#Mother why did you make me and then abandon me to a train filled with eccentric characters pls answer | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lowtaperfeyd · 1 month

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What about a feyd x reader in a lower house on the rise? Like they have a strong lime of the voice but few resources/ titles. The baron knows this and works out a marriage alliance he just needed to see which nephew would get reader and after rabans failure feyd comes out on top.

Monochromatic

Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x Reader

warnings: mentions of killing, blood, wounds, dune stuff, but still overall kinda fluffy

author's note: never realized that austin butlers head was so pointy

wc: 2357

The baron was shrugged over in his giant vat of oily black liquid. The room was dark, stuffy, and full of tension

“Piter,” he rasped.

“Yes my lord?” Piter De Vries said, seemingly coming out of the shadows.

“The (L/N)’s? Did they agree?”

“Yes, sire”

The Baron let out a malicious snicker.

“Who should they go to, Piter?” the Baron said with untimely humor.

“Both of your nephews have potential…” he said, leaving something out.

“But?”

“Feyd’s destructive, we can’t have him break your most valuable asset. Rabban is too easy to walk on, too emotional. They aren’t dumb, they'll see. Let your nephews sweat it out, make the decision at the end.”

“A challenge, a competition,” he murmured, sneering. “Very good, Piter.”

He said before submerging under the crude oil

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“Father, you cannot allow this!” (Y/N) shouted.

“The Baron is making us a very good deal!” He yelled back.

“A very good deal for him!”

“What are you implying?” He interrogated

“He only wants to benefit himself.” They retorted. “And besides, you don’t know which one I’m marrying! Do you want your child to marry a tyrant who instills terror in people or a coldblooded killer who finds pleasure in it!”

Silence cut through the room like a sharpened knife and thick tension poured from the wound. It still wielded and ready to slash again.

“I want what’s best.” their father said through gritted teeth.

(Y/N) looked at their father one more time. Feelings of betrayal and anger ran through their body. Their fists clenched like iron and knees locked a dungeon door. There was no saving from this damned situation.

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It had been a couple of weeks since (Y/N) had arrived at the Harkonnen homeworld, Geidi Prime. None of the servants looked them in the eye, or in fact looked at them without trepidation. They had no encounter with Rabban because of his earlier departure to Arrakis to begin his duties and they were very careful to not cross paths with Feyd-Rautha.

As (Y/N) was strolling through the bland walls of the Harkonnen Fortress, the sounds of clanging metal and grunting became more and more apparent. As they creeped closer, they noticed it was the Baron’s nephew, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. Who was training with a man wearing an entirely black uniform and an upside down hat that looked like an archaic hammerhead shark. They stood against a nearby dark gray pillar, partially covered by it.

A gladiator, an entertainer, a killer, a man who killed his own mother, and surprisingly a man who bleeds. They thought.

Suddenly, the clangs stopped.

“Why are you watching me?” he questioned, annoyed.

(Y/N) rushed to take refuge from behind the pillar, hoping that Feyd-Rautha would think he was going crazy. Their breath sped up as panic flowed freely.

Feyd-Rautha turned around fully, looking head on at the pillar. His eyes were dark, darker than they had ever seen before, and filled with a never ending fire of irritation.

“Why are you hiding from me?” his tone changed from annoyance to ridiculing. He bared his teeth in a smile as he began stalking toward them, knife in hand.

Courage surged through (Y/N) as they abandoned their relative safety.

“I wasn’t hiding” they declared, their voice still uneasy. “I just went behind the pillar.” Feyd-Rautha continued to approach them, with mile length strides, getting so close to (Y/N) he could most likely hear their heart beating out their chest. He raised his knife to their neck and swirled it with no pressure, barely on them.

He ran his black tongue against his pale lips. (Y/N) maintained eye contact. Their eyes cold to match his. Just as quickly as he placed his knife on their neck, he swiftly removed it. There was a glint of mischief and entertainment in his eyes as he turned away from them with no words.

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Dear Mother,

It has been 5 months since my departure from home. I miss you as well as everyone else. Besides the fact I’m exceptionally alone, it has all been well. The costumes are foreign and the people are either scared into submission or as cut-throat as the Harkonnen family.

I have only exchanged correspondence with Count Glossu Rabban, the governor of Arrakis. His actions on Arrakis are devolving into idiocracy and foolishness as he has been terrorized by the ever mysterious Maud’Dib, desert mouse. I only know this because he whines in his letters. I’ve come to my own conclusion that some soldiers think it's a death sentence to be sent there, others the greatest honor.

On the other hand, Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha is insane Feyd-Rautha. He only fights drugged opponents and toys with them like a cat with a mouse. He threatens slaves and servants with them being eaten by his ‘darlings’, a group of three cannibalistic harpies. Who are equally as terrifying as him. They all have beady black eyes and sharp black teeth to match. Whilst they always sneer, I seem to be on the receiving end of most of them. It’s not a satisfying feeling.

I’ve received no further word on which nephew I am marrying. It seems like a sick twisted game the Baron is playing. In my time here I have been the butt of many reiterations of ‘time will time’ in a way that reeks of some form of schadenfreude, taking pleasure in my displeasure of not knowing. The nephews seem to have their own opinions on the matter, in other words they both think it will be them. I have heard from Rabban’s letters that he thinks that since he is currently ruling a planet that he should have a wife by his side. Feyd has taken a different approach. Due to the nature of why I am here, I have been witness to many of the gladiatorial events put on by the Baron for Feyd-Rautha. After every victory, he raises his bloodied knife and faces the Imperial Box filled by the Baron, me, Piter de Vries, and others. While this all seems very normal, he makes direct and stern eye contact with me and statues, like I’m already his. This could be easily interpreted as he is just doing this in the general direction of the Box, but if you have felt the full force of his eyes, then you know when they're on you.

This was very prevalent at his birthday celebration fight. Though the overarching weight felt heavier and more severe in the grand scheme of things.

He often speaks of his fights and other things. It’s all very Harkonnen.

I'll update you later,

Love,

(Y/N)

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Looking out the tall window, (Y/N) saw the pollution outside of Geidi Prime. Smoke stacks covered more of the skyline than skyscrapers. It was dulled by the black sun which gave the whole planet a depressed atmosphere. Occasionally there would be a firework that looked like drops of black ink for pens.

Softly heavy footsteps began to slinked forward towards them. Footsteps that could have only belonged to one person.

“You don't have a very grand palace for such nobility” They declared, still looking out the window.

“It's grand by Harkonnen standards.” Feyd-Rautha replied, smoothly.

“What I’m saying is where I’m from, the spires from clock towers reach the clouds and beige brick is the backdrop of green ivy and creeping vines” (Y/N) recovered.

“I didn’t mean to offend or insult your planet and home.”

Feyd-Rautha walked forward his hands behind his back and it was almost like he was walking playfully. He took a place next to them to look out the window, his head slightly swooped down.

“It's very,” he started, “monochromatic.”

“I mean, it makes sense from the sun,” they mentioned, “cancels everything out.”

“More or less.”

They stood there for a while, watching the ink drop fireworks light up the sky. A comfortable silence eased over them, as crackles were heard above. It was one of the pleasantest conversions they'd had together since (Y/N) arrival.

Feyd-Rautha cleared his throat.

“Tell me about your home world.” Feyd-Rautha asked.

“My home world?”

Feyd gave them a slight nod.

“Well,” they breathed out, “the air is much clearer than here and there are fields of tall green grass that is littered with yellow flowers, dandelions, which make the valley smell a little sweet. Crystal water with white beaches, multicolored ships across the horizon, and a gentle breeze from the water.”

“That sounds nice” he admitted quietly,

“It is, it’s very nice.”

“You must miss it very dearly.”

“I do,” they said, partially, “the people can be very annoying.”

Feyd let out a small chuckle at their brash words.

“I can agree with that.”

“Oh no, Na-Baron thinks his own people are annoying.” (Y/N) teased.

“Sometimes.”

It was now their turn to laugh. (Y/N) let out a chuckle and a smile at his honesty.

“Be careful,” Feyd joked, “I could have you fed to my pets.”

“Who would you marry me if I wasn’t here?” (Y/N) feigned concern.

“Don't worry, I would keep your pretty face to marry.”

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“For such a skilled fighter, you are a clumsy man.”

“He snuck up on me-”

“‘While I was fighting the other one, lighty cut my arm, before I heroically killed him. Yes Feyd, it's as if you have told me a hundred times.” They retorted.

The gash along his bicep was skinny and long. Dried blood encased the outside of the wound. (Y/N) took a damp cloth and began to carefully clean the wound. Their eyebrows were furrowed together with concentration. Every so often they dipped the cloth back into the pot of warm water. Feyd looked at them as they worked diligently. For such a tense man, he was relaxed. He leaned back against the firm arm chair he was sitting in and his hands weren’t clenched. Shortly, they finished cleaning the wound and began walking to the other side of the room to grab a roll of bandages.

“I think you may have missed a spot, my dear.” Feyd poked fun at them, while they were walking away.

“Don’t start with me right now, Feyd-Rautha.” (Y/N) asserted as they walked back to his side. They took a seat on the small stool beside him and began wrapping the wound tightly.

“It may scar. But knowing you it could just make you look scarier to your opponents.”

Feyd softly hummed in agreement.

“There, all done.” (Y/N) said as they finished wrapping his injury. Quickly, they gathered all the equipment they used and put it away so that a mess wouldn’t need to be cleaned up later.

“You know if it wasn’t for me you would still be bleeding” They said mischievously

Feyd got up from his chair and began to slowly walk towards them.

(Y/N)’s back was turned against him as they put the cloth into a basket.

“It would be quite a sight to see the petrifying Na-Baron say than!-’

Before they could finish their sentence, Feyd wrapped an arm around their waist, turned them around, and kissed them passionately. Their teeth clashed against each other while their lips molded together. The kiss was unbreakable while simultaneously free. It was like the energy between them was alive and breathing as they were. Feyd pulled away from the kiss, both of them breathless.

“Thank you,” he breathed out, “thank you very much.”

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

As (Y/N) was walking through the barren halls of the Harkonnen fortress, a negative cloud seemed to linger overhead. A cloud that could even bring concern and freight to the toughest of Sardaukar. Before they knew it they were in front of the menacing doors that belonged to the grand dining room that was mainly used for state occasions. Beside the doors were two Harkonnen slaves who seemed to be waiting for (Y/N) to ask for the doors to be opened.

They gestured to the door, indicating to them to open it.

When the doors opened, a long, dark, wooden table filled with enough food to feed the planet twice ove, lit candelabras, and elaborate centerpieces filled with dark florals. Baron Harkonnen sat at the head of the table, scarving done plates of food with little care one after another. Feyd-Rautha sat to the right of his uncle with hawk-like eyes pointed at (Y/N) while the Baron was still consuming.

They took a small step forward to fully stand in the room and announce their presence.

“Baron Harkonnen, Na-Baron, you wanted to see me?” they stated

The baron finally looked up from his food.

“Ah yes come here,” he said in a voice he would use for close relatives and gestured for them to take a seat, “come here don’t be shy.”

(Y/N) plodded down the side of the table to sit to the left of the Baron and opposite Feyd. Feyd’s face was carved by the candlelit shadows. There was a reminisce of a smirk on his lips and in his eyes.

“Now,” the Baron started with food in his mouth, “there is quite a bit of news that needs to be shared-”

“Exciting news.” Feyd cut in.

“Yes, very exciting,” he said, swallowing, “first and foremost, the governorship of Arrakis has been taken from Rabban.”

“Oh dear.” (Y/N) said flatly,

“And?” they asked the Baron.

Instead of the Baron answering their question, his nephew shot in.

“I am to marry you.”

“Yes, as my nephew blatantly said, you are to be his wife. And accompany him to Arrakis.”

Dumbfounded, (Y/N) contemplated what just played out before them.

“I understand the part about me marrying Na-Baron.” They affirmed, “But why would we go to Arrakis.

“Well due to Rabban’s failure as governor, it is only right that the title gets passed to Feyd.”

“I’m marrying Feyd and then we will go to Arrakis.”

“Now you have it.” the Baron replied triumphantly.

As if in a flash, more color seemed to be added to the world of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen and his soon to be spouse, (Y/N).

#dune x reader #feyd rautha x reader #dune pt 2 #house harkonnen #fanfic #x reader #feyd rautha harkonnen #queue

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bloodymarsupials1 · 5 months

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sooooo, i wanted to make this because i apparently cant reblog and i have no idea why. (i'm referencing the little...challenge? however you want to call it by @drinkyourvillainjuice.

anyway here it is, i also added a few fanfics just cause.

The Second Sight @spoiledblog (demo) You’re an urban legend in a county full of them. When you were thirteen, you were found passed out in the road by one of the local cops. No missing persons report. No fingerprints on file. No memories. Just a name.Oh, and some bizarre psychic powers.You're content with simplicity. You like your isolated cabin and helping Carter track down missing persons. You know that in theory there are more people like you out there, but you've never wanted to look behind the curtain to find out.However, with the disappearance of a local teen named Casey Powell and a recent attempt on your foster father's life, your serene, isolated life comes abruptly to its end and a new chapter begins.

After The End @albywritesfiction (demo)

Your former fiancé and heir apparent of the Aurelian Kingdom, Prince Ædan, has married the love of his life, the fair Saintess Helene. As the nation celebrates their union, you are left alone to pick up the pieces of your broken heart... until you receive two letters. One is an invitation to the office of Prince Ædric, the crown prince's younger brother and rival for the throne. The other is a letter filled with concern from your childhood friend and secretary-in-training, Cyfrin, who is currently assisting your father at your family’s ducal estate in the countryside. Each letter contains a proposition that will change the course of your fate forever.

Which one will you choose?

God-Cursed @wings-of-ink (Demo)

you were found as a newborn, clutched in the arms of your dead mother at the base of a tree. No family came to claim you, but the men who came to your rescue adopted you as their own and became the only parents you’ve ever known. Growing up in the village of Stonebrook, you never want for much, until the day you first fall ill. Life plagues you with a mysterious condition that no one can diagnose or cure. You never know when it will strike or if it will eventually kill you. Living between fear and hope as you age, you try to come into your own as an adult with the ever-looming threat above you. As years pass, your condition seems to improve, until a mysterious mark appears on your body and opens up new questions.

It appears that you’re marked for death with no answers as to why, and your only chance to survive is to go out and seek them.

Journey through the land of Iroda, a fantasy world where the gods have abandoned their people and magic no longer prevails as it once did. Something is brewing that may change this world forever, and you’re in the middle of it, though your role is a mystery you must solve. Wanted dead by some and alive for mysterious purposes by others, you just want to survive. With the help of a few friends, find the answers that you need, and make your choices.

Before We are Ghosts @anjiefiction (DEMO) When a powerful villain threatens the safety of Metamora, you and the city’s heroes go to great lengths to stop him, and ultimately you are forced to pay the biggest price of all.(Against all odds, the heroes win. The victory is hollow.)The doctors are professional, if not sympathetic. They tell you that your body is in the process of slowly shutting down. No, they aren’t sure why. No, there isn’t a cure. When you ask how much time you have left, the faces grow dark. Perhaps a year, they say. Two if you’re lucky.(You thought you could rest. You thought wrong again.)For as threats resurge and the past rears its ugly head, you can only wonder: Do you have the strength to see things through? Will there be enough time?And when the end comes, can you find the courage to say goodbye?

more than me @ryanstillwrites-if (Demo) On a Wednesday morning, you leave your doctor's office with the diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour and the knowledge of an estimated four months left to live.Suddenly left without any direction in your life, you find yourself in a support group for the terminally ill. Where you expected to find sadness, melancholy and a looming sense of dread at thought of a fast approaching death - all the same feelings you harbour - you find smiles and laughter instead.You're drawn in by the people you meet there, curious and confused by their carefree attitudes. They're kind to you, they take you in, they turn your frown upside down - literally and figuratively. And just when you think you might be beginning to accept your fate; they decide to throw all caution to the wind and whisk you away on the adventure of a lifetime.You don't know what will come of the next four months but with your new friends at your side, you're excited to find out. After all, this is the only life you've been given, and though it may be ending soon; you might as well live it to the fullest.

Omen of Ice @omen-of-ice (no demo) The North has been all that you’ve known your whole life— residing within its icy landscape as part of House Eirlys; Wardens of the North. You’ve never thought you’d one day leave to head south to Vela’thian— the kingdom of the elvhen— much less that you’d head there due to your betrothal with the king himself.What will await you once you arrive? Is everything as it seems? Or is there something more brewing beneath the surface of the seemingly pristine nation?Will you find your way back home? Or will you find something, or someone, worth staying for?Let’s see how your story unfolds…

Mons Immortalium @mons-immortalium-if (DEMO) Mons Immortalium is a fantasy romance interactive story. Human MC falls into the magical land of the faeries, a mountain island that has been secluded from the rest of the world for over a millennium. Break curses, fall in love and beware of wicked faeries. Whatever you do, never give them your true name!

In the Cards @inthecards (demo)

You've always had psychic powers. Reading auras, speaking with the dead, and channeling spiritual energy through runes - these number just a few of the things you're capable of. It's not an unusual gift in the kingdom of Khepris, though it's uncommon enough that you've only met a few other people with such abilities in your small hometown.

After a plague sweeps through the kingdom, unrest bubbles up in the realm known as the Beyond, home to fae and spirits alike. A group of fae who call themselves the Butterfly Court are testing the boundaries between your worlds, and they don't seem to care what harm they may be causing along the way.

With a deck of tarot cards imbued with mystical powers in your possession, you're pulled into the struggle against the Butterfly Court. You must join one of two organizations - the King's Guardians or the Hounds - in order to fight back against this mysterious court… or risk losing everything.

Parasitical @parasitical-if (DEMO)

His flesh, our sustenance. His blood, our drink. His bones, our foundation, His body, our haven.

Five hundred years ago, the Earth was dying. Water polluted, dirt infertile, forests and meadows crumbling to the wars of steel and fire. And so the Order called His Grace, the Lord of Communion, down from where he rested before and He allowed humanity to rest inside his body.

Or at least, that's the story the Order tells.

You grew up under the masked faces of their Exalted, under the stories of Earth past. Rusted metal and cracked plastic; His bone and His flesh. Conflicting worlds, conflicting times, and soon, it might all come to a head.

crown of ashes and flames @coeluvr (demo) The war had taken everything from you.King Luceris had taken everything from you.You were just nine years old when all of this happened. One moment you were in your room sleeping and the next you were walking through smoke and ash trying to find your parents.Love, he said, was the reason he started the war. Ironically, you lost everything you loved but you also lost yourself when he let you survive and dragged you away to his home.In a new Kingdom with no one on your side what choices will you make to survive? Who will you become?Inside of you, there’s something burning for revenge and there’s only one thing I want to tell you. Let it out.

Bleeding Heart @bleedingheart-if (Demo) Congratulations, you got engaged. Whether that is good or bad is ultimately up to you.Shortly after your engagement, your fiancé sets out on a journey to the distant lands of Transylvania, a real estate opportunity that proved too irresistible to decline.With your wedding temporarily on hold, you don't hesitate to respond when your childhood friend Lucy implores you to pay her a visit, seeking your company and counsel with an urgent matter concerning her very own future.The strangeness begins as you arrive in Whitby, a charming coastal town where the Westenra's estate resides.

checkmatein 3 moves @checkmatein3moves (DEMO) YOU are the heir; the child of one of the most powerful women on Oracle Island. When she’s accused of murdering her sister almost forty years prior after the revelation of a suspicious anonymous tip, her power falls to you — but so will her reputation.Many questions present themselves: is your mother a killer? Who wants to see her fall for it? Who will make the next move in the inevitable game? Can you play as well as the rest of them?The Elite Class are full of blood and schemes. Your generation carries the scars of those before them, and thus you all must join the game or face the consequences. But dark intentions are cloaked in silk and diamonds, and the heady taste of power corrupts like an infection.

The Abyssal Song @ri-writes-if (DEMO) In the underworld kingdom, where demons fight for survival against the abyssal monsters, you are just an Oracle. In the distant past the Oracles were at the top of the demonic hierarchy, but those golden days are long gone. You did what you were most afraid to do and now sit under arrest in the royal palace.When the Abyss sends you a vision of a terrible disaster that will happen in the future, you make an inevitable “deal” with the Sovereign to try to change the future and improve your abilities, not only to become stronger and learn more about the coming disaster, but also in an attempt to achieve mind stability.However, what has been happening to you since you received the vision makes you think that you are already slowly but surely losing your mind.Will you be able to maintain your sanity and help others protect the kingdom, or will you become just another name in the long list of Oracles gone mad?

the lonely shore @thelonelyshore-if (DEMO) Meet me at the cabin. Please.You weren’t sure what to make of it. A cryptic late night text sent from your younger sibling, begging you to meet up at your family’s old lake home. The plea for help was as concerning as it was confusing. As far as you knew, neither of you had set foot in the cabin in a decade. You had your hesitations, but Willow seemed desperate. You couldn’t help but oblige.Everything goes downhill fast when Willow's research into childhood ghost stories lands you in a town that doesn't exist. A town where people go missing at an alarming rate, where things that aren't quite human run businesses with hungry eyes, where time runs differently.A town you can't leave.Something about Easthaven is wrong. A supernatural fog permeates the town, so thick you could choke…but you’re one of the only people who seems to notice it. You’re quick to realize the fog keeps the residents ignorant, keeps them passive, keeps them trapped. When people who have long since gone missing start coming back home, you realize Easthaven’s mysteries go deeper than you could have ever imagined.

Kenneski @devilishmango (here)You were ripped away from your home, your life- all because you were accused of using magic. Sent away on carriages, bursting full of others like you, being brought to Kenneski Prison. It’s a prison made specifically to hold those that can wield magic, making it so you are powerless. It’s a death sentence for most that go there. But not for you.

stagnation @stagnation-if (DEMO) It's the year 2524, and you're a defeated God/Goddess/Deity in a place and time where your kind is rarely needed anymore. After being locked away and thought to be dead for nearly a millennia, you wake up.

The Fall of House Black @endemise (DEMO) The fall of House Black, your house, was an imminent thing. A name had never been so cursed that all it could do was bring about death.First, your younger sister in a swimming accident, then your older brother in a case of mistaken identity. As the rest of your family sought to grieve and bring justice to your brother, your older sister was killed in a hunting accident at the end of your father’s bow.The three of you, mother, father, and child, became inconsolable. Broken beyond repair. Your mother unable to bear the weight of life any longer took her own while your father disappeared, gone into the night. When you remain the sole survivor of House Black, you know you must leave, and on the night of your decision, your home goes up in flames with you inside.Then, you awake, dazed with no recollection of anything, and when you look down at your body, you scream. It is wrong. So wrong.

Drink Your Villain Juice @drinkyourvillainjuice (demo) Everyone knows that superpowers come about through three distinct methods.One can be born to their abilities, see them emerge in a moment of great strife, or acquire them through extensive cybernetic augmentation.Everyone is wrong.You’d know. If only that knowledge—and your snazzy slash horrible powers—didn’t come with a host of strings attached. Too bad that was an offer you couldn’t refuse.Did I mention one of the strings was supervillainy?Thrown headlong into a life of crime, balance conflicted loyalties, personal scars, and navigating a web of secrecy and deception, all while maintaining your cover.Above all, remember to drink your Juice. Your life depends on it.

The Gilded @the-gilded (Demo v1.2) Your younger brother, Leo, went missing three days ago. Your parents called the police, and they started investigating quickly. They were too late. Leo had already disappeared into the deepest part of the forest, where the mortals have vowed never to return. The police have offered to contact your family if Leo crosses the barrier back to the mortal side, but their investigation can’t go any further without inviting the wrath of the Fae.The winter solstice is approaching fast, which means that the High Fae are likely gathering mortal children for their great feast. The only way to get your brother back is to follow him into the forest and steal him back from the palace of the High Fae… If you can get there in one piece. The Fae forest is full of tricksters and killers, and you'll likely need some allies to help get you both back home.

VANGUARD @vanguard-if (PLAY) As a faering, you should want to keep to yourself. Your home is a safe haven where your dragon kin people reside; a place of true neutrality. There are no allies to the Midlands, nor are there enemies. Your people simply are, and this will not change.But you were never one much for rules, were you? With whispers of a certain prince in the Northlands allegedly receiving death threats from your docile leader, Cirrus, you could only slip away into the depths of the North to go see for yourself. It's so hilariously outrageous that your peace-loving ruler has such rumours teeming about them.You did not expect to find a bounty hunter bleeding out from her abdomen. And most of all, you did not expect her to know you by name, even through her raggedy breaths. And most of all, you did not expect her to have leads on the one you seek: the Northern Prince.

TWISTED GOLD @icaroif (DEMO) In the wake of an attack on your village that left your father dead and everybody you had ever known missing or the same, you are given one option; find your uncle in the Capital or else run for the hills and never look back. It was never really a choice anyway.

NINE BLOOD DANCES @nineblooddances-if [DEMO] You were a gift. Now to whom? No one knows.All that matters is that you are a gift and not like any of the others of your species. Uniqueness and importance oozes from every fiber of your being. You're important. Everyone says you're important. But why you're so important?Who knows?You must figure out what makes you so special and different. You must figure out what drives you through all circles. And you have to figure out why the nine commanders of Hell all have their eyes upon you and wish to have you by their side.All before the fall of the ninth moon.

Trouble Brewing @troublebrewing-if (Demo) it's all fun and games until someone loses a head!Quinn, your best friend, has brought you some awful news: your illustrious parents, having run out of potential mates for their brood, have set you up with the worst person you know -- Devon Bainbridge. Your intended is uncouth, self-indulgent, and ten years your senior.Of course, if no one can find you, the wedding's off, right?Make daring escape from your family's castle, get pressed into joining a rebellion, and find yourself fighting alongside a plucky bard, a brooding bandit, a naive idealist, and a fool-in-training. Escape marriage, join a rebellion, and find love… or sabotage it all.

ANECDOCHE @anecdoche-if (Demo) You wake up chained to a chair by one of the most notorious gangs in the country, only to be saved by one of the most famous hero organizations only a few moments later. Who wants you so badly that they would hire an entire gang to abduct you, and can you really trust the Supers that have been put in charge of your protection?

Blood of Morana @blood-of-morana (demo) You are one of the people, cursed with Morana’s magic, which gives you power over both winter and death. You can imagine that being one of the White Deaths hasn’t exactly made you the beacon of hope or the icon of popularity among your people. Worse yet, some of your magic has been sealed, making it impossible to witch away the inquisition.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An affair of the heart @doriana-gray-games (demo)

Play as your version of Sherlock Holmes in this romance detective game!

Make an enemy of a friend and a lover out of an enemy. Solve the case of boredom. Have a pet bird—and best of all, play as a romantically and emotionally stunted genius detective!

nemisi @elegy-if (demo) The struggle between cosmic deities — now worshiped (or abhorred) as gods — tore its way into your planet not long before you were born. Unlucky for you, you were one of the first generations to be born exposed to Excinate, the name given to the radioactive-like sickness that comes from being exposed to magic not of your world. As you've built up a bit of an immunity to the more dire consequences, you were promptly ripped from your family after a doctor's visit when the Excinate got a bit too close to your childhood home. Since then, you’ve been shipped around and transported from facility to facility to be poked and prodded at.Until now. No, now you’re free.Aside from that lingering hunger for flesh you’ve had since becoming infected, of course. Just a little side effect from the radiation, along with a mouthful of jagged teeth and a jaw that can unhinge like a snake.

Burning Academia @burning-academia-if (Demo) You never thought you'd go to college, due to your circumstances. But you especially didn't dream you'd be forced to attend the prestigious Vales Grove University after being attacked by wraiths in their library. What started as a visit to a long time friend, ended with your hands burned, your innocence questioned, and the startling realization magic is real.To apologize for what's happened to you, or more accurately, to keep an eye on you, the Headmaster himself offers you enrollment with all fees waived. With no real choice in the matter, you become a student, and try to ignore the suspicion everyone throws your way. Besides, you have worse things to deal with.Like how you've started to attract ghosts and other dead things, or the fact that there is a very living thing inside your head, waiting for you to lower your guard and take control. And most pressing of all, managing your obligation to a family that hasn't been such a thing in years.Tread carefully, if the ghosts don't devour you, the university certainly might.

lightweaver: Chosen @lightweaver-chosen-if (DEMO) A world where elemental deities share a fraction of their powers to their chosen, bringing upon the age of weavers; humans with the ability to manipulate the elements of their patron.You have been chosen by a mysterious lightning deity—blessing you with the power to weave lightning. But with a troubled childhood haunting your every step, your new abilities present a double-edged sword.The choices you make, the support you receive, and the inner strength you harness define your journey—a journey fraught with anguish, but one that promises a life outside Mother’s grasp.Two divergent paths lay ahead.Will you let yourself heal and grow, or will you fall deeper into the void?

Talon's End @asheepinthenight (DEMO) You were never destined to marry for love.As the third child of the Earl of Eastthorn, your purpose is to marry to your family's advantage, but after one failed engagement already, your prospects are less than promising. So when the Crown calls upon you to infiltrate the lair of an Elven sorcerer in search of a powerful magical weapon, the offer is too good for your family to refuse.But leaving your respectable home to marry an immortal being of immense power quickly puts you in uncharted territory. Between your secretive, disagreeable spouse and their labyrinthine spire infested with strange creatures, your mission to uncover their secrets is risky from the start. But as you come to know both your partner and your new home at Talon's End, you discover terrors and wonders unlike anything you've known–and the true price of your mission.

Leas: City of the Sun @sailingshellsgames (demo) Enter the city of Leas, where humans dwell in safety behind city walls while strange and powerful Fey roam the wilds. Play as one of a rare few skilled enough to explore the outside world, an agent of Den Zarel.After making a dangerous discovery you are sent on a mission that unfolds into an adventure that will unearth more than expected, and more than you alone can handle.Fortunately, you’ll have help along the way: a lifelong friend hiding a dangerous secret, a mysterious and taciturn rogue, and an eccentric and charming mage unite under your banner to help save your city, and possibly, the world

#OMG #IT FINALLY WORKS!!!!!!!#btw this is like page 6 of a 45 page list #all of these are GOOOD and would recommend #my brian goes 'nom #NOM NOm

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justabigassnerd · 1 year

Text

You're Home

Pairing - Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell x sister!reader

Word count - 3,330

Warnings - inaccurate court scenes, angst, mentions of death, abandonment, fluff

Summary - Maverick ends up fighting his mother for custody of his baby sister after her sudden reappearance

A/N - wow it's been a hot minute hasn't it?? I'm so sorry for the delay I'm fighting for my life out here but I'm almost done with my dissertation which is super exciting! this was an anon request so I hope I did the idea justice and I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to it. as per y'all, please send in requests, feedback and enjoy!!!

When Pete Mitchell turned eighteen, his mum gave birth to a little girl who very quickly became his favourite person in the world. Not even half a year had passed before his dad died, leaving the family in ruins.

Not long after Pete sent in his application to the naval academy along with his best friend, his mum took off, leaving his little sister in his care. He was petrified at having to look after a child but because it was you, he took it in his stride. He got official custody of you and raised you with love and affection and Goose was more than happy to help his best friend along the way.

When you turned four, Maverick and Goose were given spots at Top Gun, and so both men packed up their belongings and moved to San Diego. You were left in the care of Carole who graciously took charge of both you and her son while Maverick and Goose were training at Top Gun.

When it reached the last leg of training at Top Gun, families were permitted to fly out to see their loved ones, so Carole packed a bag with her stuff, yours, and Bradley’s and flew on the first plane out to San Diego to see Maverick and Goose. When you disembarked the plane, you spotted your big brother and immediately barrelled towards him, giggling when he scooped you up in his arms and pressed a kiss on your temple.

“Was the flight okay, kiddo?” Maverick asks with a grin as you cuddle close to your brother, wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face in his shoulder.

“Yeah.” You reply, nodding against his shirt as you speak. It was clear that you were tired from the journey so Maverick exchanged one look with Goose, and both men instantly knew that tomorrow could be the day they go to the beach.

“Alright, y/n/n. Let’s grab something to eat and then we’ll get you settled at my place. I think that sounds like a plan. Do you?” He asks, receiving a nod in response to his question. The group of five make their way to a small diner and get something to eat. Maverick and Goose fill Carole in on what training at Top Gun had been like while you and Bradley were happy to entertain yourself by colouring on the colouring page the waitresses gave you. When you finished your food and Maverick and Goose had split the bill, you all left the diner with you holding your brother’s hand and giggling as he twirled you effortlessly. When Maverick looked up from where you were walking alongside him to check where he was going, he locked eyes with someone he didn’t think he’d ever see again.

“Hey y/n/n, why don’t you hang out with Goose for a minute. I have something I need to do really quick.” Maverick asks, glancing from you to Goose who instantly picked up on his best friend’s tense frame and nervous expression and crouched down to be at your height.

“I think I saw an ice cream place nearby when I was walking around the other day. I think we should get some ice cream, don’t you?” Goose says with a smile. The idea of ice cream has you instantly leaping into Goose’s arms as he scoops you up and sits you on his hip.

“Ice cream!” You cheer, clapping your hands happily.

“I want ice cream too, dad!” Bradley clamours, tugging on his dad’s Hawaiian shirt.

“We’ll get you some ice cream too my sweet boy. Just remember to say please, okay?” Carole says, stroking her son’s hair away from his face before taking his hand in hers to begin the walk to the ice cream shop.

“Bye, Pete!” You wave over Goose’s shoulder to Maverick who waves back, making sure to blow you a quick kiss as well. The moment you were out of his line of sight he turned to face Shannon Mitchell, the woman who abandoned her children.

“Pete, it’s so good to see you.” His mother gushes, instantly reaching out to cup his face but faltering when Maverick takes a step back, keeping the distance between them.

“What do you want?” He questions, grateful his aviators are hiding the daggers he is shooting towards the woman standing in front of him.

“A mother can’t come and see her own kids? Especially when her son got into Top Gun. That’s a big deal, Pete we should be celebrating as a family!” She tries, this time reaching for Maverick’s hand, and he snatches his hand away from her like she’d burn him if she made contact with him before folding his arms across his chest.

“I’ve already celebrated with my family, thanks.” Maverick says, thinking back to the dinner Carole had made to celebrate the pilot and RIO duo gaining a spot in Top Gun and how the five of you had sat around the dinner table eating the delicious meal.

“They’re not a proper family. I’m talking about me, you, and little y/n. Where’d that man take her to? I want to see my little girl.” Shannon argues, making Maverick grit his teeth at her words.

“Goose and Carole have been more than a family to me and y/n than you ever have. So leave us alone.” Maverick spits angrily before turning on his heels and leaving Shannon stunned and silent. As he walked away, Maverick assumed that was the last he’d see of her and that his warning was enough of a deterrent.

However, not even a week later, Maverick opened the door to his quarters as you sat colouring in your colouring book to see a man in a sharp suit on the other side of his door.

“Pete Mitchell? You’ve been served. Your mother wants to regain custody over your sister, y/n Mitchell.” The man said, holding out an envelope towards Maverick who takes it hesitantly, holding the envelope loosely in his hand as the man explains a few more things before bidding Maverick goodbye. Maverick closes the front door and rips the envelope open, eyes skimming the piece of paper in hand before he lets out a sigh.

“Pete?” Your small voice shakes Maverick out of his thoughts as he moves the paper from his eye line to see you standing in front of him with a worried expression as you clutched your soft toy in your hand. Maverick quickly folded the paper up and put it on the counter behind him so you wouldn’t see it.

“What’s that?” You question innocently, pointing at where Maverick had just put the piece of paper.

“It’s just grown-up stuff, squirt. Really boring if you ask me.” Maverick replies as he crouches down to be at your height, plastering a fake smile on his face for your sake. Instead of responding vocally, you wrap your arms around Maverick’s neck and nuzzle close to him as he reciprocates the hug, straightening up to stand at his full height before he carried you back to the sofa so you could have the cuddles you clearly wanted from your big brother.

When it came time for the court date, Maverick had recruited Goose and Carole to help him maintain custody. His lawyer had told him that he was probably in for a tough case because even though Shannon had left you in Maverick’s care, she was still your birth mother and while Maverick technically had custody, Shannon could make a strong sympathy case.

Maverick’s knee was bouncing anxiously as everyone filed into the courtroom for the trial. You were sat with Carole and Goose who reassured you that you’d be able to see Maverick again soon, you just needed to get through the boring stuff first. When the judge began the proceedings, Maverick could only hope and pray that the judge and the jury would see that you were better with him. Goose and Carole took the stand one at a time, both of them saying that Maverick was the best guardian for you. They explained that while they had been a support system for Maverick, he had been doing a great job raising you on his own and you were happy and loved.

Shannon took to the stand and tore Maverick’s whole case apart in mere seconds.

“He travels all the time for work. He could be killed and then there’d be no one to look after my sweet girl.” Shannon says, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue as she speaks. At her words, the jury exchange a look and Maverick feels his chances of keeping you slipping away. After listening to all the testimonies and reviewing the evidence, the judge calls a recess so they, along with the jury can come up with a verdict. Maverick looked over his shoulder to see you sat on Goose’s lap, waving at your brother once you made eye contact with him. Maverick waved back at you with a soft smile, hoping that when the judge walked back in, he’d get the verdict he wanted.

When the judge and jury return, Maverick watches them carefully. He watches as they take their seats, and the judge clears his throat before surveying the gathered people.

“After carefully reviewing the details of this case we have come to a conclusion. We have determined that y/n Mitchell would be much better suited to live with her mother Shannon Mitchell. Bailiff, if you could please bring y/n forward.” The judge says, and Maverick feels his world fall apart around him. He looked over his shoulder and locked eyes with Goose who was wearing a horrified expression as the bailiff took you away from him. Carole’s eyes had filled to the brim with tears as she watched you get handed over to your mother, who grabbed you by the wrist and gently guided you to follow her as the judge dismissed everyone after stating that Shannon would be permitted to pick up your stuff from Maverick’s the next day.

“I wanna go with Pete.” You whine, tugging against your mother's hold and glancing over at Maverick who could do nothing more than watch with teary eyes as you were dragged away from him as you cried and shouted for your big brother to come and save you from her. The second the doors closed behind you and Shannon, Goose and Carole came rushing over to Maverick, neither one daring to ask if he was okay.

“Hey Mav, let’s head back to ours. You can spend a few nights there.” Goose says softly, wrapping an arm around his best friend’s shoulders and escorting him out to Goose’s Bronco. When Goose got in the driver’s seat, Carole took over taking care of Maverick, sitting in the backseat with him, holding his hand gently and watching him carefully to see if he’d crumble. Maverick remained deadly silent the whole way back to Goose’s quarters, not responding to anything Goose or Carole said to him. When the three arrived at Goose’s quarters, Goose paid the babysitter as he entered the house while Carole guided Maverick into the living room, easing him down on the sofa and making sure he was comfortable.

“I’m going to get you some tea, okay, sweetie?” Carole says gently, before heading into the kitchen to make some tea for Maverick. As she leaves, Goose enters with Bradley hot on his heels.

“Uncle Mav!” Bradley shouts happily, scrambling to sit on Maverick’s lap, dodging Goose trying to stop him from doing so. Bradley settles himself on Maverick’s lap, curling into him as he looks up at his godfather with all the love and adoration in the world.

“Hey, kiddo.” Maverick forces himself to say, trying not to let his voice break.

“Where’s y/n?” Bradley enquires, looking from Maverick to Goose who exchange a nervous look with each other.

“Hey buddy, we’ll see y/n soon. She’s just gone away for a little bit.” Goose lies, kneeling down by the sofa to look Bradley in the eye. He felt awful for lying to his son about how long you’d be gone, but he didn’t want to break Bradley’s heart, not yet. Bradley’s face shifted as he thought about what he could do.

“Could I make her a card?” He asks, making Goose smile softly before he looked up at Maverick.

“I’m sure she’d love that, Bradley.” Maverick said, finding his voice and ruffling Bradley’s hair lightly. Maverick’s words had Bradley instantly scrambling off Maverick’s lap so he could dart off in search of paper and pens so he could make you a card. As Bradley left, Carole re-emerged from the kitchen with a tray with three mugs of hot tea. She places the tray down on the coffee table and hands a mug to Maverick who offers a weak smile in response before taking a sip of the warm drink. Carole and Goose move to sit alongside Maverick as Bradley came barrelling into the room with paper and pens in his arms before he dropped everything on the coffee table, being mindful of the mugs of tea. He asks Carole to fold the paper into a card, waiting patiently for her to do so before he begins to draw on the front cover, humming happily to himself as he doodles. When he’s finished drawing on the front of the card, he turns around to the adults.

“Daddy, can you help me write in the card?” Bradley asks, holding a pen out to Goose who nods lightly before easing himself to sit on the floor alongside Bradley.

“Alright buddy, what do we want to write?” Goose asks, guiding Bradley as he writes in the card, helping him spell certain words and helping him sign his name at the end.

Maverick makes it through the rest of the afternoon without breaking down. He struggled with keeping himself upbeat enough for Bradley’s sake, but he held it together somehow. However, once Bradley was in bed, Maverick broke down. Goose and Carole came downstairs to find Maverick sobbing with his head in his hands. The couple immediately trapped Maverick in a hug, both of them exchanging sad looks with each other as they comfort Maverick.

“I can’t believe I lost her.” Maverick manages to say through his sobs, lifting his head to reveal his bloodshot eyes as he glances at his best friend.

“Maybe if we talk to your mum, she’ll let you visit sometime.” Goose says softly as Carole rubs Maverick’s shoulder comfortingly. Maverick wanted to believe Goose’s words, but he knew that after the battle they had in court would lead his mother to not want Maverick within a hundred-mile radius of you. Goose and Carole continue to comfort Maverick until his tears slow. Carole then excuses herself to grab Maverick some water while Goose picks up the mugs and carries them into the kitchen behind his wife. Carole fills up a glass while Goose places the mugs in the dishwasher. When the two make their way back into the living room, they find Maverick curled up on the sofa, fast asleep. Exhaustion had clearly taken hold of him after the day he had. Carole placed the glass down on the coffee table while Goose grabbed a blanket and draped it carefully over Maverick. They then whispered a goodnight to him and made their way upstairs.

“I’m worried about him. This is going to mess with him even when he’s up in the air. He can’t fly while he’s like this.” Goose confesses to Carole as the couple climbs into their bed, wrapping his arms around his wife and tugging her close to his chest.

“I’m worried too. Maybe you could speak to your instructor? I know the trophy is important to you two, but I’d like my boys to make it home safe.” Carole agrees, making Goose’s heart soften for a moment. She’d known Maverick for as long as she knew him and for her to consider both of them ‘her boys’ showed how big her love was for not only him but his best friend as well.

“We need to be his support system. He needs us now more than ever.” Goose says as his hand finds its way into Carole’s hair, running through it absentmindedly.

“We will be. Let’s get some sleep. Mav will need us tomorrow.” Carole says as her eyes slip shut and Goose follows suit, sleep claiming the couple.

The next day, Maverick returns to his quarters, waiting anxiously with Goose and Carole for Shannon’s arrival after he showered and changed before they packed up your belongings. It took a mere twenty minutes for her to arrive after they started packing and they were soon loading your belongings into Shannon’s car.

“Is there any way I could visit sometime?” Maverick asks awkwardly, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets as he talks, glancing over at Shannon.

“I don’t think so. You stole my daughter from me and then you gave me hell in that courtroom.” Shannon fires back, making Maverick shrink from her glare and harsh words. Goose watched the exchange from afar, eyebrows furrowing at seeing Maverick shy away from someone.

“Well, then could you at least give her this card? It’s from Goose’s kid, Bradley. I thought y/n would appreciate a letter from her friend.” Maverick then says, extracting the card from his pocket and holding it out towards his mother who rolls her eyes but takes it anyway, barely promising to give it to you.

Maverick watched Shannon drive away with all your belongings in her car with teary eyes as Goose and Carole comforted him once more. He couldn’t believe that she had denied him any form of visitation. He had only lived one day without you since you were born, and it was already the worst day of his life, and he didn’t know how he could keep going without you.

However, a couple of days later, Maverick received a knock on the door to his quarters. He didn’t want to answer the door, Goose would’ve called through to him if it was him but when the knocking refused to cease, Maverick dragged himself off the sofa and tugged the door open.

“Pete!” You hugged your brothers’ legs as he stared at you in shock before looking up at the smartly dressed woman who offered him a kind smile.

“After what happened in the court, the judge and jury felt they made an incorrect choice in their verdict-”

“You’re telling me.” Maverick interjected, leaning down to scoop you up so he could hug you close.

“As I was saying. The judge and jury reconvened the next day to discuss overturning their verdict. They realised that their verdict was made in error and that while Shannon was y/n’s mother, the two had no relationship and she evidently felt much safer with you than she did with her mother.” The woman explains. Maverick was barely paying her any attention; he was too focused on the fact that you were back with him.

“Well, here’s her belongings. We’ll be in contact shortly to get you custody again.” The woman continues, handing Maverick a suitcase.

“Thank you.” Maverick says sincerely to the woman, nodding lightly before he dragged the suitcase inside and closed the door behind him. The second the door closed he hugged you tight, peppering kisses all over your face as you giggled, pushing his face away.

“Yucky kisses!” You giggle, wiping at your face as Maverick chuckles lightly.

“I’m just so happy you’re home.” Maverick says, carrying you over to the sofa and flopping onto it, keeping you lying on his chest so he can feel your weight so his brain knew you were home.

“Stay with you?” You ask, innocent eyes looking up at Maverick who nods confidently.

“You’re home kiddo. I’m not going to let anyone take you away from me again.”

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bibibbon · 29 days

Note

I honestly hate that Dabi’s abuse has to be debated. Like, it’s pretty clear as day that he was neglected by Enji.

The sheer fact that Touya was literally harming himself to be even noticed by his father should’ve been a massive red flag!

“Oh but Enji did the best he could-“ No, he didn’t? Enji could’ve at least put Touya through some mental health care or you know, STOP LIVING THROUGH HIS FUCKING KIDS!

Also, another thing that grosses me out about the MHA fandom is how people “joke” about how Rei only stayed was because Endeavor had a big sholng and that’s just pretty disgusting in of itself

Hi @palesweetscherryblossom 👋

Absolutely I hate the fact that what the todoroki family all went through has to be debated if it's abuse or not. I have seen people say that shoto was never abused and that enji done nothing wrong by training shoto to the point he puked his guts out at the age of 5 or that enji wasn't in the wrong for purposefully neglecting touya and inserting very harmful ideologies in his head. No enji may have not of abused touya physically but he definitely did abuse touya by neglecting him (neglect is a form of abuse!!!!)

It's still surprising that people can't pick up on the fact that enji very much did neglect touya and shoved the hero ideology down touya's throat (Iam aware that touya's backstory came from enjis pov probably to make enji look better but even with that there are clear signs of neglect)

Chapter 301 to 302 literally had touya say multiple times that it was enji who "lit this fire beneath him to beat all might and become a great hero". The blame is on enji and should be put on him for trying to use a child to live his own foolish dream while also filling the child's mind with harmful ideologies and ideas (I know full well that the whole girl comment that touya made towards fuyumi was directly influenced from enjis thinking and what enji probably told touya when he would ask whenever fuyumi wouldn't train with them)

The thing that some people can't seem to fully grasp is that touya was approximately 7 when all of his training stopped and he was abandoned by enji. Touya had a good 3 years spent being around enji almost 24/7 learning from him and being built to be this powerful masterpiece that is his father's favourite and all of that got taken from him because his body couldn't handle it. Now for a child at that age it would be difficult to understand why his father doesn't talk or love him anymore because I bet full well that touya probably connected enji training him = father son bonding time and as a sign that enji loves and cares for him the most. This is the reason why touya continues to train and harm himself so he can get enji's attention. In the end it was more about enji's love and attention than it was about becoming a hero. For touya becoming a hero was the key to his father's love and attention and that key was robbed from him because his body wasn't compatible with his quirk.

You have Rei literally calling out enji's neglect and behaviour saying that touya is only doing this because he wants his father's attention but enji replies saying that the only attention he can give is showing the path of a hero which is something that touya cant do. This literally goes to prove touya's own thinking as right. The only way touya can get his father's attention and love is by being the best machine to let his father's dream live through him. Touya needed to be the perfect puppet so his father could love him.

Then there's the fact that touya was Ultimately around 8 or so when he found out about the himura family and their secrets and why his mother is having children. All of that is too complex for a child and honestly traumatising to learn about but touya knew it from an incredibly young age. @thr0wnawayy 's post goes into more detail about touya learning what Rei had to go through and his whole family situation.

Enji should of helped touya understand it's not his fault, he should of loved his children equally and should of definitely given him therapy (the guy is rich there's no excuse for him not to take his child to a therapist)

Oh and don't even get me started on the fandoms messed up jokes when it comes to enji and Rei. It's like they don't even read the manga and realise that Rei didn't have a choice in any of this. She didn't stay because she liked it or because she wanted to, the poor women didn't have a choice at all.

#mha #mha critical #bnha critical #bnha #horikoshi critical #bhna critical #thanks for the ask #thanks for the ask!#anti enji #anti endeavour #anti enji todoroki #anti endeavor #they can never make me like you enji #tw abuse

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sugurusombereyes · 5 months

Text

you had to kill me but it killed you just the same ; eren yeager

synopsis: spending your pre-teens with eren meant that you would have to somewhat abandon the home that meant it’s meaning, he comes to visit you after you fled without a word of goodbye.

you can aim for my heart go for blood, but you would still miss me in your bones.

word count: 4405

contents: eren yeager/reader, implications of sh, implications of depression, some crying, gonna make you want to rip your heart out, mutual pining kinda, reader is kind of a bitch at first, somber ending??

a/n: first fic so please be kind (nobody is going to see this) 🥰🥰 - hopefully no errors bcs it’s 4am rn and icba to read over it <33

november 10th 2002

"do you really believe in that?"

"believe in what?," the boy asks confused as mikasa huffs for the fifth time in counting during this conversation, "the whole deep down thing that you just spent five minutes talking about, keep up yeager."

eren nods in realisation, "yeah i mean i don't think it really exists y'know? you are just what you put out for others to see, i mean why would you project yourself as someone else in front of someone else. if that makes any sense." he mutters the last bit a little quieter than before, "maybe some people just can't be bothered to be fun all the time, you think too much into things eren."

the boy shrugs in return, like he did for everything everyone had disagreed with him on. "okay guys i'll meet you later on, armins over there!," the brunette smiled as she waved the two of you off, both of you murmuring a small 'bye' as she jogs towards the blonde.

it was the day before your birthday, usually you would prepare for a party. buying the decorations months in advanced and telling everyone about how you changed your mind on your cake for the fifth time while they all sigh in return, but you still keep your smile because it's your birthday, one of the best days because it was all about you.

as usual you had training with your best friends, the people that practically saved you from yourself multiple times without knowledge. what more could you ask for?

but this year was different.

your birthday now meant something else, something that made your stomach turn and heart tug whenever someone would even mention your existence.

the anniversary of your mothers death was always hard, but especially hard around your birthday. this was the third one without her but it still made your soul leak with blood, slowly and excruciatingly dripping down as it begins to swallow you whole and spit you out after the wave of grief was somewhat less exhausting than it was initially.

it was harder this time year round because it was another reminder that you were alive and breathing while she was somewhere buried under the ground you were forced to walk on while the creator of your limbs no longer had any attachments to her creation.

the somber silence between you and eren grew cold and warped into the same silence that filled your ears once you heard the news from the same mouth that whispered sweet nothings into your ears when you had accidentally spilled the contents of your brain on him, attempting to wipe it away with your sleeve but continued to spread the mess around you both as the remainder leaked out of your eyes.

"are you going to be doing anything tomorrow?"

he broke the silence, his words immediately turning sour, regretting it as he uttered the wrong words that were always going to be wrong no matter what time they were uttered. eren knew that you were hurting, i mean how could he not?

he noticed the things the others didn't, the way you would immediately tense up whenever someone would ask you something about yourself. it could be the most simplest thing and you would hesitate before answering, almost as if you didn't know who you were, that you were simply a host in a brain that you couldn't find your away around no matter how many times the layout would be explained, yelled at to you and you still wouldn't understand why you felt the way you did.

he noticed the way you would scrunch your eyes closed when you would find something exceptionally funny, your smile radiating love and joy onto the next person and basically forcing them to join in on the shared happiness you faced in the moment. he noticed everything you wanted to say you swallowed, opening your mouth and left with silence as you were talked over or shot a look which would make you divert your gaze to something other than him.

"it made sense," you scratched your head, glancing up at him once and looking back down as you met his eyes full of the stars that you both peered out of your window to look at ever night, not together but was a silent agreement to do whenever one of you felt like you needed to forget who you were.

"before, what you-."

"mhm," he hummed softly in response, cutting you off from re clarifying what you meant. because he knew what you meant, he always did.

the elders would've been pissed if you were late again to another meeting, he sped up walking towards the building as you kept your slow steps, sighing softly as the breeze kissed upon your skin.

"c'mon, let's go. i know you wouldn't want to be late, i mean they wouldn't anyways." eren grabbed your hand, coming off more eager than he intended. but he was quick to make up for it by the soothing swipes back and forth over your bruised knuckles that didn't always mean defending yourself, rather saving yourself from the possibility's of hurt you could inflict upon the protection of your temple that sometimes you wanted to claw off.

you always felt a different type of peace with eren, acceptance almost. i mean you'd been craving it ever since you decided that you could never be destroyed by anything but yourself, over and over again until the desire to not be wounded repeatedly would stop. you felt at home because with him you didn't have to think about yourself and it would hurt less.

he would make you hurt less.

november 10th 2012

"you're fucking joking me," you hiss, burning yourself for the third time this week. cooking was never your forte but you felt like you needed to make somewhat of an effort instead of ordering take out for the third time this week.

i mean you wouldn't order the take out, the poor old woman down the street that was completely oblivious of the real world and it's corruption would order it for you and give you the same sweet smile and offer to come by her house so she can make you an actual meal.

you would always decline politely, pre making a good excuse so she wouldn't feel like you didn't wanted to be around her. you would tell her that you have training once again, you have to get in the extra work due to an injury you faced a few years back. you tell her that you would love to stay but you can't burden your eldian blood, you had come too far to betray yourself for nothing.

she'd then give you that same sweet smile, the smile lines cemented into her skin telling you a story of how she watched her kids get eaten by titans in front of her while she carried the burden of existing. she kept on smiling no matter what, making their favourite dishes, eating them alone and gazing into the empty seats which were once filled by the love that made her home an actual home.

you couldn't break it to the woman that the life you had fed her was completely rotten and was going to poison you both eventually as time went by. you couldn't break it to her that you didn't actually have a boyfriend who was out fighting the remainder titans left and that he hand wrote you letters every week about how much he missed you.

you couldn't find the words to tell her that you were hiding out in this small town in the middle of nowhere because you were most wanted everywhere else, that you had in fact betrayed your eldian blood and went against everything that stood for it because you live with the burden of being yourself.

you couldn't tell her that you weren't living in the colours you painted out for her but were so afraid of losing something, you refused to love anything.

"okay fuck this," you turn off the stove, wiping your hands on your apron and throwing it across the room in frustration. "one more order can't hurt." you murmur, grabbing your flip phone and heading towards the front door.

you let out a sigh before swinging open the door, a softer one this time compared to the one you let out when you realised that you had to create another excuse for the old woman.

"i would say i like what you've done with the place but it just doesn't seem like you."

the plain expression on his face doesn't tell you anything more than you would usually expect it to, he knew that obviously. he knew you.

the sun kissed upon his features perfectly you thought, his green eyes glistening an unsettling sense of normalcy back into your boring brown ones.

his hair was grown out; half of it tied into a bun and the rest flowing down his shoulders, making your brain shift to the times when you would run your fingers through them as he let out the same soft sigh you did before you opened the door.

"well then maybe you don't know me as well as you thought yeager."

yeager

(his heart ached for a split second, the nostalgia of your first interaction turning in his stomach.)

he blinks twice and nods softly, "maybe," he utters so carefully, looking anywhere but the eyes that moulded the way his heart was shaped.

there was something different about him and for once you couldn't pin point what it exactly was. you spend a minute observing him, the faint smile lines that reminded you of the time you both laughed till your eyes were red from crying.

he knew what you were doing and observed back, the faint scar that laid upon your right cheekbone that was more defined than the last time he saw you, the shadow of it spilling out the grey novembers you spent alone.

"i'm not inviting you in," you step to the side, letting a small portion of the cold house spill out upon his vision. "i know you wouldn't." you swear the corners of his lips turned up for a second, letting a bit of warmth into your living situation.

(you couldn't call it a home because you were without the thing that stopped your heart from permanently longing)

eren walks in slowly, turning his head to the burnt smell that wafted throughout your house, mentally smiling at your failure at cooking.

i mean he wasn't surprised, why would he be? he couldn't help but let his mind drift off to the times you both talked about your future, and how you were adamant on not living together because apparently he'll get sick of you.

(he could never imagine a universe where he wouldn't want to be by your side)

but then you'd change your mind and remember how responsible he was, and then he'd remind you that you couldn't eat take out everyday after the world faced peace. then you'd decide that you both would live together so he would cook for you and not result in you dying from an extremely high cholesterol level.

(you'd then ask him to spell cholesterol and he'd quickly change the subject)

"you have anything to drink?," he took his hands out of his pockets and darted his eyes to your sink, "not really." you murmur, clearing your throat to make him look back at you, just for you to glance somewhere else.

you were afraid that if eren looked too long he would notice the brush strokes that were smudged over and over to make who you were, that the longer he looked he would realise that you weren't painted as carefully and softly as the others were.

(he didn't care for softness, only for you)

he hummed in response, walking towards the rusty sink and pouring himself a glass of water. "m'kind of hungry, you?," he cleared his throat, setting the glass down and facing you from across the room.

"nah- but make yourself at home," you raise a hand towards the burnt mess on the stray pan. you found yourself playing along and liking the narrative he wrote out for you as soon as his warmth leaked into your home.

"perfect," he chirps in response, he was turned around but you could still hear the small smile in his words.

sending a pang to your heart.

a tender moment passes, eren looks around the kitchen leading into the living room, finding his eyes softening at the sage coloured curtains.

the only part of your home that felt like you.

everything else was bland, beige and black. rusted or a little scratched up, i mean he knew you weren't going to stay here forever but he assumed the interior would be a bit more put together.

"you can't stay," you almost declare to him, knowing it was the obvious but saying it to make it clear.

he couldn't stay because you weren't allowing him.

(not like that ever stopped him before)

"busy?"

he turned his head, swiftly turning on his heel and walking slowly towards you. eren knows you aren't busy, but he's just asking to create conversation. he doesn't know why, but then again nothing didn't need to mean something.

you had to bite back a laugh at the comment he made, it was almost comedic that eren had showed up. you were most wanted everywhere except this small town that was full of abandoned houses, something out of a horror movie he thought as he arrived there. but it didn't matter, after all you had moved there for a reason, the same reason that he longed to find out even though he knew somewhat of the answer.

"yeah, something like that."

you start to walk to the counter top, standing behind it as a shield or something. but you didn't need a shield, you never did, if anything you felt like the whole world needed one against you. like the worse possible thing in the world was to know you, for someone to let you in their life.

but eren thought the complete opposite, he had reminded you that knowing you was one of the greatest blessings anyone could earn.

(he'd told you when he thought you were sleeping, you weren't.)

eren had tagged along behind you, the creaking of the stool he sat on interrupting the soft silence that settled every time you both avoided eye contact.

the last years you had been gone were the hardest on him, well not harder than losing his mother or having to tell you that his father was the reason for you to lose yours. he'd found himself coming out of his room and looking at the stars every night to soothe him from the loss he'd experienced; soothed from the idea that maybe you were looking at them at the same time as him, that you hadn't left him because you'd lost sense in his words.

you had to kill him but it killed you just the same, the day you left wasn't easy for you either. everyone had made assumptions that all of a sudden you were a monster, a villain from the famous story's that erens father would tell you to scare you both into training.

the day you left you didn't feel the same amount of relief that washed over you when you had come to the conclusion that the elimination of your existence wouldn't matter to anyone, but it had covered your wet skin in dirt and mud.

the debris coating your skin like erens warmth once did when you were covered in snow during winter.

but it wasn't winter when you left, it was summer and you were left with burns from this external heat which you never asked for, you never needed to ask for his warmth because it would always come at the times you didn't know you needed it.

"eren-."

"i didn't ever think of you as someone who enjoyed small towns," he cut you off so carefully, you see eren knew what he was doing and you knew it too. it reminded you of the time when you found him crying, hot tears flowing down his cheeks as he tried to catch the breath he had been chasing ever since he experienced loss for the first time.

you sat beside him and handed him a pack of tissues you stole from armin.

he had a cold but you didn't really care.

you asked him what has happened and he immediately changed the subject, talking about how black absorbs heat so you shouldn't be wearing it out on such a nice day.

you'd then scoff at the comment, if it were such a nice day then why was he upset? eren would then talk about the colours you should wear instead because black would make you tired, not knowing that darkness was all you ever knew and you didn't really give a fuck about what colour to wear on a hot day because you had been absorbing everyone's exhaustion whenever they'd felt like acknowledging you.

but you would never play along like everybody else, you would gnaw at him for the root reason why he was changing the subject until you got the answer. no matter how much blood would be splattered around you both, mixed with tears and venom he spat out while dodging your question, burning your skin that was once burnt but not in the same way he hurt you.

"why are you here yeager?," you spat out, coming off more poisonous than you expected. venom spewing onto his clothes and burning small holes into it and branding his skin with your words.

(only the thing was that he didn't mind, if anything it was you so who was he to complain?)

he huffed and darted his eyes to your knuckles, "this doesn't suit you," he was looking into your eyes now, his gaze flickering back to the scar.

"and when have i ever cared about what suits me or not?"

he lets out a small laugh, looking down at his shoes. eren wasn't a fool, he knew that this had to come to an end and that your facade would also.

another moment passed, but it didn't have the same tenderness it had before you started talking. you didn't want to understand why eren was still in your kitchen, why he drank your tap water without letting it run to cold, why he attempted to make conversation with you and why he was smiling.

you didn't understand why you had to be the one hunted down, you knew it was your fault but why didn't anyone want to understand your actions and what drove you to insanity?

you'd ask these questions to the night sky, hoping one of the stars would talk back and explain that they see how you sob over what you destroy and how you begged the empty sky for everything stop but then pick up the dagger and dig your future back into your skin, while begging your hand to put it down.

you wanted the stars to tell you that they won't keep on inventing you and accusing but stop and take the dagger from your trembling hands, holding them in their warm grip while you wouldn't have to beg for your brain to stop.

"y'know it rained on the day you left."

he uttered so casually, looking at you as you dodged his eyes again. "not for long," you said a little quieter than you needed to.

"yeah, it stopped at night," eren murmured, he got up from the stool and rubbed invisible dust off of his trousers.

"the stars looked beautiful that night."

"i didn't see them that night," he breathed, a little twinge of annoyance in it, sending a hot flush surging through your veins. your expression wavers at the slightest as well as his hard gaze upon a face that he's slowly starting to not recognise.

he lied.

the night you left eren sat in the rain and gazed at the stars, but you already knew that. it didn't rain that night, if anything there was a cool breeze, sending a wave of nostalgia over your skin as you couldn't help but let your mind wander to the times you both would lay on the grass upon a safe silence.

eren breathed again but a little louder this time, the corners of his lips turning up into the same smile he plastered on before his eyes started to water and his ears turned red.

"don't ask it."

"but i need to know," erens voice wavered, his eyes pleading you to not swallow everything this time but vomit it up upon the kitchen counter. spilling onto the floor and onto him as well if it were more than you intended to get rid of. he would clean it up with a perfectly clean rag, well not perfect i mean it had broken threads but nothing compared to the putrid smell of all of the burning rage left inside you.

you shake your head no at his words, at the break of his voice that immediately sent pangs to your heart, wrapping around your heart and squeezing it till it nearly exploded.

"so what, you want me to forget all of this? forget you and move on, you know me-."

"i knew you."

you cut him off immediately, your voice overpowering him as he stood up, scoffing at your words. "don't do that."

"don't pretend like you don't know me, like we didn't spend birthdays together and fucking- watched the stars with me whenever i felt like the world was going to end." he threw his hands at his sides, unclenching the fists that he didn't know were drawing blood as you gave him nothing but silence.

"well it didn't- the world is perfectly fine and-."

"oh and you are?" he cut you off again, his sharp tone slashing back into the scars which you both had riddled from your preteens. "you're perfectly fine?" eren almost mocked you in his tone, his eyebrows expressing more than you could once questioned on your stability.

you spoon fed him with nothing but your silence, it speaking a whole lot more than your fake excuse of re clarifying what he just said. you couldn't afford to choke up anymore chunks of hurt around you both so you kept quiet, the best thing you were good at.

"i wish you knew me when my hair was long."

you cleared your throat once again, wiping your hands on your trousers and brushing your short length hair from your shoulders.

"i look for your laugh whenever i find something funny."

"i was kind, and didn't care about a single thing. i would be running around and jumping with joy- for like no reason." you breathe out, smiling at the thought.

you hadn't smiled like that for a long time.

"the knowing of your existence would've been enough for-."

"i wish you would've known me when i kept on failing on the maneuverer gear, the way i would flip upside down and my head bleeding from it, being scraped over and over until i accepted my fate."

you snickered at the old memory, "everyone would then flick the scab and some would even make it bleed- believe it or not," you smile looking up at him, "but you would've stole a plaster from shadis and took the blame immediately."

he stood there with nothing to say, well not exactly nothing but he couldn't find the words upon the waves that crashed over the both you with the things he wished he would've said.

"i wish you knew me when i liked myself a little better then i do now," your voice broke at the word 'little', playing a sad smile upon your lips that he couldn't bare to look at.

you don't find any point in looking away from eren, he stood there without the words that you wanted to hear him say. tears flooded your eyes and down your cheeks, you didn't bother to wipe them away because he was already heading towards you.

"i don't need to know your long hair to know who you are now," he whispered, his voice cracking as you shook your head. his warm hands moulding your cheeks, absorbing your tears and the reopening of the wounds that he helped close.

his thumb swiped your ongoing tears, rivers of longing and nothing but shaking fists as your teeth grind at the thought of you once were; who everyone painted you out to be once again.

your head dropped into his chest, the smell of nostalgia washing over you like the relief that did once you realised that eren was in fact watching you when your head dropped onto the wooden table you ate on. that it wasn't just tiredness but the exhaustion of being reminded that you are still you after all this time; that you didn't magically transform into someone else and still were left with the brain you were cursed with the minute you were born.

"we have to go," his hands found his way to your back, drawing lazy circles to soothe the raw open wound inside of you, "i know." your voice broke again, breathing heavily as he rubbed your back softly.

rustling outside of your house echoed inside, you knew what was coming for you wasn't the life you painted out for the sweet old lady that rambled on about the family she once had.

"they wouldn't want us to be late." his voice broke, tightening his grip on your body.

(you hate physical contact only because you knew that they would have to let go at some point.)

"i think i can make an exception this time." you smiled into his chest, nuzzling your head into him and hoping to never have to lift your head and face your fate.

he hummed in response, hearing the small smile in it as you felt his tears drip onto your shirt, burning through the material and leaving holes of grief of those who aren't really dead branded onto your skin.

now you wish you would've taken the home cooked meal.

#eren yeager #aot #attack on titan #levi ackerman #mikasa ackerman #anime #eren x reader #eren yeager hurt/comfort #eren jeager x reader

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redfurrycat · 9 months

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🤠💔💞🐓Getting Back Together (Part One) Fic Recs🐓💞💔🤠

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Ao3 Authors: Andthentheybow, Aphroditedany, Astronomical_light, Boobooblue, Cedricslove, Charlie_mou, Cloudburst, Cloudsandstarss, Dalearden, DancingDisaster, Davidbyrne, Drh0rrible, Earthangel_44, FabuMazX, Ginnydear, Greenstuff, Haridwar, Indybob, Iridescent, Kidfromspace, LaceyAmethyst, Local_troubled_writer, Lyonet, Megs_m, Miraculousmultifan, Multifandommonster, Notchka88, Percyjacksonfan3, Piper__b, Ravens_Words, Soisserieux, Takingovermidnight, Tearsricochets, Thewonderzebra, Welcome_to_the_Badlands, Writteninwaves, Zaskiaz.

> Getting Back Together (Part Two)

the beginning, and the middle (not the end) by cloudburst {T}

But hell, he wasn’t about to tell his fellow pilots the good news that Hangman had finally settled down – in a manner of speaking – and finally met the one. That last part not being an exaggeration had him turning mid-air, flown through the jetwash, unrecoverable spin. He couldn’t pull the fucking eject.

If I Go on With You (By My Side) by piper__b {T}

Did Hangman want to continue what they had together? If they even did continue, could it be like the early days? Of course, it couldn’t. They weren’t irresponsible adults anymore. They weren’t looking for someone to relieve stress with. Rooster was in love and he hoped Hangman was too. You can’t go back to “meaningless” hookups after you realize you love watching them smile and you spend every minute you can to make them laugh because it fills your chest with warmth. You can’t go back after you realize that simple touches like holding hands, or kisses pressed to the crown of their head, is the highlight of your day sometimes.

I won't let go 'til the end by cedricslove {E}

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Bradley asked in a gentle tone, hands softly rubbing his shoulders. “Nothing,” he said, unwillingly tensing at his own response, knowing it would give him away. Bradley sighed, “Why do you always do this? You shut me out.” Re-telling of Rooster and Hangman's relationship from Hangman's perspective

higher further faster, baby by lyonet {E}

The thing about Bradley Bradshaw – seriously, what kind of sadist gives their kid a name like that – is that he’s good, he’s really good, but he could be better and that just pisses Jake off. What can he say, he’s a judgy kind of guy, he gets it from his mother. Put that together with the dumb moustache, the sad puppy eyes, the way Bradley reacts to every single jab Jake tosses his way, and, well – was he expecting Jake to be capable of leaving him in peace? Probably not.

Men Like Us by DancingDisaster

Men Like Us {M}

Seresin men love with reckless abandon. It’s put every man before him in the ground. Jake refuses to be buried. He flies like he has nothing left to lose (he doesn’t), a one man army (he is), leaving everyone else in the dust (so they don’t leave him). Admiral Kazansky claps him on the shoulder, says he expects great things from him, and Jake’s smile is feral as the rest of his flight school cohort looks on in disbelief. Hangman, they all say, like Jake’s entire personality was a long con, and he ranks first in class. Rooster doesn’t look at all. (They've got history spanning the better part of a decade and they are absolutely, positively not over it.)

Bowerbirds And Other Mating Displays {T}

“Why does Seresin keep calling you Bowerbird, Bradshaw?” Mickey asks a few days later during their break between training hops. Natasha laughs so hard coffee almost comes out of her nose. Or— It starts, as many poor decisions do, with a trip to Target.

Golden by Welcome_to_the_Badlands {T}

The only thing running through Jake's head was what if. What if he hadn’t reached them in time? What if they had fallen in the ocean, only miles from where Jake had been waiting in his plane on standby? What if Rooster had died not knowing that Jake still loved him so much Jake could barely breathe?

this is why we can't have nice things (darling) by kidfromspace {T}

The events of Top Gun: Maverick except Hangman and Rooster are bitter exes. And then more.

You Broke My Will, But What a Thrill by soisserieux {_}

Bradley shrugs. “No one there knows about us yet. We didn’t really get together until after we graduated, and I don’t know about you, but I haven’t really mentioned to anyone that I’m dating the Jake Seresin.” “Are you trying to decide how to tell them?” Jake asks. Bradley settles back into his chair. “Actually, I was considering what would happen if we didn’t.” “If we didn’t tell them?” A mischievous grin appears on Bradley’s face, and holy shit, that’s another one of Jake’s favorite expressions. “I was thinking about challenging you to a competition.” Jake grins. “I’m listening.”

if someone was going to break me (I’d want it to be you) by tearsricochets {T}

There’s a kiss being placed on his neck, and he sighs when he realizes it was right on one of the multiple marks Bradley had littered him with that evening. “Should I leave?” he asks, while tightening his arms around his waist. (‘Should I leave?’ he asks. Like Jake would ever make him leave. No, that’s Jake’s job.) He doesn’t say that, instead answering: “Ask again in five.” Because he’s weak, and he’s always got to have an escape route planned, a way out of the hole he’s dug for himself once again.

the moon may be high by multifandommonster {T}

The chance to try again, Jake thinks. For all of them— for Bradley and Jake, for him and Natasha, the chance to do it better in the wake of almost losing each other without ever clearing the air. The chance to be better, to want to be better— for Jake to never leave them behind, and for them to stick with him through the mud. His eyes find Bradley’s again and he’s shocked to see the sheen of tears, the strain it must take to hold eye contact despite the vulnerability. He left you, his brain supplies. But he might never do it again.

One More Miracle by FabuMazX {G}

Bradley sees the exact moment that he reads his mind and his smile falls. Jake’s brow furrows slightly and Bradley sees him swallow. It’s not until Payback brushes past his shoulder that Jake blinks, breaking the line between them; then he’s gone, pushing through the crowd towards the door while the others stare and call after him in a confused cluster. So maybe he needs one more miracle. - It takes a suicide mission for Bradley to realise he's not ready to give up on them. Now he just has to convince Jake. That's miracle number one.

Take My Hand and Hold On Forever by Earthangel_44 {E}

It happens again like clockwork. Every new achievement or award that Jake gets pinned to his chest. Every time he went to Afghanistan or flew with the F-151, Jake calls Bradley. Every COMM he receives or shiny new ribbon that is placed on his chest, Jake called Bradley. Or: Jake gets a lot of awards and Bradley rewards him for his good flying.

I Hate The Way I Sleep Better With You by FabuMazX {T}

5 Times Rooster and Hangman help each other through nightmares +1 time they help somebody else.

epic skill displays and their aftercare by boobooblue {T}

So, the plan. The plan consisted of impressing Rooster with his Upgraded Epic Pool Skills™️.

watching, waiting, still anticipating love by iridescent {T}

Bradley’s fingers caress the keys deftly, coaxing a bittersweet melody from the depths of the piano’s body. Then he starts singing, a few lines here and there almost like an afterthought. His voice is low and husky, lends itself naturally to this sort of soppy and overly sentimental love song. He doesn’t seem to notice Jake being there at all. Despite himself, Jake is transfixed. (Or, three distinct episodes in their lives where Bradley plays the piano and Jake listens.)

no need to pray, no need to speak by dalearden {T}

Taking the very last moment he has, Bradley closes in again on Jake but this time it’s so he can rest his forehead against the man who has been his lover and his rival all at once, his heart doing jumping jacks in his chest as he tries to have one more chance to just breathe. Jake matches him, beat for beat, and Bradley has to close his eyes against the tidal wave of overwhelming sorrow that makes him feel, pressing a hand to Jake’s chest as he murmurs a promise he knows he can’t keep but which he feels he has to make all the same because what if, what if…

still got that old time feeling by haridwar {E}

This was where Bradley’s head had been stuck for the entirety of his trip home. Flying in to San Diego from overseas had given him ample opportunity to overthink. Not about his impromptu homecoming though, or the fact that he would be stopping by his childhood home for the first time in well over a decade, or what it would be like to retrace his steps through Top Gun again like the first time around wasn’t difficult enough. No. His mind was stuck inexplicably upon Jake goddamn Seresin, and his goddamn stupid handsome face, and the fact that he still had way too many feelings for a guy who had walked out on him without so much as a backward glance. Or: yet another retelling of TG:M which covers some of the hangster subtext Tom Cruise neglected to include in his movie

maybe the miles can make up for the things you lack (are you ready to start?) by davidbyrne {M}

“Are you sure you want to do that? With me?” There are a million things Rooster could say in response. He could tell him about how the idea of getting a plane, even a commercial one, still makes his blood buzz in the most uncomfortable way, even after all these months. He could tell him about how, when his mom died, she told him to see the world and he hasn’t even been able to see America, except through Navy-mandated stations. He could retract his offer right now, say he’s actually not sure and doesn’t want to spend three months of his life with his ex. He could tell Jake he loves him, still loves him, and beg him to love him back just the same. He says none of that. Instead, he says, “I’d go anywhere with you, Jake. You know that.” Or three months, 48 states, two men, and their emotional baggage

Slow Ride by Earthangel_44 {E}

“Name it, baby.” Bradley’s voice isn’t even recognizable with how low it’s dropped and Jake’s eyes dilate. The flush slowly moves below the collar of his shirt and Bradley’s eyes follow it. “We go by my rules.” Jake says back. His voice lost the authoritative bite and Bradley smirks. “Which are?” Jake swallows thickly and his gaze drags down Bradley’s body. “You have to beg to fuck me.”

Training Montage by drh0rrible {E}

No matter where in the world you found yourself stationed, Navy bars were all the same. It was a comfort really, a nice bit of stability in a life defined by chaos. It starts in a Navy bar, and then another one, and another one. A one night stand, to half a relationship, to exes, to maybe something again. Another history of Rooster and Hangman.

why’d you wait so long (to tell me you need me) by thewonderzebra {E}

“Can you promise me something?” Jake calls into the darkness. Bradley tries to keep his muscles from tensing up at the thought of the broken promises he’s weathered in his lifetime. He slips his hands under the shirt Jake is wearing, palms and fingertips on warm, soft skin acting as a grounding mechanism. “That’s dangerous,” he warns. He knows he would do anything, say anything if it means never losing Jake again. But in their profession, promises are never a guarantee of permanence. Still, Jake seems aware of the danger and is determined to forge ahead, fearless as ever. “Promise me that we’re forever.” OR A retelling of TG:M explaining the background of Jake and Bradley’s relationship, and how it comes to evolve.

wish I knew how to hold you by Ravens_Words {T}

Bradley bullies Jake's flight information out of Javy, and it's much easier than he thought it would be. Probably because he doesn't want his best friend to be alone. "Bradshaw," Javy says before he hangs up, "you- I know he doesn't make it easy, but take care of him, will you?" He hesitates, takes a deep breath, "sure." For the first time, he wonders if he made a mistake, bit off more than he can chew. Jake goes back home, Bradley goes with him. It goes about as well as one can expect.

flames look beautiful (if you forget what they can do) by Ravens_Words {T}

Bradley Bradshaw returns to consciousness with a gasp, hand going to his side, where a searing pain makes itself known. "-ster, hey," Jake snaps, holds his face in both hands and forces him to look his way, "breathe." Bradley does as he's told, as painful as it is, and his vision clears somewhat. Jake's crouched beside him, concern etched on his face, and what happened comes back to him in flashes. The mission going sideways at every possible turn, seeing Jake's plane get shot down in the sky, the less than smooth emergency landing in the woods that followed.

we are tonight, we are forever by thewonderzebra {E}

Jake Seresin is the master of acting aloof, but when it comes down to it, Bradley can read him like an open book, seeing through every wall Jake puts up, through to his vulnerable soul. And right now, the book that is Hangman is all but screaming ‘come and get me’. OR An interlude in the Hard Deck, set during TG:M.

you can't be gone by writteninwaves {G}

It was like they were on a tightrope, carefully tugging on each ends and hoping they won’t fall. No parachutes, no safety nets. Two single pilots. Only thing they had was each other. Together, an unstoppable force. Bradley and Jake, their messes, fights and love, as told through Taylor Swift's 'Haunted'.

all of these games we play (I can't even keep 'em all straight) by tearsricochets {T}

He knows, theoretically, Jake wants some kind of reaction out of him. He’d seen it in the look he’d given Bradley right before accepting the man's invitation, but he also knows that he’s sick of the one having to make all the big emotional moves. He opens his mouth to tell Tasha as much, but stops when he sees a girl at the bar looking at him. She’s a curvy blonde, someone who looks like she was in a sorority in college. Her hair is perfectly curled, and her lips are a dark red color. She’s giving him a very long once-over, and when she meets his eyes again she smiles coyly. (Look, you don’t need to tell him it’s a bad plan, okay? He knows.) (Natasha does not care.) Because she knows the second she follows his eyeline what he’s going to do, and immediately opens her mouth to protest. “Do not do what I think you are about to Bradshaw.” He turns to look at her, the new gaze burning his skin. “Why not? He can play games but I can’t? Please, Tasha, give me a reason not to and I’ll leave it alone. Jesus, tell me what we are doing, at this point that would be just as great.” OR: the one in which they play many games, and then the one time they don’t.

we don’t know how to rhyme (but damn we try) by zaskiaz {T}

Bradley sighs and turns to greet his date, an automatic, if not bland smile plastered on his face. It’s when he makes eye contact with the person that his smile falters and falls as if it was never there to begin with. “You gotta be shitting me,” he breathes, disbelieving, at the same time Hangman hisses, “Oh, fuck no. or, the blind date but they are exes au

miles to go by Notchka88 {M}

Truth be told, Bradley hadn’t been expecting to be team leader. Given Maverick’s continued criticism of his flying and the shit Bradley had said to him—it had startled him to be Maverick’s choice. It had startled Hangman too, judging by the way his jaw had tightened and how he’d looked away, avoiding Bradley’s eyes during the briefing. Bradley should have been ready for Hangman’s reaction after everything that had happened between them, but it had still stung. (AU Canon Divergence where Rooster is Dagger One, Hangman is Dagger Two, and the mission goes as badly as in the movie. When Rooster is shot down, it's Hangman who follows after him.)

gonna let it burn, burn, burn by dalearden {M}

"Bradley still doesn’t really know how it had gone so spectacularly wrong between them but he thinks he might be getting an idea, experiencing now what love seems to mean for Jake Seresin, that it’s basically on the same level as deity worship and it’s all so much, so intense, nearly too much to bear to be on the receiving end of. He can’t begin to what it must be like to feel it if receiving it is like this."

slipped from my fingertips by astronomical_light {M}

“So tell me, Rooster,” Jake says from beside him. Bradley turns and takes him in, the way he’s leaning on his elbow on the bar, chest open towards Bradley as he mindlessly swivels his lower body on the barstool. “Why haven’t you settled yourself down yet?”

Always by greenstuff {E}

Jake meets Bradley for the first time when they're eighteen. This is the story about how they fall in love, break up, and then spend years finding their way back to each other. A modern Persuasion, if you squint a bit.

got to get your lovin' (one more time) by Percyjacksonfan3 {E}

When the first opening for an assignment comes his way he grasps it with both hands. It’s long, it’s far away, and it’s a distraction. It’s that mission that he gets his first and so far only kill, marking him as the only Navy pilot in active duty to have one. A couple of the TOPGUN graduates text him congratulations when they hear. A couple of them don’t. Jake grits his teeth and moves on. It's the backstory breakup fic that I couldn't not write after watching this movie, along with these two figuring themselves out after the events of Maverick to realize they actually did belong together all along. Also Phoenix and Coyote are the best friends two disasters like Rooster and Hangman could ask for, and I love them.

I bet you think about me by miraculousmultifan {T}

Hangman could admit to himself that, although he understood the gesture for what it was, he really didn’t want to attend Bradshaw’s stupid fucking wedding. And he was actually lying about that whole “understanding the gesture” thing. He didn’t understand. It felt more like a “Fuck you!” from Rooster to invite him to the wedding like he didn’t know damn well that Hangman would just be imagining himself beside him. And of course, he didn’t have a plus one because all their other friends were taking their own dates. *** Rooster is getting married, and against his better judgment, Hangman attends the rehearsal dinner with the rest of the Daggers. It goes about how he expected, if maybe a little better?

Left Hanging by takingovermidnight {T}

When Jake Seresin adopts the attitude that later earns him his "Hangman" call sign, Bradley Bradshaw cannot help but feel somewhat responsible.

this love came back to me by miraculousmultifan {M}

"this love is good, this love is bad, this love is alive back from the dead" *** During the mission, Jake and Bradley reminisce on what they had and what they could have had. Until they end up having it after all.

another perfect night to spend wide awake by andthentheybow {T}

After the mission, the team arrives back on land for a week-long leave while the brass decides what to do with them. Two days after they’ve landed, no one has seen Rooster other than Maverick, who’s scarce himself. Hangman and Phoenix decide to do something about it.

'cause you never gave a warning sign by LaceyAmethyst {M}

“Hangman, it’s on fire,” he screamed. “Don’t—” But it was too late. “Throttling up.” “NO!” Bradley screamed, seeing Jake’s right engine blow. His plane started falling, and Bradley couldn’t keep the words in anymore. “JAKE! NO! JAKE!" -- Bradley and Jake broke up in Lemoore, and a year later they’re assigned to the Dagger Squad mission. Bradley thinks he’s got his heart under control, thinks he can handle Jake looking at him like he’s a stranger, like they didn’t mean the world to each-other once. But then a bird strike hits Jake’s plane, and Bradley proceeds to Lose His Fucking Shit.

a dead love's buried beneath the dirt by Ravens_Words {T}

Jake is looking up at the ceiling, trying to find shapes in the mold that litters the walls, when two men walk in. They're wearing masks, and walk towards him with purpose. One of them steps around the chair Jake's in, and the other takes out his phone. He's strapped to the chair with some sort of belt around his chest, his arms are bound to the chair's, and so are his legs, so he can't really move to see what the guy behind him is doing, and against his will, his heart rate skyrockets. A hand darts out from behind, wraps around his neck so tightly he sees stars, and the tip of a knife breaks the skin as it's pressed into his throat. "Admiral Seresin," the man behind the camera says, and Jake's heart sinks right down to his toes, "you have exactly 48 hours to give us back our money, and our shipment, or your son dies."

I never stopped loving you by cloudsandstarss {T}

Jake's been enjoying his vacation, when he gets a call from Bradley.

slow down (you're doing fine) by charlie_mou {M}

"But have you ever thought about what happened after?" Suddenly, Jake felt like the tone alarm was going off and he was stuck in the cockpit with the hydraulics out. "After?" "His dad died before he even turned three. His mom died a week after he turned nine. Have you thought about what happened after?" Or, Seven years after their break up, Jake and Bradley are finally about to admit why it happened. But instead of resolving whatever there is between them, Bradley starts giving Jake heart attacks while in the sky - and Jake has a feeling it's all about more than flying. Going to Maverick for advice might just clear things up for him. (or, I heard 'slow ride' and 'waiting for the right moment' and made it into a backstory for all of Rooster's issues)

As We Go by megs_m {T}

Rebuilding is so much harder than tearing down. He's sure there is something profound about that-but he's too exhausted to care. There’s a maelstrom of conflicting emotions running through him. Elation, guilt, fear, hope, terror, and longing. He feels like he’s seconds from being ripped apart - the different forces are too much for his broken self - he’s already held together with duct tape and hope - he can’t possibly withstand this too.

With His Head Held High by dalearden {T}

Jake was born and raised in Texas and he knows a thing or two about guns. When Hard Deck is raided by a band of thugs and all inside taken hostage, Jake gets his hands on a rifle that Penny keeps under the counter and shows them exactly why they shouldn’t mess up with his Team. And Rooster may or may not get hard by seeing how precise Jake’s aim is.

When The Sky Falls by Welcome_to_the_Badlands {G}

“No one has called me that in a year and a half, and the one time someone did, he almost got a broken nose,” Bradley says, his face still buried in Jake’s chest. Jake sucks in a sharp breath but doesn't say anything. “No one has touched me in about that long either,” Bradley adds after a few seconds.

images of broken light by dalearden {E}

The tears fall freely this time before he can stop them and when Bradley brushes the wetness away for him with the callused pads of his fingers, Jake can feel something in him break. “Come back,” he whispers, a secret plea for Bradley’s ears only. “Whatever happens out there just…please come back.” Bradley’s eyes pool with sorrow, like he already knows what’s going to happen and can’t stop it even if he wanted to but he kisses Jake and breathes a promise they both know can’t be kept into him anyway.

touch you like I do by ginnydear {E}

But now, I have finally seen the end. by Aphroditedany {G}

Sometimes, it's simply love.

if honesty means telling you the truth (I’m still in love with you) by local_troubled_writer {E}

Bradley “I got sent on a suicide mission” Bradshaw and Jake “and I took the ‘suicide’ part personally” Seresin. Aka, the one where they go on the impossible mission, somehow make it out alive and someone confessed some feelings.

riding on waves by writteninwaves {G}

“Maybe in a few years, we’ll be in the same place somehow. If you still want to try then, come find me there. In that somewhere…” Bradley loves the skies and the sea. He loves Jake too but it takes him a while to learn how to love being on the ground for himself, and stop running away. Soft introspective Bradley feels + drives + rain + actual crying that happens in the bronco

We're Better Together by indybob {T}

In the aftermath of the mission, Jake stays the night at Bradley’s to make sure he settles in with the minor injuries he sustained. A nightmare, a late-night conversation, lots of tears, and closure ensue. Or: The mission makes Jake and Bradley realize that they’re still in love and that life is too short to not try again.

from this day to the ending of the world by dalearden {_}

Jake flies the mission instead of Maverick and takes the hit meant for Bradley. The two pilots find themselves stranded in enemy territory battling against the willderness and, in Jake's case, a bullet wound from the guns of a fifth gen fighter. It's the worst possible time for Bradley to realize just how deep his feelings for Jake really run.

I’ve been loving you for quite some time by dalearden {E}

After surviving the impossible, Jake is back where he belongs...being worshipped in Bradley's bed. (A little porny follow-up to my previous story from this day to the ending of the world.)

#Getting Back Together Recs List #hangster #sereshaw #hangaroo #bradley rooster bradshaw x jake hangman seresin #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #🐈red🐈furry🐈cat🐈tag🐈

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crisalidaseason · 2 months

Text

Seventh entry: Assessing danger is not easy.

Protecting means watching out for danger, but danger is not always someone running at you with a knife. Danger can be quiet. You need to know when and where safety is, but even then do not let your guard down

The wood block was harder than he was used to, but nothing absurdly difficult to carve. His pocket knife was sharp enough to precisely perfect the rough shape of the dragon.

“Who are you making this time?”

Violet was leaning on her right arm, her breakfast long forgotten on the table and her pale eyes focused on the irregular wood in his hands. Liam scanned the mess hall once again before looking at her and answering.

“I’m not sure yet, I just know it’s gonna be a dragon”

She smiled softly at his answer.

“Is it a childhood hobby? You’re really skilled”

Liam nodded, eyes back on the figurine once he deemed the place free of possible stabby bastards - not that people would actually try to murder her during breakfast, but better safe than sorry.

“Thanks. And yes, I think I was around 10 or 11. My dad taught me”

He recalled his rough beginning, his fingers were permanently wrapped then since his handling of the knife was pretty bad, but he hadn’t hurt himself in years. Carving was almost second nature at that point, he could do it as quickly as writing. It was a calming activity and helped him cope with stress.

“What did you do for fun?” he asked “aside from menacingly climbing trees and humiliating people in word games?”

She kicked his shin under the table, not strong enough to hurt but firmly enough.

“Languages” she replied “I liked making cyphers”

Liam scoffed. Of fucking course!

“Don’t mock me, Liam!”

“I’m not mocking you, it’s just so fucking you to enjoy making cyphers” he looked at her fully “besides, I also made up a code with Sloane once”

“What was your base?”

“A mix of made up signs, which was really stupid and obvious considering we used it to steal food from the kitchens, sneak away to the beach or test my mother’s patience” he was smiling visibly at that point “yours?”

“I always switched it up, sometimes lucerish, sometimes tyrrish or a mix of them”

Liam gave her look of disbelief.

“You know tyrrish?”

“Trained to be a scribe, remember?” she points to herself “It’s required to know at least two old languages before you even attempt at entering the scribes”

He was about to ask why she had learned tyrrish, but their table shook slightly at Imogen’s weight, soon being followed by Quin and Sawyer. The rest of their squad filled the table a few minutes later, cutting off the chances of Liam continuing their talk. Not that he had something to hide, but he liked the privacy of their conversations.

“Sorrengail” Imogen warned once, looking at Violet’s full abandoned plate.

Their breakfast went as usual and soon they were already waiting for battle brief to start. The class was never particularly important for Liam - considering the heavily filtered information - but he still paid attention enough. Violet, on the other hand, was growing impatient every day the attack on Sumerton was not mentioned or even hinted at. He felt the cold nervous sensation settle on his stomach, it would be just a matter of time until Violet started questioning things too hard and clocked more than she should, not a good thing when Aetos lingered beside her like a lost dog.

Fuck, he sounded like Xaden.

“Of course” Violet mumbled beside him.

Liam half listened as professor Devera began another random recalling of an older attack, most of his focus was on the girl beside him. Her notebook was open but Violet did not dip her quill into the inkpot immediately. Her pale eyes locked on his knowingly - yet another class without a mention of Summerton. He simply nodded discreetly and soon his gaze drifted to his brother a few rows above. Xaden was not looking at them - at her, actually - but if Liam was to watch under the table, he would recognize the slithering shadows.

“First years, questions” Devera said after exposing the content.

Violet remained eerily quiet, as she had been for the last two weeks. She wasn’t highly participative, but Devera seemed to expect, and encouraged, her to speak at least once. Violet’s enhanced quietness was raising the professor’s attention but it was the elder scribe’s eyes glued on Sorrengail that fired Liam’s head alarms.

“Take notes” Liam whispered, leaning slightly in her direction.

Violet looked at him from the corner of her eyes, brows frowning in confusion.

“Markham” he simply said.

She nodded and dipped her quill into the inkpot immediately, scribbling information on the blank notebook. Liam had never felt happier that she understood his request quickly. He wanted her to question things, but he could not let anyone from leadership - specially an old man that seemed to know Sorrengail a little too well - catch on to her behavior.

“Thanks” she whispered to him.

Liam took his wood carving out of his pocket, trying to appear casual and unserious. His pocket knife barely scraped much of the wood while Violet’s quill made quick work of the class topic. He looked at Markham briefly, pleased to see the old man finally breaking his one sided staring contest. Liam sighed. Seemed like battle brief was not such a safe class for Violet after all.

“Great, now I have an old man on my list of Violet Sorrengail’s potential killers”

“And you said you liked it difficult” Deigh commented on his mental distress.

During his hectic day as a bodyguard, flight lessons were usually a blessed moment of rest. He did not have to worry about Violet’s safety since Tairn was a hell of a protector and nobody would be stupid enough to harm her while the war dragon was right there.

“The little woman fell again” Deigh warned.

Well, saying Violet was safe during flight lessons was merely an expression. She did fall from Tairn’s back at least fifteen times during the duration of the class.

“That makes it sixteen” Liam grimaced.

He could see clearly as Violet was caught by her monstrosity of a dragon. The first time he had witnessed her fall Liam almost puked his heart out thinking he was kissing his ass - and Xaden’s - a goodbye on the first day as a bodyguard. Relief was an understatement when he saw Tairn catch her, Liam even asked Deigh to send a ‘thank you’ to the black dragon for that. As the weeks went by he just learned to accept that Violet would fall but Tairn had no intentions of letting her die.

“Seventeen. She lost her hold” Deigh replied.

The lesson ended right on time. As soon as the dragons landed, Liam dismounted and waited for Violet to approach - he would not get anywhere near Tairn. The black dragon’s features were always in a menacing snarl, Liam had memorized it enough and wondered if he could replicate it in wood.

“Ugh” Violet groaned, approaching the rest of their squad alongside him.

“Everything in place?” Rhiannion asked in a low voice, assessing her friend.

Violet nodded and Liam let the breath he was holding go. Flight lessons meant some nasty subluxations and even dislocations for Violet. Their squad was always discreet in helping whenever it happened, there was something disturbing about how people watched Sorrengail like a vulture spotting a wounded animal whenever she showed signs of discomfort.

“Only seventeen today” Violet commented “about 47% less than last week. That got to be a fucking improvement”

Liam sensed the frustration despite the remarkable result, though the visible exhaustion in her face meant the record took all of her strength to achieve. Liam wondered if the problem was not necessarily her balance or grip - Imogen did say Violet was improving a lot - maybe her size and Tairn’s were an incompatible match? He was not sure if bringing the topic up was advisable considering Violet was not thrilled at people commenting on her height.

“It is” Rhiannion assured her “one day at a time, Vi. Let’s all get some rest before practice tonight”

Violet was still upset, he could see it on the line between her brows and the curving of her lips, but remained quiet. Liam bumped her softly as their squad walked out of the flight field, sending her a small encouraging smile. She sighed deeply, but nodded in response to his attempt at comfort.

“I’ll be waiting outside” Liam said while Rhiannion and Violet headed for the women’s bathing chambers to freshen up.

He greeted a few known faces while waiting. The entire feminine part of the quadrant was already used to seeing Liam hang outside the area, aware of his bodyguard duty. He felt embarrassed at first - he did not want to come off as a creep - but soon his presence became usual and he even used this opportunity to flirt with stunning women since he had limited time to pursue people into his bed.

“Mairi” Soleil spotted him as she left the chamber.

She was adjusting her uniform, the three stars glaring at him. He was not so close to her, they had not interacted much even before the rebellion fell, but there was pride brewing on his chest at the sight of the three stars. Seeing all the third year marked ones was almost like a hazy impossible dream finally coming true.

“Telery” he smiled “it’s been a while, huh?”

She nodded, brown eyes scanning his form much like Xaden and Garrick do whenever they spot him. Liam had heard of the older marked kids being constant targets of assassinations during their first year.

“Babysitting driving you mad already?” she joked, leaning next to him on the wall.

“Not really” he shrugged “it’s actually entertaining”

She frowned at his reply and he prepared himself for another round of explaining marked ones that Violet was actually a decent human being and not a mini Lilith Sorrengail. He would not blame them for the first impression, but he sure would defend a friend.

“Whatever” was all Soleil said “just be careful, her back is not the only one prone to stabbing”

He nodded, understanding her concern despite not being necessary. Liam was strong enough to watch over his back and also Violet’s.

“See you around, Mairi”

Violet and Rhiannion came out of the bathing chamber minutes later, thankfully with no murder attempts on their friend.

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#Liam Mairi #Violet sorrengail #Liam's survival guide to being a shadow #fourth wing #the empyrean #fourth wing fanfiction

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tillys-writings · 1 year

Text

Bound to you - Part 2

Neteyam x reader

A/N: Second part posted ! I may take some time between the updates but I will try to post at least once a week! The first part was more of an introduction but here we slowly get to dive into the story. Again, every sort of feedback is appreciated !

TW: Mention of blood and war.

Word Count: 3.2 K

Part one

War. A salty taste lingering in the air. Dark clouds hovering above my head. Looking up, I could no longer make out the beauty of my surroundings. I was bound to feel and see the end. The end of nature, the end of peace, the end of life as I knew it. Beads of sweat were forming on my brow, muscles aching due to the metal I was lying on. Everything was blurry. I tried to recognize my surroundings, to no avail. My ears were ringing. Even though I could feel my eyes widening, my vision remained blurry. Foggy strokes of various shades or orange and grey painting the background, I tried to scream but only a whimper came out, throat burning. I brought my hands in the line of my eyesight, I could distinguish the faint blue shape of my fingers, however as I tried to bring them to my face, I could not feel anything, neither my hands nor my face. Every single part of my body was numb. Tears scattered my face, cheeks and neck completely wet. I started sobbing.

"Y/N !"

"What's happening to her?"

The voices seemed so close but so far away, muffled by the non-existent cotton in my ears. My eyes flew open. A loud gasp escaping my lips. I could make out faint shapes of blue in front of my face.

"Mo'at, what happened?"

I felt soft hands touching my forehead, and then caressing my hair. The air on my face was hot and sticky but my whole body felt cold. I fully gained back consciousness with a light sob.

"Hey hey, baby you're alright." As I heard my mother's soft voice, I started sobbing harder. I didn't know why, but it relieved the pain from my nightmare, the weight on my chest. The feelings were releasing themselves in the form of salty tears falling freely from my eyes.

"You were asleep y/n. We tried to wake you up, but you were not reacting at all. What did you see?" I tried to answer Mo'at but as I started reminiscing the feeling of what happened came back in a rush and the weight on my chest only grew.

"Maybe it's best if we let her rest for a moment." Answered my mother for me.

It's been a few hours now. Cheeks still wet, I was able to regulate my breathing and calm myself down. Not a sound was heard in the pod. The air was thick, and the light noises from outside were concealed by my thoughts.

"I saw the end, mom." I started, feeling my waterline fill with tears once again. My mom turned around from the small space where she was preparing food. "I saw the war, everything was burning, everything hurt." Not a sound. Everything was absorbed by the silence. My mom did not react. She only looked at me with a pained expression, not moving.

"I'm scared" I continued, voice breaking and hands shaking. I curled on my side, bringing my knees to my stomach. I do not know if I spoke more for myself or for my mother. But I know that I cried because of the war, because of the fear of losing people I knew and cared about, because of the destruction of everything around me, even though it was only a dream, or a nightmare more so.

Upon hearing those words, my mother directly abandoned her task at hand to come and wrap her hands around my body, soothing words being whispered in my ear.

"It's only a dream, baby. Don't worry, everything will be alright."

The nightmare was pushed on the back of my mind. It never left but I tried not to think too much of it. I needed to have my head straight today, Jake organised the raid of a maglev train which was one of the most important supply lines for the RDA. I was set to be on the air team as a spotter along with Lo'ak and Neteyam.

" Please be careful y/n"

"Always am, and I'll be with Lo'ak and Neteyam, I'll be alright." I reassured my mother with a slight smile. I gave her a hug and promptly made my way to the meeting point in High Camp. Everyone was energetic, running around, getting ready, sharpening knives and finishing touching up their arrows.

" Y/N! " said a deep voice which made me turn around sharply.

"Here's a commlink for you" continued Jake making his way towards me and handing me the ear and neck piece. "Stay in the air and keep your eyes open, alright?" a stern look on his face, which made me nod promptly.

"I'm probably not the one you should be worried about though" I answered with a slight chuckle and a nod towards his sons. Lo'ak was doing war cries with paint of his face while Neteyam was looking done with his brother's antics. Jake sighed loudly before looking back at me with an exasperated look on his face. He quickly made his way towards his sons after wishing me good luck.

Setting my bow around my torso, I put the commlink around my head and settled the other part on my ear. Bringing my hand to my mouth, two fingers curling under my tongue, I let out a long whistle. Tsi’iu promptly answered my calls and landed in front of me. “Hey you” I cooed, looking at her with a toothy grin. My hand caressing her face, I slowly made Tsaheylu. She was eager to fly, I could feel her envy of us flying together, hovering above the clouds and swaying between the mountains. I jumped on her back and she quickly jumped off, making me let a happy chuckle escape my lips.

I could feel the cool air hitting my face, eyes protected by my ionar. Thighs slightly burning contrasting with the cold wind. Escaping the clouds and flying in the clear sky, I was quickly covered by a dark shadow above me. Eyes looking up, they met Lo’ak’s who was fully smiling with both his lips and his eyes. Neteyam joined us, settling on my right side. He gave me a quick nod and a tight smile. Reaching to his commlink, “Eagle Eye, Ladybug, let’s go, we have to move.” I nodded slightly before dipping with Tsi’iu, following Neteyam. He is actually the one who found my code name. Jake apparently told them that a Ladybug was a small insect from Earth. And that it was supposed to bring luck.

“Maybe, like that, as long as you’ll be with us, we’ll be lucky.”

We were sixteen when we went on our first raid. That’s when Neteyam decided to give me this name.

The raid slowly came to an end, it was a success. We all grinned to each other as we flew in a more or less straight line. Lo’ak suddenly decided to break the silence, screaming to us instead of using the commlink, which was a bad sign. He wanted to do something without Jake knowing. “We have to get down there, bro!” he said addressing his brother. “Jake will skin you, guys.” I reminded them with a light scowl on my face. “Come on now, don’t be such a wuss.” He said with a wink before dipping directly towards the ground. Neteyam was losing patience quickly, lips in a tight line evident on his face. “Lo’ak, come back!” he said, clearly frustrated, letting out a low growl. “You, stay here.” He ordered, quickly turning around and looking at me before following his brother down near the train. I kept circling above them with Tsi’iu, sighing when I saw Lo’ak grab a gun. He really was being a rebellious pain in the ass. That’s when I heard it, head whipping in its direction before one of my hand grabbed at my neck: “A helicopter gunship, get out of there!” I screamed through the commlink, hoping they would have time to get away. Quickly flying up with Tsi’iu, I dodged the relentless fire coming from the helicopter. Someone from the ground luckily taking it out. Coming back to hover on top of where the brothers were minutes ago, my eyes widened in horror as I took in what was happening. My mind turned blank as I dived with no second thoughts towards the smoke and fire. My eyes were stinging due to the smoke coming out of the engines, mixed with detritus flying around.

“Neteyam! Lo’ak!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, breaking Tsaheylu and running around. I started checking the people on the ground, every time my heart rate quickened, and my throat tightened, scared of seeing the face of one of my friends as I turned them around. I felt the adrenaline high in full force through my body.

“Oh Eywa. No, no, no, no. Please no.” I was whispering to myself as I recognized one of the warriors lying on a piece of metal. Burns were scattered around his back. I ran to him, slipping on some oil and slightly burning my feet on the hot metal. Breaking my run with a curse I continued my way over to my friend as fast as possible.

“Neteyam, Teyam! Oh, please Eywa.” I turned him around. Tears of relief made their way down my face as I realised, he was alive. Yellow orbs looked up at me as he gripped my forearm. “Sorry”, he croaked out.

“Y/N, where are you?” I heard in the commlink; Jake was probably on the verge of a cardiac arrest with this whole commotion.

“I am well, I found Neteyam. He is going to be alright.” I tried to reassure him as best as I could.

“Oh, thank Eywa, thank you y/n. Don’t move, I’m coming to get you both.”

Jake took care of bringing back Neteyam, Lo’ak and myself following closely behind.

As we arrived back in High Camp, The Sully family and my mom came to greet us.

“Oh, my Eywa, you’re alright! I heard of what happened, I was so scared.” She kept on rambling, holding my arms tightly to make sure I was in one piece. Hands moving up to my face, giving me a kiss on my forehead before pulling me into a hug, relief flooding around her frame.

At the same time, Neteyam and Lo’ak were getting scolded by Jake. Heads hanging low and their eyes directed towards the ground, they knew better than to confront their father in a time like this. I briefly caught the eyes of Neteyam. He looked scared, tired, in pain and disappointed, probably in both himself and Lo’ak. It was definitely not the time for a scolding right now. Reassuring my mother once more, I told her I’ll meet her later.

I quickly walked to Neteyam’s side, holding his arm the same way my mother did to me. Eyes then focused on the purulent burns on his back. It definitely needed to be taken care of if he did not want it to get infected, scolding or not.

“Jake, he’s hurt.” I looked at him with pleading eyes. Neytiri intervened as well, “Ma Jake, your son is bleeding.” She gave him a pointed look. A silent discussion between them taking place in the span of a few seconds.

“Go in and get patched up.” Jake said, looking tense. We all, except Lo’ak, quickly made our way in their pod.

“Kiri, give him this.” Mo’at said handing a tiny ceramic glass full to the brim with a concoction used to stop the infection taking place inside his body. “I would use yalnabark.” Intervened Kiri, while making her way to her grandmother. “Ah, and who is Tsahik?” answered her grandmother on a light tone. “You are grandmother.” Answered back Kiri, jokingly annoyed.

“Y/N, come here.” She continued as I made my way towards her. “You will apply this to Neteyam’s wounds. Kiri will come with me to help the others.”

You took the paste from her hands as they both made their ways to the rest of the people who were hurt. Tentatively dipping two fingers in the thick preparation, you brought your fingers to a burn near Neteyam’s right shoulder. You felt the remedy stick to your fingers which encouraged you to apply a light pressure next to the wound, trying to get rid of the paste and making it stick to his skin instead. His skin reacted immediately, puss and blood seeping out of the burn. Your upper lip curled a little bit in disgust while your eyes softened hearing Neteyam’s cries.

“Ow, ow, OW!” “Sorry, sorry.” You cut him.

“Mighty warriors…” added Spider with a scoff. It was not the time to laugh. They did not realise the extent of what could have happened. Children.

Your instincts gaining the best of you, you let out a low hiss in the direction of the small human, who quickly put his hands up in surrender and left the hut with a small apology.

As soon as it was only Neteyam left with you in the hut, your focus was quickly redirected to his wounds. Half of his back had been taken care of in silence, only cut by the scarce hiss of pain coming from the warrior in front of you. The silence was apparently not enough as the man in front of you decided to break it by asking a stupid question, a question you did not have an answer to.

“Where did the nickname “Teyam” come from?” he said, slightly turning around, a huge grin breaking through his face and showing his teeth. Fangs poking on the sides of his lips.

You froze for a few seconds, you did not know where it came from, you did not have an answer. You knew he did that to embarrass you. Feeling the heat rush to your face. Your tongue clicked in annoyance, trying to hide your fluster. You flickered at his ear, which made him let out a light chuckle before turning back.

You continued to work on his back, but you could feel your concentration slowly slip out of you through your fingers. Getting distracted by the way his shoulders shuddered slightly underneath your touch and the way his blue strips contoured the side of his body. You gulped before retracting your hands completely to fetch more preparation. As you got up, Neteyam looked at you intently, questions evident in his eyes.

“I’ll be back.” You told him before hurrying to find Mo’at or Kiri.

I swiftly made my way across the camp. A combination between running and walking, I took each step carefully, knees bouncing. When I arrived in the main tent where the injured were being taken care of, a smell of blood and metal reached me. It was so strong that it made my nose scrunch up and my eyes narrow involuntarily. I felt my ears flatten on the side of my head, the pained cries of the warriors assailing my ears. My tail was swatting left to right nervously behind me as my eyesight scanned the place in search of a familiar face.

My narrowed eyes quickly landed on Kiri, who was occupied applying pressure on a man from the clan, a piece of shrapnel sticking out of his side, blood sipping out of the wound. My heart ached at the sight.

As I readied myself to make my way over to her, a soft but strong hand gripped my shoulder in place, stopping me in my tracks.

“What do you need, y/n?” inquired the Tsahik who was now standing in front of me. “It’s better not to stay too long around here, dear.” She continued, holding my stare with her own, preventing me from looking anywhere else.

“I just need some of that healing paste Mo’at.” I whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

With a slight nod, she reached for a small cup similar to the one in my hands. She thrusted it strongly in my grip, grabbing the empty one in return. “Now go back, y/n” she said in a strong but delicate tone. I gave her a sharp nod and left at once without turning back.

Closing back the flap of the hut behind me, I let the fresh air hit my face, getting rid of the horrid smell which took a hold of my senses a few minutes prior. Taking a large inhale, I pushed my body forward the hut where Neteyam was waiting.

Making my way inside, I found him still sitting in the same place, sharpening his knife. His eyes briefly met mine before focusing back on his work. I sat back behind him in silence, resuming looking after his wounds which were already looking better.

“What happened back there?” He suddenly asked after a few minutes, breaking the silence. My golden eyes widened slightly, my hovering above the skin of his back. “What?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper, as if I would speak any louder something would break.

“Your face, I can see that something is bothering you. What is it?” He pressed; his eyes still focused on his task at hand.

“I saw all the injured people from today’s raid.” I started, a sigh escaping my lips. “I saw Meayko with this wound on his side.” My hands fell in my lap in defeat. “He’s only a few years older than us, Neteyam.” At the sound of his name and the absence of my fingers on his back, he turned his whole body towards me, legs almost touching. My eyes were absorbed by the paste slowly drying on my fingers, picking at it with my other hand.

“We don’t deserve what is happening to us. We can never be happy with them here.” I continued. I could feel my eyes filling with tears. The salty water was threatening to spill any seconds.

As Neteyam’s words escaped his lips, I felt the dam break.

“Mawey, ma y/n. Mawey.” He reached for the back of my head with his four-fingered hands, bringing my head towards his collar bone. He let me cry in this position for as long as I needed to, whispering reassuring words in my ears.

When I felt the tears come to a halt, I finally pulled my head back. Neteyam’s hands still remained strongly put on either side of my face.

“We can be happy even with the sky people here.” He said, looking straight at me. “We may not deserve that, but we have to fight and do what is right. We have to protect our home, our nature, our animals. We have to protect Eywa, y/n. But most importantly we have to protect each other. If we stick together and we watch our backs, nothing can happen to us.” He said in a strong tone, like any warrior would.

“I will never let anything happen to you y/n.” He said the last sentence in a quiet tone, which was only answered by a nod from me and the resuming of our previous hug. This time I reached my hands behind his back, carefully avoiding the burns. His hand held my head right as they did before.

A/N: Every sort of feedback is welcomed and appreciated ! Thank you for reading :)

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twilightmalachite · 9 months

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2×2 - Children on the Streets 7

Author: Akira

Characters: Hinata

Translator: Mika Enstars

"But y’know, I actually really like that about you, Anzu-san. I don’t know, it just feels like we’re similar."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Spring

Location: Shack

Hinata: These days, I don’t know. Of course, strangely I and only I have become popular thanks to things like Volcano Island and all that, and I feel my fans have definitely increased, but…

I don’t know why, but I’m getting lonelier and lonelier despite all that.

Is there something wrong with me?

You might get angry hearing me say this, but… I wish I wasn’t a popular, fan-favorite idol.

Yuuta-kun is filled with ambition, but I’m actually already satisfied.

I don’t need to succeed, just seeing Yuuta-kun be genuinely happy is enough.

Just having Yuuta-kun with me is enough.

Just having him smiling by my side is enough.

That’s all I really need to be satisfied.

Since the moment we ran away from home with his hand in mine, that’s all I’ve ever, ever wanted.

My time, my skills I trained, everything I had… I would have given all of it up for that.

Because, my mother asked me to take care of Yuuta-kun.

“Hinata, you’re the older brother, so make sure to protect and love Yuuta.”

I don’t remember much about my mother anymore. That’s all I have left of her, those words and her smile.

I wanted to light up the world he lived in like the rising sun.

Even though it would have been better if there wasn’t a place for me there.

Hinata: …Right. Sorry. I’m saying strange things. I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t had any time to stock up on fun things to talk about.

Hm? You want to keep listening?

Do you want to know about me, Anzu-san?

Why is that? Is it because you like me?

No, it’s not. I get it. You want to know about me so you can help me grow into a great idol, as a producer.

I’m just annoyed because that self-interest is coated and sugared with something like sweet affection…

But y’know, I actually really like that about you, Anzu-san.

I don’t know, it just feels like we’re similar.

You’re a liar and a coward. You put on a loving, protecting facade and try to control the person in front of her with words that are pleasing to the ear.

But. so does everyone else, right? I mean, the tongue is an organ made for lying.

And I’m a hundred times happier that you did that rather than ignore me, like my father did when he was no good for a while, Anzu-san.

What was I talking about? Right, right, about how to get out of this situation.

Actually, I do have some thoughts regarding that.

Yup. Among the people who kidnapped us, there were a couple who looked familiar to me.

We lived on the streets when we were kids.

Things were really hard up until Master picked us up. I did whatever I could to keep my little brother and I alive.

Of course, I was still just a small child, I couldn’t do anything huge.

Adults, those who live a proper and normal life, didn’t even notice it, but…

In a dark corner of every town, there are tons of people who have no place to stay in those sorts of “decent environments”.

And among them were people who taught me who taught me how to survive in “those sorts of places”.

At the time, we were like stray cats who had run away after being abandoned by their owner.

And stray cats like that, they’ll huddle up and share information about the best places to scavenge for garbage to eat and all that—

Surviving by supporting one another. If we didn’t, we’d all just have died, that’s just how it is.

Hinata: But… We were protected by a kind person, our Master.

There are people who don’t have that. Those who kidnapped us last night, that’s where they ended up.

They still live in the darkness, unrecognized by ordinary people.

No, rather… They’ve lived here for a long time now, just invisible to me.

Those culprits responsible for this incident would have been us, if we had never gotten protection from Master.

If we had remained in misfortune.

We ordinary people lump them all together as delinquents and the such, calling them social outcasts, pinching our noses and pretending we don’t see them.

But, they, who thought we, who should’ve been peers in the same position as us since we were kids, stepped out of the dark and said something to me.

“We’re here, you know.”

“Maybe we’ve become invisible to you…”

“And it seems like you’ve completely forgotten about us, but…”

“You’re one of us, in the end.”

“And if you’ve forgotten, we’ll remind you.”

“I’m going to drag you back into that same darkness as back then.”

“That way… You’ll see us too, won’t you?”

[ ☆ ]

← prev | story directory | next →

#2×2 #2x2 #hinata aoi #event #translation #anzu

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queen-rainy-love · 1 year

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The Crown Wedding Part 9

Let's go!

*Later that week, it was finally time! It was the day of the wedding! After the whole week of finishing up wedding details, being scolded by family members, and dealing with a Cake Hound stampede (don't ask), it was finally time! Espresso and Latte were getting ready for the big day. The twins were dressed in a mixture of Crème Republic and Dark Cacao Kingdom fashion.*

Latte: *fixing up Espresso's head piece* And there! I finally got it!

Espresso: *smirks* Only took you two hours to get it right.

Latte: *playfully smack his shoulder* Oh hush you! Be lucky I found out about it.

*Espresso chuckled as he straighten out his outfit.*

Espresso: This is it. This is finally the day.

Latte: *smiles* Yeah. Together with your prince charming. Quite literally.

Espresso: Shut up.

*The twins laughed a bit before a knock caught their attention. Latte walked over to the door and opened it up. Standing right out there was Affogato. Espresso's smile disappeared.*

Espresso: What do you want?

Affogato: A father can't see his son before his big day?

Espresso: That's if the father earned it.

Latte: Espresso...

Affogato: Hmm. *walks over to Espresso and starts to fix his headpiece.* The headpiece is off.

Espresso: This doesn't take away what you did to us. You abandoned us in another kingdom. We were only five when you turned your back on us!

Affogato: I wasn't the first one to abandon you...but it still doesn't excuse what I did.

Latte: Why didn't you leave us with our mother?

Affogato: ...Who do you think was the first to leave? *The twins kept quiet as he kept going* Your mother and I were part of an arranged marriage. But let me explain our tribe. In the Coffee Tribe, the more coffee in your dough, the stronger you are. I was the black sheep of the Coffee Tribe, the weak bean, and they wanted to get rid of me. They believe marrying me off could save them the trouble. So they married me off to a Cookie from the Milk Tribe, your mother, and pushed us into the Milk Tribe's village.

Latte: When did you go back to the Coffee Tribe?

Affogato: Right after you two were born. She wanted nothing to do with us and convinced the Milk Tribe to return us back to the Coffee Tribe. *Finish adjusting the headpiece*

Espresso: I thought Cookies from the Milk tribe were kind.

Affogato: Your mother was the exception. *Dust off Espresso's shoulders.* Regardless, the Coffee tribe treated us poorly, especially Latte due to her dough having milk. So before either one of you turned one, we left the tribe and traveled across Earthbread.

Latte: Until we got to the Crème Republic. Why did you leave us there?

Affogato: ...No matter where we went, no one wanted us. So when we got to the Crème Republic, a very young place, I thought no one would mind a few travelers. But in the end, they would never let us go near the upper parts of the Republic. They were not even kind to you two. The only Cookie who gave us kindness was those Cookies with the seaweed hair.

Espresso: Seaweed Cookie...

Affogato: Her family was willing to take you two under their care and I knew that they would give you two a better life than I could back then. A more stable home.

Espresso: So you left us to have a better life.

Affogato: If you think I had an easier time, you're wrong. I trained hard to gain more power to make sure no one could look down on me. On us. I just didn't take into count how long it would take. Or where I would go.

Latte: ...We could have gone with you.

Affogato: And have you both missed out on finding better happiness? *shakes his head* No. You two were better off without me.

*Silence filled the air as Affogato finally finished dusting off Espresso's wedding suit.*

Espresso: So why come back?

Affogato: I do want to rebuild our relationship and be there for both of you. I don't expect any forgiveness from either one of you now. But I do want to make an effort. So, please...just give me a chance.

Latte: I can't speak for Espresso but I would be happy to start over. After all, you are taking goodness class and did help out the Cookie Kingdom. Espresso?

Espresso: ...You did help out with the Cake Hound stampede and you have been getting along with Madeleine. It would be foolish for me to ignore your attempts. Very well. Let us start over.

Affogato: *smiles* Thank you, my dear children.

Espresso: But if you try anything, I still have a right to give you to Red Velvet's Cake Wolves.

Affogato: Fair enough.

#cookie run kingdom #crk headcanons #espresso cookie #latte cookie #affogato cookie

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noxshade · 1 year

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For the Record.

This is about my fanfiction, so I don't know why I feel weirdly anxious about this.

So I just posted chapter 32 of Things You Cannot Forget, and it had some issues. I sort of swerved into this super-fanservicey crossover territory that made no sense in the story, but satisfied the nerd in me.

I sort of knew going in that it would be a leap from the rest of the story, but the real problem is that it was done mostly to amuse me. Which is fine, it is just fanfiction, but I want to make a cohesive story that flows naturally. The fic itself is already a crossover of two different series, it doesn't need me hinging major plot points on references to further other works.

So surprise, surprise, it was not a terrific chapter. It's not a piece of writing I'm not proud of, but it's also I realized I had made some pretty big writing errors and just introduced shit that was of no consequence to fill time when I should be moving towards the conclusion of this story. After getting feedback from a few different sources, I decided to totally re-write the offending scenes. Not all of it is different (the intro and outro scenes are almost untouched), but the middle parts where I dump SMT and Lovecraft lore with little-to-no explanation was Not Great.

All in all, I do like the new chapter much better. It flows better, it focuses on the right things, and it feels more in tone with the rest of the fic. I do want to keep the old chapter up somewhere, and a random ass Tumblr post is as good a repository for this as any. So below the break is the original version of chapter 32, titled Sand Dune.

After a day to recover, the Phantom Thieves reconvened at Leblanc, with the intent of exploring the bottom of Mementos. Makoto, ever the stickler for efficiency, pointed out that there were a few requests they could handle while they plumbed the depths.

“I’m surprised that there’re any requests at all,” Ryuji said, scrolling through the Phansite. “Figure’d Maruki would have gotten all these desires sorted.”

“There are some things even he can’t fix,” Sumire said, her tone worried as she also scrolled through the page. “But these requests are really dire.”

“Some of it might actually precipitate from Maruki’s perfect world,” Akechi commented. “This mother who abandoned her child might be fulfilling her ideal life. Or perhaps Maruki’s brainwashing just missed a detail or got a wire crossed in her mind.”

“Do you send calling cards for these little missions?” Rin asked, standing behind the counter and staring up at the jars of coffee beans.

“No,” Haru explained. “Futaba-chan usually just messages the target in the real world. We found that method simpler and just as effective, provided they don’t have a Palace.”

“Then Chika was right,” Rin said, turning back to the group.

“Your friend?” Yusuke asked.

Rin nodded. “She said that a bunch of people claimed they got a calling card after posting on the internet. She didn’t believe any of them.”

“Wait…” Ryuji said, leaning back in the booth, staring at the ceiling. “Does this Chika go to Kosei?”

“Yes,” Rin answered. “She’s a super-Phangirl. Runs the school newspaper. Or maybe she did. I haven’t been able to check in Maruki's world.”

“Is she datin’ a Shujin boy with short black hair?” Ryuji asked.

Rin thought for a moment. “Yes. They met in Hawaii.”

“Huh. And here I thought Mishima was just lyin’,” Ryuji said, then explained: “He said he had a girlfriend he was spendin’ Christmas with when I texted him, and I called him out, but he said she was a Kosei student, and a Phangirl. I just kinda figured he made’er up. I was going to ask Yusuke about it, but then we got all caught up in this bullshit.”

“Mishima with a girlfriend…” Ann mused. “I guess the world is just full of surprises.”

“I think we should get going, if you’re all quite done gossiping,” Akechi said, a familiar venom in his voice. Akira reluctantly agreed, and they gathered their things and took the train to Shibuya, then passed into the Metaverse and down into Mementos proper. They all gave Rin and Sumire a run-down of Mementos, and answered the odd question that followed. Akira gave a nod to Lavenza, who stood by the door to the Velvet Room, still invisible to the others. They noted the gray, metallic strands that snaked across the ceiling, so similar to what they had seen in Maruki’s lab.

“That has to be the good doctor’s work,” Yusuke said, gesturing up as they all sorted out items and equipment.

“It’s certainly new,” Haru commented. “Oracle, can you scan it?”

Futaba looked all across the pattern of material, her goggles humming slightly. “Nothing special. Whatever he’s doing with this, we’re so far away that my Persona can’t pick up anything. If we follow them deeper, we might get some clues.”

“Well, they will probably lead back to the Prison, if what he told Witch is true,” Ann said.

They finished their preparations, and Morgana was eager to show the two newcomers his amazing transformation, but when he bounced to the ground in van form, neither seemed that surprised or enthused.

“Really? Nothing?” Morgana whined at Sumire’s quiet ‘Oh,’ and Rin’s stone-faced reaction.

“With everything that’s happened, and everything we’ve seen, I guess a talking cat turning into a talking automobile just isn’t surprising,” Sumire admitted. Morgana moaned his disappointment.

Rin was quiet, her eyes squinting behind her mask. “Does the air conditioning smell like cat breath?” she asked, finally.

“Wha- No!” Morgana protested.

“A little bit, if we drive for too long,” Makoto added.

“Are the seat cat fur or cat tongue texture?” Rin continued.

The headlights that served as Van-gana’s eyes bulged, and the purring engine seemed to sputter before he responded. “Gross! They’re fine leather, I’ll have you know.”

“It’s not fine at all,” Yusuke commented. “It's passable, at best.”

Rin didn’t seem to notice, and continued her barrage of questions: “Do you have to eat or fuel up? How does your exhaust work?”

“It just works, okay?!” Morgana shouted back, becoming increasingly flustered.

“Do you get hairballs in your engine?” Sumire asked, joining the inquiry.

“Just get in!” Morgana huffed, rearing up back, then back down on his front tires, as if putting a foot down. “Jeez.”

They all piled in, only to find it cramped with their two new members. Eventually, Makoto opted to step out of the van, and ride on her Persona, which was newly awakened into the vehicle Agnes. Akira took Morgana’s wheel, and the two of them descended into the depths.

After a few minutes of driving and some light banter made awkward by the cramped interior, the Thieves arrived at the entrance to what used to be the Prison of Regression. The gray metallic threads had been woven into the fabric of Mementos, and they had grown thicker as they descended, eventually looking more like roots of a plant. They passed the enormous black stone slabs that marked the beginning of the Prison and disembarked from their modes of transport. The area beyond the entrance was no longer an overwhelming red, but a pale blue color; not at all dissimilar to Maruki’s laboratory. They found the panopticon-like temple not far from the entrance. Instead of the veins of red desire and a enormous red chalice, the space was now filled with cables and wires; with massive lenses and blue floodlights.

“I think we can safely assume Doctor Maruki is behind this change,” Makoto said as she gazed about at the lines of neon cyan and reflective metal that criss-crossed the space. Akira looked up the thread of gold woven into sheets of wires and fiber-optics that held camera lenses the size of large trucks above them, each shifting its internal mechanism in a way that made Akira feel distinctly… observed.

They scaled the root-tentacle-cables down the space, past the now-empty cells and down to the floor of the space. A massive pillar of neon cables rose from the floor, then split apart into separate, glowing streams of energy, bounced between hexagonal plates and leading away from the entrance, to a new hallway at the back.

“This is almost certainly the ‘lynchpin’ Lady Elizabeth mentioned,” Morgana said as they approached.

Akira looked at the structure that had been created… or perhaps grown? It struck him that this was a particularly powerful location: the nexus of thought in Tokyo. From what Elizabeth had said, they were not the first to fight a mysteriously powerful cognitive being. This space had either been created by the Holy Grail or had created the Grail in turn, and now Maruki had been drawn to it by his own Persona, if Rin had interpreted his words correctly. What other beings might it draw from the Sea of Souls or beyond?

“So all the threads he wove through Mementos are anchored here?” Yusuke asked, glancing about. Akira was also shocked by the transformation the space had endured. He recognized most of it, including the plaques on the ground with the Latin names of the deadly sins on them. They had fought the Holy Grail here. They had defeated Yaldabaoth here, in a way.

“Not quite, Inari,” Futaba corrected, scanning the mass of cables and metallic mesh. “It’s the other way around. They don’t converge here; this is where they begin: the stuff we’ve seen all around Mementos starts here and spreads like roots.”

“This must be what he made on Christmas,” Rin said, staring up at the space, her eyes lazily following the glowing lines of the cables.

Ryuji wandered closer and gave the cables a smack with his bat, to no effect. “Doesn’t seem like we can cut it off here,” he said.

“It all looks really similar to his Persona,” Ann said. “If he created this, it makes sense.”

“Meaning we probably have to deal with Maruki to get rid of it and separate the two dimensions,” Akechi added.

“It seems that he may have expanded the space since we were last here,” Haru said, having walked to the side. She gestured to the hole in the wall where the lines of energy were directed out, there were a series of escalators out of the space now. They all circled the central structure with her and approached the dark moving stairs. “I doubt the escalators were something the Holy Grail decided to include.”

“You never know,” Rin said, as they stepped on the moving stairs and traveled beyond the panopticon. The area behind that looked like another floor of Mementos, but… infused with Maruki’s Palace. The subtle white glow, the posters talking about happiness, the blue-veined metal roots burrowed into the ceiling. The Metanav buzzed in Akira’s pocket and notified him of the new area they had uncovered as they did, and a massive new section appeared on the map, one that had them ascending, but on a new path, parallel to the original descent.

“And having reached the bottom of the Inferno, we must climb our way to Purgatorio,” Akechi commented. From the looks other Thieves gave, it seemed only Makoto, Yusuke and Akira had understood his reference to Dante’s work, but Akira’s rebuttal was cut off as a toy car honked its way up the escalator, trailing balloons. The tiny Jose waved at each of them, driving his one-child car.

“Hello, Jose,” Ann greeted with a wave.

“Oh, hello,” he commented to the Thieves. “Are you exploring this new area too?”

“We have some business here,” Akira said, glancing over to see Sumire utterly lost, and Rin tilting her head. “Have you been following us, Jose?”

“No, but I thought it might be a good idea to try this area’s new flowers,” he said. “I’ll see you later!” He honked the car’s toy-like horn again, then sped off down the train tracks.

“Anything else I need to know about this crazy place?” Sumire asked. “This is so weird, it’s like Alice and Wonderland,”

“Alice in Wonderland,” Akechi corrected. “The mental world is bound to not make sense from our rational perspective. That child is no stranger than any Shadow.”

“Why does he have yellow eyes like Elizabeth and Margaret?” Rin asked, to which Akira simply shrugged.

“I don’t really think it’s any of our business,” Akira said. Rin seemed to accept that, and they set off into the new layer of Mementos that the Metanav had labeled the “Path of Da’at.”

They found the targets of the requests with relative ease and handled them. As they ascended the floors of the path, the Shadows grew more and more powerful, each battle chipping away at their resources. New, strange Shadows appeared; not just the ones from Maruki’s Palace and the Qliphoth World, but others; ones that had no interest in negotiation. There were pairs of Obsidian Gargoyles with unnaturally long arms and no faces that hovered in midair, along with bright red crustaceans with wings that Al Azif called Crimson Fungoides. They each had odd, bizarrely powerful attacks that caught the Thieves off-guard, but the hardest fight was the pack of five dog-like Shadows they fought close to the top, each called Canine of Corners. They were oddly immaterial creatures, each with a long, bladed tongue and their solid outlines trailing away into geometric, fractal smoke.

They stopped to rest on an empty floor right before the end. Akira passed out snacks, coffee and medical supplies. The climb had been pretty taxing.

“What’s with these new Shadows that don’t wanna talk?” Ann asked as she helped Rin with an energy drink.

“They all feel like those bizarre things we fought in the warehouse,” Haru commented. Akira shared a brief glance with Rin, neither wanting to bring up that they had discussed this exact scenario.

They packed their snacks and moved on. The further they moved into the Path of Da’at, the more Mementos resembled Maruki’s lab. Eventually, following one final set of escalators, the Thieves found themselves in a large, metallic room. Glowing cables snaked back and forth across the floor, all feeding into a large glass tube that rose all the way to the extremely high ceiling. There were futuristic workstations all around, each with a holographic screen that showed some part of Mementos. The group surmised that they had reached the heart of Maruki’s data-gathering effort. Futaba moved to try and see what could be done about it, but from behind them, they heard someone walking in. They turned to see a human figure approaching. Yusuke and Ryuji readied their weapons, and Akira even caught Makoto pulling the hammer back on her revolver, but when they could see who it was, they were all surprised.

“Lady Lavenza?” Morgana asked. The small girl approached them with a smile on her face, her expression calm.

“I thought you could use some assistance in this matter Trickster,” she said, bowing slightly. Her yellow eyes flicked between the different members of the Thieves. “This place has become exceedingly dangerous, after all.”

“I thought…” Akira began. “What changed? I thought this world was too taxing for you and your siblings to manifest. Why-”

“It’s not her,” Rin said, taking a step forward. Lavenza stopped short, her smile dropping to worry.

“Your confusion and distrust is expected, but-” Lavenza began.

“Witch is right,” Futaba cut her off, her goggles glowing a faint red as she scanned the short figure. “It’s not Lavenza. She and her sister registered like Mona. This is some kind of Shadow.”

‘Lavenza’ dropped all pretense, the emotion sliding right off of her face. Her kind yellow eyes suddenly looked dead, and her voice changed to one of an indeterminate gender, but with a Shadow’s distortion. “You all continue to surprise me. I settled on this form after much debate as the most trustworthy and the least suspicious, and you still saw through it.”

A dark haze began to gather around the thing that looked like Lavenza. In a blur, its form changed to Sojiro with yellow eyes, then to Sae, then to Wakaba, then finally to Maruki in his old lab coat and sandals. The Shadow stared at them from behind his glasses and flop of curly hair.

“Good thing we’re not that stupid,” Akechi said, drawing his serrated blade. “I assume you’re some security measure Maruki put here to try to protect this area?”

“You are very wrong, distorted echo,” the Shadow said. Akira raised an eyebrow at the term it used for Akechi, but pushed past it. “I am here of my own free will, as the doctor’s goals and mine align.”

Rin’s eyes narrowed and she shifted in place, brushing her combat sandals on the metal floor. “If you’re here to stop us, then you’re too late,” she said.

“Far from it,” it replied. “You are too late to stop the world that is to come.” It darkened, abandoning the shape of a human, growing to monstrous size and adopting a new form.

“I prefer to use intermediaries for this kind of base violence,” it said, its voice deepening and growing in volume. “But you have defeated the other roadblocks I created. So I shall show you all the truth.” Its form resolved into a massive, three-legged monster. Its head was nothing but a mouth, shrouded by tendrils and contorted into a permanent scream, its head a wriggling, serpentine tentacle. Blue orbs dotted its black body as its green-tinted hands dripped with dark oil.

The entirety of the Phantom Thieves lined up against the creature Futaba’s Persona labeled the Moon Howler. Cornered as they were, it would be hard to not use the whole group in battle.

Looking back on what Akira would remember of this battle later, he would pinpoint that as their mistake.

“Hahaha! Perhaps the time for pawns has not yet passed after all!” it boomed, then raised its hands and unleashed a deep magenta pulse of energy from its gaping mouth, its shroud of tentacles parting. Akira recognized a status effect attack, but his fears were soon exceeded as Ryuji turned and swung at Akira with his mace. It was a brainwash attack.

“No! It got Skull!” Futaba shouted over their mental link from within her Persona. “And Queen, Noir and Fox!”

Ryuji branshied his weapon again, trying to bring it down on Akira’s head. Akira blocked with his dagger as he saw the entire team descending into chaos. Ann was desperately dodging a series of ax swings from Haru, Morgana and Sumire were trying to restrain Makoto as she thrashed about wildly, and Akechi squared off with Yusuke in careful sword duel. Akira looked back into Ryuji’s eyes, only to find nothing there, just a dark void.

“Skull!” Akira shouted, trying to hold back Ryuji’s attack. “It’s me! Snap out of it! It’s just another trick!”

Rin ran full-tilt at Ryuji, tackling him off Akira, and quickly putting him on a kind of leg-lock where she held both his arms behind his back with her legs. Akira was momentarily impressed by her ingenuity, but looking over the internal battle tearing his team apart refocused him on the threat: the Shadow.

“I’m working on something to help, Joker,” Futaba said. “But… It's fighting back. This isn’t just another Brain Jack. This Shadow, it’s different.”

Akira summoned his metallic angel Persona Sandalphon to blast the Moon Howler with a bless attack, but it just laughed at him.

“You face me alone, Akira Kurusu?” it asked. Joker reeled back. How on Earth did this Shadow know his name? “Yes, I know you. I am the darkness of the human heart. I know all humanity, and I know your soul. Nothing you will do here can possibly matter. Free will is an illusion. You think you have escaped the doctor’s prison, but there is no freedom, only larger and smaller cages.”

“You’re wrong!” Akira shouted. “I know we can make a difference. We can’t… we can’t…”

“Fail?” it said, completing his thought. “Hahaha! You already have. I have seen it. This world is one of many, and I have seen the world where you fall. In this, and all others. Nothing you do can ever matter, because in the future of another world, you have already made the opposite choice. There is no hope!”

“That’s bullshit!” he and Futaba shouted together.

“Don’t hit us with that ‘multiverse’ crap, you overgrown tripod!” Futaba said.

“I don’t care about other timelines- I’m still here, and I’m still going to stop you!” Akira shouted. He swapped Personas over to the robed and spear-wielding Odin, who called down lighting on the Shadow. It seemed to injure it, but only a tiny fraction.

“No, you can’t,” the Moon Howler taunted. “Your mind already cracked when it touched oblivion. Let me show you the futility of your actions.”

The Shadow raised its hand at Akira, and suddenly his mind was assaulted again. He screamed and doubled over as images and sensations crashed through his mind. He felt burning heat, smelled decay, and could taste the void. He saw Tokyo. A dozen different Tokyos; each with something terribly wrong with them. The red-veined Mementos Fusion they had averted was there, but then there were more. One where a yellow fog shrouded the entire city as a multi-colored eye gazed down as the citizens slowly disintegrated into mist, then one where the people on the street were replaced with crystal coffins as the moon grew larger and larger in the green-blue sky.

He tried to shut them out, keep his wits about him and remember the techniques for mental control that Maruki had taught him, but the screams of an entire city dying filled his ears. He saw Tokyo turned inside out, the souls of its inhabitants consumed to birth a new god as angels and demons warred over the sand-blasted hellscape that the city had become. Then a chillingly un-fantastical vision of Tokyo: missiles raining down and vaporizing the city in a mushroom cloud.

Each of these visions were compressed with dozens more, like individual frames of a film that made no sense, but played so loud as to drown out all else.

“This is no time to keel over, Joker!” he heard Akechi say at the same time he saw the world end. Vision, after vision, after vision cascaded over him. He wanted to scream; he might already have been screaming, but he couldn't hear his own voice over the thousands of lives being ended as Maruki smiled at him and the world faded away into the roar of the void.

“Joker!” he almost heard Futaba shout. “Something happening… I can’t see… I can’t…”

The rest of what she said was lost as Akira’s entire world became the thrumming laughter of a malicious god.

---

Futaba Sakura looked around herself. She was supposed to be at the bottom of Mementos, supporting her team, but she wasn’t. Instead, she was standing at the top of a ruined building, in a lifeless, ruined Tokyo that was buried by sand.

Her mind raced as she looked around. Her goggles were gone, but she was still in her Metaverse outfit, with its skin tight bodysuit and neon green lines. She gazed out over the city around here. There wasn’t a single living thing in sight. The building she was on was slightly askew, leaned up against a massive hill of sand that was so tall that the top of it spilled over onto the roof, just a bit. All around her were the sand-blasted ruins of Tokyo. Gone was the sea, gone was the horizon, like the city now existed in a permanent sandstorm. She could see the Tokyo Skytree past another row of office buildings, partially destroyed.

She tried to think back. She’d been trying to support her teammates after several of them had succumbed to a powerful brainwashing spell. She had just prepared a special cleansing effect, but then her vision had begun to dim, and Al Azif had warned about… what was that warning it had given her? “Dimensional…” something. Futaba swore, not used to not remembering something. And now here she was, trapped in some kind of dream or hallucination. She was still not quite over spending a week with her dead mother, and now whenever the hell this Shadow was had trapped her in another illusion. Al Azif had given it another name beyond Moon Howler, something Egyptian-sounding. Was that related to the sandy expanse before her? There were no pyramids here, just her memories of her own tomb, and a blazing, dry heat.

Was there anything here? It felt like a post-apocalyptic landscape, like those Australian action movies with the cool cars. Was this nothing more than a figment of her dying imagination? Or had she been-

“Hello, Oracle.”

Futaba spun around to see a person on the roof with her, where there had been no one else moments ago. He looked to be a man of perhaps twenty or thirty. He was tall, with an slender, almost androgynous figure and well-coiffed blond hair that was carefully slicked, but feathered in the back. He was dressed in an immaculately tailored double-breasted black business blazer, with an orange tie and spotless black dress pants and shoes. Everything about him was far too clean and slick to fit in with the sandy surroundings. Futaba focused on his eyes, and saw that he was heterochromatic: his left eye was a deep red, and his right was a rich blue.

“Who are you?” Futaba found herself almost shouting. “Where am I? Are my friends… Did you do this to me?”

“You have so many questions, but only some of them are relevant,” he replied, his voice smooth and even. He was unnaturally calm. Futaba knew instantly that he wasn’t human. He couldn’t be. If she was even still alive.

If any of this was even real.

“My name… well, I suppose you can call me Louis,” the man said, scratching his chin with a ringed finger. “As for where you are, it’s Tokyo. But not your Tokyo, in either the past or the future. You might call it a… possible Tokyo.”

“I know what a parallel universe is,” Futaba responded, slightly annoyed. “I’ve seen movies before. You dragged me to some apocalyptic timeline… for what?”

Louis smiled. “To save you,” he said, turning and walking down the slope of sand piled against the building. Futaba was annoyed, but hurried after him, sliding past him down the bank of sand.

“Are my friends safe?” Futaba asked as Louis finished walking down the slope, the sand sliding right off his dress shoes.

“That depends on a great many things, Oracle,” he said. “They were attacking each other, and at the mercy of an Outer God, so I would say no, but you were preparing to aid them. So perhaps the answer is yes.” Futaba was quickly burning though what little patience she had. This cryptic super-being was more annoying than any Shadow they had faced, but she had to go along with him if she wanted answers.

“What do you want?” Futaba asked.

“I want a certainty of outcomes,” Louis said as he passed Futaba and kept walking. Futaba followed after him.

“What outcome do you want to make certain of?” she asked.

“Your victory,” Louis said. “Your world is one I have always treasured, because He was unable to influence it. And even though He is unable to directly affect your world, His design and intentions can still manifest. Patterns propagate, regardless of intent. You handily defeated His shadow in the Grail, but now this doctor with the Idiot God in his heart is trying to carry on a dream that will bring about a vision of the world very close to His.” Louis stopped and looked back at Futaba. “Too close.”

“Can you just skip to the part where you help me?” Futaba asked, frustrated by his rambling.

“My, the children are impatient these days,” he said, snorting a small laugh. “I had to convince Stephen to help me contact you like this, in this imaginary pocket space, and you just can’t wait to leave.”

He kept walking, and Futaba was forced to follow him as he made his way around the ruined city. “Your world is important to me, Oracle. More than you could ever know. But I can see that you are concerned for your friends, so I will keep this brief.” They arrived at a clearing, what might have been the Shibuya crosswalk, buried under sand. It was hard to tell where they were with so many landmarks eroded. “The location you are fighting at in your world is one of immense significance. It can empower lesser, banished Shadows like the unwelcome guest currently making a mess of your group, but it can also allow those outside your world to cross over, if they are powerful or interested. And I am both of those things.”

“Then you can help us fight that… thing?” she asked, remembering the other name her Persona had assigned it. “That… ‘Nyarlathotep’?”

Louis shook his head, his blond hair fluttering slightly. “Each transgression across borders invites a reaction and reprisal. Even I dare not interfere beyond this chat. But this fact can be used against your foe, for he is an interloper. He should not be there. If you can attract the attention of higher powers, then the reprisal he deserves will deal with him and remove him from your world.”

“So I… call his bosses and tell them to come deal with it?” Futaba asked. It couldn’t be that simple, could it?

“If it is helpful to think of it that way,” Louis said. “I can give you a phrase that will summon a being that will ‘deal’ with him. Though it will only work once, and only at your current location, as that is the only location where such a summoning can occur.”

“And you’re sure you can’t come back and help more?” Futaba asked. “You’re clearly some kind of big-shot metaphysical super-boss.”

Louis smiled and chuckled. “My aid and power is available in your world to those who have cultivated the power of the Star. Your Joker can call upon me, but he has chosen to avoid summoning me, as he is frightened of what my power may represent. If you make it out of this mess, tell him this from me: it is not the effect of great power he should be concerned about, but what those with power will do to those without.”

Futaba swallowed hard. That particular sentence felt ominous. The wind picked up and pelted her with sand; she felt it was time to go, but she had one last question to ask.

“Why me?” she said. “Why not tell this right to Joker if you know him?”

“Because I want to minimize my involvement,” Louis said, reaching into the pocket of his blazer. “And you hold the tome of forbidden knowledge in your world, so you are much easier to contact.” He withdrew a small, rigid rectangle of black paper: a business card. He extended it towards Futaba, between his index and middle finger.

Futaba reached a hand out, but felt herself recoil with doubt. “And there are no catches for this help? No fine print?”

“Normally, there would be,” Louis said. “But in this, I offer only knowledge, and I offer it freely. Our objectives align.”

Futaba reached forward again, and tentatively took the black business card from his fingers.

And before she could form another thought, she was gone.

---

Akira’s head felt exceedingly empty. The visions had stopped, as had the screaming from his party. He stood, shaky at first, but was helped to his feet by Ryuji and Yusuke, who had apparently been cured of their brainwash-effect. He looked around, and saw four of the Thieves lined up against the Moon Howler. Morgana, Akechi, Sumire and Ann held the line against a wave of Almighty attacks from the Shadow.

“You feelin’ better, bro?” Ryuji said as he steadied Akira and helped him stand. Rin, Haru and Makoto were a few feet away, hiding behind a computer console and patching each other up with their medical supplies.

Akira was about to respond, when he looked up and noticed that Futaba’s Persona was glowing with… unusual colors. The runes on the underside of the triangle shifted and changed, and Akira could have sworn he heard… chanting? What was happening?

“Oracle, what are you doing?” Akira asked, his throat sore like he had been screaming. (Had he been screaming? He couldn’t remember.)

There was no response as the droning, chanting sound from her Persona and shifting lights reached a fevered pitch. Then, without warning, the metallic triangle stopped and a noiseless pulse of sound emanated from her Persona. Everything in the room stumbled at the sudden lack of noise, even the Shadow. It seemed to look around, its green tentacles writhing. It seemed… shock? Anxious? Akira could hardly be said to be an expert in its body language.

“No!” it shouted. “No human has had that knowledge in a century!” Akira looked back up at Futaba’s hovering Persona, but something else caught his eyes instead: an eye.

On the impossibly high ceiling of the cavernous room they were in, was an eye. A human eye had opened, and it was the size of the entire room. Akira blinked, and it wasn’t an eye anymore, it was a glowing, luminous ball of energy. Akira blinked again, trying to make sense of it, and the ball had multiplied, and not instead of giving off light, they looked like bubbles filled with swirling nebulae and stars. Akira glanced down at his teammates, only to find each of them also staring up at the sight unfolding above them. Akira looked back up only to see even more spheres, but instead of bubbles they now resembled spheres of flesh and blood, with fibrous tendons holding them together and black ichor flowing across their surfaces, dripping upwards.

At that moment, Akira knew what it meant to see something your mind could not comprehend.

The spheres grew and multiplied downward, each time shifting and changing, until the entire space some ten meters above them was occupied by human eyeballs, each wildly swinging about.

Then, each eye turned on the Moon Howler.

The Shadow seemed to shrink under the pressure of the many-eyed gaze. “Guardian-Gate, I-”

You have transgressed beyond your role, Crawling Chaos.

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. It was a deafening silence that reverberated in every fiber of Akira’s being.

You can not remain where you are not permitted.

“All-in-One, no!” the Shadow protested. “If this world ends then, our kind may be free again. I have aligned the stars, you need only let me fulfill-”

You will not remain where you are not permitted.

Akira glanced down from the unblinking eyes to see the Moon Howler be rent apart, shredded by invisible forces down the green and black dust.

It didn’t even have time to scream.

The eyes turned to look at the Phantom Thieves. They all tried to prepare themselves for whatever might come next, but Akira still felt exhausted. Instead of any attack or another thunderously quiet voice, the orbs shifted again, rapidly shrinking and multiplying until there was nothing but a sea of light brown specks suspended above them. It was sand, he realized; an inverted sand dune. The sand began to fall in a narrow column in front of all of them, like it was the top of hourglass. The frontline backed away, but they were all too exhausted to put up any real defense if whatever this thing was turned out to be hostile.

The falling sand reshaped itself into a human figure. Tall, but completely obscured by a pure white shroud. As it emerged, Akira noticed Futaba touch down on the ground next to him, her Persona recalled.

“Greeting, children of men,” the white-robed figure said to them, his voice strangely accented, but smooth and pleasant.

“Who are you?” Makoto asked, standing up from behind the console.

“Do you mean to harm us?” Yusuke asked.

“I am called ’Umr At-Tawil by some,” the figure said. “And I mean you no harm. The Crawling Chaos was banished from this world, and as a relation from the other side of what you understand as the Sea of Souls, I was bound to hold him to the law.”

“So that thing is gone?” Akechi said, his sword still drawn.

“And you’re not going to harvest our eyes or anything?” Rin added.

“The Crawling Chaos can no longer access your minds, or the minds of mankind,” the figure said. It made some indecipherable gesture beneath its shroud. “Your destinies are your own to shape.”

And with that, the figure vanished in white mist.

“That was fucked up,” Ryuji said.

Akira agreed. They all wanted to talk, but no-one had much to say. They were all injured from the battle, and Akira could feel that most of them just wanted to get this over with. Futaba hacked the system controlling how Maruki gathered data, which cleared a path forward back in the Palace.

On their way out of Mementos, Futaba slipped Akira a small black business card. There were dark gray characters that looked like Arabic on one side, but it was what was on the other side that shocked him. In silver letters he saw a name:

LOUIS CYPHER The Morning Star

Akira recognized the pseudonym. He swallowed hard and looked back at Futaba, who shrugged at him. “Where did you get this?” he whispered to her.

“I think my Persona gave it to me?” she said, her brow creasing in confusion. “I don’t really know what happened. It’s hard to remember… But something tells me you should have it. Like the star Jose gave us: it feels like it’s for you.”

Akira wondered what force could possibly evade Futaba’s near-eidetic memory, and felt a chill roll down his spine considering that question. He still felt sick from the Shadow’s assault. They’d have to take some time to recuperate. Hopefully things would be smoother for them in Maruki’s Palace.

---

Nyarlathotep is ejected from the Metaverse. His no-quite corporal form that he projects from his exile is spat out on a rooftop in Tokyo, one that overlooks Shibuya. His disguise is failing, so he reverts to an older form: the man with long gray hair and a red suit, the one with the monocle.

How dare that brat call upon the All-in-One? How dare the One-in-All banish him? This is their only chance to return. There is no other way. The Crawling Chaos seethes, rapidly pacing on the deserted rooftop, trying to put together a new plan. He overstepped his bounds, directly confronting Persona-users like that, but he needed to stop them soon. It was a calculated risk, and the math is rapidly changing now. The odds of them being able to overcome the doctor and his expression of Azathoth are too slim. But he needs to hurry. This transgression will attract the attention of his opposite, and in his weakened state, he is no match for Philemon’s tools. If he-

“There you are.”

Nyarlathotep stops as he hears the voice behind him. No, no, this is not the end. Even those who rule over power can be tempted, after all. He turns to see which of them has tracked him down. The man suddenly sharing the rooftop with him is tall, with platinum hair slicked back under a blue cap. He is dressed in a blue outfit reminiscent of an elevator attendant’s, a thick tome with a mauve cover held in his arm.

“You evaded us for some time,” he says, his yellow eyes staring into Nyarlathotep’s illusory ones. “But you must leave. You were defeated and banished. Your interference is unwelcome.”

“You’re not looking at this right, attendant,” Nyarlathotep says. “You’re not thinking of the possibilities.”

“There are no possi-” the man begins, waving a hand.

“You could bring her back,” Nyarlathotep says.

The man freezes.

“Oh yes, Theodore, I know about her”, he continues, sensing opportunity. “I know your sister left her duties when she lost him, but you chose to stay when you lost her. In this world, humans’ hearts are being mended and even the dead may live again. She could return.” The man called Theodore takes a step closer as Nyarlathotep continues: “The barrier between desire and reality has never been weaker. If you stay, keep this world in place, you can finally save her.”

“And what would you know about her?” Theodore asks, his voice low and dangerous. He waves his hand, and Nyarlathotep’s human guise falls away. Where the red-suited man with a monocle stood, now there is a thin humanoid with black, stonelike skin. It has no hands or feet, only sharp claws at the end of its spindly limbs. Small red wings spread out behind it, motionless as it floats just off the roof. There is no face on its head, but black orbs set all around its head are surmounted by a golden crown made of endless spines.

“You are the darkness of the human heart manifested,” Theodore says. “You misjudged their potential when you thought humanity would destroy itself. Because of that, you have failed to grasp why she made the choices she did, because you cannot understand sacrifice. You are selfishness, greed, spite, nihilism and misery, given form. Nothing more.”

“You cannot destroy me,” the mouthless creature says, its voice calmer, more accepting. It knows what comes next. “I am undeniably part of the human heart. I am eternal. Where there is darkness, there are Shadows.”

“And to the shadows you shall return,” Theodore says, opening the book in his arms. “You do not belong in this world.” He thrusts his hand forward, and the crowned creature disappears in a flash.

His quarry finally banished back to beyond the world of humanity, Theodore sighs deeply. He looks over the edge of the roof, to the busy street below, where humanity remains enthralled. Shutting the Crawling Chaos out of the world won’t undo the damage he has done, but now he can do no more.

Theodore feels his arms grow weak. This reality has already worn him down, he can’t handle much more of it. He needs to return to his master and report. Then he and his sisters can return to their duties.

The fate of the world falls to a group of young Persona-users yet again. Perhaps that is how it is meant to be.

Wearily, Theodore opens a door back to the Velvet Room, and disappears.

#NoxContent #fanfiction #cthulhu mythos #archive of my own

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sweeterthanthis · 4 years

Text

Your Filthy Heart

Part Three: The Pure and The Poison

Your Filthy Heart Masterlist

Thank you to @ozarkthedog for reading this through for me and to @msmarvelwrites for the support and some epic dirty talk suggestions!

Summary: It’s time to give Daddy a taste of his own medicine by bringing your boyfriend, Peter Parker, home for dinner.

Pairing: Stepdad!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader, Peter Parker x Female Reader

Warnings: Explicit sexual content, explicit language, daddy/stepdad kink, infidelity, vaginal sex, dirty talk, derogatory language, a touch of face slapping, cum play(?). 18+.

Word Count: 3.5k

“I’m nervous, like really nervous. Is my tie straight?”

There was a part of you that felt guilty for dragging Peter into your shit, truly. But you’d be lying if you said you weren’t enjoying his affections.

He was handsome, a strong jawline, kind eyes, a boy next door kinda attitude. Peter was everything that Bucky wasn’t, and maybe a little part of you made the conscious decision to start dating him because he was so different.

You knew you were pushing your luck, but when the thought occurred to invite him home for dinner, your mouth engaged before your brain and you’d already asked.

“It’s just dinner, Pete. You didn’t need to wear a tie at all.” You couldn’t help but smile at him as he fixed his hair in the rear mirror, but the pit of dread in your stomach was only growing more by the second. “Come on, Mom’s probably bouncing up and down in anticipation.”

“Your Stepdad’s gonna be home soon right? Fuck, I wanna make a good impression.”

Placing a hand on his thigh, muscular and firm, you gave it a reassuring squeeze. He really was adorable, an underlying sexiness about him because he was so concerned with being the most decent guy he could be. And he didn’t deserve a single second of the torture you were about to put him through.

Was that going to stop you? Absolutely not.

You knew your mother would be too high on the buzz that you’d finally met a guy you’d deemed important enough to bring home for dinner. She wouldn’t notice the impending tension, of that you were sure.

Stepping out of Peter’s car, your tummy flipping at the thought of Bucky coming home to find his spot in the garage taken, you readjusted your skirt and motioned at Peter to get out of the car with a roll of your eyes and a nod of your head.

“Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He muttered, reaching for the bouquet of flowers he’d bought for your Mom in the back seat.

Grabbing his hand, you tugged him towards the door connecting the house to your garage, you made your way to the kitchen -- the scent of pot roast, of course, filling the air and the sounds of gentle piano music playing softly in the background.

Your Mom really had gone the whole hog to make a good impression, and you couldn’t blame her. She had no idea you were screwing her husband, feelings of possessiveness and bitterness growing with each passing day.

She loved Peter. That much was very clear from the second she’d been introduced to him.

You feigned interest as she sat across from him on the plush, cream sofa; asking him a thousand questions and not allowing him the airtime to answer a single one before she’d thought of another.

But all you could think of was him. The look on his face when he saw Peter sitting next to you on the couch, the hand that was currently resting loosely on your knee, your Mother’s beaming smile as she informed him that we had a dinner guest.

You revelled in the power you held — the power to drive him insane with jealousy.

You zoned out as you helped your Mother set the table, the sound of her voice muffled in your ears when you heard the low rumble of a car engine pull up on the driveway; blood instantly pounding in your ears.

“Oh, that’ll be James.” Your mother gushed, clasping her hands together and straightening out the cutlery on the way back to the kitchen.

James.

She always did like to abandon the nickname when she was trying to impress. You’d heard the name ring out in the night air on more than one occasion that week. And the thought made you sick.

You held no claim over him. Not really. But that didn’t stop the rage from bubbling in your belly each and every time.

“Hey, you okay? You look as nervous as I feel.”

Peters hand resting on your lower back, his soft eyes looking down on you with gentle concern, you forced yourself to smile and nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. He can just be a little,” you paused, wringing your fingers together in front of you, “intense.”

He wrapped his arm around your waist, tugging you into his side to give your body a reassuring squeeze — guilt thumping through your veins as you cursed yourself for dragging him into the mess you’d found yourself in.

“Anyone wanna tell me who’s car is in my spot?”

The sound of his voice, laced with irritation and curiosity, had your heart beating rapidly in your chest; the reality of what you’d done setting in as his footsteps drew nearer.

“Hey, it’ll be fine. I’ll make a good impression, I promise.”

Peter was too good for you, of that much you were certain. But you forced a smile anyway, leaning up on your tiptoes to meet his waiting kiss.

At the worst possible moment.

“What do we have here?”

Exhaling a shaky breath, you composed yourself, opening your eyes to meet his fiery stare. There he stood in the living room doorway, rolling up the sleeves of his crisp, black button up. You couldn’t help but let your eyes wander to the way the veins in his hands flexed.

Before you could speak, Peter stepped forward; holding his own hand out for Bucky to shake.

“Mr Barnes, Sir, I’m Peter Parker. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

All you could do was watch as Peter’s hand hung in the air, Bucky with his hands on his hips, leaning back on his heels slightly. The tension was evident, yet only you and he knew why — the weight of your entanglement heavy in the air.

“Finally, huh?”

Bucky caught your anxiety-ridden stare over Peter’s shoulder, chewing on the inside of his cheek; brow furrowed as he blew out a heavy breath through his nostrils.

“Nice to meet you, Peter. I didn’t realise we’d be having a guest for dinner.” Bucky stepped forward then, forcing a smile and shaking Peter’s hand firmly with one hand, and planting the other firmly on his shoulder. “Would’ve come home earlier, but then nobody tells me anything in this house.”

The intent to agitate Bucky was clearly paying off, but you never anticipated the way it would make you feel — stomach churning and headache inducing.

With Peter in the room and your Mother hovering in the next room, you knew you were safe. Yet the thought of what he might do later that night after your Mother had passed out from necking too much Chardonnay had your tummy fluttering.

“C’mon, Pete.” Bucky threw a smirk in your direction, throwing an arm around Peter’s shoulder and guiding him towards the kitchen. “Let’s go get a beer and leave the ladies to it, huh?”

Your mouth hung open in astonishment and your feet planted to the floor, all you could do was watch as your lover took your boyfriend aside for what you could only assume would be a desperately uncomfortable conversation.

As you helped your Mother to prepare dinner, absentmindedly chopping tomatoes for the salad, you kept one eye on Bucky who was already sitting at the dining table across from a flustered Peter — and mentally kicked yourself for putting yourself in such a stressful situation.

You tried not to look at him as you walked over to the table, salad bowl heavy in your trembling hands.

Walking around the back of his chair, you did your best to flash Peter a reassuring smile, his eyes flitting from yours to Bucky’s while he tried to keep his attention on the conversation.

As you leant over to put the salad bowl on the table, a discreet, firm squeeze to your ass made you jump; his fingers digging into your flesh in not so subtle warning.

“Oh!”

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, shooting a concerned look in your direction.

Breathing a short sigh of relief when his hand withdrew, you straightened yourself out and walked around to your Boyfriends seat; blood hot with frustration at the way Bucky had put his hands on you in such a fragile situation.

Suddenly, you simply didn’t give a fuck.

How dare he try to lay a claim on you after everything you’d had to deal with; having to watch every day while he played at happy marriages with your mother.

“I’m fine, Babe.” You leant down then, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek and shooting Bucky a warning stare. “I’m gonna go wash up for dinner, okay? Be right back.”

Your anxiety was slowly morphing into vitriol, your hips swaying as you marched past your Stepfather’s unamused gaze.

Fuck him.

You washed your hands in the bathroom, gearing yourself up for what was sure to be a very awkward dinner — checking your makeup in the mirror, and fixing your hair.

He’d riled you up, and now you had a point to prove. And you had every intention of doing so, one way or another.

Making your way out of the bathroom, you straightened out your pleated skirt - the one you knew drove Bucky crazy - walking down the hallway with a confidence that you’d seemingly plucked out of nowhere.

“What the-”

One strong arm wrapped around your midsection, pulling your back tight against a broad chest -- and you needed no clue as to whom it belonged to.

He yanked you through the door to the garage, shoving you forwards a little as the door clicked shut and the lock twisted.

Everything inside you told you to give him a piece of your mind, spinning on your heel, your cheeks hot with disbelief.

But as he stepped towards you, his eyes trained on your shaking form, you felt warmth flood your groin and you were putty once again. You hated how easily he reduced you to a desperate mess of a girl. Truly, you did.

The fact remained, your Boyfriend was the other side of the wall and your Mother was floating around the house fussing like a woman possessed.

“How dare—”

Bucky’s hand gripped your throat in warning, wedding ring digging against the supple flesh of your neck - the fire in his beautiful eyes causing your pussy to clench around nothing.

Shoved up against the passenger side of Peter’s car, you lifted your chin in defiance, a slight smirk gracing your glossy lips as you soaked in his fury.

“You tryna piss Daddy off, Princess? ‘Cause you’re doin’ a real good job.”

Your fingers dragged up your bare thighs, lifting your skirt up higher, his thigh pressed firmly against your lace covered cunt.

“What’sa matter, Daddy? You jealous?” The low growl that emitted from his throat made you shudder, his breath warming your face as he tilted your chin up roughly with his fingers. “You not enjoying getting a taste of your own medicine, Daddy? Is that it?”

“You fuck that kid? Huh?” The hand around your throat squeezed, thumb pushing against your pulse point, his lips inches from yours. “You better answer me or I swear to fuckin’ God, girl...”

One hand palming at the throbbing erection in his trousers, the other gripping his own as it shook against your throat, you smiled. And he looked like he wanted to fucking murder you.

“So what if I did? Seems fair to me. At least you don’t have to listen to me screaming his name. And Daddy, he makes me scream.”

You ignored the fear bubbling in your chest, your bratty mouth unable to stop itself from running merry hell.

“He’s so big, Daddy. Stretches me out so good.” Bucky pulled you towards him then, teeth clenched and jaw ticking, on the edge of losing every bit of control. And you just couldn’t help yourself. “You should see it.”

The dark chuckle that fell from his lips held no humor, his tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek and his head cocked to the side.

“Is that what this is, Princess? Fuck, that jealousy’s just eatin’ you up, huh? Poor baby…”

Your confidence waned for a moment, whimpering pathetically as his thumb traced your trembling jaw. You couldn’t stop yourself, hips winding down against his thick thigh, a twinkle in his eye as he watched you with a faux pout etched on his lips.

“If you weren’t so fuckin’ cute, it’d be pathetic. Lookit you; grindin’ down on Daddy’s leg like a bitch in heat. What would Peter say, hmm?”

Shame swam deep in your gut, but it was nothing compared to the warmth spreading between your legs, the damp patch on your panties staining the material of his suit pants.

“Daddy—”

His fingers nestled between your lips, pressing down on your tongue as they slid down your throat - gag reflex kicking in when the tips of his fingers found your tonsils.

“Suck.”

You did as he asked, eyes boring into his as he thrust his fingers back and forth between your lips, garbled moans vibrating in your throat, spit coating the platinum band on his ring finger.

“Why do I always gotta remind you who you belong to, huh?” You couldn’t answer, mouth stuffed full, tears pooling in your eyes, and spittle dripping from the corners of your mouth. “You think I was just gonna make nice with your little boyfriend in there? Bet he doesn’t know what a dirty little cockslut you really are does he?”

A sharp tap to your cheek, spit slick against your skin, had you quivering. Yet your hands found the collar of his shirt, gripping it tightly and yanking him down towards you. Your lips crashed against his then, a satisfied grunt vibrating against your mouth, one hand gripping your ass while the other dove between your legs.

Bucky held you tight against his chest, fingers dipping beneath the gusset of your panties and swiping through your sloppy folds as he walked you clumsily round to the hood of Peter’s car - lifting you effortlessly and setting you down, cool metal causing you to shudder from the chill.

You watched as he yanked your panties down your legs, your heart pounding at the thought of your Mother and your Boyfriend next door, waiting for you to return.

“I can’t trust you to be a good girl, can I? Can’t trust you to keep those fuckin’ legs shut.”

“Daddy, I-”

“You’re gonna shut your fuckin’ mouth and take it, you got that Princess?”

Before you could open your mouth to answer, he’d balled your damp panties in his fist and forced them between your lips — teeth clenching down onto the salty-sweet lace.

It was humiliating, degrading; but when was it not? You craved it, the way he treated you. That feeling of being owned, completely surrendering yourself to another person. He made you need that.

“Look at that, always so wet for Daddy.”

His palms splayed out against the flesh of your thighs, he pushed them apart, spreading you open and putting you on display just for him.

Your heart was racing, the thrill of being caught at any moment thumping adrenaline through your veins. He could sense it, lips twitching into a satisfied smirk as he watched your eyes flit frantically back and forth between him and the door.

“D’you have any idea how much I wanna drag you back in there and fuck you on that table. Make them both watch, show them that you’re mine?”

Your moans muffled by the material stuffed between your teeth, two thick fingers stretching out your cunt as he unbuckled his pants — you shook your head.

You knew you had an effect on him, you knew he couldn’t stop himself from touching you, from creeping into your room late at night. But the way he looked at you now, the burning intensity in his eyes; it shook you to your core.

“If I had the time Princess, I’d eat that slutty little pussy right here. Make you gush all over Petey Boy’s car. He make you come as hard as Daddy does?”

Frantically, you shook your head from side to side. Peter had never even so much as grabbed your ass, but you’d riled Bucky up to the point of insanity. A man on a mission to prove just who you belonged to.

“No? You've sure changed your tune.”

You watched as he pumped his thick cock in his palm, the tip of him nudging against your clit, your pussy twitching.

“Daddy’s gonna fuck the attitude right outta you, so stay quiet and keep those legs open for me.”

Your arms hooked beneath your knees, thighs spread wide, you barely had time to brace yourself before his cock split you open inch by inch.

You’d expected him to rut into you with excruciating force, to take you roughly. So when he thrust into you with slow, patient strokes; you could do nothing to hide the curiosity on your face.

“I know you know who fucks you the best. You just love riling Daddy up, don’t you? Get so - fuck - goddamn jealous of Mommy.”

Your head lulled back as his dick dragged against the throbbing walls of your cunt, his thumb finding your clit while he caressed your breasts with his free hand.

It was too much, too much tenderness, too good.

You hated yourself for wanting it. The new sensation of his knuckles softly grazing the hollow of your throat as he undulated his hips against your pelvis, hitting spots inside of you you didn’t even know existed.

“You know what you do to me, Baby? Look at me.”

Baby.

Bucky leant forward then, elbows either side of your head on the hood, balls deep inside you as he ground his hips into yours at a torturously slow pace.

“I got you all spread open wide for me, and my fuckin’ wife is right next door. She could walk in here right now and fuck, I still wouldn’t stop. You know how fucked up that is?”

It was nonsense, the broken words falling from your panty stuffed mouth, heat rising in your belly when he pulled out completely and slid on home once again.

He fit you perfectly; there was no doubt about it. The way your cunt wrapped around his dick, it was fucking sinful how perfect it felt. Sparks of pleasure shooting through your core as he rubbed tiny, delicate circles over your swollen clit.

“Tell me how much you want me.” Bucky ripped the panties from your mouth, shoving them in his pocket as you licked your dried out lips. “Need’ta hear you say it. Come on, Princess.”

You’d never seen it before, the needy side of him, the way he practically whimpered when your pussy clenched around his girth, his hand gently squeezing your thigh while the other tentatively worked your sensitive nub.

You tried to speak, tried to find the words he so desperately needed to hear — mouth hanging open in sheer confusion.

“You’re not coming until you tell me, and we’ve been gone a while…”

He halted inside you, only the tip of him nestled between your pussy lips, thumb hovering over your clit and a soft, yet entirely serious look gracing his gorgeous face.

“I—I want you, Daddy.” You yielded, your voice barely above a whisper.

Your hand flew to your mouth, muffling the yelp as he slammed back into you in one brutal motion — slowly withdrawing and circling your clit with the tip of his dick.

“Again.”

“I want you, Daddy.” Insistent this time, no tremble in your voice, hips winding down towards his length, eager to have him back where he belonged. “Only want you, Daddy.”

There was no hint of a lie in your tone, and as he fucked you - possessive and hungry - you wondered how any other man could ever match him.

Sprawled out on the hood of Peter’s car, legs hooked over Bucky’s shoulders, you begged and panted; nearing closer and closer to sweet release.

“You do, don’t you? You belong to me, Princess. Daddy’s all the man - shit - you need.”

Garbled words choked in your throat, the breath punched from your lungs when he pinched your clit roughly with his fingertips, stars dancing behind your eyelids as pleasure twisted in your abdomen, limbs shaking and numb.

Pathetic whispers of daddy, daddy, daddy had him slamming into you, unforgiving and merciless while he chased his own orgasm.

“Fuck lookit you, fallin’ apart on poor Parker’s car, cunt full’a Daddy. Wanna fill you up so bad Princess, but I’ve got a better idea.”

You felt the hollow emptiness of his withdrawal, hazy eyes flickering open to catch sight of him; teeth bared, fist furiously pumping his cock, white, hot spurts of come smattering against the already sopping flesh of your swollen, fucked-out pussy lips.

“Bucky! Darling, where are you?”

You panicked, hopping down off the hood and scrambling to push your skirt back down your aching thighs.

“Fuck, gimme my underwear.” You hissed, holding out your hand as you bounced on your heels.

“Nuh uh, Princess. You’re gonna sit there all night next to Peter, who seems like a real nice kid by the way, with my come all over you. Be real hard to forget who’s little cockwhore you are then, won’t it?”

You watched, dumb struck as he casually tucked himself back into his pants, swiping the wine bottle from the counter and making his way to the door.

“Hurry now, we’ve kept our guest waiting long enough don’t you think?”

With a wink and a sardonic smirk, Bucky disappeared through the door, your Mom’s soft laughter ringing in your ears through the wood.

Dinner was surprisingly a lot less awkward than you expected, aside from the jabs from Bucky thrown in your direction every now and again. But you’d much rather he targeted you than Peter.

Sitting with Bucky’s come smothered between your thighs made the guilt in your gut throb every time Peter’s soft fingers found the bare flesh of your knee beneath the table.

No matter how much water you chugged, your mouth was dry throughout, your instincts driving you to get through the meal without choking and needing to excuse yourself.

As the evening drew to a close, your Mother tipsy and insisting that Peter come back to visit again the following week, you couldn’t wait to get him out of there and wipe away the mess from between your legs.

“Parker, you ever play golf?” Bucky asked as Peter pulled on his jacket.

You couldn’t believe the audacity of him, shame and fury eating at you as he played the perfect, welcoming parent.

“Uh, a little from time to time.” He answered, looking down at you with a proud smile as he sensed an invitation coming. It killed you, the sweetness on his features. You didn’t deserve an ounce of it.

“I’ll get your address from our girl, huh? Pick you up Saturday, say, just after lunch?”

Our girl.

It made you cringe, chewing on your bottom lip as you took hold of Peter’s hand and led him to the garage where you’d been full of your Stepdad’s cock just an hour earlier.

“Yes, that’d be great Mr Barnes. Thank you!”

“Please, call me Bucky.”

You couldn’t stand it any longer, making your way to the garage while Peter trailed behind you saying his goodbye’s.

He kissed you softly, and it made you want to weep—the way his hands cupped your cheeks, his thumbs stroking against the corners of your mouth. When he pulled away, the look of adoration on his face had your heart skipping a beat.

This was what you needed.

This relationship was healthy. Safe. Right.

So why did it feel so wrong?

What you had with Bucky could never go anywhere, would never progress to more than secretive fucks and risky situations.

“Your Stepdad seems like a decent guy, but he’s really hard on you huh?”

“You have no idea.”

#bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #sebastian stan smut #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #marvel smut #stepdad!bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky x reader

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marvelmaniac2000 · 3 years

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Shang Chi (SMUT) The Invisible Wound

Storyline: You’ve been training Shang Chi all night long and he was determined to master his skills in Ta Lo. You convince him to take a break so his body can rest. But some wounds are invisible to the naked eye.

Characters: Shang Chi x Reader

Viewer Discretion: unprotected sex and mild sexual language

You gently press the cold compact onto his eye. His body wasn’t beaten too badly, but you promised him that you wouldn’t hold back, and his eye showcased the brutality of the fight.

“Thanks” he replaced your hand and held the compact to his eye. The guest room was fairly dark with only a lamp showcasing any sight. There was one twin bed with a beautiful view of the river across the gate. You couldn’t help but feel remorseful considering his position in life. Time had passed and his outlook on his family had changed.

“I know you feel a lot of pressure on you with the ten rings and all but remember you don’t have to go through it alone” you conveyed.

“I know. I always have to be strong, regardless how I may feel” he looked at you with resentment in his eyes. “I rather know I did everything I could to honor my mother’s wishes.”

You stood in front of him while he sat on the edge of the bed. “Shang Chi look at me” you sternly snapped. “I’m sure whatever you decide to do, your mother would be proud. There’s no pressure here” you quietly spoke while looking toward the river. “Now get some sleep we can finish training tomorrow before your father arrives” you turned toward the door.

Shang Chi stood up from his bed and managed to catch your gentle hand before you walked away.

“Wait, why are you acting like this?” he said, confused. “We’ve been close friends since we were young, we practically did everything together. I know what I did was wrong but I’m sorry If you felt abandoned that night. I left you and my sister without ever coming back. But for you to just say get some rest? I would suspect it from my own sister, but not someone like you.” You turned around facing him with tears swelling a bit in your eyes,

“You know why they kept us so close? All that time spent growing up together? Because we were supposed to get married” you confessed. “ Your father had planned a marriage arrangement for us, but your mother protested that it was your right to choose who you loved. And she was right.” You wiped a tear and straightened your face. “I was going to tell you about it but your sister told me you were gone. So I’m sorry if I feel entitled to a teenage broken heart. You bitterly snatched your hand way, and stared coldly into his guilty face,

Shang Chi walked past you and gently closed his bedroom door and twisted the lock.

“Now what are you going to do lock---- your voice trailed off when you stared at Shang Chi slowly walking toward you while taking his shirt off. His broadened chest and toned muscles effortlessly flexed. You froze into place and your breath hitched when his physique was inches from yours. He looked down at your face with a predatory look and slowly licked and nibbled at your ear. You naturally gasped but liked the feeling of it. He stopped and grabbed your chin and pulled you in a kiss and devilishly nibbled at your bottom lip. You smirk realizing how playful he is. Shang Chi broke the kiss and leaned his head forward against yours.

“What I’m going to do is fix your broken heart” he seductively stated. You kiss him forcefully and wrap your fingers around the nap of his neck. Shang Chi deepens the kiss pulling you closer so his hand could roam free down your backside. You feel his hardened member through his pants and feel more excitement creep between your wet pussy. Shang Chi picks you up and gently lay you on the bed.

He climbs on top of you and begins to ravish your neck licking your sweet spot. You moan loudly and naturally wrap your legs around his waist.

“Seems like someone has been waiting for a very long time,” he smirked.

“Shut up” you say in a feverish haze.

He helped you take your gown off and ran his eyes around your body being careful to take mental pictures of your naked body. Without wasting a second he wrapped his lips around your sweet nipple and sucked it while playing with the other. You close your eyes and moan at the sensation. He switched to the other breast and gave it the same treatment. He stopped once your nipples got hard and lowered his fingers to rub over your panties.

“I want you to be super wet for me” he said before getting up to remove his pants. Shang Chi took his pants off but instead lowered himself between your legs. He opened your legs and ran his fingers in an up and down motion to build the friction between your clit. You moan and grab hold of the sheets besides you. Shang Chi watched you frantically fidget between his touch and stopped to slip your panties off. He placed his two fingers between your folds and smirked at how wet you were. He sucked the juices off his fingers and slowly licked the entrance of your pussy while holding your legs on his shoulders. He kept his eyes on you and you frowned your face in pleasure wanting more as he licked and sucked your clit repeatedly. His warm wet tongue began to your lick entrance and penetrated your opening giving you a different pleasure. You arch your back and grab hold onto Shang Chi’s hair to push his head further in. Your clit began to tighten as he sucked his lips around it. Your legs started to shake but just before you could get closer to a climax, he stopped and kissed the inside of your thigh before returning on top of you.

He grabbed around your thighs and pulled your body closure to his hips and pinned your hands above you. You looked in shock from the response of him pinning your wrists but looking into his eyes you became more turned on from his dominance. Shang Chi positioned his hardened member around your entrance and slowly pushed himself in enjoying the wet and warm of your pussy. You whimper from pleasure and naturally try to move your wrist but you couldn’t from the hold he has on your hands. He began to increase his pace and deepen his hardened member inside you to hit your g spot. You screamed out Shang Chi name and wrapped your legs around him. He let go of your wrists and placed them on the bed to balance himself. He nested his head between your shoulder and began leaving kisses while making each stroke deeper. You whimper in pleasure and curled your nails into his back. Your pussy tightens around his member from the knot tightening in your lower half. Shang Chi growled in pleasure, You whispered in his ear that you’re going to cum and he quickened his pace. The noise of skin slamming against each other filled the room. Shang Chi placed his fingers between your folds and rubbed your clit.

”Cum for me sweet girl” he lustfully planted in your ear. The sensation of your clit and him inside you sent you over the edge, and you quickly came with a silent moan. Shang Chi continued his pace until he came and clasped next to you out of breath. His chest was glistening in sweat and his hair was disheveled. You both look up and the ceiling dazed at what just happened. You turned your head to Shang Chi and looked at his eyes, “Round 2?” you ask hopefully. “I mean tomorrow is going to be a long day as well,” he smirked. And without hesitation you climb on top of him and smiled. “This time I’m in charge”

#simu liu #marvel #mcu #the legend of the ten rings #shang chi x reader #shang chi #shang chi and the ten rings #fanfic #smut #shang chi smut #story

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raineydays411 · 3 years

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My Father's daughter pt1

Summary: After the disastrous gala, you get an unexpected visit from your “mother”and her family.

A/n: Hello so I feel like the mom character should have a name, so from here on out, your mother's name is Christine. Also i hope y’all like this one cause i feel like it’s going kinda slow.

Growing up was rough.

Because your mother decided that you and Tony weren’t worth the effort, you had to mature pretty quickly. You’re father had fallen into this deep depression, where he can barely take care of himself. You had to make sure that your father woke up on time for meetings, made sure he ate, drank water, and inevitably had to make sure that he didn’t choke on his own vomit when he got shitfaced.

Needless to say, you were very mature for nine years old.

But then, a light in the form of Virginia Potts came into your lives. She saw the way you had taken on the role of Tonys caregiver, and was heartbroken. At first she thought it was just pure negligence from Tonys end, but as she spent more time with the both of you, she realized that Tony loved you more than anything in this world. So she stuck around.

At first you were weary of her. Not really trusting towards older woman, or motherly figures as you were scorned once. But she never gave up. Not on you or your father. No, she stayed even when you would run away on under her watch. She stayed even when you would try and steal your fathers cars for a quick joy ride through Manhattan. And she stayed when you broke down after your mother had people come pick up all her belongings from the Tower, not bothering to come herself and say goodbye.

She didn’t leave. She held you as you screamed and sobbed as the men packed away everything she owned. She held you even when you squirmed and scratched at her arms to get away. And she held you as you gave up and silently cried then eventually fell asleep, tightly clutching her midsection.

That's when you started to come around. You stopped running away whenever your father would leave you with her, wouldn’t talk back when she asked you to pick up a mess, and you even helped her out when some creep intern decided to put the moves on her during a company meeting.

It wasn’t until your father went missing when you truly saw her as someone you could trust. It was the worst three months of your life. Another parent gone suddenly from your life. You were relocated to mansion in Malibu, a big empty place where the halls echoed as you walked through them. ANd you had thought that Pepper was going to stay back in New York, she wasn’t your assistant after all. You were shocked to see her at the airport, suitcase in tow with a determined look.

Seeing the look of surprise on your face she stated,

“ I’m not going to let you do this alone.” ,then grabbed your hand to lead you through terminal.

You were grateful that she only acknowledged your tears when you were in the privacy of the private jet. She rubbed your back as you let the tears run down your face. The whole three months that you were in her care, your perspective changed.

She asked about your day, made sure you ate, tucked you in and held you whenever you had nightmares. With in that three month period, Pepper showed you what it was like to have a mother again. And she never let you down.

Then your dad came home, and your family was complete. You were ecstatic when they started dating and even more so when your father announced that they were going to get engaged.

And even though it took years, you finally trusted Pepper enough to see her as your mother. You were happy.

Which is why you were extra pissed when you came home from your mother-daughter day and saw your biological mother with Bruce Wayne in the common room. They were sitting on the couch and were getting glared at by the Avengers that were home from missions,(Natasha, Steve, and Sam).

“Dad, what’s going on?” You ask, looking past the hopeful and curious gazes from the couch.

“Kid, I think you better sit down.” Tony said through slightly clenched teeth. His face was grim, as he looked past you and made eye contact with Pepper. They had a silent conversation with their eyes, and she nodded. She squeezed your shoulders and took your bags, then with a quick glare she had the rest of the room cleared except for the four of you.

You took a seat across from your mother, Christine and Bruce. She sent a smile your way and was met with a blank look, “ Dad, what’s going on?”

He sighs and makes his way over to were you were seated, “I don’t know, Christine, maybe you should explain.”

His tone indicated that he knew why she was here, but wanted her to sound stupid. Pepper came over and sat on the t other side of you.

Christine glanced at the Pepper and cleared her throat, “Perhaps should be kept between family?”

You scoffed, “ Considering that Pep has been around longer than you ever have been, you have no right to decide who’s family to me and whos not.”

You see Pepper sit up straighter with pride and mother slump.

You sigh, “ What are you doing here?”

She looks at Bruce, who you honestly forgot was still there, “ Y/n...I want you to come home with us.”

A silence filled the room. You felt Pepper tense up at the words and saw your dads and clench into a fist.

You however just stared in utter disbelief.

“What.”

“I know it's far fetched.” Your mother starts, ignoring your scoff, “ But i really do think it would benefit you to come to Gotham with us, and get to know your siblings!”

You were seething.

“My siblings? You mean the family that you left us for.”

“Y/n that’s not-”

“No, You think that you can just waltz into my home, after nine years of absolutely no contact, no birthday cards, not even a text to let me know that you were alive, and expect me to what? Just welcome you into open arms? Leave MY family and go live with you?? Really?” You say with a scoff.

“Y/n there is a ot of factors you are not considering” Bruce chimes in for the first time.

You turn your glare onto him, “ And what you’re just okay with the fact that your wife has a whole other child who she just fucking abandoned?

“Language.” Your father mutters causing you to roll your eyes.

“Well, I can’t say this didn’t come as a shock.” Bruce states, “ But, I also know that I love my wife, and that I would welcome you to our home.”

Your throat was hurting with the amount if times you’ve scoffed, “ And I appreciate that, really, but I would never leave my family. Especially not for her.”

Christine's eyes start to tear up, “ Y/n please, a girl needs her mother.”

Those words triggered the anger inside you. Your blood boiled and you can tell that she knew she messed up.

“Oh? Is that right? What about when I was six and I waited for you to come and take me to that mother's day dance, only you never showed up and I went with my nanny. Or when I was eight and you promised that you would take me to get my ears pierced but then you got a phone call and left so dad took me?”

You saw the tears run down her face as Bruce looked like he was thinking about something.

“Oh and what about when I was nine. I was nine and you promised to take me to the park. You remember that? Cause I do.”

Tony tenses next to you, knowing what you were about to say.

“Y/n I can never apologize enough but-” You cut her off

“I was NINE and your promised to take me to the park” You continue, “ But you left. And this time you didn’t come back.” You finish and lean forward, “ Tell me, why the HELL would you think that I would want to come live with you and your fucking family?”

The room was once again engulfed in a tense silence. The only sounds were the sniffling of your mother.

“You’re my baby girl...my petal. I love you and always have...” She starts, “ My biggest regret is leaving you that day and you have to know that Y/n.”

You feel tears start to rise, a knot in your throat.

Peppers hand squeezes yours and you calm down and say

“Then you’re gonna have to learn to live with it.”

Then you stand up and walk right out of the room. Leaving the adults and marching straight to the training rooms to let out some steam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the common room, a tense silence weighed on the adults. It seemed like no one knew exactly what to say, or they didn’t want to speak up.

Only when Tony cleared his throat did Christine speak up again.

“I didn’t come to cause any trouble.” she said quietly.

“What did you think would happen?”Tony says crossing his arms, “Surely you didn’t expect her to leave with you?”

“No Tony I didn’t. I just thought she would’ve considered it. I am still her mother.”

Pepper snorted, causing the attention to turn to her.

Christine's eyes narrowed, “ And who exactly are you to my daughter?”

Tony tensed, knowing not to mess with Pepper especially when it came to you. He sat back and waited for mamma bear to come out.

Pepper sent a glare her way, “ Me? I’m just the woman who has been raising her for the past nine years.”

Before Christine can get another word on Pepper continued on,

“ I don’t know who you think you are, but you have put Y/n and Tony through a lot of turmoil throughout the years. And now you think you can come in here and demand forgiveness from them?? That’s not happening.”

Bruce started to speak up, “I understand the pain you're family must have gone through, and I am sorry about my...unknowing participation, but Christine is willing to work on her relationship with her daughter.”

Now Tony started speaking, “why? Why now? Y/n is practically an adult, she doesn’t need you anymore. Not like she did before.”

“I’m her mother.” Christine said stubbornly, “ She’ll always need her mother.”

“And she has one. Just not you.” Pepper said standing from her spot, “ I think it’s time for you two to leave. I have to go comfort MY daughter.”

And with that Pepper made her way to the door where you disappeared, knowing exactly where you are. But before she left, she turned and said

“It was lovely to meet you Mrs. Wayne”

and left, leaving Tony to show them to the elevator.

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