NSO: Game Boy Color)

I owned Game & Watch Gallery 2 as a young'un, and remember playing it endlessly so it was nice to give this one a go when the GB/C update for Nintendo Switch Online Dropped. As the third entry, it contains a lot less common Game & Watch games, but the modern spin on them using Mario characters gives it a lot of personality. Honestly, I'm surprised we don't see more of these games remade in recent Mario Parties as homages or just high score games you can do.

If you've never played a Game & Watch Gallery, I'd give this one a try as its fun, addicting little bites of gameplay are very enjoyable and there's loads of unlockable bonuses to keep your attention, but if you find you don't like a game or two in it it can be a slog to get the 1000 points to finish the whole game.

Wario Land 3 (Switch NSO: Game Boy Color)

For those unfamiliar with the Wario Land series (and yet somehow found me?), it's a very fun series of platformers which focus more on puzzle solving/execution than your typical Mario platformer. Wario Land 3 specifically took Wario Land 2's "Impossible to get a game over" formula and ran with it, also making this a fun little Metroidvania in the process. It's definitely among my favorite in the sereis, though it's held back by an obsession with its own mini-golf game which it has you play one every level (every level has 4 exits). Overall it's a great entry in Mario spinoffs and a very fun time, but be prepared to be frustrated by some pretty annoying jumps and a silly mini game

Super Mario Land 2: The 6 Golden Coins (Switch NSO: Game Boy)

I have a love-hate relationship with this one. I never got to play it fully when I was a kid, but returning back to it I loved it. But it's way, waaaaaay too short. With 6 worlds with 2-3 levels tops, and with a frustratingly focused screen due to the resolution of the original Screen, it's not got a lot of staying power. Would love to see it as a pallette in Super Mario Maker 3 though.

It's fun, but short. Don't expect to spend a lot of time with this, but hey; you're probably playing this as NSO sub or for free online so no loss with this classic

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ (Switch NSO: Game Boy Advance)

The original WarioWare! It's fun, but again pretty short. Worthj a play if you've never tried out a WW game before, but the best WarioWare portable experience is Going to be WarioWare Gold on the 3DS and the more recent switch escapades. Additionally, this doesn't have the Wario World functionality, which obviously it can't but that was part of the reason I played it back in the day. Good for some random fun, doesn't stand out as an experience vs the more recent WarioWares

Dead Estate: Heaven & Hell update

This is the update the game needed; it drastically improved the floor spawning algorithm, added a lot more interesting playstyles for each character, and added more enemies and gimmicks to keep you replaying over and over again. There are more updates past this that improve the game further, but with this I can whole-heartedly recommend this as a very fun and addictive rogue-like.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (Steam)

What a wonderful April Fools game. My favorite game dev pranks are the one where they just silently drop a whole-ass spinoff.

A wonderful jaunt in the Sonic Universe! It's no secret that I love Sonic, and I've been keeping up with the IDW comic series (it's very good) since it started releasing a few years back and it's a wonderful fleshing out of characters and side-stories that main Sonic games will never address. This murder-mystery + special stage minigame was written and produced by the same writes on the IDW comics, and it's a very fun experience to see them get to make an interactive game with some humor while still getting to keep and flesh out the characters we never really get to see in Sonic Games. I highly recommend this for any Sonic fan, and hope this means we'll be seeing more in the way of sonic spin-offs in the future.

...

Also the IDW comic series is great! It takes a little to start with the first arc, but after that it's all I want out of a Sonic Comic. Tangle and Whisper are also cool as hell.

Lunistice (Steam)

This was a fun albeit short3D platformer, also looking like a PS1 original. I unfortunately didn't 100% it so I didn't finish the story and get the nuances of it, but as a platformer it was a fun romp. I'd recommend it as a fun labor of love, but not as something you can really dig your teeth into

Pizza Tower (Steam)

This game is really good! Feels great, first time in a while I've been like "Oh this is fun but really hard, I don't think I'll get good enough to 100% it" and then slowly but surely decided to. The only issue is some kinda old racist tropes being used in the western world which they really didn't need, but gameplay, visually, and musically this is a masterpiece. An essential part of any platformer fan's collection to have tried.

... If only they hadn't added more achievements I'd still have it 100%'d on Steam

Super Mario Bros. Peach's Adventure (SNES Classic romhack)

I saw this in a bit on Vinny's fullsauce channel about weird Mario hacks, and the only premise for this being weird was that Peach's design is nonstandard. It became apparent when he started playing that actually a ton of work and love went into it, so for the sake of the bit he moved on. I Proceeded to hack my SNES Classic so I could play this and boy was it worth it.

This romhack is adorable! IT's full of collectible's, has really fun levels, tons of references for any longtime Mario fan, and carries a nice aesthetic of the original SMB but with SMW's features so it's looks like a really amazing Mario Maker game. I loved it!

Across-Stitch (Itch.io)

It's Picross, but with colors! I'm a big running fan of Nintendo Picross games, and this came up on my recommended on itch so I decided to give it a try. Very fun, has a lot of puzzles, and is just a fun time waster. I got it on itch (linked), but honestly it'd be perfect for my phone had I done that

PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION 2 (Steam)

So this one's kinda weird; Pac-man CE was one of my favorite games on the 360 (I didn't have many), and I thought the sequel would be it but just better since they'd solve the scoring problems. It was actually just like more of the same but with some different styles of play, and I found myself getting tired of it pretty fast. I have nostalgic memories of 1 so I'm probably looking at it with rose-tinted goggles, but this is a very passable arcade experience.

STEREOGRAM (itch.io)

I cannot in good conscience recommend you play this game, as looking at both screen this closely to do the stereogram and crossing your eyes for extended periods of time can cause permanent damage to your eyesight.

... But as a concept it was really neat! I did beat it with frequtn 5 minute breaks, and it only took a couple hours. Very basic metroidvania with fixed rooms to make the effect work.

Charm Studies (itch.io)

A very cute mixed visual novel and picross game! I like picross and this caught my eye, so I gave it a shot. Fun, but a bit short. But also free! Maybe try it out if you're not sure about picross yourself

Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut

Longtime C7 fans will know I like Shantae quite a lot. And have an unhealthy amount of Shantae Merch. So when my Sister was visiting and I was feeling particularly self-conscious about playing games over the mic with friends, I decided to whip out this classic and finally 100% it. Shantae holds a special place in my heart for me, because I grew up an incredible prude with absolutely no interest in the kind of scandalous things that friends were starting to bring up. Whenever they tried to get me to watch Anime and watch stuff that had some fanservice, I felt wildly uncomfortable just because I didn't know how to process what I was seeing (and had undiagnosed anxiety and ADHD issues).

Shantae was the first time I saw something "suggestive" (read: cute girls in light outfits) tied with a style of gameplay I liked, and allowed me to kind of stop hating myself whenever these things came up. With this being a DSi game, meaning I could download it with nobody knowing I did, and the rave reviews it was getting by being one of the first DSi games available, I finally decided to purchase it. I loved the series ever since!

Getting back to this play-session, I decided to revisit this classic (my first experience with the series) and play it 100% with all the bells and whistles, including speedrun achievements. I got them all! For people who know what Shantae is, this is an essential entry into the series and a contender for top 3. If you've not played a Shantae game but like Metroidvania's, this or the recently released Seven Sirens are the best starting points

And yes, just to brag, that screenshot of the steam stats does mean I got the worst ending last and optimized my playtime.

My personal Shantae tier list, best to worst

Seven Sirens

Risky's Revenge tied with Pirate's Curse

Half-Genie Hero

Shantae GBC

Risky's Revolution, an unfinished GBA game in the series, was also announced to be resurrected and releasing next year, which is rad!

.. Anyway, onto another topic

TUNIC (Steam, played over steam link on the TV with a Controller away from the internet)

This was a hard one to get into, but a very fun one once I got the difficulty barrier and begun understanding the games' mechanics. I did end up getting the best ending, but not 100% all the achievements since that would've required more playthroughs, and the magic of figuring out the world would've been gone.

The use of the manuals, sudden realizations of mechanics, and really fun moments with some beautiful areas and items to figure out make this a wonderful game. Some of the bossess are.. not great, but on the whole I highly recommend this experience to people who want to feel what it was like in pre-internet days, having to solve a game's puzzles by charting out the world and coming to a deep understanding of its mechanics to find all the secrets. If you're easily frustrated or aren't a fan of 2D Zelda though, this is a pass

Cult of the Lamb (Steam)

This was one I was not expecting to get into. I saw it and thought "Hmm, I like games with a base-building aspect to them sometimes but a lot of the time that really gets in the way of the actual game." And to be honest, there were a few moments where juggling the two kinda did. Additionally, and this is a personal taste thing, the visuals of Don't Starve kinda don't appeal to me, so seeing a more cutesy version of that wasn't something I thought I'd love

... But this game is phenomenal! An incredibly fun rogue-lite game that mixes with base and resource management in a way that doesn't actually exclude someone who would like one over the other!

This was another one I 100% after a LOT of playtime and attempts at damageless bosses, but it was very worth it.

LEGO Builder's Journey (Steam)

I've been on Lego for the past few years, and this seemed like a fun little game that wasn't tied to any existing franchise so I gave it a go. It's an environmental puzzle game, where each micro-level has its own little puzzle where you need to figure out which pieces interact to (most of the time) get your little 1x1x2 lego guy to the other end of the stage.

It's very cute, and while a bit short ended up being the perfect length for this kinda game. The only thing I'd put against it is my computer had a rough time running it because they really wanted all the shaders and reflections to look great, so keep that in mind.

The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (Switch Online)

This is a weird one. I could've sworn I loved this game as a kid, and in fact this is what got me into 2D Zelda's because it was so much fun! Revisiting it though, I find it's one of the weaker entries in the series. The visuals look great, the story is as charming as you'd expect, and as someone who was really into windwaker and picked this up I was hooked, however it is by far one of the most tedious Zelda's I've played. The Dungeons are all relatively straightforward; while some offer an interesting mechanic from being small and making you think how larger objects affect the world, they still felt very linear.

Additionally, I had no idea just how grindy this game was at the time in comparison! Tons of the sidequests and rewards are visible fomr your first pass in an area, so as a result every time you get a new item you're tempted to go back and see if helps. The NPCs often block places as an obstacle that just move after a while (or a result of kinstone fusing), which made the game a lot more frustrating to remember things by. Kinstones themselves are annoying to find and even worse to use, as NPCs will randomly decide if they want to fuse or not. So to get everything you need to frequently visit and revisit the same places and NPCs over and over again, with no way of knowing if that random person has something you need to fuse with or is actually just a random person.

Additionally the figure collection, something I adored in WindWaker despite it being ridiculously grindy there too, has been reduced to a Gacha machine. A heart piece is locked behind collecting them all, which means for 100% completion you have to collect ALL the figurines, including ones only available after you clear your file, making the final heart piece effectively useless. Worse, the act of collecting them is a gargantuan time sink; it takes loads of time to go through dialog, even more to collect the rupees you need, and the "chance" system doesn't quite work how you'd expect. With me cheating to get 999 rupees in gambling all the time and going through all the prompts to get all these, it took me 3 hours. That's quadrupled at least if you play the game properly.

Never 100% this game, but as far as 2D zelda's go this is definitely not a terrible entry; just a bit uninspired. I'd recommend ALTTP, ALBW, or Link's Awakening over this myself.

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

I would have some fun screenshots but deleted my twitter so they're gone now, oh well.

I'm not gonna go too far in depth on this one; It's breath of the Wild but >2x larger with some wild building mechanics and a really good story. A fantastic game that may see age as the open-world genre gets saturated, but quite frankly one of the best games you'll ever see on the switch.

Annalynn (Switch)

I followed the artist on Twitter (when I still had one) and really liked the retro feel of it. It's a fun classic arcade game, however like some of those classic arcade games I found myself frustrated by its difficulty while still not grasping the hardest nuances of its mechanics enough to get good at it. It's fun, but I'd see if it's for you by watching the videos first.

Part 2 coming later today!

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makahimetenshi · 9 months

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Follow me inside the wastelands - Chapter 26 -Arthur Maxson x Female Sole Survivor Fanfic

Hello to the ten maybe twenty people who keeps reading this fic 26 chapters later…its funny because I don’t see you in the numbers but I see you when I make an update. Which makes me wonder where the hell are the 60 people of chapter two, maybe in the middle of the road…and it’s a long road

If you are very very very delighted with one fic and want a continuation I didn’t write or post you can donate me at least $5 bucks, most of this fics have next chapters I don’t finish because lack of motivation but hey a $5 is a $5, I see a few reviews and comments that fics that are abandoned months laters receive comments of wanting to know what happens next. Here it is, I finished my handling with you all, enjoy the fic

The radrain didnt stop until a month and a week later from the latest events, Arthur had a bit of remorse for how things ended up last time…but not that much, he was tired. Know that this situation wasn’t normal but if knocking up somebody would be this problematic better spare himself…

A week after the radrain stop he received another letter, not from Nora, from the Longfellow old man, he was at the entrance of the airport delivering that letter and damn it was a miracle that he remembers who he was to accept it and not shoot at him, thing is that it wasn’t exactly a letter from Nora, but from Maccready, if it was really him of course, he didn’t know his calligraphy to judge if it was really him or not…

“She is at Sanctuary and will be for another pair of weeks if you want to pay a visit”

Cool, thanks for the notice…

He make a ball of the note, playing with it nervous on his hands and swallow saliva…yeah…yeah…lets pay a visit…

A paladin and a few soldiers should be enough, she says to always park the ventibird in the Red Rocket station since it’s the designated place for air vehicles…According with scribe Nereah power armor isn’t necessary for now, strong winds move all the radiation to another side this days so the air and the sky are clean to move freely, that’s what he expect of Nora doing outside too.

So he did, take a paladin and a few soldiers on a ventibird and move there, doubt that anyone but Nora will attack him…if that happens of course… he hopes to be able to take down a pregnant woman in case of anything, never did it before, its not like he wants to do it but…lately he don’t know anything…

At arriving at the station he knew that everybody in Sanctuary will be aware of his presence, so be it, but anyway he told the paladin and the soldiers to stay aside and just watch any weird movement in the settlement, if they hear shootings of course to come and help but nothing more than that, just in case of an emergency scenario.

But even before placing a foot down on the ground he saw at the wooden bridge a patrol of minutemens with…a pregnant lady in a blue vault suit. He swallows saliva and walk towards them. Meeting Nora, looking at her in the eyes avoiding to look at her belly. It wasn’t the only thing he wanted from her of course

At standing one in front of the other he wanted to talk and say anything, not really having something planned, before they didn’t have all this problems to communicate but now he felt like nothing more needs to be said even if there was a lot of talk to be done. But she did first. She talk first- Come on, lets go to my house to talk.

Arthur sighted and relax his shoulders, sometimes they understand the other too well

Of course he didn’t want their private drama to be part of his soldiers and hers but they need protection constantly from their positions.

Walking along her felt good and correct in another time but now it feels…odd…it gives him bad vibes, he hated that, wished everything to be as before but…no…his eyes slip to her rounded belly, his child was there now, and he loved it, this was all worth for him, maybe not easy but yes worth for him. A bad chill press on his spine when he saw the door of her house, the last time he was there maybe…it was when they conceive their child.

Both go inside the house and Nora leaned against the next wall, looking down, hands behind her back.

-Isnt that suit a bit tight?

-Why are you here Arthur? –rude, she always has awful ways to say things

-I suppose you would be here after the rain is over

-Its true, there’s a lot of settlement work to do everywhere, the radstorms leave a lot of damage in people houses…only im not doing it, im giving directions and helping but not much

-Im glad you aren’t…-he stay in silence for a moment, looking at the ground before looking up again- Nora its over –she look at him, not saying anything- you are five months now what do you expect to happen? You are even taking care of yourself, its not like you expect to loose it and free yourself from this –her hands moved to her belly, only to the sides.

-Taking care of it is something that it just felts natural and correct to do…I pass through this before…but I never expect it to happen again less with you.

-When you ask your husband down in the vault 111 about being happy again weren’t you talking about me? –he was quite sad about that

-Yes…and I was right, it did end horribly like with the last person I take down there

-It didn’t end, im not saying anything about an end, I keep looking for you because I don’t want it to end

-You know why im here? Why I still am a brotherhood soldier? –what? That only confuse Arthur- because I killed Danse –what does a thing have to do with the other? Nora sobbed, and look up trying to contain the tears in her eyes to not fall down her cheeks- If Danse would stay alive I would align with the institute just for his sake, but I killed him

-You killed him because I order you, he was synth and an spy…-he didn’t get it.

-No, I didn’t follow your orders, I killed Danse because I was mad I couldn’t convince him to run away with me, I confessed my feelings expecting it would change his mind and he say he can only look at me as a sister, I was mad, I let a fury consume me and I killed him taking the opportunity because I was so mad to be rejected after wanting him for so long…but not for the good of the Brotherhood…because I resented him –now tears were going down her cheeks, this was the second time Nora talks about killing someone because a fury consume her

So…Danse was the other guy everybody talk about. But they never were a thing.

-What does this have to do with our baby? So much time passed…-well it does feel like shit knowing that your woman has feelings for other person not gonna lie, but it doesn’t matter that much since he is dead a long time now

-If he choose to stay with me I would align with the institute to keep him secured by my side for sure

-With the same son you kill because of the atrocities he made? –this was bullshit, an attempt to make him go away.

-Or the railroad maybe I don’t know im…-she moved her hands to the sides of her head

-Confused, because this has nothing to do with our child, with me…with us…-Arthur step in front of her and place his hands on the sides of her belly, feeling it warm and heavy on his palms.

-I loved him, he was my best friend –Nora was sobbing, and as much her words were a stab on the chest they were discussing something far much important- and I was so mad for so little…I killed him, he didn’t deserve it

-Nora I told you before that you don’t have to be a saint all the time, you have the right to feel and you are pretty aware of it, you feel and do all the time –lets just forget the Danse subject shall we? It hurts him too, remembering your best friend hurts so much

-Don’t you see that I don’t choose the brotherhood? That I didn’t choose you!? -oh no she wouldn’t pull him away with this- if would choose anything else if he was still alive!

-Bullshit, you look after me for months, what we have is real and you can’t deny it, enough with this nonsense

-I would never choose an hypocrite with tech parts –now he did separate, doing circles on the floor walking almost laughing.

-You are so desperate, have nothing against me, you don’t wanna just admit that there’s absolutely no reason for this drama –she looks ashamed behind all the tears and the red nose.

-No…i…

-Come on, if you didn’t have an abortion until now, when? You want this baby, and don’t have a real problem with me…because I didn’t give you any single reason…ever

-Do you really want someone like me to be the mother of your child? –someone with an unclear goal, who flips sides all the time, who doesn’t like the idea of being a mother again

-This isn’t about me! –Arthur pointed at her with a sarcastic smile, cornering her in her own trap- I don’t get why five months later we keep discussing the same thing but yes! I do! For god sake I do!...-he stay in silence, looking at his sad dog face thinking carefully before talking- listen to me…I been working really hard…this half year…due to the results and achievements we both –he pointed at himself and her- had…I been promoted…

-You are already elder what biggest promotion would you need? –she was confused, still sobbing.

-I been talking and negotiate with other elders in California…contacting them back, they recognize my authority over Lyons…is not just my soldiers, my followers like they used to call them…I don’t have a cult…they recognize mine as a chapter of the brotherhood with no doubt…im no longer on Lyons shadow.

God. Nora close his eyes, its true, Arthur have his own problems too, and never take the time to think on them. Be at his side.

-And? –she moved close to him, taking his hands, feeling awful about never care about him, its true, she place all her drama in his shoulders and never care about his problems, her own hands tremble but this is the minimum she can do about it, even if it was useless and one attempt to feel herself better.

-We can go Nora, we can go away –he look at their hands together.

-I don’t get it.

-We can travel away from the Commonwealth, settle in somewhere else –she shook her head to the sides.

-What?

-You have horrible memories and experiences of this place, this land, lets go away, make new ones, the three of us…

-Can we do that? –Nora was so confused

-Yes! I have everything prepared…im just waiting for you…for our son…

She loose his hands, but Arthur put his on her shoulders, moving her head with his to look into her eyes.

-I…I don’t know…I have so many things here…

-This place only give you suffering the more you are here, lets go away from this memory’s, make some new ones with me and our child

Her breathing accelerates, a lot.

-I don’t think I can

-Nora it’s a chance for us

-But what about the minutemens…

-You can pass the power so someonelse, forget it, you are a sentinel you can work anywhere

-What do you mean

-I want us to be happy together

-I was happy before the baby! –she screamed, pulling away from his grip walking around the house nonononononono

-You weren’t happy before –Arthur follow her.

-Maybe –again, she grabbed the sides of her head.

-We can be all happy together, away from the horrors of the commonwealth

-I don’t know I have so many things to do…-Arthur place his palms in her cheeks, making her look into his blue eyes, she melted into that gaze.

-Im here just waiting for you Nora, I not leaving without you…but we can heal together away from this place

-The wastelands horrors are everywhere…my malnourished slim little kid –oh gosh she remembers

-They are, but together we are stronger…-her eyes fill with tears and Arthur hug her, pulling her against her chest, kissing on her head while she sobbed.

-I have to think of it…-why?- there’s so much im leaving behind

-You made a manual in case of death, what more do you need? Consider yourself dead and come with me, in case you died for any reason somebody else have to take your place anyway…

-Well I prefer you to have my caps ally…-true, logically true

-This door is open for us, only together, you told me a lot of times you wanted to travel away from the Commonwealth, this is not your old home anymore

-I don’t know if I will fit good as a mom no matter the place

-Im also becoming a dad –she look up at him, taking a breath, closing her eyes before hiding her face on her neck

-I have to think on it

Well

She didn’t say no but…that wasn’t a yes…and knowing her…she was saying no for sure. She didn’t want to follow him into the wastelands.

Arthur separate, and place a hand on her belly, it was the biggest he had seen until now and he believes…it was going to be the biggest he see forever…He feared not seeing her again for some reason stiching in the back of his neck and it didn’t feel like a common fear.

He took a long breath, look up trying to hold the tears, not wanting to take out his hand from there. He feared not being able to touch there again.

-Nora please

-I just have some things to do…

-I love you –he said out from the heart, but he knew that wouldn’t break her, wouldn’t reach her…

-I love you too

Not really, both stop loving each other with the same intensity as before. And that break Nora and Arthur hearts.

-Does it move? The baby –the question take Nora by surprise- its five month your exams are good you should feel something

-You have no idea –what does that mean? – it hits hard for only being five months…

-You are big –maybe too big for five months only, but he never see a full healthy pregnancy before, always on sick and malnourished womans. Nora put his hands over her belly, pressing them down over the leather of the vault suit

-Maybe too big for any suit

-Don’t worry, I can get as many comfortable clothes you need

-Ill give you an answer later…-that was a no, Arthur give up for today with grief, he move his hands away separating but the second before pulling…he swear he felt something against his palm.

-You know ill be waiting…im not leaving without any of you

-I know…

The elder will leave that day with the feeling on his palm of…something pressing hard against it…and the round sensation of her warm belly.

He took the ventibird at the Red Rocket station with the paladin and the soldiers waiting for him back to the Prydwen, the whole journey he would think on his pregnant woman and his 5 months child moving inside her, really moving. Soldiers can see that the elder was tired, defeated, again, today wasn’t a victory for him, the sentinel was being too rough and difficult to seduce.

That day Arthur decided that if she was going to stay at Sanctuary working unable to convince her, he would infiltrate an spy between the minutemens lines, not for anything more than just watch her and inform about her everyday and well being

He needed to be in some form…present…for her and their son if she didn’t allow it.

But he wouldn’t use a soldier from his own forces, he asked the other elders for an external intelligence soldier to come to the Commonwealth for a secret mission, not because his were unable but they all know Nora and had connections to her, maybe someone loyal to her and her triumphs will snitch on him. I mean if the elder ask you on a mission it was important if course but there may be some friendships or closeness involved since she was such an important soldier from so long, she started from initiate and had a big link…to Danse…one of the most popular and beloved Paladins…even if his name faded in time because his anti-synth campaign did good results.

Maybe it wasn’t moral, but he wanted to know what was up with his family, she didn’t want him close because of her own traumas and honestly he can’t travel everyday and mobilize a group to protect him, he had duties and responsibilities to do. Maybe she had hers to, he wouldn’t deny that, but clearly…their thing was dying, she didn’t want him close. He offer everything.

The only single thing he didn’t offer was to end up the pregnancy, and even if he offer it not only now it was too late he doubted it would improve something.

Maybe the baby really change the things, as it was expected of course it would change things…but he wished for things to get only better and they didn’t. He puts too much confidence in this relationship. It break his heart having this realizations but…It would be foolish to continue complaining after 5 months. That’s it. Its over.

He kick the table in his quarters with a small kick, but still one of the bottles of vodka fell, not spill…looking at the transparent bottle make him realize how much passed since he stopped drinking…before Nora he drink at least one shoot a day, and now this bottle was in the table as decoration mostly since year and half…

Maybe he needed a drink today.

The spy was introduced two weeks later in Sanctuary, as a citizen of the Commonwealth who came to work and live from the radio transmissions.

For an entire month he followed Nora and Maccready from the shadows, giving weekly reports to the elder of this chapter and everything seem…normal…apparently she gives directions and orders only, organizes patrols and logistics. She doesn’t eat in the communal dinners. Wakes up early to do…small labor, like cleaning the streets and moving the cattle, lately they were fencing the surroundings of the “isle” that is Sanctuary.

But she is big, bigger than any pregnant woman that the spy have ever seen for her time, it couldn’t be a thing of prewar genes.

Maccready was around, and specifically says in the report, around enough to not bother and not be noticed. It was almost like he was the spy of Maccready and Maccready was the sentinel spy. The spy suspected that Maccready had a slightly idea of what he was doing here, but not his identity.

Should he warn Maccready? Or it would be too much? Two spys over a single person…

Nah, he didn’t need to know that much.

Two weeks later. Nora ambushed the spy against a wall and put a knife on his neck.

Not using force by any methods, just corner him walking around in one garden, walking at his side was enough for her to push him lightly against a wall and since the spy knew that she was the pregnant mother of elder Maxson child he wouldn’t do anything to defend himself to not causa an accident.

Nora had the card of being the general of this place, almost like Hancock in Goodneighbord, she can do…a lot of questionable stuff that usually would be excused as something she does to protect Sanctuary, so pushing and menacing a settler against a wall…was something nobody would question at all. She had a good enough image so this wouldn’t bother at all.

-Let me go! –say the spy, not actually scared about the knife on his neck, acting to not break character.

-You think I wouldn’t notice eventually an spy in my home? –she said spitting in his face, taking another knife out of…he couldn’t really know where but Nora take lessons from Hancock on how to be a good mayor- so, who send you? I think I was in good terms with the railroad

-Im not an spy!

-Drop the act dumbass, it will make it easy for you

-Please I beg you! –a raider gang maybe? This guy didn’t look that weird

-You know I never had the chance to interrogate someone on court before the bombs dropped…this may be a good practice –she said before giving him a hard punch in the stomach, when the man fell to the ground beated by pain she sat on his back and use both hands and knifes, one under his neck and the other up behind the head. Shit this was no good at all.

-Believe me im not a spy! I swear!

-Not good enough, keep trying

The spy can see from the side of his eyes how people were coming over them, noticing the odd and violent situation happening in the peaceful settlement, damn if more people joined this would be more and more dangerous for him.

-You are making a mistake general!

-Maccready, give me a hand over here, hold his feet

Oh no, not him precisely. Both man exchanged looks and…damn he understand the situation, he understand who he was and what he was doing there.

-If you weren’t pregnant ill already be free! –its true, he can’t harm her, she was carrying the son of the elder, if by any chance she receives any harm that would be his end, better summit and not move a muscle

-You sure buddy? –she asked all cocky

-Just because you are the general doesn’t mean you can do this!

-Nora –Robert call her securing the man ankles, she look at him with a bit of effort due to keeping the concentration on her prey –we need to talk

-What? –she said getting off the spy with her legs to knee in the ground next to him, still with the knifes on his neck, loosing a bit of control cutting slighy the flesh making the spy jump a bit when Maccready come close to whisper on her ear his concerns. Whisper whisper whisper…-that fucker –was that an insult to elder Maxson? That will go in the report –you –Nora call him taking the knifes out and kicking the side of his body while Maccready secured his wrist- come with us

This wasn’t an experience she needs as a pregnant woman, less with the belly at this stage but oh well she can still move good without problem

-Let me go! –scream the spy while Maacready make him stand to walk to Noras house, at getting inside Codsworth understand the situation with the strange man and move besides her to protect his pregnant maam.

-Come on, I said that resisting will do it more difficult for you –the raider talk was something that really entertained Nora

-Again! Im not a spy! –Maacready kick him in the calves making the man curl in pain, the mercenary took the chance to sit him down in a chair, not tying him up, standing behind.

-Hey General –call the mercenary to the woman on the other side on the room- do you still have the Throatslicer? –well that name sound intimidating

-Oh yeah, what a great idea –she said with a bright smile, in the moment she leave the room the handy robot behind her pull out a circular saw, just pull it out but when she came back throw something to Maccready in the air –here you go!- and stand against a wall, placing her hands on her belly

-So –said the mercenary catching a rusted knife, just placing it in his shoulder, securing it the grip with his fingers, letting the blade between his neck and shoulder- are you going to make it easy? For you, specially

-I don’t know what more do you need to convince you im not a spy

His brotherhood training didn’t let him fear a hostage situation but this was taking too long to change, I mean he assumed this was a situation it could happened and for a month he did it pretty well but…she is a sentinel, of course this wouldn’t last too much.

-What is a scar or two? –said the mercenary before strabbing him in the right shoulder by the front, taking by surprise the brotherhood spy who tried to stand from the chair but the mercenary wouldn’t let him, pulling him down again in the chair, stabbing him in the left shoulder now- heres goes the second! –the soldier tried to fight and use his arms to defend himself but the wounds there make his grip all weak

-Let me! Im swear im not a spy! –his voice cracked in pain, still in the other side on the room, Nora was watching

-Robert –she called him, the mercenary close his arms around his neck to avoid him from running away –an ear

-You cant be serious –said the spy taking a breath- im not what you think! –the opens on his shoulders were getting hot from the blood coming out

-Do it –she said as the Mister Handy robot leave her side and move closer with the flamer and the circular saw, to menace him to stay in place as the mercenary pull one of his ears and place a knife in the union between the ear and his head- you can talk you know?

-Please don’t! –ok the acting wasn’t working, she wasn’t softening and he was really doing his best to not drop the image of an innocent settler. When the knife started to cut a bit of skin the spy overventilated and surrender-Ill do it! –like a professional, Maccready stopped but move the knife to his neck again, were there was a bit of blood flowing down too.

-Will you talk? –she said getting closer.

-Yes! –oh no the wounds on his shoulders were really really bleeding

-Alright, but the knife stays there –a sadistic smile appeared on her face, the woman take out 2 syringes, one of med-x and another of stimpack from whoever knows were…-see this buddy? Im giving it to ya when we are done

-Im bleeding –his clothes were all wet and the metallic smell from blood was all over the place

-Don’t worry, I don’t have rugs anymore in this house, too much bloodstains to clean

-So who is your boss? –ask the mercenary moving the knife around

The spy didn’t want to talk at all but…

-The brotherhood…

-Weird you don’t recognize him–said Maccready to Nora.

-Odd to me too, doesn’t act and move like an initiate neither, what are you doing in this side of the commonwealth fella?

He didn’t want to talk at all

-Im sure there’s plenty of interesting places around to sneak your noses more than this old neiberhood –mutter the mercenary into the spy ear

-Not if the sentinel is not around –said the spy, Nora look confused at him.

-Me? Why me?

-I believe is pretty big obvious Nora –when Robert said that Nora give a kick to the air and look at the ground

-let me tell you something –said the woman walking slowly towards him- you can still de your work around –Maccready raise an eyebrow confused, the spy too- yeah…you can stay here…-she said with a smile, the spy swallow saliva at seeing that curve- you can even write this conversation in your report –she wasn’t mentioning the elder at all, but it was implied- in fact I want you to specifically communicate this so listen up –the woman knee in front of him looking at his terrified eyes, it wasn’t easy to keep the composure in front of someone with so many raider vibes- you can watch me, follow me, try to sneak into my secrets…but you will fail, one day I will disappear out of nothing and there will be no sight of me at all, I will be out of your sight so youll have nothing to report at all more than your failure, I swear ill make you fail you mission stupid toy

The man swallow again feeling a void in his stomach.

-You will let me around?

-Yeah, you can still do settlement work, live and eat our food –she stand up, looking big and powerful, menacing- are you a brotherhood soldier or a third party?

-A brotherhood soldier –Nora make a sign with the head to Maccready and the man put the knifes down, lifting him up from the chair as she stands back.

-Never see you before –she said as dropping the med-x an the stimpack to the ground, not breaking them, just letting them fall, one of the syringes having a small crack on the sides spilling the content by little drops- you are lucky I don’t let a brother or a sister down, go away sucker

The spy knee down trying to pick up the syringes before the liquid spills on the ground and loose the chance to heal a bit, his arms and shoulders hurts like hell but he was able to move enough to pick the items, as soon he got them between his fingers doing that regrettable show the mercenary pull the neck of his coat and use the force to take him out of the house as Nora open the door, throwing him outside like a pile of trash, not caring if he crashed against the floor.

Door was smashed in front of the spy face, who take the chance to inject the stimpack and the med-x in his shoulders, feeling the burning of the cuts in his neck still present

Inside the house Nora pull the hairs at the side of her face, having a burnout of stress.

But she will keep her word.

The spy was still around, walking, working, eating, sleeping, defending the settlement, going on patrols searching for problems nearby…she wouldn’t look at him in the eye, others would direct him but there he was, still around, no one was kicking him. Yes, other settlers were suspicious of his attitudes and manners, because of the show, of course if the general menace you with a knife against a wall and then interrogates you in her house you won’t be seen as well as before by other people specially if they loved her so much but…he was still around.

He will write this to the elder in his report, repeat everyword of her, specially the menaces and comments about him. But after that report others followed, others that will look like more like before the discovers the spy, saying that the days were normal, that she was working around and directing things as usual, not talking to him its true but…just like before…her pregnancy look normal, growing everyday a bit more.

Its like she wanted the spy around.

At 7 month, she will stop using the vault suits to change it for dresses, like a Laundered denim dress, surely because she doesn’t fit anymore in other clothes and they were too tight to move around with her gigant belly…and a Old fisherman's hat, not sure why so ugly but it must be to protect from the sun. Something was odd with that pregnancy, she was too big, really big.

But a week later after that…she keep her word…and disappear…the spy lost track of her for two more entire weeks. She vanished in the air. He would ask around to the people or what they acted like his bosses, not only no one wanted to answer much because it wasn’t really their business to get in trouble because the newbie was asking too much but because they didn’t know either.

He wrote the elder about it, about her dissaparence, how she wasn’t around, she wasn’t working on the settlement but apparently didn’t leave because everybody that would be her companion was around. Even Maccready.

She wasn’t dead, there was no movement if that was the case but everything was still so organized and fine that it couldn’t be, she was directing people from somewhereelse.

The spy started to panic and get dessesperate nonononono he loose his objective, he performed horribly in this mission, the spying was a fiasco, the cover up was a mess…and now the sentinel is gone! His discontent was starting to be visible because of how many people he was asking to get more information about the sentinel whereabouts, so visible that the man that almost cut one of his ears approach him one night, with a letter.

-Give this to elder Maxson –was the only thing the mercenary said to him

The spy delivers the letter to the airport with another soldier connections, not wanting to face the elder Maxson at all, arguing that he wanted to return to the settlement to see some new movement happening.

Maxson open the letter with full frustration knowing the situation from previous reports, she was so slippery to any of his plans.

“Nora is doing fine, healthy according to Curies report” said the letter Maccready read “Ill update you about her status but since she is not going out for a while…”going out? So she was underground? Oh his poor brain was trying to extract and read between lines as many information as possible”Changing, but since she is not my woman I will not look at that”Oh he can understand the meaning of that, still, Nora was barely still his woman at this point ”I don’t think she is ready even at this time, if you send some goods…ill deliver them to her “So the mercenary have access to whenever she was “I try to convince her everyday that she doesn’t have to do this alone, I lost my wife and I don’t think any protection is enough for the ones we love, she would do good in have you at her side, a little extra more of protection” is she the only who don’t see how unnecessary this is? Apparently she doesn’t bad mouth of him at all, if this letter was truly written with sincerity of course”Since I don’t have as many time as before ill leave you the details of my payment in the dorso of this letter, as you see and heard im doing fine my part of protecting her” of course, this man was working for his son Duncan “You are going to receive more letters from me, she is at the end stage and you deserve to be informed as well” oh gosh she really was the problem everybody understand him so well “Dunkan wasn’t fond of your offer and I wasn’t fond of leaving him again after being separated, I know you will take care of your son well as I do with mine, anyway, Nora doesn’t know about this letters, doesn’t have a way to, so ill keep informing you how things are going”

Arthur look at the back and there was drawings and instructions of apparently a place to leave the payment in caps secured until he has time to look them again, of course he wouldn’t have time if he has to be around Noras side.

It was useless to keep searching more hidden things in this letter content, it was pretty clear, I mean clean and vague because it doesn’t say much but there was no seconds intentions at least from a man that wasn’t as smart as her, Maccready was just an ignorant mercenary, doesn’t have the capability to write something more deep or do more than just…killing…performing his job…

So…she was…fine…

And changing…

Arthur prepared a package of things she left behind here in the Prydwen, at some point in their relationship she became comfortable enough to bring a few of her most beloved possessions to his quarters thinking it was their forever spot, new and beautiful dresses, clothes of all kind, magazines, books, hair products…she surely needed them since well its difficult to find this odds in the commonwealth.

By making this items go he was…letting an important part of their past together go to…separate…

But she needed them, his son would need clean sheets and blankets too, so he prepared a package to send…

Clothes and underwear for her, towels, infant clothes and a pacifier for their child he asked from the California chapters, clean sheets and blankets, a bottle for babys milk…even if he wanted to hold it feeding his child…he let that thought go away, didn’t need it right now doesn’t know how things are going to develop once the baby is born, he was living day by thay this tortuous situation…wiping sheets, soap, shampoo, purified water cans, cloth diapers for change as underwear for the baby…

Food he supposed she has…wasn’t going to fill space on things she wouldn’t eat…

Meds supply like rags, cotton, alcohol, clean surgery items, pillows, antibiotics…

Arthur was letting some of her things go away from his quarters with all the pain in the word, hating everysecond, but he do this for his child, now his child was the most important thing in the world. If the zeppelin by some reason exploded, he would run away to look after his child immediately.

The package will be delivered to Sanctuary directly…and hopefully if Maccready gives the goods to Nora, his spy will be able to locate her again. Hopefully.

A last pair of gifts for Nora were placed in the package, this feels like a coffin to their relationship, but she was the mother of his child and she would surely appreciate it, she was giving him something important, something she apparently never wanted but…do it for him. As she said, this was her solution.

At vault 111 Nora open the package that Maccready and Preston sneak in secret in the middle of a cold night with guards around securing the perimeter, knowing there was spys of the brotherhood nearby, being the most careful as possible to not snitch the general secret private quarters in Sanctuary…this will be her private spot for the last days of the pregnancy. She secured herself with Codsworth and Curie as her only company, but if Maccready and Preston were careful…they can be around sometimes, a few, maybe once a week.

Inside the package there was a box with supply’s and…it was surrounded by bloomed roses, open, bright red with a with a beautiful aroma of roses that enveloped Nora as soon as she opened the package seeing that spectacle took her breath away but the fresh watermelon that was among the provisions made her eyes water.

Gosh she never wanted things to end this way.

#makahimefanfic #fallout 4 #elder maxson #sole survivor #arthur maxson

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elflock-magician · 1 year

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"Security Break: Part One" (Re-upload)

Summary - Audrey had been captured by The Keepers and locked away in prison. From there she is forced to work with the misguided cultist, Sammy Lawrence. Audrey makes it her mission to escape the prison, all while helping Sammy realize the error in his ways.

Audrey was walked down the long hallway of the prison. There were two Keepers, one at each of her sides. Their hands were wrapped tightly around her thin arms, so much so that she was beginning to feel some kind of numbness.

“Where are we going? Where are you taking me!?” Audrey questioned as she felt sweat drip down her face. Or was that ink? Who would know at this point?

The Keepers did not respond. Her situation was unfortunate. Very much so. Had she been a bit more careful, she probably would have been able to avoid this situation, not to say it was her fault. She had been captured by The Keepers. And yet they left her alive. But regardless, she looked to her side. She passed cells and cells of individuals, all being held captive by The Keepers. Audrey hated to say it, but The Keepers scared her.

She remembered those audio tapes. Talking about how they would lock Bendy away and torture him untill he cried. Audrey didn’t want to think about it.

The Keepers were going at a slow but steady pace as they forwarded to Audreys cell. She saw many, many Searchers, as well as a few Lost Ones. There were also a few Pipers as well. They gawked at Audrey’s appearance, making sly comments, others trying to attack her downright, but being stopped by the glass wall of the cell. Some of the cells were tinted, others not. Probably depending on their purpose of presence. Audrey tried to pry her eyes away from the sights of the prisoners. Sooner than later, Audrey saw The Keepers were leading her to the cell at the very end of the area, near the wall.

“Uh oh…Looks like someones goin’ to cell 4-18.” A Lost One said. One of the Pipers laughed loudly in response. “Makes sense. Someone as freaky lookin’ as that would fit right in with him.” The Piper said, not getting specific enough. However, Audrey was curious. Regardless of the fact, The Keepers dragged her further. “Listen, a word of advice, my friend,” A rather friendly Lost One said as Audrey passed their cell. “Stay away from him. Just don’t talk to him!” They shouted after Audrey as The Keepers continued to drag her further down.

‘What are they all talking about…?’ Audrey thought to herself. But before she could get much more thought into her statement, they reached the cell. Audrey noticed how one of The Keepers signaled to another over a radio to open the door, all with just various noises that Audrey could not decipher. But electronically, the doors slammed open. They hastily shoved Audrey inside, her hitting the ground with an unsettlingly loud ‘thump.’

Audrey decided she’d find a way out, no matter what. The door slammed shut once more behind her, drowning Audrey in darkness. The only light came from the tinted window in the room. It was tinted to where The Keepers could see in but she could not see out. “Ooh…” A voice said. The voice was…chilling. Unsettling. It sent a shiver down Audrey’s spine. The voice just didn’t sound right.

Audrey’s head snapped to the direction of the voice. It was coming from the darkness of the cell. She soon saw a few candles lit in the cell, all surrounding a strange pentagram. Her thoughts went back to what The Lost One had said. “Just don’t talk to him.” They had said.

“Greetings, little sheep.” A figure emerged from the darkness of the cell. A man made of ink. He had a mask depicting that of Bendy covering his face. Though it was tattered, falling apart at the seams. “...Hi…” Audrey whispered with an almost shy wave. The man of ink looked somewhat strong, though more skeletal than anything. And she was in prison. What she needed right now was allies. Friends. People to help her and people that she could help. And, well, you simply attract more flies with honey than vinegar. Audrey smiled at the man. She decided to try and communicate. “…Do you know where we are…?” She was having trouble finding words. The way the man of ink looked lanky, like a corpse on feet, it made it hard for her to focus. The man of ink laughed silently. “You’re in The Prison of The Keepers, little sheep.” The man said intimidatingly as he approached Audrey. He was about Audrey’s height. .

“I…My name is Audrey.” She said, referring to the nickname the man of ink had gifted her. “I don’t care. But what has brought you down here? I do not think I’ve seen anyone like you before.” The man asked. “I’m looking for a way out. I’m just trying to get back home.” Audrey explained. “Well I’m sorry to spoil your fun, but I’m afraid that just won’t happen little sheep-” “Audrey,” “For you see. This is a dead end. But there is hope. It is time to believe. For The Ink Demon, The Dark Lord, is still alive! Don’t trust their blasphemy! That wretched Wilson a liar!” The man of ink shouted out. Audrey knew good and well that The Ink Demon was alive. “Believe? Believe in what?” Audrey shouldn’t have asked. “In the power of The Ink Demon! He will free all of us! All it takes is sacrifice, little sheep, sacrifice.” The man explained. That didn’t sound very…good. Was he going to try and sacrifice Audrey? Audrey hoped not.

“Sacrifice? What’s that supposed to mean?” Audrey asked and approached the man more closely.

“Love requires sacrifice. And once The Ink Demon notices my sacrifice, he will save us.” “And what exactly is your sacrifice?” Audrey asked, somewhat afraid of being trapped in a room with this strange man that started preaching the moment she entered the room. “Time, body, anything The Ink Demon values. Then…then, he will see me as an equal. He will save us. It is time to believe, little sheep.” He explained. “I…don’t think that’s how it works. Seeing someone as an equal isn’t supposed to be a monetary thing.” Audrey explained, though not being aggressive about it. “...Pardon?” The man mumbled. “I mean…mutual respect isn’t something that needs to be earned. It is basic courtesy to care for other people. You shouldn’t need to sacrifice all of…whatever it is you’re sacrificing, to be treated as an equal.” Audrey explained. The man of ink stood still, somewhat frozen in time. Almost like no one had ever really responded to his statements. Most people just went with “can’t reason with crazy” when it came to him. There was a long silence. “Well it works differently with The Ink Demon. I am no False Prophet. I trust in the loyalty of The Ink Demon.”

The man turned around and sat down on his stool.

“Oh! Wait! What’s your name?” Audrey asked quickly and called after the man. He didn’t look back to Audrey. There was a long silence. “Samuel Lawrence.” He answered blankly before picking up his banjo. “Samuel…” Audrey repeated back. “I’m just going to call you Sammy. It suits you.” Audrey said, trying to become at least acquaintances with Sammy.

“Mhm…” He laughed. “Whatever it is you say, little sheep.” Sammy replied.

Time passed. Sammy absently played the banjo as Audrey explored the cell more.

“Hey…uh…Mr.Lawrence?” Audrey began simply. “Yes?” Sammy replied, though not looking up from his banjo.

“How long have you been left in here?” She asked, trying to get a grasp on what was going to happen to her. Sammy sighed. “Why, I’ve lost count after all this time. It is not like they give us a calendar down here.” Sammy replied. Audrey’s expression soured. “The Keepers never come back for you if you are lucky. Unfortunately, I haven’t a miracle once in my life. And considering you’re here, I take you haven’t either.” Sammy explained. Perhaps it wasn’t Sammy she needed to be afraid of. “What do The Keepers do to the people they come back for?” She asked, her voice almost just a hushed whisper. “Well, little sheep, if they left you alive then they want something from you.” He responded, looking back at his banjo, playing yet another empty tune.

But what did The Keepers want from her? Or Sammy?

“But what could The Keepers want from me?” Audrey questioned nobody but herself. “Why would you ask me? That’s a question you must answer….before they do.” Sammy replied. The statement was made all the more chilling by the tune of his broken banjo.

“What did The Keepers take from you Mr.Lawrence?” Audrey asked. The crooked music of the banjo abruptly stopped. It only stopped for a moment before picking back up again. “They have taken many things from me. I have nothing left but my loyalty.” Sammy finally said. He didn’t even have pride. Being kept in the prison like an animal. “And my music, I suppose.” He added. Audrey smiled at that.

Audrey carefully sat down on her cot. She listened…somewhat peacefully as Sammy played. “Are you just going to keep staring at me?” He questioned. “I’m just listening.” Audrey replied. He sighed in response. “I used to be a musician.” He said and strummed another few strings. “But I was…” His voice trailed, just in the slightest. “I was never quite the solo act. I had a lyricist.” Sammy stated. “...Oh.” Audrey replied. “What happened to them?” She added. “It doesn’t matter. They are…hopefully dead. Dead is better than being caught up in this inky nightmare. But regardless,” Sammy looked for the right words. “You remind me of them.” Audrey somewhat frowned.

“What do you remember about them?” Audrey asked. Sammy looked back to his banjo. “This ink has clogged my brain. I cannot remember a name…a face…nothing. Nothing but their voice.” Sammy stated. “You speak like they did.” He said. “I’m sorry that you can’t remember.” Audrey mumbled. No response was given. -

A bell, that sounded almost like a buzzer, rang. “Oh…well would you look at that. Little sheep, you’re lucky you arrived when you did. It’s a very special time of week, you know.” Sammy said and clapped his hands quietly in mild excitement.

“Week…Special? What are you talking about?” “Ohoho…You see, The Keepers found that most humanoid creatures, when left without contact, begin to stop functioning as well as they so need, as a solution to this problem, once a week they allow the prisoners to…walk about a larger area. I enjoy it. If I am able to convince enough subjects, we can make enough of a worship that The Ink Demon must notice us.” Sammy explained. Audrey mentally sighed.

“I don’t wanna be mean, but, if The Ink Demon were to care, he wouldn’t see you as a lesser individual...” Audrey said. “You simply aren’t believing enough, little sheep. The Lord of The Dark Puddles will not be swayed so easily!” Sammy said in an almost condescending manner. The door slammed open once more. A set of Keepers making their way into the cell and grabbing both Sammy and Audrey. Sammy was quick to let them take him, Audrey however, cowered to the back of the room, trying to avoid the grasp of the two creatures.

“No! Stay back!” Audrey shouted. She was given no response as The Keeper grabbed her by her wrists, and pulled her out of the cell. Once they exit the cell, the door behind them slammed shut.

Audrey was led down that same path she had seen the day prior before being shoved into the inky prison cell.

But now, she was dragged to a room in which she had never been before. It looked something like a cafeteria. It was definitely one of the…cleaner rooms she had set eyes on.

A few Searchers and Lost Ones were sitting at the long tables.

Sammy went over to what Audrey could only assume what was basically the person who serves prison food. A set of Keepers guarded each exit properly. “Wait, if you’re made of ink, why do you need to eat?” Audrey asked. “Oh, no no no, I have no true need for it. However the rodents near our cell do.” Sammy replied. Huh- so he did have a few hobbies outside of being a cultist.

One of The Lost Ones was serving the food, a Keeper organizing it in the background. The Lost One seemed to be one of the prison volunteers. Sammy reached to grab the bread.

“Nah-ah-ah.” The Lost One said and pulled the bread away. “Only if you do the voice, alright Little Prophet?” The Lost One said with a sly grin- well if they had a mouth. Sammy sighed and rolled his eyes at the nickname. “No. Just give me the bread, or I promise, Wilson’s pathetic attempts at violence will look like child's play.” Sammy replied with the threat, glaring at The Lost One through his mask. “Yeah yeah, whatever, just say the thing!” The Lost One replied with a smile, seemingly enjoying messing with Sammy. Like poking a dangerous animal with a stick. Sammy grabbed the bridge of his nose through the mask. And through gritted he said, “Can I get a ramen?” He finally stated, completely deadpan, avoiding eye contact. The Lost One burst out laughing, slamming their fist onto the table. They wiped an imaginary tear from their eye. “Alright alright, just wanted to fracture your pride, little prophet, here’s your food.” The Lost One said and forfeited a loaf of bread to Sammy, the same went for Audrey, however she got it without a fight.

Audrey only poorly stifled a laugh but took her loaf and followed Sammy to the table. However, a Lost One grabbed her arm as she passed. “Hey,” They said. “Oh! Hello..!” Audrey replied and turned to The Lost One. “You shouldn’t talk to him. That’s just putting a target on your back, my friend.” The Friendly Lost One said.

“Oh…Well, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. He seems just…very misguided. Not that being misguided justifies anything but…I don’t think it’s too late.” Audrey stated. The Lost One let go of her wrist and pulled back. “I wouldn’t count on it.” They said. Audrey frowned. “...Here. Take this.” Audrey said and handed her loaf of bread to The Lost One. The Lost Ones face, despite having very few features, lit up at the sight.

“Oh! Thank you! Thank you!!” The Lost One thanked. Audrey smiled. “Of course.” Audrey responded before going back to join Sammy.

But, as she continued to walk, something came into sight.

“Wait…is that…?” Audrey muttered as, behind the glass and in the next room, was one of the phone-like structures Alice called her through! If she got over to the structure, she could call Alice for help. But that begged the question, how would she get past the glass, let alone make it over to the wall without The Keepers noticing? Audrey thought for a moment, all before spotting a…vent! Near the ground as well. Perhaps, if The Keepers were distracted for long enough, Audrey could simply slip away into the vent and get across. From there she could call Alice, and then slip back like nothing had even happened.

An idea quickly dawned upon her.

“Mr.Lawrence, I need your help!” Audrey called out in a determined voice as she slammed her hands onto the table that Sammy was sitting at. “Ah. Hello.” Sammy replied, not even a little startled. “Well, well, well, little sheep. What do you need?” Sammy asked, now slightly leaning onto the table.

“I need you to cause a distraction. I’m going to get help for us.” Audrey explained with urgency. Sammy laughed at the statement. “The only help I need is from The Ink Demon.” Sammy replied simply. “And a distraction? How would I go about doing that?” Sammy asked. “I…I don’t know! Just start preaching like you were before! That caught my attention, surely it would work now on The Keepers.” Audrey suggested. “Well you do not have to ask me twice.” Sammy replied before standing up from his chair and quickly jumping onto the table. “Listen, EVERYONE, The Ink Demon will rise!” Sammy called out. “There he goes again…” One of The Searchers mumbled and tried to look away. The Keepers attention was drawn to Sammys…uh…scene. “Yes! Perfect! Keep it up!” Audrey complimented as she rushed over to the vent cap. “Now is the time to kneel to The Lord of The Dark Puddles!” He shouted. “It is the time to believe!” He continued to shout. Audrey pulled the vent cap off and crawled through it. She made it to the other side of the glass. She had done it undetected as well.

She took a deep breath. Audrey quickly got back to her feet and ran over to the phone-like system. “Alice! Alice, can you hear me?!” Audrey questioned and held the system in her hands closely. “Alice?!” She questioned again. She had limited time.

"Audrey! You're okay! What happened to you, are you hurt?" Alice called out, her voice full of relief to be hearing Audrey once more.

"No no, I'm okay. The Keepers just...got a hold of me." Audrey replied, also very relieved to hear Alice again.

"Gosh, that's a long way down, Audrey. But don't worry. I'll come and find you." Alice said, clearly alarmed by the idea of Audrey at the mercy of The Keepers.

"Alice, you don't need to panic. I'm okay. I've made a few friends down here." Audrey explained, referring to Sammy and The Lost Ones who seemed to look out for her. Speaking of, she looked back to the lunch room. Oh that didn’t look good. Sammy was getting apprehended, but he was putting up a fight. Alice sighed with relief.

"Good. I'm proud of you. But don't get too comfortable. I'm on my way. But I don't think that I can get there without a fight. Do you know any secret ways in?" Alice asked. “There might be! But I’m not completely sure. The doors to the prison are kept closed with electricity. If you're able to turn it off, my friend and I could get out and meet you!" Audrey explained.

“Interesting. I’m sure that we can find the power box and shut it down.” Alice said. “So just sit tight for now, alright Audrey?” Alice said. “Okay! Thanks Alice. See you soon.” Audrey responded. Audrey was greeted with silence. She felt comforted. Alice was coming to get her! Audrey quickly pulled back, crawled through the vent and covered it once more.

Audrey was taken back to the cell alone. Where had Sammy gone? It seemed like The Keepers had taken him after he had caused a scene. Audrey was becoming somewhat worried.

But she sat alone. There wasn’t anything she could do to try and help. The best she could do was wait and hope for the best.

Audrey looked around the cell. She, from the short amount of time she had known her cellmate, knew that Sammy liked having his space, privacy, that sort of thing. She saw his banjo, which he treated with such care. One of the only few memories he had left from before the Ink destroyed his life. The banjo was perhaps one of the only things Sammy cared to try and maintain the quality of. Audrey sighed. What a sad, misguided, fool of a man. It was partially his fault. Sammy didn’t know, but nothing was worth hurting innocent people. Nothing. But Audrey believed that there was still hope for Sammy. That there was still good within him. That it was never too late. And that he was not beyond redemption!

Suddenly, the door opened, Audrey’s head snapped in the direction. And just as she had hoped, there was Sammy Lawrence.

The Keepers shoved Sammy into the room, and he hit the ground with a resounding ‘splat’. He looked…beaten. Or at least he looked a little less shaped than before. “Mr.Lawrence!” Audrey called out. Sammy looked back at The Keepers as the door slammed shut. Before Audrey could get a word in, Sammy shot up and stood at the window. “Cage me if you will, but The Dark Lord will return! I know it, I know it!” Sammy shouted and banged one of his fists onto the glass. Audrey quickly noticed the absence of his mask, his mostly featureless face on display.

The window was tinted, so they could not see out, only their reflection. Sammy sighed.

“Are you alright? Why did they take you?” Audrey asked. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Sammy replied coldly. Audrey very quickly noticed how…moody Sammy could be. But despite what he had just said, Sammy began to explain anyways. “The Keepers do not appreciate me attempting to riot the prisoners.” He replied.

Oh. He was injured. “They may strip me of my pride, my dignity,” He hissed the word, “But my loyalty to The Ink Demon will remain.” Sammy stated. “You…You don’t need to go the The Ink Demon for forgiveness, for recognition, comfort, whatever it is you’re looking for- Mr.Lawrence!” Audrey tried to explain. “You wouldn’t understand, little sheep.” Sammy responded back coldly, going through yet another mood-swing. What was his problem? “You have to understand- nothing is worth hurting innocent people!” Audrey called. “There’s more out there in the world for you- you don’t need forgiveness from The Ink Demon- to be free, Mr.Lawrence, you need to understand.” Audrey tried to explain.

“No no, I understand perfectly well. I…Am the only one to understand.” Sammy said, turning away from Audrey. Now he was simply denying help right in front of him. Audrey paused. She couldn’t make him realize what he was doing. And that was his own fault.

“You have asked me a lot of questions. It is my turn to ask you, now.” Sammy began. Audrey didn’t cower. “Alright.” Audrey replied, her brow slightly furrowed. “Why aren’t you afraid, little sheep?” Sammy asked, stepping towards Audrey herself. “Of The Ink Demon. Of being trapped down here. Of me. Of The Keepers.” He asked. “...Because, I trust in myself. I have made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve come to terms with them,

I…I believe in myself.” Audrey explained. Sammy poorly stifled a laugh. “And I believe that I can get out of here without causing any…uh…undue harm.” Audrey explained. Sammy laughed, quite loudly in fact. “Yeah.” He said sarcastically. “Good luck with that.” He added before turning away and sitting on his cot. Audrey became…just a little frustrated. Sammy was kind of a brat who had way too many mood swings than can be normal. Still. Not beyond redemption.

“I’m not praising the ink demon, because no matter what I want, it’s not worth hurting the innocent! Even if The Ink Demon could free me, it wouldn’t be worth it! Can you understand that? Or…Or have I been wrong about you? Are you really just…The Ink Demon’s Prophet?” Sammy’s eyes, or lack thereof, widened. “Or are you still Sammy Lawrence?”

Sammy sat silently. “I’m everything you’re not.” He said, a venom in his voice. He said the words like a joke he had been waiting to say. However, he wasn’t smiling, nor was he laughing. He sighed. He frowned before sighing. “....You talked with The Angel, correct?” Sammy asked suddenly. “You’d better have gotten us help. The Keepers were certainly generous this time so I will not be doing that again for you.” He added. “I did. Alice said she’s coming back for…” She fought back saying ‘us’ by reflex, “me.” She said. Sammy laughed. “She can only get you so far, little sheep.” Sammy said and turned around. “We both have our disagreements, but….I believe the two of us need each other. Because after all, it is only us here.” “...I can’t trust you.” Audrey stated. “You said it yourself! You’re willing to sacrifice anything to The Ink Demon. Even people that just want to help you.” “Well, do you have any other options? Do you really think you can make it out of here all on your own?” Sammy asked. “So- just to make this clear, you’re offering to help me escape…?” Audrey muttered. “Though we have different motivations, we have the same end-goal. Getting out of this prison.” Sammy said. “So I will assist you, but when it so calls, I will forfeit all I have to The Dark Lord. Including you. Be very aware of this if you accept my offer, little sheep.” Sammy did have a point. The Keepers were able to beat the living hell out of Sammy himself before, so it’s not like Audrey could survive much longer on her own. “Fine.” Audrey spat. “So it’s a deal then!” Sammy called out.

Sammy was strange. Sammy was strange. Hah…that sort of rhymed…Sammy strange. Sammy the strange…haha! Sammy was so strange that Audrey was going to put him in prison!! That’s right! Audrey was putting Sammy in jail for…one thousand years! She’s putting Sammy in jail!~ Oh!~ She’s putting Sammy in– “Augh- snap out of it Audrey!” Audrey smacked herself on the side of the head. Being trapped in such a small cell with so little to do was really having an affect on her. She was laying in her cot, staring at the wall. “You have been laying there for a while.” Sammy said. “Why don’t you join me in prayer?” Sammy offered. Audrey rolled her eyes so hard it practically made noise. “I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.” Audrey said. “Is the only thing you really want from The Ink Demon…freedom?” Audrey asked simply. Sammy was hesitant to reply. “Something like that, I suppose. All I really want is to be free from this….prison I call a body.” “And the physical one?” “Yes, Audrey, and the physical one.” “But I already knew that. What I meant was…for real. What does freedom really mean to you?” Audrey asked. Sammy paused. “I….” His voice trailed off. Could he even remember? “I want to be able to…feel okay once more. The Ink Demon, as far as I know is The Lord of this world, I want to please him, so when the day comes that he smites the beings of this realm, he takes notice of me, and grants me mercy.” (Sammy was basically a ‘pick-me.’)

“You’re…afraid of him?” Audrey questioned. Well Sammy had never thought of it like that. “You believe that you have to earn being seen as a person, but also…being afraid of the person that you are supposed to trust everything with….That’s bad, Mr.Lawrence.” Audrey said.

Sammy continued his prayer.

Audrey had been in prison three days. Three whole days. Or so she believed. Like Sammy had said, they didn’t really have a calender down there.

She rolled over in her cot. “Are you sure that your Angel is coming back for you?” Sammy asked. He was drawing…some kind of pentagram with ink from his very own hand.

“Of course! Alice wouldn’t abandon me.” Audrey replied. “She’s very loyal.” She added with a soft smile. “Well I suppose you’d hope so.” Sammy said.

“You know, when I get out of here, the first thing that I’m gonna do is wash my hands and take the longest nap known to humankind.” Audrey stated with a soft chuckle. “What about you?” She asked. Sammy scoffed. “And why is that your business?” Sammy halfheartedly insulted.

“Whatever, come on, just answer!” Audrey jokingly insisted. Sammy sighed. Audrey wasn’t that bad of company.

“When I’m free from the ink,” Sammy looked down at his hands. “I suppose I’d just like to feel okay again.” He added. “You already said that.” Audrey commented. “You repeat yourself a lot. What I meant is like, where would you go?” She added. Audrey paused. “But you haven’t been outside in a long time, have you? It would make sense you don’t remember a lot.” Audrey muttered. That came out more insensitive than she had expected. But an idea dawned on her. “When you get out of here, ink or not, I can take you to a piano concert!” She happily suggested. “Or the beach, you know, I think Alice would like the beach.”

Sammy sat in silence as Audrey happily ranted. She was a nice kid. She didn’t deserve to be trapped down here like Sammy did. May The Ink Demon spare her soul.

BANG

The door to the prison slammed open.

“Gah!” Audrey called out, startled. Sammy didn’t flinch, but was somewhat shocked the door even opened. “The door! It’s open!” She shouted and practically jumped out of her cot and threw herself out of the door, Sammy quickly following behind her. “The power has gone out! Your Angel must be here after all.” Sammy stated, in real and actual shock.

“I didn’t doubt her for a second!” Audrey exclaimed. “We are not out of the woods yet, little sheep. All of the other prisoners have escaped too. And I doubt The Keepers will allow us to escape without fighting fire with fire.” Sammy explained. “Alright, well let’s just hurry!” Audrey shouted. The two of them rushed down the hall. “The power box is in the top office. Surely that is where your friends are.” Sammy stated. “Most likely.” Audrey replied.

“What’s going on?” One of The Lost Ones mumbled and scampered out of their cell. “I think the power went out.” A Searcher responded.

Everything was in a ruckus. One of The Keepers roared and began to snake up at lightning speed. Audrey visibly cringed at this. But there was really nowhere else to run.

“Gah!! Mr.Lawrence, we’ve barely gotten out of our cell and they’re already closing in!” Audrey shouted and recoiled back. “Stay still.” Sammy mumbled before grabbing Audrey’s wrist. He jumped over the ledge, pulling Audrey along with him, before putting her into ink. Wait– ink? What had just…? Audrey gasped for air as she and Sammy emerged from a wall. “What just happened?” She mumbled out.

“My apologies. I haven’t done that in a while. The Keepers are usually very keen on cleaning ink.” Sammy explained. “For this very reason.” He exhaled strongly. “We just…traveled through ink?” Audrey muttered. “Yes.” Sammy responded, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. “I’ll teach you sometime, that is, if you wish.” The offer was stated in a soft tone.

Audrey smiled softly. “Thanks, Mr.Lawrence! It’d be nice!” Audrey thanked. Sammy sighed.

“Now, it looks like we’re in the confiscation rooms.” Sammy observed. “So the staircase up would probably be around here…” His voice turned into a muttered as he looked around the room, just a bit. “I believe this is mine.” Sammy mumbled and got his mask back, putting it on.

Audrey opened the door, revealing several Keepers guarding the area.

“Well, we’d better go then.” Audrey stated.

With those five words, the two of them left the room and began to try and make it past The Keepers. Audrey was very careful. Or at least she was trying to be. She carefully hid behind poles as she avoided the cutting lightful gaze of The Keepers. Sammy was seeming to have a bit of a harder time. He was a very…uh…bold type? So every time he assumed The Keepers were not looking, he would walk past. But he wasn’t very fast.

The two had made it about halfway through the room when, the two of them both froze. In that moment, the both of them sensed it. The Ink Demon was coming.

“Hide! We gotta hide!” Audrey shouted and rushed towards a locker in the corner of the room, Sammy however, did not. “Mr.Lawrence!” Audrey shouted after him and gestured for him to follow. Sammy didn’t listen. Audrey quickly climbed into the locker.

He hid behind one of the pillars. And just as predicted, The Ink Demon himself appeared. He emerged from a puddle of the dark substance. The Keepers made some attempt to ward him off, all of which failed, and ended with all of them being crushed or backhanded into a wall by The Ink Demon.

This left The Ink Demon alone with nothing more than the corpses of The Keepers, Sammy, and the hidden Audrey.

Sammy emerged from behind the pole and into The Ink Demons vision. Audrey cursed under her breath.

“My Lord,” Sammy began as he threw himself onto his knees and held his hands. He hung his head as well. “I knew you would one day come for me! Have you heard of my prayers? I am here to please you, My Lord,” His head was hung, and could not see The Ink Demon slowly raising a claw-full hand over his head, preparing to decapitate the man in one fell swoop.

“I can only pray you will do the same for me. I have proved loyal to you, My Lord, I will do anything for yO—” Audrey sprinted out of her hiding space, grabbing Sammy by the wrist, only just barely evading the claw of The Ink Demon. Had she moved slower, Sammy would have been decapitated. “No offense Mr.Lawrence, but you are very dense!” She shouted as she pulled him forward.

She recalled what Sammy had shown her about slipping through walls using ink. She had never done it before, but she knew somewhat what had happened when Sammy had done it. So, as she ran, she saw the hole in the wall with a puddle of ink seeping out of it.

The Ink Demon roared and was quickly following behind them with a murderous intent in his eye. All until finally, Audrey and Sammy made it through the ink, being thrown out in some other room.

The both of them fell to the ground. “Gnh—Audrey, where did you take us?!” Sammy questioned. Audrey got to her knees. It took quite a lot of energy to do just that.

“I…I don’t know!” Audrey shouted.

“Audrey, he was…He…” Sammy mumbled, recalling the events. “He was going to kill you!” Audrey shouted. “This is what I meant, Mr.Lawrence. If The Ink Demon was capable of hurting the innocent, then he’s capable of hurting you.” She explained.

“No…No there had to have been some kind of mistake. I must have not been working hard enough, he mustn’t have heard my prayers to him!” Sammy desperately called. “Audrey, you…you were right…but I don’t understand…” Sammy sounded like he was struggling to speak.

“I thought you said that isn’t how this works with The Ink Demon?” Audrey questioned. “Well maybe I was wrong! Anything- anything, for him to be right.” Sammy muttered. The Ink Demon had to be right….right?

“I need you to listen to me. Because right now, it looks like The Ink Demon has it out for us.” Audrey stated and stood up. “We’re just two sides of the same coin. Both of us want to get out of here and be free of the ink controlling us. Mr.Lawrence, I know you’re desperate, and I know it feels like The Ink Demon is the only one who will free you or forgive you, but nothing is worth hurting the innocent. No matter what The Ink Demon can give you.” Audrey monologued. Sammy stood up, and yet stared down at his feet.

He exhaled. Finally, the shameful man of ink looked up. “Why are you doing this?” He croaked. “...What?” Audrey replied. “If you really believed that, you wouldn’t still be trying to help me. I’m too far gone. If what you say is true, I’ve made so many mistakes. It’s too late for me to try and fix them.” Sammy said. Audrey froze. “It’s never too late. There’s still time to be good, there always is!” Audrey insisted. Sammy looked back at Audrey.

Audrey approached, looking up at the man. “It’s okay to make mistakes. You just need to learn from them.” A smile formed on Audrey’s face.

A feeling of disbelief formed in Sammy. He became somewhat angry. Not at Audrey. And unbelievably, not really at The Ink Demon. But himself. “You know, knowing you for four days has been more rewarding than worshiping The Ink Demon for years.” He said. He cracked the knuckles he didn’t have (metaphorically.)

“Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

Sammy and Audrey actually worked quite well together when they were on the same page. “Audrey, you certainly got us farther away from the staircase.” Sammy muttered.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t done that before, I didn’t mean to.” Audrey called out slightly. “No no, it is nothing to apologize for. Usually one cannot travel so far. You are quite powerful.” The man said and looked over to Audrey before awkwardly patting her on the head. “You did good.” He said. Audrey smiled. “Thanks Mr.Lawrence!” Audrey called with a grin. “What am I, your principal? You can call me just Sammy if you prefer.” He said. Audrey laughed. “Sorry, but you’re like…a billion years older than me,” Sammy scoffed at the exaggeration, “So I figured I should try and respect my elders.” She explained.

Sammy found himself laughing.

But was this was cut short.

“Surprise attack!” A Lost One shouted and jumped from a platform above, gripping a baseball bat and trying to hit Audrey. Sammy’s reflexes kicked in and he quickly pulled the girl back. “Word of advice, do not announce your attacks, little sheep.” Sammy said. The Lost One faltered at the sight of Sammy. They had thought Audrey was alone. “Haha….ohhhhh heyyy Samuel, Sammy, old buddy old pal,” Sammy raised a metaphorical eyebrow, “Haha…” They continued to laugh awkwardly. They dropped their baseball bat. “Yep, well I’ll just be on my way then, no hard feelings, right?” The Lost One offered an awkward set of finger guns. Silence. The Lost One scuttered off without a word.

“Come on, Audrey.” Sammy said and turned around to leave.

Audrey.

He had used her name! For real this time! Progress. Audrey was pretty satisfied with helping this moody, greasy man-child recover from whatever cult he got himself involved with.

Audrey took this as a win and grinned with happiness.

As she and Sammy walked, there came a hallway with reflective glass on both sides. As they passed the glass, though neither would notice that in the reflection, a woman with brown hair and clear skin was walking. Audrey. And behind her, a man with long blond hair, purses for eyebags, but somewhat clean clothes followed. Sammy Lawrence.

The two reached a set of doors that were opened due to the lack of the electricity. “Oh. This place.” Sammy mumbled. There were a lot of electronic devices. None of which looked safe. Though they were powered down due to the electricity being shut off. “What is this place?” Audrey asked. “They used this room to conduct sick…sick things.” Sammy described. Audrey did not ask any further questions. It seemed like a sensitive subject.

Until finally, a staircase was presented in front of them.

“Alright, let’s go.” Audrey mumbled.

The two took one step.

Sammy was not free. He knew wasn’t. He could still feel the ink crawling.

Then another.

And yet, just trusting in himself and others, it made him feel far more okay than he ever had while worshiping The Ink Demon.

Another step of few.

He had previously believed himself a lesser being. That he needed to earn being seen as a basic individual.

Yet another step.

He had made a lot of mistakes. But it wasn’t too late to be good. He wasn’t beyond redemption, was he?

A final step.

Sammy wasn’t the most sure of what mattered and what didn’t. But at that moment, what mattered to Sammy was self-forgiveness, instead of going to The Ink Demon for it, making up for what he had done, and learning from his mistakes.

They reached the top of the stairs. Audrey quickly opened the door.

"Alice!" Audrey called out as she rushed over to the woman and the wolf, Sammy slowly trailing behind her.

"Audrey!" Alice called in response, pulling the woman into a tight hug. There was a warm moment there, where Audrey felt completely safe. Alice had one of the most beautiful smiles. But this moment was interrupted.

Tom silently nudged Alice, growling loudly.

"Oh! This is the friend I was telling you about! Meet Sammy!" She introduced the man with glee, all without noticing the growing tension in the air.

"Oh yeah," Alice began. Tom gripped his ax, threateningly tapping it onto his hand. "We know who he is." She added. Tom growled once more.

"It's been a long time, old...friends." He said the word hollowly with a kind of venom in his voice that Audrey couldn't decipher.

"Stay away from her, Samuel. She's not joining your cult. So leave while you still can." She threatened, Tom backing her up.

"Wait, Alice! He's the one that helped me get here. H...Have you three met before?" Audrey mumbled.

“We sure have. But you all have nothing to worry about any more. We’re on the same side now.” Sammy said, though he sounded somewhat sarcastic. “We met back at the studio. Tom axed him in the head once.” Alice explained. “Oh! Well you won’t have to do that again, promise! Sammy’s not working with The Ink Demon anymore.” Audrey explained. “How do you know he’s not lying?” Alice questioned. Audrey was quick to reply. “I saw what happened with my own eyes! I was there the moment he realized it.” Audrey said.

“The Ink Demon is a filthy liar. While I will say I am not the biggest fan of working with you few, there is not much else left for me to do.” Sammy said.

“That’s very sudden.” Alice stated accusingly. “So is your neck nearly being snapped by the person you admired most.” “Ah.” Alice grumbled. “Well I don’t trust you either, False Prophet, but I do trust Audrey’s judgment.” She said. “And if you’re going to stick with us, then put a shirt on. No one here wants to look at your manboobs.” Alice added. “E…Excuse me?

Sammy starts wearing a shirt arc.

#sammy lawrence #bendy #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the dark revival #batdr #batim #audrey drew #allison pendle #thomas conner #bendy fanfiction #batim fanfiction #batdr fanfiction

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acutiewithagun · 11 months

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My personality?

Think of the classic female main character. All sweet, innocent, and kind.

Seemingly has no imperfection until you find out their messed up past where something truly fucked up happened to make them who they are today.

Adores helping others just to see something as simple as smiles. Just knows stuff. We don't know why, we don't know how, she just knows shit.

Creepy stalkers? Check.

Love triangle she doesn't want to be a part of? Check.

Just nice then, bam, love confession. I don't know where they keep coming from.

Girl has riz and doesn't even try, it infuriates the viewers.

Just helps, in all situations, no ulterior motivations. She is loved by fucking all, why, who can say.

Has been subjugated to being called things like: angel, savior, and ethereal being. You accidentally save a person's life once, I swear to God.

On that note, accidentally having huge moments. I wasn't meant to be there, but I was, I guess. It's not my fault the universe decided it was my destiny to just exist.

A ray of sunshine, she's just happy. She shouldn't be by any accounts, she's traumatized as hell, but she's happy.

Oh, but don't mess with people I care about. I am a very dangerous person angry, and I don't get angry often. Some shit about patience or something.

I'm also so fucking pretty, people will just randomly complement me, even my parents. I got it from them, what do they mean I have pretty eyes!?

She hardly gets in trouble, because she actually does exactly as she's told. No more, no less, exactly.

Also despite my constant anxiety, I'm so chill in stressful situations. You're having a panic attack? I gotcha. In an intense situation where we need guidance? I'm all good to start helping calm everyone down.

One word, therapist. That's the role I took on for years, I don't do it as much because it strains my mental health. However I still enjoy helping people out when they need to vent. That's how I got most of my friends.

She has a gut feeling, just that tells her to talk to people. She has another one that screams at her to avoid people too. After my first mistake I started listening to that last one.

TTwTT

At this point my life is a show I wish was being recorded because of how entertaining it would be.

#a cutie with a gun rants

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canary3d-obsessed · 2 years

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 32 part two

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Showtime

Now that someone has tried to kill Wei Wuxian -- and died, in a rapid demonstration of logical consequences -- it’s time for the flute portion of Wei Wuxian’s balance beam routine.

The assembled cultivators rush forward to take up battle positions on the stairs, while literally every single clan leader just stands there looking upset. These guys clearly did not avail themselves of leadership training when it was offered in sect leader school.

Wei Wuxian, who is still like 50 yards away from the nearest opponent since they’ve all forgotten they can fly up to get him, laughs at them and starts playing Chenqing.

He seems cheerful and confident here; not like a guy who has lost nearly everything, but that’s just how despair looks on him. Always a smiling face.

(more behind the cut!)

The lack of gruesomeness in most of this fight makes it look like nobody is dying, but Wei Wuxian freely admits, much later in the story, to killing a lot of people here. So I think we should read this black smoke as lethal to most of the cultivators it touches.

The resentment smoke attacks everyone at once, making no distinction between righteous warriors...

...and douchebags.

But the smoke blobs carefully avoid harming any of the Jiangs, even having a nice little Abyss-water-tentacle moment with Jiang Cheng.

Note that the Jiangs are the only ones in the battle who get into a formation when they’re attacked, rather than running around wildly. Well done, Jiang Cheng.

The whole time this is happening Wei Wuxian is just chilling, playing his flute, not having any trouble with it, not getting tired, and nobody is coming for him at all. They need to put up a tank like Nie Mingjue to draw his attacks and then send a couple of high DPS (damage-per-second) fighters in after Wie Wuxian, but they have zero tactics, so they don't.

Boss Fight

Did I say high DPS? Here comes Hanguang-Jun, the only one of these fuckers with the stones to take on Wei Wuxian directly. [OP is speaking of metaphorical stones; don’t feel insulted if you lack literal gonads. OP’s ovaries were surgically sent back to hell where they came from, 9 happy years ago]

Lan Wangji floats in from the sky and lands on the roof, guqin primed and ready. Wei Wuxian gives him a look so sexy that a weaker man would drop dead on the spot.

Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji that his little tunes aren’t going to work on him, so Lan Wangji pissily puts away his guqin. While it’s true that “Rest” won’t work on Wei Wuxian, chord assassination sure would, Lan Wangji. Maybe don’t put your weapon away so quickly next time.

There’s an interesting thread of antagonism in their relationship that is part of their bond; they each crave a strong opponent and enjoy wielding power. Presumably once they get together this will get sublimated into, you know, fucking. But right now it’s fully unsublimated, at least on Wei Wuxian’s side, and he tells Lan Wangji it’s time for them to have a real fight.

Wei Wuxian starts fluting and Lan Wangji draws Bichen and comes after him.

This fight is full of strong emotion and intensity, which makes it easy to overlook a surprising thing about it, which is that Hanguang-Jun is getting his ass kicked. Bichen can’t get through the shield of resentful energy that Wei Wuxian puts up, and pretty quickly Lan Wangji is driven all the way back across the roof.

We know, of course, that Wei Wuxian can’t keep this up for too long without fainting, and Lan Wangji knows it too, but until that happens, he’s at a disadvantage, with the attacks coming as fast as he can handle. Chord assassination would probably work better in this situation, but without a pause button he can’t switch weapons mid-skirmish.

What he does have, though, is Wei Wuxian’s trust. Even if it feels to Wei Wuxian like they’re enemies now, he knows Lan Wangji isn’t going to lie to him or try to trick him. So when Lan Wangji asks him to stop so they can talk, he stops. Lan Wangji is about to explain things--explain about A-Yuan, presumably--when Jiang Yanli arrives on the battlefield.

*deep breath* ...How far away is Lanling from Qishan? Who is feeding the baby? Did her veil seriously stay on all the way here, only to fall off as soon as she arrived? How did the Jin guards and servants etc let her leave? Why didn’t some of them come with her? Why aren’t some of them guarding her now?

Invisible Sister

What follows is an extremely irritating sequence in which Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli, and Jiang Cheng run around the exact same part of the plaza looking for each other. The only reason they don’t meet up instantly is that they are not being filmed at the same time.

Episode 22 gave us this birds-eye view of the set, so we can see how everything is laid out. See how there is only one flight of stairs? Only one? Here’s Jiang Yanli running up the center of the plaza toward the stairs, looking for Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian flies down, lands at the bottom of the same stairs, and looks around yelling for her, unable to see her even when he moves forward into the plaza.

Here’s Jiang Cheng, standing in the plaza with the stairs behind him, in basically the exact same spot as his siblings, unable to see either of them.

The rest of the sequence goes like this, with the background and camera direction changing whenever it feels like it, with no regard for the actual positions of the characters, and the Yunmeng trio yelling for each other about 100 times.

While this is going on, Su She boots up his own flute and takes control of the resentment tentacles. Su She is surprisingly talented for someone who got his sword eaten by rag mops back in episode 5.

Su She starts turning cultivators into zombies (”kuilei” 傀儡, officially), which is meaner than just killing them with smoke tentacles like Wei Wuxian was doing.

Wei Wuxian looks around while standing in the exact same spot as his sister and realizes that he’s not in control any more.

Fortunately, when the zombies and/or live cultivators come to attack Wei Wuxian, they are knocked back by a sword-energy-blast from Bichen, and Lan Wangji flies in to defend him.

Lan Wangji, so switchy. In battle, I mean. Switching sides. That kind of switchy.

Eventually Jiang Yanli gets slashed in the back by a zombie dude, moments after she becomes clearly visible to her brothers. Here she is in the middle of the fucking plaza right in front of the fucking stairs.

The thing is, when you’re looking at a film your mind is registering everything in the frame, whether you’re consciously paying attention to those details or not. So when those details are inconsistent, when camera direction changes arbitrarily, when characters switch positions on set, it all has the effect of breaking your immersion in the scene. This entire sequence is, for me, robbed of its emotional impact, because every time those stairs appear it reminds me that everyone is just pretending to be far away from each other.

Anyhoo. Lan Wangji has come to Wei Wuxian’s side to try to make him stop the madness; they have a quick, very toothy, interaction and then Wei Wuxian throws Lan Wangji off so he can go to his sister.

Now we have a whole other kind of questionable camera work, as this very emotional scene alternates between beautifully shot, heartfelt closeups...

and this weird-as-hell wide-angle shot of the trio with the battle comped in behind them. This has so much lens distortion, Jiang Yanli’s hand in the foreground is bigger than Jiang Cheng’s head. What. The. Fuck.

Jiang Cheng yells at Wei Wuxian for losing control, and Wei Wuxian freaks out because he doesn’t understand how this is happening.

Jiang Yanli came all this way to talk to Wei Wuxian, and even though she’s injured and freshly widowed and in the middle of a battlefield, she still just wants to check in with him and make sure he’s ok and stuff. Girl, we need to talk about your priorities.

Unfortunately, since this battlefield is populated almost entirely with people who want to kill Wei Wuxian, one of them tries to kill Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Yanli pushes him out of the way and gets stabbed in the heart, and falls dead in Jiang Cheng’s arms.

The voice actor for Wei Wuxian is terrific, but is not nearly as good at screaming as Xiao Zhan is. And they have him scream a long extended scream that sort of cracks in the middle. And they break the amazing closeup shot of Wei Wuxian screaming right at the apex of his scream and splice a chunk of the terrible distorted wide-angle shot into the middle of it.

I’m so mad at the editing choices for this moment. If you’re going to sacrifice a female character to further the emotional journey of the male protagonist, at least make sure you don’t edit the emotional impact out of the scene. Let us feel what the characters are feeling, without creating weird artificial distance like this. It’s the least you can do to honor her sacrifice.

To ease my frustration I swapped out the audio on the closeup clips for Xiao Zhan’s own voice, from the Tencent BTS video of the scene. Video here if you want to feel extra upset.

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are both extra upset. Jiang Cheng is so shocked and sorrowful that he isn’t even angry...yet.

Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, is extra super duper angry.

Killer-guy tries to justify himself by saying he was trying to avenge his brother. Is that supposed to stop Wei Wuxian from avenging his sister, dumbass?

Wei Wuxian uses a Wen Ruohan-style move to jerk Yanli’s killer through the air into his hand, then chokes him to death, then flings him away, where he lands on the ground and spits up a bunch of blood.

This actor just ejected liquid from his mouth directly into his nostrils and then did NOT ruin the shot by jumping up and yelling “oh gross ew my nose ew ew ew!” Amazing.

#the untamed #the untamed meta #the untamed gifs #ep32 #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #blood #spoilers

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