#and then he does it in investigations 2! he told her that they would stay together as long as they were both prosecutors and then he stopped

[candidateofloyalty]

Franziska’s insistence on perfection is an attempt to live up to her father’s legacy despite that legacy being built on lies and ruining countless lives including that of the person Franziska loves most. Accepting that she is not and cannot be perfect is a major step in her development into not only a better person but a happier one. And despite all of this, every time she declares her own perfection my immediate impulse is to agree with her

[redsaurrce]

MYSTERY TO ME 1

summary . Wednesday liked mysteries, except... this one. The mystery which was you.

pairing . Wednesday x gn!reader

warning . mentions of blood, murder and kissing

MYSTERY TO ME 2

x--

You stare out of the window of your room to the endless horizon when your eyes dart to the field where Wednesday was shooting perfect arrows with Xavier. You've never known what love feels like, fair enough since every school you went to, you automatically became THE outcast. Love? Surely not something you'd have experienced.

It was bad, really. Bad when you were given judging looks, bad when you were alone in the forest standing in front of a dead body, your nails painted red, painted with the bully's blood.

For the first time that day you felt like you would lose your mind, because since then everytime someone triggered you, you would lose conscience and when you come back to your senses, you have had already killed someone. It was hard to explain, hard to believe even.

So you tried recording yourself while facing just another bully in another school and when you later on watched the camcorder, you saw a beast.. a beast which was you. Red eyes, scary aura and a murderous look.

You found out that your parents tried everything to keep their secret from you thinking that maybe if you never know, you might get out of it soon.

But truth sure comes to light one way or the other.

You thought there was no cure to this, until last night when Wednesday had told you to tag along with her to investigate the Nightshades case. You both were on your way to Xavier's shed where he kept his paintings.. rather scandalous paintings. The night was darker than usual which made you uneasy so you clung to Wednesday causing her to snap her head towards you.

"Dear Wednesday please don't slap away my hands now. It's scary you know." You gulped as you looked at the skies and then at front. Wendesday pursed her lips as she saw your scared face.

"Too bad. I should have brought Bianca instead." She said and looked forwards. You looked at her in disbelief, "Why do I remember someone saying that they even hate to breathe the same air as Bianca?" She kept quite, not because she was speechless but rather.. that was her way of rolling eyes.

"Here we are. If you don't want to come inside, you can stay here." She said as she removed your hands from her arm.

Which unexpectedly made you a little sad. You scoffed, "Isn't going inside safer than staying outside in the wild here?" You commented and walked straight inside as soon as she unlocked the door using her shenanigans until your eyes went wide looking at a monster standing right in front of you with hungry eyes.

In a span of seconds you lost your conscience only to become your beast self again but before you could encounter the monster, Wednesday came from behind attacked it.

You then saw her and the moment you tried to attack her from behind, luckily she escaped away but with a scratch in her forearm. She shouted your name, "_________ wake up! The monster's gone, it was only a painting!"

Slowly your visions became blurry and then turned to clearer. You saw Wednesday and at once ran towards her when you saw blood dripping from her forearm. "I-I'm so sorry Wednesday, I didn't want to hurt you at all." Your eyes became teary, why in the world would you attack her?

She sighed lightly, "It's just a scratch. Don't give me that look."

"I'm really sorry I didn't want to do that at all.." Your breathing became faster, "First aid.. does Xavier keep a first aid box here?" You started searching everywhere frantically but halted at once when Wednesday said, "Wait." She cocked her eyebrows, "How do you know it was you who attacked me and not the monster? As far as I know.. and if you've been honest with me, you said that you know nothing when you switch on your beast mode?"

You looked at her and then looked away to think about the same, "Wednesday I've never once lied to you.. but, ah.." You shut your eyes close as you tried to recall what happened moments ago.

"But what?" For Wednesday this looked just another mystery that increased her curiosity. Even though she liked mysteries and puzzles but this one... she's feeling different about this one.

She's feeling something else, a feeling of a parent looking at their child ride the bike for the first time. A feeling of concern. She has never felt liked this ever before, you were making her feel them.

"But I suddenly remember my name being called out! it felt like a wake up call, it felt like someone just woke me up from sleep and in my blurred vision I saw your terrified face, it was a face that a victim would make in front of the attacker, not a friend." You said and then looked straight into her eyes, "Which also brings me to the question, why didn't you counter-attack me? I clearly had harmed you."

The question felt like a dagger into Wednesday's chest, unexpectedly ofcourse, it wasn't like she had any feelings for you that your thought of her attacking you would hurt her.. right?

She looked away, "Then we clearly would have had to keep on fighting and that would waste my time. Speaking of which, we should go now."

--

When you looked outside the window, the words of Wednesday stormed your head, "She was lying, she's not the type to take blows." You murmured.

You rested your chin on the bedside, "Would things get better if I move again, I don't want to see the face Wednesday made yesterday ever again." A teardrop rolled down your cheeks.

Your parents were ridiculously rich which might explain the fact of you getting away with all sorts of murders you had committed so far. If you were to request your mother to move you again, they'd do it in a heartbeat.

"That's right, I should just leave. Wednesday deserves better friends." You said to yourself and curled yourself up in a blanket in a corner.

---

"What are you doing here Enid?" Wednesday looked through her dark long lashes at the ever so energetic and cheerful girl in front of her. "Well the thing is that ___________ texted me and said that she/he can't make it."

"Why?" She asked with her darkening gaze. "Stomach ache I was told." Enid answered. Wednesday frowned because there it was, the feeling she felt last day, she was feeling concerned.

"I see. Then let us go." She said.

After two or so hours of texting Enid requesting her to go with Wednesday in place of you, you were getting restless already. "They must be having fun going on with the investigation, well at least Enid won't harm her." You sighed deeply when you jolted up at the sudden knock on the door.

"_____________, are you inside?" That was Wednesday's voice. And even before you could think, your body reacted quickly and you opened the door immediately.

"I thought you were having stomachache.. the door opened faster."

You nervously chuckled, "Oh well, I'm better now so.. yeah. What are you here for though? How did your investigation go?" You asked while eyeing the packet in her hand.

"We didn't go to investigate. We were at the infirmary. Here take the medicine." She forwarded the packet.

You were surprised to say the least but then you contorted your eyebrows, "Two hours at the infirmary?"

She looked at you with an expression you couldn't quite tell what it meant. "You kept the track of the time?"

You stuttered, "Uh-uh yeah sort of, I had nothing to do any wa--"

Before you could finish, she spoke, "The thing is I was waiting for you but instead Enid came approximately ten minutes ago and apologized for being late because she was on date with Ajax."

You gulped, did she kept waiting that long? She could've texted- oh right, she refuses to be the slave of technology.

"Uhm.. I'm sorry." You had nothing except to apologize to her, which.. felt so shitty because since yesterday you only felt sorry towards her. And maybe a little bit of something else which you weren't sure of. It was happening to you for the first time afterall.

"Oh I'm so sorry again, you've been at my door since the starting, please come inside." You said and turned around to let her in when she grabbed your wrist. "I hate it everytime you say sorry to me. Can you please stop doing that?" You weren't sure what to say because a train of emotions just hit you, with her doing something unexpected, to her saying something unexpected.

You shook your head, "About that I'm sor- I mean I'll be careful about it."

She then looked down at the place where she had held your wrist and you too shifted your focus to that, all you wanted was to grab her hands back but at that very instant she let go off it causing you to feel a sting in your heart.

She looked up and then noticed how empty your room looked like, earlier when she had come to your room she didn't like how much stuffy your room looked like, filled with all sorts of stuffs and posters, but now, it just seemed so much emptier.

Then she spotted cardboard boxes and trunks. "What's all this? Are you moving to another room or decided to sell things on thrift shop?" She asked you while looking around.

You smiled dryly, "None. I'm just going to change schools."

She shifted her focus from your photoframe that you decided to pack later, to you at once. "Why?" She asked you, even though she tried to hide her surprise, you could sense that from the tone of her voice.

"I don't know... I just don't want to hurt anyone." You shrugged. She walked towards you and stopped once your faces were mere inches away, "Whom did you hurt? Weems?"

You chuckled, "Ugh no!" Then you seized your chuckle with a subtle but sad smile, "You." You gulped.

Wednesday liked the way you chuckled, it made her want to make that expression too. About your answer, she didn't like that.

"Then where are you planning to go?" She asked you.

"Why? Are you planning to send me letters?" You said jokingly.

"No, you said that you don't want to hurt anyone, then.. will you shifting to another school solve your problems? Will you stop killing people?"

Your blinked as you looked away. "Only if it was under my control."

"That's right. And I am sure you were sent here just to do that. To gain control over your powers. Your parents made the right decision ________, don't go." She said.

You sighed, even though you wanted to put meaning behind her 'don't go' , you knew she was saying it just for the sake of it. "I'm not saying just because I have to ______________. " You frowned, "Does your psychic abilities gives you access to people's thoughts too? And don't you try to talk me out of it when you call your own parents evil people trying to pull your strings from afar. Remember?"

She looked at you amusingly, "It's not my psychic abilities, just that your face is like an open book so easy to read. About the second part, I have no comment."

"I am not easy to read Wednesday, it's just that you know me better than everyone else."

"What?"

"What?" Oh shoot! Did you just confess like that? You cleared your throat, "Uh- uh I mean, you are good at reading people's faces. That's what I'm saying. You managed to figure out what I'm thinking when it's really hard for others to do so."

"I.. am.. not good at reading people's faces ____________." She said slowly and firmly.

"What?"You blinked.

"People call me emotionless apparently because I am not good at reading room. They throw a fit when I don't seem to get what they want to say through their expressions. I had a tough time staying close to people, that is why I prefer solitude." She answered with a stoic expression.

"I see.. but you seemed to do well in my case?" You said with a half smile.

"Which is weird.. I know, but do you know what is weirder?" She asked while folding her arms.

"What?"

"You figuring out me. I don't remember anyone understanding me as much as you do since I lack emotions." She looked down for a split second, "You bother me."

You got confused, "... like in a good way?"

She started walking towards you with steps that felt like they would leave a mark on the floor, you stumbled back and sat down on the bed while she kept decreasing the distance in front of you. "Can you read me now?" You said with a shaky voice as your breathing became faster.

She leaned closer and closer, "Yes. Do you think I want the same thing as you do?" You felt so enchanted and dazed when you looked at her lips which resembled the dark shadows lurking in the forest that night. "Yes.. I guess?" You weren't sure what you were saying but if it was an invitation for a kiss, then yes, i guess?

"You're right." And those were the words you heard before you felt her soft lips against yours. You grabbed her nape to come closer for a deeper kiss. It was so slow yet it felt electrifying, it defied Wednesday's knowledge of electricity for sure.

At that moment you felt nothing but staying beside Wednesday forever and maybe.. maybe you now have an answer as to why you returned to yourself that night when Wednesday called out to you.

Maybe Wednesday was the last piece to your puzzle, maybe she was the answer to your question and you were more than willing to search for answers with her by your side.

Because to Wednesday too, you were another mystery that intrigued her.. in a good way.

"Don't go." She breathed as you both parted for air.

"I won't." You said and tilted your head to kiss her again. You felt her smile on your lips.

Which was rare and you were in for it.

--x

This was my first Wednesday work AAHHHH how was it T_T tysm for reading luvs <;33

[theamberfist]

How I Met Her Mother | Part 2 | Tighnari x Reader

Romantic: Tighnari x Collei's Parent! Reader

Description: When Collei and the traveler discover Tighnari's feelings for her adoptive parent, they make it their mission to get them on a date together through a (maybe unnecessarily) elaborate plan.

(Notes: none) (gender neutral reader) (reader is Collei's adoptive parent) (Part 2 of How I Met Her Mother)

Read Part 1 here!

I didn’t plan to do multiple parts originally but @4o3ok3id you ask and you shall receive! <3

Since you'd moved back to Gandharva Ville, you'd been extremely stressed. Between your work as a doctor, helping your daughter with her own health issues, and trying your best not to inconvenience any of the forest rangers, things could be a lot. However, more recently, you'd started to notice a few of those worries easing, as if someone had been lightening the load on your shoulders.

And, of course, that someone happened to be Tighnari; your close friend from back during your Akadamiya days. You didn't think he was aware of the fact that you'd noticed, but you had. He was always offering to take in some of your extra patients since he had some medical expertise himself, even after you'd essentially become Gandharva Ville's personal doctor. He kept you as updated as possible on Collei's condition so you wouldn't be left worrying in the dark, he let her rest in his own hut on her off-but-not-life-threatening days so you wouldn't have to see it, and the amount of times he'd brought over dinner for the two of you due to having 'made too much for himself' so you wouldn't have to worry about cooking was becoming too much to count.

You were extremely touched by it and always tried your best to repay him for his kind acts, though he rarely ever accepted anything, claiming he 'was just doing his job as head forest ranger.' 

You weren't the only one that had started to notice his abnormal kindness towards you and your daughter, though. 

"He brought you guys dinner again?!" Paimon exclaimed a little too loudly as she, Collei, and Aether crouched behind some bushes by your house. "That's, like, the third time since we've been visiting!" 

"I know," Collei replied, "Master Tighnari is very kind, and I think he can tell how stressed they are. I just wish I could do something to help them too; I hope I don't make them worry too much..." Aether could see the green haired girl starting to look sad and immediately tried to come up with a way to cheer her up. Luckily, though, Paimon seemed to have that covered.

"Collei!" She exclaimed, flying a little closer to the girl while still staying far back enough that she wouldn't accidentally touch her and make her uncomfortable, "Do you realize what this means?!" She got loud again and, momentarily, the rustling in your kitchen nearby stopped. All three of them froze but after a second it continued as you went back to preparing the dinner the forest ranger had brought; seemingly deciding not to investigate the loud noises outside. 

Aether shushed the little flying girl as Collei frowned slightly. "...No?" Paimon looked exasperated.

"Do you?!" She asked, turning to the blonde traveler, who shrugged. "Ugh!' Paimon exclaimed, "Isn't it obvious? Tighnari has feelings for Collei's parent! You two are both clueless." 

"He...Does?" Collei asked, looking a little confused but the longer she though about it, the more she had to admit that it did add up. Even before you'd adopted her when she was little, there had seemed to be something going on between you two that was different from your friendship with Cyno or anyone else. 

"Of course he does!" Paimon replied, "You should have seen the look on his face when he told us how they'd met, Collei! Paimon can't believe she didn't realize it at the time but it all makes sense now!" Beside her, Aether couldn't help but nod in agreement; she had a point.

"...I guess that would explain why he always does so much to help," Collei admitted finally, "And why he seems so much less strict around us than the rest of Gandharva Ville. I always thought it was just because they'd graduated together, but Cyno was in their class too and Master Tighnari is even stricter towards him than anyone here!" 

"Exactly!" Paimon exclaimed. This revelation put a smile on Collei's face. After all, you and Tighnari had to be two of her favorite people in the whole world. You'd taken her in when she had nothing; a scared child that was recovering from having the remains of a god essentially exorcised from her body. You were young yourself at the time, and yet you'd agreed to raise her as your own without a second thought. 

And then there was Tighnari; the man that had taken her on as a student the second she'd shown an interest in plants and basic level of competence. He'd helped make her who she was today; taught her to fight, empowered her when she felt like she couldn't ever be strong again. He'd even helped stave off the symptoms of her Eleazar alongside you. 

The idea of the two of you potentially entering a relationship- or better yet, getting married- made her grin widely. She already saw Tighnari like a second parent with all that he'd taught her, even if she would never be brave enough to tell him that to his face. Having you both as her official parents would be a dream come true, and if it would make you happy, she'd support it without a doubt.

"I hope Master Tighnari tells them about his feelings soon!" She exclaimed excitedly now, "I'm sure they feel the same!" 

"Knowing that guy, I wouldn't count on it." Paimon replied with a sigh. But then she seemed to get an idea because she suddenly turned and eyed Aether in a way only a scheming Paimon could. He gave her a 'what are you thinking?' kind of look but she just turned back to Collei. "What if we help them out?" She suggested, making him raise an eyebrow, "There's no way someone like Tighnari would confess to your parent; and especially not if he feels like they're already stressed. But if we nudge them along, maybe we could help them finally admit their feelings!"

There was a pause as Collei seemed to process this. On the one hand, as your daughter, she wanted you to be happy and not have to worry about her so much despite her illness. On the other, she knew it might be wrong to get involved in the situation when it really wasn't her place. After all, it was possible her mentor had his reasons for not admitting his feelings to you yet. 

...Unfortunately for Tighnari, though, the first reason won out in her mind and she finally nodded at Paimon. "Alright," she said with a wide, excited grin. "Let's do it. Do you have a plan?"

"You bet Paimon does!" The little pixie exclaimed, motioning for her and the traveler to follow.

Aether couldn't help but feel he'd regret being involved with this later. 

..........

"And that's why all of you should take on a little extra work today!" Paimon explained, concluding her longer-than-necessary presentation. The huge group of forest rangers, whom she'd dragged out of their rooms in the dead of night to convince, all looked at her with dead expressions. Beside her, Collei seemed to get a little nervous at the silence.

"Please." She added kindly. The rangers blinked and another silence followed before one raised his hand. 

"If we agree will you let us go back to sleep?" 

"Yes!" Paimon chirped, making the whole group cheer, "...Quietly!" They immediately silenced their joy before retreating to their rooms to get a few more hours of sleep before the sun would rise. Luckily, Tighnari hadn't been scheduled for any night patrol this evening so if they kept silent enough, he wouldn't realize the entirety of Gandharva Ville had been brought out for a meeting without him. 

"I think that went well," Collei smiled as she turned to the pixie and the traveler. Paimon nodded.

"You think they'll follow through with it?" Aether asked. He didn't seem doubtful, though; just curious. 

"I do!" Collei replied, "And don't worry, I'll take on some extra work too. Between all of us forest rangers, we should be able to give Tighnari a lot less worry about!"

"Which lets us continue with the next phase of our plan..." Paimon grinned evilly despite the actual act she was doing, which was very selfless. 

"Before then, though, we should get some rest." Collei told them, "I'll meet you in the morning for breakfast, where we can continue with the next part of our plan!" They both nodded at that before the group split up and went their separate ways. 

What they didn't seem to realize, though, was that their conversation had been overheard by someone whose lips tugged into a grin.

.......... 

The next morning, Paimon, Collei, and the traveler met bright and early for breakfast. There, they went over their plan while also not-so-casually observing Tighnari from afar as he went about his morning. The other rangers hadn't taken on much of their extra work yet, considering the day had just barely gotten started, but it seemed like the lead ranger was already becoming surprised by just how little he actually needed to get done. 

He'd already checked back with one of his patients to find Collei had taken care of them before he could and that one of the nearby withering zones he'd planned on clearing today was already gone.

Things were going perfectly so far, and as soon as the group finished their breakfast, they bid one another goodbye before going their separate ways. Collei needed to do her actual job as a forest ranger trainee, and so it was the traveler and Paimon's turn to put some of this plan in motion.

They headed out to the nearest withering zone, which happened to be not far from your medical tent, and made sure they would be nearby if anyone got injured. 

When a few rangers inevitably did and started heading for your tent, Aether immediately got in their way. 

"You can't see Y/n!" Paimon exclaimed dramatically, "They're- uh, completely full! Yep! No more patients for them today; you'd better let him teleport you to see a doctor in Liyue Harbor instead." She pointed to Aether, who quickly nodded in agreement. The rangers exchanged glances among themselves but after a moment, seemed to decide the two were trustworthy because they nodded and allowed the traveler to make use of his teleport waypoints in order to take them for medical attention.

"And here I thought Y/n could never turn away patients," one of the rangers commented, "They must be beyond swamped right now! I hope they're alright."

"We should let Master Tighnari know not to send anyone else their way when we get the chance." Another agreed.

"No!" Paimon exclaimed, surprising them both. She immediately stiffened and pulled herself together, "Paimon means...We'll tell Tighnari for you! So don't worry about it!" Again, after a moment of deliberation, the rangers nodded before disappearing with Aether. The little pixie sighed in relief. If they told Tighnari not to send anyone for your medical attention, he would either suspect something was up and go talk to you about it or get worried about you and also go talk to you about it. They couldn't have that; not until they were ready for you two to meet up later. 

"Paimon just hopes Y/n won't be upset we sent their patients to Baizhu," the girl said to herself, knowing the Liyue doctor was something of a rival to you. There was no animosity there; just a bit of friendly banter, but it was enough for you not to want Gandharva Ville's people going to him over you. 

When Aether returned from teleporting the injured rangers to the harbor, he held up a thumbs up for the pixie, who nodded in relief that it had worked. They'd likely have to do this many more times today, of course; forest rangers tended to get hurt very often. But at least this meant there were two more they wouldn't need to worry about, which was better than nothing. 

After all, if they wanted you two to have time for one another later, they needed to make sure both you and Tighnari had free work schedules for the day. 

..........

"Master Tighnari!" Collei called, knowing the fox-eared forest ranger wouldn't be busy at the moment, thanks to her and the others' plan. She found said ranger near his hut, where he appeared to be cooking yet another meal that would make way too many servings for someone living alone to eat. When the green haired girl arrived, he immediately looked up at her.

"Collei, is there something you need?" He asked, clearly feeling a little awkward about being caught doing something so unproductive by his own trainee. What he didn't know was that she'd planned it that way. 

"We're out of bandages and Padisarah's." Collei informed her mentor, "And we have a patient with a wound that could really use both over at the medical tent." It wasn't totally true; she had no idea if a patient at your tent required those things. But since both the bandages and the herb were resources they went through the quickest, it was a lie Tighnari would believe and take seriously, which he did. 

"I see," he replied, glancing at the food he was still cooking, "Let Y/n know I'll head out to pick some more up today, and not to worry." He knew you too well, and had this been a real situation, Collei knew you would have called him a life-saver like you always did. She smiled, nodding with relief.

"Okay!" She told him and then went to head for the medical tent, only to pause on the way, "Would you like me to come with you to help? I know we usually buy our supplies in bulk so it could be difficult getting everything back here without a sumpter beast." Tighnari paused for a moment, remembering that the last of the sumpter beasts had been taken out that morning for other tasks (something Collei and the others had had nothing to do with but appreciated anyway). 

"Yes, I suppose that would be a big help..." He decided finally, "Thank you, Collei. We'll head out in a few minutes, but please go let Y/n know first." She nodded before running off.

Tighnari had specifically given himself extra time not only because you needed to be informed if your daughter left Gandharva Ville but also so he could finish the food he'd been preparing to give you and her for lunch. Once it was finished, he took it from the cooking pot and wrapped it so it would stay fresh until he could give it to you, which would likely be later in the evening than he'd planned. 

Collei returned a few minutes later, having actually let you know she'd be leaving but not the real reason why. Then the two of them were on their way after Tighnari checked one more time that he had no other pressing work to get done. Of course, he didn't.

Their walk to Sumeru City was quick and uneventful, and soon enough, they were in the market shopping for bandages, Padisarah's, and another item Tighnari wasn't yet aware of. 

"Master Tighnari, look!" Collei exclaimed, pointing to a formal suit that was on display at one of the clothing shops. She'd seemed so excited about it that he had to come over but was surprised now to see what exactly she'd been pointing at. 

"A...Suit?"

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked, aware of how strange she sounded, considering she'd never showed any interest in men's formal wear before. "It reminds me of this story my parent told me once." At this, the forest ranger's fox ears perked a bit.

"Oh?" He asked, silently urging her to continue.

"After their graduation from the Akademiya, they got invited to attend a party in Fontaine," Collei explained, "When they attended, their date wore a purple suit, but it clashed with the outfit they'd picked and made them look awful together." The story she was telling was real, though you hadn't been nearly as dramatic when you'd told it as she currently was. "They broke up after that, but they always say he should have worn green like this suit because it goes with all their clothes." 

With that, she turned and walked off as if she'd finally found the Padisarah's they'd been looking for. Planting the seed of an idea in Tighnari's head would hopefully be enough and she needed to be out of the way so he didn't feel any judgement when acting on it. 

She made sure to inspect the herbs for much longer than necessary before glancing back at her mentor, who happened to have an extra shopping bag in his arms now that hadn't been there before. The suit that had been on display was also gone now, making the green haired girl's smile widen. She bought the herbs they needed and then turned back to the head forest ranger, who looked at her expectantly. 

"Ready to head back to Gandharva Ville?" He asked, "Y/n would never be upset with us for taking too long but I wouldn't put it past them to badmouth me to their patients in order to make them feel better."

"They always say having a common enemy is a big part of bedside manner," Collei giggled, "They need someone to blame for the patient's prolonged pain." Tighnari chuckled at that, shaking his head as he lead the way back towards the village.

……….

Part 3

[regretisstoredintheme]

Indulgent thoughts? Indulgent thoughts. 

I was told that if I ever had indulgent thoughts (about Leo specifically???? What 😭😭😭) I had to share them, so… *sighhhhh*

YOU TWO. (@soradragon and @milks-thoughts) ASKED FOR IT.

Disclaimer that most of this was improv.

For context: I had this really bad interaction with Celina’s Yan!Leo ai, (I had tried to correct it but I ended up having to just delete the convo.) Anyways, after I had recovered from it, it got me thinking abt a post the aforementioned mutual, @pianocat939 made. I realize how much of a bad idea it is to @ her, but I’m already exposing myself, so WHY NOT 😀 

HI CELINA 👋👋 IM ON TV!! IM BEING A BRAVE BOY 😀😀😀 

Anyway

—

The idea is that you— or I guess me?? Ehh I’ll put it in a ‘Y/n’ format so it makes more sense. (Tw for Yandere behavior) 

Y/n had been held captive by a version of Yandere Leo that was a lot more— physical, ig?? and who felt completely content with making them feel like the scum of the earth. He had violent mood swings, and picked— no, more like dug at any insecurity of theirs he could find. (The Ai made it clear he was like a wolf in sheep’s clothing 😒 a wolf on the hunt. and by “made it clear” I mean it literally could not stop mentioning it lmAOHDJAHAHA—) 

This is where my au comes in. 

So what does Y/n do? They start being reckless. Looking for any way to escape. There weren’t many times the brothers left on missions, so when they finally did, they had a plan to investigate around. They walked up to Donnie’s lab, and started poking around at things. They figured the purple-clad turtle would have something they could use. Something dangerous, perhaps? 

Unfortunately, (or fortunately..?) they found one of his prototypes. 

This prototype was meant to bend reality, it was an experimental design since it was his first attempt at mixing tech with mystic. but since they poked around at it’s draft, it couldn’t help but act unexpectedly. 

And sent them into another dimension entirely. 

The canon dimension. 

With no Yanderes, no captivity, and none of that fear they were so used to. 

They were .. free..? 

They looked around the streets cautiously, looking for any signs that it was a hallucination or illusion. Were they really back in the streets of NYC? After having been in that godforsaken lair for years? How many years they had no idea, their guess was 2, but they couldn’t be sure.

They sat in waiting, cautious. They couldn’t go to the police, but they knew they had to stay out of sight. The prototype of Donnie’s creation had come with them, flashing every few seconds.  They didn’t know how to turn it off, only how to hide. And they did it pretty well, holding a home base for a few days. 

Everything tipped them off, but they were beginning to calm down, that was before they realized Donnie’s invention was probably still on. After finally finding the switch, they flipped it, the light finally powering down. They sighed, eyebrows furrowing in relief— but it wasn’t over yet. 

Hearing a sound, they flipped around in surprise, running to hide before lifting their arms up, a feeble attempt to guard from whatever was walking out of the alleyway.

From the shadows, the only slightly familiar face of Foot Lieutenant, his mouth curved into a dark smile. Y/n had only seen him once, when they had attacked the turtles, but they seemed— different somehow..  “I do believe that was a tech signal from a certain purple, mutated turtle..” he turned to Brute with a sinister chuckle, gazing down at a jagged piece of equipment. “We’ve got them now..” 

Y/n could hardly breathe, but they kept a hand over their mouth, determined to be as quiet as possible. From their many failed escape attempts, they knew Donnie had a tracer on his tech. Anyone who used it without authorization would have his ‘tag’ on them for quite a while. It was easily traceable. So if these people could trace that signal..

“Wait, I’m picking up something else!” Lieutenant looked back at the equipment, “it’s.. some sort of residue..” he hummed, then turned in Y/n’s direction. 

They felt their heart stop, eyes wide as they went to check around the corner. Was there a way out of this? Were they gonna leave one captor only to walk into the hands of another? 

Just as they began to spiral, a bright light illuminated from below them, encasing their cheeks gently in its blue hue. They didn’t have any time to react, the ground opening from below them as they fell into the abyss of neon. 

They felt the world spin around them as arms circled their back and legs, bridal style, as if their ‘savior’ had twirled flamboyantly once he caught them. 

Their eyes opened gently, before a gasp left their throat. The blood drained from their face, looking upon none other than Leo.

Normally they knew at least a few things to expect from him when they tried to escape, but they had never made it away for more than an hour before… 

They had no idea what he was gonna do. 

To their surprise, he was chuckling, not like he usually did— not with that — edge of maliciousness that reminded you why you couldn’t trust him. It was genuine, and weirder yet, he smiled at them. 

“Hey, need a hand?” He cheesed, quirking a brow. 

Y/n felt their bones nearly crack just at the sound of his voice, and found themself kicking at his plastron scrambling to put distance between them. Whatever manipulation tactic he was trying this time, it wouldn’t work on them. 

They gave him a terrified look, their eyes narrowing slightly as they braced for whatever he had planned. “Get away from me!” They yelled, baring their teeth. They had no way to fight back, and yet couldn’t stop the angry tears that piled in their eyes. 

“Woah— woah..” Leo seemed to shrink, making himself smaller as he showed his empty hands, keeping them where you could see them. “I know I look a little different but I assure you I have no intention to harm you..!” He gave a small laugh, as if he’d never seen this visceral of a reaction before. 

“That’s what you said last time!!” Y/n practically shrieked, hands up in defense to cover their face, that cold blooded liar would have to kill them before they allowed him to take them back to the lair. 

“Last time..?” Leo’s hands sunk a little, brows furrowing in curiosity. He’d never met this person before… 

Right..? 

—

THATS IT THERE YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED 😔😔😔😔😔😔 

Bonus: 

the art I made on a whim that inspired this

anyways.. Tell me if you want more of this silly lil au or something 😒😒

[rickgrimeswifey]

Overheard gossip - Spencer Reid

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A/n: When I post this I am an official Spencer Reid slut as this is my first ever written fic about him... part 2 here

Category: Blurb

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Season: 3 

Warnings: Sexual themes, THE EMBARRASSMENT GIRL... I-

Word count: 0.6k

—————————————————————————————

It was around 1PM, the team was out on a case somewhere in Florida and Penelope was in her room working as usual. Y/n that also was a part of the team didn’t go along for the case, Hotch had told her to stay here since she had been going through some stuff recently. It wasn’t anything too devastating, Y/n was just on edge because her patience and brain wasn’t at their best state. Hotch found her too unstable to go along and investigate this serial killer. This job had drained her and she just needed some time away, at first Y/n was mad at Hotch’s decision but she realizes he just does it out of worry.

Y/n had finished her paperwork and went out to buy some lunch for her and Penelope. Something easy and that’s fast to finish eating. She skipped knocking on Garcias door before entering, she was sitting quietly in her seat searching for something through her computer. Y/n adored the work she did, no one could compare to their Penny.

“I got us something to eat for lunch.” She smiled looking at Penelope who turned to look at her.

“Well aren’t you a dear…” Penelope smiled, not taking her eyes off the screen longer than necessary.

Y/n got a chair to sit on at her friends desk before she spoke up again;

“You know I’ve been thinking about something.” She confessed as she opened up the bags with food and began placing it out on the table in front of her.

“What is that?” Penelope mumbled lost in her work, she was clearly doing something important.

“Have you ever thought about Spencer’s sexlife? I mean for a genius I bet he’d be extremely skilled at eating a girl out, I mean that he’d be a natural or more like supernatural. Or like that his dick would be huge.” Y/n said casually with a smirk on her face before dramatizing the last word.

When she had finished packing up the food she looked at Penelope who was staring at her with her mouth agape, there was something in her eyes. Y/n didn’t know what it was but it looked like panic. Why would she panic by what she’d just said? Y/n was almost positive that Garcia would’ve been someone who agreed with her.

“Are you still there Reid…?” Penelope asked nervously, making Y/n widen her eyes so much that she was afraid they’d pop out of her skull.

There was a cough heard on the phone line before Spencer's almost shaky voice was heard. “Y-Yeah… I’m still h-here Garcia.”

Y/n gasped covering her face with her hands. She felt like she’d die out of embarrassment, had Spencer just heard her say all of those things?

“I found some people that worked at graveyards but were fired in the past five years…” Penelope spoke up after a long painful minute of silence.

“Great! Uhm I’ll call you if I need anything else… b-bye.” Spencer’s voice cracked before he quickly hung up.

Y/n removed her hands from her head and looked Penelope in the eyes. It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for her to burst out laughing. Y/n frowned while blushing like crazy at Garcias action.

“It’s really not funny at all, I’m never going back to work after this!” She remarked, wanting to sink into the ground and never come back up.

“Well, Y/n L/n you gotta learn to keep your mouth shut when you see that I’m working then.” Penelope laughed like crazy while wiping tears from her eyes.

—————————————————————————————

[seramilla]

Imagine Emily having figured everything about Carmilla and that Sera is her mom starts to understand how much losing Carmilla has affected her and the hole it left in her heart. So Emily figuring that Carmilla must still be alive down their is decides to bring her back. She may not know where in hell she is, if she's still alive, how to find her, how to recognize her, how to navigate hell, how to keep herself safe there, how she'd get herself and Carmilla to heaven and how to keep the elders from throwing them out after she did. But those are all details so she writes Sera a note and goes off.

Sera is panicking -- wringing out her hair, in a state of shock, honest-to-goodness wanting to scream and cry and throw something and yell some untastely obscenities -- sheer panic!

Her morning had started out like any other. She gets up, makes herself some coffee and Emily some tea, like she does every morning. When Emily doesn't emerge from her room at her usual time, Sera thinks maybe she's just sleeping in. It's a been a rough few days, and she wants to give her daughter some space; room to breathe. When Emily still hasn't emerged by the time they need to be leaving for work, Sera goes into her room to investigate.

The note Sera finds sends her psyche reeling -- Emily claims she had opened a portal to Hell and gone to find Carmilla. She had told Sera not to worry, that she'd done her research beforehand, and that she'd be back as quick as possible. She'd wanted to ultimately discover Carmilla's fate. Whether her other parent is still alive, where she is located, if she can somehow bring her back to Heaven for a triumphant reunion with Sera.

It's silly. It's presumptuous. It's courageous. But so, so dangerous, that no words can describe how utterly panicked and in the throes of sorrow and worry Sera is at that moment.

She gets on her sphere. She desperately calls Lucifer Morningstar, letting the device ring and ring off the hook for 2 minutes straight, refusing to hang up, until the king of Hell finally picks up, looking like he's just crawled out of bed. His hair his disheveled, he's in a pair of duckie boxers with a thin robe hanging off one shoulder, with a cup of coffee in one hand and his black claw rubbing an eye with the other. When he sees Sera, however, he quickly closes his robe and stands up straighter, blushing profusely.

"Sera!" Lucifer shouts, a little out of sorts. "What are you--? I didn't realize it was you--! Why are you calling this early?"

"It's 8am in the morning, Lucifer, everyone is normally awake at this hour -- where is Emily?!"

Lucifer looks at her for a moment, still embarrassed, but also perturbed by the question.

"Emily? Your sister? Why would I know where she is?"

"Because she left me a note this morning saying that she was going to Hell! To find...umm...that's not important! Her curiosity got the better of her, and she left a note saying she was going to your realm! For reasons I cannot explain to you right now, but I desperately need your help! She's all alone down there, and I fear the worst has happened!"

Lucifer absorbs everything Sera is saying, at first seeming to not believe the words coming out of her mouth...but the longer he witnesses her panicked expression, the more he understands the gravity of the situation.

"Oh...okay. I hear you, Sera. Stay calm. I'll...Let me think. I'll let Ozzie and Bee know what's going on. They are still amenable to Heaven and on good terms with me. Maybe they can help me expedite the search and see if she managed to get into one of the other rings. And maybe...Charlie could help. She's good at strategizing and understanding people's motivations."

Sera sighs. It's not one of relief, but meant to let out at least some of the negative energy coursing through the High Seraphim's body at the moment. It's not perfect, but...Lucifer's at least helping her formulate a plan. She will owe him one Hell of a favor after this.

"Thank you, Lucifer," Sera says, antsy to get off the phone, so she can start making preparations to go to Hell herself. "Give me a few minutes. Get dressed, please. If you don't mind, I will manifest there in 5 minutes."

"Oh--okay, Sera!" Lucifer says, surprised Sera is coming to him herself. Her sister is missing after all, so he supposes it only makes sense. "No worries. I will be ready for you."

"Thank you again, Lucifer," Sera says. "I'll see you in a moment!"

Sera quickly grabs some supplies -- some of her best angelic daggers for protection, a change of clothes for Emily, and a few choice words that she practices over and over, to tell her daughter exactly how this behavior has knocked thousands of years off her lifespan.

Five minutes later she opens a portal, walks through the dark ring of light, and makes her well to the realm of Hell in search of her wonderful, generous, misguided daughter.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I think, Meghan (allegedly) filed a case against the IRS to contest some charges/tax returns that she felt were unfair. Or because she thought she was charged extra and deserved a hugher refund than she got. And then she lost the case and had to pay the IRS for the filing a case against her. I don't know how true that is, just that she did file a case against the IRS. This was probably around 2010/11 so around the Trevor years. This is off the top of my head though, no factual receipts. Just something I remember reading on the old Tumblrs that are now defunct.

But about the financial fraud, I don't know if it counts but it is interesting to me that Meghan's lifestyle was mostly sustained on gifts and favours. She hardly paid for anything. At first, while she was auditioning, she lived with Trevor. They had a decent enihouse. But her dad says that he sometimes gave her money and it was mostly Trevor who sustained their day-to-day. It's believable and nothing wrong in that if that's the understanding that the couple has.

Then in Toronto, the suits producers got her a rental home. And later, a chauffeured car to get her to and from the set. This was a favour pulled by her friend rick hoffman.

There are some conflicting reports that say that she moved in with Cory mainly to save on rental. As in, it was his place and she moved in with him immediately after they started dating.

The Soho ambassadorship that she did, and later her small scale endorsements and Tig sponcerships got her a lot of goodies. All of her hotel stays, 1st class travels, food etc was almost always sponcon.

The only thing she allegedly spent her own money on was (probably) the air travel when she started dating Harry and they had their 2week arrangment. (Either one of them would travel to the other every 2 weeks). But she later moved in with himwhen suits ended.

So I'd say, Meghan does not understand finances, other than accumulating money in her own name in her own bank account. She has big dreams - foundations, charities, galas, UN missions, commonwealth, holiday homes, private jets etc etc... but has never paid for anything out of pocket so does not know how to sustain those dreams.

I was thinking of a different case of financial fraud - in 2020 or 2021, it was revealed that the SussexRoyal Foundation was being investigated over some allegations made about the way Harry and Meghan handled some transactions. I don’t remember the specific details and I can’t look it up at the moment, but there was a very haughty Sussex “we told you we didn’t do anything wrong” statement made when the investigation closed/cleared the allegations.

Whenever the Sussexes get in the news for their finances or Archewell paperwork, I always remember that incident, and specifically their response. It really rubbed me the wrong way and because they seemed to be gloating about having been cleared of wrongdoing, it makes me think that there actually really is something shady happening behind the scenes. I think they’re lucky it hasn’t been caught yet, chiefly because their MO is to distract us with semantics and petty “it’s the AG’s fault” blame game-type BS, but this week makes it clear they’re living on borrowed time.

[comicglitterr0909]

Playing with Shadows (part 2)

William Afton x Fem!Reader Finally I finished part two of playing with shadows, if you haven't read part one then a short lil summary of part one is reader is an fbi agent who is tasked with making William Afton fall for them, and we get to know William and his kids and it ends off with William inviting us over for dinner. Honestly just read part one its easier.

But for those who did!! Heres part two!! Its the last part! Hope you guys enjoy! (2.7k+ words) Warnings: Cussing, a guy being a pervert but nothing happens he just says something creepy.

8:00 am. My alarm goes off and I quickly shut it off, getting up and getting ready a bit faster than normal. Today was the big day after all, I get to have dinner with the Afton family, while also trying to find solid evidence that William Afton is a child murderer. I quickly put on the uniform I have to wear, clipping my nametag on and taking one last look at myself in the mirror. I sigh, fuck, Im an fbi agent, im not supposed to get attached to people, let alone people im investigating. But of course I get attached to a serial killer's family. Well…I guess I don't know for sure if he's a serial killer, there's hope, if he isn't, if the family has just gotten really unlucky then maybe it would be okay? Maybe I could be a part of their family. But, then again, I would have to quit my job as an FBI agent. He definitely wouldn't like me anymore if I told him the only reason I was actually there is because I thought he killed a bunch of kids. Whatever, I need to stop thinking about that, I have a job to do. I grab my car keys and head to Freddys, parking in the parking lot and walking inside. 

I notice the afton kids are already at Freddys, they must’ve spent the night at Williams instead of their moms. Their faces all light up when they see me, Elizabeth runs over and gives me a big hug. “Y/N I missed you! Are you excited to have dinner with us tonight?” She says excitedly, jumping up and down. Evan and Micheal walk over. “Yeah, I’m really excited! What are you guys making for dinner?” I ask them with a grin. Evan giggles. “Daddy told us we had to figure out your favorite food without it being too obvious because he really wants to impress you!” Evan exclaims. A faint blush appears on my cheeks, he wanted to impress me? That's honestly really cute. “Evan you dumb shit, you weren't supposed to tell her that!” Micheal says as he smacks the back of Evans head, Evan starts to cry and runs off. “Oh c'mon now Micheal, go apologize to your brother, he didn’t know any better.” I say crossing my arms, damn I really feel like a Mom right now. “Fineee.” Micheal stubbornly says before running off to find where Evan went while Elizabeth stays by my side as I walk into the kitchen. 

“So y/n what is your favorite meal??” Elizabeth says as she climbs on top of the kitchen counter as I’m putting my waitress apron on. I don’t know why the waitresses have to wear an apron, I don't even cook things, oh well. “Oh uh, I’d probably say like (your fav food)” Elizabeth's eyes light up, she smiles and climbs off the counter. “Okay!!! I’ll go tell Daddy!!” She sprints out of the kitchen to go tell William about my favorite food. God these kids are so sweet, how am I going to abandon them if I have to?? “Are you having dinner with the Aftons?” I turned around and saw Aaron had asked me that. “Oh uh yeah.” “Damn, you must be special, Mr Afton usually is super mean to us, you're like the first one i’ve seen em be nice to.” Well that's pretty interesting, I mean I knew he was extra nice to me but he never seemed like the mean boss type. More like the creepy boss type, but Aaron has worked here for awhile so he wouldn’t lie. That is unless of course, he does lie. I stand there awkwardly nodding before looking away from Aaron. Y’know I think I preferred him when he was high, cause I can tell he’s not right now and he’s giving me pervert vibes. “Yeah… it must be because you're really hot. I mean, if I was the boss I’d have you be my personal assistant so I could stare at your ass all day.” Yup, definitely prefer high Aaron. He moves closer to me, but before he can reach me, William comes up behind him and grabs him by the back of his shirt, lifting him up. Don’t get me wrong, Aaron is like 5’5, super skinny weirdo but William made it look easy to lift him up. “Firstly, Aaron, you're fired, secondly, if I ever see you around y/n and you say that shit to her again, I will beat the everloving shit out of you. Get out of my restaurant.” And with that, William lets Aaron go, and he scrambles out grabbing his stuff and leaving faster than ever. Immediately after he’s out of sight William puts that familiar smile back on his face, walking closer to me and putting his hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay? I had no idea he was such a perv I wouldn’t have hired him.” Fuck, this whole case is turning into a “try not to catch feelings for William Afton/a potential child murderer challenge”. “Yeah, um I’m alright. Thank you.” I say, smiling at him. After I reassure him he lets go of my shoulder. “No problem.” He looks around the kitchen for a moment. “Where is Bethenny, or whatever the hell her name is.” I follow him as he walks to the front door of Freddys, looking out the window for Bitchennys car. It's not there. “Well thats fucking great, I have one employee.” He walks back into the main area with me. “Huh…” He murmurs, I look up at him. “What?” I say as I see Micheal and Evan starting to walk over. “Even though I’m closing Freddy's early today for our dinner, I still have to open it for at least 6 hours. I only have you and me as actual employees and that sure as hell won't work.” Get to the point, Afton, jesus. “Okay?” “Well, why don’t I, just for today, let my kids help run the place? It can’t go that bad can it?” 

Oh it definitely can go that bad. We decided to go through with it, letting a 8, 9 and 16 year old help run a restaurant is a wonderful plan. 

“EVAN NO DON’T EAT THE PIZZA WE HAVE TO BRING THAT TO THE TABLE” Evan is crying because I wouldn’t let him eat the pizza. Micheal is making pizza’s but fucking them up horribly because he’s laughing so hard, Elizabeth is surprisingly the only helpful one right now and is bringing the pizzas to the customers. William is managing the orders and giving us the orders, and I’m micromanaging all the kids and making pizzas at the same time. I guess I did need the apron today. It's a Thursday and Freddy's is unnecessarily packed, the music and the kids yelling and laughing is really not helping with the stress of this all. I quickly shove a pizza in the oven, checking my watch that reads,“5:30pm”. Oh thank god. “30 MINUTES LEFT GUYS WE GOT THIS!” I shout at Micheal, as he nods at me. Evan comes up behind me and steals my phone out of my back pocket. “NO EVAN GIVE IT BACK DAMMIT” Micheal starts laughing again as I chase Evan throughout the entire pizzeria, that is until William grabs Evan and takes my phone from him while laughing. “Hah, here ya go, we got what, 20ish minutes left, I’ll start sending people out.” I let out a relieved sigh, smiling at him before going into the kitchen again. “Alright Michael let's start cleaning this place up.” Micheal, Elizabeth and I all clean the kitchen up, (Extra well since we made more of a mess). William and Evan get everyone out, and just on time, Freddy’s closes. 

“Well done team!” William says, high fiving us all with a cheeky grin. We all cheer and laugh a bit. “Okay, y/n, I’ll give you my address or you can just follow my car with yours, either or?” “Oh I’ll just follow you haha” I already knew his address. So it's easier to just follow. “Sounds good, I’ll see ya in a bit, doll!” He says before getting into his car and starting it. Doll? A pet name? I can’t say I don't like it but c'mon, he’s making it harder to not fall for him. I get in my car and start following him, it takes about 15 minutes before we get to his house. It's a damn nice house too. I park next to his car in the driveway, hoping he wouldn’t mind but then again it's not like his wife parks there. 

“Welcome to my humble abode!” He greets me, opening the door for me as his kids run inside. The inside is just as nice as the outside, they definitely deep cleaned it before I came here but still, it's impressive. William leads me inside, into the kitchen, but before he can say anything Evan walks over and grabs my hand. “Y/n! y/n! I wanna show you my room, come on!!” He says jumping up and down and pulling on my hand. William chuckles. “I’ll start making dinner, the guest has to entertain the kids. I laugh and wave him off before following Evan into his room.

I sit in Evans room talking with him for 20 minutes or so, he is mostly just showing me all his toys and his plushies. To Evans dismay Elizabeth comes in and steals me for her own room tour, her’s is a bit longer since she forces me to play barbie with her.

Micheal comes into her room, but his eyes widen with regret as he sees us playing Barbie. “MICHEAL PLAY BARBIE NOW!” Before Micheal can even react Elizabeth is shoving him into her room and on the floor, and handing him two barbies to act as. Micheal definitely isn't as good at acting as the barbies as I am, then again he’s a guy. “Micheal, you aren’t doing it right, you have a girl Barbie right?” He rolls his eyes. “Yes…” “Then use a girl's voice.” He turns a dark shade of red, clearly embarrassed to have to act like a girl, I’m trying my hardest not to laugh at him. “Fine.” He picks up his barbie and moves it towards the barbie I'm holding. “Hey girl how ya doin?!” He says in a high pitched really girly voice, and, perfect timing, just before he said that William walked in and heard it all. Me and William break and just die of laughter, Micheal is still dark red, the poor kid is just insanely embarrassed, Elizabeth just had her evil smirk on.

After we get done making fun of Micheal, we go downstairs to eat since Wiliam finished cooking. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to act surprised that he made (your fav food). But I choose not to. “Dang this is really good William, I didn’t know you could make anything except for pizza!” I joke with him, he laughs and thanks me.

We all finish eating, and Micheal forces me to play some shooting video game with him, naturally I’m terrible at it, even with having legitimate gun experience, Evan says goodnight to me and runs up stairs to go to bed. We keep playing the game for a while, William letting Elizabeth watch for some reason but whatever. I can tell William isn’t watching the screen, I can feel him staring at me, I try to ignore it the best I can. “Daddy can you come tuck me in, I think I’m going to bed.” Elizabeth promptly says, standing up and beginning to walk upstairs before pausing and turning around. “You too y/n.” She doesn’ even let me argue, she just walks upstairs like the girlboss she is. William chuckles, and walks upstairs with me. We get in Elizabeth's room and William tells her some made up story that puts her right to sleep, I shut off her light and before we can walk downstairs Micheal comes up. “Oh, thanks for hanging y/n, I'm gonna hit the hay.” I smile and give him a side hug, that is surprisingly not awkward. “Alright goodnight Michael.”

And finally, it's just William and I, downstairs, by ourselves. We walked to the front door, he was walking me out but before I left. “Y/n, I need to talk to you about something.” Oh god, is this it? “Yeah? What's up William?” 

“Look, you're my best worker, and currently my only.” He says with a small laugh. 

“And right now you're also, I'd say a good friend. But look. I like you y/n, i’m not going to hide from that, I want us to be more than friends, and to be dead honest with you it's not just like its love. I love you, I want to be with you.” 

Oh shit he said it, what do I do? Fuck wait I have to stick with the plan, no matter my own feelings, I have to… 

“I…I like you to William. But…you have to be honest with me right now, because I know about something you’ve done.” 

After I say that his whole demeanor changes, he looks more scared, wait no, not scared, just protective and maybe a bit worried. 

“What do you know?” 

“What you did to those kids William… I know about it… but… I don’t care, I need you to know that before you try to hurt me too. I don’t care because I love you too.” 

He stands there trying to read me, he looks baffled that I know about it. Which gives me the one answer I really hoped wasn’t the right one. He definitely is a murder.

“I killed multiple kids and you don't care?” And with that, I knew the police would be on their way right now, with the mic I have on my shirt they definitely picked that up. 

“I love you too much to care about that William.” God dammit. I want to forget that I'm an FBI agent, forget that the mic on my body recorded that, forget that police are definitely going to barge in any second now, I want to forget about all that because a part of me actually loves this serial killer, and that's what I hate so much about this. 

“Good.” He says, before he leans in, kissing me passionately. TO be honest it took me a little off guard but hey, I got one chance to kiss this tall hot guy. I'm going to take it, and just as I was giving in more. 

“FBI WILLIAM AFTON YOUR UNDER ARREST FOR THE MURDER OF MULTIPLE CHILDREN PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!” I see my co-workers storm in, grabbing William and handcuffing him, they start asking me if I’m okay and a couple other questions. They take William outside and I follow behind them. William looks utterly confused until I make eye contact with him, that's when it clicks for him. That I set him up, that I lied to him, and that I;ve been an FBI agent this whole time. 

“Y/n, you lying sack of shit!” He yells at me, pissed off as they struggle to shove him in the back of the police car. His window rolls down quickly, they aren't driving away. I feel like I have to talk to him, I owe him maybe just that, even though he's a murderer. And for killing those kids, I don’t feel bad anymore, I guess I lost sight… I forgot all the kids and families he’s hurt. I walked closer to the cop car so we could talk. 

“William, it's for your own good.” He laughs, he’s obviously still mad but he's grinning, the same evil grin that he never hides. “I could have gotten away with it. I would have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for you, y/n.” He angrily says to me. “Right. But you didn’t get away with it, and this is just karma, William.” William keeps glaring at me, still smiling though. The officer gets into the driver's seat of the car, putting it in drive, starting to slowly drive off. 

“I always come back y/n!” He shouts as I walk with the car, matching its slow pace.

“No William, not this time. Not anymore.”

HOPE YOU ENJOYED GUYS SORRY THAT IT TOOK SO LONG IM REALLY BUSY WITH UNIVERSITY <33

[pinkeoni]

Can you talk more about the issues with jancy and why they need to do a lot of talking if it is to be endgame?

Anon, are you giving me permission to once again complain about Jancy’s unresolved problems?

I always took issue with how the fandom tended to view their relationship through these rose-tinted glasses, especially post vol. 2, when there were some major issues regarding their relationship that was yet to be addressed.

I think Jancy is in love and could believably be endgame, but GOD if these issues get brushed off simply and they stay together without these conflicts being resolved, it would be bad writing.

The two main conflicts between Jonathan and Nancy are the same thing that kept them seperated: Jonathan’s daddy issues and Nancy putting her career ambitions before the people she loves.

Jonathan can’t bring himself to do what he wants out of fear of becoming like his father. Moreover, but Emerson isn’t even the college that Jonathan wants to go to, which isn’t even counting the NYU thing from season one. He plainly states that he doesn’t want to go Emerson to Argyle!

For Nancy, I’m in no way trying to say “working woman bad” but Nancy does need to find a balance between her ambitions and her loved ones. In season two, Nancy uses investigative journalism to bring justice for Barb, but in season three her passion for it escalates to where it blinds her and she doesn’t consider Jonathan’s feelings (“Here comes the Oliver Twist routine”) and in season four she doesn’t visit him despite clearly wanting to because she dedicates herself to the school paper instead. I’m not saying Nancy shouldn’t be career driven, but I don’t think it would be very “empowering-girl-boss” if she closed herself off from everyone she loves for it.

For Nancy we do see a bit of a change from her when she opens up a little and lets Robin in. With Robin, Nancy learns to lean on others for help and allow them to influence her work. It doesn’t, however, resolve her miscommunication with Jonathan, and unfortunately Jonathan’s personal issues have not yet seen a resolution either. And at the end of the season, Jonathan has still not told Nancy about not applying to Emerson, and Nancy did still have that whole wierd thing with Steve this season.

My ideal ending for these two would be for them to stay together but go to seperate colleges, although only time will tell for that. I do believe that these two can work out their problems given how much we are shown that they do genuinely care about each other and want to put in the work, but oh god, if all of that goofiness happened last season and it’s just brushed off without even a conversation? That would just be bad writing. What was it all for then?

[acaaciia]

Site B

relationship: Gekko / Mateo x gn!reader

listed tags: slight angst, hurt/comfort, implied happy ending, semi established, confessions, one-shot

trigger warnings: wounds! blood! slight gore! gunshot wounds

synopsis: Gekko knew what he was signing up for when he first joined the Valorant Protocol, he knew there were risks to his job, but not like this, never like this, never you. 

“Stay together and stay alive. Remember, we’re just here to gain more intel” Harbor warned stepping off the helicopter and onto the drop site first, “I’m looking at you two." He directed his words toward you and Gekko. 

The rest of you followed Harbor off the aircraft, with your weapons in hand. Reyna was the first to lead the way as she scooped out the surrounding area. 

“Come on coach, you got the best crew in the house!” Gekko winked at you, nudging your shoulder with a giant grin.

You smiled in return, rolling your eyes at his antics, “He does have a point, somos los mejores.(1)” You agreed, shrugging your shoulders. 

“Orale!(2) That's what I’m talking about.” Gekko cheered, giving you a fist bump. 

Reyna rolled her eyes at the two of you, “We’ll round up again back here later, on my signal.” She declared, adjusting her gun with a stern look, “comprenden?(3)”

“Claro, Reyna.(4)” 

“You got it, Jefa.(5)” 

The four of you wished each other luck as you split into groups of two to cover more ground. You and Gekko were to explore ‘Site B’ while Reyna and Harbor would take care of ‘Site A’. The Valorant Protocol was investigating a number of locations today in an attempt to figure out where these mysterious shipments of Radianite were going to and from.  According to a mysterious tip, there were at least two locations that had active shipments moving in and out, but without a precise location, all active agents were split up to investigate the different suspected areas. It was a 50/50 shot that you would actually be the group to find the correct place. 

___

You and Gekko were perfectly synched up as you made your way towards Site B. You took the right end while he watched your left, the two of you were constantly focused on watching the other’s back. You both had grown to have an immense amount of trust in one another, having joined the Valorant Protocol at around the same time and being trained together frequently, it was inevitable that you would have formed a strong bond. 

When you weren’t training for the next mission, you two were constantly hanging out. If you wanted something to eat, suddenly it turned into a food run for two, or well six of you, if you counted his familiars. Whenever Gekko’s hair was in need of a touch up, you were the first one he called. And when either of you had nightmares due to your line of work, the two of you could always be found in either of your bedrooms, soothing the other till you fell asleep in each other's arms.

The two of you were practically conjoined at the hip and all of the other agents knew it too. Whenever they needed one of you, there was a guarantee that they would find the other as well, to them it was only a matter of time before you two would make it official. 

The two of you weren’t dumb either, you both had caught on to the longing looks you shared, early on. All the times you two had held hands under the table during team outings, rubbing each other's knuckles gently. All the subtle touches that sent shivers down your spine.

But nothing was ever made official. You never outright said that you had feelings for the Hispanic man, you never told him how the way he laughed would send your heart into failure. And neither did he. But maybe that was enough for you two, just knowing you could always count on the other to be there. 

The two of you made it to the surrounding area of Site B with no issues. You two had a perfect aerial view of the site and immediately spotted what you had been instructed to find. You both hid behind some crates while you made contact with the rest of your group. 

“We got eye’s on the target.” You stated over comms, while Gekko peeked around from where you two were hiding to get another look.

“Looks empty from up here,” Gekko imputed his own observations.  

“Great, Site A was a bust.” Harbor replied gruffly, “Proceed with caution until we can make our way there.” 

“You got it coach!” Gekko stood from where you two had been crouching, offering you a hand up which you gladly took, “You heard em’, vamanos.(6)” 

___

You both made it down to the entrance of Site B and the silence was killing you. It felt awfully too quiet for an area that was transporting something so important, it was too good to be true. 

“Dizzy’s up top.” Gekko called out, sending in the blue critter to confirm if it was safe for the two of you to enter. 

With no gun fire and no gurgles of danger from the creature, Gekko determined that it was clear, but your gut was screaming otherwise. Just as Gekko was about to take the lead in entering the area behind Dizzy but you pulled him back by the end of his sweater vest.

He paused in his steps, looking back at you, “Gekko…I don’t feel too good about this.” You expressed your concerns, “Maybe we should fall back for now and wait for the others.” 

He turned and took your hand from where it previously held onto his clothing, rubbing gentle circles on the back of your palm, “Estamos bien,(7) Dizzy confirmed it’s clear.” He reassured you. 

Although you were still unsure despite his reassurance, you decided to push your feelings behind you. Having faith in the confidence he held with his words, you hesitantly agreed, letting go of his hand as you ready your weapon. 

You entered B Site behind Gekko and kept guard as he retrieved Dizzy from where she spun out. Once she was settled, the two of you continued to ensure the area was clear. 

You made your way back to meet up with Gekko in the center of the shipment center once you had made sure your area was clear…or so you thought.

Your ears rang harshly making you disoriented, your body flung forward and roughly onto the ground without your approval. It all happened too fast and your mind was unable to focus on the area surrounding you and the warmth you felt flare up in your lower abdomen and in your calf. 

The noise felt deafened in your ears but you could still faintly hear your name being called out multiple times, followed by the sound of more gunshots firing above you. Finally, the noise ceased and you felt as though you could finally let your heavy eyelids rest for a bit.

One minute you were laying face-side down, the next, you were flipped onto your back carefully. Your eyes squinted in order to block out the harsh rays of the sun beating down on you until a buzzed, bright neon green head took its place. 

“Shit, shit!” Gekko exclaimed, looking down at your body that held multiple gun wounds. He quickly pulled his sweater over his head and turned it inside out. He cut off a piece and instructed Wingman to apply pressure on the wound on your calf, before applying pressure against your abdomen to keep the blood from gushing out from your wound. 

“Apuranse!(8) [Name]’s down.” Gekko called out with urgency, a series of curses flooding comms immediately. 

Gekko had always known what he was getting himself into when he first joined the Valorant Protocol; he knew the risks that came with his job. But not like this, never like this, never you. He never thought he’d grow to care for someone as much as he did you, but as he kneeled here, keeping his hands over your body with steady pressure. As the blood seeped through his sweater slowly, grazing the palms of his hands, dying them a deep crimson. 

He could only think of all the things he should’ve said earlier. All the times that he held you in his arms and didn’t come right out and shower you in the pet names he wished he had. All the moments you two had come inches away from sealing your first kiss that always managed to get interrupted. 

Maybe if he hadn’t insisted and listened to your gut feeling then maybe you two wouldn’t be in the position you were in. If he had just-

“Is it that bad?” You choked out, interrupting his thought process, swallowing the clot of blood that you could feel coming up from behind your throat. You already knew the answer to your question, but the silence between you two and the way his face was so stern and concerned, it was too much for you. It wasn’t a look that suited him. 

Gekko looked back at your face, trying to keep a smile, “Claro que no, carino(9) He reassured, the shakiness in his voice betraying him, “It’s nothing Sage can’t fix, but I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay?” 

“Carino, huh? At least take me out to dinner first.” You joked, taking note of his slip up, trying to ease the tension before a small coughing fit ensued from you,”Mierda.”(10) 

“Tell you what, you stay alive, and the minute you’ve healed up I’ll take you out on a proper date. I’ll buy you the flowers you deserve and take you out to that sushi place you love.” He promised you, “No more sneaking around with this, yeah? I want everyone to know que eres mio.”(11) 

“I was thinking some Mierdonalds(12) and a movie, but I think I like your idea better.” You laughed, reaching up to cup his face and wipe the tears that had formed along the corners of his eyes.

Using what little strength you had, you pulled Gekko down for a chaste kiss. Pulling away, he kept his forehead against your own, while still maintaining a hand to your wound, “Te quiero muchisimo.”(13) He confessed. 

 Yo también te quiero.(14)

Here is the key for those who do not speak Spanish lol. It’s not proofread, so forgive my mistakes. 

1. Somos los mejores: We are the best.  2. Orale: Expression of approval/encouragement  3. Comprenden: Got it? 4. Claro: Of course 5. Jefa: Boss 6. Vamanos: Let’s go 7. Estamos bien: We’re okay 8. Apuranse: Hurry Up 9. Claro que no, Carino: Of coure not, dear/love 10. Mierda: Shit 11. Que eres mio: That you’re mine 12. Mierdonalds: Mierda + McDonalds, a play on words lol. (what my s/o calls it) ShitDonalds 13. Te quiero muchisimo: I love/care about you a lot.  14. Yo tambien te quiero: I love/care about you too. 

[lentendays]

Kuroshitsuji 209 Theory

Snake will be a bizarre doll.

Let me explain. I don't think Snake's role is over. Yana hasn't really been in the habit of fridging characters without payoff, and Snake's arc hasn't paid off yet.

When Snake reappeared at the end of the Murder Mystery arc, we established two things:

1) Snake wanted to kill "Smile" for doing something to his family, the circus troupe

2) Ciel employed Snake under the lie that they were going to find his family

These two things immediately foreshadow future conflict, where Snake will inevitably find out the Phantomhive household massacred the Noah's Ark circus. At the start of his employment, he wouldn't have hesitated to try to kill them for it. But we get to know Snake more - he's kind, insecure and shy, willing to give a job his all, and responds most to kindness from others. He gets treated well by Ciel and the servants; told that his looks don't matter, given an education and housing, and has saved Ciel on more than one occasion. We don't know who he would choose once the truth comes out, and that presents great conflict. With Doll showing up, we knew this reveal was going to come.

And it did, and it broke Snake, then he died saving a boy from Doll. But that doesn't seem to be the end.

The major deaths we've seen in Black Butler have all happened for a reason to drive the plot forward; Madame Red was discovered to be Jack the Ripper and her death served to introduce Grell and shinigami. Her story was over. Agni died at peace, protecting Soma, who has now turned into a vengeful possibly inhuman force. His story had little arc beyond protecting Soma and suspecting Sebastian, and it heartbreakingly concluded well. We are still picking at the mystery behind the Phantomhive parents' deaths.

Snake's death offered no new information and did not conclude his arc. He was still in denial and wondering what was happening in his last moments. If Yana wanted to kill off a major character for shock value, Bardroy could have died in the previous arc. We had his backstory and there was nothing new to share. But he didn't die.

For Snake - who has a lot more story to tell - to die for a child we just met, having been unable to process his love for the circus and the Phantomhives and what he's just learned about both or take any action, feels too abrupt for what's been set up. He *is* dead; the shinigami's presence and his reel proves that. But will he stay that way?

We still don't know how the bizarre dolls are made, only that they require a constant supply of blood. Snake's corpse is now in Doll's hands, and we know she definitely is a bizarre doll. We never got to see her actual death onscreen but it's extremely unlikely that Sebastian would miss a kill shot.

Hence: Snake will come back as a bizarre doll.

We do know that Bizarre dolls retain the memory and probably personalities of who they were before they died. Doll remembered everything and while she's more violent than she was in the past, that can be explained by the trauma she went through and her desire for vengeance. Same for R!Ciel and whatever he has planned.

Yes, there was a shinigami for Snake, but notice that this isn't anyone we've seen before. Why introduce a new shinigami when there are so many established ones?

One potential reason: because everyone we know is already investigating the Undertaker.

In the Campania arc, we know the prototype bizarre dolls were created by editing the reels. We don't know if this is still the case, but if it IS, and the Undertaker needed Snake's - it would be easier to get from a shinigami we don't know. We don't know their loyalties, or how strong they are, whether they've heard of the Undertaker situation. And if it comes down to it, we don't like them enough yet to feel any way if Undertaker ends up offing them for the reels he needs.

So it's not impossible that Snake comes back as a bizarre doll. And that would put his loyalties further into question. Does he side with R!Ciel and his friend Doll and the memory of his troupe, who were kidnapping and killing children for bone prosthetics - in addition to the fact that they would be the only faction capable of keeping him "alive" as a bizarre doll? Or does he help O!Ciel, who lies aside has treated him kindly and given him peace and an education, at what would be Snake's own "second life" as cost?

This would be a far more interesting story than him dying confused with little resolution.

Narratively, in a meta sense, there are a couple reasons this makes sense. We already have Soma vying for revenge; there doesn't need to be another similar story. We saw that it was possible for Lau to go back for Bard in the previous arc, despite having little reason to and not really knowing Bard in the first place. So why was Finny, who's always been shown as ride-or-die, the heart of the servants, who clearly cares about his colleagues and Snake, not allowed to do the same for Snake (in a narrative sense)? Because he needed to leave Snake behind to let a different story start.

Anyway that's my theory. Thoughts?

[rinadragomir]

Saga of finding out Matthew's endgame love interest🔎 join the investigation!

Volume Ⅰ

➤Esme Hardcastle

I'm starting with chronological order. We know that she used to have a crush on Matthew during the "Academy era".

Nothing but shadows:

Matthew's friendship made other friends creep forward, too. Esme cornered James and told him how sorry she was that Mike was being an idiot. She also told him that she hoped James did not take this expression of friendly concern in a romantic way.

"I have rather a tendresse for Matthew Fairchild, actually," Esme added. "Please put in a good word for me there."

Unfortunately, we haven't seen any of her interactions with Matthew during TLH🤷🏼‍♀️ But who knows, maybe after he returns to London we'll get something?👀 Personally, I found this idea pretty interesting, Esme seems like an adorable and confident girl✨

Volume Ⅱ

➤Eugenia Lightwood

Listen, listen. First of all I should mention what @roseofthomas validly pointed out: Matthew is officially 17 in the beginning of Chain of Gold and Eugenia is 21. And I also would be against anything romantic between them if it stayed this way. But TLH plot covers an entire year. So in Chot epilogue Matthew is already 18. And he leaves London for at least one year. So when he comes back he's 19. So what we got is ~ 19/23. Which is not a huge gap and Matthew will be an adult. Everyone remembers Malec's age gap? Diana & Gwyn? Yeah...So everything I'm talking about below I say in the context of Matthew being 19. Deal?🌱🌿Deal🌸🪷

I reread every part where she's mentioned. And I can confirm that we didn't get any info on how Matthew sees Eugenia except "she's a good girl". We know that she's not exactly a part of "the gang", at least before Chain of Thorns. She had her own group with Catherine, Ari and Rosamund and Barbara. So it's unlikely that Matthew sees her as some older cousin like James does.

Interactions:

1. Thomas’s sister Eugenia had danced with Matthew, tossing her long dark hair.

2. It was Eugenia, who had come up to them, her yellow cap askew on her dark hair. “Never mind. I am not interested in your dull friends. Matthew, will you dance with me?” “Eugenia.” Matthew looked at her with a weary affection. “I am not in a dancing mood.” “Matthew.” Eugenia looked woebegone. “Piers keeps stepping on my feet, and Augustus is lurking about as if he wants a waltz, which I just can’t manage. One dance,” she wheedled. “You’re an excellent dancer, and I’d like to have a bit of fun.” Matthew looked long-suffering but allowed Eugenia to lead him out onto the floor.

✨Parallels✨

1) Eugenia was kinda "dating" Augustus Pounceby, who actually loved Catherine but still gave Eugenia an idea that they can work. Apparently he saw her as an "if I can't get Catherine, I can at least have Eugenia"

VS

Matthew was kinda "dating" Cordelia, who actually loved James but still gave Matthew hope for her affection. Apparently for Daisy it was "if I can't have James, I can at least be with him"

2) Eugenia leaves London after Augustus proposes to Catherine. She feels humiliated and wants to be away from Enclave to get some peace.

VS

Matthew leaves London after Cordelia breaks up with him and comes back to James. He wants to heal and doesn't really want to be around Jordelia for some time, cause he's still getting over Daisy.

3) Eugenia returns to London after a few months and acts pretty confidently. It's implying that she healed mentally in Idris and is ready to be back in action. She's slowly becoming a part of the gang but it still looks like she spends more time by herself.

VS

I believe that Matthew eventually returns after a year or so and I expect him to act pretty much the same. Like he feels healed, has more confidence in himself and is fine with being around kissing Jordelia. But he still feels a bit lonely (my theory)

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

My bestie @afloralrib mentioned that their relationship has "Penelope & Colin" vibes and has some valid parallels WHICH IS TRUE

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

Volume Ⅲ

➤Claude Kellington

Exes, exes...like yeah BUT CASSIE said "no obvious love interest". And I believe that ex is someone who immediately comes to mind, so idk....and he broke his heart🥺. Still possible tho~

Volume Ⅳ

I remember someone mentioned Matthew/Grace but...I really don't think that it can work between them, even though he forgave her. So we'll just have to wait and see🌿🌱

𓇬Epilogue𓇬

That's it, my researchers. Thank you for joining me in this pointless adventure 🫶 cause Cassie will probably say that his true love is Claribella and leave it be💅🏻

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

FLORA REINHOLD (PROFESSOR LAYTON)

1.) I MEAN WHERE DOES ONE START!

Okay so in the first game (curious village) she’s locked in a tower, cut off from civalisation because her dad died and he wants her to find a worthy suitor. Not a suitor her age, a suitor who’s nice just a suitor who can solve lots of puzzles. Flora is so ill equipped for the real world because of her father. AND her dad definately set up this marrage trap when she was under 10. I mean it’s a woman who’s left in a tower for a worthy suitor. She’s not even trusted to go into town alone! The town is full of clockwork people! No one is even real!

Then in the next game she’s left behind because mystery solving is just to much for her dainty self! So she sneaks on after them, claiming she doesnt, “want to be left all alone again”. In the same game she’s kidnapped, has her identity stolen and no one notices because her only characterisation is she likes pretty things and then when they finally do notice and find out she was abandoned in a barn no one cares! SHE’S IMMEDIATELY LEFT ALL ALONE AGAIN. :(

In the third game Professor Layton lies to her to give her the slip. He has never lied in the entire series but he lies to her because she couldnt take going on this latest adventure. She’s the only character to faint during time travel (which doesnt even make sense) and KEEPS GETTING LEFT ALONE. She’s even left in a cage with her kidnapper who’s apparently only helping them for Flora. I mean she’s deeply uncomfortable when she’s caged with him, no one gave her a heads up that she would be caged with him.

She’s the only female character with the professor in the main trillogy who isnt a housekeep or secutary and her only characterisation ever is she likes pretty things and cant cook.

Thw writers then go on to make Katrielle’s game. A game about the Professor’s daughter. Not Flora the person he took into his care this entirely new character. My argument on why she’s a victim of mysogony there is they wrote her in outdated form and upon reciving critisism decided to sweep her under the rug and replace her with other characters. >:(

2.) Shafted SO hard because the writer’s immediately didn’t have any more ideas about what to do with her. She was set up as a mysterious character in her first appearance, and actually had plot relevance and a lot of potential moving forward. (Light PL spoilers)

However! In the next game, the main character just immediately leaves her at home to ‘keep her safe’, despite bringing a boy younger than her with him. She follows them, gets to join their investigation for all of about maybe an hour of gameplay, and then is promptly kidnapped unceremoniously, and literally locked in a barn for the rest og the game. When the other characters realise she is missing, they do literally nothing and don’t go to collect her until the next day DURING THE GAME’S CREDITS.

In the next game, and the final one of the trilogy she appears in, the main character and his apprentice (once again, a boy younger than her) literally run away from her whilst she’s making them sandwiches. Just so they don’t have to bring her along. She’s also kidnapped AGAIN, and does absolutely nothing about it (doesn’t even attempt to struggle) so that the main character can come in and save her. :|

Additionally, she’s never put in any side material set in the right time frame for her to be there, including not even being MENTIONED in the spin-off sequel (although that game is weird about what references it makes anyway), except for the movie, where she’s in it to once again be told to stay behind, and she gets a single word long line.

A lot of people come out of these games complaining that Flora has no personality, because the writer’s were apparently so determined to keep her off-screen that it was easy for people to question what kind of a character she even is. (She has one, they just don’t show it often enough.)

3.) She is constantly left behind and treated like a little girl even though she’s older than Luke, while he is respected as Layton’s apprentice. They don’t even eat her sandwiches :( They also have a running joke of her being really bad at cooking, but that’s literally the only thing they let her do! She also gets kidnapped TWICE (that is, every game she’s in but the first one) and the first time she gets impersonated by the bad guy and NO ONE NOTICES for most of the game.

Also in the Japanese version she’s “of marriageable age” and apparently really wants to marry Layton when she’s older… and that’s one of her key character traits in that version. She has a really cool backstory but after the first game she’s reduced to “girl whining about how they leave her behind all the time”. It’s like they wanted to fridge her but realized they couldn’t do that to a little girl.

DEANNA TROI (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION)

1.) Apparently, Deanna was originally intended to be TNG’s Spock replacement, a highly intelligent and rational character. Unfortunately, because she was a pretty woman, the decision was made to put her in a skin tight jumpsuit, at which point all that went out the window. Her actress has complained about this and is the source for her being originally intended to be similar to Spock but being written differently after the costume decision. She’s constantly being put through godawful plots where she’s victimized in ways that male characters - and even the other women who aren’t treated as sexy props - are not, she’s constantly being badgered to get married, she’s constantly being given love interests who there’s no reason whatsoever for her to be interested in.There was one scene where she had to eat ice cream and she kept having to spit it out off screen because the outfit they put her in was so tight she couldn’t eat. She’s an interesting character who is frequently relegated to sexy lamp status even though when she IS written well she is very competent and has skills no one else on the crew has. She literally gets teleported out of her clothes in one episode. Justice for Deanna

2.) She is an underused and underdeveloped character compared to her male counterparts. She is the only character who wears a deep-cleavage suit instead of a standard Starfleet uniform (thankfuly she does wear an uniform in latest seasons). Whenever she gets more screentime it’s only to have her body or mind violated. She is a psychologist with empathy powers, but it feels like writers didn’t really know what a counselor is for in a futuristic spaceship full of men who don’t go to therapy, so she barely has anything to do except having her powers conveniently blocked, weakened or taken away by alien of the week.

I love her because she was such a sweet, caring and intelligent character, but the writers clearly wanted her to be a hot babe of the show.

Saving grace: she really does improve in the laters seasons.

3.) She is mostly relegated to being a potted plant or a sexy lamp. She is supposed to be an empath, but mostly she gets to go “captain, i think he might be lying” about characters who everyone can see are definitely lying. AND everyone else in the show gets to wear a uniform and she doesnt for NO REASON untill the second to last season of the show (and even then it isnt Her Choice, but a man makes her do it) (and the female uniform is a catsuit for no reason, the male uniform is. a shirt and pants at this point). OH and maybe 75% or her plotlines are either men assaulting her in some way or another

[thestrangestthing89]

So who knows about Mike and Will...

I think Jonathan not only knows about Will's feelings but he picked up on Mikes too. He's known Mike since he was 5 and there is no way he didn't put that together after their road trip. It's probably a safe bet to assume Argyle knows too. He's very observant and was in the car with them and their angst for hours. There have also been hints that Joyce and Karen also know or at least suspect something. Positive their friends are clueless, though I do think El at least suspects by the end of season 4. It will be interesting to see if Nancy knows but I don't think she does. She assumed Mike liked El with no evidence back in season 1 (she saw them interact for like a minute). Considering her own problems with heteronormativity (Steve) it's not surprising if she doesn't realize. I don't think it would bother her and it's possible that she maybe suspected over the years of seeing them together but I think for her (and most of the audience) the simple fact that Mike started dating El and kissed her was enough to convince her that he's straight.

Which leads me to Hopper. I'm pretty sure he already put this together...

In season 1 Joyce tells Hopper that Lonnie used to call Will gay slurs and this is the comment that gets Hopper taking her seriously. He's dismissive and rude to her before this. But when she says this he immediately starts listening. He's investigating his disappearance like a hate crime. There are also many hints (from the Wheeler parents and from the bully at school who mentions how his dad says Will got "killed by another queer") that people in this town talk about Will being gay. Adults who don't even know him believe that Will was killed because of this. There is no way Hopper wasn't aware of this. So Hopper at this point at least suspects that Will might be gay. It was important enough that his own mother brought it up to him. What Hopper knows of Mike in this season is that he completely ignored him when he told him to stay out of the investigation. But his other friends did as well. So up to this point I don't think he notices anything about Mikes feelings other than he cares about his friend.

Which leads me to season 2 and what happens in the intervening time. There is a year between season 1 and 2 where it's implied that Hopper was regularly checking in on the Byers. Not to mention helping with Will and his trauma and going to his doctors appointments. If Hopper was homophobic in any way not only would he not have looked for Will when he went missing (yes it's his job, but plenty of cops ignore problems when the happen to people they don't like, especially a gay kid in the 80s) but he wouldn't have repeatedly checked in on him and worried about his well-being. It's also very possible in this time that Hopper saw Mike and Will together. Mikes protectiveness of Will in season 2 didn't come out of no where and it was already heavily implied in season 1 that they hang out all the time.

Then there is season 2 where Mike and Will are together the entire time. Hopper sees how Mike is at the hospital, he sees Will remembering Mike when he's possessed (when he could only remember his mother), he sees Mike in the shed giving a very emotional speech to a possessed Will and sees Will responding to Mike when he wasn't able to respond to Joyce and Jonathan (at least not initially). It's Mike that connected to him and got him to communicate with them. It's Mike who realizes Will is trying to sacrifice himself to save everyone. And it's Mike who comes up with a plan to protect him. Hopper is there for all of this.

Then there is Mikes melt down. This was not about El but El was the tipping point that sent Mike over the edge. He's overwhelmed and Hopper is the one who is there to hear it. Mikes says things like "you're a liar" and "you're disgusting" to Hopper. Which really make no sense. Hopper never lied to him because Mike is never shown to ask him about El. Why would he when he saw her "die"? His belief that she was alive was grief, not him actually believing it. He never once actually looks for her. So Mike saying these things doesn't add up to be about Hopper especially the "you're disgusting" comment. It does however make a lot of sense if Mikes protectiveness of Will at the lab was being viewed as romantic at least by Mike. And his speech in the shed is definitely romantic. This is why I think Mike realized how he felt back in season 2. Him melting down at Hopper seems like it's not only about the situation and trauma but also his identity. And Hopper comforts him about it. I also love the moment when El is about to kiss Mike and Mike is just standing there with his eyes open not moving. Hopper is right there for that too. And he interrupts the kiss. I don't think this was the gross trope of "over-protective dad not wanting his daughter to get a boyfriend". I'm pretty sure he's trying to spare Mike here.

5. Then there is season 3 and the hostility between the two. Hopper uses words like "unnatural" and "unhealthy" and "very wrong" to describe Mike and El's dynamic. He's correct even though he handles it badly. The interesting thing about this is that those words are typically used to describe same sex relationships but they are directed towards the hetero couple. While on the surface it seems like Hopper just wants both of them to spend some time apart, I think considering everything else that's happened prior to this is leading Hopper to be a little confused by Mike. Where he went from being glued to Will's side and protective and caring of him, to obsessing over El and ignoring Will. It's also possible he's seen Will during this time and maybe noted that he was a little sad and connected the dots. I think the scene where Mike and Hopper are arguing in the car says a lot. Not only about the way Hopper is viewing his relationship with El - unnatural and wrong - but I think he's trying to give Mike a push to stop fucking around and go back to his friend. Very curious what happened during the rest of this car ride back to Mike's place.

6. There is also the letter Hopper writes to El and Mike that we hear as the voice over at the end of the season. This was not just about El and their relationship but Mike as a person too. It's all about how growing up is scary and how change is ok. At the mall, Hopper makes an interesting comment to Mike when the kids are leaving. He says "Mike, be careful". Not be careful with her or take care of her. This comment isn't about El. He's telling Mike specifically to take care of himself and be careful. He's looking out for Mike the person not Mike his daughters boyfriend.

Now obviously Hopper and Mike have very limited interaction with each other in season 4, but all of this leads me to believe that Hopper at least suspects that there is something going on with Mike and Will. And I think considering we are about to get protective Mike again, he is going to see a lot more moments between them. Not to mention the fact that Mike and El either already broke up or are about to and I don't think either of them are going to be upset, just relieved.

I also want to take this moment to note that the comments about how Hopper is going to be pissed Mike's dating another one of his kids are incredibly irritating not to mention wrong. I know some of them are meant to be funny, but the comments about how Hopper is going to give Mike the shovel talk and lecture him are just gross. It implies that no one cares about Mike and that he's tolerated because they love Will and this has never once been shown to be true.

Hopper has been protective of both of them. He cares about both of them. I think he sees that Mike is really struggling and is trying to help him but doesn't really know how. Hopper and Mike have very similar personalities where they internalize everything until it's destroying them and I think Hopper recognizes this even if he doesn't know what to do about it.

As a side note: Hopper is definitely not homophobic and has never been shown to be even though there were plenty of chances for him to show this with Will in the same way that Lonnie did. His relationship with Murray is also telling. Pretty sure he's gay and Hopper and Joyce know this. Hopper has noticed him flirting with every Russian who is near them. He makes a comment in season 3 when they are under the mall. Murray is talking in Russian to a soldier but the conversation goes on longer than it needs to and they are both laughing. When Hopper asks him about it Murray says he was being nice and Hoppers reaction is basically "is this really the time?". All this to say that I'm pretty sure Hopper is going to be very supportive of both Mike and Will and I can see his relationship with Mike improving a lot once that happens.

[maknaesdancersrappers]

devoted 2.

part 14.

Overall warning/s: kinkier smut (eg. voyeurism, exhibitionism, etc.) character death, dark themes

Chapter warning/s: vulgar language, violence, self harm, implied stalking

Just how devoted is Jaehyun to you?

prev: part 13

wc: 5.3k

“You owe me big time.” Sicheng hissed over the phone.

“Anything. I’m sorry, bro. It’s an emergency.” Jaehyun was hurriedly walking up the steps of a private jet Sicheng was able to arrange for him at the last minute. 

“If this ends up with you overreacting, I don’t know what I’ll do to you.” He kept complaining, “But I do wish [Y/N] is okay.”

“I hope I’m just overreacting, too.”

The last message you had sent him was about heading over to Dr. Ahn for an emergency check up. He waited for an update but it never came — only a concerned message from Dr. Ahn, asking if something came up with your schedule that you had missed the appointment. 

Obviously, this set off alarm bells for Jaehyun. He immediately called up Hyunwoo, demanding to know where you were. When informed about your location, he was confused. Why were you there? He had told them to go up the room and check up on you. It’s been half an hour and they haven’t gotten back to him.

Jaehyun seated himself in the first seat in the cabin and obsessively checked his phone for updates.

Before his phone could ring when the screen showed Hyunwoo calling, he answered it.

“Sir, she kicked us out.” Hyunwoo said, a little hesitant. “She’s safe in the apartment; we checked every room. But she kicked us out.”

His brows furrowed in confusion at the information, “What in the world is she doing?”

“She seemed to be reading files, sir.”

Files?

“What kind of files?”

“I’m sorry, sir. But she wouldn’t let us near. She said she’ll be waiting for you.”

The flight should be a little over half an hour, but considering Seoul traffic, he should make other arrangements to avoid the rush hour. “I’ll be there in 2 hours. Stay outside the door until I get there.”

“Understood, sir. Have a safe flight.”

The call ended just on time before the plane took off. Jaehyun cradled his head with a hand, rubbing his temples.

“Files?” He whispered to himself, “What could she possibly be reading?”

Slowly, anxiety crept over his body. Does it have something to do with her stalker? Did this person happen to hold something over him? Technically, his hands should be clean… for now… with the dirty deals happening inside the company.

Jaehyun visibly flinched, enough to garner the stewardess’ concern. He ignored her, bringing his thumb to his lips and scratching his teeth against his nail.

There’s no way… 

Could it possibly be files… from before?

“Sir Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun held his head high, “Detective Go.”

He looked about his dad’s age, maybe a little bulkier but gray around the eyes — probably from work. His office didn’t look like what movies made Private Investigator’s offices looked like. Those were drabby and dark, the blinds were always shut closed. 

Detective Go Hyunmo’s private office looked like any regular office of a high ranked employee would look like: it had a sizable desk, with little to no clutter. There’s no picture of any kind, however, so it makes Jaehyun wonder if he was single and alone. There was a pendulum near the edge with a little flowering succulent in a hand painted pot.

Jaehyun smirked to himself, this man had a child. He understood now that his office was decorated as such to prevent anyone from learning about his personal life, but that multicolored, blotchy painted pot told even a teenager like Jaehyun that it was hand painted by a child.

Detective Go quickly excused himself and walked over to where his computer was, pulling out the papers from the printer. 

Jaehyun caught a familiar face on the computer screen and he stared longingly until he was rudely interrupted.

“Your father didn’t go into the specifics about what you’ve requested,” Detective Go cleared his throat, pulling out a folder from his drawer and inserting the papers he had collected inside of it. “So I just got all the basic information on Ms. [L/N] that can’t be pulled off the internet.”

He slid the files towards Jaehyun and he browsed through it, making it seem like he wasn’t as eager to read them.

“Her records are squeaky clean. I’ve only singled out a single possible interaction between you and Ms. [L/N] throughout the years and it was pretty recent—”

“I’m aware.” Jaehyun snided, closing the file folder. “I’d like to keep tabs on her. Keep updating me.”

“I don’t mean to impose—”

“Yet you are about to.”

Detective Go bit his tongue. The teen in front of him suddenly looked like his father and it made him shiver. “Yes, I’m sorry. I will keep track on her and will update you every month—”

“Every 2 weeks.”

He nodded, not even giving the demand a second thought. “Every 2 weeks. I’ll have it emailed to you.”

“I’ll use a burner email. I’ll contact you with it when I want updates.”

Jaehyun stood up, dragging the chair back. He was tall for his age, but he was still a scrawny teenager inside the office. 

“My father has arranged for your services to be paid every 2 weeks as well. 5 mil to work for me, and another 5 to keep your mouth shut about it.” He coldly stated, “Would that be enough?”

“5 million won?”

Jaehyun scoffed, “Do you think my father would pay one of the top P.I.’s in this country a measly 3 million won? Of course, not. It’s in US dollars.”

He only meant to clarify if he had heard the number right. “What a generous offer. It’ll be a pleasure to work for you, Sir Jaehyun.”

When Jaehyun had left, Detective Go Hyunmo sighed. He shouldn’t meddle in their business, but he couldn’t help but let his mind wonder over the possible reasons why they would want all the information they want on an innocent high school girl.

The last time Jung Jaegun had tapped him, it was for a competitor of their business who conveniently died a few weeks later. Before that, he had his wife investigated — and months later, they got married.

He glanced at his computer where Jaehyun was completely transfixed. He couldn’t describe the look on the boy’s face — he had looked at your photo with utmost revere, he almost thought you were a living goddess.

But he also reminded him of his father — his father had shown that same face when he handed him the very first files he had on his now-wife.

Obsession.

Detective Go sighed, taking out a cigarette from one of his drawers and lit it up.

“Poor girl.”

It was getting a little dark when Jaehyun landed — Seoul traffic would eat up all his time. Luckily, he thought ahead and reserved a helicopter ride straight to the apartment. He thought he could get at least a quick nap during the flight but he was too jittery and anxious. He was escorted straight from the plane to the hangar where the chopper was. 

“Good evening, Mr. Jaehyun.” 

He curtly nodded at them, entering the rotorcraft and settled in. “Have my luggage delivered to my house address. I would like to leave as soon as possible.”

The employees scurried at once and the pilot bowed, greeting him swiftly as he made the necessary preparations.

Jaehyun’s phone rang and he answered without looking at the screen.

“Would you care to explain why you left China without successfully closing the deal?”

“Their branches are too caught up in politics either way.” He gruffed, “I have more pressing matters to attend to, Father.”

In front of friends and family, he referred to him as “Dad” but in private or with business partners, he spoke to him in a more professional tone. 

“And that is?”

“[Y/N].” He hissed, “Father, I have reason to believe that Detective Go’s files have been compromised and sent to her.”

“What? Impossible. He knows the consequences of leaking anything we’ve hired him for. Where is [Y/N]? Is she safe?”

“She’s in the old apartment. I’m heading over there as we speak. The bodyguards are with her.”

“I’ll personally deal with Go, son. You take care of [Y/N].”

The phone call ended but it left a horrible taste in Jaehyun’s mouth. There was something in the way his father spoke that didn’t feel right. He knew that if information like that was exposed, it would ruin the family image and the company — even if it was exposed to someone trusted enough to enter the family.

You’re not legally part of the family yet — his own mom found out years later into their marriage. She told him it was because it would make it harder for her to leave his father. But did he really want to do that to you? His father would get rid of you without a second doubt. Jaehyun clenched his fist in his lap.

The pilot instructed him to put on the headset and he wordlessy obeyed. They took off not long after the pilot had gone over the usual spiel about safety and the final procedures were done.

Jaehyun inhaled deeply, maybe he’s jumping the gun. Maybe the bodyguards were mistaken with what they saw. Maybe the files were about the dirty business the company does. Because even then, he knows he can placate you.

But if you find out about the past — he doesn’t know what could happen.

“Sir.” Hyunwoo and Jooheon stood erect when Jaehyun appeared from the elevator.

“Is she still in there?” He gazed at the door as if he could see through it.

Jooheon nodded, “Yes, sir. We check every 30 minutes. Hasn’t moved from her seat. We tried to offer her food but we were dismissed.”

Jaehyun nodded, “Alright. Get yourselves dinner and head home for tonight. I’ll handle it from here.”

“Yes, sir.” They recited in unison.

He caught them sharing an unsure glance at each other but bowed to him nonetheless and made their way down.

Whatever waited for him on the other side of the door, he had to compose himself. He had to pretend he had no idea what was happening and he was only really worried about your welfare — which was true. He knocked on the door, “Babe? [Y/N]?”

When he was met with silence, he hurriedly opened the door, assuming the worst had happened to you.

But there you were, hunched over at the dining table, a hand in your hair while the other held up a piece of paper to your face. Your back was turned to him and it didn’t look like you heard him come in.

This was proven wrong when he made his way over you and you hissed at him, “Stay away.”

“Babe?”

“Don’t,” You choked out, standing up abruptly and turning to face him, the chair screeching along the floor and hurting both your ears but only Jaehyun flinched. “Don’t you fucking call me that.”

“Why? What’s wrong? What are those?”

“What’s wrong?” You screamed, almost scoffing in disbelief. “What’s wrong with you?!”

You grabbed one of the first folders you had read and hurtled it over to him, landing right at his feet. “You had me investigated? Back when we were 16?” 

Jaehyun’s ears began to ring, this wasn’t happening. Maybe he did fall asleep on the plane and this was a dream — a nightmare.

“I didn’t even know who the fuck you were back then — so how did you know me? When did we even cross paths? Hm?”

He could feel himself unraveling — all those years of therapy that taught him to keep himself in check, to keep calm and collected when he was beginning to get triggered — all of that was crumbling as fast as you were spewing out the questions he hoped he never had to answer.

“Did you have your father send the Qian’s away so Kun and I could break up?” Your voice started to strain, “Was everything — how we met, all those times we’ve spent during college— was all that a lie?”

He couldn’t look at you, his eyes just focused on the pieces of paper on the floor in front of him. All of it, he had read multiple times in the past. It had records of your birth, your family tree, even records of your mundane days as a high school student — and he had read every single one multiple times. He probably knew things you had already forgotten.

“Were we even really in love?”

“I loved you from the moment I saw you.”

You jolted back, surprised at how loud his voice was. Jaehyun had finally looked at you, eyes wide, wild, and wet. His nose flared with every breath and you could tell he was doing his very best to stay calm.

“I loved you from the very moment I saw you.”

“And…” Your voice cracked,  “And when was that?”

“There was an interschool sports festival between the high schools in our city. I was one of the players for basketball and before our game, we wanted to check out the girls in the swimming category.” He made a halfhearted shrug with his shoulders, “You knew how I was back in high school and the crowd I was mixed in — that much was true… so yeah, as student athletes, we had access to the benches by the pools for a closer look. I’ll spare you the details of the comments we made for every swimsuit-clad girl we saw — but then you passed by, smiling and waving up at your schoolmates behind us. That’s how I found out what your name was because they were cheering it so loudly and later on, the announcer had introduced you as well. But when you passed by, I thought you had looked right at me — in retrospect, you looked past me to say hi to your friends, but at the time, I genuinely thought we had locked eyes.”

Jaehyun paused, “It’s cliche, but I really thought time moved slowly for me. You were beautiful — you still are — and you just radiated pure confidence and pride as you walked to the poolside. I waited for my friends to say something about you so I could join in, but they never did. Like they were blind — a literal goddess had just passed in front of them but they were talking about the girl behind you from some other school. Even when you won, they didn’t make a single comment. It was then I realized it was better they didn’t pay attention to you because then I could have you all to myself. You were phenomenal and I was so in awe and impressed with you.”

“But you made me stop swimming.”

“Yeah, and remember how those assholes whistled at you back in college at the university pool? You’re so oblivious to other men, [Y/N]. It’s quite frustrating.” He frowned, “Back then, I was sure you weren’t single — someone like you? There was just no way you were. That’s why I thought Dongyoung was your boyfriend at first.”

You grimaced at the mention of Doyoung’s real name. He had it changed that year, too, because it sounded too similar to his older brother. No one should really know his real name, but even his information was among the pages on the table.

“But of course, I found out afterwards that he wasn’t.”

“Because of those?” You nodded at the files in front of him.

“No.” He solemnly responded, “I… figured it out after some time.”

You stared at him, trying to understand what he meant. “You… stalked me afterwards.”

“I wanted to know you—”

“You couldn’t have tried approaching me like, I don’t know, how normal people do?”

Jaehyun winced at your words — or rather, how you stressed the word ‘normal’.

“That’s not love, Jaehyun! That was infatuation and it grew into obsession!” You shouted, grabbing another file off of the table and shaking it towards him, “You don’t have someone investigated out of love!”

“But I proved that I do, didn’t I? I cared for you, protected you, and provided for you—”

“Does it matter if we have different truths of how we started?” Your throat started to burn when tears began to well in your eyes for the nth time tonight, you didn’t bother counting after the third time. “I feel lied to, Jaehyun. No, I was lied to! It’s like I don’t even know you—”

“But you do! I’ve been honest about everything else and I’m constantly trying to be. I would’ve told you—”

“Bullshit!” You cut him off, “You and I both know you wouldn’t have told me. You’re only forced to right now because of all of this.”

“[Y/N]...” Tears were also appearing in Jaehyun’s eyes. “Please, I’ll tell you everything and anything you want. You know I wouldn’t dare hurt you.”

“And yet,” You choked out, “Here we are… I—I feel so violated, Jaehyun. All this time, I thought we had met by chance but you had it planned out from the very start.”

Jaehyun shook his head, “If you didn’t want me, I wasn’t going to force — I swear, please, [Y/N], you have to believe me. I just had to force that chance to see if being with you was possible and it was! You showed interest in me and that was all I ever wanted.”

You wanted to throw up but you held it down, “I can’t say I still feel the same way.”

His heart dropped, thinking he misheard her. “What?”

“This is too much… I can’t deal with this.” You whispered, biting down hard on your lower lip before you uttered, “I think we should break up.”

In an instant, Jaehyun felt like he lost all sense of hearing. Your lips were moving but he couldn’t hear anything after what you had said. On instinct, he looked around for something — something to throw at a wall, to punch repeatedly, something to destroy, but couldn’t even make a step towards anything. He needed to divert the pain elsewhere… He had to hurt himself some other way.

“But,” His lips quivered, unable to find anything within reach, “I told you the truth— I’m telling you the truth!”

“It’s a little too late for you to come clean, Jaehyun.” You found yourself crying as well when you saw his tears. “I don’t think you can come back from this.”

“Baby—”

“Please,” You raised your hand to stop him, “Don’t call me that.”

“[Y/N].”

You slowly shook your head, wiping your tears with the back of your hands, “I can’t do this.”

You tried to move past him and when he tried to put his hands up to stop you, you flinched.

That told him enough. The girl he had held so dearly and protected more than himself was terrified— because of him. He lowered his hands and could only watch you as you grabbed your bag.

“What are we gonna tell you parents?”

You stopped in your tracks, spinning around to look at him as if he had grown a second head. “What are we going to say? No, Jaehyun. What are you going to tell them?”

You looked down on your hand where your engagement ring was. You hesitated, but you huffed, removing the ring from your finger and shoving it into his hand. “You are going to return my mother’s engagement ring back to her and tell her the exact reason why you’re returning it to her.”

“[Y/N], please.” He held your hand tightly, pulling it towards his chest, “Please don’t do this. Tell me what I can do to fix this.”

He started sobbing, breaking down completely — and you’ve seen this before, back in his college dorm. His fingers were shaking around your hand. “Anything, [Y/N]. I’ll do anything. Please stay. Please don’t leave me.”

“Let me go.” You whispered, “That’s what you can do. Let me go.”

Jaehyun looked at you, completely defeated. His face was red and wet, contorting into a silent cry as he fell to his knees and loosened his grip on your hand.

It shocked you that he had given up so easily, honestly it broke your heart. You loved him, but you loved him because of the version you knew of your relationship. 

When he had completely let go of your hand, you knew you could walk out freely. Tentatively, you stepped back, waiting for him to say something else but he didn’t. So this is it. The day both of you never thought would happen.

You turned your back against him and began to walk away. You’re surprised to make it to the front door with only hearing his soft cries. You spared him another glance and all you wanted to do was run to him and comfort him, gather him into your arms and hold him tightly, but you knew if you did that you won’t be able to walk away at all.

Maybe you could do this quickly, you thought. Abruptly opening the door and closing it once you passed through, you took a few more steps towards the elevator and it came quicker than you had expected. Once you stepped in, you stared at the closed door, imagining Jaehyun still on his knees and crying.

Punching in the button of the ground floor, you waited for the doors to close while drying your eyes with your sleeve.

A loud, anguished scream echoed from the apartment — enough to scare you, but it was replaced with concern instantly. You could feel the pain in his cries and you stepped forward to go back in but the elevator started to close. You were frozen in your spot, hearing Jaehyun’s constant crying growing more and more frustrated and distressed. The doors shut and you lost your balance when it began to move down, only realizing now that you were still feeling weak and sick. What time is it? You dug around your bag for your phone and cursed, it was still on the table. You can’t go back up now and possibly give him hope.

The elevator opened and the couple getting in looked shocked to see you. You probably looked crazy, eyes swollen and nose runny from crying. You sheepishly bowed your head to greet them and made your way out when you saw it was the ground floor. You had your wallet, at least. You could hail a cab or catch a bus to your parent’s home.

The clock at the lobby told you it was a little past 8 already. You hadn’t had lunch or dinner at this point. Maybe you should pick some food up before going home. The doorman bids you farewell with a smile that you returned. 

The night air was cold — winter should be around the corner now. You don’t know how you could get your winter clothing from the house now, though. But that’s something you can worry about later, for now you walked away into the night.

You gasped for air when you broke the surface of the water, hand planted firmly on the side of the pool. You ripped your goggles out for a better look at the screen and when you finally had blinked the water from your eyes away, you barely had time to recognize that only you had a two-digit number flashed on the screen before your swim team captain had single handedly pulled you out of the water in a towel-clad embrace.

“We won, [Y/N]! You were amazing!” Your teammates swarmed you, jumping up and down as they celebrated.

You were still confused, looking back at the scoreboard.

[L/N] [Y/N]: 58.75s

Ha Nana: 1:03:58 

Hazuki Nagisa: 1:04:34

You were first — not only that, you were barely under a minute. That breaks your personal record of a minute and two seconds!

Although belated, you joined your team in rejoicing, laughing in disbelief that you had won by a landslide in the 100m freestyle category. 

You turned to the section where your school was seated and almost felt embarrassed at how loud they were cheering your name. You put up a finger to your lip and shushed them, unsuccessfully.

“You just secured the swimming category for our school! I’m sure the boys at basketball have that in the bag as well. We’re winning that school trip to Busan for sure!”

You nodded at your team captain, removing your cap and drying your hair with the towel she had hugged you with.

“Come on, snacks on me!” She said, “Hurry and get your asses dry and changed before it gets sold out!”

All your other teammates were speed walking — as it’s still not allowed to run along the pool — to the locker rooms and you just calmly followed, wrapping the towel around your waist.

Once the team was freshen up and back in their gym clothes, all of you headed towards the concessionaire stands. Luckily, there weren’t many students and you found two tables to seat the whole team together.

“Have you seen the boys at Kyeonggi? They’re so hot! Why can’t we have those kinds of boys at our school?” A teammate of yours, Hara, gushed, nodding her head towards a certain direction.

You were too busy scooping up rice cakes into your mouth to follow after her, but listened to their conversation.

“Because God has favorites, and the students at Kyeonggi are both hot and rich.” Another teammate, Sihyun, quipped.

“Do you guys think they had work done?” Chaeyeon put the tips of her fingers on her nose, “No one is born like that, right?”

“Probably. Oh, I heard that some guys at Kyeonggi deal drugs.” Hara whispered, low enough for everyone at the table to hear. “It’s like a known secret but no one ever rats them out because their parents will just pay off anyone to shut up.”

You scrunched your nose at this, “The fuck?”

“Yeah, well, that must be the perks of being in the top 1%.” Chaeyeon shrugged her shoulders, “Oh my god, what if they, like, doped up before the competitions?”

“They wouldn’t,” Sihyun snorted, swatting Chaeyeon’s shoulder, “Now why would the kids of the top 1% wanna win this stupid sports fest? They probably own the resort the winner’s are going to stay at.”

You cleared your throat, rising up from your seat, “I’m gonna get a drink, does anyone want any?”

They shook their heads and continued on with their conversation.

“Gosh, maybe I should try and be a housewife to one of them when we get older.” Hara sighed, “Stay at home, watch the kids, get spoiled — ugh.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at her before turning around to head towards one of the booths that sold drinks.

You smiled at the girl manning the booth, handing over exact change as you told her your order: the coldest bottle of cider they had. You felt a little bad that she made the effort to stick almost her entire arm into the cooler to get to the bottles at the very bottom. You sensed someone beside you and you figured they wanted to buy something as well so you stepped to the side to give them space.

The girl handed you your drink, but she was not looking at you anymore. She had a big, flirty grin on her face as she greeted the person you had made way for. You took the drink and thanked her, a little amused at her expression. You started to make your way back when you felt someone touch your arm.

“Hey, excuse me—”

“[Y/N]! There you are! I’ve been trying to find you everywhere!”

You waved at your best friend, who picked you up for a bear hug that made you shy and laugh.

“You were amazing! Congrats on the win, [Y/N].” Doyoung settled you back on the ground and you shook your head.

“I don’t know,” You playfully sang, “I think I owe it all to my cheerleaders in the crowd.”

He smugly crossed his arms over his chest, “That’s right, because I made sure everyone out cheered the others.”

“Whatever! Hey, wanna join the team for some snacks? Ji Ah bought too much again.” You hooked your arm around his like how you always would, reeling him along as you walked back to the table.

“Who am I to deny food, [Y/N]?”

You giggled at him, shaking your head. You looked back at the booth, remembering someone had tapped your arm. But no one was there anymore. There were a couple of students walking away, but you really couldn’t tell who it was. Did you drop something? You only brought over the exact amount of money you needed to pay.

“Hey, you okay? Are you looking for someone?”

You looked up at Doyoung and shook your head again, “It’s nothing. I thought someone called me or something.”

“Maybe you have a fan now.” He teased, bumping his arm against yours.

You smacked it lightly, “As if! Who would be interested in me?”

When the elevator dinged from outside the door, Jaehyun knew you were never coming back. He looked down at his palm where you had forced the engagement ring into. Tears fell down onto his hand and pooled around the ring. He yelled out loud, enough to make his own ears hurt.

“No!” He cried again, sobbing and lurching forward to hide his face on the ground. “Fuck!”

He punched the floor, hard enough to bruise his knuckles and the ridges of the ring to indent his skin. Reality started sinking in and his breath turned shallow. He sat back up, grabbing onto his chest when he felt pain kicking him from within. He ripped off his tie and clawed at the first few buttons to open his shirt — he couldn’t breathe.

It’s been years since he last had a panic attack. He hadn’t even purchased an inhaler since middle school. He feebly stood up, trying to get to the kitchen, hoping the water was still running in the unit. His body felt so heavy and he started to get light headed — he needed to get a grip on his breathing. He was still uncontrollably sobbing, for the first time in a long time, he was scared. He bumped against the counters to get to the sink, reaching for the faucet. No water came out. Fuck.

Jaehyun only sobbed louder, sliding down the counter to curl up on the floor. This wasn’t like him. You had done it — you had broken him. Jung Jaehyun, the only son and heir of the powerful business mogul, Jung Jaegun, who taught his son to be as strong and confident as him. Look at him now, pathetic and crying like a child on the floor.

You were right, he thought. He should have just approached you the first time. He could have just called out to you again when Doyoung had gotten in the way. Why did he let things go this far? Why did he have to turn into his father?

Mom, Jaehyun whimpered, she’ll be so disappointed in him. She did her best to make sure he didn’t grow up to be like him, but failed in the end. 

“[Y/N],” he called out, despite still hyperventilating, “I’m sorry.”

“I—” He was able to get a deep breath in, but cut it short by exhaling, — I regret it.

I regret it, please [Y/N.]

Jaehyun’s vision started to blur and darken.

I’m sorry, [Y/N].

The engagement ring he had been holding onto tightly— so tightly that it left a bright red mark on his palm as it rolled off his hand and left a soft clink on the kitchen floor.

a/n: (❁´◡`❁) ehe

next: part 15

[tanoraqui]

Crownless highlights, season 4! (of 5, if you’re wondering) [1&2, 3]

This season’s central location is, at last, Minas Tirith

“I’m leaving, too,” Arwen had said at the end of last season (which, reminder: she spent most of disguised as a mortal woman, through careful use of covered ears and illusive Song). “When will I see you again?” Aragorn had asked. “Sooner than you think,” said Arwen.

Arwen, walking into the Tower of the Steward halfway through s4e1, in beautiful traveling robes and star-like gems in her hair: “Hello, I am Arwen Undómiel, daughter of Elrond Half-Elven, and I’d like to study in your library for a while. Do you mind?” [winks at Aragorn behind Ecthelion’s back]

(Side note: when people of Gondor reference Elrond, it’s like, “the wise and respectable mysterious Elf lord”, whereas when the northern Dúnedain reference Elrond, it’s like, “our wise and respectable collective great-great-uncle”)

Remember Roddis, the Ithilien Ranger from s2? She’s back in the main cast! Though, making this up as I go, i may retcon her family to well-off merchants rather than aristocracy—I wanted Aragorn to have a ready ally in Ecthelion’s court, but I think between Arwen, a little Finduilas, and Ecthelion himself (who recognizes his Nice Young Man energy and wonderfully developing leadership skills), he’s fine. She does come to court sometimes, but she’s more here (narratively) to introduce Aragorn—and Arwen—to the lower classes of the city.

Because Arwen is allegedly here for library research but really she’s here for much the same reason Aragorn is: she knows she likes him, but does she like the responsibilities that would come with him? Minas Tirith, Gondor, queenship….mortality.

Yeah, Arwen is just straight-up deuteragonist, maybe even co-protagonist this season

Dúnawen and Halbarad are officially demoted to secondary cast. They’re still around! Periodically Aragorn walks into a council meeting with Ecthelion and is like, “We should send a troop to investigate this one stream; my friend says a bird told her the water has gone bad.” And they’re hanging out in the lowest parts of the city, seedy bars and slums, which Aragorn also needs to get to know. Dúnawen and Roddis start to develop a romance (or not ‘til s5?) and Halbarad…Idk, but I want you to CRY when he dies in LotR.)

But they’re fundamentally here for Aragorn the Ranger, while Aragorn has more or less achieved that, and is now learning how to be Elessar the King. S4 is fully half monster of the week, half The West Wing-esque political/bureaucratic struggle of the week (often interwoven)

Denethor is still [passive-aggressive territorial cat noises] at Aragorn. Ecthelion is aware of this, but thinks his son and heir needs to figure out how to work with people just as competent as he is, and so is staying out of it.

Aragorn and Denethor start getting along better when the birth of Denethor’s second son makes him emotionally vulnerable for, like, 2 seconds. (Denethor had been slacking in husbandly/parental duties and this reminds him how important that is? Not, to be clear, that he doesn’t adore Finduilas and little Boromir. But that just drives him to work harder, as the world starts to creep darker…)

Of course, ironically, Faramir’s birth makes Finduilas’s already frail health decline further, making Denethor only more stressed (and we know from the future, eventually leading him to tragically resent Faramir…)

Arwen is drawn to Finduilas like a moth to a flame, by which I mean they have multiple intellectual/philosophical but also deeply personal conversations about mortality and other differences between Elves and Men (little Athrabeth joke there!). Also queenship and motherhood. Ecthelion’s wife died several years ago; Finduilas is the Lady of Minas Tirith, functionally Queen of Gondor. And motherhood is intricately linked to mortality for both of them: Arwen’s mother is…not dead, but close enough. Choosing mortality is choosing to never see her mother again. Meanwhile, motherhood is killing Finduilas, they both know it, despite Arwen’s best healing arts.

Finduilas correctly identifies that Arwen is seeking lessons in queenship, and that she and Aragorn have a mutual Thing, but doesn’t figure out the whole Isildur’s Heir thing. Arwen might imply that there’s some distant northern kingdom… (Fans will debate what exactly Finduilas guessed and never said)

The season finale is: there’s been trouble building all season with…Rhun? Near Harad and Khand? Both or all of the above? (And the Corsairs of Umbar are always making trouble, of course… (The truth is, they are all riled up by silver-tongued emissaries and shadow-carrying winds from Mordor.)

The attack comes through Rhun, though not from Rhun alone—either they let Haradrim pass through or it’s Rhunese funded partly by Harad…an unexpected direction, and they strike not at Gondor but at eastern Rohan. Aragorn and Denethor (and Halbarad, Dúnawen, maybe Roddis?) (maybe already all in northeastern Gondor for some reason?) take a large chunk of army to go to their ally’s aid, and they meet up with Thengel’s people and kick fucking ass. Classic Rohirrim PLUS Gondorin cavalry charge, total rout of the enemy, they won’t try this again…except King Thengel is slain in the field. It’s tragic, and Théoden is a young king (18-20 by now?), but Thengel was old and he died heroic as hell. They stay for the funeral; it’s stately and beautiful.

The battle is cut, however, with scenes from Minas Tirith of Finduilas falling faint, maybe even toddler!Boromir trying frantically to rouse her in their chambers, calling for his mother and for help. Arwen crushing athelas and singing softly over her in the infirmary, to no avail.

When our noble captains return home triumphant, Denethor is greeted by his father not with praise, but with sympathy and grief that makes Ecthelion for once look his old age. Ecthelion is holding little Faramir in his arms; Boromir, red-eyed and starting to cry again, runs from clutching his grandfather’s leg to his father’s. From behind the family, Arwen meets Aragorn’s gaze with similar grief.

[season 5]