#Violence. For all that it's still quite a lot of fun and very recognisably The Sweeney; perhaps the most successful translation from small

[disaster-j]

I'm new to BL and got introduced to OffGun first and I'm really really impressed by Gun. Since you have been in this fandom for a long time, can you tell me random stuff about Gun that a casual fan might not know about him?

Oh sure! Here's some fun facts that new/casual fans may not know-

1. Gun started out as a child actor. He was already quite passionate about acting as young as age 8/9 and his mother would take him to auditions where, at first, he'd get small background roles but then eventually landed the title/lead role as Gomin in a traditional thai lakorn at age 9. Gomin was wildly popular in thailand to the point Gun would still be recognised as him in high school.

2. Gun has been acting pretty much non-stop since age 9 and has been in several critically acclaimed projects. He's worked with like half the thai industry at this point.

3. Growing up, through his acting career, Gun helped financially support his then struggling family. He doesn't talk about it very often but has mentioned these struggles in interviews about growing up in the industry in the past.

4. He was once the villain in a Very Explicit movie about gang violence, drugs and prostitution. It's called Playboy and the Gang of Cherry. There's a prequel focusing on Gun's character called Bittersweet Chocolate. I haven't really seen more than clips of either but they're very messed up and pretty explicit apparently.

5. In 2014, Gun auditioned to be a host on Five Live Fresh which was a web show hosted by Bang Channel, the origin point of what we now know as gmmtv. Gun did not pass the audition and the show ended being hosted by Off, Tay, New and Gun Korawit. Talk about a missed opportunity...

6. In November of 2015, Gun met with P'Tha, managing director of GMMTV, to discuss the possibility of joining on as a GMM artist. He was convinced on the spot and signed the contract that same day bc he'd get to have lots of people to spend time with. He said that working as an independent artist didn't give him such opportunities and he'd get lonely.

7. In one of the takes for the infamous first PickRome kiss, known for it's awkwardness, Gun accidentally spat on Off because he couldn't hold in his laughter.

8. Gun loves to cook. He often makes big batches of food and invites friends over to eat with him. He even sends food over to GMM people like Off, Jennie, Tay, Godji, etc. if he can. He seems to really like making spicy ant egg soup,a southern thai specialty, recently. He once did a food pop-up where people could order his food through IG and get a taste of his cooking. There were times when he even cooked on the Not Me set for the cast and crew. His love for cooking definitely comes out in OffGun's web show Mommy Taste where they go to their friends' homes and have a cook-off. Gun pretty much always does all the cooking while Off just talks and entertains.

9. In the scene where White crawls under the fence to chase after Sean, Gun got stuck on the first take because, according to P'Nuchy, his ass is too thicc.

10. Gun is currently filming for and will be starring in an action-packed indie fantasy thriller by the title The Snake Queen alongside costar Patricia Good. It's a highly anticipated project and given the director's past ties with netflix projects there's hooe that the film will eventually be available on netflix for international audiences. So definitely look forward to that!

I think ten is enough for now, yeah?

[afairytalestray]

Tuggoffelees 1 and Black&White Family 2

I can’t believe I’ve gotten to Part 3 of this series and I’m only now mentioning my favourite ship of all time! Tuggoffelees, my OTP, my beloved. As always, all hcs in this series will be pre-canon, if we accept the musical as the present day canon. Here’s my take on how Misto’s relationship with Tugger and with his half siblings develops :) (consistent tense usage? I don’t know her) (masterpost here!)

Tugger was totally enamoured by Mistoffelees from day one. They didn’t meet until after Munkustrap and Demeter’s ball (the one after Bomba/Demeter/Misto’s arrival in the Junkyard, which Misto skipped due to still fearing the other Cats), when Tugger happens across Misto dancing and practising his magic in a quiet corner by himself. For the first time in his life, the Rum Tum Tugger is rendered speechless, and just sits and watches in silent awe for like half an hour until Misto realises he’s there. Misto is initially very wary of Tugger, having heard about his flirty and flighty nature, but Tugger is so warm and genuine in his admiration of Misto’s abilities that he struggles to see what the stories were on about. The two immediately bond. They both have very great fears of violence and abandonment by family members/Macavity, which allow them to feel comfortable with one another and understand each other on a deep level better than anyone else in very little time. 

Misto, despite his own massive crush, is extremely oblivious to Tugger’s true feelings for him for a long time; after all, in what universe would the most popular and attractive Cat in the tribe see weird, skittish little him as anything more than a friend? But Tugger thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and despite his fickle tendencies, is doggedly determined when he decides on something. He can’t put his finger on what exactly Misto makes him feel right away, but he knows that it’s good. He at first only recognises it as a weird and confusing desire to spend all his time only with him, and only after someone else points out that he’s not been up to his usual flirty shenanigans in a while. He struggles to explain it; since he’s one of the only ones Misto is able to talk to at that point, he’s one of the only ones who sees him for the fun, warm, and high-key sassy tom he is behind the shyness. It took a very long (and naturally embarrassing) talk with his father to help him work out what exactly he was feeling, and at Old Deuteronomy’s advice he resolved to pursue a serious relationship with Misto. It takes a while, partially because Misto seems to be immune to all Tugger’s best moves (read: oblivious to their real intention and therefore assumes he’s joking), and also because Tugger gets all heart-eyed and tongue-tied whenever Misto smiles at him - the usually suave rockstar Cat becomes a pile of goo.  After all his moves fail, Tugger is at a loss of what to do. In the end, he manages it completely by accident.

Misto is a perfectionist and extremely prone to over-working. Tugger’s insistence on being close by/helping him practise is the only reason he doesn’t wipe out basically all the time. Tugger finds him one evening when he’s pushed himself too far, exhausted and aching and barely able to walk. Tugger’s den is closer, so he picks him up and carries him back there - Misto is asleep long before Tugger lays him down on the blankets. He’s kinda mad - half at Misto for ignoring his own limits, half at himself for not being there to help him - but struggles to stay angry with him when he’s very clearly in pain. He confronts him the next day, which confuses Misto, who’s not really used to having people care about him the way Tugger does. Misto questions why it’s bothering Tugger so much, which prompts him to angrily blurt out that it sucks so much to see someone you love hurt themself like that and not seem to care. He doesn’t realise what he’s saying until he’s said it. It hangs in the air awkwardly for a few moments before Tugger throws caution to the wind and launches into a full confession of his feelings for him. He gets on a roll and doesn’t stop until Misto kisses him (in so learning that that is the best and only guaranteed way to shut Tugger up). From there things develop very quickly. To exactly no one’s surprise they become the youngest mated pair in Jellicle memory at the next ball. Old D bawls like a kitten he’s so happy. 

Tugger and Mistoffelees grew very close very quickly, which did wonders for Misto’s confidence and both of their self-esteem. It did, however, also strain Alonzo and Tugger’s already rocky relationship to near breaking point. Alonzo, having learned of Misto’s story and his mother’s death, feels incredibly guilty for turning away from him. He becomes jealous of how quickly Tugger was able to get close to Misto while he still struggles to even get him to talk to him, and thinks Tugger is an obnoxious bad influence and warns Misto against him. Tugger is normally fairly easygoing and happy to let rumours roll off him like water off a duck’s back, he even sometimes enjoys them and encourages them if he thinks they’re amusing. However, this he takes personally, and very seriously (as he will with any disparagement of his relationship with Misto, or suggestion that he doesn’t take it seriously). Tugger feels very protective of Misto, knowing very well the pain of being on the receiving end of his eldest brother’s rage, and of their blossoming relationship; he asserts that Alonzo should have gone after Misto when his mother attacked him, and that it’s Alonzo’s own damn fault he doesn’t have a relationship with Misto and it’s got nothing to do with Tugger. It becomes a very sore point of contention between the two of them.

Once Misto is more comfortable in himself and who he is, he begins to slowly build a bond with his half siblings. He becomes more comfortable with Victoria quickly, they both enjoy hanging out without really communicating, just enjoying each other’s company in peace. Victoria is deaf. She can lip-read, but Misto is very determined to learn sign language, and when he gets reasonably competent at that it becomes their main method of communication.

Alonzo is a lot trickier, the poor guy still feels so guilty. Misto holds no resentment towards him at all, he’s really happy Alonzo doesn’t hate him and totally understands why he couldn’t see him back then when everything was still fresh and painful for him - he doesn’t blame him at all. But he can’t seem to get that into Alonzo’s head. Every time it comes up all Alonzo can think about is that if he had just been more mature/compassionate/accepting back then Misto wouldn’t have gone through everything he did. 

Alonzo now desperately wants a relationship with his little brother, but his guilt makes it so he struggles horribly at communicating with him and is awkward around him, which in turn makes Misto nervous and uncomfortable (even more than he generally was at that time), which makes it even worse for poor Lonz. He becomes very protective of Misto as he feels like it’s the only thing he can now do for him (if he didn’t do it before then he’ll sure as hell make up for it now). This, unfortunately, tends to result in him getting into fights. He and Tugger have been and always will be chalk and cheese, but he also argued with his mother and now refuses to speak to her. When Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer arrived in the Junkyard, freshly escaped from Macavity and seeking refuge, it really freaked Misto out, and Alonzo immediately took a very hard stance against them and wouldn’t give them a chance. He got into a physical fight with Bombalurina that had to be broken up by Munkustrap when she wouldn’t let him close to her den (where Misto and Demeter had holed up). He has now begrudgingly accepted the twins, but keeps his guard up around them. 

As his and Misto’s relationship improved, the awkwardness ended up dissipating completely and the two became quite close. The protectiveness, however, never did go away. It toned down a lot, but at any given moment Alonzo is always ready and willing to throw hands for his little brother and sister.

[13atoms]

Going Soft (Dhawan!Master x Reader)

Fluff / hurt / comfort, slight mention of violence. [1.3k]

Happy birthday @imthedoctorlove !! This isn’t quite as fluffy as I meant it to be, but hope you like it!! 

“You will all feel my wrath for this!”

“Master…”

“EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!”

“Master…” you whined again, the live cameras in front of him flashing off as he sighed, ran his shaking hands through his scruffy hair and shot you the last of his intense death glare.

It was cruel enough to make you shrink back from your position off-camera. Outside, you could hear screams of panic and confusion, stampedes and stockpiling and shouting as The Master’s message was relayed over and over again beneath crimson skies, the blood of politicians staining the steps outside as the people protested.

“Not my fault,” The Master had rationalised as the people took knives to their own leaders’ chests, “awfully corrupt, this lot.”

You had held your tongue, horrified by the brutality of this species as soon as his day of reigning terror had begun.

Granted, The Master was pretty brutal too. But he hadn’t directly killed anyone. It was a new compromise the pair of you were working on.

“What is it?” he snapped as you distracted him from his self-appointed-ruler speech.

You hadn’t undermined him, the cameras were paused, but you knew you’d cut off his steadily building rant.

“I wanna leave,” you admitted.

The climate here was too hot. The palace was ugly with antiquated technology. The locals were rude. There was no food you would risk consuming. You hated seeing him like this, out of control and sweating from the adrenaline rush of subjugating an already-troubled people.

It was mainly the last reason.

“You can,” he brushed you off, still too hyped up on his own power, turning back to the broadcasting system over which he would senselessly reel off demands just for the hell of it.

“Are you telling me to just walk back to the TARDIS?”

It was on the other side of the city, disguised as a side door on a very ordinary house, a thirty-minute walk at best. Outside you heard a scream, then the distinctive crunch of bones under a vehicle.

For a moment you caught how his face fell in that way it did when he realised he’d gone too far, and you hoped he’d call the whole thing off, summon his ship and let you leave for somewhere happier.

These people could calm down and go back to their lives, the mysterious alien agent of chaos vanishing and leaving them with a little shared trauma and the chance for a new, better leadership. That way you could pretend you had helped. The guilty blood spilt would be justifiable, and you could manage to sleep at night. At least, that was what you hoped, as you laid in The Master’s bed and heard him muttering about his next plans.

He’d become obsessive lately. You didn’t know how to bring him back. His eyes were bloodshot and his hands would shake more and more each day until you feared it was a permanent nervy tremor.

“I’m not telling you to do anything, doll.”

You exhaled your anger, bit down your fear, and strode out the front door. Then, time seemed to slow, your senses fighting to keep up as the locked door you had hidden behind no longer protected you.

It was like you couldn’t process fast enough.

You saw a flash of that sticky crimson on concrete you had been avoiding.

Heard the shouts of crowds as they recognised you for your role in this.

The glint of a long knife, immediately drawn and swung towards you in preparation to take revenge.

A feeling of regret in your stomach.

Then, the firm hand on your waist, the breathless feeling of a short-range teleport, a furious exhale into your ear and a familiar stubble against your cheek.

The Master kept you pulled to his body as you materialised in his TARDIS, both of you panting and blinking against the soft yellow light of his ship.

“I didn’t think you’d do it,” he muttered angrily.

You knew his rage wasn’t directed at you.

His hand on your waist softened but he didn’t let you go. You exhaled, afraid to move too much, the image of that blade still behind your eyelids as you blinked. The longer you stayed motionless, the more he seemed to soften, until he was cupping your face.

“I’m sorry, love. Did I go too far?”

You nodded, though he already had the answer for himself. He shucked off his jacket, and you wondered how he hadn’t been too hot on that sweltering planet. Time Lord stuff, you reminded yourself.

“Old habits,” he muttered by way of explanation, looking away as he threw the garment onto a nearby armchair. He didn’t need to see the disappointment on your face.

“I got overexcited,” he sighed, and you felt a pang of regret for a moment at ruining his plans.

Then, the image of those blood-soaked stairs returned.

“I thought we were past that,” you whispered, your quietness seeming to make him stand at attention as concern fluttered over his face.

“Wasn’t it fun, though? The power? The fear?”

“I don’t want that. And I don’t… I know you’re powerful. I don’t need to see it.”

He got like that sometimes, showing off with time travels or expensive gifts or conducting the downfall of an ancient political dynasty, just to remind you who he was. But you loved the man he was, not the power he wielded.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you,” you sighed dismissively.

“That was the last one, I swear it.”

He stepped back into your personal space, hands on your hips and breath on your face as he tilted his head to find your jawline, kissing softly in what you knew was an apology. You let the tension leave your body, knowing that argument was over, that it was already being glossed over with the gentleness of his lips and the soft massage of his hands on your flesh.

When he tried to kiss your lips, you pulled back.

“You promise?”

“I promise, my love.”

The word love had barely left his mouth before his lips were on yours, a deep searing kiss which was so distinctively his you could recognise it blind and deaf. He kissed with experience and passion and touch-starvedness and desperation, and it broke and swelled your heart each time you felt it.

His mouth left yours and began to follow his deft fingers on a journey down your body, finding your collarbone as he started to fumble with your clothing. It took a breathy sigh of ‘Koschei’ for him to gasp and stand up straight, staring into your eyes with a rigid posture which betrayed his tension.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he whispered, with mellowness rather than conspiracy edging his words. The Master’s deep brown eyes fluttering between eye contact and distraction over and over again.

“Anything,” you muttered, half distracted by the fingers toying with the hem of your shirt.

“I didn’t enjoy it. I wanted to prove to myself I could do it, but I… it didn’t do anything for me. Didn’t give me the rush it used to. I heard those screams and I felt… nothing.”

You raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to be pleased or alarmed by his confession.

“I just… wanted to prove to myself I wasn’t going soft. Wasn’t losing my touch.”

“You haven’t,” you soothed, but he just chuckled and shook his head.

“You know, I rather think I have. And, it’s strange to say, I don’t really mind.”

“Yeah?”

It was a tease, a challenge to say what he meant candidly although you knew he wouldn’t. You were the variable in his life which had changed, and both of you knew it.

With a soft stroke of your hand, he pulled you to your bedroom to show you instead.

[xwing-baby]

A Day Off (Mandalorian x Reader)

This was inspired by everyone’s favourite @dindjarindiaries ​ and her lovely fic ‘The Challenge’ go read it because it's way better than this bullshit that my brain came up with. You’re an amazing writer Molly, I am sorry for this. I’m not sure why I really wrote this, but I hope you enjoy!

IMAGINE: Din leaves you for the day to go on a hunt. You entertain yourself and end up very drunk by the time he comes to find you. Hilarity ensues. (Drink responsibly kids!)

Word count: 2.4k... this was meant to be short. 

Warnings: Mention of alcohol, violence, and vomit! Please drink responsibly!! Cheeky bit of pining, little bit of flirting, fluff at the end!

The decision to leave you out of today’s hunt was a mutual one. You were tired and in need of a rest, the quarry was easy and Din was more than capable on his own anyway. So, he left you in a small town a few miles from his destination. In that small town, you found a tired old cantina, filled with enough booze and pleasant conversation to survive the next few hours. 

The hunt was done, the victim handed off successfully to the right person and Din was on his way to find you so you could move on to the next planet. He was tired and bruised from the hunt and wanted to get back to the safety of the Crest sooner rather than later, but knew as soon as he heard your distinctive laugh from outside the cantina that that was not going to be the reality. 

As if you knew he was coming, you stumbled out of the door before he could even open it. Your hair was messed up, strands falling out of the tie and into your face. There was liquid spilled down the front of your shirt and your boots were untied. You looked a mess. For a second he was a little worried, until a goofy smile spread across your face when you recognised him. 

“You came back!” You threw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around the Mandalorian. Shocked, Din stands still. Not really sure what to do with himself. You notice and laugh, stumbling back off him. “You were gone for like a million hours! I missed you” 

“It was ten hours,” Din said with a smile, “But we’re going now,”

“Great, ‘cus I don’t think I can go back in there again,” You ran ahead of Din a few paces and grimaced. “Not a lot of friends were made today! But-but- but! I did a good thing actually!” Din just kept walking, trying not to entertain your rambling. You carried on anyway, you were used to his silence by now. “There was this twi’lek right, looked great but oh my stars! The worst! Turns out he knew you! Everyone knows you, not a surprise there. But he also knew that I was with you and tried to chat shit about you!” You were shouting now, gesturing animatedly and zigzagging across the street. “And he kept going so I just punched him,” You mimicked your actions from early, swinging your arm and using the momentum to turn back around to face the Mandalorian, “Punched him straight in the face! It was awesome!” 

“You didn’t need to do that,” 

“He was an asshole of course I did,” You sighed, “And apparently you know his sister or something? Didn’t realise you were such a Casanova, Tinman!” Again Din didn’t reply. He knew exactly who you were on about and was a little proud that you’d punched the guy. Must have been Xi’an’s brother. “Well, of course you are,” You continued. “You’re so freaking handsome all the time, and nobody can even see your face!” You swung back around to walk forward again, swinging your arms by your sides and giggling as you thought about what the Mandalorian might look like. You hadn’t been in his crew long but had developed feelings for him quite quickly. Not that Din knew this, “You know, I bet you’re really pretty under that helmet,” You tapped the top of his head for emphasis. “I don’t think you understand how pretty you are with it on! Maybe it’s for the best that you keep it on, you’d never be able to get anything done!” 

“Alright, y/n,” 

“You’re going to make some woman very happy one day Mando,” You said with a dreamy look in your eye. 

Din smiled and blushed a little at your words. At the same time you had developed feelings for Din, Din had developed feelings for you. He was very glad to have the helmet to hide how obvious a blush came to his face when you said things like that. He wanted nothing more than to make you happy, if you only knew. 

The pair carried on walking out of the town, and towards the small valley the crest had been hidden in. You carried on rambling away, telling him in immense detail everything that had happened while he was gone. 

“And then I got challenged to a drinking contest with this other dude. I say dude but turns out he was a Wookie. And I won! Everyone says I didn’t but I saw the way he walked out of there, I won so hard! Drunk him under the table,” You spoke quickly and animatedly. Din wasn’t really listening anymore, just enjoying the sound of your voice and watching you as you walked ahead making sure you didn’t fall over. “You should have been there and we could have smashed it!” You laughed, spinning around to face him again now with a puzzled look on your face. “Have you ever been drunk, Mando?” 

“A few times,” He replied, “Watch where you’re going,” 

“I am,” You say, continuing to walk backwards anyway. You thought about something for a second then spoke again, “But what about the Creed? Don’t you have to drink alone? Or,” You stopped again and burst into laughter. Din stopped walking, his patience growing a little thin. “D-do you, Ha!” You could barely get your words out, tears streaming down your face laughing at your own thoughts. “To- to get around the cr-creed… oh my stars!” 

“Y/n I don’t have time for this,” He said sharply.

“You have to use a straw!” You howled with laughter. Din shook his head, he wanted to be annoyed at you but your infectious laugh had caught him. He stifled his own laughter. “I want to see it so bad! Oh my stars!” 

“You’ve had your fun now,” Din tried to sound serious, his voice wavering a bit through the modulator as he tried not to laugh. 

“Yes, yes… oh! I’m sorry,” You tried to take a deep breath to calm yourself down. “Yes, I’m sorry you’re a super serious Mandalorian you wouldn’t use a straw!” You coughed to force yourself to calm down but cackled with laughter again. Din started walking again, leaving you behind a few paces while you calmed yourself down. Eventually, you followed and saw the ship over the crest of the hill. 

“I’ll race you!” You called, already speeding past the Mandalorian down the grassy hill. “Winner gets the refresher first!” 

You ran as fast as you could, and looked back for just a second to see that your companion hadn’t followed you. Before you could even blink you tripped and fell on a rock sticking out of the grass. You fell, flipping over and landing with a thud on your back. You skidded to a halt at the bottom of the hill, conveniently next to your intended destination. This made Din run. 

Once he got to the bottom where you were, his panic quickly vanished as he found you in fits of laughter yet again. 

“Did you see that!” You laughed. “I won!” 

“Are you alright?” 

“My back hurts a little, but I won, loser!” You exclaimed, putting your fingers in a ‘L’ on your forehead. Din rolled his eyes. As if this whole experience couldn’t get more ridiculous. “Not going to help me up?” You pouted and held up your arms like a child. Din uncrossed his arms and held his gloved hand out for you to grab and pulled you up to your feet again. The back of your shirt was ripped and grass stains covered the pale materials along with a few drops of blood. You didn’t seem concerned at all as the alcohol in your system was numbing everything. 

Din opened the Crest and you walked up the ramp to the safety of its interior. 

“Where’s the baby?” You whispered loudly. Ever since you’d joined the crew you’d loved the Child like your own. Another thing Din admired about you. “Baby! We’re back,” 

“Why are you whispering?” 

“Shh!” You shoved your hand over the front of his helmet, “He might be sleeping,” Din pushed your hand off, and you carried on walking into the ship, creeping on your tiptoes. 

“I think you need to go to sleep,” 

“Only if you’ll come with me,” You turned around and looked the Mandalorian up and down, your playful attitude now turning darker. You played with the buttons of your shirt, slowly undoing them. Din was stunned, freezing in his spot. 

“That wouldn’t be appropriate,” Din tried to stay composed, but it was becoming more and more difficult as you took your top off. He knew he couldn’t do anything, you were way too drunk. He wasn’t an idiot. But he was also human. 

“I bet you’re so pretty under there,” You sighed. You moved to be closer to him when a small green creature stood on a box and caught your attention instead. “Hey little guy!” Din took a sigh of relief, the tension you had created dissipated almost instantly as you bent down to pet the little creature. 

While you were distracted he checked over your back, seeing only a few scrapes and deciding it would be fine until the morning when you’d sobered and also weren’t trying to flirt with him anymore. Well, the last part he didn’t mind so much. 

Din went about his usual take-off activities. He could hear you talking to the Child, telling the little thing about your day and listening to it babble back, acting as if you could understand what it was saying. Eventually, you disappeared into the ship. Din hoped that you had gone to sleep. 

You hadn’t. You went to throw up, ultimately finding an empty freight box. The mixture of spinning from alcohol and the bumpy takeoff made for an upsetting mix. The Child grimaced and put its hand up to comfort you. An odd feeling washed over you, like a warm water trickling through you, then you felt better. You could see straight now. The Child seemed happy with whatever it had done and toddled away. 

You pushed yourself off the floor, and went in search of a new shirt. The cold chill of space had begun to seep into the ship's cracks making you shiver. You stumbled into Din’s quarters, you shouldn’t have  been in there but it was the first place you thought to look for a new shirt. And you found one. His cot was messy, clothes thrown around the small room. You couldn’t help but think about him then, getting out of that armour… 

It was too much. You shook your head. Even your drunk brain knew it was wrong to think about him like that. He didn’t like you, like that, there was no need to encourage the idea. Instead, you pulled the closest piece of clothing on. It was a little too big, but it smelt like him which made you smile. 

You decided to go to the cockpit to bother the Mandalorian again. It was lonely being drunk on your own. You climbed up to the cockpit and stood in the door silently. Din was talking quietly to the Child, trying to pull it away from the many shiny switches on the control panel. You grinned, seeing him with the child made your heart soar. He was so sweet to the creature, for a moment you could forget what a formidable character the Mandalorian really was. He acted like the creature’s dad and it was entirely believable. Quietly, you settled into the seat to his right, looking out as the stars streamed past in hyperdrive. Din had noticed, though didn’t say anything. It was silent for a moment or two, bar the Child’s playful squeals as it played with a silver ball. Din figured you had fallen asleep, glad that you weren’t trying to flirt with him anymore. 

“When are you going to let me fly?” You ask suddenly. Din turns to you, but doesn’t say anything. This was almost a daily discussion. It was always no. “I know you said no the last time but I really think you’re underestimating me. I land badly one time and you never trust me to fly your ship!” 

“You crashed,” Mando said plainly.

“One time!” You exclaimed. “I’ll have you know it was very harsh conditions, and desert planets are very deceptive! Give me a nice- a nice planet,” You slurred as your eyes become heavier, “and I promise I will land the crest beautifully,”

“No way,” 

“Spoil sport,” You grumble. The Child hopped up into your lap, and presented the silver ball it had in its mouth, which made you giggle. You settled further into the seat, throwing your legs over the armrest, kicking them against the leather. The Child sat in your lap and showed you its new trick of making the item float. 

Mindlessly you began to sing, quietly, and play with the Child. The melody made Din’s ears prick, you were singing in Mando’a, a song that he hadn’t heard since he was a child. Your voice made him shiver, memories flooding back of the few happy moments of his life when this song was sung last. 

You sang it to the end, with very few mistakes, making Din wonder how long you’d known it. You must have known it for a while, but you’d never understood him when he spoke the language before. 

“Where did you learn that?” He finally caved and asked, wanting nothing more than for you to sing it again.

“I learnt it for you,” You said with a yawn, your eyes closing. You started singing again, the words now fading into mumbles and eventually you fell asleep. He turned in his chair to look at you as you were quiet once more. You’d curled yourself up in the chair, head tilted back resting on the wall. The Child sat in your chest, playing with the ends of your hair. The child looked at Din and smiled, then back at you. It's a little green hand patting your leg and it cooed.

“I know, kid.”

A/N: That ended a lot softer than I planned but hey ho. Remember drink responsibly, don’t challenge a wookie to a drinking challenge, you will lose. They’re massive. Goodnight!

Tagging: @captain-skytrash​ @dindjarindiaries​ @dartheldur​ @inked-poet​ @tortles

[lairofsentinel]

Talking about the smidgens we saw of Gale, the wizard of Waterdeep.

[Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access Spoilers]

Updated, AGAIN, because the hell of new aspects we saw when some bugs were sorted out. Warning:  all this analysis was done for game versions 4.1.83 and 4.1.84

Well, I had to rewrite all this because the explorations of dialogue options and the bugs being, somehow, solved, allowed me to see small details from Gale that stand out or end up being more than curious to me. I'll list his main features to make things short (hopefully), and useful for... eventual fics:

Gale is a char who approves any good treatment to animals (and creatures in general). He has a cat, a Library, and writes poetry sometimes.

He doesn't like gratuitous murdering which is implied in the anecdote he told us about how he stopped a massacre in a Waterdeep city inn just by buying a round to everyone. It is also implied in his approval in most situations; even in the one with the ogres having sex.

He gives you disapproval most of the time if you use violence and intimidation as your first approach in solving a situation. He prefers eloquence, diplomacy, and negotiation. However, he is flexible enough to approve a performance-intimidation in front of goblins to avoid bloodshed. Point (2) is primary. So... he truly is a pragmatic char. It's not white and black: “never use intimidation/lie” or that kind of over-simplistic view.

He likes logical and reasonable conversations. An action that earned his disapproval can be undone if the main char (MC) talks to him and explains their reasons. You can disagree with him without having approval penalties most of the time. You can question many situations and, as long as it remains a mental exercise, there are no penalties. That surprised me a lot. Most characters disapprove you if you wonder about a potential situation, but Gale no. He is the scholar, he will allow a safe space to think around things without being too judgemental. We will see if this attitude lasts in the full game. No wonder some players see in him “the Teacher” archetype. Quite so.

He was an Arch wizard while being Mystra's Chosen One, and fell from grace when she put him aside. What is hard for me to grasp is if he remained Chosen One and therefore able to cast silver-fire during that intermediate period when he stopped having Mystra's whispers and his folly with the netherese taint. We know that in that moment Mystra removed herself from his life completely. But before, she has only stopped whispering and sleeping with him. So far I understand, being her Chosen One doesn't imply sleeping with her, most of the time.

He was a teacher (not surprising, since his over-explanation vices and details such as the pronunciation of “Trashj” make us suspect it), and had some students that he could not keep longer since their ineptitudes irked him. 

Unlike the stereotypical “scholar” type, he knows how to cook, since he has been doing stews for the party in the camp. He also loves baths. A bit siding with the stereotypical “scholar” type, but a nice change for a “standard adventurer” type, in which most of the time it is implied that they are stinky with “animalistic” scents and uglier descriptors. No, Gale likes his lavender-scented baths. Good. 

He is an over-thinker strategist. And also a char who takes responsibility for his own mistakes to the point that, when he dies for the first time, a programmed image is activated to help anyone to revive him. Despite the fact that he is dead and can give a shit about that, he is still responsible of the catastrophe that may happen if that weird magic orb stuck in his chest erupts.

He is also forcing me to check the dictionary like no other game has done in a while... the fucker uses uncommon words a lot of the time. Smidges? really? Gale is a hard char for a non native English speaker.

We can assume that during his teenage time, he was a pretty prideful peacock to the point to be blind at the reality (well, yeah, he romanced a goddess; if that doesn't give you a hell of a ego boost...) He remembers his young self's pride with a thick level of regret. He is now a mature scholar that, for a change, does not patronise you or thinks of himself better than anyone. Sure, he over-explains a lot, but that's something that most scholars/teachers do when they are worried that, maybe, they won't be understood.

He is confident in his years of study (for that reason he is a capable wizard despite having lost Mystra's favours), but he acknowledges his limits. Which is a nice change to see in the “scholar” archetype, the typical know-it-all. He knows a lot, he knows that he knows (it would be ridiculous to hide his knowledge), but he is human, and like he says: “humans are fallible”. However, it’s more than obvious that he has a big ego for everything he does, which makes sense since he follows a motto in his life: “try to excel at everything”. High accomplished scholar lifestyle, indeed.

If you don't share the Weave with him, he will state that nights are lonesome. It seems he truly is looking for some connection with a keen fellow mind. Probably it's this loneliness which triggers his urge to see Mystra's face during the night. We also know he, in general, lives in constant fear due to the Netherese taint in his chest. So, very lonely, and very scared. 

I don't know if this is his poet side unable to be switched-off or it's another implication of how he sees sexual encounters: he never says sex (at least in my many runs, he never did it). He always gets around the word: love-making, art of the body, intimacy. For a scholar who is so prone to use the technical word for everything, and has already stated he is not coy at all, the use of these metaphors make me wonder if it's because he always conceives sex as something more than mere physical pleasure. For him, it seems to come with a more emotional connection (which makes sense if we think he will only sleep with those who connected to him through the Weave). Another small detail that may confirm this is when he asks the MC if the “other night” was wonderful. If MC claims it was “fun”, Gale shows a certain degree of uneasiness by that word choice, making us infer that he certainly doesn’t see sex as “fun” but as something else, deeper. 

His tadpole dreams are about Mystra (rather obvious). His most desperate desire is forgiveness. Mystra's forgiveness.

Mystra was his first love. The affair did not last long. And since soon after her abandonment he looked for the Primal Weave book and was infested by it; one could assume he has been focused on solving his problem for the rest of his life than putting some energy in romance, especially if we think about (13). It's hard to say with certainty (especially with banters like these), but since he is a char that you can only sleep with if you share a mind-connection through the Weave, it seems less plausible that he could encourage into casual relationships during all this period of his life looking for a solution to the Netherese orb. If he got previous relationships, they may have been meaningful, but clearly not enough to win over the goddess’ and his urges to see her, lol.

He did not mind Mystra having many other lovers besides him. It seems to be the same with the MC, since he will insist in sleeping with them even after the party and even after the MC slept with someone else (however, that only occurs if the romantic connection through the Weave happened.) This fact combined with (13) and (15) make me wonder if he certainly wants to be with the MC too badly, even in an open relationship. We need to see the rest of his romance to be sure.

Since he looks for forgiveness so desperately, he is a char who will forgive most mistakes made by the MC if they acknowledge them.

He is a char who knows how grey and complex situations can be. This is inferred by the way he speaks of the tiefling girl who tried to steal the idol in the Grove: “She is not innocent, but that doesn't mean she is guilty.” (of course there is a lot of self projection there). This is also implied in his (surprising) approval of raising Mayrina's husband and giving her the control wand to search for a solution in Neverwinter. That shows that he can accept the fuckest weirdest situations, recognising that “sometimes we can’t choose situations but we can try to do our best, not always having the best results”. Also self-projection.

He appreciates his privacy to the point to leave the MC if the abuse of the tadpole power continues. However, and honouring (4), you can abuse of these powers and convince him with reasons: if you don't lie to him and explain that you have a responsibility with the group to know what happens with his secret, he will understand, and despite disapproving the MC actions, will remain without major troubles.

Certainly, as long as you give him reasons and logical concepts, he can almost understand everything with no disapproval or at least little one.

Consent and negotiation are vital to him, apparently. However, this aspect reaches a flaw. He was too angry with Nettie when she almost killed the MC, and he made a short speech about how nobody has the right to decide your options for you. Yet, in his romance scene, we see that he deliberately hid his true relationship with Mystra and his bomb-condition in order to sleep with the MC. In fact, during the party, if the MC tells him that doubts if he is the one they want, Gale will drop a curious argument: “That’s because you’ve yet to find out what your’re missing” (implying that he himself is what you need), followed by his most curious “Doubt is a spoilsport. Cast it aside”. That coming from a scholar is rotten, lol. He tries every convincing argument to sleep with the MC (if they shared the moment of the Weave, of course)

This happens in every variation of the path: whether the MC sleeps with him in the party, or afterwards, Gale will always wait for sharing a night with the MC before speaking the truth. It's hard to read this aspect since, he is a char who, apparently, needs a mind-connection with his partner for intimacy (see (12) and (13)); so this terrible strategy is like his way of trying to guarantee that the MC will not abandon him. I guess there is something along those line, specially if we keep in mind the book he explained: a book which is not only about the art of the body and the night and sex, but of other things such as conversation, exploration, and acceptance of oneself and the other. He is expecting with this night to reach the MC to a certain degree of intimacy in which, despite the raw truth, the acceptance will prevail. Remembering (16), he truly wants to sleep with the MC, baaaadly. And somehow everything feels like he wants to push things in a subtle way to a certain degree of commitment. Following the concept in (12), I think he has been alone for too long, and desperately needs someone in his lonesome nights and in helping him to deal with his burden. Finding someone who connected to him through the Weave (such a personal experience for him as it is) made him a bit desperate or eager. We know his emotion for the MC may have grown over those days since the connection with the Weave. In two occasions he or the MC can ask if both of them think about that moment. Gale says yes with such enthusiasm, that it may imply...that maybe, he has been thinking about that more times than he truly wants to tell the MC. The Weave moment had such a strong effect on Gale that, if the MC spent the night with another companion and rejects Gale’s proposition later, he will trail off a sentence that implies he was convinced that the MC and he were heading into something serious and deep.

Of course, once he sleeps with the MC, he confesses the truth right afterwards, accepting--without approval penalties--the harshest responses that the MC can give. He clearly knows that such manoeuvre was truly disloyal, especially contrasting it with all his speech of consent and rights to know about the true situation one is in. In the next morning, he acknowledges it was a rotten thing to do and apologies. But this shows that his principles can be bend and even be broken when it comes to emotions. I'm still a bit wary of his emotional stability, what can I say.

Mystra is more than an ex-lover for him, it’s magic. And Magic is everything for him, even more than life. I wonder if, given the opportunity, Mystra forgives him and asks him to return to her side, would he accept it without second thoughts leaving the romanced MC? It's true he also acknowledges that all that fascination he had with the goddess was a product of his youth; he knows he was a plaything in her hands. But I don't see he got over with it. He still idealises her, as such a good poet does. Idealisation, especially when a Goddess is involved, is a terrible thing to fight against for the next partner. No matter what speech of loyalties and consent he states during the whole game, the MC knows that magic and Mystra are Gale's Achilles’ heel, and factors in which they  can’t predict his behaviour.

We also know that, because his bomb-condition, he tries to take all the opportunities to enjoy the little things of life that make him human.

Gale is a straightforward and honest (mostly, let's say) char. But we can see that he prefers to be honest in most situations, except in his Achille’s heel. Even when he wanted to hide all the stuff about the bomb in his chest, he did it by explicitly warning us that he was hiding something he did not want to talk about. Which is an honest approach considering the hardcore burden he carries and the immediate rejection it can mean if the truth unfolds too quickly among strangers.

When it comes to concepts, Gale has the symbol of the storm attached to him. So far, we see he talks comparing things with storms or storm elements: his lack of knowledge to explain why they are not Mind Flayers yet: the silence before the storm; the fear that rushes into his body when the Weave orb asks him for magic to consume: the thunder of a storm reverberating in his soul, the day it will erupt: the lightning striking, the consumption of magic: water running through a sore throat, Life itself: a tempest. When he asked the player if they were a wizard, he explains that he needs an Arch wizard and compares them with a Tempest. If we see the main image of Baldur's gate 3, it's clear that his main element is electricity/storm... so... full witch-bolt-guy here.

[updated later] The Weave moment is important to romance Gale. Leaving the moment in ambiguity will give the MC another opportunity to make their intentions clear during the scene of the Loss. However, remaining vague will lock Gale into a friendship path. What happens during this scene may suggest that the ambiguity in the Weave was enough to keep Gale thinking about the romantic possibility, but he will not engage into it by his own, which confirms (15). Unless the opportunity presents itself clearly before him, he will not pursue the MC. Further details [here].

Last moment detail: Gale says “I cherish you” when he explains he will await death alone if the Netherese orb goes out of control. I was not sure if that meant something more or less than love or like (I can’t not overlook the subtle meaning of the words coming from Gale’s mouth, he is a poet and his word choices matter). Checking the dictionary I found that “cherish” (in a relationship) is defined as to hold or to treat as dear, to feel love for and to care for someone deeply and tenderly. This man went straight into a commitment relationship without thinking it twice, and without (I believe) the MC knowing it either xD. 

Let's see how these characteristics shift or develop deeper once the full game is out there. Now we have to wait a lot :(

To see videos where all this stuff is inferred or explicitly said, you can check [here]

More videos added later [here] and [here]

More content of bg3 in general [here]

[hellflame-for-a-reason]

Ingenium Fracta

Chapter one: the day the world caved in

Tw: mention of trauma, fire, vomit mention, implied major character death.

It had been yet another field trip- they really should stop going on those. Aizawa had been told to take them on a normal trip for once, so they were going to the mall, they probably should have been doing more normal teen things anyway. It really wasn't his fault this time, but it was obvious he was going to feel guilty. He had just been sitting on the bench when he saw her; a young girl, around the same age as his students, but she was definitely no hero, her blonde hair was pulled into space buns and her teeth were sharpened into fangs. The girl, Toga Himiko, made eye contact with him, smiling sweetly as she waved.

"Hiya EraserHead!"

"Oh god no." He stood up, putting his coffee down, glancing around and realizing he could only see around five of his students. The goggles went straight on, and he locked eyes with the girl, "where are your friends?"

"You mean the league?" She giggled as he began to walk towards her, "they're everywhere, just waiting for my signal! You can't do anything Eraser, you can't erase them if you don't know where they are!" Another giggle, this mini villain was really trying to test his patience but Aizawa wasn't going to let her get to him. Putting a hand up, he clicked the button in his hand, it was primed to send a message to the students' phones informing them to meet back where Aizawa was waiting for them. "Huh? What are you doing?" The girl asked him, tilting his head slightly, her smile pausing for just a moment.

"I'm bringing my students to me, so they know you lot are here." He turned to see the few that were closer look over and panic, recognising Toga.

"Sir!" One of his students, Ojiro, ran up to him, "why is a villain here??" Others quickly joined, crowding around him.

"Can someone go and alert security that there are villains here? Thank you, now how many do we have?" He began his headcount as Ojiro ran off again, quickly realising that they were seven short. He scanned the crowd again, "who are we missing?"

"Bakugo, Kirishima, Mina and Kaminari are still in hot topic, sir. I think they put their phones on silent," Sero spoke up, pulling at his tape nervously. Aizawa knew this boy cared deeply about his friends and of course he was bound to worry about Bakugo after their last run in with the league of villains.

"Alright, go and alert them, who else?"

"Sir," Todoroki spoke up in his usual tone, only a tad shakier than normal, "Midoriya, Uraraka and Iida are still missing, I believe they're likely together."

Aizawa internally cringed at that, the idea of those three being alone and possibly having to face a member of the league; Uraraka was less troubling and maybe Iida could be trusted to keep Midoriya in line but Aizawa wasn't sure he could trust Iida to run away after that Stain incident- especially if he was dealing with Stain devotees. He was about to ask Todoroki to go and fetch them when the mall intercom sounded.

"Attention all shoppers: a villain has been spotted on the premises. We ask you all to quickly but safely evacuate the building without panicking or use of your quirks; children must be attended to and the staff will be with you to help with any injury or stress caused."

"There," Aizawa looked back at Toga, who was standing there smiling, "now you can't use your signal."

"But that was my signal," a cold chill ran down his spine as she said those words, it dawned on him that he had been tricked, "thank you EraserHead!"

A blast of blue fire came from the nearby coffee shop, where the villain known as Dabi pulled off his trench coat disguise and aimed to kill. The fire was stopped by an ice wall pulled up by Todoroki, who seemed to struggle to keep his wall from melting. "Thank you Todoroki," Aizawa acknowledged him, "alright students, time for some impromptu fieldwork I guess; help the civilians evacuate then do so yourselves, if you get hurt, leave, you do not need to fight, please leave that to the pros. Other heros are on their way but I can handle it for now."

His class lept into action as he wrapped the small villain in his scarf, stopping her from moving, "you're staying with me, young lady, where the hell are your parents?"

"They cut me off," she giggled, "thought I was a lost cause." As much as this girl was a villain, to hear that someone's parents would do that, though not surprising, was very upsetting; this girl was school age, she still had her entire life ahead of her, yet she was already branded a villain. Aizawa wondered if there was a way a blood quirk could be useful for a hero…

That was besides the point, though, as he turned his eyes to Dabi, glaring daggers at the man as his scarf reached out another tendril to grab him. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"Believe it or not, EraserHead," he started, swatting the scarf away with a hand, "we don't want to bother you, we didn't even know you'd be here. We just wanted to rob this place."

"I don't believe you." Aizawa glared at him, not sure whether or not he was telling the truth, it was an awfully odd coincidence afterall, and it wouldn't be the first time the league went after a student.

"Don't then, I'm not bothered with whether you believe me or not, I just want to get this done and go home. I'm sure we can both agree on that."

There was no way in hell that Aizawa was going to let this villain out of his sight, no matter what happened, he did want to keep his distance, however, as he didn’t want Dabi to free the girl. So he turned to the side, keeping himself between the two villains without letting his gaze leave the young man at all.

-

Villains, if there was anything that made Tenya Iida's blood boil just as much as the oil in his engine, it would be villains. Especially the league of villains, those mangey Stain worshippers pushed him close to the edge by their mere existence. So when he heard the announcement over the intercoms and saw the leader of the league press his hand to a support beam, he saw red.

"Midoriya!" He yelled to his small friend, "did you see where Todoroki went? He could help stop the ceiling from collapsing."

"Oh! Ah, no, I didn't see which way he went!" Poor Midoriya seemed to be panicking slightly, and Tenya had to admit he was also very worried. This didn't turn out to be the fun shopping trip that the class had been looking forward to. Iida hadn't wanted to go as much, but he adored his classmates' excitement so he was just as ready for the trip as they were- but he wasn't ready for this.

Uraraka was already touching bits of rubble as it began to fall, "I can hold some of it up while you go get him! Hurry Deku!"

"Why do I have to go? Iida's faster!" He had to admit, Midoriya was right; he was faster. Unfortunately, speed wasn't the only thing they had to account for.

"You're the smallest of the two of us, you will be able to get through even if part of the ceiling collapses on the escalators. I, on the other hand, would likely become trapped."

Midoriya paused for a moment, staring up at him in silence. Tenya couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind those shining green eyes of his, he hoped to one day be privy to such thoughts. After a mere second of silence, Midoriya ran off towards the escalator, aiming to find Todoroki or someone else who could help.

Iida's attention turned back to Uraraka, who was struggling to keep the ceiling from falling as that ashen villain laughed and mocked her, calling her all sorts of things. A glance to the side told him that there were still many shoppers stuck on this level, so he raised his hands up, climbing up onto a bench. "Everyone! Please use the escalator and stairs on the left side to get to a higher floor! Don't shove one another and try to remain calm whilst moving as quickly as you can, my classmate and myself will do our best to keep this villain at bay, and there are other UA students present who will do the same until the pro heros arrive! Hurry please and be safe!"

The crowd seemed alright with obeying the orders of a child, heading up the route furthest from the villain. Although Tenya did hear some mumbling about UA's general unsafeness striking once again and he felt a pang of pain for the paperwork this would cause poor Mr Aizawa. He pushed that aside, however, when he heard the villain laughing.

"Aren't you that boy whose brother was left crippled by Stain? To be defeated by such a villain, your brother must have been quite the failure, mustn't he?" The villain's voice was hoarse and raspy, but his words were slow and he made sure that his words were obvious. His lips were incredibly chapped and he had a severed hand hiding his face, much like the other hands on his shoulders and arms. The words the villain spoke made Tenya's blood boil, but not only that, his engine started up of his own accord, heating up slowly on standby mode. He glared at the villain, revving his engines in warning, he didn't want to resort to violence again, but this man was testing his nerve with words like those ones. The villain just smiled, "oh, your parents must have been so disappointed, imagine how they'll feel when they hear you've fallen to a villain as well."

The villain's laughter filled the air as his fingers twitched, but all Tenya could hear was his own engine, roaring in his ears as his legs began to smoke, burning through his pants. He glared at the villain, bowing his frame slightly as he brought his hands up, ready to charge this fiend. "Ha… what are you doing now?" The villain didn't know much about Iida, he likely assumed that the boy was preparing to run away but Iida had too much pride to let such a villain say things about his elder brother.

"Reciprio burst! !"

Rushing forward, he heard Uraraka cry out, "Iida! No!" It was too late by that point, as there was no point Tenya had time to register her words, let alone brake. He crashed into the villain, plowing through into the wall behind said villain. He heard the wall crack against the impact, as well as the crunch from one or two of the villain's bones. That sound made him feel nauseous, he didn't want to hurt people, he hated the idea of causing harm but sometimes his anger got the better of him, and he'd rather this villain hurt than all those civilians.

Hands tried to grab at him, the villain was trying to hurt him, but Iida wasn't going to let that happen, he took the man by the wrists, holding him against the wall as they both slid to the floor, breathing heavily. The villain hissed up at him, the hand having slipped from his face, "you're disgusting, such a wonderful hero aren't you? Causing such blatant damage, even though your friends have warned you not to." Tenya didn't have to look up to see that he was right, the impact from the crash had broken even more of the wall and ceiling than had been broken before and there was a large chunk of wall threatening to fall on them.

He didn't have time to think about the villain's words, he was filled with too much fear and adrenaline. His anger had subsided by now and it took all he had not to panic, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do at this point. Glancing back, he saw Uraraka looking like she was about to be sick from overusing her quirk. "Uraraka!" His own voice sounded a little hoarse at this point, due to his dry it had gotten, his yell had startled her and she looked over at him with worry on her expression, "float me!"

"I can't!" She cried out in response, looking close to tears, "I'm already lifting too much!"

It was at that moment that Todoroki turned up, shooting a wall of ice to help hold up the ceiling. Midoriya followed close behind him, "what's happening?" He cried out, seeing the scene before him.

"Iida can't move without the villain touching him!" Uraraka decided to explain for him, "I can't float him because I'm alre-" she had to choke down puke before continuing, "I'm already carrying too much."

"I can't do much about that," Todoroki admitted, looking concerned but really not sounding it, "but I can try and keep the ceiling up so you carry less?"

"Please..?"

More ice shot up and to the ceiling, trapping some of the falling chunks above the walls and sheets of ice. Tenya could barely see it though, he couldn't keep his eyes off of the villain struggling beneath him. This was the head of the league of villains he believed, and it was very freaky to look down at the guy that had tried to hurt his classmates, the guy who had kidnapped Bakugo and the guy that was currently trying to grab his wrists. Tenya had never feared for his life quite as much as he did in that moment, all he could concentrate on was keeping the villain down and not letting his hands slip, though they were soaked through with sweat.

Drip, drip, drip. Water was dripping down onto him, his breath hitched as a droplet slid down his cheek. "What's happening?" He demanded to know, he was scared, and the only way to keep his voice from shaking was to speak it like an order.

"My ice is melting, it must be the heat from the fires upstairs!" Todoroki had to yell over the screams and explosions that were happening above them but his words were clear to Tenya. The rocks above him were going to fall… that villain's words were a self fulfilling prophecy.

"We have to get out of here!" Midoriya was panicking, you could hear it in his voice, "what do we do?!"

"I'll grab Iida!" A glance behind him let Tenya see Uraraka's hand reaching out to touch him, to make him float, to help him to safety…

then the ceiling caved in.

[justanotherlifeff]

This is a kinda angst kinda fluff request but bakugo x a reader who apologies a lot even when it isn't their fault

Sorry

Warnings: Domestic violence, angst but eventual fluff, mentions of addiction

The way you were always apologising pissed Bakugou off ever since you stepped into class 1A. At the begining, he saw you as yet another pushover extra who didn't deserve his attention. However, when he got to see your immensely powerful quirk and your amazing control over it, he had to notice you and he found you to be almost as irritating as Deku if not worse. Why were you always apologising to everyone? Why did you always mutter a 'sunimasen' every time you hit someone with your quirk during training? Did you feel like no one was at your level and you would have to baby them? Who the fuck did you think you are? These were the thoughts that played into Bakugou's mind about you. At first, he tried to shout at you to intimidate you, which utterly failed as you kept profusely apologising to him for upsetting him. After that, Bakugou just ignored your existance, or atleast he pretended to. If he was being honest to himself, he found you weird. The fact that you were always apologising wasn’t normal. Sure, Bakugou almost never apologised, but, even if he were to compare you to someone normal like Kirishima, your rate of apologising was unnatural.

With time, he came to notice more subtle details about you. He noticed how you flinched before starting to apologise to random people for no reason. He also noticed the fact that you always had a slight glint of fear in your eyes every time you apologised to someone. While initially Bakugou thought that you were doing this because you felt like you were superior to everyone, now he saw that you were genuinely scared of something. "She has a strong fucking quirk... What the hell is she so afraid of?" was one of the questions that plagued Bakugou's mind now. The other question would be, "Why do I even give a fuck?". Yes, ever since he found that you didn't apologise because you felt like you are superior, he found himself getting more drawn to you. Your quirk was very compatible with him when it came to sparring and he found himself asking you to train with him. Ofcourse, he was still annoyed by the fact that you apologised about every little thing but he had a feeling that something wasn’t right. Unlike Deku, you weren’t being nice just for the sake of being nice.

You on the other hand, grew closer to Bakugou with time. Ofcourse, he didn't know anything about your life and you knew that he would throw you away like garbage if he did but then again, you were always good at keeping secrets. Ever since you started training together, you found yourself getting drawn to him. You never talked much at class and tried to keep a low profile but you found yourself having lunch with him on UA's roof. Ofcourse he still shouted at you about apologising way too much but you just couldn’t take the risk of not doing so. You knew the consequences of mistakes like that too well. Yes, you thought that he would never find out, however, Bakugou was more perceptive than the average person. He noticed every single move you made unbeknownst to you and you never imagined the fact that he would follow you home.

Bakugou was confused by the way you made him feel lately. At class, you almost never talked. However, during lunch breaks, when you and Bakugou hung out together, he saw a different side to you. Yes, you still apologised about literally everything even when it wasn’t your fault or even if the issue itself had nothing to do with you. However, you cracked jokes that made him laugh and in rare occasions, you made sassy comebacks with a completely straight face that made him howl with laughter (though you started apologising for being rude after that). Bakugou was confused by the giddy feeling that you brought within him because he clearly enjoyed your company. After reluctantly taking advice from Kirishima about it, (Kirishima noticed Bakugou's behaviour towards you and figured out that Bakugou had a thing for you and hence, he gave Bakugou advice without Bakugou asking for his help because Bakugou would never ask for advice by himself) Bakugou figured out that he had a crush on you. Bakugou was never good at emotions but he wasn’t the one to be coward enough to run away from it (Because Kirishima pretty much dared him to ask you out). Hence, Bakugou made plans to ask you out.

After class was over and you were on your way home, Bakugou stopped you. You were confused by that since you and Bakugou didn't usually talk except for when you were training together or during lunch. "Oi, (L/N)!" he called out before you stopped. You were also surprised by the fact that he used your last name instead of one of his weird nicknames. "Oh hey Bakugou. What's up? Did I do something wrong? I'm so sorry..." you answered. "Nah you didn't do anything wrong dumbass. What I wanted to say was that do you want to have lunch with me on this weekend? We already have lunch together everyday so this shouldn’t be a problem for you." Bakugou told you, looking away from you, trying to hide an obvious blush. "Uh... Are you sure about it? I really don't want to bother you even more..." you muttered in answer. "Hah? Do you have shit for brains (L/N)? Why the fuck will I ask you out on a damn date if you fucking bothered me?" Bakugou barked at you. "Huh? Date? I... I can't... I'm sorry..." your eyes widened at the begining but then your eyes were watering as you choked out the last part of your sentence before running away, leaving Bakugou confused. With that, Bakugou had enough. He was going to uncover your secret at this very day because it was clear to him from your expression that you didn't want to reject him.

At first, Bakugou felt weird about following you. He maintained a good amount of distance so that you wouldn’t notice him as you got on a train. He knew where you lived at since you mentioned your train trip slightly during a conversation with him, enabling him to buy the ticket. The train trip didn't last too long and Bakugou was on your trail yet again. However, when he found you entering an area that could be recognised as a slum, Bakugou was unpleasantly surprised. You entered UA on recommendations as your quirk was very strong and you saved a citizen once, gathering the attention of a few pro heroes. Bakugou also knew that you were studying in UA under a scholarship since you had potential but bad financial conditions. However, he didn't expect your financial conditions to be that bad. Bakugou was hiding nearby as he saw you stop infront of a shabby house as if you were contemplating whether to enter or not. After a while of just standing there, you entered the house, closing the door behind you. "Did she reject me because her dumb ass thought I'll reject her cause she's poor?" Bakugou wondered angrily as he didn't like the fact that you thought so low of him. However, all his doubts were cleared just when he decided to go back home and the door to your house was roughly opened and you were thrown out of the house.

Bakugou's eyes widened at your condition. You were still in your school uniform but your hair was messed up and you were clutching your stomach in obvious pain. Bakugou decided not to hide anymore and ran towards you. "Shit! (L/N)! Are you okay?! What the fuck was that?!" Bakugou asked you loudly, his voice showing concern as his face twitched into an angry but concerned expression. You on the other hand was surprised, embarrassed, scared and in pain. "Bakugou... What are you doing here?" you asked him, croaking in pain. "I'll explain that later. Firstly, did someone hit you? Is this your home? Where are your parents? You have a shit tonne of explaining to do dammit! I'm taking you to a fucking hospital and don't fucking argue." Bakugou barked at you, picking you up from the street. "I'm sorry about this mess..." you croaked out only to get an incredulous look from Bakugou.

You were kicked in your stomach. The doctor in the nearby hospital gave you medicines to relieve the pain. After checking you, they found many bruises, results of domestic violence. Bakugou wasn’t allowed to be there with you since he wasn’t family when the police were called to interview you. After all the procedures were completed, you were moved to a ward room where you were to be kept for the day as the kick was quite strong. That was when Bakugou was finally allowed to see you. He had been waiting in the waiting room for hours. He needed to have a chat with you about everything. When he entered the room, he found you sitting on the bed, looking out of the window beside the bed. Hearing him come in, you looked at him and suddenly, Bakugou could see a glint of guilt in your eyes. "I'm so sorry about all that mess..." you muttered, looking down at the floor. "It's not your fault, dumbass. Do you wanna talk about it?" Bakugou asked you, trying to keep his rough voice soothing. "I... Okay... You deserve to know..." you muttered in answer before telling him everything.

Your mother was a drug addict. Your father left you when you were in elementary school and never came back. Your mother was a drug dealer and that's where the money to support the family came from. You were ashamed of your background because how can the daughter of a criminal be a hero? You've wanted to be a hero since you were a kid and getting into UA was the best thing that happened to you. While you were in class, you could reject your family for a little amount of time. When you were with Bakugou, you could be yourself. However, your life never left you alone. Your mother was abusive. She found it fun to hit you even if you made the slightest of mistakes, sometimes even when you did absolutely nothing. Apologizing became your self defence mechanism as there was no other way to stop your mother from hitting you. Yes, you had a strong quirk but your mother had the quirk to erase quirks almost like Aizawa which made you helpless against her. The effect of your life at home creeped it's way into the life you made for yourself at school as you were constantly terrified. When Bakugou asked you out, you couldn’t express how much you wanted to say yes, how much you wanted to hug him. However, you knew better. Why would someone who is so driven to be the number 1 hero, someone who wants to save everyone, like someone who can't even stop her own mother from doing crimes? You felt as if you didn't deserve him.

At the end, you were crying. Bakugou was completely quiet as you explained everything. Suddenly, you felt Bakugou's hand on your head as he pulled you into a hug. He was standing infront of the bed as you were sitting, with your forehead pressed to his stomach. "You really are a dumbass aren’t you? You didn’t have a choice back there. It's not your damn fault idiot." Bakugou muttered as he patted your head. "I-I'm sorry..." you sobbed as your arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer. "Don't apologise idiot. I swear I'll break the arms of anyone who tries to lay a damned finger on you. You won't apologise without a fucking reason anymore. Promise me that." Bakugou barked at you, still petting your head. "I promise." you muttered between your sobs as a smile kept forming on your face. "We are having that date too." Bakugou muttered, making sure that you didn't catch the way he blushed. "Yeah. We are." you answered with a full blown smile on your face.

[Author's note: I'm not too good at writing angst but I hope this was okayish?]

[bvckiesbarnes]

does that make me crazy?

Pairing: Mafia!Bucky x Reader

Word count: 1.6k

Summary: Reader is a waitress at a seedy bar. Bucky comes in to collect some payment and talk business with your boss. Things go wrong, and Bucky tries to get the truth.

Themes/Warnings: Mafia!Bucky, slight gun violence, slight swearing.

A/N: Requests are open! This is also my first Bucky x Reader fic so please be kind :)

You wipe down the bar top, idly trying to count in your head how many tips you got. You weren’t great at math but you still wanted to try. It was a slow night, typical for a Tuesday.

The bar you worked at was pretty seedy and it was situated on one of the many streets run by the Mafia. They were relatively safe if you payed the protection fee and didn’t make stupid decisions. You didn’t know exactly how much that fee was, but it wasn’t enough to go bankrupt, that’s for sure.

Just as you were finishing with the till, three people walked in. Two of them walked slowly, obviously assessing the room for threats. A woman with red hair and the type of attitude that says she could kill you with a single look inspected her nails, whispering something at her companion, an extremely muscular blonde man trailing two steps behind.

The man in the middle, though, is what makes you pay attention. He has full lips, artfully tousled brown, almost black hair and the most piercing set of blue yes you have ever seen. His jaw is sharp as a knife, broad shoulders filling out his jacket nicely.

You feel your mouth run dry and you immediately swallow, trying to get your tongue to work.

When you finally speak, you try to address all of them, your eyes lingering slightly on the man in the middle.

“Sorry, we’re closed,” you say, smiling apologetically.

The man in the middle doesn’t even miss a beat. “It won’t take a minute,” he says, a Brooklyn drawl lacing his words.

The moment he speaks, you recognise him. James “Bucky” Barnes. Notorious leader of the Mafia. The Mafia.

You are so fucked.

Trying to keep your voice steady, you straighten your back, trying not to betray anything. “Can I help you?”

“Is there any chance your boss is around?” Bucky asks, inspecting the bar and wincing slightly at the state of the stools, “I need to have a little chat with him. Tell him Bucky’s here.” His smile was all teeth, predatory and dangerous.

“Uh, yeah, sure, I think he’s in the back. Should I get him, or..?” You say, gesturing with your thumb.

Bucky just smirks, a lopsided thing that was far too innocent to be anything but. “That’d be great, doll.”

You give him a tight-lipped smile and rush to the back, not wanting to keep him waiting.

Your boss—Mike—wasn’t the best, but he wasn’t the worst, either. He usually pays on time, which is nice, and he only sometimes uncomfortably flirts with you. He’s only harassed you like, once. In New York that’s pretty good.

The world is fucked.

You quickly push the back door open. “Hey, Mike? There’s someone–oh, what the fuck.”

There’s a gun. Mike is holding the gun. In all your years in New York, this is actually the first time you’re getting a gun pulled on you. Fun. If you had a bingo card, you’d definitely win it with this.

Mike is breathing harshly, red in the face. Sweat drips down into his eyes. How he’s keeping them open is a mystery to you. “I know who’s here,” he whispers harshly, finger shaking on the trigger, “and I don’t wanna see him.”

The smart thing to do is back away. Tell Bucky to come back another time. For some reason, your brain wholeheartedly disagrees and decides to speak. “I don’t really think you have a choice,” you retort, voice steady.

Mike just turns even redder. You didn’t know a person could even have this much blood in one area. It seems unhealthy. “I swear to god I will shoot you,” he practically barks. “Tell him to go.”

“Okay, okay, let’s think for a moment here–”

“I am warning you–”

“I’m going!” You say, hands up in a placating motion. “Don’t shoot.”

You back out, keeping your hands up the entire time. You try your hardest to look normal when you go back into the bar, hoping that Bucky and his group don’t see through your façade. The moment you step back into that room all eyes are on you.

Except only Bucky is there.

This is gonna be bad.

You speak before Bucky can say anything.

“Hey, sorry, I think you just missed him, but I could leave a message or–oh you are very close.”

With each word you spoke, Bucky stepped closer, backing you into the bar. Your back hits the corner and suddenly you’re aware of just how close he is, the scent of his aftershave spicy and clean. It was intoxicating and, quite frankly, you didn’t mind it.

“Now I’m gonna ask you a question and I expect you to be honest with me, darlin’,” Bucky said, his voice low enough that you needed to concentrate to make out the words he was saying.

You swallow, catching the way his eyes follow the movement. He was a head taller than you, emphasising the feeling of being caged in. It made your heart race—and if you were being truthful—not just from fear.

He leans in a little closer, his hands coming up to rest beside your head. “Where’s your boss?”

Each word was spoken softly, but he may as well be shouting them for how loud they seemed in your ears.

“Not here—” you start to say, but Bucky just clicks his tongue, shaking his head.

“Now, I don’t get pissed off, easy. I like to think myself quite reasonable, actually,” he twirls a strand of your hair, playing with it idly. The casualness just added to the butterflies in your stomach which you firmly told yourself was panic and not anything else.

“Lyin’, though,” he continues, “gets on my nerves, and you don’t wanna be on my bad side.” The low, almost growl of his voice shivers down your spine. You look away, trying to break the tension.

Bucky gently grabs your chin, making you look at him. His grip is calloused yet soft. You could break out if you wanted, but something about him traps you in his gaze.

“So I’m gonna ask one more time,” he says, piercing blue eyes boring into yours, “where is your boss?”

A voice in your head tells you to shut up and avoid getting shot. Another voice tells you to answer, because something tells you he could do a lot worse than shoot you. A part of you also wanted to see how he’d react to your honesty, if he’d smile a genuine smile or if he’d just back off.

“He’s in the back,” you say, voice quiet but surprisingly steady.

A grin spreads across Bucky’s face, boyish and pleased. “Thanks, doll.” For a second it seems like he’s going to lean in, maybe drag his lips across yours, but the moment is broken when the door to the back room opens.

You startle, eyes immediately looking over to what moved. Bucky leans back slowly, unperturbed. The two people he came in with were holding your boss between them, bruised and bloody.

Bucky makes some quick hand gestures, obviously telling them to take care of it. How, you didn’t want to know. They left quickly, speaking in low hushed tones, strangely jovial considering what they just did.

Then, something clicked. “Hold on, he’s—”

“Yup,” Bucky says, popping the ‘p’.

“Which means you already knew where he was,” you say, the realisation slowly dawning on you.

“I wouldn’t be good at what I did if I didn’t,” he grins, leaning on the bar next to you. You’re relieved for the space it puts between you, since your cheeks were absolutely burning. Why was he so hot? Why couldn’t you be attracted to, like, an accountant, or something?

“So, if you knew, why did you ask?” You say, crossing your arms, trying to regain some dignity.

Bucky shrugs. “Wanted to see if you told the truth.”

Your brows furrow, and in a fit of boldness, you take a step closer to him. His eyebrow quirks up at that, smiling rakishly and running his eyes over you.

“And you needed to see that because..?” You ask, slightly annoyed now that the shock of the night was gone.

“Because I wanted to ask you to dinner,” Bucky says, writing something on a bit of paper he fished out from his pocket.

“You—I—what?”

“Dinner,” Bucky says, slow, as if he was speaking to a child, “it’s a meal you eat with someone you wanna get to know better.”

“Yeah, I know what dinner is,” you snap, annoyed at his condescending tone. This only makes him smile wider, making you bristle. “What I wanna know is why do you want to ask me to it.”

Bucky just smiles wider. “Come to dinner and I’ll tell you,” he says, sauntering over to you and handing you the piece of paper. “This number doesn’t connect directly to me, so don’t get any ideas, doll.” He stood just a bit too close, but you refused to take a step back. Instead you looked him in the eyes, straightening your back.

You were just about to ask about what you could do with a number before realising the world he comes from. Maybe it’s best to keep this to myself, you think, pocketing the piece of paper.

“I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow,” Bucky says, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. Before you could answer, he was already walking away, leaving you with the residual warmth left behind from his touch.

What a weird fucking night.

[iraacundus]

Butterfly Lies - Four

chapter four ✭  masterlist ✭ previous ✭ next ✭

mafialeader kun x reader

words: 3.8k

genre: smut, angst, fluff

warnings: smut (degredation, dom!kun, sub! reader); mentions of torture death and violence

money makes people do strange things, is what people would say, it can even motivate them to murder. kun didn’t have people killed for the money, he had them killed for the power, he was a monster among men, is what people would say. in reality kun had only ever been motivated by one thing, his love for you

✭  ✭  ✭  ✭  ✭

When you were actual allowed to start your real job at Qian Industries, it was weirdly fun. You spent all of your mornings with Ten, explaining to him why his ideas were wildly unrealistic and crazy and providing him with more sensible ones.

“Why would the office need to be near an ice cream place, I like ice cream as much as the next person Ten but I just don’t think that is essential,” you explained, “plus that would make the office very close to a G7 territory, they aren’t on the list of enemies and I guess we don’t want to add them to that list, it would probably involve unnecessary death.”

You put a big read x over the address Ten had proposed.

“I question your priorities there but okay…” Ten said. He was questioning your priorities? Maybe Kun had assigned you this job and ordered Ten to annoy you out of the company. Somehow you knew that wasn’t true, Ten was just Ten.

“If you don’t shut your ass up, I’m going to start leaving random fruits on your desk you idiot.” It was the one thing Kun had told you that would give you leverage over Ten – his fear of fruits.

Ten huffed, throwing his pen down at the map dramatically.

“Then where do you suggest?” he asked.

You picked up a black marker and drew a circle round two different locations,

“Both of these work, one is better for efficiency but the other is slightly closer to the NCT office which could be useful for collaboration. It would be better to be further away from them though so that we cover more area combined, but I’m not against that location so you can pick between the two,” you explained.

Ten looked vaguely impressed. He picked up the red marker and drew an X over the closer location.

“We go for efficiency then.”  

You held your hand up, giving Ten a high five.

“The best team that V has,” you said. Ten raised an eyebrow.

“WayV, is the name of the gang you know?” he said, “or clearly you don’t know, people just graffiti the V because that’s easier.”

That made more sense, a single letter wasn’t a great name for any brand.

“But yes, we do make a good team,” he relented, “in that you’re smart and I’m stunningly good-looking.”

You let him have that one.

The day didn’t slow down from there, next you were expected to go and learn some skills with Lucas. You were marginally apprehensive about what skills entailed but trusted Kun knew what he was doing.

Lucas was staring out of the office window when you walked in, so he didn’t notice you.

“Hello?” you said, making him aware of your presence.

“Sorry there was a cute puppy on the street,” he said turning around to grin at you. Your first question was how he saw the puppy from the street when you were on the sixteenth floor. Your second question came after his second statement.

“So, have you ever stabbed someone before?” You decided he was dangerously nonchalant in asking you that question.

You stared at him for a second trying to figure out just quite how sarcastically to answer.

“Yeh, I stabbed a guy just last week for jumping the queue, he had a right smirk on his face. No of course I have never stabbed someone you idiot, like most people have never done that, like a high percentage.”

Lucas shrugged.

“Just would have made my job easier if you had but its chill,” he replied.

He then proceeded to hand you a knife and get you to practise stabbing a dummy he had set out, showing you different tactics for self-defence. He also showed you how to disarm and attacker or just fight someone without a weapon.

He wanted to show you how to fire a gun, but you refused to learn, you didn’t think it was necessary. You also didn’t want to contribute to the number of guns in the city or gun violence.

“We can’t go to the hospital, so you have to learn how to deal with stab wounds, how to slow the bleeding and how to do stiches also,’ Lucas explained. You were weirdly excited at the prospect of this.

It was exactly the kind of area you felt you could be additionally useful without having to resort to mindless violence. You would just help with the aftermath of mindless violence instead.

As you stitched the fake arm you struggled to understand how Kun was calm enough to have done this to himself. He was truly his own brand of strangely impressive but also maybe insane.

You had actually planned to meet him later on for dinner. You were slightly stressed about it because you really didn’t want to have to talk about the whole, ‘kiss’ situation, you reckoned it wouldn’t be beneficial for your friendship to linger on the reasons you refused to commit to Kun.

You also knew it wasn’t beneficially for our friendship to ignore him, thus you agreed to go. You thanked Lucas for helping you and walked into the elevator, planning to stop by and ask Kun what kind of restaurant it was so you knew what to wear before you went home.

You arrived outside his office where the door was open, and no one was inside. You didn’t think anything of it, he was probably just busy elsewhere.

At the same time, you got a text from Johnny, one of the guys who worked out in Korea about the office location. You had a bit of free time, so you decided to go look for Ten and tell him what Johnny had said.

You decided to go to random floors and explore a bit. You had only been to a few parts of the building. You looked at the options on the lift and were surprised to find the building had multiple basement levels.

You guessed it might be carpark and thought it would be fun to see what kind of cars they drove to work out if any of Kun’s guys were just as rich as him. You pressed B1 and the lift went down.

It was a carpark, but it was empty, so you decided to go down the steps to the next level.

B2 was decidedly not a basement. The door to it was locked by a pass that said top level security clearance only. You held your pass up and it opened the door, it beeped green and opened. You were surprised Kun had given you that level of access, you had expected the door to not let you in.

There was a big sign inside the basement entrance with another reception desk. Yet this time the reception desk said WayV above it in big letters. Not Kun industries.

You had stumbled across where the real action occurred. You felt a lump rise in your throat, you were terrified yet so intrigued that you couldn’t walk away.

Yangyang was sitting at the desk with his feet up and jumped when he saw you.

“y/n!” he said, “how did you get in here?”

“With my pass,” you said wiggling it, smile on your face, hoping if you faked like you were meant to be there enough, he wouldn’t question it.

“I thought you were working with Lucas and then you were done, what brings you here?” he looked slightly nervous.

“I know what’s happening in there,” you said, hoping that he inferred something from your statement that would stop his questioning.

“Uh, okay then go on ahead,” he said, sitting back down. You felt bad, knowing that he would probably get in trouble again for this, he clearly had been demoted a lot if he was on desk duty.

You pushed open a door on your right and entered a badly lit corridor. There were a few doors, but you heard voices coming from further on down, so you walked towards that. The door was left open slightly and so you stood next to it, you could see but you could here.

You heard someone get hit, groaning in pain, causing you to flinch.

“Tell me where he fucking gave you this letter or I will rip your fingernails out one by one until you change your mind,” you heard Xiaojun’s voice. There was something so terrifying about how such a seemingly nice guy could be here, doing this.

“No fucking time Jun, either he tells us, or we shoot his buddy here,” this time it was Kun’s voice which was so much worse.

“Fuck you!” came an angry reply immediately followed by a gunshot.

“Now your friend is dead, tsk, tsk, tsk,” Kun said his voice unlike anything you had ever heard before.

“And so is your leverage,” the man replied. Kun laughed. He laughed, you were so shocked, his laugh was so like him yet so not.

“You have other friends, other partners, no?” Kun began, “You are not the only two we have or the only two we can get. Lucas here will get your other buddies from next door, one by one. I will shoot them one by one. When we run out, he will capture more, I will kill more. That is unless you fucking tell us, how you got the piece of paper.”

“Just kill me… please,” the man begged.

“But that would be so easy wouldn’t it, where’s your flair for the dramatique? Get the next one in,” Kun said.

You panicked; you knew you should leave before someone saw you, but your legs wouldn’t move.

Lucas opened the door and stepped out, face to face with your tear-filled eyes.

“Shit,” was all he said. He grabbed your arm and pulled you a few steps along so everyone in the room could see.

“We have a visitor,” Lucas said, “Yangyang still can’t do his job it seems.

You saw Kun’s face turn from a sick smile, to something unreadable. You saw the blood spatters on his hands, a dead body being rolled into a tarpaulin on the floor by Hendery and Sicheng and you saw a man tied up in the middle of the room.

The time it took for your brain to recognise the situation was enough time for your brain to finally send signals to your legs.

You dodged round Lucas and ran for the door. You ran back out of the hallway past the desk where Yangyang saw you running and now looked worried and up the stairs. You skipped the lift and continued up the stairs to the main entrance before running out the front door.

You stopped a taxi in the street and asked it to drive you home. Your only real thought was that you didn’t want to think.

You pulled out your phone. You knew Kun wouldn’t try to contact you. He was nice like that, he wouldn’t impose. He also murdered people for information. He was evil like that.

You texted Yuyan.

Need to go clubbing tonight, can you meet me at the snake house at seven?

The snake house was your favourite bar, it was right near a good club and you couldn’t wait until the club opened to drown out your memories with vodka.

You stopped at home briefly to throw on some new makeup and a dress, they wouldn’t let you into the club otherwise before walking to the bar.

Yuyan was waiting outside.

“Not to be mean y/n,” she said, ‘but you look rough, did you fall down the stairs? Your face is a weird colour, are you sick?”

“Not sick, emotionally traumatised, shall we drink,” you said dragging her through the door of the snake house. Yuyan just laughed, she thought you were joking or exaggerating, probably assumed the mental trauma was just an awkward meeting or something similar.

You stood at the bar.

“Can I get a rum and coke?” Yuyan said to the barman, who nodded.

“I’m going to level with you, can you just give me that bottle of tequila and a straw please,” you asked.

“So, a real bad day then?” Yuyan said raising her eyebrows.

“The worst.”

You sipped your tequila with a straw, it wasn’t super pleasant to drink this way, but it did have the effect you had hoped for, it made you drunk very fast.

You had practically passed out in the bar seat by eight-thirty.

“How are we meant to get into the club when you can’t even stand?” Yuyan chastised, pulling the bottle out of your hands.

“If I stop drinking now, I should sober up slightly by ten,” you said and Yuyan couldn’t argue with that.

By ten you were in fact able to stand and just about managed to get into the club, the bouncer did give you a look but Yuyan was looking pretty so he let you in anyway. A fucked-up system but it worked in your favour.

Inside the club you were still drunk, but slightly more in control, you found a random guy on the dancefloor and started making out with him. Trying to push the resurfacing memories of Kun out of your mind.

It didn’t really work. You were sobering up by the minute and so left the random guy you had found to go back over to the bar. You downed three shots and could almost hear your liver complaining before getting back to the dancefloor.

It still didn’t help but your drunk confidence was back, you found Yuyan again and explained your alcohol fuelled plan.

“I’m going to call him, I’m going to tell him to stop being bad, how dare he be like this, he is meant to be a good guy.”

You had never told Yuyan about Kun, so she had no idea what you were talking about,

“Are you sure this is a good idea, drunk calling a guy rarely is,” she advised, “but that clearly won’t stop you,” she said laughing as you walked towards the door. It was fine to leave her because a few of your other friends had shown up by this point.

You rang Kun, standing inside by the entrance to the club.

“I need to talk to youuuu!” you shouted down the phone when he answered, “I need to talk to bad Kun because he’s making my heart sad.”

Kun sighed down the end of the phone.

“Where are you at, I will come pick you up,” he said.

“The club next to snake house,” you said, hanging up the phone and wandering outside. There were still people queuing to get in on the street. It was only just before midnight. The cold air sobered you up slightly and you were already regretting your phone call decision.

Minutes later, Kun’s SUV pulled up and he opened the door from the inside so you could get in. You pulled your heels off and climbed into the front seat.

“I hate you sometimes Kun,” you said.

“I’m sorry,” he replied. Like ever he really did sound sorry. You didn’t know what to say now he was here.

“I wish I had no feelings for you at all,” you iterated, “it would make things so much easier.”

Kun’s apartment wasn’t far from the bar. He stopped the car and got out, you followed silently until you reached the inside. Kun shut his door behind you both carefully.

“Do you want me to explain?” Kun asked, his face looked so sad, you knew how much your words hurt him, but you also knew how important is was to tell him the truth.

“Let’s have sex,” you said to which Kun almost fell over.  

“Your drunk and well, given the situation I don’t think that is the best choice, we need to talk about this.”

“I’m not that drunk anymore.” You replied, “and talking hasn’t gotten us anywhere.”

“Are we gonna fuck because you love me or because you hate me?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” you countered. Kun answered by bringing his lips to yours, pushing you up against his wall, biting your lip softly as your hands gripped his hair.

“We’re only in this situation because you’re a bad girl who can’t do what she’s told,” he whispered in your ear, undoing the buttons of his shirt, “I gave you a job, I take you to dinner, I do everything for you and yet you still can’t behave for me.”

His words were turning you on, so you tried to kiss him again, but he pushed you back against the wall.

“Not yet baby, bad girls have to wait,” he said, still unbuttoning his shirt, painfully slowly before throwing it on the floor. Your eyes blazed at the sight of his chest, Kun really was the perfect man, excluding his violent activities.

Kun stepped forward again until your bodies were millimetres apart. He pushed your dress up slightly, his hand pressing against your bum, pulling you towards him across the final short distance.

He stared down into your eyes, you had no way of discerning what his thoughts were, his face was blank.

“Are you sure this is what you want? Will you be a good girl for me?” he asked, his hand playing with the zip of your dress, teasing you with the opportunity to back out, knowing that you wouldn’t.

You nodded. He immediately pulled the zip down, your dress falling to the floor moments later. You hadn’t worn a bra, but you were too tipsy to be self-conscious. You wouldn’t have needed to be anyway.

“You are so beautiful,” Kun said, his normal softness fleeting over his face for a second before it was gone again. He brought his lips back to yours, kissing you more aggressively this time, his fingertips brushing over your nipple lightly in comparison.

His fingertips traced down your stomach lightly, stopping just above the waistband of your panties.

“Cute,” he said, referencing your underwear with pink bunnies on, you hadn’t prepared for the current situation. You made a face at him, but he just chuckled, “I mean it, you’re cute,” he said, before pulling them down your legs.

The dichotomy was almost too much for you to handle. His hand brushed between your legs,

“I knew you could never resist me, I’m too handsome,” he said, licking the glistening moisture off of his fingers.

Your legs weakened even with that small touch, a problem that worsened when Kun began to rub gentle circles into your clit. You groaned slightly, desperate for more, but Kun was unwilling to give it to you yet.

“Such a slut, don’t think I didn’t notice that your lipstick was smudged when you got into the car.” He said, finally pushing two fingers inside of you as he trailed kissed down your neck, your arms wrapped around him.

“But now you’re my slut,” he said, his fingers moving at a painfully slow speed.

“Faster,” you begged, your breath raspy. Kun ignored you, continuing to do things his way, clearly enjoying it from the grin on his face.

You thought about ways to get what you want, and it didn’t take you long. You had never guessed Kun would be so into sex like this, but now you did you could use it against him.

“Please,” you said, “I’ll do anything you want; I’ll be a good girl.” Kun raised his eyebrows slightly before grinning again.

“As tempting as that is, you will do what I want anyway like a good little slut.”

Well your plan failed but when he added another finger you forgot all about that. You started to whine slightly, feeling your orgasm rise within you but just before you could cum, Kun moved his hand away, leaving you empty.

Kun walked away to sit on the sofa, his eyes still locked on yours. You could see the growing bulge in his sweats. The thought of sucking him off almost turned you on enough to dissipate your annoyance at his previous actions.

You followed him over and knelt down on the floor between his legs, undoing his jeans and pulling his waistband down, letting his cock spring free. It was thicker than you had anticipated as you wrapped your hand around the tip, moving your hand down slowly.

At first you planned to give him the same treatment he gave you but when you began to suck, Kun’s hands tangled in your hair, pushing your head down faster and deeper, you could feel his cock hitting the back of your throat, causing Kun to moan.

“Look at me,” Kun said, your eyes moving to stare up at him, as he continued to fuck your face on his cock. The look of pleasure on his face making you wet all over again.

Staring into your eyes as you sucked his dick was clearly too much for Kun as he came in your mouth seconds later, grinning when you swallowed it all.

“Fuck you’re brilliant,” he said, “the best whore for me.”

“Please Kun, will you fuck me now, I’m being a good slut, just for you,” you said, still staring up at him, feeling his dick harden beneath your fingers at your words.

He nodded, you climbed onto the sofa, kissing him softly before getting onto your hands and knees.

“Look at you just ready to be fucked, you really are a fucking whore for me,” Kun said, slapping your ass, the sting only making you more desperate to feel him inside of you.

“Are you taking the pill?” Kun asked, you nodded.

That was the final thing he needed to hear. He slammed his dick into you, setting a merciless pace from the start, his cock filling you up entirely.

Kun spanked you again before he placed his hand over your mouth as you screamed out in pleasure.

“Jesus the neighbours will all know whose dick gets you wet at that volume,” he said. You moaned into his hand as he continued to fuck you, his own low groans only adding to your pleasure.

You could feel his dick beginning to throb inside of you.

“Fuck you’re going to take my load like the dirty whore you are,” Kun said, removing his hand from your mouth, instead pulling your hair as his dick slammed deeper into you.

“Yes,” you whined,

“I want to hear you say it,” Kun demanded.

“I’m a dirty whore who is going to be filled up with your cum,” you whined, feeling your walls contracting around his pulsing dick.

He final came inside of you, the feeling of his cum filling you up as he fucked it deeper into you causing your own high as you called out his name.

Kun pulled out and sat down onto the sofa, pulling you down next to him.

“Can we just sit here for a second?” he asked, his normal kind tone returning. You kissed his lips softly.

“I don’t see why not.”

[uglypastels]

Betrayal at its Finest III (mob!Tom)

(a/n) I’m sorry this is a bit late, the next parts will be probably even more late so this is an apology in advance.  I would also like to thank everyone for the support on this story <3 including the amazing @worldoftom​ for the proofreading and editing, especially since this chapter was a real struggle for me <3 

word count: 5,970 

warnings through out the series: (mentions of) smut, violence, drugs, alcohol, guns, general mob stuff right?

SERIES MASTERLIST 

Chapter Three: New Cherry Lipstick 

The meeting with Harrison was on a Wednesday. You were called in for your first day at work the next Monday. Just like that day two weeks ago, you walked down the street. It was raining again. Of course, it was. Why would the earth let you catch a break if you could just as well jump around, avoiding puddles, in a tight pencil skirt and uncomfortable heels? 

The iron gate was just as heavy and loud as the first time. This time, however, you didn't meet anyone in front of the door. Though, for a second you felt that feeling again, the same one as in the park. You felt like you were being watched again. Quickly turning around, you expected someone to be standing behind you, but there was no one there. It was when you looked at the windows, however, that it seemed as if you saw one of the heavy curtains move as someone walked away. You quickly shook that thought out of your mind. It was probably just a trick of the light.

You let yourself in and hung up your wet coat and umbrella on the hangers. It was still not clear if you were allowed to do that, but it felt appropriate. The rain, as unpleasant as it was, did help you appreciate the warmth inside since the temperature in the building was set to undeniably hot. It was actually like walking into a pillow… or more like… the pillow was thrown at your face. Very intense. 

You were told to meet Mr Holland in his office, so that was where you were headed. Down the hall, up the round staircase, following the path of artworks which were worth more than you would probably ever be. Then came the next hallway, even hotter than downstairs, and a problem. You could not remember which door was his office. Was it left or right? One thing you knew for sure is that, in this place, you couldn't really just barge in through any door you wanted. Who knew what was going on behind these doors. With one move of the handle, you could be witnessing something that might undoubtedly get you killed. That would be something - dead on the first day of the job. 

Right as a little bit of panic started to kick in, you heard a whoosh over the carpet, making you turn around. 

"Good morning, miss y/l/n/," Tom said with a small smile. You had to admit, he looked handsome. It was irrefutable, he always did. In his dark grey suit that fit to the most modest crease. His shoes were still shiny. You could assume that they were specially bought for the inside of the building. His hair was styled to perfection but not overdone. 

"Good morning, Mr Holland." You nodded your head slightly down with a smile imitating his. He stepped aside, letting you pass through the doorway.

"Please, come in." He showed you the way and you, just like last time, followed. 

"I would like to thank you again, sir, for the opportunity. It really means a lot to me," you said as you sat down in that same chair. 

"The pleasure is all mine, truly. I have to admit that you were one of, if not the best, applicant for the job. To not give you the job would be an offence." He explained as he, too, sat down. It surprised you that listening to his words made you blush. You knew you were great but being recognised in it... It just hit differently. 

"On that note, let me explain-" his tone changed. There was no more boyish charm to be detected in his voice. You knew you were sitting opposite one of the most dangerous men in the world. It was quite exciting. "We run a tight ship around here. Everything we do should be done as best and as smoothly as possible. We do not appreciate slip-ups."

"I understand, sir." You nodded, reading the cold certainty in his eyes. It made you uneasy, but you focused on breathing lightly to keep that at bay for now.

"We believe that Holland Enterprise is just like a machine and that trust is the essential part that makes it work so well. It would be a shame for someone to break this machine." 

"I understand, sir," you repeated. Next followed a second of you and him looking into each other's eyes. You remembered to breathe calmly and not tense up. You were so close. Almost in. Just one more lie and you'd be in. 

"Good, I thought someone as smart as you would." His shoulders suddenly slacked and he leaned back in his large office chair. You followed suit in your seat with a nervous smile. As if on cue, the door behind you opened, and your pal Harrison walked in. He didn't step inside; however, he just stood in the doorway with his arms behind his back. If only he'd had sunglasses on, he would be looking like a sexy bodyguard.

"You already met Mr Osterfield," Holland stood up so you assumed you should do the same. "If you follow him, he will show you to your new office." 

"Thank you, sir." You made your way to Harrison and greeted him with a smile and nod. He walked off silently, and you just followed. The hallway that you were in continued for many more doors, all identically black. You counted them. 5… 6… 7. The eighth on the left was where Harrison finally stopped. He opened it to reveal an office. It actually did not hold much difference from the one you had previously been in except for the fact that it was a bit smaller. For the rest, the furniture and setup was the same. 

"Well, here you are." Harrison let you inside. "On the desk, you will find your new phone, use it for business only… or emergencies, no personal calls. Next, there should be a com. If someone in the office will need your assistance, you'll hear it there. Mr Holland is on line four." As Harrison explained that, you wondered who was on the first three. 

"If you got any questions-" 

"I do actually have one," you turned around to look at him. He smiled. 

"Then you should find Harry, I was going to say, but yes?"

"Can I redecorate?" You smiled, and he did, as well. 

"Do whatever you want." 

"Great," you said as you made your way to the grand chair behind the desk. "Another question, will you still follow me around, or was that a one-time thing?" 

Harrison chuckled. "I don't plan on it… unless some trouble should come up."  

  "Of course, of course," you mumbled. Harrison was already getting ready to leave, but you chimed in once more. "One more thing!" 

  "Yes?" 

  "Who is this Harry, then?" 

Harry turned out to be Harry Holland. Younger brother of the boss-man. He was "the guy that knows a guy". You understood why he was the one who you were supposed to ask all the questions to, since he knew everything about everyone almost anywhere. Not to mention, he was sneaky, that most of the time, the people he knew didn't even know Harry existed. 

And of course, like his brother, Harry was very good looking. Considering your pal Harrison too, maybe it was a requirement for a successful mob gang… 

But looks aren't forever, that much knows everyone and you would make sure of it. If you had to punch their pretty white teeth out yourself, it's just what you would have to do. They could afford a new pair anyway. They could bear so much shit. That was the annoying part of it all. They had all the money in the world… and that came on the side of the fortune. The fortune they were making by stealing business from your friends and everyone else in the city. The Hollands ran a business empire and they were, without a doubt, great at it. So why did they have to meddle in with the mob life? Nobody knew for sure. Maybe someone got bored of the stock market and decided that narcotics and firearms were more interesting… and who could blame them? It is much more fun. 

This fact brought in an entirely new challenge in itself to the plan. Since you had taken a job at Holland Enterprise, you would need time to get close to the family. To properly get into their business. 

There was a lot you had to do, but you had to stop thinking about it. It wasn't what mattered now. Obviously, it was a problem, but it was another problem besides the bigger problem. There were, in fact, so many problems that you couldn't really keep track of them even if you tried. 

Now, you had to sit. 

Just like Harrison told you, there was a phone on your desk. It looked better than any phone you had before. The screen was still shiny and in one piece. No corners were nicked from dozens of drops to the ground. There was no lock on it, so you quickly turned it on and checked the contacts. There were no names, just numbers. Well, that's not annoying at all. Were you expected to memorise them? That wasn't really your thing. You were proud of yourself for being able to remember your own number at a bar when a guy asked you for it and but it didn’t go much further than that. 

Also on the desk was the communicator. It really looked like a stationary phone with the receiver ripped out. You could even see the hole on the side of it where the cord should have been, covered in some plaster. Was it a strategy to keep things cheap? Or a memory from the person whose job you took over? You would never know. 

Then there were some more things on the desk, a computer screen with a keyboard, a penholder with a few writing utensils in it, nothing out of the ordinary. What caught your eye was the sheet of paper that was lying face down in front of you, so you quickly picked it up. The words were typed in a small font, not even covering half the page. It was a list. 

Refile documents (ask H) 

H? Harry? Whoever wrote this, really could have been a bit more specific.

Pick up suits. 

Walk with Tessa. 

And like that the list went on…

You assumed that Tessa was a dog. This was practically a chore list of things to do. Pretty simple and straightforward tasks you could expect from an assistant job. Some of them had little dates scribbled next to them. Feeling they were the deadlines, you thought the rest could take a few days or were things that had to be done several times. 

After reading the list a few more times, you looked into the drawers of the desk. The top ones on either side were empty. Then, the middle drawer on the right contained nothing but a hardcover notebook. Almost like a journal. It looked pretty. The cover was made out of black pleather, on it the logo of Holland Enterprise engraved in silver: A geometric spider with what you assumed was an H in the middle of it. You flipped through it. Empty. So it must be for you. The pages itself also had Holland Enterprise stamped on them. Custom paper. Fancy.

Your scavenging was interrupted when there was a knock on the door, making you look up.

"Come in," you said. Your voice was surprisingly stable. As the door opened, you felt the urge to fix a strand of hair that was hanging loosely. In the morning, you had chosen to go with a little more of a casual hairstyle, but now it suddenly didn't feel right anymore. 

The door opened and in walked Tom. You didn't expect it to be him, so he was met with a bit of a wide-eyed expression from you. He smiled. 

"How's the office?" He walked up to the desk. You were about to stand up, but he was already ahead of you, sitting down in the chair opposite yours. It was like a strange role reversal from five minutes ago. Suddenly you were the big boss in the large chair. You liked it. So, the smile you gave him was very genuine. 

"It's wonderful. Though I would like to make a few adjustments... if that's alright," you added on quickly. Yes, Harrison said it was alright, but you still felt better asking him about it. You had to be careful around here. It was the plan to stay around as long as possible. You would be useless if they kicked you out after a day.

"Do whatever you please," he said. The smile on his soft lips looked so kind. He spoke so sophisticated, so sure of himself. Even the most straightforward phrases. They were, in a strange way, perfect. 

"I came in because I realised we forgot to bring you one more thing." You watched him unbutton his suit jacket and feel around in his inside pocket. Out he pulled a platinum card. 

"Here you go." He placed it on the table and pushed it with two fingers your way. You had to remember to close your mouth. Gently you picked it up. In your hand you held, most likely, more money than you had ever had in your entire life. And it was given to you just like that… 

"This is for all the expenses you are most likely to make on the job. Of course, personal payments can be made too." His voice was somewhat tainted with a hint of amusement. 

"Oh, no. I wouldn't dare, sir- I mean, it's company money."  

"Believe me, we have plenty of that around here." He got up again. "And I strongly believe that the well-being of the employees is a good investment in itself. Please, treat yourself."  

You were actually speechless. Was Holland really allowing you to spend this money on yourself? A part of you was really fucking thrilled, but the other… was fuming at how easily he could waste money. It was bizarre, to say the least. 

But hey, he told you to treat yourself, so why the fuck not. 

Tom left your office without another word, but you didn't really care much. You were still looking at the little piece of plastic in your hand, tapping your nails over it. Ideas of what you could get were forming in your head, but you couldn't be too rash. You had a job to do. In a sense, even more than one. 

Now that you had officially been welcomed into the team, got your own office and supplies, you weren't sure what you were supposed to do. Glancing back at the list, you saw the current date next to "Pick up order at White Diamond".  

White Diamond, you recognised that name. It was a luxurious store downtown. Of course, what else could it be when it was named that. 

With your new phone and credit card in hand, you headed out of the building. It was still strange to walk through the hallways. They were so empty. It had no corporate feel to it, more like... like it was one of their 10 mansions that they just decided to turn into an office. 

As you kept walking to the exit, past all those closed doors, you wondered how many people were in the building with you. You knew that at least Harrison was somewhere around, and Tom was in his office... but there were so many rooms, so many corridors. What were they hiding? You needed to find out. 

It was at the middle of the staircase that you heard a strange noise. If you had not been used to it being around Chippy's so often, you would not have been able to recognise it immediately. Gunshots.

The fear in you started to rise as the sound reverberated through the walls. It was astounding how easy it seemed for a business family to hear a shooting early in the morning without a commotion populating the hallways. There wasn't even a single cry of panic in the background, or a yelp of surprise. Was this really this normal for them? 

This, for sure, triggered your curiosity. It was always something that got you into trouble. It didn't matter if this time it could get you killed, you wanted to know what was going on.

So, you followed the bellowing echoes of the shots. You went down the stairs, but instead of going straight, you turned left. Really, how did they not get lost around here? All the corridors and doors looked precisely the same... But the shots got louder so knew you were going the right way. 

Then you saw it. One door was open. Just the tiniest bit, but it was enough to carry the loud blast through the empty hallways.

Inside you saw Harrison. He had taken off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. You watched as he stretched out his arm, held the gun in front of him and... BANG BANG, shot twice. 

You couldn't see what he was shooting at, but from what you could see, the room was empty. It was nothing but concrete walls and flooring. Next to Harrison stood a little table, on it boxes of various ammunition. 

"You know, you're not that great of a spy yourself, y/l/n," Harrison said as he reloaded his gun. He hadn't even glanced in your direction. Since your presence had been made known, you stepped inside. This place was much colder than the rest of the building. This was explained as soon as you walked in... since it wasn't much of a room, to begin with. More like an entrance to the large garden behind the house. A whole wall was missing. You looked ahead to see the grass and the cloudy grey sky above a glass ceiling. Some metres away from where Harrison was standing, in the direction he had just been shooting at, were two targets. Both already filled with several gunshot holes.

"Hobby?" you asked as you walked up to him. You looked at the guns that were on the table. There was nothing that caught your eye in particular. 

"More like a... mandatory self-defence course." He laughed. "Not that I don't enjoy it." 

"Mandatory, you say?" You traced your fingers over a pistol mindlessly. "Why is it so necessary?" 

The question seemed to be making Harrison a bit flustered. 

"Not that it's necessary... but you never know when you might need it." 

"Do I need it?" you asked bluntly, stepping away from the table up to him.

"Maybe, eventually." He saw the way you raised your eyebrow. "If you manage to stick around long enough for a promotion." 

You started wondering what kind of promotion needed gun training. Still, you wanted to keep your calm and not show too much intention of prying.

"I sure plan on it."  

"Then I will be happy to teach you." He smiled... except the smile didn't reach his eyes. You watched as he unloaded the gun with a simple click. You weren't sure what it was, but something made your knees feel a bit weak, so you decided to look around. Anywhere but at his hands.

"I can't help but feel a bit dumb here, I am a bit new to the whole Fortune 500 thing, does every business have a shooting range?" you clearly joked.

"Well, to start off, you wouldn't believe the things we got around here, and well... there is no business out there like ours," Harrison spoke nonchalantly. You nodded along. The amount of absolute bullshit that was coming out of these people's mouths around here was actually fascinating. Still, you listened as if you cared. 

"Not that I need to tell you that," he said with a hint of amusement.

"What do you mean?" You raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, I think you know exactly what kind of place this is." 

"I do?" you kept questioning him... and you could tell he didn't like it. Still, it was fun, and he kept his cool. Although, the conversation had a tension in it, like a rubber band that was about to snap. 

"C'mon, no one would be standing here so calmly after having heard and seen me shoot a Glock in the greenhouse. Not to mention, it was my job to find out everything I could about you. You must know that what we handle with, or at least how it can be risky." 

You didn't like where this conversation was going. Not at all. You looked Harrison in the eyes. In the bright artificial light, they were even more striking.

"Honestly, as long as I don't get into trouble and get paid enough, I don't care what is going on here," you stated. Harrison laughed under his breath. "What's so funny?" 

"Nothing. I wasn't so sure about you at first, but now- you got a good attitude, might actually fit right at home here." 

"Thanks..." You weren't sure how to react to that. Next followed a moment of silence. Neither of you spoke or looked at each other. It was a bit numbing, to say the least. 

Then you remembered you had actually been planning on going somewhere before Harrison had caught your attention. He didn't ask where you were going, but before you left the room, he called out: "Want me to drive you?" 

No, not really. 

"Sure," you said. You waited in the doorway. Harrison unrolled his sleeves, grabbed his jacket, put the gun in the secret holster he had hanging in the lining... really, how long could a person take. Yet, you kept your proper attitude up. 

Finally ready, Harrison led the way to an entirely new part of the building. You paid as much attention as you could to the directions. Not only to remember your way out of this place, but you had promised Chippy a full report. You could tell it was going to be exhausting to try and explain all of this. 

Harrison was apparently leading you up to the garage. Just like the makeshift shooting range you had just left, this was also just concrete on concrete. A row of 4 identical shiny black cars was parked in the middle. 

Four matching keys were hanging next to the door. Harrison grabbed one of them and walked to the car nearest to you. You followed. 

"Where are we going?" he finally asked. You told him the name of the store. For some reason, he smiled to himself. You, however, didn't question it. You already had had too long of a conversation with him. It was bad enough that he was following you everywhere. 

The White Diamond was located on the other side of the city. This meant it was a long drive you and Harrison had to take, especially with the heavy traffic that was filling the streets. The first ten minutes of the ride, neither of you said a word. Harrison focused on the road while you directed your eyes on him. You kept your eyes on him without a real intention. When he glanced at you, you didn't look away. There was no reason to hide it. 

"I have to say, Harrison," you finally broke the silence, "you have been confusing me a little bit." 

"Oh, have I now?" The idea of that clearly made him smile as he made a turn. 

"Definitely. I mean, everything about this job is out of the ordinary, but I just can't place you in it. What is it that you do?" 

"I can do anything, darling."

"Good to know, but it's just that... you must have a position in this business, don't you?" 

"You can call me, in a way, the right-hand man of Mr Holland. I do the dirty jobs he asks me to do." He spoke with a distant tone, as if he had the answer there, prepared, for a long time. 

"Ah, so you're an assistant too." 

"Call it what you want, but know that when you leave, I'll still be here." He shot you a dirty look. He had one hand on the wheel, and as he held it, his knuckles were slowly turning paler. 

"I can tell that you don't like me." 

"It's only been a lunch and a day, so don't get me wrong. I think I like you, but you confuse me too, y/l/n. I'm sure you know that our ways are quite unconventional and they have scared more than a few employees off, yet you... you don't even seem to be questioning them. We both know it was my job to figure out if you were safe for our company and believe me, I am not done looking, because I can feel there is something more to you. I just can..." and with that, you had arrived in the parking lot of the boutique. 

As you were stepping out, you realised you had just spent an entire car ride with the first, and possibly largest, problem you might have to encounter on your job. Harrison was already suspicious of you, and it hadn't been a day. You had to work on yourself. Being good at the game wasn't everything if the others didn't play fair. It was never your thing, but you could play dirty too...

The store was bustling with customers. From the point of entrance, you could perceive the type of people that walked around. The type to have too much money to spend. What the fuck were you doing here? 

Actually... What were you doing here? All you knew was that you had to pick up an order... but where? What even was it? This was becoming a nightmare. 

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" Harrison whispered on your side. You looked over and sent him a look of zero appreciation. There goes your bonding experience. Or maybe it was the opposite. You had slowly been building up an enemy in him, getting it out there, making the problem known. 

With no response coming from you, Harrison rolled his eyes. 

"Just go to the counter, let me know when you're ready," and just like that, he left. Disappeared into the crowd. While making your way over to the said counter, you had caught a quick glance of him chatting up a lady. He seemed very in his element. 

You walked in the direction Harrison had pointed at and, indeed, there was a counter. A girl around your age was standing behind it, visibly bored. She was looking at her long red nails as you walked up to her. 

"Hi," you said. 

"How can I help you," she said monotonously. You wouldn't have been surprised if it were her parents that owned the place and made her work there.

"I'm here to pick up something for... Holland?" With those words, it was as if a switch had flipped. The girl stood up straight as a pencil and looked directly at you. 

"Oh, right. Yes, just- please, give me a second, ma'am," she flustered out before running off to the place where they kept the whatever-it-was you were here for. By her reaction alone, you were sure that the Hollands (or at least Tom) were regulars here. 

She soon came back with a small velvet box. It was just a bit too big to have your fingers around it in a grip. The girl opened the case, and there was a shiny, silver watch inside. Was this really what you came here for? 

Was this really what your life had become? Going out doing errands for your enemy while basically being tailgated by his little buddy? You were really questioning this entire operation. You agreed to it, thinking it would be exciting, but... if you had to spend the next half a year going around stores shopping for expensive watches... could you really do it? 

"Yup, that's it," Harrison said from behind you, completely out of nowhere. In that quick second, you didn't know whether to scream or punch him below the belt. He was uncomfortably close to you, so with a push of the shoulder, you made sure you had some distance. Without looking at him, you asked: 

"Wasn't I supposed to be handling this, Osterfield?" 

"You didn't even know why you were here. Someone had to make sure we're getting what we came for."

Even without looking at him, you could feel the cold stare he was giving the poor girl behind the counter. There was definitely some tension there. A warning. It made you wonder what happened. 

Something about her, made you think the girl should have been shaking, but her hands were steady as she wrapped the watch back up. You took out your pretty and shiny new business credit card, but then your eye caught something. It was a small stack of packages next to the counter. 12 or so, identical black boxes. The name of the brand was written on it in silver letters. Yet, you couldn't accurately read it because whatever material was used for it, was reflecting in the lights of the store. To show off the product, even more, a sample form was standing next to the little box pyramid. It was a classic red lipstick. Just the perfect hint of sweetness mixed with seduction. 

 "Get it already," Harrison grabbed a box. You thought you had only glanced at it, but maybe it took you a bit longer. Or maybe, he saw you look at it more than once. Either case, he wanted to move on and get out. Of course, that wouldn't happen. Not if it was up to you. 

"What? No, I can't. I don't have-" 

"Money?" Harrison scoffed and just pushed the credit card towards the girl. You, already feeling embarrassed by him enough, didn't want to fight, so you just let it happen. You thanked her, slightly bitter, and walked away with everything in a small black bag.  

You didn't speak to Harrison until you were by the car. The parking lot seemed relatively empty, so you felt comfortable continuing your conversation. 

"You know, at first, I thought your little attitude was cute, but now, you should really watch it," he said as he opened the door on his side. You mirrored him. Neither of you stepped inside.

"I'm sorry I don't feel like being walked over. Seriously, what is your problem? I've known you for a day. All I did was get a job and ask you about guns-" Suddenly you could hear footsteps behind you. Both of you turned in the direction to see a man walking by with a few shopping bags. Now more hushed, you continued: "-that you were shooting. Since when is that a crime? What have I done wrong?" 

"I'm sure there is plenty of that, but I don't think you want to get into that on the parking lot." And with that, he got into the car. With a slight groan, you got in too. This was going to be a long ride. 

Harrison gave you a bare 3 seconds to buckle up before he drove off. 

"You didn't do shit wrong, and that's what I don't like," he said, which threw you off quite a bit. "I don't trust people who don't have anything on them." 

"I used to shoplift chapsticks when I was 12. Is that good enough for you?" 

He chuckled, but only for a brief moment. For that same amount of time, he made you think of Chippy. He held the stirring wheel the same way, and he always confused the fuck out of you too. 

"It will do for now," he spoke calmly. Not in the way you would want him to talk to you during this conversation. It was, to put it merely, off-putting.

That also ended the discussion entirely.  Neither of you spoke for the rest of the drive back to the office. As you reached more busy streets again, Harrison had to drive slower. You found this to be the perfect opportunity to open up the mirror above the passenger's seat and test out your new lipstick. 

As much as Harrison annoyed you, and how weird it might have felt to buy it off of company money, you were glad you did. The shade fit your lips perfectly. Extra bonus was that by being too occupied with that, you had reached the office in no time. You stepped out as quickly as you could and practically ran up to Tom's office and knocked on his door. 

"Mr Holland?" you said with a sweet melody covering your voice, "I got your order from White Diamond." 

"Great. Thank you, y/n," he said. You walked up to his desk and put the small box in front of him. He didn't show much expression, just a vague hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth poked through. You watched him open the packaging and take the watch in his hands. For such a small and relatively fragile object, it looked really heavy. 

"What do you think?" He moved his arm around, showing off all the angles. The sun shining through the large windows behind him made the silver of the watch shine even more. 

"It's uhm..." Ugly. Pretentious. Tasteless. "It looks... expensive."  

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. A bit too much if you ask me." He took it off again, shaking his wrist. "And fucking heavy as well." He sat back down, putting the watch in a lacklustre way back into the box. "I had a better one, but it unfortunately got damaged to no repair. I guess I'll have to keep looking." 

You nodded along with his words. A part of you got a bit mad. You just went out and got that stupid, overpriced, piece of metal junk just for him to throw it out? Fucking-

"Do you know someone who might  like it?" 

"What?" You shook your head, thinking you might have misheard him during your mental anger management session. 

"I know it's a bit much," Tom laughed, "but it would be a pity not to make use of it. Here, take it." 

He looked at you with a kind smile as you thanked him and took the box back. His eyes lingered on you. More precisely, your lips. You didn't say anything of it though.

He appeared... so natural. It seemed to keep happening to you that there were these moments, glimpses, that made him look like a typical guy. Just a bloke who you would see in a bookstore or a bar. In those tiny moments, you forgot what he actually was, even what you were supposed to do. Not wanting to be there anymore, you excused yourself. 

"Of course, I'm sure you have many more important things to be doing than standing around." 

And with that send-off, you walked out of the office. To no surprise, Harrison was outside. It almost felt like he was out there waiting for you. He was leaning against the wall, one hand in his pocket. 

"Did he like the lipstick?" 

"Yeah, I guess so." 

And without saying another word, he walked away again. You kept your eyes on him as he disappeared in the hallway. Leaving you all alone and confused. You had no idea what was going on or what he meant, and you didn’t like it one bit. It made your skin prickle with apprehension. 

What was Harrison up to? 

To be continued...

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[mvrtaiswriting]

heehee- kinda gay rn,,, can u,,, make a male!reader x Jonathan based off the song Beautiful by Thornly or Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol? Oh and if it could be in a modern universe that'd be nice aaa

Orange juice. - Jonathan Joestar.

Here I am, sorry for the laaate reply. Thank you for requesting something, I absolutely love my boy Jonathan and this was so cute to write!! Expect a lot of fluff, hope this meets your expectations. Enjoy!! x

Male reader (it’s more neutral tbf) x Jonathan Joestar

Jojo’s bizzare adventures: Phantom Blood

AU / modern universe

SFW // minor hints to violence & injuries

words count: 2069

recommended song: chasing cars - snow patrol.

Hi! Are you a new reader? Check my masterlist for more content! 

Please feel free to reblog or leave a comment :) help me support my art (it’s free!), 

© bearing in mind everything I post/write is my intellectual property so please don’t steal/copy and paste and post it as yours.

Being Jonathan Joestar’s neighbour was fun. Since the day you first met, the two of you became inseparable and it was hard to imagine a world where he wasn’t by your side. It was a peaceful afternoon when you first met him. He was taking his dog out for a walk, marching proudly on the sidewalk of the street you both lived in, holding the leash tightly to prevent his dog from running away. Jonathan wasn’t older than 6 at that time but he surely was a responsible little man, putting a lot of effort in completing his task.

Unluckily for him, however, a cat dared to cut his dog’s way. In matter of second, the poor boy completely lost control over his dog and its leash. The dog started to bark loudly before starting to chase the cat recklessly, causing Jonathan to trip over and skin his knees. You were playing outside, in the front garden of your house and you saw the entire scene. You quickly grabbed your orange juice and ran towards the injured little boy, whose cheeks were flushing red.

“Are you okay?” you asked in your little squeaking voice, kneeling beside him and patting your little hand on his shoulder. Jonathan simply nodded, too busy trying his best not to cry.

You sat next to him on the cold sidewalk floor and offered him your little orange juice.

“Mommy always gives one to me if I get hurt. It helps!” you encouraged him, who whispered a soft thank you before accepting your kind offer and takin a long sip out of the juice carton.

That was the first time you and the blue haired guy met, and you never left his side since that episode.

Years passed and the bond between the two of you grew incredibly strong. The Joestar’s family welcomed you warmly since the very beginning, making you always feel at home. You and Jonathan spent a lot of time around each other; during the younger days, you either went at Jonathan’s or at your place to have some play dates. Growing up, your play dates slowly turned into study sessions and lazy afternoons spent on the couch, catching up one of the many tv series you started watching together. Over the years, Jonathan undeniably became the most relevant figure in your life. He was the first friend you ever had, and you experienced some of life’s most important first times together.

He taught you how to ride a bike. You helped him remove the first milk tooth he lost.

Little episodes like these were what really made your relationship so particular, the affection between the two of you was stronger than any other feeling you ever experienced. You never really investigated the way you felt towards each other, always justifying the reciprocal need of spending time together with the simple excuse of it being a habit. A part of you however, knew exactly the reason why you felt as if your skin starved every time it missed his touch; it was the same reason why you felt a strange sensation in your stomach every time he’d hold you in his arms while watching a movie or simply looked you in your eyes.

Admitting your feelings towards him wasn’t something you’d ever consider. You feared your confession would have ruined years of friendship – and the bond you two shared was far too unique for you to lose it.

That night, Jonathan had one of his usual boxing matches. You never quite understood how Jonathan, the kindest person of all time, could practice such a violent sport. Outside the ring, Jonathan had a very docile behaviour; he was always so kind and a very easy going person. His beautiful smile surely was his signature, it was almost impossible to catch him in a bad mood. Inside the ring however, Jonathan seemed to become a different person. The concentration that the fight required always gave him a stoic expression, which was very unusual for him. His typical gentleness seemed to completely fade away when facing his opponents – but that was part of the game; sports such as boxing didn’t have any space for weaknesses or sentimentalities.

It wasn’t usual for you to assist his matches. You hated the vision of the man you loved getting beaten up with the sole intention of entertainment; seeing him all covered in blood was something you always tried to avoid.

“I know you’re rooting for me” he said to you earlier that afternoon. “But it would be nice to have you there, you know?” he continued, while delicately tracing random patterns on your back with his fingertips. It was impossible for you not to break under his touch, and you ended up agreeing on going to the match. An excited smile formed on Jonathan’s face, who quickly pulled you closer into his arms, wrapping you in his strong, sweet embrace.

“I should say yes more often.” you chuckled, resting your head on his chest and enjoying the feeling of his strong arms around your body.

Once you reached the gym where Jonathan’s match took place, you sat closely enough to the ring. You felt your heart pounding in your chest, unable to not worry about your best friend.

When his tall figure entered the boxe ring, his eyes started scanning every face in the crowd hoping to recognise yours – and when he did, he couldn’t help but smile shyly. He quickly looked back at the arbiter of the match, trying his best to hide his blushing and starting to focus on the match.

The first rounds were okay. Jonathan seemed more than able to handle the fight – it was highly likely for him to win; but he was tired. As time passed, his movements became slower. His shoulders visibly moved up and down as he breathed, emphasising how fatigued his body was. He staggered but tried his best to retrieve some energy, and never gave up until the last minute. The match ended when a strong, well placed punch hit Jonathan’s face, making him trip down and almost breaking his nose. Jonathan’s face quickly became covered in blood and once the arbiter announced the victory of the opponent, you quickly rushed to the ring, reaching Jonathan’s body.

“Are you okay? Let me see!” you said, leaning over him who tiredly laid on the ground, still unable to catch his breath. He simply nodded in response, looking at you with only one eye open while a soft smile adorned his lips. You shook your head hinting a weak laugh, while you helped him to get up. His almost powerless body relayed on yours as you walked to the infirmary, his arched figure still a bit taller than you. After receiving the medical treatments he needed, the two of you made your way out of the gym without saying a word. You were still shaken from the sight of Jonathan’s face covered in blood, even if you knew he was fine.

The awkward silence was interrupted by Jonathan clearing his throat once you reached your car.

“Do you want me to drive?” he asked with a concerned look on his face, his navy blue eyes looking for yours.

He knew exactly how you felt. He saw how your eyes were full of fear when you looked at him laying on the ground, he knew how badly that sight scared you. Afterall, he would have felt the same way if you somehow managed to get hurt.

“Let me.” he added, reaching your hands and slowly taking the car’s keys out of your grip. Placing a delicate kiss on your forehead, he entered the car and silently drove towards the neighbourhood you both lived in. He rested his hand on your thigh during the entire trip as if he wanted to reassure you, lifting it up only when he needed to change the car’s gear. When you finally arrived, he parked the car in front of his home.

“I’ve got some orange juice.” he said keeping his hand on the handbrake of the car, letting out a small laugh to lighten the tension between the two of you. You nodded in response and agreeing to his implict invite, causing Jonathan to smile.

Walking behind him, you entered the house. He extended his arm backwards, only to reach and grab your hand as both of you silently walked into the kitchen. You sat on the table as Jonathan handed you a glass of orange juice, cheering with you before taking a sip.

“Sorry.” you finally said, making Jonathan frown. “I just worried too much. It’s not because I underestimate you, I just hate the whole concept of you getting hurt.”

Jonathan cheeks flushed hearing your words, cautiously bringing himself closer to you inserting himself in the space between your legs. Towering you, he reached one of your cheeks and cupped it with his strong hands. He left a small kiss on your nose before embracing you, letting your head rest on his chest.

“I know.”

You sighed shaking your head; you were sure he had no clue about the reason why you felt this way. It wasn’t a matter of overprotectiveness, nor it was as simple as a worrying for a friend. It was love, although this meant everything and nothing at the same time.

Without any type of warning, Jonathan muscular arms picked you up. Your puzzled expression caused him to laugh, as he walked towards his bedroom and gently laid you on his bed. He handed you one of his t-shirts and laid exactly next to you, stretching his right arm over the length of the bed ready to welcome you in his arms.

“What –“ you were just about to start ranting millions questions when you saw Jonathan shaking his head in dissent.

“Would you just lie with me and just forget the world? Please?” he said, looking at you with the softest eyes you’d ever seen – he knew you just couldn’t resist his puppy eyes. And he was right, as you agreed silently, leaning your head on his chest and listening to the calming sound of his heartbeat.

“I don’t quite know how to explain what I feel,” he said, his eyes fixed on the ceiling above you. “But I’d react the same way if you’d ever got hurt.”

You looked at him, your hands caressing the wounds caused by the earlier boxing match. Your fingertips traced his handsome lineaments: his jaw, the shape of his lips, his nose; you couldn’t help  but being mesmerised by his beauty and wonder whether he ever looked at you the same way you were doing just now. If he ever shivered whenever you touched him, if he ever felt his heart pounding in his chest just because of something you said.

“It’s not the same, Jonathan.” you mumbled with a distracted tone.

“I think it is.” the sound of this words echoed inside of your head. What did he mean? Did he know? You tried to speak it felt as if words were just trapped in your throat; you gulped, trying to not let your mind jumping to conclusions.

Jonathan attentive eyes were locked on your face, following every movement of yours in hope to decipher your emotions – did he just say too much? He cleared his throat, not knowing exactly what to do. He was just as embarrassed as you were, and afraid that his feelings would have ruined everything.

You smiled as your cheeks were boiling hot, colouring your cheeks in red. You rested your forehead on his, your eyes intertwined in his. He slowly let his hands sliding along your back, stopping them on your hips as he gently put you on top of him. You’ve never been this close; you could hear his breath on your lips, you could see your reflection in his eyes – and you never looked so beautiful.

“Are you sure?” you asked whispering as your lips formed a soft smile on your face.

He smiled in response, nodding. Before you could say anything or process his response, he leaned towards you and kissed you passionately, wrapping his arms around your body as if he wanted to eliminate any space between the two of you. He wanted you closer; closer than you’ve ever been to him.

“Sure.” He replied once he broke your kiss, unable to stop himself from smiling.

[neuxue]

Wheel of Time liveblogging: Towers of Midnight ch 10

An Asha’man contemplates personhood and Perrin finally has a meeting.

Chapter 10: After the Taint

Back to Perrin, who’s talking with Elyas and Grady and walking through camp and still not meeting Galad. His last chapter seemed like the last few moments before such a meeting, but I guess we’re drawing this out a bit more?

Ah, a fallen statue with a sword. Well, now I know generally where we are in the timeline, at least. That’s the statue Rand mentioned to Nynaeve (when he told her to dream on my behalf, Nynaeve; and yes, that still hurts).

Perrin’s second-guessing all his life choices—okay, in fairness, mostly just his recent strategic choices—and Elyas, voice of reason, is making the very good point that you can’t actually anticipate every eventuality. Or, as Lan might say, “You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that.”

Lan may not be there, but I’m glad Perrin has both Elyas and Tam with him. Both of them are good… not just grounding influences but I guess… steadying ones. They’re people who have gone through quite a lot of Life Experience, not all of it pleasant, and have emerged from it with a clear sense of who they are, and how they fit into the world around them. And Perrin needs people like that with him now; Rand needs people who help remind him he’s human, Mat needs his Greek chorus, and Perrin needs… people who have found that kind of balance within themselves, to show him it’s possible. Elyas, who has found his balance between man and wolf. Tam, the farmer and soldier, and neither of those lessening the other. In a way, I think they’re both not unlike the sort of person Perrin himself might be when he’s older.

I suppose what I’m getting at here is, it’s good for Perrin to have some role models.

Ugh, apparently the Two Rivers people are still judging Perrin for that time they think he slept with Berelain. Don’t slutshame the wolfboy, people; for all you know he has an open marriage!

…Okay anyone who’s met Faile could likely guess that’s not the case. But they should know better than to trust so much to rumour, especially when they know Perrin. Unfortunately, though, people are people. Also, you know, Wheel Of Absolutely No Communication and all that. Sigh.

Perrin wants to sneak into the Whitecloaks’ camp for a rescue mission, and Grady just wants to go Dumai’s Wells on their asses. Not…sure either of those is exactly a great solution here, boys. Have you considered talking? Oh, wait, no, forgot what series I’m reading.

He hated the idea of letting the Asha’man loose with impunity. The scent of burned flesh in the air, the earth ripped apart and broken. The scents of Dumai’s Wells. However, he couldn’t afford another distraction like Malden. If there were no other choice, he’d give the order.

And now he knows how Rand felt, when he did give that order.

Still, this could be taken as a small moment of growth for Perrin, to acknowledge—hating the idea but not letting it drag him fully into a crisis of self-hatred—that he could do this, will do this if he has to. That this is an option available to him, and that if it is necessary, he’ll do it. And being able to do that not in the moment (the way he sort of did with the Shaido prisoners, for example), and not in that desperate single-minded focus on finding Faile, but as a simple evaluation of the options available to him, in anticipation of what might be needed for this next task.

Still, for all their sakes, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Not yet, though. There are no coincidences with ta’veren. The wolves, the Whitecloaks. Things he had been outrunning for some time were returning to hunt him.

Wow that sounds almost like self-awareness! And lack of denial! Again, to Perrin’s credit, he’s been alright at that for a little while now, but it’s still a big enough achievement that I’ll celebrate it whenever it happens with these boys.

But yes, Perrin. It’s the endgame of an epic fantasy series; there are no coincidences here.

The Whitecloaks had haunted him since his early days out of the Two Rivers. Dealing with them had never been simple.

It felt like the time had come. Time to make an end to his troubles with them, one way or another.

That, basically. Coming full circle and getting closure to an arc and all that fun stuff.

Which is another reason why this shouldn’t end in violence, perhaps. Because that’s what started all of this: Perrin fought the Whitecloaks, and killed two of them (and then several more, with Gaul, for old times’ sake), and had to Deal With That, both in his own mind acknowledging himself as a killer and with the consequences of it. And at every stage of this he’s been in conflict with the Whitecloaks. Fighting them directly, or at odds with them in the Two Rivers.

(They make such a good point of conflict for him too, especially when you set the Tuatha’an on the other side, because together they kind of represent an extreme version of some of the sides of Perrin’s own conflict within himself. The Tuatha’an as an extreme version of his wish for peace and his fear of the violence he carries within himself; the Whitecloaks as an extreme version of a determination to do the right thing.)

But now the Whitecloaks are being set up for a kind of redemption via Galad, and Perrin’s arc is drawing to a close for the endgame, and so it would fit both sides for this long-running conflict, which challenges the fundamentals of who they are, to come to a close not in violence but in alliance. To recognise in each other something to be admired rather than only something to be feared or hated. To see points of similarity rather than just irreconcilable difference. Because to do so would also, I think, mean accepting some of those things in themselves, so that they can all move forwards.

And on the subject of alliance where once was enmity, the Asha’man and Aes Sedai with Perrin have figured out linking. Well, Neald has, and Grady seems keen to get on board. Cooperation! Overcoming millennia-long barriers! Being stronger together!

“Light! It’s wonderful. We should have done this months ago.”

Or centuries, but it’s all relative, right?

I do love, though, that at almost every turn, once this kind of cooperation happens, it’s seen by those involved as something positive, treated with this kind of joyous amazement. Like Nynaeve’s first time as part of a circle, or this, or affirmations of friendship, or those moments when characters finally decide to be open or honest with one another. It’s almost always rewarded; it takes a hell of a lot of work and time and pain to get there, but once they do, it’s something good.

“I was wondering if I might…” [Grady] seemed hesitant. “Well, if I might have leave to slip over to the Black Tower for an afternoon, to see my family.”

Oh. Oh man. Okay I think I see where this is going. (The importance of having family, to keep him grounded, as Rand recognised so long ago when he first started gathering men who could channel, before he all but lost sight of his own anchors. And the taint is gone now so it’s safe, or at least safer…).

Also, please let Grady or someone go to the Black Tower because I need a Black Tower interlude. It has been far too long and there have been far too few in the first place. What is happening there. I need to know. Because of reasons.

Damn it Perrin let him go see his family! I mean okay fair, there’s a clear threat ahead and a possible threat behind so tactically yeah, not a great time. And he does agree to let Grady go at some point soon.

“You never worried about this before, Grady,” Perrin said. “Has something changed?”

“Everything,” Grady said softly. Perrin got a whiff of his scent. Hopeful. “It changed a few weeks back. But of course you don’t know. Nobody knows. Fager and I weren’t certain at first, and we weren’t sure if we should tell anyone for fear of sounding delusional.”

“Know what?”

“My Lord, the taint. It’s gone.”

And with it, the certain death sentence they’ve all been living under. It does change everything: once, they were weapons, because that was all they could hope to be in their brief time of power before madness. Once, all they could do in the end was die for this cause. Now, there’s a chance they can live for it. Can let themselves be more than weapons again, can hope for something more.

In its own way it’s yet another version of Rand’s realisation on Dragonmount, for all that this comes earlier chronologically (and for all that we’ve seen it happen already for some of the characters who were closer to the cleansing). This idea that there might be more to the future than death, more to give than a last stand and despair, more to be than a weapon.

The timing of this does seem kind of weird, given that the cleansing was several books ago now, and the explanation that they were waiting to be sure… eh, I suppose no one ever tells anyone anything in this series so it doesn’t strain suspension of disbelief too far. I suppose it just feels weird because everything about Perrin’s chapters up until now has felt like a building up of tension before his inevitable meeting with Galad, and this feels like a kind of random digression.

Not an unimportant one—this is lovely, and fits well in terms of where we are in the overall story in the sense of realisation of hope once thought lost—but just… somewhat oddly placed.

“Seems the sort of thing Rand might have been about,” Perrin said.

Which might just be the most chill reaction to hearing about the cleansing of saidin we’ve seen from anyone. Oh, a miracle? The removal of a three-thousand-year-old evil that has gradually destroyed so much of society and thrown the world out of balance? Yeah, that sounds like something Rand would do, cool, fair enough.

It probably helps that Perrin himself can’t channel, so all of this would feel a bit more… abstract, maybe? Which might make it easier to accept than it would be for someone to whom this is an integral part of their lives. Still, it makes me laugh.

“When I joined the Lord Dragon, I knew what would happen to me. A few more years and I’d be gone. Might as well spend them fighting. The Lord Dragon told me I was a soldier, and a soldier can’t leave his duty. So I haven’t asked to go back before now. You needed me.”

“That’s changed?”

“My Lord, the taint is gone. I’m not going to go mad. That means… well, I’ve always had a reason to fight. But now I’ve got a reason to live, too.”

This, exactly. The difference between having something to die for and having something to live for; dying for a cause and living for one. It’s adjacent to Rand’s own why do you fight question and realisation, but it’s also the realisation that there is something more than death ahead.

There’s a kind of honour, certainly, in knowing he’s going to die and deciding to at least make that death worth something—give that brief time before madness to some kind of cause, use this power that damns him to serve some goal. But now that’s not the only choice. Now he can decide to fight, still, but also to live, and to hope for something else; to be a soldier, yes, but not merely a weapon.

It’s one of those shifts in perspective that from one angle looks so slight but that actually means everything, that changes everything.

And again, while the specific timing in this chapter is a little weird, it otherwise is such a fitting realisation; sure, it’s technically before Dragonmount, but narratively it’s during this time when this kind of shifting perspective is spreading across the world from its epicentre: the mountain where hope first seemed to die and now at last has been restored. This realisation that there’s more than just a dark inevitability to the future; that instead there are choices and things to live for and possibilities and second chances.

(There’s one rather prominent character who still has yet to come to his own version of this realisation, but he’s riding towards it now, unless I am very much mistaken).

That was what Perrin had sensed in the Asha’man all along, the reason they held themselves apart, often seeming so sombre. Everyone else fought for life. The Asha’man… they’d fought to die.

That’s how Rand feels, Perrin thought.

Indeed. And almost surprisingly perceptive of Perrin; for a while in the middle he sort of… didn’t quite allow himself to see Rand’s despair and sadness. But he’s absolutely right, in this.

And he touches on another key part of this change, in that thought of the Asha’man holding themselves apart. Not quite letting themselves be part of the world in the same way as others, not allowing themselves connections and friendships and anchors; turning themselves to weapons (or, in Rand’s case, to steel, to cuendillar). Which then leads to a kind of apathy or despair, to no longer having anything to live for, because they allow themselves nothing, because they don’t allow themselves to be people. But now they can, and so Grady is reaching back out to those things that mattered, back when he was a person and not a weapon (like the veins of gold). Drawing on them once more to pull himself back, to let himself be himself again.

I suppose in a way this ties into where Perrin is in his own story as well, now that he has found Faile and come out of the other side of that single-minded despair in which nothing else mattered. Because he, too, is finding his footing again after that. Finding some kind of purpose. It’s not like-for-like, but it all ties together.

Grady laughed. It felt odd, but good, to hear that from the man.

Laughter and tears.

Oh, are we actually going to get the meeting with Galad now?

“There is a stranger riding along the road towards camp. He flies a flag of peace, but he wears the clothing of these Children of the Light.”

FINALLY.

Oh good Tam is here. Tam is a good person to have around when everything’s likely to go to shit.

Ah it’s Dain Bornhald rather than Galad. That’s… not exactly ideal. He and Perrin didn’t precisely part on the best of terms. Or meet on the best of terms. Or ever interact on anything but the worst of terms, really.

Anyway Bornhald opens by calling Perrin a criminal so we’re off to a great start.

“It is you. The Light has delivered you to us.”

“Unless it has also delivered you an army three or four times the size of the one you have now,” Perrin called, “then I doubt very much that it will matter.”

I’m always here for Perrin’s backtalk, of course, but I’m pretty sure an outright threat isn’t going to help this situation any. Then again, it was more or less a lost cause as soon as Bornhald showed up, given I don’t think anything but a severe concussion and possibly amnesia is going to change his opinion of Perrin, so.

Perrin’s attempting something vaguely resembling diplomacy, in that he’s basically saying ‘why don’t we just ignore each other until we’re out of sight’, but Bornhald’s not so keen on that option. Unsurprisingly.

“But I will leave that for the Lord Captain Commander to explain. He wishes to see you for himself.”

YES. FINALLY.

Though Perrin’s not so keen on walking into what could very likely be a trap, and Tam’s thinking much the same thing… but hey, he’s ta’veren; what could possibly go wrong? When has knowing they’re walking into a trap ever gone anything but perfectly well for any of these characters? (Don’t answer that).

“Burn me, Tam. I have to at least try before attacking them.”

That’s… a fair point, at least given Perrin’s own sense of honour and morality. It’s part of his ongoing conflict with the Whitecloaks as well, really: at none of their encounters has he actually wanted to kill them, or to attack first. He’s not out hunting them, and while he does sort of bear a grudge against them now, it wasn’t always that way. It’s just that there’s quite a lot of bad blood there, and even in the early days things went south quickly, and so it inevitably ended in bloodshed.

The six of them broke away from camp, and blessedly, Faile didn’t seem to have heard what was happening. Perrin would bring her if there was a longer parley or discussion, but he intended this trip to be quick, and he needed to be able to move without worrying about her.

Kind of a shame, given that she could be an asset in a discussion or negotiation. But at least he knows that well enough to be thinking of bringing her along if there’s going to be extended talking, I suppose. Would Galad know her? Maybe not on sight, but I’d imagine he might know her name, and certainly would know her father’s… that could help. Or not; who knows.

HI GALAD.

The tall man had fine features and short, dark hair. Most women would probably call him handsome. He smelled… better than the other Whitecloaks.

This description is just trying way too hard to emphasise the ‘no homo’ that it pretty much runs screaming in the other direction, and I’m laughing.

“Goldeneyes,” the man said. “So it is true.”

“You’re the Lord Captain Commander?” Perrin asked.

“I am.”

Oh, of course we’re doing this without Perrin ever getting his name. Of course. I can’t quite decide if that strains my suspension of disbelief or not, but either way: ARGH. Then again, Perrin’s never actually met Galad and doesn’t know that Maighdin is Morgase, and barely even knows Elayne, so knowing Galad’s identity might not actually help him all that much.

“What will it take for you to release the people of mine you’re holding?”

“My men tell me they tried such an exchange once,” the Whitecloak leader said. “And that you deceived them and betrayed them.”

Well, yes, they would say that. But Galad, you of all people should know that there are probably more sides to that particular story, especially given you’re not getting it from an unbiased source.

Galad keeps listing out Perrin’s alleged crimes, some of which could be argued to be true (killing Whitecloaks); some of which are bullshit (leading Trollocs to attack his own village), but none of which he has any actual evidence for, beyond the word of his own men. Their word against Perrin’s, and it seems like Galad should also know that just because he’s the Lord Captain Commander now, and trying to drag this organisation kicking and screaming into some kind of redemption, doesn’t mean everyone in it is suddenly noble and honourable and not lying outright to him.

Or even that they’re mistaken. That, as is so often the case, there’s just more to the story. That maybe the people whose information he’s relying on didn’t know everything that was actually happening. Which is closer to the truth, really; Bornhald genuinely believes Perrin is evil, and so everything else gets filtered through that lens of confirmation bias.

“I want a more formal parley, where we can sit down and discuss. Not something improvised like this.”

“I doubt that will be needed,” the Whitecloak leader said. “I am not here to bargain. I merely wanted to see you for myself. You wish your people freed? Meet my army on the field of battle. Do this, and I will release the captives, regardless of the outcome.”

I am a little surprised Galad outright refuses Perrin’s request to sit down and talk about this like adults. Because sure, he’s seen Perrin now, but what information does that tell him? It’s a perfectly reasonable request, and nothing Perrin’s said to him has been particularly unreasonable, and again, Galad should know better than to just take as absolute truth everything he’s been told.

Then again, Bornhald told him the truth about Valda and Morgase, so maybe that’s earned him Galad’s trust? Still, it seems odd that he wouldn’t give Perrin some kind of chance—a trial, or a conversation—to defend himself, before challenging him to a battle, where so many more people could die.

I just don’t get Galad sometimes, but what else is new.

“Your force will face ours under the Light,” the Whitecloak leader said. “Those are our terms.”

So you’re just going to sentence some of your own people to death in order to determine this, rather than… talk? Sure. Okay. Trial by combat by proxy; why the hell not.

I’m still guessing it’s not actually going to come to that, somehow, though I can’t quite see how. Unless Galad sees Morgase. That’s the only thing I can think of that could potentially stop this from turning into the mess it’s currently heading for.

He could take the Whitecloak leader captive right here, with barely a thought.

Perrin was tempted. But they had come under the Whitecloak’s oath of safety. He would not break the peace.

That’s some rather weird logic, if you’re intending to then meet him on the field of battle. Capture one person, and the cost is breaking an oath of peace. Keep that oath of peace, and the cost is, very probably, the lives of some of the people following you.

I mean okay, I get it, truce flags should be honoured because otherwise Bad Things Happen, but… eh. Like with a lot of the ‘rules’ of warfare, sometimes thinking about it too hard gets a bit weird.

***

Oh we get a Galad POV now, so maybe his thinking will make more sense. Though admittedly I don’t hold out a great deal of hope for that, because again, Galad’s thought process just baffles me sometimes.

Those golden eyes were unsettling. He had discounted Byar’s insistence that this man was not merely a Darkfriend, but Shadowspawn. However, looking into those eyes, Galad was no longer certain he could dismiss those claims.

Come on, Galad, did no one ever teach you not to judge people by their appearance?

Like, on the one hand… okay, people he trusts have told him some pretty terrible thing about this guy, and he does have (apparently) unsettling eyes, and he didn’t deny any of the accusations Galad listed out. And confirmation bias, again, is a strong thing. It does make sense that he would be wary of Perrin, and expect him to be an enemy, to potentially be evil, and to see that at least his physical description matches what he was told so maybe the rest does, too.

It’s just frustrating.

“They would not have harmed me,” Galad said.

So you’ll believe he’s a monster, but also that you were safe?

To be fair, his reasoning for why he was safe does make sense, more or less, given what he knows and (mostly) what he assumes.

“If he is as you and Child Byar say, then he worries greatly about his image. He didn’t lead Trollocs against the Two Rivers directly. He pretended to defend them.” Such a man would act with subtlety. Galad had been safe.

Well, it makes sense if you partially discard Occam’s Razor and also fail to account for the possibility that he’s not as Bornhald and Child Byar say. Then again, if that’s true, then Galad was also safe, because Perrin’s not a monster or a threat.

Alright, fine, Galad, I’ll give you that one.

Those eyes… they were almost a condemnation by themselves.

Seriously, people, what is it with determining a person’s morality by their eye colour? You live in a world with literal magic! Sometimes weird shit happens!

And Aybara had reacted to the mention of the murdered Whitecloaks, stiffening. Beyond that, there was the talk his people gave of him in alliance with the Seanchan and having with him men who could channel.

Again, I can just about see where Galad’s coming from, and how he’s putting the pieces together, but I wish he’d stop for just a moment to consider that maybe there’s more to the story. But then, he’s hardly the only person in this series to come to not-entirely-accurate conclusions based on flawed or incomplete information. They’re all just working with what they have, and sometimes what they have is wrong, but… well, if I gave Lan’s a portion of wisdom quote to Perrin earlier, I suppose it’s only fair I grant Galad the same courtesy now. He doesn’t have perfect evidence that what he’s been told is right, but it paints a compelling enough picture, and he doesn’t have much evidence to the contrary, either.

Better to defeat this Aybara now, than to wait and face him at the Last Battle. As quickly as that, he made his decision. The right decision. They would fight.

Morgase, get over here; we need you.  

Previous (ToM ch 9)

[fnlrndcllctv]

THE YEAR IN FIGHTING GAMES: 1994

As the original release of Street Fighter II turns 30 this year, we are taking a look at the landscape of fighting games between 1991 and 2021 on a year by year basis!

This week, Shaun Eddleston takes a look at 1994…

1994 was an eventful year for video games.

Nintendo was starting to wind down on its production of NES games, while celebrating the success of games such as Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo. SEGA’s Sonic The Hedgehog series was going strong with Sonic The Hedgehog 3, and games such as DOOM II and Warcraft were making their way onto computers all across the world.

It was also a year where Germany placed Mortal Kombat II on its index of media works deemed harmful to young people by Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons effectively banning the game from sale in the country (and remained that way all the way up to 2005!).

Let’s take a look at 1994 in fighting games...

One of the more obscure Neo Geo titles, Aggressors Of Dark Kombat (known as Tsuukai GANGAN Koushinkyoku in Japan) was an interesting title that felt like a bit of an experiment in the genre. The game’s movement feels more like it would fit into your standard beat ‘em up game such as Final Fight and Streets Of Rage, and even drops weapons into the stage for fighters to use. 

The game also includes a fun comeback mechanic, the “GAN GAN attack”, which kicks in once a player’s health bar drops below a certain point, and their power bar is full. Once one of these mega attacks connects with an opponent, the player automatically wins the round.

Art of Fighting 2 continues the story that kicked off in the previous year’s entry, as we immediately learn that the identity of Yuri’s kidnapper, the tengu masked Mr Karate, is none other than Takuma Sakazaki, Yuri and Ryo’s father. This is all part of a much bigger criminal plot that ends up being spearheaded by a certain young crime lord from another popular SNK fighting title…

As for the game itself, almost every aspect of the Art Of Fighting experience was rebuilt and polished. The character sprites and stage art looked better, and a new “Rage” gauge mechanic was introduced into the mix. All of the game’s characters are immediately playable in arcade mode, and each have their own specific dialogue when interacting with other fighters.

The first 3D weapons-based fighting game was also one of the earlier releases on the Sony PlayStation, and was poised to be the game that would “outshine” the impressiveness of Virtua Fighter’s groundbreaking graphics.

While it didn’t quite beat out SEGA’s franchise, Battle Arena Toshinden still had a couple of interesting aspects to it that are still worth mentioning today. 

First of all, it is arguably the first “true” 3D fighting game, as it included the ability to side-step or dodge roll during a fight. This meant that the act of avoiding projectiles now had more options outside of blocking the hit or jumping over it, giving the game a little more depth (both mechanically and visually).

Thanks to the newly opened up 3D movement, ring outs are also possible in the game, where players can lose a round by simply falling off the side of the stage. This is an element that many gamers see as a bit of a cop out during a fight, but I personally see it as a fun way to humiliate opponents and even bring overly confident fighters back down to earth.

Capcom’s massive success with Street Fighter II was one of the most important moments in video game history, and the game was still going incredibly strong since its release 3 years prior (including this year, which we’ll touch on later in the article). There was a big question that lingered though; what non-Street Fighter fighting game would Capcom bring to the table next?

That game was Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors.

Darkstalkers wasn’t a million miles away from Street Fighter II in terms of gameplay. It utilised the same six-button L/M/H attack layout, and even used a Super Gauge that would be shared with the series.

The main strength of Darkstalkers that set it apart from its more famous older cousin, and that was its characters and theme. Instead of a tournament of worldwide fighters that many 2D fighting games utilised, Darkstalkers took inspiration from classic horror movies from the Universal era and offered a cast of 10 fighters that range from werewolves, sasquatches and vampires to Egyptian mummies, zombies and a Frankenstein’s monster for good measure. 

A spooky cult favourite!

1993’s Fighters History was a controversial entry in the fighting game genre. Not necessarily because of any violent content or especially iffy storyline, but for just how similar the game was to Street Fighter II. It was so similar, in fact, that Capcom attempted to sue Data East for just how much of a shameless ripoff the game was.

Capcom wasn’t successful with the lawsuit, and Data East went forward with a sequel, Fighters History Dynamite.

The game, perhaps more commonly known in some places as “Karnov’s Revenge”, added more characters (including the game’s boss fighters, Karnov and Clown) to the playable roster and spruced up the game's stage backgrounds.

Other than the slightly expanded range of fighters, and a hilarious hidden character to discover, not a lot else has changed from the first title, and still feels like it can’t shake off the original comparison that it got into trouble for.

Many 2D games up to this point were trying to mimic Street Fighter and Fatal Fury’s cartoonish graphics, there wasn’t really anything outside of Mortal Kombat’s digitised graphics that truly felt “next-gen” going into the middle of the decade.

Enter Killer Instinct.

While Rare as a developer was having a fantastic year already, with the success of Battletoads and Donkey Kong Country leaving long lasting impressions on the industry, their fighting game was a revelation in arcades, bringing a mix of 2D gameplay on 3D stages, strong bloody violence and a ridiculous new combo system to the table.

The characters were memorable, the animated FMV sequences were jawdropping to watch, and witnessing the game announce blare out “ULTRA COMBO!” whenever someone nailed a particularly savage sequence of hits just felt right.

Why not check out our thoughts on the game’s “killer” soundtrack?

Inspired by the popularity of Ryo Sakazaki (Art Of Fighting’s main protagonist) and his appearance as a guest character in Fatal Fury Special in 1993, SNK decided to go all out and start a crossover fighting series that brought together characters from their library of past games.

The game, named after the fighting tournament in Art Of Fighting and Fatal Fury, allows players to choose from a selection of 3-member teams that have been designated to different countries of the world, and matches revolve around an elimination system. In addition to a selection of original new characters, KOF ‘94 mixed together the Ikari Warriors, Psycho Soldier, Art Of Fighting and Fatal Fury franchises to fill out one of the largest fighting game rosters around at this point.

The game’s music is the subject of our very first entry in the Soundtrack Sunday series, so check it out!

Of the slew of games that took direct inspiration from Mortal Kombat, very few actually left a lasting impression.

One of the exceptions to this was Primal Rage, which saw stop motion dinosaurs and prehistoric apes duke it out for supremacy in the new “Urth”.

The game, which also took inspiration from Taito’s Dino Rex from 1992, caused its own controversy with one of its fatalities. In 1996, a woman from Arizona said that her 11 year old son had bought the game, and used a strategy guide to execute the “Golden Shower” fatality (in which, as the title suggests, the character Chaos urinates all over the corpse of an opponent). She flipped out and started a grass-roots campaign against Primal Rage, which resulted in some US stores withdrawing copies of the game, including the already-censored SNES version, which didn’t even contain the offending move.

The game was also successful with its merchandise, and saw a line of toys and a board game to accompany it.

The first Samurai Shodown game was, and still is, one of the finest fighting games of the early 90’s, so SNK had a huge task on their hands when it came to creating a sequel.

With Samurai Shodown 2, they absolutely knocked it out of the park in pretty much every aspect. All of the sprites of the characters who reappeared from the first game had been completely remade, a bunch of new characters had been added in, everyone got amazing new moves and a number of new game mechanics were also introduced to make the game feel much more balanced and fun to play.

One of these new mechanics was the “Weapon break” system, which meant that if a player got hit with a particularly powerful attack, there was now a chance that it would knock their weapon clean out of their hands, leaving them unarmed until it was recovered. The sheer panic of scrambling to pick up your sword while the opponent is slashing away at you is a thrill that still feels as effective today as it did back then.

Street Fighter II’s reign as king of the arcade fighting games was starting to wind down by 1994, so the game saw a final upgrade in the form of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which added more game speeds, new animations and moves for all of the characters, a new “SUPER” gauge system and the introduction of  a hidden character that would quickly become one of the franchise’s most recognisable fighters; Akuma!

While many more casual players may not have felt the real impact of these changes (this was the third update in as many years since the original release), it remains as the “definitive” version of Street Fighter II, and is still used in tournaments to this day.

Developed by Namco (and ported to PlayStation in 1995), Tekken took the 3D fighting style that was pioneered by 1993’s Virtua Fighter, and added its own spin on things in regards to the control system.

Instead of using the traditional fighting game inputs that corresponded to the strength of the attacks, Tekken utilised a system that dedicates a button to each individual limb of the fighter. In doing this, the game became more of a learning process for players that wanted to do special moves and combos. This departure was so innovative, that experienced players could now figure out special moves by studying the fighters limb movements during their animations.

Known briefly as “RAVE WAR” during its beta test stage, Tekken quickly found itself as one of the most popular PlayStation games in history, and became the first game to sell over a million copies for the console.

Take a look at our thoughts about the game’s soundtrack!

Virtua Fighter was an incredibly important moment in gaming, so following up with a sequel that lived up to its predecessor was absolutely vital for SEGA.

Luckily, with Virtua Fighter 2, they managed to not only surpass the first game in the way it looked, but how it played too. Improved movesets ramped up how authentic each individual martial arts/fighting style felt, and with things running at 60FPS in the arcade version, the game felt like it was miles ahead of its competition.

The third entry in the World Heroes series was yet another improvement on the games that preceded it, but considering the sheer amount of solid competition it was facing in 1994, it still fell to the wayside.

The game added two new fighters and added a brand new boss to face off against, but things were starting to feel somewhat dated with the series now, and it suffered as a result.

While there were many action-adventure and side-scrolling beat-’em-ups based on characters from the Marvel universe, it wasn’t until the early 90’s until we got a fully fledged fighting game. It only made sense that Capcom, one of the heaviest hitters in the genre at the time stepped forward to fix this.

Released in arcades in late 1994, X-Men: Children of the Atom established what would become a beloved and fruitful relationship between Capcom and Marvel, and laid the foundations for the successful “Vs.” series that fighting game fans have played for nearly 25 years now.

The game is loosely based on 1993’s “Fatal Attractions” storyline, in which Magneto and his Acolytes return to confront the X-Men, tempting Professor Xavier to cross a moral line to stop them. It’s a pretty insane storyline with some fairly gnarly imagery (one such example sees Wolverine getting the adamantium ripped out of his skeleton!), and the good vs. evil dynamic lends itself perfectly to the setting of an arcade fighting game.

1994’s entries in the genre saw developers starting to take full advantage of the new 3D graphics that SEGA introduced with Virtua Fighter in the wake of a new console generation, while 2D fighting games kept on coming hard and fast to try and best Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat’s popularity.

Join us next week as we take a look at the games of 1995!

Did we miss anything from 1994 that’s worth mentioning?

Let us know in the comments below!

[masked-buffoon]

Chapter 3.5: No Moral nor Decency (Part 4)

Warnings: none

Author notes: please, believe me, action will start soon... I hope you don’t find it too long...!

"Caretaker-san,

I finally became a member of the family. My new godfather, Don Cosola, is a really kind and considerate man, who puts his relatives' interests before his own. He has a right-hand man, a Consigliere named Vilfredo Chimienti, who is soon to become his son-in-law. Indeed, he is engaged to our godfather's daughter, the lovely Apollonia. She is the sister of Gustavo Cosola, the son of the Don and my superior. He is a man with an acute sense of honour and family, but it does not make him any less friendly.

There are a lot more family members I would like to tell you about, but, then, my letter would be too long. Tonight, Apollonia will cook for us. She said it will be pastas. I cannot wait to taste the delicious dishes she makes. Then, I will fight against Vilfredo-san around a chessboard. He challenged me during the day, and I gladly accepted his offer. I do hope to win, although he is quite a good strategist. I wonder how astute he really is, but I will soon find out about it.

Anyway, I hope this letter does find its way to you without any trouble, and that you won't worry about me too much. I am slowly but pleasantly getting accustomed to my new life, even if I wish we could see each other soon again. There are so many things to talk about...

Best respects,

Kasumi."

Before leaving the headquarters of the Port Mafia, Dazai-san had demanded me to communicate with him with letters. In the sentences I wrote, he would play the role of my caretaker, someone who cared about me and wished me the best. Of course, since I could not tell such a gentle person about my occupation as a mafioso, I would have to pretend I had entered a rich family as a maid of some sort, which hid the real purpose of my letters and made me appear trustworthy in the eyes of the Cosola family. Were they to read my letters, they would notice how loyal and faithful I was. Why, it was only in appearance.

That night, right after handing my letters to a valet, I was, as expected, invited to the family's table to have dinner. As Gustavo's subordinate, I was considered important enough to have the right to share an intimate moment with the members of the household, which enabled me to personally meet the sweet Apollonia, whose name was on everyone's lips, as well as her mother, the gentle, yet strong-willed Prudenzia Cosola. Although she appeared suspicious at first, upon seeing a newcomer at her table, she quickly accepted me and even decided to dote on me as though I were her own daughter. It did not even discourage her to hear I was a burglar. Right after dinner, she managed to drag me to the dressing room to choose a dress with Apollonia, stating I could not use such worn out clothes when I was not on duty. Despite the slight twitching of her eyebrows when she saw the bruises on my body, she did not flinch and made me change. Then, painful minutes ensued, during which she tugged and pulled at my hair in an attempt to brush it and make something out of it. I smiled slightly when she introduced me to my reflection in a mirror. It was true that one's appearance could change greatly according to the situation... It was strange to see me, almost normal...

"Japanese women's beauty differs from ours, but in the end, all women possess a certain charm, which is their power." Prudenzia told me softly "I am glad these brutes of men finally understood what kind of asset they've missed all these years."

"Would you have wanted the heir to be Apollonia?" I questioned, curious.

"Donna Cosola... That does sound interesting." She chuckled "But women were not made for blood and violence, according to certain men. My lovely Apollonia was raised in innocence and purity. For the sake of preserving her naivety, she does not even speak a word of Japanese."

The daughter waved at me, a sweet smile playing on her lips, and I waved back at her.

"I see... So Vilfredo-san will take the head once the current Don passes away, is that right?"

"Indeed... But my husband still has some good years to live, so let us not talk about such troublesome matters." She said "I do hope you'll win against Vilfredo tonight. Show them what a woman can do...!"

"I will." I assured him.

For a second, I thought about betraying the Port Mafia to truly enter the Italian Mafia, but then remembered that Dazai-san never lost, and that I was more likely to die if I were to choose the wrong side of the war. As much as these people were nice, I could not afford to deceive the demon prodigy of Yokohama if I wanted to stay alive. Besides... I had sworn my loyalty to a single person, and only death could make me renegade him. I would never deflect from the Port Mafia. The Cosola family was nice, but I was expected to fulfil my mission with no moral nor decency. Such worthless matters could not make my will falter.

Vilfredo Chimienti was already waiting for me in front of the chessboard, a glass of whisky in his hand. Politely, I sat in front of him.

"The madam had fun with you, it seems." He chuckled "You are hardly recognisable."

"She is very nice..." I agreed.

"Can I offer you a drink?"

"Mmh..." I hesitated "Am I allowed a whisky on the rocks as well...? I really like strong alcohol."

"I thought you were underage?" He blinked, pouring me a glass nonetheless.

"Oh, I am, legally speaking. But in our world, age doesn't mean anything. Thank you, Vilfredo-san." I took the drink "I don't mind taking the black."

"I thought you were more of the white side." He grinned "That's amusing. But, well, it's only been a day. Let's get along and learn to know each other."

"I've never been white." I admitted "All my life has always ever been tainted by incredibly thick darkness... I'm glad I found some respite among your family."

"That's nice." He nodded.

He was a good player, experienced, whereas my sole encounter with the game had been through watching Dazai-san play against himself instead of completing his paperwork. Even so, I did know the rules and how the pieces moved, and I remembered strategies my superior would apply against himself to win. On the board, the pawns changed into henchmen, and I moved them like I would have guided the squadron entrusted by Dazai-san. It was not a game to me.

"How long have you been playing?" I was asked.

"A year or two..." I lied "In fact, my caretaker, who had taken me in when I was in the streets, had taught me very well..."

"Then it isn't surprising that you won so easily, I suppose." He groaned, bitter.

"Not so easily..."

"Sixteen moves...! Only sixteen moves, do you even realise how monstrous that is? Or am I just very bad at this...?" He sighed.

"No... I..." I felt bad for him.

His fiancee, Apollonia, came to him to wrap her arms around his neck comfortingly, and they exchanged a few words in Italian, which I did not understand.

"You were beaten by a woman, Vilfredo?" Gustavo suddenly walked toward us "Aren't you humiliated?"

"I don't understand how losing against a woman is humiliating." I told him.

"Why, usually, women are raised like my little sister. She doesn't even know the basic rules of chess... But, Kasumi, I challenge you as well." He smirked "If you win, you'll earn your superior's utmost respect."

"I suppose it isn't too cheap for a first day." I chuckled "I'm fine with it, then."

"Acting all confident when you're going to be crushed." He huffed "If I win, I want a kiss~"

"Gustavo-san, that would be improper." I noted, placing the pieces on the board.

"Then don't lose to me~"

I had considered letting him win to flatter his ego, but the prospect of having to lock lips with him was so repulsive to me that I needed to do my utmost to prevent such a horrible situation to occur. I took him down mercilessly, with an aggressive strategy, without giving him any respite.

"So, tell me, Kasumi... Were you so disgusted by my winning?"

"With all due respect, Gustavo-san, I was." I smiled slightly.

"And does that justify that humiliation you inflicted on me?" He pouted.

"I wonder..." I snickered "Next time, behave like a gentleman if you want to keep your very masculine dignity."

Vilfredo Chimienti was having a hard time holding his laughter back on the couch across the room.

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[wildshadowtamer]

A Different Path (What If?) Ch 5

Summary: Perry came back from a non-heinz-related mission, covered in soot and quite out of breath, he expected to just spend a few hours doing paperwork, but when he logged into his profile, he saw something sickening.

Here is the story of why Perry hates OWCA.

Tags (Chapter Specific): Violence, Attempted Murder, Attempted Child Murder, Blood

Tags (Fic General): Ducky Momo - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Character Death, car crash, burn scars, burn victim, Fluff and Angst, warning: this fic is dark, especially the first chapter, Inspired by Fanfiction, Based on a Tumblr Post, AU, what if au, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Mentions of car crashes, Past Child Abuse, mentions of child abuse, mentions of child abandonment, Family Fluff, Fluff, Violence, Attempted Murder, Attempted Child Murder, Blood

Notes: Credit to @woulddieforperrytheplatypus for encouraging me to write this fic! TW for violence, attempted murder, attempted child murder, and blood

Rating: Mature

Read It On Ao3

or

Read It Here!

~~~~

July 18th, 2006

Perry came back from a non-heinz-related mission, covered in soot and quite out of breath, his entire body aching from the fight against 4 goons at once. He stumbled into his lair below D.E.I and collapsed tiredly onto his chair in front of his giant movie-like monitor, he sighed with a chittering noise and pulled the chair closer to the keyboard.

Then he remembered that he would likely need to do paperwork for arresting the villain he was up against, and likely file a mission report and summarize everything that happened. He laid his head on the desk and silently wished for something to happen so he could avoid it, but he knew there was no escaping endless paperwork, and so he turned on his monitor and clicked into his agent file.

Just as he was about to make a new mission report, he spotted something unusual on his file, a hazard sign flickering on his boys’ family file. Thats strange, did something happen while he was at work?

He puts his phone back on noise, as its usually on silent when he’s on missions, and checks his texts. No recent texts from Heinz.

He clicked into Phineas and Ferb’s file warily, the boys, as of last year, had started making amazing inventions and fun creations near daily in the summer and winter, and working on simple projects in the school months. Recently they had been making some admittedly extreme projects, including 3d printing monkeys and teaching them how to ride a unicycle, Perry still isn’t too sure how they cleaned it up before Charlene, Heinz’ ex-wife, saw it.

However, what Perry saw in the files made his fur stand on end; Each of their inventions had been logged and dated, each with a threat level, ranging from safe green to deadly red.

Threat Level? Their not even double digits, how could they be a threat to anyone except the laws of reality!?

Perry quickly scrolled to the most recent addition, today’s creation, which was apparently an ice cream machine gone wrong, and a few wrong wires turned it into a death ray. Perry nervously glanced to the glaring red threat level on screen, he checked the notes to make sure nobody got hurt.

Notes:

Death Ray was set off and hit a tree close to the house, but no person or animal was harmed. However, I still believe these boys to be a threat, no matter their age. Villains only make more villains.

Perry chittered angrily to himself at the notes, his hands shaking as he checked who had been logging the inventions; an older agent Perry was close to, Dennis The Rabbit. He had actually been Perry’s mentor back when he was a pup. 

But, if he was so close to perry, why would he call Phineas and Ferb ‘threats’ and ‘villains’? Their just kids who made a harmless mistake!

He shook his head and took a breath, death rays are no harmless mistake, no matter the result. He’ll have to have a serious talk with the whole family about wiring safety and double checking their work.

As he mentally rehearsed his lecture, he spotted a note added to the main file of the boys, and his thoughts screeched to a terrified halt.

Set to be ‘silenced’ at 5:00pm sharp, on D.E.I balcony by Agent Dennis The Rabbit

‘Silenced’? That can’t be good. Perry’s heart raced as he checked the time; 4:58. He still had time. He didn’t bother shutting down his monitor as he ran from his lair and grabbed his jetpack, making a beeline for the balcony before Dennis could get there.

He saw the boys building on balcony, unharmed and safe, and perry nearly relaxed, but he noticed a red-band fedora peeking over the lip of the open roof, and time slowed significantly.

Perry had to choose an option fast, either tackle Dennis and risk hitting the boys, or grab the boys and risking getting hit with it himself. He made up his mind, and silently begged Heinz to forgive him. 

A bright laserbeam of light shot down from the roof, aiming right at the boys, but Perry swooped down and grabbed a sheet of metal, throwing himself infront of Phineas and Ferb to deflect the laser, which bounced back and narrowly missed Dennis’ hat.

“Perry?” Phineas asked, but Perry was too focused, he grabbed the two by the wrist and shoved them inside as Dennis parachuted down from the roof and glared at Perry.

Neither needed to talk in animal tounge to know the other’s intent, both wanted to harm, but wanted to harm very, very different people.

Dennis gave a cocky smile and took his parachute off, letting it fall to the balcony floor as the two agents sized eachother up, standing only 6 feet apart.

The distance was shortly broken as Dennis tackled Perry to the floor, punching him hard across the face as the platypus grabbed him by the neck and flipped them both over so Perry was pinning Dennis. 

It became a raging battle of tooth and claw, blood splattering on their furs as they wrestled on the ground, and Perry nearly caught Dennis with his ankle barbs, but restrained himself enough to throw the smaller agent across the balcony and through the glass windows seperating the balcony from the apartment.

Glass shattered everywhere, catching Perry in the arm as the entire window crumbled to the ground in shards, but Perry didn’t care. He was struggling to stay steady, he knew if he let go of his restraint that he would kill the admittedly weaker agent. His venom could kill a lot of animals, but he knews his family would miss him if he was sent to jail, or worse, the pound.

Still, he ran across the shattered glass, ignoring the pain in his webbed feet, and grabbed Dennis by the front of the scruff, punching him square in the face mid-action jump. Dennis went limp, knocked out cold from the punch.

“Perry the Platypus, what’s going on in here-” Heinz stopped in his tracks as he looked between the two bloody agents, one unconscious and the other wielding a near-murderous glare, and the shattered window behind them. 

Perry simply held up his clawed paws and signed “O-W-C-A”

Heinz pulled a notepad from his labcoat pocket and handed it to Perry “what did OWCA do? And why is an agent on my floor? The boys said you pushed them inside without a hello.” The scientist explained, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously

It took a few minutes, but Perry eventually shoved a series of notes into Heinz’s hands, and walked over to his jetpack on the balcony, which he had abandoned as he grabbed the metal sheet.

OWCA planned to ‘silence’ the boys with some sort of laser, they didn’t tell me. Dennis was the one to shoot them, but i got in the way and deflected it just in time. The -inator is on the roof. I’ll explain the rest later, right now i have someone to talk to.

“Someone to talk to? But perry, your inju-” Heinz stopped as he watched Perry fly away anyway, apparently uncaring of his injuries. Heinz was mad, thats for sure, but not just mad at OWCA. He was mad at, and quite disappointed in, himself.

If he had just kept an eye on the boys or brought them inside when he went to check on Candace & Vanessa, Perry wouldn’t have gotten hurt, and Perry wouldn’t be so mad. 

Perry came to a stop at OWCA HQ’s entrance, and, despite the searing pain in his feet and body, he couldn’t care less. He was infuriated, shaking with such anger he almost saw red. When he finds Monogram, he’s gonna give that monobrowed cheapskate liar a piece of his mind.

The automatic sliding doors of HQ opened as Perry was scanned by the facial recognition software, he stormed inside with a walk that Heinz once described as a “murder walk”, meaning with each minute Perry considers his option, jail seems increasingly preferred.

The other agents knew that walk, and all kept their distance from the top agent as he stormed past all of them, headed straight for the Major’s office.

“He’s definitely qutting today” Monty, the Major’s son, whispered to a human agent from canada, Lyla, Perry was sure her name was. Lyla glanced at Perry, then back to Monty, and nodded.

Like the controlled, trained agent Perry is, he kept his composure enough to only kick the door to monogram’s office off the hinges, and not throw it at him like he really wanted to. Carl recognised that enraged look in his eyes, and quickly left the room.

“Ah. Agent P. What’re you doing here?” Monogram asked warily, knowing full well, but trying to stall some time. All he got in response was an angry chitter, monogram sighed “I didn’t want to do it either, but when it comes down to the safety of the agency, we can’t have a pair of villains running around with a death ray!”

The word ‘villain’ echoed in perry’s head, his agent mind getting drowned out by pure anger as everything went red and Perry activated the chitter-to-speech translator built into his collar.

Monogram paled as he realised what he had just done.

And Perry snapped. 

Half an hour later,

Perry had left the door open, so everyone in view of the office, which would be half the agency as all of them wanted to hear this, could see and hear perry’s furious rant.

They collectively gasped as he grabbed his fedora and threw it down on the floor angrily “I’ve had enough of this agency, and i’ve had enough of YOU” Perry yelled “I QUIT.”

Monogram, pale in the face and speechless, spluttered “you- you can’t do that!”, Perry slammed a fist on the flipped office desk “well i just did.” he snarled, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, the agents parting like curtains to let Perry past without him hitting someone.

There was a dead silence as everyone watched their ex-best agent leave HQ for good, eventually, Monty spoke up

“Y’know,” he looks over to his father “you kinda had it coming.” he commented calmly,  hands in his hoodie pockets. He shrunk into his hood as his father glared at him, who then took a breath and flipped his table to the right way up

“Carl, get to work on Agent P’s termination paperwork. I don’t think we’re getting him back.” Monogram told the 16-year-old unpaid intern, who peeked his head through the doorway “a-alright sir, i’ll get right to it”

Heinz knew something was wrong from the moment Perry stepped foot back in the apartment, still bleeding and scratched up. 

“Perry? What did you do?” he asked his pet nervously, Perry gave a momentary glare before taking a breath and relaxing a bit, he turned off his translator in his collar and wrote something on the spare notepad he keeps next to the couch, sitting down

I quit.

Heinz spluttered “wh- you what?”, he couldn’t believe it! Perry The Platypus, his nemesis since the day perry could fight, quit his job at OWCA?

Perry tapped the same note in reiteration, then added another sentence

I quit.

Monogram tried to hurt my brothers, and i just can’t tolerate that. I was going to leave next summer anyway, he doesn’t even treat his agents with basic respect.

“Well- yeah i get that, i’d quit too if my boss tried to, y’know, kill my children and all” Heinz had calmed down from his internal rage at both OWCA and himself from almost an hour earlier, “but what are you going to do now? Being an agent was Your Thing, and who’s going to be my nemesis?” He asked, and Perry had no answer, except a helpless shrug

I’ll think about it. I need more time with the kids and you anyway, it’ll be good not to have work for a few weeks.

“Great idea! Maybe you can help out with their inventions! Oh and I know Phineas has been wanting to show you his and Ferb’s creations. Their getting very talented!” he gasped “Maybe take them to that Googleplex Mall and take them shopping, you need a new collar anyways” He suggested, and Perry thought about it for a minute, then smiled a bit and nodded

“Brilliant!” he pulls a blank calender from behind the couch, how did perry not spot that? “Here, i’ve been working on an Inator that works similarly to a time machine, it runs mostly on calendars so i went out when you were working and bought a bunch of them, i hope you don’t mind.” Heinz rambled, Perry smiled and took the calender, using his pen to plan some events him and the kids could do, he was really looking forward to this.

Leaving OWCA was the best thing Perry ever could’ve done.

[inkandcamcorder]

Okidoki! This is my little theory post after watching the S7 trailer for The 100, I’ll probably add as I go and cancel or confirm as we watch.

As a little disclaimer, of course I know nothing for sure. If you see something that doesn’t make sense with the facts please let me know. Some of these may be completely wrong and probably most are. I’ve started this list from the fact that I believe the wormhole will let the mains go back in time, stopping te nuclear war or earth from going ka-boom or whatever it did at the time or during Praimfaya, and therefore they will erase themselves from existence. I don’t expect a happy ending but I’d still be happy if it were the case. Some of these are also repetitive or completely contradictory. Anyways, we’ll see! I’m also quite lazy so I often use initials to shorten the character’s names, I hope it’s clear enough! Obviously you’ll have seen many of these around, and some were inspired by what I’ve read on Twitter and over here of course!

I refer to the guys in the weird suits with the electric batons as the Big Human Menace, a.k.a BHM.

PS: I often mention “teams”. I don’t mean allegiance, I mean which plot line they’ll be allocated too as that many characters get split over different plot lines. Also sorry this is so long! I’m using it as a self tracker.

Here’s what I think we know from the trailer:

Jordan is going slightly creepy or cult-ish (not from the trailer but that weird look from S6),

Dyoza is in the Anomaly but alive.

Bellamy will cry & B & O will try to save one another through sacrifice.

Echo will cut her hair.

Madi will be threatened (by Russell I think).

Clarke will grieve her mom.

There’s a wormhole.

Raven and Clarke will team up and be close (and go on a mission to Nakara, the ice planet, with Jordan, Nate, Nylah, Gaia and Jackson I think? Hard to tell from the shots).

There will be skeletons.

Murphy and Emori will kick ass.

Murphy and Raven will team up.

Hope’s hair changes and she too is part of the team against the BHM.

Some guy bleeds.

Some girl screams. (I’ve seen people think it’s Raven, but that seemed unlikely to me).

Murphy get a gun put to his head.

Sheidheda (sorry about the spelling of it’s wrong!) is free. (S6)

Clarke points a fun to someone’s head (Russell I believe).

Hope screams behind a window, held by O next to C.

Echo screams.

There will be a sort of lab or torture chamber.

There seems to be a scene of Finn tied to the pole.

There’s some sort of flashback with Hope and Octavia.

There’s an icy planet, Nakara.

Bellamy should show up clean shaven at some point.

Gabriel is on the Echo plot team.

“I say live and let die.” - Murphy

There’s a change of plans for Echo and Gabriel.

O is on a white room, strapped down to a chair.

“If you fail, all our people are dead too.” (Bellamy to Clarke)

Echo is running after someone unconscious being taken (from the butt/cardigan it’s Bellamy).

Dyoza is seen holding O back.

A man is playing chess.

Russell says “we want peace”.

Here are the theories :

Jordan is going to lead a sort of rebellion for peace, similar to a cult, perhaps with him as a sort of priest.

Dyoza will be back in “The Garden” and try to get back to H and O, and will help with the Anomaly. She will eventually die - probably to save O (and/or H). They’ll be a recurring theme of “found family” between D, O and H. Probably in the hope to keep O & Bellamy from sacrificing themselves for each other or something similar.

Bellamy and Clarke will be separated for a third to half of the season.

Bellamy and Echo will be mainly on different plot lines (once she’s rescued him) - they will be apart. They will separate amicably and “always be family” or Echo will let him go (possibly before dying).

Echo will infiltrate the BHM.

Bellamy will be kidnapped and he and Madi will be used as bait for Clarke in different ways by different ennemies.

If any concrete Bellarke happens, it will be in the last two episodes, most likely only the finale. There might be some intense gazing or brushed aside lean-ins beforehand.

If they change the past, they’ll all die. If not, Clarke, Bellamy and possibly Murphy (and/or Raven) will die. Most of the mains really.

The wormhole will connect to Earth in the last allowing for revisits if plot points (perhaps Ton DC with the skeletons).

Raven and Co. will forgive Clarke (and who knows, maybe apologise? Crazy stuff).

Clarke will deal with Russel trying to rebel. She’ll threaten to burn him but as Jordan “cult” or whatnot rises, that will take a backseat. They’ll ally and Gaia will serve as an advisor. Jordan will say that he wants peace. Clarke will answer that “this is not the way” and “sacrifices must be made”. It will get out of hand (and perhaps made worse by Sheidheda interfering) and Jordan will realise the errors of his way. This will serve as a side plot while the Anomaly stretches out along the season and becomes the main plot towards the last third of the season as they search for a way to ensure humanity survives.

Sheidheda will finally be destroyed (by Clarke, with help from Gaia, Murphy and Raven).

Octavia’s death would supposedly unlock some sort of solution for the Anomaly, B will try to swap places. O sees it as her chance for redemption once more. D takes her place or something similar.

Clarke threatens Russel with a gun but doesn’t follow through.

Octavia and Gabriel will sleep together and develop *feelings* but D and H will always come first for O. Gabriel will die and say something along the lines of “as he should have a long time ago”.

Echo will go rogue to save the the day.

Jordan will rebel when Clarke decides to burn Russell.

Possibly, the BHM will come through the wormhole (hence the need for C & Co to go through it too - they’ll take a ship, which is where the scene with Hope flinging herself against the door screaming next to O and C will take place, though that could also be in the torture chamber area).

Echo will get caught and be tortured.

Murphy will get to convince Clarke not to choose violence.

Murphy and Emori will be quickly forgiven, but also reminded of their mistakes in a heated argument. They’ll use their newfound positions to lead in Sanctum.

If it’s not a time fix-up, Maddie will survive, along with Gaia.

Indra will die for Gaia and tell her she’s proud of her.

There will be some sort of human experiment.

One of the revisited part of time will be Finn’s death (perhaps leading to some Lexa archive footage being used).

During her time in the Anomaly, O will have basically raised and protected Hope, along with Dyoza, while never giving up hope to get back to Bellamy in any way possible. They’ll have been hunted by the BHM there too.

The wormhole will also lead to several other planets (which I believe is actually confirmed) - one of them might be a lot of water.

The bloodied guy will be an enemy of sort, possibly coming through the Anomaly, maybe tortured by Clarke and Co or Jordan’s follower though that’s unlikely. Probably by radiation/

While the others are on Nakara, Emori and Murphy deal with Sanctum and Jordan.

Murphy will take Jordan under his way in honour of Monty and Harper.

Echo will cut her hair for her mission as a way to be more incognito, the mission being likely the rescue mission to get Bellamy back, who was kidnapped by BHM.

They’ll explore the other planets, maybe in hopes of finding more human survivors or a safe heaven.

There’ll be parallel between Clarke in S7 and Bellamy in S6.

People will try to go in the Anomaly (Echo/Raven) but not all will be allowed in, or they’ll get split up.

Bellamy will probably be mentally tortured (possibly with a lonely/erased virtual reality).

Murphy will not want to go on the suicide mission (there might be a vote about it) but will go anyway for everybody’s sake in they want him to/need him.

The change of plans for Echo will be due to something linked to Bellamy - realising he’s about to get hurt, tortured, moved, is somewhere close, etc.

O will probably be part of the human experiment thing, probably during in the Anomaly, which is linked to the wormhole (possibly through its code that was on her back).

There will be, of course, some sort of apocalypse.

And a war.

There’ll be tons of S1 callback (maybe that underwater with the jellyfish is used as a callback for O in S1 in the lake?)

I think Jordan’s the person in the water with the jellyfish, and I don’t think he’s chilling because he probably can’t swim. So he fell by accident by using the wormhole or slipped or whatnot.

Octavia will act older as she has lived an extra 17-19 years in the Anomaly (which is part of her argument why she should die instead of Bellamy) and act rather weary as a result.

Possibly some sort of radiation issue? On Sanctum and/or back in past earth or a new planet.

They’re being hunted by the BHM who are coming through the Anomaly.

Russel has followers taking part in the Sanctum war.

The war will have to stop to unify against BHM and/or apocalypse.

There’s six symbols on the screen for the wormhole: 5 for Eligius as someone else very rightly pointed out (let me know if you recognise yourself, I remember reading it somewhere) the sixth one might be the BHM or something to unlock the wormhole?

Is the Anomaly absorbing or killing people and being used as a weapon, most likely by BHM? (Someone else remarked a skull in the green smoke).

Raven will get her red jacket back from a time travel. They’ll probably go back to Allie’s lab from S4 and get it back then.

Clarke is going to go a bit “dark” but will be brought back by her love for the Délinquents.

!Darke Clarke will be triggered by Bellamy’s disappearance.

If Sanctum survives, Russell will not die. He will not be murdered by Clarke.

There you go!