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certainlynotasimp · 2 years ago

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can i req miguel and sunshine where she has a BUNCH of hickeys but shes too nice to make fun of so the spiders tease miguel instead?

Just A Taste

(Miguel O' Hara x Female! Reader)

A/N: Omg this is so funny and cute!!! I was kinda struggling writing this because I was like, 'How much is too much for hickeys?'. It's currently hot as hell where I live and so you can tell where that inspo comes from this can be read as a part 2 or a sister fic to Just A Bite. I almost made it an unofficial part 2.25 to Our Girl, but I changed my mind. Also, I'm sorry it's a little short, but I hope you like it.

A/N: I also really wanna try that sorbet thingy where they come in the fruit shells if you know what I'm talking about. If you love this then please check out the master list and if you wanna be kept informed about updates on the Miggy and Sunny series, then comment on this taglist and you'll be added.

WARNINGS: Grumpy x Sunshine, Female reader/ Female pronouns, Barely any use of Y/N ((Sunny is her nickname, not her actual name)), OOC Characters, Flirty Miguel, Some implications of NSFW content, and Google Translated Spanish.

~~~~~~~~

It was very rare that it would get so hot that Miguel would be laid back with the rules. He held everyone to a certain standard when it came to being a part of his elite task force and he was a stickler for them to act like it. Despite this, he only expected three rules to remain to be followed at all times.

All Spidermen can’t travel to other worlds without notice.

Spidermen can’t travel without a mask on to protect the identity of all Spidermen.

Everyone has to wear their spider suits at all times.

Unfortunately, certain circumstances don't really allow certain rules to be followed reasonably. Especially when it involves people with special circumstances.

Such as this.

“Miggy!” A soft whine emits from the chair beside him as the woman sat upside down. Her unmasked face felt hot as a light sheen of sweat made her beautiful face glow against the soft light of the monitor. “It’s so hot…I thought you said Lyla would fix the air hours ago.”

Miguel rolls his eyes at the sight of her feet lightly hanging over the top of the chair as. “Mi amor, if you stay like that, you’re gonna have a lot more to worry about than a heat stroke.” He playfully pinches her ankle as he grabs a tablet from the table, fanning his own burning skin.

Due to a massive heat wave, Earth-928 was experiencing the hottest summer it has ever had in history, causing Lyla’s A/C system to malfunction. The Lobby was left a broiling mess with Spidermen refusing to come by until the AI’s systems are rebooted. Only a handful of spiders were on base with the residential sweetheart suffering the most since she lives there.

“Can I please take this off?” She moans as she swings up and shoots him those dreaded puppy dog eyes.

“Oh?” Miguel quirks an eyebrow as his eyelids lower. A playful smile graces his handsome face as he chastises. “I didn’t expect you to be so risky, mi sol.”

A flurry of butterflies spread out in her gut as she glares at Miguel. His response is to chuckle as that pretty glossed lip pokes out as she scolds him, “Not like that, Miguel, and you know it. This suit feels like a furnace and I just want to relax…”

The idea of his cute little lover prancing around in the nude would be an interesting idea to Spiderman, but he knew that his love would never agree to do that with others in the Head Quarters. Miguel bites his lip as he contemplates torturing his arañita some more, but he decides to show mercy as he relents.

“Alright, mi amor.” He sighs as he allows his own suit to dissipate, exposing the tight black tank top and tight athletic pants. “Pero tendrás que cumplir esa pequeña fantasía mía más tarde, mi niña bonita.”

His remark is ignored as she stands up from her cheer with a quiet “fuck yea”. After tinkering with her gizmo, the black and white suit disappears revealing her white tank top and black running shorts, but Miguel couldn’t help but smirk at the blotches of bruises that marred her skin.

Just before he could comment on it, the door opens as a voice complains, “YO BIG MAN! You need to tell that computer to fix this air!”

Another voice accompanies the new yorker's as the tall Brit yells out. “It’s sweltering here, man!”

Ben and Hobie came to a halt as they see their friend smile at them. “Hey, guys!” Sunny calls and waves at them while their faces grow ten degrees hotter.

The poor woman’s entire body was covered in hickeys. Her shoulders and collarbone were littered with several little puncture wounds while her neck had multiple light scratches dragging down. A distinct handprint was present at the base of her neck like a necklace with matching bracelets on her wrists. Her exposed thighs bared no better as the inner sides of her thighs had similar bite marks with a matching set of claw marks on the outside of her thighs.

Ben swats a hand over his mouth as his hand slams over his horrified mouth while Hobie looks at Miguel in an amused expression. The urge to throw himself into another dimension plagues Miguel’s thoughts as he realizes that he will never live this moment down for the rest of his life. Rubbing his hand over his face in frustration, the oblivious spider turns back to her lover as she tilts her head at why everyone was acting weird.

“Miggy, are you alright?” She mumbles as Hobie joins them up there with fake concern wrapping around his voice. “Yea, boss, are you alright? You looking a bit flushed, yea?” Hobie struggles to hide the growing laughter in his voice as Miguel throws him a nasty glare.

The punk was never afraid of getting under his leader’s skin, but his ego really took over when he knows his boss would definitely not do anything while his missus was right there watching him. Ben also decides to join the fun by remarking, “Yea, you look like you need something to blow off that steam. Maybe a little taste of something sweet, right?” He teases as he figures he was safe.

Unfortunately, he unknowingly sparked an idea in the naive spider’s mind. She claps her hands in excitement as she exclaims, “That’s a great idea, Ben! I think I have some sorbets in the freezer of Miguel’s apartment.”

Miguel wickedly smirks as he realizes that he may have an opportunity to exact some revenge as the two other boys tried to reason with her to stay.

“Oh wait, Sunny, You really don’t have to..”

“Yea, Love. We are fine really!”

The boys try to reassure her that she didn’t need to travel all that way to get some ice cream before a smooth voice says,

“Es una idea maravillosa, mi amor.” Miguel praises as his love’s smile brightens in response. “¿Por qué no vas a buscarme a mí ya ti ya que estos dos quieren ser miserables en este momento, de acuerdo?” He coos causing the woman to swoon at his soft tone.

“Alrighty, Miggy.” She grins as she opens the portal with her gizmo. The boys’ hearts stop in their chests as the little spider ignores their pleas to stay and happily skips through the portal to Miguel’s apartment.

“Now then…” Miguel’s menacing voice twists around his cruel smile as he looks at the trembling boys. “What is it that you guys wanted to talk about?”

Yep, they are fucked.

~~~~~~~

As the portal reopens on the observation deck, a smiling jumping spider comes back through with two packages in her hand and two spoons as she calls out, “Miggy, I’m back!”

“Llegando, mi sol.” His voice surprises her as he swings himself back onto the platform. She tilts her head as she begins to ask where he went when she noticed that he was now shirtless with the evidence of what she’s done to him now on full display.

His chest had small dark circles littering his pectorals that created a trail down his abdomen and his abs, disappearing into the dark brown happy trail that began below his belly button. Upon seeing her stunned face, Miguel chuckles as he gently takes one of the icy treats from her shaking hands and a spoon before sitting down in his chair.

“Gracias Amor.” He says nonchalantly as he rips open the packaging and starts eating the sorbet from its fruit shell.

“N-no problem, Miggy..” She sits beside him and opens her treat as she avoids looking at his powerful back muscles as they flex and move as he ate the sugary sweet. She almost drops the damned thing after the deep scratches on his shoulder blades reminded her of what they did just the night prior.

“¿Qué pasa, mami? Miguel mocks as a mischievous smirk causes his fangs to poke out. “¿No te gusta tu sorbete? ¿O hay algo más que te gustaría probar?” He purrs as the spoon in her hand falls to the floor with him chuckling.

“Miguel!” She scolds as she begins to bend over to pick up the spoon as another spoon full of an icy treat. Her stomach flips as Miguel looks at her with his pretty apologetic red eyes as he pokes her pouting lips with his peace offering.

“I’m sorry for teasing, my love. You just look so cute and flustered.” He admits he gives her a soft curl of his lip.

Matching his smile, Sunny opens her mouth and happily accepts his apology with a small moan. She sighs as she lets go of his spoon with a satisfied smile.

“So good!~”

“I’m glad.” He smiles as he dips his own bite and eats it. “Es casi tan dulce como tú…”

“Miggy!” An embarrassed voice shrills as the man laughs with his love.

~~~~~~~~~~

Translations:

arañita - Little spider

Pero tendrás que cumplir esa pequeña fantasía mía más tarde, mi niña bonita.--But, you are gonna have to fulfill that little fantasy of mine later, my pretty girl.

Es una idea maravillosa, mi amor.- That's a wonderful idea, my love.

¿Por qué no vas a buscarme a mí ya ti ya que estos dos quieren ser miserables en este momento, de acuerdo? -Why don't you go get me and you some since these two want to be miserable right now, alright?

Llegando, mi sol.- Coming, my sun.

Thank you,love- Gracias amor

¿Qué pasa, mami?- What's a matter, mami?

Es casi tan dulce como tú…–It's almost as sweet as you...

~~~~~~~~~~

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#miguel o’hara x reader #spiderman #spiderman 2099 #spiderman across the spiderverse #spiderman 2099 x reader #spiderman into the spiderverse #miguel ohara #fanfic #across the spiderverse #miguel o’hara

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true-blue-megamind · 3 years ago

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FAN THEORY THURSDAY: Megamind and Masculinity

Thanks to life throwing a few mountain-sized speed bumps in my way, it’s been forever, but I’m finally back! Did you miss me? (Don’t answer that. I’ll just pretend you said yes.) In case there’s any question, yes, these posts still concern Megamind, and yes, you still need to see this excellent animated film before reading. SPOILER WARNING!

It’s no great secret that the 2010 movie Megamind expertly deals with some surprisingly grown-up topics for a family feature. Well, today we're going to examine another one: masculinity. (While I'm honestly not sure whether Megamind would identify as male or non-binary, we're going to be looking at masculinity in the behavioral sense. You'll see what I mean.) Some of what this animated movie has to say on the matter may surprise you. What makes various characters toxically or positively masculine? How are both ideas illustrated in the film? Fans have some wonderful insights to offer!

Types of Toxic Masculinity

Okay, we already know that Hal/Titan is the King of Incel Creeps, and we’ll discuss that later, but what this film has to say about toxic masculinity goes deeper and broader. Indeed, Hal may not be the only character illustrating this social issue. During the Movie Night Crew’s Megamind podcast one member described different types of toxic masculinity portrayed in the film.

“There's the guy who is hiding substantial things about himself but is otherwise quite nice. There's the guy who feels like throwing elaborate things at you is a great way to woo you. Then there's the guy that you go over to his apartment and there are actual framed pictures of himself.”

If none of that sounds like Hal, it’s because it’s not. Believe it or not, the first two (honestly milder) archetypes may be Megamind during the earlier half of the movie. Before you all grab torches and pitchforks, let me explain. As “Bernard,” the then-villain feels free to show the good-hearted, thoroughly likable side of his true personality, but he is also lying about his identity to Roxanne. As an undisguised supervillain, he tries to win the reporter’s affection by showcasing his creations. The technologically-advanced doom devices he constructs and the elaborate plans he concocts appear to be at least partially aimed at impressing her. (To be fair, as mentioned in Why Kidnap Roxanne, many fans argue that this could be a courtship instinct natural to a highly intelligent species. Showing off his intelligence could be Megamind’s version of a male peacock spreading its tail feathers.)

The third type of toxic masculinity mentioned obviously refers to Metroman. He seems rather self-centered and arrogant, and it isn’t only due to his choice of wall art. There’s his vaunting behavior at the Metroman Museum as well as his childhood bullying of Megamind, but even these aren’t the whole story.

Consider his exchange with Roxanne Ritchi, who’s been abducted yet again by the local supervillain, near the beginning of the movie. When Metroman says: “don’t panic, Roxie,” she responds that she’s not panicking, but the hero doesn’t seem to hear, instead adding that he’s on his way. He seems unwilling to acknowledge her statement because it suggests her plight is not particularly dire, thus reducing his importance.

Believing his nemesis and damsel to be in the abandoned observatory, Metroman crashes through the metal doors, sending a huge, heavy telescope flying into the relatively small room. Think about that. It would likely have hit Roxanne if she’d actually been there, and she could have been badly injured. Despite ostensibly coming to her rescue, Metroman doesn’t appear to think much about the damsel’s safety. This possibly indicates that, to the superpowered celebrity, at least, Roxanne is less a person and more a prop for his daring heroics. When you add to that his willingness to abandon the city during a crisis and his career choice of wanna-be rock star, it becomes clear that Metroman, far from truly being a Good Guy, is actually rather egocentric. He’s like the popular high school jock stereotype: behaving publicly in a way that prompts others’ adoration but, at his core, a bit of a selfish jerk.

Static and Dynamic Character Traits

While Megamind genuinely seems to be a good person and Roxanne clearly falls for him in the end, he still has some personal growth to do at the beginning of the film. And he does exactly that. It’s what makes the blue hero different.

You see, despite having initially made some rather questionable choices in his early attempts to woo Roxanne—pro tip: abductions and threats are not the way to a girl’s heart—Megamind changes and matures throughout the course of the film. That’s something which, out of the three characters previously mentioned, only the blue man does. Although the former villain is already less objectionable than either Metroman or Hal from the start—he’s careful never to hurt Roxanne, as is obvious from her lack of fear, and despite having her in his power multiple times he never takes advantage of her—his character development remains dynamic throughout the narrative. Thus we see that Megamind already possesses a greater level of empathy and decency than other major male characters in the film—except Minion, who we all know is a sweetheart—and he continues improving from there. This may be due to his original behavioral catalysts. What little toxicity we see in him seems to be born out of anxiety—such as his masquerading as Bernard when he believes he can never be accepted for himself—as well as a certain lack of knowledge on expressing interest to potential lovers.

What do I mean? In the original script, a henchman points out that kidnapping Roxanne is like the supervillain’s version of dipping a schoolmate’s pigtails in the ink well, and he’s not wrong. Having grown up in an all-male prison and suffered ostracization most of his life, Megamind probably lacked the social development necessary to maturely communicate sexual interest. It’s possible he instead fell back on an almost preadolescent mode of behavior. Indeed, it’s a phase most people go through, but it seems to have affected the blue man into physical adulthood. To put it plainly, what Megamind displays is less a personality flaw and more a normal growing pain that his circumstances have prolonged. Out of the three villain/hero characters, he’s definitely the most positively masculine from the start. It appears that Megamind is an essentially good man with a few toxic traits while Metroman is an essentially toxic man with a few good traits. (Hal, as we’ll discuss later, is just plain toxic.) More importantly, however, Megamind’s milder flaws are something he chooses to change.

That’s the real difference. By the end of the film, the Blue Defender has conquered both anxiety and under-socialization, becoming a truly Good Guy in every sense. He recognizes negative behaviors and alters them. He takes time to know Roxanne, cares about her, and recognizes that she's a capable, intelligent person rather than a prop or prize. (This is why, as mentioned in Megamind and Identity, he requests her help when Metro City is in danger.) Megamind is willing to admit mistakes and become a better man, making him the film's prime example of positive masculinity.

Again, this is a stark contrast to Hal and Metroman, both of whom are largely static characters. Yes, one gains superpowers and turns to crime while the other fakes his death and retires from heroism, but the essence of who they are remains the same. Metroman’s living space is still covered with images and memorabilia glorifying him, and he still chooses a career that, if successful, will provide praise and attention. Hal, of course, remains the same creep as ever, continuing to stalk his crush, insisting that Roxanne owes him her affection, and lashing out violently when things don’t go his way.

Good Guy Versus Nice Guy

That brings us to our third and final point. Hal is such an excellent adversary for Megamind, in part, because they are polar opposites. In fact, if the blue alien represents positive masculinity, then Titan is the film’s ultimate example of toxic masculinity.

In MEGAMIND and Nice Guy™ Syndrome, a video on the YouTube channel Cinema Therapy, filmmaker Alan Seawright and therapist Jonathan Decker hit the proverbial nail squarely on the head. The hosts explored what it means to be a so-called “Nice Guy” compared to what it means to be a Good Guy, and explained the primary difference between the two beautifully.

There's a difference between niceness and goodness. Nice is built on transaction. It's built on appearance. It's built on “I want something and this is how I'm going to get it.” Good is: “This is who I want to be because the greatest joy is giving love.”

In other words, Nice Guys (or Nice Girls, for that matter,) behave a certain way because they expect something in return while Good Guys show kindness, consideration, and affection simply because they care. By this definition, true goodness is based upon empathy and affection while a Nice Guy’s brand of niceness is, under the surface, entirely self-serving and manipulative. It’s the difference between somebody massaging a lover’s back after a rough day because they want to make them feel better and somebody massaging a lover’s back because they believe it entitles them to sex in return.

Hal fits quite clearly into the “Nice Guy” category. (I’ve covered some of this in a previous blog post, What Makes Hal Such a Great Villain, so I’m going to try to be rather brief.) Even before becoming Titan, the creepy cameraman regularly tries to pressure Roxanne into going out with him and seems to think that she owes him her affection because he acts nice to her. As Decker and Seawright explain, Hal also tries to lay claim to her, such as when, following Roxanne’s reference to Megamind/Bernard as her partner, Hal tells the other man: “Listen, Partner, I’m her partner!” Immediately afterward, he even claims that Roxanne doesn’t know what she’s saying due to her supposedly “traumatic experience.” He’s attempting to gaslight the woman as well as seeking to press her into what Hal sees as her assigned role: that of a delicate female blossom in need of protection. This is likely both because that’s the part Roxanne plays in his fantasies—he does, after all, talk about protecting her during their first interaction of the film—and because it’s an attempt to mitigate his own emasculated feelings after Roxanne braved Megamind’s Lair while he didn't—hence his ridiculous claim about fighting ninjas.

Of course, Hal/Titan only becomes worse after gaining superpowers. He acts as if Roxanne is some sort of automatic superhero prize, uses his powers to invade the privacy of her home, and becomes violent when she refuses him. All of this is basically a macrocosm of his existing temperament. Before being injected with Metroman’s DNA, Hal yells and punches the news van when Roxanne declines his invitation to a creepy two-person party. As Titan, he takes his man-child wrath out on the entire city. Similarly, he shows a complete lack of regard for Roxanne’s feelings both before and after his transformation. When the woman is clearly upset following her report on Metroman’s apparent loss, Hal completely fails to notice, callously joking about “wrapping up” the segment and pressuring her for a date. Later, Titan throws Roxanne around like a rag doll, scaring her half to death and placing her life in peril, with no regard for her feelings. Clearly, any niceness Hal displays is only surface deep and aimed at possessing the woman he lusts for. He does not actually care about her at all.

Megamind, however, is the opposite. He does care. A lot. A part of this can be seen, of course, in his interactions with Roxanne. (As I’ve said, during kidnappings he never so much as touches her, while dating her he takes time to get to know her as a person, when she breaks up with him he accepts her decision without pushing, and he respects her intelligence.) However, there’s more to it than that.

While the blue man certainly cares about the “girl of his dreams,” he also cares about his city and everyone in it, despite having little reason for such empathy. As a villain he commits vandalism and theft, but, as far as we know, he never purposefully harms anyone, even staging his battles with Metroman in in abandoned areas to avoid casualties. (The aforementioned video states that Megamind clearly wants to be good but society won’t initially let him.) When Titan turns evil, the blue man works to save Metro City rather than fleeing—something he could have done using his holowatch and hoverbike. While asking his love for help, Megamind never mentions his own danger despite Titan’s murderous fury over he and Roxanne’s kiss. Instead, the alien’s main concern is the welfare of his hometown and its populace. (You can read more about that in Megamind and Identity.) When Roxanne calls for Megamind to save her, she reminds him that he never runs from a fight even when he thinks he has no chance of winning, and, indeed, the blue man displays exactly that kind of determination when, too pained to walk, he literally crawls to the invisible car during the battle.

Once Titan is defeated, the blue genius doesn’t stop there, but immediately begins rebuilding the city. And there’s evidence he keeps improving it long afterward. If you’ve read the earlier article Is There Proof of Megamind’s Presence in Rise of the Titans, you’ll already be aware that the Blue Defender seems to have been hard at work. Comparing Metro City as it appears in the Megamind and Trollhunter movies, which take place about a decade apart, we can see that old infrastructure and rundown buildings have been replaced by successful businesses, clean streets, tons of technology, and even a new public transportation system. (Although I do hope they kept the historic districts.) Obviously, Megamind is not only defending his city but also making it a better place. All of this shows that he genuinely cares about the people around him, and that is why he’s a Good Guy.

There you have it! The movie Megamind deals with both toxic and positive masculinity. The blue genius represents the latter not because he’s perfect but because he sincerely cares about others so much it drives him to be a better person. He’s empathetic, determined, brave, and willing to learn from his mistakes. He not only protects those who depend on him but strives to improve their lives as well. That sets him apart from toxic characters and makes him a true hero. It’s one more way this film addresses a serious topic in a family-friendly context. No wonder, nearly twelve years later, this amazing animated movie still has so many dedicated fans!

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arodabi · 4 years ago

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okay, i’m finally getting around to writing this, and uhh ill say its for aro week too. this is written as an aro person directed at alloromantic people. when i refer to writing, i’m kind of using it as a general term for creative works. Here’s me throwing my hat in on the question:

Can you ship aromantic characters?

and my answer is,,,,, actually a question. Why do you want to ship aromantic characters?

I want alloros to realize that for a lot of aros, we do not get to see ourselves represented often. I can actually count on like one hand how many popular canon aro characters there are, and on the whole, none of their identities are respected. people constantly try to weasel their way out of actually writing aro characters, or they just ignore or deny their identity outright. fandom spaces (hell creative spaces in general) are at best not welcoming to aros, and at worst actively hostile towards us. So when the first question brought up when a character gets canonically confirmed as aro is “okay cool but can i ship them???” or “that’s nice but how can i still write about my fave ship that involves them??” i want to fucking scream. its a slap to the face and it shows that people really do not give a shit about aros. you say stuff like that and all i hear is “my fictional ship is so much more important than representing your marginalized minority identity” so instead of me just sitting here and saying “yes you can totally ship aro characters, as long as you’re respectful!!!” i’m saying “can you stop and think why you want to shove an aro character into a romantic relationship at the first chance you get?? maybe you have some arophobia you haven’t worked on?? maybe since we live in an amatonormative world, you’re letting that influence your views??” because that question being the first thing out of your mouth when you see a character you like confirmed as aro? that’s already disrespectful towards aros in my book.

So back to my question, Why do you want to ship aromantic characters? is it because you can’t write characters without them being in romantic relationships? or because you think a character without a romantic relationship is boring? Because if so, that’s a bad reason and it sounds like amatonormativity is rotting your brain.

Is it because you just really like a ship with the aro character? Because you can write two characters with a strong relationship without writing them as a couple. A strong friendship can hold just as much power as a romantic relationship.

Is it because fuck aros, i will write what I wanna write and I don't wanna write this character with their canon identity? because then you’re just an arophobic asshole that needs to work on your shitty opinions. aro representation is just as important as any other lgbtqia+ representation.

Now if you’re reading this and thinking “well i heard aros can be in queerplatonic relationships!” I want you to think for a second. Are you writing a qpr or are you writing a romantic relationship with the serial numbers filed off? Have you talked to aro people or read stuff actually written by us? because, yes, some qprs can look a lot like a romantic relationship from the outside, but that’s just it, you’re looking at it from the outside. qprs are more than just “romantic relationship with extra steps”, and i think it’s really telling how many times i see alloromantic people saying they’re depicting an aro character in a qpr, not a romantic relationship, but then they never ever make any effort to distinguish the qpr from any other romantic relationship they write or draw. It just feels like qprs are getting used by alloros as a gatcha any time an aro person objects to how they depict (or don’t depict) aromanticism. if you want to write a character in a qpr then go for it! but you need to actually do research, talk to aros, get multiple opinions and not just take the first opinion that agrees with you and run with it.

“But what about headcanoning a character as arospec?” now i will say before i go into this, i am aro, not arospec, so if an arospec person wants to come in and correct me at any part here im happy to listen. but my problem when alloros bring up arospec identities is a very similar problem to how qprs are often depicted. I remember when Peridot Stevenuniverse got confirmed aro (she did, do not argue this with me) people were jumping over themselves to assure everyone that “a character getting confirmed as aro just means they are any arospec identity” which,, uhh,, not true? i mean if an arospec person wants to see a canon aro character as, say, aroflux, i’ve got no problem, aro and arospec people can do what they want really. but, i do have a problem with all the alloro fans who were spreading this. because, do you really see the character as demiromantic? or are you using that identity to deflect criticism from erasing aro identities? are you actually trying to write a good depiction of a demiro person? or are you just writing normal ship stuff and slapping a “uwu ive never felt romantic attraction until i met you! and now i will act exactly like any alloromantic person!” at the beginning? being in fandom spaces, i do see the occasional fic actually depicting an aspec identity (i say aspec her because aro is so rare that most of these examples i’ve seen have been acespec identities rather than arospec) but like 99% of the time, that’s written by someone who actually shares the identity. before you use our terms and identities to cover your ass when you erase us, consider not fucking doing that. consider listening to all aros and getting our thoughts and input.

And last here is “but what about romance positive aros?” now i think most of what i’ve said previously can be applied here. the only thing i wanna add is, i think its very interesting that almost every time i see non aros depict aros, they always write them as very into romance, very open to be in romantic relationships, and very quiet about their aro identity. despite the character in canon not showing any of these traits. romance positive aros are good and important, but not every aro is romance positive. there’s quite a few of us that are romance repulsed, and alloros only depicting aros as super romance positive no matter what is suspicious to say the least. if an aro character is shown to be open to participating in romantic activities in canon then of course write them that way. but if an aro character is shown to be uninterested in, or even actively against romantic activities then respect that too.

so, to wrap up my thoughts in this ramble: please ask yourself why you want to ship aro characters so bad, because if the only reason is that amatonormativity has brainwashed you into not being able to write, or draw, or do anything with a character without them being in a romantic relationship, then you uhhh need to work on that, that’s honestly a writing/creative flaw imo. if you like the relationship dynamic between an aro character and another character, consider making them friends. friendship is not less powerful than romantic relationships. nobody is ever too old for the power of friendship trope. If you’re erasing an aro character’s identity because fuck aros, then fuck off somewhere far away from me and work on your bullshit. qprs, arospec identities, and romance positive aros are all very real, very important parts of the aro community, but please talk to other aros about them and actually make an effort to understand how these things work, dont just assume. And also don’t use these things as a way to erase aro identities and cover your ass if get called out. its disrespectful towards all aros.

The most important thing to do before writing or creating work with aro characters is to talk to aros, and not just the aros that agree with you. look up what a qpr actually is, learn how aros experience their arospec identities, talk to aros with multiple outlooks on romance. and if you can’t bring yourself to reach out, at least read through our own writings, whether that’s fiction, or informational posts, fuck, look through our memes if u wanna. Just please actually make an effort.

So, Can you ship aro characters? its complicated. look at trends in your fandom, question why you want to, and do research. Be an aro ally, listen to us. That’s really the most important thing.

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river-bottom-nightmare · 4 years ago

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Nightwing #80 Review

woot woot i’ve kept it up for three issues lets gooo. i liked this issue more than the last one. there’s a lot of fanon dick characterization peppered in, but not so much that it puts me off entirely. also, i’m getting increasingly concerned about bitewing. but i did like tim in this one, very nice

look at all the blue and purple and pink. honestly at this point, i’m a broken record but come on come on come onnnnnnn. the blue and pink is very pretty though. this cover’s a bit offputting at first, and a bit spiraly, which i’m sure was the intended effect.

this is a genuine concern of mine. dick’s a vigilante, and he doesn’t have the same sprawling network and resources that bruce does. (even if he is a billionaire now, he hasn’t amassed the same collection of crime-fighting equipment that bruce has.)

i’m not sure if he’ll be able to take care of bitewing. damian’s got plenty of pets, but alfred used to take care of them, and now bruce plus the rest of the batfam is taking care of them. as far as we know, babs only drops by occasionally, and the same goes for dick’s family and friends. will dick be able to give bitewing the love and time and affection that a traumatized puppy like her needs? i really hope so.

she does look adorable in this panel tho.

dick. richard. richie. baby. why are you shirtless.

you have scars upon scars. probably chemical burns. bullet wounds. weird fucking squiggly lines from knives that only psychos with blade fetishes use. no normal person has the body that you do. and you don’t think that showing up shirtless in front of the police is going to raise suspicion? you don’t think that the people accusing you of murder are going to look at someone who looks like they’re a fucking mob enforcer and go hmm that’s a bit suspicious?

put on a SHIRT jesus CHRIST it’s like you’re not even trying to hide your identity.

look at this pompous little princess demanding only the highest quality head pets i’d burn down latvia for her. (no offense latvians it was the first country that popped into my head.)

pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy pretty boy-

no seriously kudos to the artist here. his expression is so human i wanna cry. dick, right now, is sheepishly asking a question. he knows he’s not going to get into any real trouble, he knows that he’ll be able to talk his way out of or somehow maneuver his way off this mess. but he’ll play nice for the police, so he’s asking a friend for a favour, part self-condescendingly and part oh-well-what-can-you-do.

and his expression reflects that. rather than a stoic expressionless face most male comic characters have when asking someone for something (or all the time really), rather than the weird desperate supposedly “seductive” face that most female comic characters plus dick grayson have when asking someone for something (or all the time really), he’s making a face that i pulled like yesterday. or the day before that. it’s kind of silly, kind of casual, very much human. i like it.

thank god. proper (in character) acknowledgement for officer grayson. yea, fuck cops in general, but i like that they included this line.

obviously, he’s not talking about the actual criminals, he’s talking about the police force itself. the bpd was too corrupt, and dick realized that he wasn’t helping. not only does one clean cop not make a dent in an overall dirty force, but dick was putting his allies in danger too. not only that, but it wasn’t good for dick’s mental health either. he was spreading himself too thin, and surrounding himself with some of the worst of crime 24/7 did a number on him. dick’s got a history of self-sacrificing tendencies, and i’m just glad he’s not a cop anymore.

dick has a gotham rogues mug. they make gotham rogue mugs, and dick has one.

what kinda city looks at it’s frankly horrible crime history and long list of certifiably insane serial killers who are all still alive and actively committing war crimes and goes “oooooh yea imma put that on a coffee mug!” gotham, that’s who.

this isn’t important i just like how all of bitewing’s barks are blue

back straight, hand on his hip, cheerful smile on his face as he says he’s being accused for murder. love that for him.

they couldn’t have said “yea it’s complicated” in a better way even if they put the words “yea it’s complicated” right there on the page in bold red letters. literally all the love to the artists.

dick please. you’re KILLING ME what the actual fuck IS THAT???? WHY DO YOU HAVE A MUG OF THAT???

anyway nightwing collects novelty mugs confirmed.

this paneling is so beautiful.

tim’s the focus, but he’s not the first thing you see. he’s placed in a way that forces the reader to drag their eyes all the way up the page in order to reach him. it us know just how high up tim is carelessly crouching, especially close to the ledge of the building too. i cannot think of a single better way to introduce a character, and this character in particular: you instantly know this is a version of tim with plenty of experience and training, is comfortable in his body and knows his limits, but still hangs onto that civilian awe of being in a high place and overlooking a brightly lit city.

absolute classic robin. i love it.

this isn’t even that important but it made me happy. this is how you train surf.

you don’t crouch or bend over when you get to a tunnel, which is oddly enough what most people think (at least from my experience). you bend backward. that not only 100% ensures that you’ll make sure you’re low enough to make it through the tunnel (because you can see the top of the tunnel, unlike when you crouch or bend), but it also makes it easier to get up: all you have to do is push up with your arms into a bent stance, and you’ll be in a ready, moving position. from a bend or a crouch, getting up is more awkward and more slow.

on a meta level, i like that this creative team knows what they’re doing when it comes to the small, almost unimportant stuff like that, because it makes the action more real. (as real as you can get with a guy running around stealing hearts.)

on a in-universe level, it once again drives home both dick and tim’s experience and professional level skill.

regardless of who you side with in the “should tim drake be robin again?” debate, you gotta admit that tim’s rebirth robin suit is r a d as fuck. if i’m not mistaken, this is the same one he was wearing in 2019 young justice for a little bit? it’s cute and hella cool i like it.

remember what i said about human expressions? doesn’t happen as often to tim bc he’s a Child, but it’s still nice to note when someone humanizes him, too. (that’s why i love the duckboy panel so much lol.)

me, at first: that’s not a “good call” dick that’s just common sense

me, now: sprinkled throughout the entire comic we can see dick bending to tim’s instructions if only briefly, joking with him to keep the mood light while still maintaining a serious mood and retaining control over this particular outing. this implies that dick’s doing it intentionally, purposefully leaving places in his sentences blank and offering affirmations, in order to encourage tim and train him in things bruce might not necessarily touch on, such as social chameleoning and misdirection techniques and love/affirmation from a family member. dick is not only a loving and supportive big brother, but he never stops training his younger brother in better vigilante tecnhiques because he wants tim to be better than him. in this essay i will-

d o g g o

also bitewing is getting so many head pats today i’m living for it

look at him, standing on a telephone wire with ease. nice flex, dick.

also look at how he’s silhouetted. the moon’s full bright, bright enough that the sky around dick is light, too. (at least. i’m like 99% sure that’s the moon.) not like most batman comics, where it’s sometimes hard to distinguish bruce from the background, which is entirely on purpose.

gotham is a dark gritty city, and so is bruce. the two of them are one. bludhaven may be a bit of a mess, but it’s being portrayed in all these different shades of blue and purple and pink, that are all light enough that dick stands out from the background. he hasn’t been swallowed up by the city, and chances are that he won’t ever be. also, the colouring helps establish bludhaven as a city too. there’s still hope for it. the light colouring means that it’s not going to sink into a pit as deep as the one bruce wove gotham into. the whole point of this nightwing arc in particular is to turn bludhaven into a better place, and it’s (most likely) letting us know early on that dick is going to accomplish that. he’ll struggle, but he’ll do it.

so dick??? dick designed his escrima sticks with a situation like this in mind? he created his signature and most iconic weapon (other than his chatty mouth), with a built in feature that turns his escrima sticks into tim’s signature and most iconic weapon???? just so that if he and tim ever got into a situation where tim didn’t have his staff, dick could make sure tim had the thing that would give him an edge over anyone he was fighting??? he’s such a big brother oh my goddd.

also tim’s smirk in this is just *chef kiss.* a staff is something he can work with, a staff is something he wields like an extension of his arm, a staff is means that someone’s about to get their ass kicked because tim’s about to beat the shit outta them.

this is my new phone background.

they really made sure we remembered that hey, those first few months when bruce was grieving too much to be any sort of a mentor to tim and was still unwilling to properly train him to be robin out of fear that he would end up like jason, dick was the one who stepped up (once he got over himself and his own fears and hangups with bruce) and trained tim to be robin, trained him how to fight and flip and fuckin fly out there, all while changing his own style a bit to be the more experienced one in the partnership while still trusting said partner to hold their own, so dick and tim have a very unique and cohesive fighting style that makes it hell for anyone who fights them together, didn’t they?

#river thinks too hard #nightwing 80 #nightwing 80 spoilers #nightwing #dick grayson #tim drake #red robin #robin #nightwing 80 meta #nightwing meta #dick grayson meta #tim drake meta #red robin meta #robin meta #dc meta #dc

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zephycluster · 4 years ago

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Precolonial HWS SEA Rant Post, feel free to ignore

If you're still reading, then you're probably looking for evidence or some juicy tidbits to throw back at me or to try and find dirt to cancel me, like typical Tumblr/Twitter. Go ahead, I don't really care.

First off, let me just say that If you like Precolonial South-East Asia AUs, feel free to keep enjoying them. I will respectfully support your passions from afar. This post is just to explain why I don't like it, especially the way they keep insisting/portraying PH in it.

Still here? Then let me begin.

Since the recent confirmation that the ASEAN Six Majors (Can't really say ASEAN 10 atm since it's still missing some people) Were completed and the Ma-Phil-Indo Trio was included, there has been a large surge in 'Precolonial' fanarts and portrayals of South East Asians, those three especially.

Even long, long before, circa 2010's ish, a rather well-known fan universe known as 'Maaf' dealt with their story and how their Author thought their intertwined histories went. Written by (my best guesstimate) an Indonesian writer who wants to explore the old, SEA bond.

When I first stumbled across Maaf (I was in Highschool at the time, around age 16-ish), I took a casual interest in it and tried to read it through. But, I will wholeheartedly admit that at the time, Pre-Colonial cultures of South-East Asia in general, let alone Philippine, did not really interest me that much. The focus (I think) was mostly on Indonesia, a country I didn't really know back then, and the liberal use of 'ancient' names and artwork just made it feel like an entirely Original Work (that needed a degree in History to really appreciate) and not something from Hetalia. I also completely disagreed with what I could gather was the story's portrayal of PH but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Do I hate 'Maaf'? No, I don't hate it. Do I wish I never came across it or that it didn't exist? Of course not. Just because I didn't enjoy it or appreciate it that well doesn't mean I wish any ill toward it, its fans, or its creator.

Fast forward to April 2021, the long awaited inclusion of South East Asia to the canon Hetalia verse. I was happy, the other fans were happy, all was good.

Then started the questionable fanarts, fan theories and fan pairings.

Especially the expansion of Precolonial! PH.

Let's go back to Maaf for one moment. From what I understood of Maaf, PH there was a character who once was like all the other South East Asian cultures, trading with them, all around being a nice family.

But all that changed when the Spaniards attacked, so cry the precolonial buffs. They destroyed everything, ransacked and marginalized the tribes, erased everything that PH was!

Did that happen? ABSOLUTELY. The Spaniards had this vision in mind that they must spread Christianity to all of the 'savage, unchristian heathens' of their realm. :V /s

But back up a second, back to PH's portrayal in Maaf. The way she (yeah, she) was portrayed there was that she was slowly losing her memories of being a 'true' South East Asian and grew more and more westernized in the process, like some sort of Culture-specific Alzheimer's or something.

Firstly, that is seriously depressing, and secondly, I just really don't see that happening.

Here's why.

Point 1: Even before Colonial Masters, Filipinos as a people cannot agree on anything.

I'll just begin this segment with a Philippine proverb that outlines what Filipinos call 'Crab Mentality' or 'Crab Bucket Mentality'.

"You don't need a lid for a container when you're keeping multiple crabs. If you keep at least two crabs together, they will just pull each other down instead of helping each other up."

I don't know how it goes with Indonesian or Malaysian history class, but what I know of my homeland, both pre- and post-colonial history, we were never really 'united' or 'together' in the sense that Indonesia and Malaysia were (from what I assume).

Let me pull up a somewhat related question on r/AskHistorians.

The reason I brought this up as it shows the reasons why, in my opinion, a single entity that is 'Precolonial Philippines-tan' is an impossibility.

The answers are long and would extend this already long post to stupid proportions, so I'll just quote relevant sentences. The link is here for those that wanna deep-dive into the answer.

"All this to say that there wasn't a name used for the entire Philippine islands before the Philippines that people now would agree to. An interesting comparison would be the Holy Roman Empire, which might also be characterized as disparate politico-geographic groups of relatively small size that had a history of relations between each other, but one thing they had that the Philippines did not was a common language, or at least a family of mostly mutually intelligible languages, so that the name Deutschland or Germany isn't terribly offensive to anyone. If you called the Philippines the 'Lupang-Tagalog' or even 'Lupang-Tao' the other ethnic groups would protest."

For those in need of translation, 'Lupang Tagalog' means 'Land of the Tagalogs' and 'Lupang Tao' means 'Land of People', specifically. The first one is already exclusive and offensive, as the Tagalog peoples are but one of many ethnicities here.

And for the 'Lupang Tagalog' suggestion specifically, it's even more offensive as they are the majority ethnicity (not by much, just around 28%) From this chart from Geography Now! It would basically be alienating everyone else in the 72% remainder that isn't 'Tagalog'.

And even 'Lupang Tao', the most generic name in a local language you can think of, would be met with contempt because the name itself is in the Tagalog language.

Just travelling between two individual island groups today would sometimes require a translator because the words can change very rapidly and very drastically. Here's a sample of some differences coming from a friend living in Visayas (in Red) vs. the words I know living in Luzon (In blue).

Ate vs. Manang = Older Sister

Ibon vs. Pispis = Bird

Tumawa vs. Kadlaw = To laugh

Takot vs. Hadlok = Fear

Kain vs. Kaon = To eat

Ngayon vs. Subong = Now, at this point in time

Iyak vs. Hibi/Gibi = to cry

Talampakan vs. Tiil = Foot (in Tagalog, the word retains its 'body part AND unit of measurement' meaning)

Tulog vs. Tuyo = to sleep (Tuyo in Tagalog is either a dried salted fish or 'to dry')

The kicker is that just like Tagalog is just one of many languages here, so too is the language my friend speaks. Ask an entirely new person, like someone from Mindanao, they'll probably have an entirely new set of words.

It's not just Luzon vs. Visayas vs. Mindanao, either. Here's a map listing some of the ethnic groups here.

Even the way they're written differs from location to location.

While we're on the subject of Island divisions, a casual skim across Twitter and Tumblr has shown that their Precolonial PH has been one of the following ancient civilizations: Tondo, Butuan, Sugbu, Namayan. There may have been others but that was what I have found.

Notice how even today, the posters of Precolonial PH can't seem to agree on what he's supposed to be? With Indonesia it's either Majapahit or Srivijaya and Malaysia it's usually Malacca iirc.

What is the big deal? Well, let's go back to the Ask Historians post. "Why didn't the Philippines ever change its name to remove the colonial mark that being named after a Spanish King has?" The answer: "If you suggested something dating to precolonial times, the other ethnic groups would protest."

Since we're on a roll with maps, let me bring this up.

As you can see, the precolonial PH posts have a reason to not be able to agree on one thing, as there is a LOT of options. Do you also see how THAT list is also split up?

It's split up into those aligned with China (Sinified), aligned with India (Indianized), aligned with the Middle East (Islamicized), and no alignment (Animist). Now, let's go back to the main suggestions for which Kingdom/Polity/Civilization/whatever Modern Philippines used to be.

If the Filipino peoples' couldn't agree on something as simple as WHAT TO CALL THE LAND THEY'RE LIVING ON, what more a living, breathing, walking, talking entity that is supposed to be a beacon of all of their 'unified' culture? ESPECIALLY if that entity used to be a currently existing Kingdom/Polity/Rajahnate/Sultanate/whatever.

Tondo? "Of course, always the damn Tagalogs. Tagalog this, Tagalog that. First the capital city, then the language,* THE REST OF US EXIST, YOU KNOW! What about us in Visayas? Mindanao?"

*The national language known as 'Filipino' is just standardized Tagalog*

Butuan? "Wait, you want Butuan to represent us? They're they only Indian-aligned city in the Islam-majority Mindanao! They're not even that many of them! I'm not gonna change my religion!"

Sugbu, the other name for the Rajahnate of Cebu on the map? Lemme bring back my Visayan friend again. According to her, she hails from the Hiligaynon part of Visayas.

"Sure :v and the other islands are what?

Chopped liver?

Not to mention the language and writing barrier helloooo"

And Namayan? Well. I'll let this pic speak for itself.

To summarize, no matter who you pick as Modern PH's previous identity, it will not end well nor be accepted by the other Kingdoms at the time.

"So where does that leave Modern PH, he had to have been ONE of them, right?"

Well, not really. He doesn't HAVE to be one of the Ancient Kingdoms that lasted till the modern day. I mean, predecessor representatives exist in Hetalia canon, after all. Like Modern Greece is a different character from Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Modern Egypt, heck even England and his brothers have a canon mother that was the rep before them.

Or you could even use the same logic that Germany does, in that each specific region has/had its own representative and that Modern!PH is just the 'mediator' between them (cause gawd does PH need one). There could be a Tondo, a Namayan, a Butuan, and a Sugbu, all arguing and this Proto-PH is just trying to make headway in making them all satisfied.

But, even after all this, there is another reason why I personally don't subscribe to the 'Precolonial PH' idea, and by tangential extension, the Indo x Phil pairing.

Point 2: Even without intending to, Precolonial Indo x Phil just comes off as patronizing

This second point is just ENTIRELY personal preference and barely has any facts to back it up.

Again, if you like the pairing and disagree with me, You do you. I will respectfully support you and your passions from a distance.

But for me, Indo being Phil's seme/bae/boyfriend and consistently bringing up precolonial times just comes off as patronizing.

Just one more time, I'd like to point out that I am NOT bashing Indonesia, its people or the subscribers of Indo x Phil. This is just how the pairing feels to ME specifically.

The way I see it, Indo x Phil as a pairing, especially if it extends back into precolonial times, reads the same way as a long-since married couple where the husband/wife CONSTANTLY brings up that ONE outing you had together, or that ONE prom night where you kissed while dancing, even it happened like 30 some-odd years ago and so much more happened since then.

Even in a platonic sense, It reads like two besties where one ALWAYS mentions stuff like 'Yeah but you looked so much cooler back in High School' or 'Back in Grade School you would've known that', or 'Remember back in Pre-school we did X? How could you forget that?'

How does one respond to the notion that no matter what you do now, it will never compare to a past you've already forgotten or barely remember? That the best version of 'you' is already long gone?

"That's because the westerners made you forget your culture! You gotta take it back!"

While it is true, yes, as a collective we barely remember the Kingdom that commissioned the Laguna Copperplate, or created the Banaue Rice Terraces, or created the millennia old bonds that we still share with Indonesia and Malaysia.

But to keep pushing the precolonial identity would be to neglect and cast aside the one REAL binding belief and culture that spans the entirety of these islands we call the Philippines.

We take on all the bad stuff that happens to us, conquer it, and make it our own. Be it natural disasters, foreign powers, or negative stereotypical mentalities.

Yes, we've forgotten the ancient kingdoms of old and are just now digging through the closet for those remnants of the past. Yes, the colonizers imposed that on us, and made us forget. But in the process we've also taken everything that they left behind, everything that they threw at us, and created something that can only come from us.

The lanterns that the Spaniards used to light the way to the morning masses they made us attend became our globally known symbol of Christmas. The junked vehicles that the Americans left behind in World War 2 are now rolling works of art that announce themselves loud and proud on the streets (for better or for worse). The iced dessert recipe that the Japanese forced us to learn while they were occupying the country is now so distinct and famous it is synonymous with us, and is so delicious even Italy has taken notice.

Even after all this? Even after all the 425-ish years total we have been under a foreign power, with all the progress we've made as a country, a people, and a nation, you would still imply our fragmented, jigsaw puzzle state of being in the past was better just because it was pure 'South East Asian' like everyone else?

We might not be as well put-together as Indonesia or Malaysia, but we made this melting pot of angry, leg-pulling, dogpiling, Native, Mestizo, Chinoy, and Fil-Am crabs OURS, damnit!

It's now 4:30 AM and I have work in 5 or so hours. I'll be going to sleep now.

#hws #hws philippines #precolonial philippines #hws theory #hetalia #hetalia world stars #hetalia world series #hetalia headcanons #aph #axis powers hetalia #aph philippines #hetalia philippines #aph hetalia

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navegandoaciegas · 4 years ago

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don’t feed it - it will come back

Pairing: Dabi x f!reader, Shoto Todoroki x reader

Warnings: 18+ only, smut, semi-public sex, quickie, tw:cheating, dabi identity spoilers, slight yandere!dabi?, AU where all events are the same except they happen when class 1A are Pros already so all characters are 21+, Dabi is not a villain yet.

A/N: title and lyrics by Hozier. Minors DNI.

Don't let it in with no intention to keep it, Jesus Christ, don't be kind to it, Honey, don't feed it, it will come back.

You smelled him before you saw him, seared flesh and ashes, expensive cologne to make up for the stench, the same perfume your boyfriend wore, and that you’d bought for Dabi so that Shoto couldn’t smell another man on you.

Dabi. Your addiction, your escape.

His mismatched lips were rough on yours. The staples that patched him together scratched your cheeks, grounding you to reality before you could get lost in your own head, too deep in that special space you shared with him.

“The hell you think you’re doing?”, you hissed, “I‘m on patrol. What if Deku saw?”

You looked around the dingy alley frantically, hoping that your colleague would be busy poking his nose somewhere else. Unfazed as usual, Dabi offered you a lopsided smile, pressing his body against yours, marred forearms resting at the sides of your head, trapping you between him and the wall.

“If he saw,” he hummed, “he’d go tell his little friend how much of a slut his girlfriend is.”

You considered unleashing your quirk and blasting him into the opposite wall just to wipe that smirk off his scarecrow face. Dabi saw it in your eyes, and offered you a more gentle smile, mellow words to placate the fire in you.

“You’ve been mean,” he whispered, something resembling a pout twisting his disfigured face, “Avoiding me and all.”

You snorted at his antics, shaking your head. “I’ve been busy, ‘s all. Hero work. Patrolling, y’know, what I should be doing now.”

He didn’t relent, unbothered by your reluctance. “I waited for you the other night. Two whole hours and you didn’t show up. Didn’t even warn me that you wouldn’t come.”

“Shoto surprised me with a date.”

“Well, I’m surprising you now.”

He sounded like a child throwing a tantrum while looking like a devil himself, a dangerous glint in his turquoise eyes, skin stretched thin over his teeth, staples barely holding him in one piece.

He leaned over you, slow and tantalizing, hot breath fanning over your face.

Seeing him like this never failed to make your brain go haywire, duties forgotten, loyalty buried too deep to even feel guilty anymore.

Just like that first night together, when all the expectations burdening your shoulders had seemed too heavy to carry. When the shoes you’d have to fill had looked too big for you. Daughter of heroes, strong quirk, the public’s favor, a loving boyfriend.

People would have killed to be in your place, and all you’d wanted to do that night was to be someone else, someone whose life was not set in stone the moment they were born.

It had felt like such a dirty secret, blending in with the crowds of civilians on a Friday night, in need to experience all the things that you’d missed on. Clubs and alcohol, dancing with every man or woman that would grind onto you, it had all seemed so bright and liberating.

Then you’d met Dabi, and a drunken conversation on something you couldn’t recall on the cramped dancefloor had ended up in a hook up in the restrooms.

You’d silently cried yourself to sleep that night while Shoto slept peacefully beside you, red and white hair tickling you as he nuzzled his face in the crook of your neck.

Your mistakes had only escalated from there, something like an avalanche waiting to crush you, and the man you’d sworn you’d never seen again was the one holding you in his arms in this very moment.

You knew better than to give in, but you still did despite it, parting your lips while boring your half lidded eyes in his, letting him swirl his tongue around yours, toying with the metal bar on it.

You felt your body flush while his hands roamed over you, groping and kneading your ass, your hips, your tits through the elastic material of your flashy Hero suit.

“I bet you missed me too,” he chuckled, palming you between your legs, the heel of his hand pressing against your clothed lips.

Heat pooling in your belly, you ground your pussy on him, trying to relieve some of the tension in your fluttering cunt.

“Eager, are you? Todoroki Shoto doesn’t fuck you like you need?”

You rolled your eyes, catching yourself before you could moan in his ear.

“He fucks me just fine,” you groaned, fisting his stained white t-shirt, “Just make this quick, I got places to be,” you snapped, slotting your hand between your bodies, palming his bulge through his slacks.

“Brat,” he huffed, stifling a laugh, “and if he did you wouldn’t be humping my hand like a bitch in heat.”

Another warning glare and Dabi rolled his eyes, mumbling something about your over sensitive ass. You pulled him in a kiss to shut him up before your temper got the best of you.

He felt so different from athletic, sturdy Shoto. Slouched shoulders, thin arms, ribs dangerously poking through his emaciated skin. So frail and weak that he couldn’t even lift you in his arms to fuck you against the wall.

Maybe spending your formative years around men like Kirishima and Bakugou, and dating Endeavor’s son himself, had fucked up your standards beyond repair, and maybe Dabi was just a normal civilian with a regular body.

Whatever the case, the thought of your boyfriend was gone as soon as it flashed through your mind, and you hastily began fumbling with the buckle of Dabi’s belt. With a click it snapped open, and you undid his fly, reaching under his boxers. You pumped his hard cock, twisting the velvety skin up and down, thumb teasing his slit. You knew how feral he got when your promise ring rattled with his piercings, so you made a show of it, feeling him throb in your grasp.

“Fuck,” he grunted, hips snapping to fuck himself with your fist.

Teeth clattering, rough hands, his breathy panting in your ear, the arousal pouring out of you. Even the fear of Midoriya catching you drove you more insane than it should have, your walls pulsing in anticipation.

Scarred hands undid your own utility belt, shoving your spandex leggings down your thighs, sliding in your cotton panties.

“So wet for me already, and I barely even touched you?” he gloated, bony fingers spreading your arousal around your folds before dipping in, knuckles deep in your warm cunt, “Sucking me in, hm? You like being touched like this, fucked like a whore, don’t you?”

His thumb roughly toyed with your clit while the rest of his fingers flexed inside you, stretching you out, preparing you for his cock.

“Fuck- God, fuck me already, I don’t have all day,” you grunted, biting his upper lip.

He rolled his eyes then, glaring at you. “You sure know how to set the mood right, koneko-chan.”

He twirled you around then, pushing you flush against the wall, a hand on your shoulder, the other pumping his cock.

Your eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when you felt his tip prod at your entrance.

“You’re not fucking me without a condom,” you hissed, wiggling in his hold, angling your hips away from his.

“Please, just this time, I promise I’ll make it good for you,” he pleaded, shamelessly rutting against your ass.

“No fucking way, get a condom or you’re not getting any.”

“C’mon, just this once, I missed you so much, I wanna feel you all, feel your pretty pussy on my cock, please,” he whined, his hard on between your spread cheeks, “You should make it up to me anyways, y’know, for ghosting me, leaving me alone all night, waitin’ on ya. Wasn’t nice of you.”

You knew that when the blood drained from his brain and travelled to his cock, Dabi wasn’t his smartest. And you had to admit that you were curious to feel the piercings scattered on his dick pressing inside your cunt, eager to know if they really felt as good as he claimed they would.

But you knew better than to give in. Some risks just weren’t worth taking, and some things were better reserved in the intimacy between you and Shoto in some twisted, sick loyalty that you couldn’t bring yourself to breach.

“You’re not getting inside me without a condom, God only knows where you’ve been before,” you scoffed, tugging his hair to unlatch his leathery lips from your neck before he could leave a mark of his existence on you.

The smell of smoke, ash, and seared flesh you could explain. You made that work, somehow. You doubted that your boyfriend, as oblivious, trusting and lovestruck as he was, would mistake love bites for anything else, though.

“Less places than you have for sure, koneko-chan,” he snickered, trailing open mouthed kisses below your jaw, nipping your soft skin between his teeth, “The ladies aren’t lining up to get a taste of me, believe it or not.”

“Jee, I wonder why,” you deadpanned.

“You talk a lot of shit for someone who hops on my dick like it’s her job.”

“Shut the fuck up, Dabi-chan,” you laughed, no bite to your bark.

You were getting antsy with his insistence and with the prospect of Midoriya walking in on you getting railed like a cock drunk whore behind a dumpster by a sketchy guy while you should have been patrolling instead.

Not very heroic of you.

He relented then, and you heard the distinct crunching sound of foil being ripped open.

He rolled the condom down his length, and you bent over, forearms against the rough surface of the wall while he angled your ass and kicked your legs open wider.

“Just sayin’, you’re missing out on me.”

You couldn’t hold the moan that erupted out of you when he snapped his hips, slanting his cock inside your soaked cunt. Your walls sucked him in, stretching around his girth.

You were so pent up and aroused that you almost came at the feeling of him sheathing himself in you, filling you up to the brim. He gave a few tentative thrusts before setting a faster pace, sliding his cock in and out of you.

Your mewls and whimpers and the sound of his balls slapping your ass reverberated in the alley.

You knew that if anyone saw you, your career would be over. The media would have a field trip, and Endeavor would lay down his life to make sure you’d be shunned from society.

And fuck, if the risk didn’t make you clench on Dabi’s dick.

You could feel a bruise form on your tailbone where he gripped you, and a few scratches and shallow cuts on the back of your thighs where his belt dug into your soft flesh.

“Fuck, your pussy is so good, you fuckin’ slut,” he moaned, hand reaching between your legs to play with your swollen clit, “You love my cock, don’t you? You whore, you love being fucked like the bitch you are, hm?”

You gritted your teeth, nails digging into his scalp as you held onto his head, arching your back so his cock could hit deeper inside you, onto that spongy crevice that made pressure built fast and steady in your core.

“And you like being my toy, my pathetic little plaything at my beck and call, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer, clenching his jaw as he kept pounding into you, lips enveloping yours in a bruising kiss.

Sticky webs of drool covered your faces, mixing in with the blood that streamed down his face where the staples couldn’t hold him in place.

“I’m close, I’m so close, fuck-, go faster, yes, right there,” you moaned, feeling the knot in your lower belly get tighter with each drag of his cock against your walls.

“I-, I’m right here with you, babe, just let go, come on my cock, show me how good I make you feel. Fuck, show me he doesn’t fuck this pussy as good as I do, you were-, God, you were made for me-“

His rambling turned into low static to you while jolts of electricity travelled through your body, jerking your limbs as he continued fucking you through your high until he too came, chanting your name like a prayer.

You were the first to move away, wincing as his cock slipped out of your cunt.

Mind buzzing, you barely looked at him, hurriedly pulling your suit back on, adjusting the belt on your waist while Dabi tucked himself in, the small, blissed out smile gracing his handsome face soon twisting in something pained and darker when you scurried away without sparing him a second glance.

The low buzz of ambient music filled your apartment as you stepped in, and a pang of guilt stabbed your heart when you noticed the candles scattered around.

Shoto was on you as soon as you shut the door, a rare, gentle smile on his pretty round face, telling you about the improvised self care night he’d put together for the both of you.

He pressed a kiss to your lips, grimacing at the lingering taste of smoke on you.

“I know smoking helps you decompress, love. But maybe you could switch to electronic?” he asked, hopeful. You knew he hated the idea of you damaging your health as much as he despised the taste and smell of cigarettes.

The concern made your heart jump in your stomach, and when you grazed into his eyes, his turquoise eye, you almost startled yourself at the similarity of someone else’s.

Guilt was really playing tricks on your mind.

You pecked his cheek, reciprocating his smile.

“You’re right,” you sighed, hoping he wouldn’t notice the bitterness in your words, “Know what? I’ll try stopping smoking altogether for you, hm?”

Perched on the fire escape of the building facing yours, Dabi watched his little brother hold you tenderly, swaying you around in a clumsy dance.

He crushed the cigarette under his shoe, and rose to his feet, bile rising in his throat.

He willed himself to be patient, knowing that one day, when he’d burn down the world, he’ll be the one you’ll be dancing with through the flames.

—

Omg, this is my first time writing for a bnha character and I hope I did okay! Please let me know what you think of this! Your comments are what keeps me alive ❤️🥺

#bnha x reader #dabi x reader #todoroki x reader #bnha #bnha smut #dabi smut #bnha x you #yandere dabi #yandere x reader

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help-im-a-gay-fish · 5 years ago

Text

Brightly Shone The Moon That Night. A Dark-Cream Christmas story.

The following is a slice of life story about my Dark-Cream family at Christmas. It exists in a universe different to @zu-is-here cannon. In this universe positive emotions are not fatal to Shattered so Cross and Dream didn't rush to break the curse. It splits off around 'things will never be the same' or 'the price of happiness'. The twins were created before the last 3 chapters of Dark-Cream were drawn. Any changes to the story or changes to the characters should be accepted as being part of an alternative timeline. Thank you. Enjoy. Original cross and dream belong to jakei95 and joku blog. Original shattered dream belongs to @galacii. This design for shattered is based off the one by @zu-is-here and the Dark-Cream story is also by @zu-is-here. Most of the Story will be under the cut.

"isn't this a bit much?" the gloopy one said, as his partner wrapped a scarf around his neck.

"nope" the former guard replied "can't have you getting frost bite my love"

Dream simply rolled his eyes. "but I can't really get cold? Or even hot for that matter"

"what are you talking about? you're always hot" Cross replied with a sly smile. This earned a confused look from the smaller skeleton, as Cross carefully tied the scarf and gently folded it under Shattered's jacket. Though it became clear to Cross that Dream had twigged what he'd meant a moment later, evident by the creeping gold blush spreading across his face.

The golden guardian playful punched Cross in the shoulder. "Shush you, keep in clean in front of the little ones"

At that Cross couldn't help but smile and turn his head to his two daughters. The two were in their cot, all dressed in snuggly winter clothes, waiting for their Dad's to be done getting ready. Celest was dressed in a cosy jumper with a little bobble hat, while Luna wore a full bodied coat. Their consistent look of confusion and wonder changed into toothless smiles when their dad looked at them. (idk how teething works for skeletons..... Teeth magically form or something......also tbh they should start teething soon) it warmed Cross' soul.

His attention was drawn back to dream by the sound of metal being placed down on wood. He looked to him, seeing that he'd removed his crown band and set down on the bedside table. Dream then sighed and sagged his shoulders. "it.... It feels wrong not having something on my head"

Cross chuckled.

The 4 of them where taking a trip out today. This was something both Dream and Cross had agreed was a good idea.

Cross' eye lights travelled back to the little ones. They seemed so innocent right now, as if recent events hadn't happened. As if the last two weeks hadn't been difficult to get through.

Celest's code had been burning her a lot, to the point where she'd screamed when either of them had tried to hold her, or even touch her. As for Luna, her throat had become clogged with more gloop then ever before. So much Shattered had to use a tentacle to pull some of it out. She had surely been 5 seconds from suffocating.

It had been a fortnight of sleepless nights, screaming babies and a large amount of arguing. The stress of the situation had pushed them very far apart. Many things had been said, old wounds jabbed at, tears shed. But after a lot of long talks they had sorted out each fight. They were a lot stronger then some petty arguments. There was no room in their relationship for emotional strain......not anymore. The two loved each other, it had just been a difficult time.

In recent days, the twins seemed to have recovered to a stable state. Back to the laughing, smiling, Cow lovers. Cross never thought he'd be so happy that they'd started playing with their cow collection again.

After a long talk with his finance, the two concluded that they'd all been stuck in the void space for way to long. Even with the few rooms and furniture, it's not like there was much to do there and a serious cabin fever had developed. So while the twins were in a good place, they had to take the opportunity to spend some time together as a family.

Cross once again looked back at his partner. Only to need to do a double take. Dream was wearing a hat now. A festive white one with golden stripes running across it. It was reminiscent of a classic Santa hat, other then the colours. The fabric had black stains in several places due to where Dream had touched it. Though despite that Cross recognised it all to well. To his dismay, he felt his face slowly get warm. Their first kiss.

He could remember it clearly in his mind, the mistletoe, the hotel, Gaster sniggering in the corner. But mostly, Dream. The sweet, positive skeleton from back then was very different to the one who stood before him now. But he wouldn't have it any other way.

Remembering that day caused his blush to darken. It had truly been one of the most embarrassing, but best days of his life. Though a part of him wondered how Dream still had the hat. After everything, the hat had been saved.

"you've still got that hat?" he said, in a half teasing tone.

Shattered smirked at Cross' flushed face "of course, so many good memories".

A stream of positivity ran through him and with it, it brought a sudden, but expected twinge in his soul. It was a sharp pain, like a knife being slowly pressed in. Dream tried to ignore it but he visually flinched causing Cross to come over.

"positivity again Dreamboat?" he questioned.

Dream nodded "it's alright, I'm used to it" The guardian sensed some sadness from Cross, even if he kept a natural face.

"I'm OK Crossy, promise!"

Cross sighed and gently kissed Shattered's forehead. "if you say so my love"

With that he walked back over to the twins so that he could get their carriers. Dream sighed slightly. It was strange seeing Cross in an outfit different to his guard uniform. So much so that Dream already kind of missed it, not that Cross didn't look handsome is what he was currently wearing.

The last time the family had left the void to go shopping, (which is really a story in itself) they had been stared at from all angles. Every man, women and child. Monster or human, had taken part in watching them. Like animals in a zoo. Cross had insisted that it was the twins they were staring at, since his children were so beautiful that of course people would stare. But in the end both him and Dream knew the real reason.

They were staring at them.

He couldn't really blame them though, how often do you come across a monster with heterochromia wearing what was best described as fancy dress, accompanied by a slime covered skeleton in heels and a crown? Many things had changed since the apple incident, but people staring as he passed had not.

Today they both wanted a peaceful day with their babies, so they had opted to wear more normal clothes. Cross had traded his normal cape and jacket for a puffy white winter coat which he wore a red jumper under. Dream had opted for something similar, though a deep brown colour as to not show the stains so much. It felt odd being in a new outfit, but also very nice. There was only so long someone could take being in tight trousers and shirts with big collars.

The former guard straightened up, clutching a harness in his hands.

"these were definitely a good buy" he said, as he walked back to Dream.

Dream raised an eyebrow "did you really 'Buy' them Cross?" he said is a inquisitive tone.

Cross' body tensed and his partner gave him an sharp stare. Even without his emotion sensing ability, Dream could read Cross like a book.

"uhhhhhhh.......yes?"

"sure" Dream replyed, with slight amusement in his voice.

A nervous chuckle came from Cross. "look they were a good thing to get ok?....... Very helpful for the little ones"

Dream gave him an unsure nod. He still wasn't exactly well versed in child care, so he wasn't really sure what these harnesses where even for yet. Since he figured that the answer was probably obvious, he didn't ask.

"want me to help you get it on?" Cross asked, raising an eyebrow. Shattered wasn't the only one who could easily read his partner.

Shattered said nothing but nodded. His golden blush reappeared when Cross started to run his hands across and around his body to get the harness into place. His soul gave a tiny learch for a moment, but not one of pain.

He knew there was a part of him that wanted Cross to touch his soul again, It had been such a close experience for them both and had brought about a lot of pleasurable feelings. It was truly something he wanted to experience again. A feeling he almost craved. But he knew all to well, as his eye sockets fixed onto the cot to his right, that the potential consequences made it impossible. He was just going to have to live with these unmet desires. Just as he was sure that Cross lived with similar ones.

"there all done"

Dream jumped. Snapped out of his thoughts by his future husband's voice.

Now the harness was all attached. Not too tight, but not too lose. He could see that he now had a pocket on his chest which he guessed the baby sat in. Clever. It was kind of like a kangaroo pouch.

Cross strapped a identical carrier around his own chest and walked over to the babies cot to collect his daughters.

Luna smiled wide at the sight of him. The older skeleton matched her smile and slowly picked his child up. Luna giggled and kicked her tiny feet out as he did. Her tentacle flickered around the corners of her mouth as she laughed. Cross could feel his own joy fill him at the sight. But he nullified it for his partner's sake.

Speaking of which, he turned back to Dream.

"you wanna take Celly or Lu Lu?" he asked.

"I'll take Luna" the smaller skeleton replied "since you are already holding her". He held his arms out in an awkward, slightly unsure way.

Cross gave a soft, knowing smile "Its OK Dreamboat, I'll help you get her in the carrier"

Shattered sighed, irritated by his own incompetence and nodded.

With that Cross carefully attempted to slip the wriggling baby into her carrier. Which wasn't easy, as she cheerfully shifted her legs around. In fact Cross had a slightly hard time keeping hold of her.

After much difficulty, Cross managed to feed her legs through the leg holes and sit her safely inside. The whole time, Dream remained mostly still, he didn't want to do anything in case he ended up hurting Luna.

Once she was buckled in, Cross took a slow step back to admire his handy work. Luna bounced excitedly in her carrier and her Papa looked almost comically uncomfortable by all her movement.

"do you want me to take her Day Dream?" Cross said, upon noticing Dreams unease around the wiggling baby. Dream shook his head "no, its fine" he replied as he relaxed his shoulders. "you get Celest and we can go"

Cross gave a nod and turned back to the cot. As he went to pick up his slightly younger daughter, he noticed that she had in fact fallen asleep. Cross sighed - not again....

For most parents, the time when the children slept was a time of bliss, and after a fortnight of little sleep, Cross almost agreed. But his child had a habit of falling asleep suddenly and for long periods. Dream had told him that when this happened her energy levels were low, showing that her body couldn't regulate itself fully.

With another sigh, Cross carefully picked up the sleeping baby and slipped her into the carrier. It was very hard to wake her when she was like this, but he was still extra careful. Not waking a sleeping baby was basically a universal law, though he would have to if she was asleep to long. After double checking that she was safely inside and her head was supported, he walked back over to Dream.

"any particular preference for an au Dream boat?" he asked

Shaking his head, Dream replied "Not really, just try and get a pacifist timeline"

With a nod, Cross extended his arm. There was a spark of magic at his figure tips and his knife materialised. He dragged it through the air in a fluid motion, as he did it split the air as if it where a piece of cloth. It was a causal splitting of space and time. Simple.

Luna watched her dad with a look of wonder. Her silver eyes where wide and bright.

"gahhhhh daaaaag" she cooed and reached for him.

Cross glanced back at her with a smile "just you wait Princess, when you are older I'll teach you how to do this"

These words hung heavily in the air for a moment, as Cross carefully finished opening the portal. The same thing was on both Cross and Dreams minds.

If you get older.

With a sigh and a snap of his fingers, the knife was gone and the portal was open.

"After you" Cross said, stooping into a slight bow and winking at his fiancé.

Dream covered his mouth with his hand and fake giggled. "Oh what a gentleman" he said with a large smile across his face before walking forward and entering the portal.

The first thing that hit Dream as he reached the other side, was a cold crisp breeze. The chill made him feel grateful that he was wearing his boots, even if they were old and an obnoxious shade of yellow.

The breeze blew lightly causing Luna to shiver. There was no wind in there home, so this brought a welcome change to Shattered. He took a deep breath into his non existent lungs.

It was evening. Strange? He figured that their sense of time must have been thrown out a little. They did live in a void after all. However it was a pleasant evening, with sky littered with stars and a full moon.

Shattered allowed himself to bask in the fresh air for a while, as he heard footsteps behind him and the portal close.

"Oh it's good to be outside again" came Cross' voice from behind.

With a nod, Shattered turned around to face his partner. Luna wriggled more in her carrier, looking around at all the new things she'd never seen before.

"someone is excited" Cross said, leaning down and kissing his daughter on the forehead. She giggled and very nearly headbutt him as he did. Chuckling, he pulled away.

The guard looked around "looks like we're in a small town... If I had to guess its the surface"

The two of them started to look around, trying to find something to engage with. It wasn't long before they spotted something.

Both skeletons attention was caught by something in the near distance. A large crowd of people. Among them were people in hats, jumpers and coats, carrying bags and cups of hot drinks. A vast amount of stalls and stands were among them, not to mention fur trees in fancy dress and lights. Hundreds and hundreds of lights.

"a Christmas Market!" Dream said, his voice hinting an excitement "I've never been to one! I forgot that it was this time of the year"

His excitement felt like a balloon filling inside him. Only to be burst when his soul gave a sting inside his ribs.

But Dream couldn't help but feel a little happy, this was such a good thing to come across, perfect for their trip out.

Cross tilted his head "how do you know what Christmas is my love? It's more of a human custom".

"well that's easy" Dream said, a slight smugness in his voice at the fact he seemed more knowledgeable then Cross about something.

"Christmas is a time where positive emotions take hold, even in the darkest of times, positively rules here"

He eye lit up slightly as he spoke. Even if Dream was corrupted, and technically not the positivity guardian anymore, he was still happy to talk about it. It reminded him of easier times.

"as the former positively guardian it was only natural for me to learn about the festival...." his voice turned somba for a moment "Heaven taught me...... remember?"

There was another heaviness in the air at those words. A unspoken guilt and regret and then a thought. Dream now possessed the very power that had killed him.....

The gloopy one sighed and straightened the baby carrier. Luna gurgled as he did so.

"he would have loved to meet these two wouldn't he" he spoke, his voice twisting in its somba state.

"yeah... But it's ok" the guard replied, taking Dreams hand.

"in a way, he is here" he said in a soft tone, running his finger across Dreams ring. A smile ran across his face before he realised Shattered's hand.

After a short moment of silence they were disturbed by a soft noise. Celest had woken from her sleep. She wriggled and shifted against Cross' chest, her tiny voice gurgling.

"Nice of you to join the party Sweet pea" Cross said, upon noticing.

"we should probably get going, before she falls asleep again" Dream stated in reply. Cross nodded.

The family started to walk together towards the market. As they approached the air was filled with the smell of food and the sound of cheesy pop songs. The emotions of the people around them where starting to fill in.

The first thing that Dream felt was a lot of emotion around him. He was going to need to take a moment to get used to it. From what he could feel it was primarily positive, but then he felt something else.

To his right he felt anger and frustration. That wasn't the kind of thing that he expected this time of year, so he turned his head slightly. There was a human and a monster stood in the huddle.

He caught a few words of what they were saying.

"typical every year you leave gift buying to the last minute" said one.

"it's not completely last minute" said the other.

"it's the 23rd! How is that not last-" and then he was out of ear shot.

"23rd?" Shattered said to himself "huh.... It was my birthday 2 days ago". He counted on his fingers for a moment, trying to figure out how old that made him.

"it was!? Oh my goodness that's right!" came a voice from his side. It was slight panic from Cross. Uh oh.

Dream waved his hands in a jazz hand fashion "woah woah woah, before you go flying off the handle, we both didn't realise-

"I'm so sorry my love!"

Shattered groaned. Here we go.

"I can't believe I forgot! I'll make it up to yo-

Dream cut Cross off with a peak on the teeth. Cross jumped and his face flushed.

"......... Cross, I'm going to have hundreds more birthdays... Its OK if we skip one" the guardian whispered before nuzzling his gloopy face against him. "presides.... We had more important things to worry about"

As if on que both twins cooed.

A little smile creeped on to Cross' face. Dream mirrored it.

"now let's stop standing here go to the market" he held his hand out "it's waiting for us".

With a soft smile, Cross took his hand and they started walking again. It wasn't long before they finally reached the market.

The market was busy.

Both humans and monsters were walking around, talking happily. Children of all ages were rushing around with chocolates in their hands and candy canes in their mouths. Positive emotions were swirling like the snow in the wind. A warm blend of joy, song and family.

The smells of cakes and and pies were everywhere. Hot wine, ginger, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts. Coffee, chutney, jams and cheeses.

For Dream it was like being spun in a giant bath of spice. The smells did not help his developing headache. There where positive emotions everywhere, every angle.

He let go of his partner's hand and stumbled slightly. The emotions were threatening to make him collapse as they came at all sides. Being in a void space for so long meant he'd gotten used to only Cross' emotions being around. But now there must have been 100 people at lest.

With the surrounding area becoming a blur, the sky and ground became one and he felt something hit his back and press it.

After a moment of silence he could hear the sound of a baby crying from off in the distance. Someone was calling his name but he could hardly hear it as the crying baby got closer. But eventually both got clearer.

"Dream! Dream are you OK!? Can you hear me?"

It was Cross.

"C.... Cross?" he said, looking for his partner's face. He eventually found it, hovering above him.

"why....." he said reaching his heavy arm up "why are you flying?"

The former guard gave him a confused expression. A moment later, Dream realised that the pressure on his back was in fact the floor and he was laying on it.

"you collapsed" said Cross with a pained expression. Cross' worry and stress washed over Dream and snapped him back to reality. The crying baby was very close. In fact it was coming from his chest.

Dream pushed himself onto his elbows and looked down. Luna was crying and wriggling in her carrier.

"oh.... OH!" Shattered said as a sudden and huge instinct hit him. Something he'd not really felt up till this point. Caring not about his state, he pulled her out of the carrier and rocked her in his arms.

"shhhh shhh it's ok, I'm sorry sweetheart, are you hurt?"

If Dream hadn't just collapsed, Cross would have felt happy at the sight of him comforting Luna. The tiny skeleton quieted down, but her non-existent lip was still trembling. Shattered inspected her, happy not to find any marks that would indicate she'd been hurt by the fall. Probably just scared.

"what happened my love?" came Cross' voice again.

"emotions" Dream bluntly responded, before attempting to get to his feet. He hadn't gotten far when he felt his partners hands grip his and help him pull up. He'd barely just gotten to his feet when things started to blur again and his head started to once again throb.

He fell forward slightly into Cross' chest, the guard put his arms around him to support him and keep him steady. He had to be careful to make sure the babies didn't get squished.

Cross' fiancé give out a low, pained groan and Luna give a wine of discomfort.

"Keep hold of her Dreamboat, I'll find somewhere where you can sit down" he softly said, looking around to find a seat. Luckily he spotted a park bench not to far from them.

Cross slowly and gently guided Dream backwards until Dream's legs brushed against the bench and he was able to slowly sit down. He sank his weight against the wooden frame, his limbs felt heavy and his head felt horrible. After a short time he started to adjust. Feeling himself coming back into reality, Shattered adjusted his hold on Luna to make sure he didn't drop her. Cross kneeled in front of them both.

"we can always go home if it's to much for you"

Immediately Dream shock his head, which he regretted a second later as the dizziness ramped.

"no Crossy, we both agreed we needed some time out of the void. ...im sorry that I'm ruining it"

The tall skeleton lightly gripped Dreams shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"you are not ruining anything"

He kissed the bridge of Dreams nose.

"you have made everything in my life better, don't forget that"

A smile ghosted Shattered's face at those words.

"you know.... You're blind, unconditional love for me is really cheesy" he said, his smile turning into a smirk.

"I do try"

The couple shared a laugh and Dream felt himself feel a bit better. He didn't feel great though. The emotions around him where still dizzying.

Behind Cross he could see the market. It truly did look like fun and he felt bad that he'd soured the mood. He continued to rock Luna and she turned around in his arms to burry her face into his chest.

"you should....." Shattered paused as another wave of dizziness hit him "You should go ahead of me, I'll catch up"

"Absolutely not" Cross stated firmly "I will not leave you, I refuse"

"Cross" Dream said in an equally as firmly manner "I can look after myself for 10 minutes, it will be fine..... I want you to go have some fun"

The guard's expression softened and he stood up again, running his hand across the back of his skull unsurely as he did. "I.... I don't know"

Dream rested Luna in his lap and reached his hands out, Cross took them.

"Cross, I want you to go ahead, I'll join you soon, I promise"

Letting go of Dreams hands, Cross sighed. "Alright..... But I'll come back in 15 minutes, if you are still here then we are going home"

Dream nodded slowly "Deal"

After a few more unsure moments Cross started to back away from Dream. He went slowly in order to give Dream time to tell him to stop. After he didn't, Cross turned and walked in the direction of the market.

As Shattered watched Cross walk into the market, he felt his daughter start to fuss in his arms. His golden eye travelled down to her again. She looked a bit confused or upset. Her emotions weren't developed enough to be easily readable by Shattered. But from what he could sense she was distressed by her dad walking away.

He looked back at Cross again, as the guard inspected what seemed to be a stand of various pastries and cakes. There was a sad, yet nostalgic smile on his face.

Shattered watched as he exchanged some words with the vendor and took Celest's little hand and waved it. Clearly he was introducing them. The vendor seemed to coo at the baby a little and Cross straightened up proudly. Probably bragging about something cute Celest had done recently.

After a few more words he put some coins on the counter and was handed a paper bag, containing what Dream had to assume was a pastry of some kind. He waved good bye to the vendor and started to walk away.

As he did, he took his food item out of its bag and went to take a bite. He locked eyes with Dream mid-bite and gave him a slight deer in the headlights look. After finishing taking his bite, he smiled and waved to his lover. Dream waved back.

It was clear from Cross' expression that whatever he was eating was very tasty and it caused Dream to wonder how much food Cross was going to buy tonight.

Luna fussed again as her father and sister got further away.

Luna and Celest had been almost inseparable since day one, Shattered was still a little unnerved by it. They were always most comfortable when together. Knowing this, Dream told himself that Luna was fussing because she was parted from her sister. But another thought came to him.

What if she was sad about Cross leaving?

It was a stupid thing to think, both babies had been apart from Cross before and not responded this way. Yet the thought wouldn't leave him. It was the kind of thought that bounces around your head and burrows into you the moment you try to forget it.

The first time he left them with me for an extended period of time, I'd tried to....

A chill ran over him followed by a long twang of guilt, which caused him to tighten his grip on his daughter. Cross still didn't know about that night and he wasn't sure he could ever tell him. What was wrong with him? He acted like he cherished them these days (or at lest most days), but how could he when he'd thought of doing such a thing? When all he'd felt upon seeing them for the first time was nothing. His eyes stung and threatened to start crying. In that moment he felt tempted to call Cross back and have him wrap his arms around him. But he couldn't. Not while Cross didn't know.

"I'm sorry that I'm not the best parent to you Mi hija"

The words left his mouth as barely even a whisper. They sounded if he'd not been aware he said them. As if he'd not fully intend to say them out loud. His throat was dry and his soul was burning and twisting.

Cross says you are getting better.

One part of him said

But who's to say they will live to see you be better?

He answered to himself.

He felt the fabric of his jacket get tugged slightly. This drew his attention back to Luna.

She had turned in his arms slightly and was looking up at him with wide eyes. If Shattered hadn't known better, he'd have thought he could sense her worrying. Her tiny fist was curled in the fabric of his coat.

"paaaaaa gaa?"

Dream sighed.

"I get a lot of things wrong..... And I'm going to keep getting things wrong, I might be wrong most of the time"

The former guardian continued to speak in a near whisper, his finger stroking the tiny creature's cheek.

"but I'm going to get some things right as well...... And I'll make a deal with you"

Luna's face scrunched up a little. It was almost amusing to see, as if she was thinking really hard.

"if you and your sister keep on fighting, I'll keep on trying" Luna turned her face into his hand and chewed his glove.

"if you stick around long enough, you'll see a day when I get things right most of the time.... You want to see that right?"

"maaaaaa"

"deal?"

"gahhh gahh"

Dream laughed slightly "I'll take that as a yes"

He looked away from her again. Cross had completely disappeared from his view now, probably off stuffing chocolates. Since Dream wasn't someone who needed to eat, he didn't fully understand, but the sweet and warm smells in the air were very pleasant. He'd not eaten a thing for at least two and a half years, maybe he could try a little something. Carefully he slipped the tiny skeleton back into her carrier and fastened her in.

"Should we go check out the market mi pequeña estrella?" he asked, finally getting back to his feet. His daughter gave a gurgle of approval.

"then let's go shall we"

The atmosphere of the market was all together jolly. As he walked into the heart of it, his head throbbed again, but he didn't feel dizzy. He'd adjust to it fully soon.

Despite what he would want to admit, he felt a very slight anxiety without Cross by his side. He was in no way dependent on Cross, but he was so used to having him near, it was strange to have him absent. To not be able to feel his energy or be able to hold his hand.

No Dream! He thought. Don't be such a baby.

He patted his daughters head with his hand absentmindedly, feeling the fabric of her bow slip down slightly as he did. She giggled and a smile creeped onto Dreams face as she did.

A stand caught his eye. It was a stall of what seemed to be jewellery. As many of the stalls were, it was adorned with colourful lights and decorations of all shapes. Though this one in particular stood out to him. He wasn't sure why, but he decided to approach it.

The monster running the stand stiffened as he approached, but he paid it no mind. He could see the jewellery much closer now. Each piece seemed unique and hand made. There were bracelets, earrings, rings and necklaces, shimmering in all different colours. He greatly enjoyed looking over each individual piece, until his eye socket landed on one.

It was a necklace. Gold, set with a blueish purple stone. There was a small crescent charm on the chain as well. Dream stared at it and knitted his eyebrows. For a moment he wasn't sure why it caught his eye. But as he moved his hand up and traced his thumb across the stone, he realised. He then retracted his hand is if he'd been shocked. He stepped back and folded his hands together, but his sight remained locked on it.

Where are you? Are you even still alive?

A long sigh left his mouth as he forced himself to think of something else. But as he turned to walk away, he glanced at it again. It was almost like he couldn't bare to leave it.

I'm being silly, I'm a man, why would I need a necklace anyway?

With that, he tore his eyes away and proceeded to the next stand. As before the monster running it tensed slightly.

This vendor was selling what seemed to be plastic toys and figures. These weren't home made and seemed to be just the same old toys you could buy anywhere. There was doll house items, human figures and animals. He was so busy looking over the collection, that he didn't notice as his daughter reached for her favourite animal. He was only alerted to what she was doing by a slobbery squish sound.

She had suck the head of the toy into her mouth and was chewing on it.

"Luna no!" Shattered said "I don't want to have to buy that"

Carefully his pulled the plastic cow from his daughters mouth. A thin trail of a mix between gloop and saliva followed it. He had no idea how one baby could produce so much spit so fast. He wiped some off on his coat, but it didn't come close to cleaning it. Yeah....... he was going to have to buy it. He had a small purse of gold coins that Cross had given him. He hadn't asked where Cross had gotten the coins, it was probably best not to.

As he handed it to the seller and asked for the price, the slimy coating ran onto his fingers. Yuck. Not that he could really talk though, he was almost completely covered in something worse.

Dream expected to feel anger or disgust come from the stall owner. But instead he could only sense fear. His eye locked with the eyes of the monster behind the counter. It didn't take long for him to realise. Cross might have treated him like he was the most beautiful and sweet skeleton in the multiverse, but that didn't stop his appearance from being...... Striking at best.

He grimaced and handed the monster the money he owed and took back the toy.

"have a nice evening" he said, trying to sound friendly.

"y-you too sir.... Merry Christmas"

He turned away from the stall and walked back into the market. After inspecting the toy to make sure there was nothing small that she could choke on he handed it back to Luna. She happy put it back in her mouth, flicking his hand with her mouth tentacle as she did.

Shattered felt a burst of joy from his daughter, which made him light headed for a moment. After collecting his bearings he smiled.

"Adorable idiot" he said leaning over and kissing the top of her head. "now let's go find Daddy shall we?"

It wasn't a market that was too large, just a fair amount of stalls and stands and a handful of people. There was no doubt that he and Cross stood out, so it shouldn't be to hard to find his partner.

If I where cross.... Where would I go?

The answer came to his mind not even a second after asking it.

Chocolate...

As he'd noted before, there was a vast amount of edibles all around him. Mostly foods of the sweet variety, commonly fruity cakes and pies. But it wasn't long till he saw what he wanted. Out of the corner of his eye socket, he spotted what he was looking for. Just as he'd expected, chocolate.

Humans and normal monsters, seemed to be fascinated in forming chocolate into many different shapes. Animals, people, stars and bells. Shattered supposed that they got more pleasure consuming the sweet substance when it involved biting the head off of a defenceless reindeer, or mutilating a Santa or two.

He approached the stall of chocolate items. It was a pleasant smell, reminding him strongly of Cross' coat. There was no doubt the guard would have come here. He just had to find him.

Meanwhile, as Shattered looked for him, his mate was busy in a hearty conversation with his daughter.

The guard slipped a snowflake shaped chocolate into his mouth, having finished off the pastry long ago.

"now what should be get for Papa as a late birthday present hmm?" he asked Celest as she blew a spit bubble. "Something simple, you know he doesn't like flashy things"

Celest continued to blow a spit bubble and watched it as it expanded. "why is it that he must be so difficult to shop for....

His voice trailed off as he continued to ponder the question. What to get someone who didn't like material things. Other then his scarf, his ring and his crown, Dream never held onto things. Maybe he could get him a new accessory, like a new piece of jewellery or something. He continued to think and slipped another chocolate into his mouth. As he did this, without him noticing, the tiny skeleton had popped the spit bubble and was now reaching for the candy cane sticking out of his shopping bag full of goodies. She grabbed it and without hesitation, plunged the bright stripped stick into her mouth without a care.

After not even a second her face screwed up and she recoiled. She let out a wine of regret and disgust, which alerted Cross that she was distressed.

"No sweetie , that's pepper mint" the guard sighed, plucking the now sticky candy from his daughters hands. He put it on the counter of the stand they were stood next to. A stall selling Christmas fauna such as Holly, pinecones and mistletoe.

As he set the candy down, he saw daughters face still looked unhappy. "that must have tasted horrible" he said, dabbing the spit from around her mouth with his sleeve.

"we'll get you some nice warm milk when we get home ok?" he said in a baby voice, bouncing her slightly to try and cheer her up. It worked and she giggled. Cross sighed in relief, crisis averted.

He thought back to his question about presents. About Dream. It had been a little while since he'd left him. It would probably be a good idea to go back.

"Now if you are done sampling my treat bag Celly, maybe we should go check on-

"hey" came a voice from up close to his left. He jumped. After a second he realised he recognised the voice and turned to meet Dreams gaze, some chocolate still on his cheek. He was about to say something about how it was go to see that Dream was feeling better, when Dream spoke.

"wanna prove you aren't just a 20g wager?" the golden guardian said, with a slightly sly smile.

For a moment Cross was confused. Had the emotions caused his partner to go loopy? Before he could ask, Dream pointed his finger upwards. Feeling more confused, Cross glanced up. He could now see that they were in fact stood under a mistletoe. Quite a few actually. The sight of the white berried plant made his cheeks flush. He'd fallen right into Dream's trap. How had he not noticed.

He swallowed what was left of the snowflake the chocolate in his mouth "uhh um.... Uh"

He locked eyes with Dream again, finding that he'd taken a step closer. Taking a gloved hand and cupping Cross' cheek, he said.

"I'll take that as a yes"

With that he gently pulled Cross' face closer, till the gap was closed between them with a soft kiss. Cross' soul fluttered as Dream leaned in more to kiss him stronger. The taste of chocolate in his mouth was soon replaced with the flavour of bitter apple sauce. But he didn't mind it, he much liked apple sauce. Unfortunately the kiss wasn't long lived. The two were forced to separate after feeling their daughters starting to fuss, since they were being pressed between them. Dream stepped back slightly, giving his children room and took a breath of winter air. The euphoria from the kiss surged through him, as it had been a while since they had and therefore felt really good.

In fact, It had been a while since they'd done a lot of things. Including telling Cross that he........... That's something he needed to fix and fix straight away. His eyes locked on Cross.

"Te quiero, mi soldado" Dream said, with his face dusting gold. He looked away and pulled his scarf over his face slightly.

Cross returned his blush and smiled "yo tambien Te quiero, mi sol"

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heyheyloki · 5 years ago

Text

Scary Love

Summary: You spend the day with Steve Rogers only to run into an unwelcome character.

Steve Rogers x M!Reader

Word Count: 1826

Being an Avenger, you got to meet some amazing people. From the billionaire Tony Stark to the infamous Bruce Banner, all of them gained your favor in ways you couldn’t help but be grateful for. They’ve been there for you as you have been for them, rough patches that would have been seen to past you as catastrophic seemed manageable now that they were around. However, out of all of them you grew the closest to Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. The two were complete opposites, and yet you enjoyed both of their personalities on a level that you couldn’t quite grasp.

Both have almost been like your rock, able to bring you down from intense emotions and help you not lash out. Your powers weren’t like Banner’s though, not at all close. The only similarity between the two was a science experiment gone wrong. He gained the Hulk, you gained the ability to burn as hot as the sun, completely set your body on fire without no repercussions.

Everyone always talked about how cool your powers were, and Tony even wanted to do a bit of research on you, which you agreed to. Though, not everyone shared their opinions. Your recent ex certainty didn’t. Hell, he almost threw an entire fit when he found out since you try to keep your identity a secret when working with the Avengers. He threatened you, and even some of your friends calling you and them ‘freaks’. After that, you haven’t felt the need to get into a relationship, but instead spend some time with friends.

“Hey, Steve, you almost ready?” You asked as you phoned the super solider who was currently getting his bike from the garage.

“Yeah, get down here before traffic starts.” He said before hanging up from his end.

Today was a free day from any missions and or extraterrestrial beings trying to take over the planet, so you asked Steve the day before to come to the mall with you. You didn’t have anything set in mind that you wanted to pick up since in truth, you just wanted to hang out with the super solider without the company of any of the others around. After all, you could tell he was getting a little uncomfortable with their recent jokes. You found them quite amusing, and you even joined in the fun from time to time. However, after a couple of days, you noticed how he looked when the other joked about his supposed crush on you.

You didn’t think about it much, and when you didn’t you couldn’t help but brush it off. Sure, your heart would speed up a little at the thought of him actually liking you in a romantic nature, but you knew deep down it would never happen.

By the time the both of you got the mall it was around noon. Both of you weren’t exactly looking to eat at the moment, so you both came to the agreement of looking around for an hour being heading to the food court.

You decided to head into an all male clothing store first. It was one of your favorites and had some amazing t-shirts that actually fit you well.

“How about this?” You asked as you held the shirt up to your body for Steve to judge.

“It’s nice,” he answered causally. Though, his eyes followed your hands as you pulled out a see through laced shirt. The joking smile on your face was obvious, but Captain America himself couldn’t help but picture you in that within his mind.

“How about this? Or is it too flashy?” You laughed before putting the item away. Honestly, you would have liked to try it on but you knew you would probably never wear it. You let out a sigh before grabbing another item and heading towards the changing room, leaving Steve behind.

By the time an hour passed, you both ended up grabbing some food by the food court. You took a seat far from others so no one would disturb you both.

“You know, the hat isn’t that big of a disguise.” You hummed out as you placed a french fry in your mouth.

“Do you have any other recommendations then? Cause this seems to get the job done,” he snapped back with a teasing smile that made you chuckle.

“Nah, but I mean,” you trailed off before standing up from your chair. You kept eye contact with the super soldier as your hand came up to the hat, lowering it an inch to truly hide his face better. “It’s more effective like that.”

Steve stared at you with an aimless stare before mumbling out, “If you say so.”

You smiled as you sat back down in your seat. It was a good time spent chatting with your friend and enjoying the food you bought. Though, that was outlived when your eyes caught a person that walked past Steve. He was with a group of friends, and his eyes only made contact with yours for a moment. However, in that moment, fear ran through your veins more than when Ultron ran around. Your instincts kicked in without hesitation and stood up from your chair in an abrupt manner.

It alerted Steve instantly, and when he was about ask you what was wrong, he noticed the fear in your eyes. It was unlike anything he’s seen before, and in that moment, he asked no questions. Instead, he followed you. Kept by your side and always looked over his shoulder. He didn’t notice anyone in the beginning, but after around ten minutes of walking around without a destination, he noticed a familiar face. A face that belonged to your ex. It was then that he understood your actions and asked lowly, “Do you wanna leave?”

You wasted no time answering. “No, I just want to lose him.”

“Okay, then we’ll do that.”

Both of you continued to walk, not run. You entered a few stores as well, but no luck. When it came to switching floors, you came up dry as well. What was worse was that it wasn’t just him, but his friends as well.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you and Steve started to ride the escalator down towards the first floor. Your mind raced with ideas on how to get out of this damned place, hell, you even debated just using your powers to get the hell out of there.

Though, as you were in your head, you completely missed a certain someone getting on the other escalator. When you did notice, your brain completely froze. It was like everything you were thinking stopped as if someone slammed on the breaks.

Your immediately turned around to face Steve who was taller than normal thanks to the steps. You could see the uncertainty in his eyes when you faced him, and you were unsure why these words left your mouth, but they did.

“Kiss me.”

“What?” He asked with a shaken tone.

“Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, they do.”

Your heart beat faster as you leaned in. You weren’t too sure if it was from almost being caught by your ex’s friends or because your lips were about to come in contact with Steves’. Though, when your lips locked with his, you definitely knew it was because of the kiss. You could feel how tense he was, even more so when you noticed how he didn’t take any lead. You moved yours slowly, telling him it was okay. When he got that, you noticed his attempts to kiss you back. However, they all still felt like he was standing on broken glass.

After a second or two, you broke away. Your eyes moved over to see your ex’s friend a bit higher up than you now, your lips releasing a heavy sigh in turn.

“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” You hummed out before turning back around to get off the escalator.

Steve followed close behind you before saying, “That wouldn’t be the exact term I’d use.”

A thick layer of silence rested between Steve and you from there on out. Honestly, you thought it would be best to wait it out until tomorrow to talk about it, but sadly the odds weren’t in your favor.

You had completely forgotten about the movie night that took place every other Friday at Avengers Tower. To add even more unluckiness to your cards, you and Steve were the only ones without a job in this week’s rotation. So, you both sat in the living room, alone and with a spread of movies in front of you curtesy of Tony Stark.

You kept your hands locked together in the middle of your lap as you gazed down at the movie selection, making sure your eyes kept away from Steve. It wasn’t like you were embarrassed about it happening, but more so embarrassed about how it made you feel. It wasn’t like he was a new friend that you possibly had a chance with. No, this was your best friend who you’ve been with for years. A best friend that you listened to when he came out of the ice and his love from over 70 years ago. You knew he talked about her less nowadays, but you shouldn’t believe because of that he was over her.

“Steve,” you hummed out. Your guilty heart beating faster as your palms began to sweat.

“Yeah?”

You sighed and finally took up the strength to look up at him, though for a second you swore you saw the Captain America actually flinch at meeting your gaze. But, you just assumed that was your imagination.

“I have a question, and you don’t have to answer it but I feel like if you do you kinda are answering it, yanno?” You rambled on, your words flooding out of you without stopping until Steve rolled his eyes in a playful manner and asked, “What?”

Your gaze never left Steves’. Let it be true or fabricated confidence, you didn’t let up. Even as the words left past your lips you wanted, needed to see how his face looked as he thought about your words.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?” You asked, your gaze digging into Steve’s head as you watched his calm expression change before your eyes into a mix of something close to embarrassment and anxiousness.

“That bad, huh?”

Your eyes widened a bit as you instantly placed your hands in front of you, waving them slowly. “I didn’t say that!”

“It sounded like it.”

“I didn’t mean for it to. I was just curious.”

Silence struck once more. It wasn’t like before, you thought. This time it was more uneasy, more undecided, and the one thing you couldn’t deny was the immeasurable tension. For once, you broke your composure and gazed away from Steve before taking a bold move of simply inching a bit closer to the super soldier.

“It wasn’t bad yanno,” you suddenly said as you leaned your head against his upper arm.

You could feel his muscles tighten for a moment before completely relaxing when he said, “Yeah, it wasn’t.”

#x male reader #male reader #marvel #steve rogers x male reader #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #captain america #captain america x reader #captain america x male reader #marvel x male reader #marvel x reader

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imnotusedtobeingloved · 5 years ago

Text

YOU NEED TO BURN ME

(PLEASE DON’T REPOST/REBLOG)

Warnings: heartbreak, betrayal.

Pairing: Zuko x f!Reader

Characters: Zuko, Katara, Aang, Toph, Sokka.

Requested: I guess?

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor the gif. Credit to the owners.

Summary: Part four of “destiny is a funny thing”.

previous part

A/N: Welcome to the next part!

Have fun reading!

“Prince Zuko,” Your tone was sharper than a knife. “I challenge you to an Agni Kai,”

The words hung in the air, like smoke filling your lungs. You were close enough to smell his jamine scent and see the sweat above his brow. His golden orbs widened. As if he couldn’t believe what you’d just said. They held sorrow within and yet they dared to gift you with so much warmth. So different from his sisters eyes. “(Y/N)...,” You clenched your fists by your sides, making sparks fly. “Come on, fire prince. Teach me!”

Zuko raised his hands in surrender, stepping backwards. You’d transformed the teen into a scared little boy. “I don’t want to fight you,” he breathed. This time he was the one pleading for mercy. While his face showed a painful mixture of heartbreak and agony, yours remained furious.

“Funny,” you spat, disgust lacing your voice. Your heart suffered, seeing him like that, but your anger had it’s grip so tight around your throat that you were desperate to breathe again. And for that, only one solution remained. Zuko had to go. You were sick of him playing games with your feelings. “The last time i said that, you answered with something like this!” You delivered a kick through the air, flames following the motion. Zuko gasped, rolling sideways to escape your fire. “(Y/N)! Wait!” You could hear Aang panicking behind you, followed by the voices of Katara, Sokka and Toph, who all tried to talk you out of the fight.

“You can’t run from me forever, Zuko!” you yelled, when he took off. Following close behind, your rage didn’t fail you. Lashes of fire soon hidered his escape. “(Y/N), Stop it!” he screamed. His voice broke before he could say anything else. He stumbled and fell, barely missing one of your shots and covering his face. “You need to burn me to stop, remember?” He leaned on his hands, slowy getting back up. Your words seemed to hit him harder than your flames. “Do it!” You demanded, leaning forward and raising your hands.

Finally he responded, running up to you with a growl.

You prepared to dodge his onslaught, only to gasp, when you were caged by his arms instead. He held you in a tight grip. Tighter than your anger ever could. Your hands were trapped between you, body pressed against his. “I won’t fight you, (Y/N),” He whispered, lips residing right next to your ear. “Burn me if you must, but please don’t force me to hurt you again. Our first fight was painful enough,” Your breath hitched, but you didn’t stay unresponsive for long. Getting away seemed hopeless as you tugged and pulled on on him, trying to be freed.

“Let me go!” You hissed, banging your fists against his chest as much as you could. But his grip around you wouldn’t budge. Your whole being was enveloped by him. And your bottled up frustrations gushed out. All at once. “Let me go...” You hated how your voice shook and your eyes watered, as you slumped in his grip. “No,” he murmured, holding onto you. “I made that mistake one time and i’m not doing it again. I’m sorry that i hurt you. I was blind to choose the Fire Nation over my home. I still love you (Y/N). I’ve never stopped,”

Faint footsteps appeared behind you. Zuko pulled away when they reached the platform, taking a step back. You quickly wiped the few tears that had escaped from your cheeks. The fight didn’t end like you thought it would. It didn’t even end like an Agni Kai was supposed to end. You hadn’t thought that you would win. Though you had thought that you would beat him. And that it would give you some kind of clarity. Or satisfaction. But it didn’t. Not at all. It left you lonely. Empty. When Zuko hugged you, he seemed to have taken your anger with him. Only disappointment remained.

“(Y/N),” Katara came up behind you, putting a hand on your shoulder. “Are you okay?” You made an effort to put a smile on your face. You almost regretted that the anger had disappeared. It felt good to feel something again. Now there was nothing but vacancy. “I’m fine,” You turned your head around to her, grinning slightly. “Thanks, Katara,” Then you turned and went. Away from their worried looks and from the lover you once knew. In mere seconds you’d disappeared from their view, unable to hear Toph’s response to your answer. “She’s lying...,”

You spend the rest of the day alone, only returning to camp the next morning. The fact that Zuko was now part of the Team was a lot to take it. You mulled over it, time and time again. Innitially you’d wanted to leave. Turn your back on them all and be on your merry way. But the longer you thought about it, the more you realized that you couldn’t do it. You just couldn’t. Even the mere thought of leaving felt wrong. So you decided to stick with them. Leaving your friends wasn’t the right choice. And if that meant tolerating Zuko, then so be it. At least this way you could protect them, if he stabbed them in the back again.

Upon your return you spottet Zuko and Aang standing on the balcony of and upside down pagonda in the temple. The air bender was the first to recognize you, waving a hand. “Hey, (Y/N)!” He yelled, as you smirked giving him a wave of your own. “Do you want to watch us train? Maybe you can help!” You raised your brows, with a sideways glance at Zuko. “Uhm...,” As it turned out, you didn’t have much of a choice. The boy dragged you with him until you were seated on a large stone nearby. It provided the perfect view on the scene. You sighed, shifting in your seat, as Aang walked back to stand in front of his instructor.

“I know you’re nervous, but remember, firebending itself is not something to fear,” Zuko encouraged. Aang sighed heavily. “Okay. Not something to fear,” The prince nodded.

“But if you don’t respect it,” He raised his voice, leaning close to his students face. “It’ll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!” Aang yelped, but Zuko didn’t let him stray from his path. You raised a brow at his teaching methods, but decided to remain silent for now.

“Now show me what you’ve got. Any amount of fire you can make,” The Avatar nodded, inhaling nervously, before making a forward motion with his hand. A pitiful cloud of smoke appeared and died before any kind of spark could live. He looked back at his teacher with a sheepish look in his eyes. “Maybe I need a little more instruction. Perhaps a demonstration?”

Zuko agreed, spreading his arms. “Good idea. You might wanna take a couple steps back,” The boy did as he was told, giving the prince more room to occupy. He watched as the fire bender took a deep breath, preparing to guide the fire. With a strong punch through the air, he produced a tiny flame. Aang clapped his hands, applauding the display. But Zuko was appaled. “What was that? That was the worst firebending I’ve ever seen!”

“Usually it’s called a ‘failure’,” you said, crossing your arms. The Avatar, on the other hand, expressed his appreciation. “I thought it was ... nice,” He smiled slightly and shrugged. Zuko grunted, trying to firebend again, and again, and again. But each time the outcome seemed to get worse. He looked at his palms with furrowed brows. “Why is this happening?” Aang rubbed his head, trying to think of a solution. “Maybe it’s the altitude,”

His mentor looked back at him. “Yeah, could be,” Overcoming his innitial frustration, he kept trying, but the fire wouldn’t budge. Nothing he did seemed to work. “What is wrong with you?” You asked, getting agitated. “I don’t know!” He gave back with just as much force. Meanwhile his student had taken a seat on a broken pillar next to you and yawned, before he lied down. “Just breathe, and ...,” Zuko said to himself, delivering another blast with no improvement. “That one kind of felt hot,” Aang said, getting up. But it only managed to enrage his master even more. “Don’t patronize me! You know what it’s supposed to look like!”

“Sorry, Sifu Hotman,” Zuko raised his hands, groaning as Aang cringed. “And stop calling me that!” You raised a hand to your mouth to stiffle a giggle. That nickname would be remembered until the end of time. “(Y/N), maybe you can show him,” Blankly he stared at you, waiting for an answer. You briefly ginned at Aang. “Told you i was the better choice,” He laughed as you got up and stepped forward. Air filled your lungs as you took a deep breath, focusing all your attention on your bending. On the warmth that flowed within your veins. You delivered a kick into the air, expecting flames to shoot with the motion, but all that got out was a puff of smoke. You gasped, swirling around to the guys. “What...?” You tried to conjure a flame in your palm. A little one. Nothing too hard. But no matter how long you stared at your hand, nothing came from it. “What’s happening to me?” Zuko apparently recognized the panic in your voice and furrowed his brows. “Hey, i’m sure it’s going to be okay,” He raised a hand as if he wanted to place it on your shoulder to comfort you, only to draw back in the last second. “We just have to-”

“Hey, jerks! Mind if I watch you three jerks do your jerkbending?” Sokka interrupted, suddenly invading the field, walking towards the instructors and their pupil, while munching on an apple. The prince lashed his arm to the side, pointing to the other end of the platform. “Get out of here!” He dropped the half-eaten apple and surrendered. “Okay, take it easy. I was just kiddin’ around,” He got up and turned, adjusting his shirt in the process.

“Jerkbending, still got it,” He laughed, while Zuko dropped his head and groaned.

Losing your bending was scary. It was as if you’d lost a part of your identity. A part that made you who you were. No matter how often you’d tried to bend over the course of the day, it wouldn’t come back. Eventually, when the evening came, you busied yourself with feeding Appa, who happily chewed on his hay. Zuko leaded on a column not too far from you, arms crossed and lost in his thoughts. You wondered what he was thinking about. He didn’t seem as scared as you.

A few minutes passed, before he left.

“Listen everybody, I’ve got some pretty bad news,” Zuko stated, walking up to the campfire. “I’ve lost my stuff,” Toph raised both hands to her head, underlining her innocence. “Don’t look at me,” She stated, folding her arms. “I didn’t touch your stuff,” He lowered his gaze. “I’m talking about my firebending. It’s gone,”

The group stared at him silently, until Katara burst out laughing, claiming all attention for herself. You flinched upon the sound. At this point you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. It was only a tiny part of you that felt sorry, and you didn’t like it one bit. But truly? You and him were stuck in the exact same situation. The prince punished her with an annoyed expression, but it didn’t seem to faze her. ”I’m sorry. I’m just laughing at the irony. You know, how it would’ve been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago.” Katara said. Zuko hesitated, trying to explain the situation. “Well, it’s not lost. It’s just ... weaker for some reason,” She held up her bowl of soup, glaring at him over the brim. “Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are,”

Toph smiled scarcastically. “Ouch,”

“I bet it’s because I changed sides.” Zuko said.

“That’s ridiculous.” Katara scowled at him, dismissing the idea.

Opposed to her, Aang gave it a thought. “I don’t know. Maybe it isn’t. Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you just don’t have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to,” Apparently, that was Sokka’s keyword. He leaned towards Zuko, pointing a finger. “Sooo, all we need to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough,” He poked the fire bender with the hilt of his sword, hitting the head and waist several times.

"Okay, cut it out!” The prince growled, as Sokka grew more amused by the second. The boy stopped, as his sword slipped from his hands. “Look, even if you’re right, I don’t want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way,” Zuko said, rubbing his nose. You walked through the pillars, coming to stand next to him. “I’ve lost my bending too,” You confessed, feeling lightheaded. Now the water benders features softened. The groups pitiful looks made you feel sick to your stomach. Like a confirmation that something was genuinely wrong with you. Sokka sat back down next to the eath bender, who spoke up next. “You’re gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source,” She explained, stuffing food in her mouth. “How’re they supposed to do that‌? By jumping into a volcano‌?” Sokka asked, eyeing her excitedly.

“No. Zuko and (Y/N) need to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is,” Everybody listened closely, as she explained the impact of original sources on their benders. She, herself, had learned it from the badgermoles. The innitial earth benders. “They were blind, just like me. So we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn’t just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world,” She grinned, focusing back on her meal.

“That’s amazing, Toph! I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison,” Aang leaned to the right, to get a glimpse at Appa eating his hay in the distance. “Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy,” He growled from the shed. “Well, this doesn’t help us. The original firebenders were the dragons, and they’re extinct,” Zuko sighed, looking at the group. “What do you mean‌? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid,” You smiled at Aangs words. He was, still, very much a kid. Even if he was 112 years old. “Well, they aren’t around anymore, okay?” His counterpart yelled, making the Avatar recoil. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” He moved his arms in an appeasing manner.

“Maybe there’s another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors,” You reminisced, walking towards a little fountain. Zuko’s stance lost some of it’s tension. Aang was quick to follow, coming up beside you. “Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren’t around when I was a kid,” His teacher soon stood next to you, turning his head towards him. “No, they died off thousands of years ago. But their civilization wasn’t too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins,” Aang nodded. “It could be worth a try. It’s like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present,”

“So, what?” Sokka spoke up behind you. You glanced at him over your shoulder. “Maybe you’ll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?” Zuko nodded shortly.

“More or less. Either we find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find some new teachers,”

tags: @zvkonation @viva-la-millennia @randomness501 @drheinzd @kaylove12 @duh-dobrik @yeetscreetiwannaeat @ ashnkamfeun @hailkyoshi @shortmexicangirl @animexholic @sorrythatspussynal

#zuko x reader #zuko imagine #avatar the last airbender #zuko x y/n

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