#anyway that's why threatening his friends and family is usually the route people take to get his ass

[talentforlying]

i'm still stuck on 'who will pray for you / when your body is gone / this is the consequence for what you've done', i am not being normal about it at ALL. i need to talk more about how everyone in the occult scene knows that constantine is damned far beyond the help of even platitudes about going to a better place / achieving redemption, because like, how do you get leverage over someone like that? taunt someone like that? what's the worst you can do, send him to hell for all eternity? oh noooo.

and in his personal life, yeah, he's a punk and a brainiac and a fucking mess and an awkward loner craving connection, but i'm obsessed with the fact that when he's acting professionally, he radiates an absolutely soul-sucking aura of 'nothing left to lose'. he's masks on masks of personality and false bravado, but even at his most vulnerable, under every layer, all the way down to the core, his eyes are dead and damned. even people who've known him for ages know there's something off behind those eyes.

[starshipsofstarlord]

Jim and Jody - Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary; it was one of the biggest decisions of your life, but will you change your mind before your future is sealed?

Warnings; angst, mentions of abortion (everyone is permitted to do what they want with their body, in this imagine the reader wants to keep the baby, but pro choice, as everyone deserves control over their bodies and all 🤍), brief mention of sex and threats

Masterlist Link

To see him so relaxed, so completely and utterly himself was a paradise all on its own. There was a heaviness aboard your shoulders, but as you watched him goof tirelessly about, you had no other concerns, not even as you subconsciously raised your hand over your stomach. You shook your head at the sentiment, the two of you had already made the decision to abort this child, it was unknown how the poor fellow would turn out to be; with the combination of your powers and his super everything, it was sure to be quite the complication, and not one that you supposed was to be an easy course.

A smile pried at your face, simply from viewing him with the pack of children, the wind from the docks swept your hair into your face, and in turn, you swept the locks out and away from your vision, so that you had further access to watch the man that you loved in his absolute element. Through the years, past and recent, he had lost so much, and this child was just to be another mantle on the wall of memorial in his mind, it was sad really. If the two of you were normal, with average and lives that had perceptions with no regards of being heroic, there’d be no query about it, you’d keep the baby.

That life though, to your grave misfortune, did not exist, it was merely a fantasy living painfully inside of your mind, haunting you whenever you closed your eyes, with the flashing images of a resolution and end to the errors in your lifestyle. There’d be a big house, yet nothing to prissy, just enough room for the pair of you and few children of your own, a grand garden with a swing set and sand pit, where the infants could grow up and play in once they were older. Then there’d also be a shed for Bucky to work on small projects, such as attaining some love and care to his motor bike, as well as storing the supplies that he’d need to do so.

All that is a universe away, muffled from possibility by the stars expediting through the gorgeous veil of the galaxy, corrupting the possibilities of ever gaining access to such... peace. That was the one thing that the pair of you wanted, however catching a break was rather rare within your predicament. A stifled laugh reeled from the conjunction of your lips as you simply and endearingly surveyed how the boys, specifically Sam’s nephews hung from the vibranium branch of his arm. It was all your attention was focused on, until an extra person took a seat on the picnic table beside you, his sweet yet musky scent detailing whom it was. “If your not going to eat that, I’m sure Barnes Junior might want an opinion on that.”

The underlining of the words caused an abstract grimace to forlorn your features, as you stared not at the speaker of whom you were close with, but instead the slather of cake that was planted on a paper plate before you, the icing beginning to become slightly sick from the beating of the viable son. “You’re glowing, you know? Motherhood is a good look on you y/n/n, I wouldn’t be so soon to let that go.” Your fingers pried at the dismantled crumbs off your section of desert as you looked to your new captain, a resonating conformation fo bridled suffering and hopelessness clouding your view of his attempt at making you atone before you made a sin that you’d forever regret.

He, like many others, knew that the family life was what you wanted; you wanted to be your child’s hero, tending to their each necessary (and unnecessary) need, them being your main focus and project and life. Instead, you had been handed your options on a short stick, and thus, your decision, albeit somewhat of a sensible one, didn’t make it hurt any less. “Sam.” You spoke his name, observing from the corner of your eye how Bucky paraded around the dock with Jim and Jody. It’d be nice to give him a slice of this kinda life, he was thriving as an adult around children, you could only imagine him in the case of this one being birthed into the world. “It’s not that easy.”

“No one said it was going to be easy.” Sam responded quickly, affirming your fears to your nerve wrecked face. “I get it, I do. People will be after this kid, and that is no way to live, but you two aren’t alone in any of this, nor will you be in that. You have me, along with many other old friends of ours, hell even the Wakandan’s. Do you really want to sacrifice this one life so you can continue living this one? You and Bucky have both lost so much, you don’t have to force yourself to willingly give away something else. The decision can be changed the last minute, it’s a lot to take in, I get that, but I see the way Buck is with my nephews, and how you watch them when you think nobody’s looking over at you. With your state pardon, you two can retire, and go far away, and abandon everything for this one little guy or gal, because I know that if you do, no matter what, they’ll be worth it.”

Bucky wailed a warrior’s shout as Jim and Jody playfully struck him down, his unsheathed metal hand grasping at the cloth that was tightly aboard his addictive chest. He rolled on the ground as the children ran to retrieve their toy lightsabers, leaving him to be expendable against their weapons. There was a giddy and fitting smile smouldering his usual stoic expression. It was no wander why he found calm in visiting Sam and his sister’s small, and accepting family. The kids brought out another side of him, which he had been tortured to refrain from showing, but you had seen, and were contemplating many things within your mind. You were lapping up the image, as though you were dehydrated and the sight of him appeased by the company of young ones was a source of water.

Sam was right, he always was and had been. “The decision was on both of our parts, you don’t think Buck’ll change his mind, or do you?” You were invested in getting a responsive answer, yet the man spluttered a laugh at your confused expense. He heaved for a moment, bracing his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. There was nothing stopping him from gaining it back, unlike Bucky whom had grabbed a saber of his own and lightly began to paddle against the one that was directed against him, other than another round of hysterics that abandoned him. A reasonable smile resonated a comfortable position upon the former falcon’s face, as he tentatively patted your knee, watching as you broke off a small rupture of cake and popped it in your mouth, feeding not only yourself but the inmate within your womb.

“There isn’t really much for me to say, it’s easy, look at him. He will be fine with whatever decision that the pair of you succumb to, after all, it’s your body, but it will pain him like nothing else ever has if you go through with the abortion, and if not, then trust me, we’ve both seen how hard he fights; think of that but ten times the mass in consideration of this baby, because I am certain that he’d do anything for them. He lost his entire family when he awoke from his mode of hydra assassin, this could be him getting it back. Different members, but a family all the same.” He stole a little of your cake, making you lightly elbow him as a smirk rendered a beauty upon his face.

“What’s that going to make you, the patriotic uncle who just can’t keep himself from flashing his shield?” Now it was his turn to retaliate, he lightly scuffed your ankle with a feather light tap of the toe of his shoe, causing you to promiscuously roll your eyes. “I’m joking, that was Steve’s aesthetic, this new version of cap is your baby, I have great faith in you to make this world a better and safer place. The funny thing is, when you finally accepted that shield was yours, that’s when my mind shifted to the possibility of keeping this kid. It was and has always been a sign of hope and protection to Bucky, maybe it could be the same for our little one. It was just a thought, I’m not meaning to put pressure on your or anything bu-“

“I get it, and I’m honoured. And if that is how it seems, then I want you to know that I’ll be there to protect them too. The main bump in the road for now is for you to talk to that grumpy ass boyfriend of yours and figure this sperm plus egg equation out, send Jim and Jody over here, I got somethin’ to show those two anyway.” With a nod and a grateful pat upon your friend’s head, you slowly plodded over to where Bucky was being cornered against the side of the truck by the boys. His blue orbs danced around their small and imaginative beings, until they landed on you, it was as though his pupils were calling out for help, begging for you to spare some mercy upon him.

“Jim, Jody, your uncle Sammy has something for you two to see.” They groaned lightly, having been pulled away from the narrative of their play time, but nevertheless their faces were clean slates as they expressed hyper smiles, and bolted their route towards their mother’s sibling, carrying their lightsaber replicas along with them. “Two kids beat an infamous, deadly badass with a metal arm. I think you might be getting too old for these kinda battles Buck, you were losing, and quite terribly if I say so myself.” Crossing your arms, as he came to an upright stand, hoisting himself off the ground, so that he could be more level with you.

“Yeah, yeah, rub it in. Thought you were supposed to be supportive of me and all that, as you said to Zemo, you’d quite happily cut his dick off if he compared me to the shadow that I used to be.” His brow raised, as he reminisced on the thought of you threatening Zemo; it was hot, and certainly had gotten him going, which had shortly left you in this predicament, trying to save the world and execute the one last thing that exhumed hope to either one of you. The baby. It was almost a certain and solid fact that the little one inside of you had been procreated on the Baron’s private jet, more specifically, the small and clean bathroom that had became dirty with your primal sins.

“And I still regret not doing that, he’d have had much less leverage in any sense of the word of phallic if he had it sectioned off.” Silence emitted between the two of you, although a humoured smirk tantalised upon Bucky’s graceful face. For a change, he was not prompting the expression of a grumpy cat that was refused its nip, no, instead he could be compared to a future - actually, he already was a father to the bean held in the shield of your body, having been an ample ingredient in bringing the small person into being. “So, you having fun with Sarah’s kids, sure looks like you were quite in your element before I cut in.”

“I’m always in my element when you’re around doll.” He smiled, wrapping his uncoordinated hands around the oval of your waist, and tugging you sentimentally closer, your hips bumped with his, as your eyes ogled infatuatedly up at him. “They’re great kids, makes me realise exactly what we’re gonna be missing out on.” Bucky gulped, sparks of emotion taunted the behind of his eyes, like saucers of resentful fire. “You’d be the perfect mother, you know that right? After all you’ve done for me, you’ve nurtured me close to the man that I once was, the only difference is that I want to settle, but I don’t know how to go about dropping everything. This kid is killing me, he’s making me question everything.”

“That’s what kids are supposed to do, unborn, or very much avidly attacking grown men with false lightsabers.” Bucky deeply into your frustrated and corresponding eyes, your hands reaching up to play defiantly with the smooth dip in his chin that could be seen through the shading of his light stubble. “What if we did have a Jim and Jody of our own some day? We could keep him or her, they’d be our greatest concern, we don’t have to go down this painful and longing, rusted road. We could bring something good into this world, protect them against all forces that threaten to disrupt their life, I want this with you Bucky. We could move far far away, or go somewhere close to home.”

“Brooklyn.” He stated, causing a line to crease gently in the plain of his forehead. “I want to call them Brooklyn, if I am to fight the rest of my life for something, I want it to be my home. Last time I had to leave there, but it’s my amends to never leave this child of ours, if we’re going to do this, we need to put them in front of everything, and I mean everything.” He spoke, in reference to the other avengers and other aliases that you had stood by for so long. Bleakly you nodded, grasping his jaw down for an amorous kiss, humming against the palette of his lips, as your hands entwined behind his neck, pulling his face closer to your own, prompting his tongue to travel deeper within the realm of your mouth.

“Brooklyn is a nice name. How about Brooklyn Margaret Barnes? I think that has quite the ring to it.” You offered, and he hardly reacted, instead quickly appraising a pleasant smile onto the canvas of his work of art face, as he ducked his head down, conjoining the pair of you into a passionate and meaningful collide of your lips. Sam smiled as he watched the pair of you, pointing at you two from afar, as his nephews from afar. He was giving them a man to men talk, offering them advice that they would have valuable usage of in the future.

“Now that is love. You don’t give up for the one thing that connects you, and those two, well Bucky and y/n have been through a hell of a lot. They deserve this, and when you meet a woman when you’re older, and your mum is watching on towards the two of you, I want you to make her proud by treating your girl like a princess, willing to sacrifice everything simply to create the future that she wishes for you.” He emotionally wiped his eyes, rushing to stand before he grasped a lightsaber, leaving the other to spare for one of them. “Now Jim and Jody, which one of you will be my padawan?”

[iammyownvariant]

Reader (Ghosts BBC, Mentioning of Alison/Mike and Alison/Thomas)

SUMMARY: You grew up in a wonderful big house full of ghosts. But why did you see them anyway? Reader Insert Series: BBC Ghosts AN: As I haven't the time to fully write out this idea, here's a shortened version of a prompt that has been playing inside my mind. Based on a post I viewed recently: I have always thought that if I'd been Alison, I'd be scared to death about getting pregnant or having a miscarriage and seeing that ghost child all the time. Now I could write something angsty about this, or something funny. I decided to go for a different route and wrote how it would be to be born in that household, with Alison and Mike as your mum and dad. (So no miscarriages or creepy things, just growing up with ghosts). Enjoy! PS. If anyone feels like picking up this idea or exploring elements of it, please do <3 -- -- Seeing ghosts was a normality to you. As you grew up, you saw them around the house and they were your friends. You saw them in school, saw them in the streets and basically everywhere you went. And you more than often became friends with them.

So this was how mum felt, hmm?

You could not say that you led a normal life. Seeing the ghosts and interacting with them wasn’t the oddest thing of all. No. The oddest thing you found, was something only revealed to you at a much later date, when you were already grown. But let’s cut back to when you were little.

You grew up in a wonderfully big home that your mum and dad had inherited by pure luck (or was it misfortune?). The house cost them everything and more than often people had wondered why they had started having kids during such a stressful period in their lives – because the home was still a bit of a wreck when you were born.

The house was large and wonderful and yours. You had never known any other place and you felt no need to ever move elsewhere. You loved it here. It was a certain love that made your mum and dad all the more determined to keep the place no matter what.

Apart from living in a fantasy-like building, your life was pretty normal.

Except for the ghosts.

The first time your parents noticed you saw them was when you were just a toddler and your father freaked out because you seemed to be talking to someone who wasn’t there. Your mum, being able to see them after a nearly-fatal accident, confirmed his fears though. You were playing with one of the ghosts that inhabited the house. Your parents thought it was a one off, until your sister was born four years later and she exhibited the same signs as you had.

Thus, the theory that seeing ghost was inheritable came into existence.

But as you had been seeing them since you were born, you held no fear of the inhabitants of the house. And there were a lot of them. It meant you were never alone. It was soothing in a way. Whenever there was something wrong or you felt sad or down, one of the ghosts was bound to cheer you up.

You especially loved Humphrey as a child. You loved his soothing voice and the tales he would tell when you couldn’t sleep. Truth to be told, you had a bit of a crush on the late Sir Humphrey Bone as a kid, thinking his face to be really pretty. So pretty, you often helped when his head and body were apart. You would go searching for another of the ghosts to pick up his head and put him back together whenever he lost it again. Though sometimes it would just be his head on your nightstand. Others might think this depravingly morbid, but it brought you a sense of safety, knowing he was there watching you. It chased away any bad dreams.

You often held sleepovers with Kitty. She was a lovely giggling young woman, and she loved to play hide and seek with you and your sister in the grand garden surrounding your home. The three of you would often giggle way into the night when either your mum would come to tell you to please go to sleep – or Robin joined in and did some of his caveman word games with the three of you – which made the evening all the better (no matter how often Kitty would exclaim that it was supposed to be a girls night only).

Having the ghosts around wasn’t always fun though. For instance, when you were a teenager and were playing dressing up and imagining all the boys who would swoon over you, only to see a head stick through your wall and telling you off. Auntie Fanny was a real pain sometimes, always talking about how you should be decent, how you should dress, how to hold your fork and knife during a dinner with guests. It was frustrating but she always managed to get on your nerves.

Your sister didn’t fare much better with her and suffered the same mouthiness of the former lady of the house. It didn’t help that the ghost woman still jumped out of a window in the midst of the night either. Your sister failed one of her exams once because she couldn’t focus on learning the material because Fanny Button kept her up each night with her screams. It was thanks to Thomas’ support that she was forced to focus on her schoolbooks and thanks to the other ghosts (and mum, who was pretty much threatening them to do as she said) to keep Auntie Fanny in check. In the end, your sister had changed back to a different room. The previous one she had occupied had been chosen by her because of the epic royal bathroom attached to it. Now she slept closer to yours again and took to using the shared bathroom without complaining. You didn’t mind, you liked having her close again.

Out of all the ghosts, you found the Captain to be the most tiresome as you were young. He was always drilling on about what you and the others should do. Always focusing on schedules that you should follow. Telling you off like you were a soldier.

Pat was way kinder, and often a bit too soft. You knew he often hung around your younger sister, because she was more outgoing than you were and he loved to be outside in nature. He helped her do all sorts of tricks, climb trees, shoot a bow and arrow – dangerous stuff even. But he taught her to do it responsibly, despite what you may expect of a man with an arrow lodged in his throat.

And then there was the one who frightened you like no other. Not even the plague citizens living in the cellar, who always kindly helped you with whatever issue you came to talk about. Yep, one of the ghosts scared you for a while: you usually tried to avoid Julian. As you were young, you thought he was an old man, wearing no pants, and he had a mean streak to him – jealousy you often found. He didn’t particularly seemed to like kids either, so you were fine with him going out of your way. As you grew older you realised Julian wasn’t actually as bad as you thought him to be. He even saved your life once or twice by pushing away or picking up a dangerous object that might have injured you otherwise. He was watching over you, like all the others were. And as you grew into a teenager and passed that sweet 16, you noticed a different gleam in his eyes. Julian changed. He became more gallant, more of a smooth talker when around you. But that behaviour ended quite abruptly, although the gleam of admiration never left his eyes. You wondered what had frightened him so to stop his advances on you. Whatever it was, you were grateful. Julian was not your type and never would be. (Later on you found out he had been challenged to a duel by Thomas who wanted to defend your honour, as child of the lovely Alison).

And then there was Jemima, she was the best friend of you and of your sister. As children she was just amazing to play with. First, she was older, and knew cool games you and your sibling had never heard of. Then, you grew to be the same age and she was the coolest girl you would ever know. And then, you grew older and she grew quieter. But you never ceased your habit of singing chilly songs with her.

You were a child, growing up between ghosts, and you felt safe between them. And though your father swore he could see them, most of his interactions with the house ghosts was initiated through you or your sister. He just didn’t possess the gift. But he was the greatest dad there ever lived. He loved doing stuff with you and your sister, going out, do fun things. He was a swell dad, filled to the brim with love for you and your sibling. He’d do anything to keep the two of you safe and happy and clothed and fed – even if things financially didn’t always go well for your family. You loved him to bits.

Your mum tried to warn you of the dangers of seeing ghosts. How those who could not see them would think it weird – would think you to be weird. You minded her words and sensibly, didn’t let anything show while in school. Even though, you were troubled with the ghost of a former teacher who kept sitting at a way too small child’s desk next to you and pester you throughout the lessons. You were glad when your mum told him off, some day after lessons. She had to sneak into the school with you. Oh boy, you had loved her firm voice, her confidence, and the fact that the ghost stuck to a different classroom from then on without coming near you again.

Your sister had a bit of a harder time. She let herself be distracted by the ghosts of a few children who had died in a school fire ages ago. While you had gotten away with explaining to them how you could not talk to them while others were around, your sister didn’t mind that rule though, and your parents struggled more than once with comments on how they should take your sister to see a doctor about this. Eventually, your sister learned, as she grew older. But more than often she would ignore what others thought of her and still communicate with the dead whilst other living beings were around.

But despite the fortune, or misfortune, of seeing ghosts, your life was pretty normal as you grew up. You loved all house ghosts for different reasons.

While Mary was easily one of your favourites, she was also a bit daft to the modern ways. Simple, might be a better word. She often promised to help you with your homework, but she never could attribute anything that you didn’t already know. So you often had to distract her with small tasks or tell her to hang out with Kitty or Robin instead.

And when Mary was gone it would be Thomas who would take over. Although he was easily distracted by art and snivelly poems, he would always try his best to focus and help you and your sister through each demeaning homework task. Sir Thomas Thorne was always nearby when you needed him. He had the tendency to sing songs to you as a baby, create old fashioned nursery rhymes when you were a toddler, play silly games with you as a child, motivate and guide you as a teenager.

In hindsight, you should have seen it coming. With all the care he held for you, with the warm tingling feeling it gave you whenever he was around. You should have known. And when you were a teenager and dated that ghost boy from two blocks away, it was Thomas who completely lost it and told you the boy would be no good for you, and that you deserved someone better. Someone more permanent. Someone alive.

Your mother and Thomas had a huge fight then – ("Someone more permanent than a ghost? That's rich coming from you!" your mum had shouted) all ghosts were listening in. But your dad was none the wiser. And so were you. Because you did not catch all references, and you did not understand each jab and insult thrown like a ping pong ball. And when your mum sat with her hands in her hair and Sir Thomas’ arm wrapped around her shoulder, you thought they had just made up. And then your father came in and he gave your mother solace. They hugged for a long time, and Thomas had just gone into the adjacent room. But that was all there was to it.

Of course it wasn’t though. Because your mother was strong. Darn strong. You loved it about her. The whole attitude she had, the air with which she wandered around the home and instructed the ghosts like she owned them. Your father said it hadn’t always been like that, that it had grown over time. In the beginning she had been ill-at ease, easily manipulated by the inhabitants of their home, had been often looked at funnily and ruined many a great business deal for talking or listening to the ghosts. She still did that – listen to them. She still embarrassed herself and your whole family along with it. Like that time you were at a beach party with family and friends and she had an entire conversation with a family of the 1960’s who were dead. Yeah, you’d rather not think back on that.

Or the one time one of she reported a crime to a dead officer.

Yeah.

But your mother was your hero. She was strong, fierce, and always stood up for you and your sister.

To find out a much deeper and darker truth then, about your family, was world shattering. And it was all because your sister had been in an accident and you came home to find Thomas in all states. And when you asked the other ghosts what had occurred they told you he was crying about his child. And that’s only when the pin dropped and you realised why this man was always working in your best interest and being so darn warm and kind for a person who was dead. Because you'd not missed the many times he showered your mother with affection. Or the way she would smile at him when he gave her another compliment. Or the way they would be just a little...too close. Could your sister be the child of a ghost? Impossible, right?

And you confronted your mum about it.

And she broke down.

Alison Cooper confessed to you, while your father was away at work, that she had been entangled with the ghost of Sir Thomas Thorne after a few heavy drinks and a way too fun party held at their home. Apparently, she had been incredibly drunk and had said things she otherwise wouldn’t have admitted. What happened should not have been possible by far. But Thomas had been able to actually feel her, and Alison had believed that no ghost could actually cause consequences with a human who was still alive. Perhaps her near-death experience had thrown something into the mix. We would never know. But Alison found herself pregnant after days spent without a touch by your dad, Mike. The first thought had been to terminate the pregnancy, but remembering the dove that still liked to terrorize their bedroom, Alison had grown scared. She realised she could not terminate the pregnancy or she might be faced with a ghost of her own baby. And you realised this was not your sister she was talking about. This was you.

So instead, Alison had pleaded Thomas to keep their secret (which he had done poorly and every ghost knew what had truly occurred, but luckily your dad could not interact with them), and your mum seduced your dad. They were already married, there were no contenders, your father believed you were theirs and never held a doubt. In hindsight, it explained your paleness- and the seeing of ghosts. It had been deemed the impossible, and for a long while, Alison thought and hoped that you were a child of Mike’s after all.

Mike took it all up really well, with you being what is called an accident. He was instantly smitten – as were all of the ghosts to be honest. Alison thought things would work our after all.

But then, when Mike wanted to have another kid, and though they tried, it took three years and a lot of desperation to admit to seeing a doctor. And then they were faced with the terrible truth that Mike wasn’t fertile at all. The news was delivered to your mum first, with Mike away and only the house ghosts listening in. It was a shock to all of them, mostly to Alison who had been pointed at the result by another ghost doctor. She managed to hide away the evidence, the true results, and together with newly found ghost friends she made at the hospital, fabricated a new lie. Mike was never to know that you could not possibly be his.

So instead, Alison was persuaded by Thomas and her undying love for Mike. He wanted another baby, she wanted them to be happy. Deal done. Thomas fathered a second ghost-seeing child with your mum. Your sister. The one who was recovering in hospital after a nasty car crash. (And luckily, she got out alive and safe and you got to hug her again tightly because no matter what, your sister would always be closest to you - all ghosts in spite).

So there you were, hearing your mother’s confession. The understanding dawning upon you that you did not see ghosts because of just your mum – but because you father was one. It all made so much sense. And it took a lot of strength to keep your mouth shut about it to Mike, your father.

Your real father, Thomas, you found, was understanding. And you were glad more than once that he could not interact with Mike. You had warned him that you would keep calling Mike dad, even if he wasn’t biologically. And Mike remained none the wiser. You still loved your non-biological dad as fiercely as you had before. You’d just glare a lot more in Thomas’ direction for a while.

In the end, you ended up marrying a young ‘living’ partner. You made sure that both Mike and Thomas were leading you down the aisle – even if Mike was never to know it. All Ghosts loved it, loved how you recognised Thomas to be your father. They also loved it how you never once dropped the truth on Mike or let him down. In your eyes, he would always remain on a pedestal as the perfect dad. It just so happened that you had two now.

As you somehow had expected, Alison died too young. An accident out of love, one of the ghosts had said. (She was furious at Thomas for many years to come, but she could not help but love him still.) During the years she was angry at Thomas, she tried to convey a message to Mike. She wanted him to know the truth, but he hadn’t understood her dying last breath, and he hadn’t understood her hauntings. ("It say's Thomas... dad? dad? Wait a minute, isn't Thomas one of the ghosts? Yeah, of course he is dead. Duh!") And he seemed delighted that she was still there, even as he started dating a new woman and ended up marrying her. (Alison was okay withit, but only after smashing a few vases and making that new woman's life a living hell). It was no wonder your dad wanted to move elsewhere quite soon after his second marriage. I mean, living with your deceased wife and your new crumpit was a bit weird, right? Your dad, Mike, handed the house to you and your sister. She chose not to stay and lived her live elsewhere, visiting occassionally, while Mike and his new wife settled somewhere close by. You remained in the huge mansion with your husband and your children, enjoying the way the ghosts watched over them as they had watched over you, feeling safe and happy. Because with these ghosts you were at home.

[shadowgeist-stars]

Kitagawa First: So Heavy the Crown

It should've been like any other Monday. Toru and Iwaizumi should've gone about their day off from practice as they usually did. He'd brought his nephew home and the two had intended to get something to eat together.

They should not have seen Tobio, of all people, standing in the cemetery.

It was already unlike him to be away from practice with the other crows this early in the afternoon. Especially wearing an oversized jacket vaguely similar to what they wore back in middle school. The strange hoodie he wore was familiar, but somehow not quite right; it even looked a little big for him.

“What in the world is he doing out here?” Iwaizumi wondered.

“Let’s go check it out,” Toru suggested with a smile. This could be a perfect opportunity to learn something about their former junior.

He was talking, they realized as they drew close. To himself, most likely, but Toru decided to take the stealthy route to hear exactly what Tobio was saying.

“I didn’t make it to Shiratorizawa like you did… but I think I still found a good team… At least, I hope you’d like them. Shiratorizawa might be too different from when you were there anyway… I still think about what you told me, back then… how if I got really good at volleyball, someone even better would come find me. I thought I found that person in middle school where you used to coach… But I guess it didn’t work out how I hoped…”

A small pang in Toru’s stomach told him that was probably about him. He was able to look at the name on the gravestone Tobio stood in front of, though, as well as the birth-to-death dates.

Kazuyo Kageyama… 1936-2010… sounds like a grandparent. And a volleyball coach, as well? Hmm... Volleyball must simply run in the family.

“But now, I think I found someone who is like what you were saying,” Tobio continued to the gravestone. “He may not look like much. He’s short, super annoying, and kind of a dumbass… but he’s the fastest and highest-jumping spiker I’ve ever seen… And sometimes, he’s the best friend someone like me could ask for.”

His head eventually lowered, his body starting to curl in on itself like he was going to fall to his knees. The third years almost thought they were starting to hear him sniffle.

“I just wish you could meet him, and everyone else… I think you’d like meeting them all. Sugawara and Asahi and Daichi… All the second years like Noya and Tanaka… maybe even Tadashi and Tsukishima and our managers and our coach and Mr. Takeda…” He crumbled to the ground with a sob. “I just… I miss you, Grandpa. More than Miwa or our parents. I have ever since…”

That was when the name finally clicked. Kazuyo Kageyama was the old coach of the infamous local ladies volleyball team, the Kitagawa Birds, who was forced into retirement due to illness. If both Tobio and this Miwa were related to him and he taught both of them volleyball from a really young age, it would’ve made sense that Kageyama would be such a good player so early on. And since the date said he died during Tobio’s second year in middle school… that had to have hit him hard.

Possibly… hard enough to make him into what Kunimi and Kindaichi called “the King of the Court.”

Iwaizumi took a small step closer, flinching when he stepped on the grass in just the right way that would make noise. Enough noise for Tobio to flinch away from the source and twist backward to see them both standing there. And more importantly, for them to see the tears starting to dribble down his face.

“Uh-um… what are you two doing here?” he asked, trying to clean his face with his sleeve (most likely to be his grandfather’s jacket).

“We’d ask you the same thing, but we heard enough to answer for us,” Toru replied. “Please, don’t let us stop you.”

Iwa slapped him on the back of the head. “Ignore him. We were just wondering what you were doing away from your team in a place like this.” His eyes scanned the gravestone once more, guiding Tobio into a position where the three could sit together. “You never really told any of us about your grandfather back in middle school, did you Kageyama?”

The first year shook his head.

“Didn’t think so… Well, if you’re feeling up for it with your old upperclassmen… care to share?”

Tobio drummed his fingers on top of one another for about a minute, before nodding slowly.

“Alright, let’s start small. Was your Grandpa the, uh… reason, why you got into volleyball?”

Tobio looked to his grandfather’s grave. “Sort of. He and my sister, Miwa, would always tell me about how I managed to get my hands on her volleyball when I was… a baby… and how I didn’t wanna let go of it. That might’ve been where it all started, but since Grandpa is the only one I really remember raising us, we’d both usually be with him when he was coaching the Kitagawa Birds, playing with some of the ladies, helping them practice, or just passing a ball to each other in a corner of the gym or practicing ourselves with the wall.”

The small story piqued Toru’s interest. Frankly, he found the mental image adorable, seeing a baby Tobio holding onto a volleyball and somehow keeping a grip on it with hands no bigger than the end of his thumb. His memory might be a little faded, but something similar could’ve happened with his nephew Takeru. And Tobio Kageyama, not actually being an only child… He couldn’t help wondering if that sister of his looked all that similar.

Iwaizumi seemed to like how it was going so far. “Okay. We remember you wanted to go to Shiratorizawa even back in middle school. Did your Grandpa have something to do with that?”

Tobio nodded. “He used to be a middle blocker for their team. Showed me his old yearbook and everything. Probably before the current coach showed up, though.”

“So it really does run in the family,” Toru commented. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised though.”

The smaller boy shrugged. “Miwa wound up quitting volleyball after middle school. She was getting more into fashion and stuff anyways, and didn’t like how she was always being told to cut her hair. At least, I think that was the reason.”

Wow. That, Toru could get behind, no questions asked. Sure, he wouldn’t give up volleyball for the world, but he’d definitely take offense if he was always being told to do something like change his looks or cut his lovely hair. That said, it was good to hear Tobio’s sister found her own calling, even if it wasn’t sports-related.

“Kinda wish you were able to introduce your sister and grandfather to the team, Kageyama,” Iwaizumi remarked. “They sound like it’d be pretty interesting to meet them both. Wasn’t your grandfather still coaching in middle school?”

The dark heaviness returned to the young setter. “No… Grandpa was already in and out of the hospital for a long time by then; more one than the other, though. He was able to keep on a brave face for me… but in second year, after you left, he… he…” his voice started quivering, the tears starting to return with new fury. “He left us behind… left me behind… I couldn’t even cry at his damn funeral because it never really hit me! And then after he left… Miwa had to get ready to move away for university… Our parents were distant enough even before he died, and… and then my own team left me!” He wrapped himself tight in his grandfather’s jacket, hands even moving to tangle into his hair. “I was all alone… I didn’t even know what I did wrong… Why all of a sudden I didn’t have anyone anymore!… Why?... Why, why, why?!”

Iwaizumi was quick to hug Tobio from the side, glaring over at Toru until he mirrored the action. It had already been clear enough that Tobio had been holding this all in for a long time. How just losing one person -- closer to him than anyone else in the world -- made him go from a sweet and eager-to-please junior (who still reminded Toru of Ushijima in some ways) to the bad-tempered dictator whose team got so fed up with him that he was given the boot.

No wonder, Toru thought to himself, sadness and guilt pooling in his stomach again. No wonder Tobio became so self-reliant. No wonder he underwent such a change in temperament. What kind of void did middle school leave behind while no one else was able to see?

First, he lost the two of us.

Then he lost his grandfather.

Then he lost his sister.

…Then he lost his team.

He understood now, to some extent. Kazuyo Kageyama didn’t just introduce his grandson to volleyball; he was the reason why the boy loved it so much. But when he left, so did the better parts of Tobio. There was no family or friends to help him carry that weight; it was just him.

Him, and the weight that threatened to crush him, that so many were so willing to call a crown. A tarnished, broken, absurdly heavy crown that they were only beginning to realize here and now.

Until by some miracle, Karasuno and that little shrimp brought him back to some semblance of his old self. Before them, he was left with nothing and no one but himself to rely on. He carried all of that grief, guilt, and frustration on his head for the better part of two years, not knowing what to do with it or with himself.

So they let him cry. They let him drop those long years of forcing down his grief over who he loved most, in loud, chest-ripping wails. Iwaizumi ensured they both kept him wrapped up in their arms, maintaining that small reminder that he should’ve never had to endure that alone. The spite Toru felt for Tobio all that time seemed to melt as well, filling in all the blanks for why he was such a good player and so eager to please and so not deserving of such hatred. Every assumption he made was dissolved by the knowledge about a single person.

“Huh? Toby, what are you doing over there?” a new voice inquired after a time they didn’t give any thought to. “And who are your friends?”

Toru looked through blurred vision at an approaching woman. She was probably around their age, with black, meticulously-styled hair and -- once he blinked away the mist -- deep blue eyes very similar to the first year he and Iwaizumi were hugging.

“Mi -- Miwa…” Tobio managed to hiccup out. The woman held a hand out to him, something he looked at with an almost painful mix of confusion and disbelief before he took it and let her pull him up. And even then, he barely maintained his composure long enough to droop over her shoulder, gripping at her in a desperate hug.

“Shh… I know, Toby, I know…” she soothed, rubbing circles into his back. “I miss him, too… I’m so sorry, Toby…”

He stayed there a little longer before numbly stepping away, wiping his face with his sleeve again.

The Seijoh players were shattered by the look in his eyes. The way they looked so… dead, and tired.

How did no one realize he was becoming like this?

Tobio almost swayed another direction before Iwaizumi stepped in and grabbed him. “Easy there, kiddo. Just lean on me -- there we go.” He looked over to the woman with a dip of his head. “I’m Hajime Iwaizumi, and this jerk over here is Toru Oikawa. We knew Kageyama back in middle school.”

The woman seemed to scan the two of them, almost skeptical.

“We’d be happy to help you out with Tobio,” Toru offered, all too happy to take on the diplomatic duty he was so used to. “He was telling us about his grandfather, you see, and it’s clear how much has been on his shoulders since his passing. We were doing what we could as his old upperclassmen.”

“I see…” Miwa replied, turning on her heel. “Follow me. My car’s not far from here.”

Iwaizumi had decided to sit in the backseat with Tobio, keeping him steady as he all but dozed on his shoulder. Toru rode shotgun while the Karasuno player’s sister drove them to the Kageyama household.

“I can’t believe he’s held onto Grandpa’s old track hoodie this long,” Miwa commented. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Because he and his grandfather were that close?” Toru inquired.

The woman nodded. “Even closer than I was with either of ‘em. Grandpa was really all he had, ever since… well, there was always that one thing our parents didn’t like for some reason.”

...Secretly, Toru had a feeling he knew what exactly “that one thing” was. He had his suspicions of the way Tobio behaved, almost entirely fixated on volleyball. The way he subconsciously reminded him of Ushijima. Who knows? Perhaps even the famous Ushiwaka was introduced to volleyball that early on as well, and had the same sort of mind.

“I suppose that’s simply an unfortunate truth with some people,” he replied offhandedly. “I’ll admit, I and some of our current teammates weren’t exactly fond of him in middle school. But then again, none of us had a clue about his personal life, and I’d wager Tobio didn’t even give himself time to grieve.”

“I guess I can’t blame you there. Toby never consciously dwelled on things that he didn’t think he had to, for better or worse. He wanted to be just like Grandpa, but after graduating from middle school not being able to get into Shiratorizawa, he figured volleyball was the only thing he had left.”

“And even then, he was all on his own,” Iwaizumi finished from the backseat when they stopped at the house. He even helped carry Kageyama inside. “We all knew how Oikawa gave the poor kid a hard time when he was still an eager-to-please prodigy in his first year, and even heard how his sudden change in attitude in his second year left him ostracized by the team. Though we never saw the other side of the story until now.”

He didn't even need to say it was because they refused to hear it.

After the Aoba Johsai players put the younger boy to bed, they both went to the bathroom to wash their faces of tears. On the way back down, they discovered the pictures that littered the house. A happy family that comprised of parents, a grandfather, and a little girl. But when a baby boy appeared, there was only one of all five before the parents all but disappeared. The only ones after were the two children and their grandfather.

In all of them, the grandfather in question sported a wide, proud smile. Whether it be with a far younger Miwa trying to brush his hair, tossing a volleyball with the even younger Tobio, or all three of them together, he still had that smile. A sort of light that went missing when he passed away, leaving both of his grandchildren behind.

“Your grandfather must’ve been quite a splendid role model for the both of you,” Toru said softly. “A light that even Tobio didn’t deserve to lose.”

Miwa hummed thoughtfully, leaving some tea to steep in a pot. “I don’t think Toby even realized how badly he was hurting. Honestly, I kinda wish I didn’t have to leave him so soon. If I knew how badly he was affected by Grandpa’s death, I would’ve held off on school just to make sure he’d have at least someone to be there… Maybe I just put too much trust into his teammates supporting him.”

Because Kindaichi and Kunimi thought he was nothing but a dictator at the sport. They didn’t think for a second that he might’ve just been lonely or in pain.

…Then again, neither did we.

“I don’t think you have to worry much about him now, though,” Iwaizumi pointed out. “We know we failed the poor kid, as his former teammates and as his upperclassmen, and we’re far from the only ones who did so. But I plan to make sure we fix that.”

Toru smiled at the ace’s declaration, looking towards Tobio’s room. Even if the now-sleeping boy may never really trust Toru again, at least his beloved might be able to get through to the younger setter. If they find the chance, they might even get Kindaichi and Kunimi to understand as well, and enlist their help in making amends.

“Besides, ever since joining Karasuno, we can tell he’s doing a lot better,” Toru added. “He’s… finally found a place where he fits in. And I for one doubt those crows will leave him the way we did, especially not his new little go-to spiker. Whether he finds it in him to tell them about this or not, I can at least be confident that they’ll stand with him.”

Miwa smiled at them both, finally pouring the tea for all three of them. “I’m glad for that, you two. Toby needs a lot of friends to make up for not having anyone before. Whether they know about Grandpa or not, I just want him to find a family of his own, if only to make sure it’s not just the two of us looking out for each other.”

The two young men could only stick around for about another hour, conversing with Miwa and looking after their former underclassman. They told her about each of the crows to the best of their ability, the woman occasionally throwing in her two cents about whoever Tobio actually told her about. When the sun said they had to head home, they gave Tobio one last check before they left with a final goodbye and thank-you to Miwa.

As they left, though, Toru couldn't help but take a final look at the almost foreboding Kageyama household, holding onto his boyfriend's arm. "Iwa… do you think Tobio will tell his other teammates about his grandfather? Should he?"

Iwaizumi sighed. "It would probably be a good idea, but I doubt it. He'll probably tell the little sunspot and Karasuno's other setter, if no one else, but only time will tell."

…I guess that's true, Toru thought to himself dully. Only time will tell, and trust as well…

[ultimate-distaster-material]

-Saiouma Oneshots- Kindergarten Teacher! Kokichi x Parent! Shuichi

>Quick Disclaimer< In this story, Monaca is nice- Her legs are actually disabled as well. I tried to mention everyone who is in the actual story's POVS. The adults are 22 whereas the kids are 5. Kirigiri and Shuichi are childhood friends too.

This story is very long, it was made to show my appreciation for all of the support. Sorry it took so long for me to update.

!TW!

Family Issues

Mentions Trauma

Mentions Dead Bodies

kIsSinG (Ok I'll stop)

KOKICHI POV

“So, Nagisa. I heard you’re getting a new caretaker?”

I looked at Nagisa, pitying the poor boy. He never had good parents. They would always force the youngling to work, days over days, sometimes hitting him to help him stay awake. That’s his reason for being very smart at a young age.

I would always stay here with him in the afternoon, occupying him so he doesn’t have to go back home.

“Mhm! I heard he’s a boy, I hope he’s nice!”

I smiled at the small boy. Even with all the despair he has been through during his life, he still had a glimpse of hope resting in his heart. I admired him for this, he was very strong for pulling through all the drama, especially as a child.

“Y’know, I’m gonna miss going here when I grow up. Will I ever see you again?”

“I mean, I could probably get in contact with your new caretaker, and could visit you once in a while…”

“I don’t wanna leave this place…”

I comforted him as his tears threatened to fall from his eyes, tracing random designs on his back, listening to his troubles. I suddenly heard a knock on the door. I energetically got up from my seat, Nagisa following close behind me, and then opened the door.

There was a man with teal blue hair and a detective uniform standing at the door. He looked kinda sexy-

“Hello, Mr. Detective~ You here for something?”

He stared at me before handing me a few slips of paper. Adoption papers? Wha-

“Who are you?”

Nagisa was a little scared, as he was a detective. The poor boy probably thought that the man was here for something serious.

I hushed Nagisa as I pulled him infront of me, giving him a good view of the man.

“My apologies…I’m Shuichi Saihara. Nice to meet you.”

I nodded at him and decided to introduce Nagisa and myself/

“I’m Kokichi Ouma, and this is Nagisa. Judging by the adoption papers, I’m guessing you’re here for Nagisa?”

He nodded and shook the hand I held out to him. He had such a calming voice…

“Are you mean?”

“I promise I’m no-“

“You smell like coffee.

“Wha-“

“Nagisa, it’s not ok to interrupt people y’know.”

Nagisa muttered a small ‘sorry’ to me and the man before getting his bag. He peered up at me with teary eyes. I could tell he didn’t want to go with a new parent, due to trust issues. I sighed and pat him on the head.

“You better take care of him.”

Shuichi smiled at me, reassuring that everything was going to be fine. I held out my phone with my contacts open.

“Phone number?”

I asked him as he took my phone (and ran off with it) and he handed me his, and we both entered each other’s phone number. Nagisa smiled as I showed him my phone, his eyes gleaming with hope and joy. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Shuichi even grinned at us placing his hands gently on Nagisa’s shoulder. I waved them goodbye as they waved back, Nagisa ranting to Shuichi about me. I’m glad I was able to make him happy. I walked around the small room, arranging everything back into its normal places and counting all the items to see if they were still there. 10 paint brushes, 2 art easels, 20 pencils, 5 paint palettes, 40 books and 7 whiteboard markers. Looks like I’m running low on markers, I’ll grab some in the morning. I smiled and locked the door behind me. I strolled down the street under the glowing sky, showing colours of orange, yellow, red, and peach. I sat calmly at the bus stop, taking off my painting apron and stuffing it into my bag neatly. I placed earplugs into my ears and started playing my favourite playlist.

Soon the bus arrived, squeaking its brakes as it parked into the bus stop. I sighed and planted my feet onto the ground as boarded the bus. It didn’t take long to get home.

||Time Skip Cuz Lazy||

I jingled my keys as I brought them out of my pocket, slotting them into the lock and opening the doors to the kindergarten. I walked in, turning on the fans by a little, and the lights. I began to write whatever was happening onto the big whiteboard and restocked my pens. I smiled as children and parent sprawled into the room, yet keeping an eye out for Nagisa. If he had any new scars or bruises, or darker eyebags, Shuichi won’t be waking up the next day. I waited about five minutes, everyone was here, but the two people I had been waiting for.

Suddenly, the doors swung open, and I spotted Shuichi giving the small child a piggy-back ride. I smiled as they both grinned back at me, Nagisa climbing off the adults back and running over to me.

“Kokichi! You won’t believe it! He let me use his magnifying glass and we went to the park. He even pushed me on the swing! I love my new dad!”

I grinned wider, glad Shuichi was giving him a good treatment. He even said he loved him.

“That’s great Nagisa! I’m grateful that Shuichi has been treating you right.”

Shuichi lovingly hugged Nagisa.

“I better go, or I’ll be late for work! Bye, have a good day you two! I love both of you!”

The young boy I waved goodbye as the detective briskly walked out of the kindergarten building, waving us goodbye, blushing. Wait, he loved both of us…?

||POV Change||

SHUICHI POV

I walked out the door, blushing crazily. I can’t believe I said that. I’m so embarrassed…

I hopped into the car, driving down to the detective agency. When I had first met Kokichi, I thought he looked a little cute, but I just ignored my thoughts. I’ll just tell him I was talking Nagisa and his non-existent imaginary friend…yeah I’ll just do that.

I arrived at the agency, closing the door gently behind me and taking in a deep breath. The aroma of coffee wafted around the area. No wonder I smelt like coffee…According to Nagisa anyways.

“Good morning Mr. Saihara. You looked like you’ve slept well!”

My partner, detective Kirigiri. I grinned at her, starting to tell her about Nagisa. She nodded at me while I spoke, thankful that I finally had something to cheer me up. I had been so busy with work lately that I was so tired to even show much emotion.

“So, Shuichi. We have a new case to work on.”

“Hm? What’s it about?”

“Just a new murder case, the usual.”

I nodded at her getting my file reports organized and ready. She gave me some evidence, suspect reports, reports of the victim and the time and place of the murder.

“It seemed to be planned too…”

I muttered as she passed over a small picture which showed the room.

“Huh?”

I pointed at the picture, spotting a nearly invisible ‘escape route plan’ peeking out of the screen. You could only see half of it though.

“That’s new…”

“Wait…How did you know this wasn’t there? Weren’t you at the crime scene?”

“It was a photo in the victims camera roll. You were correct, I was there, but it seems like the killer needed this to escape.”

“That makes sense.”

“So, the killer must’ve either been scared they would mess up, has a bad memory or had minimum time to figure this out…”

She agreed with me and pointed to the wall again, pointing back to the photo.

“There seems to be something white in the vents that we never checked.”

She stated bluntly while narrowing her eyes to get a better look.

“You’re right! Why didn’t you check the vents though…?”

“Rats.”

“Wha-“

I shrugged it off and looked back at Kyoko, then the picture again. She smirked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You wanna check it out, don’t you.”

“Kinda-“

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

I followed her out of the building, and we entered the car park, halting to a stop right infront of a shining, neon purple motorcycle. It gleamed in the sunlight and Kyoko continued to smirk at me.

“Chickening out?”

“N-No..”

“Good.”

She grabbed a helmet off the dark purple handlebars and gave it to me, claiming to have a spare one in her bag that she could wear. Which she did.

She hopped onto the motorcycle, gesturing for me to do the same. I gulped and lifted my leg over the seat and sat down, trembling.

“Hold on tight!”

I didn’t hesitate to do exactly as she told me. She revved the engine, and we took off down the road, her purple hair flowing viciously in the wind. I was petrified. We were going veryfast. I gulped as I felt the wind blow in my face. I rested my chin on Kirigiri’s shoulder, avoiding her purple hair flowing into my face as we raced around the city. The city lights were blurred, and people looked like smudge marks. I peered down at the road, barely able to adjust to the distorted white line and concrete. I felt a sickening dizziness, and my head just couldn’t keep up with my blurry surroundings. Yet, I felt like I was in heaven. The glorious wind blowing in my face, the soothing noises of the motorcycle engine, and the feel of Kyoko’s warmth. I closed my eyes, loosing touch with everything around me. I was in my own little world. That was, until I sensed the motorcycle slow to a halt and Kyoko’s small weight lift off the motorcycle. But since I was laying on her, she lifted me up too without realizing, and my body went tumbling forward, Kyoko’s doing the same.

“Sorry…”

I sighed and apologized, staring at the ground. She arose from the ground, dusting off her uniform and patting me delicately on my back.

“No worries, Saihara-Kun. Just be careful next time.”

I nodded as we barged into the murder scene, nobody being there.

“Watch out. We cannot predict anything. Expect the unexpected.”

I remembered her wise words and examined the room, Kirigiri assisting me by lifting me up, since I weighed less, and I unscrewed the vents to see a rat. Great. I sneakily snatched the paper and Kyoko lowered me back down to the ground, peering over my shoulder to see if anything useful was written on the small piece of white paper. It read,

Sorry, my dear friend.

“So, the victim was the culprit’s friend….

“Seems so.”

“Wait, why wasn’t it near the victim then?”

“When we arrived, the fan was on, making it completely possible to blow into the vents, in which the paper could slip through, and the rats could’ve possibly taken it.”

I nodded to show my agreement and we inspected the room a little longer. I spotted her typing on her phone a few moments later, sighing.

“Saihara-Kun.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Are you gonna leave your kid at kindergarten or…”

Shuichi blankly stared down at his wrist, reading the time.

2:12

Nagisa’s kindergarten ended at 2:00. He was over the other side of the city. He would be very late, as they had no car.

“Take my motorcycle. I want to stay a bit longer anyways.”

“Really? Thank you Kirigiri-San!”

I rushed out of the building, grabbing a sleek blue helmet and boarded the motorcycle. The wheels screeched as I raced across the city, my hair spasming in the wind. The motorbike’s wheels whirred as they rolled along the road, forcing the motorbike to drive faster. My hands gripped the handlebars incredibly tight, fearing the vehicle would stir out of control if I didn’t have power over the handlebars.

There it was. The kindergarten. I zoomed towards it, halting to a stop in the parking lot. I rushed inside, panting heavily as Kokichi and Nagisa were staring at me. The small, blue-haired boy ran over, enveloping me in a tight hug. I lovingly hugged back, patting his back in the process.

“Where were you? Parents shouldn’t be late, y’know.”

I gulped and peered up at the kindergarten teacher, mentally scolding myself. I knew I shouldn’t have been late. If it wasn’t for my partner, I would’ve left Nagisa there until I suddenly realized that he wasn’t anywhere nearby.

“Kokichi, don’t blame Dad! He had a really important case today!”

“Alright, just tell me next time.”

I muttered a sorry, and nodded, showing my understanding. The kindergarten teacher walked up to me, swiftly patting Nagisa’s head for a short period of time, then shifted to face me. I gulped, fearing I would get in trouble for not being a ‘good parent’.

“Why’d you call both of us cute.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about-“

“Why.”

I looked to the side, shivering a little and sighing. I soon peered back at him.

“Look..”

My ahoge resembled a deflated balloon. It was deformed, bent at every inch.

“It just slipped out, okay…?”

He looked at me, unamused, rolling his eyes and sighing.

“Totally…”

“Well, Nagisa and I have to go…”

“Alrighty! See you Nagisa!”

“What about me-“

“What about you?”

I rolled my eyes as I watched Kokichi ruffle Nagisa’s hair. He looked down at the boy expectantly.

“Nagisa has wanted to ask you something, but he’s clearly too shy…”

He nudged Nagisa knowingly, as the small boy stuttered out words.

“Well…I was wondering if some of my friends could have a sleepover…I’ve never had one, and…”

There was an awkward silence as my mind scanned over what I had planned next week. Nothing.

“Or not! T-That’s fine t-too!”

He looked sad and embarrassed at the same time, fiddling uneasily with his fingers, making eye contact with the ground.

“No, its fine! I was just trying to remember if I had anything scheduled next week…We can have one!”

Nagisa’s eye lit up, sparkles glimmering in his blue orbs. He shined so brightly as he bounced around the room excitedly. Then I realized something.

“Wait-“

“What?”

Kokichi looked up at me, clearly waiting for an answer.

“How am I gonna get Kyoko’s motorbike back to her-“

“You drove a motorcycle.”

“Yes-“

Kokichi jingled the keys on his short fingers, swaying them from side to side. He stared into my eyes, smiling.

“Want a ride then? I could pack the motorbike in the back of my car and drop it of to ‘whatever her name is’.”

“Kirigiri.”

“Right.”

The three of us strolled out of the kindergarten, after Kokichi had tidied up all the mess and checked up on everything, locking the doors behind us as we exited the building. Hopping into the car, we all drove off down the road, me directing the other adult towards the crime scene. Leaving the car, I unpacked the motorbike as Kokichi and Nagisa followed me in. I shifted to look back at the others.

“Uhm, I don’t think Nagisa should see this…”

“Why?”

I leaned into Kokichi’s ear and whispered to him.

“Dead body.”

He bobbed his head to show his agreement, Nagisa looking back and forth at us, confused. He held an arm infront of Nagisa, restricting him from going further, as I entered the building.

||POV CHANGE||

NAGISA POV

I watched as Dad entered the house, a bit worried. Why couldn’t I go in there? I decided to ask Kokichi.

“Why can’t I go in? What’s even in there?”

“Something you don’t want to see.”

I gave him a look of uncertainty, waiting for Dad to come back. I was a little worried, so I decided to start a conversation.

“I think you like Dad, am I right?”

“He seems pretty nice, probably would be a good friend.”

“No, you like Dad in that way. Not friendship, love.”

His eyes widened as he blushed furiously.

“W-Why would you t-think that, N-Nagisa?”

“So, you do like him.”

“N-No! I don’t!”

I rolled my eyes a little. It was so obvious. The whole time Kokichi and I were waiting for Dad, he was talking about him. Literally the whole time. I remember our conversation, word for word.

||Flashback||

“Alright! Time to go everyone!”

Kokichi opened the doors, the young children flooding out of the kindergarten. He sighed as he looked around after all the young kids were safely returned to their parents.

“Nagisa, where’s Shuichi?”

“He told me he was investigating today, apparently it was really serious!”

“Right…”

Kokichi sat on one of the chairs, relaxing his legs and leaning against the table. I did the same, and looked at him.

“Y’know, Shuichi is kinda hot.”

“Wha-“

“His hair is pretty, don’t you think?”

All I could do is agree. Kokichi peered down at his watch. 2:10. He sighed.

“I’m just going to text him-“

“Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“He never answers when he’s at work…”

Kokichi fiddled the phone in his hands, clearly annoyed. Probably wanted to see Shuichi. Who knows?

“I know someone who does answer their phone though.”

He peered at me and handed me his phone. I cheerfully took it and tried to memorize their number. Typing it in, I quickly added the number to Kokichi’s contacts and texted the person. I had seen their number when Shuichi and Kokichi exchanged phone numbers.

‘Hello, do you know Shuichi Saihara by any chance? If so, do you know where he is?’

‘Yes, Shuichi is my work partner at the detective agency. We are currently investigating together. Who is this?’

‘This is Nagisa, his adoptive son. I’m texting him on my kindergarten teacher’s phone. I just wanted to tell him that kindergarten ended 12 minutes ago.’

‘Thank you Nagisa. I will have Shuichi know. He sure is forgetful.’

‘Thank you! Can I please know your name?’

‘Kyoko. Kyoko Kirigiri.’

‘Wait, how do you know my number?’

‘I memorized it when I saw Shuichi and my teacher exchange numbers. Sorry if that’s creepy or anything…’

‘It’s fine. I have to go now. Goodbye Nagisa!’

‘Bye!’

I turned off the phone, the glowing screen fading into pitch black darkness. I peered at Kokichi, telling him that Shuichi should be here soon.

||Present Time||

We were still waiting for Shuichi when I spotted Kyoko and himself exit the huge building. Kyoko stared at me, grinning slightly.

“Are you Nagisa?”

I nodded as she walked up to me, ruffling my hair playfully, then glaring at Shuichi. I could see him gulp and look away.

“And you are…?”

“I’m Kokichi, Nagisa’s teacher.”

“Nice to meet you.”

They shook hands, smiling at each other joyfully.

||POV CHANGE||

KIRIGIRI POV

I’m a little disappointed in Shuichi if I’m being honest.

Leaving your kid who’s in kindergarten with his teacher?

I mean, me and Shuichi have known each other since we were kids and happened to get into the same agency. I know Shuichi. He is forgetful, but not this forgetful. I mentally facepalmed at his previous actions and shook hands with Kokichi.

Nagisa and Kokichi look like they have a close relationship.

I disconnected our hands, watching as Kokichi signalled for Shuichi to enter the car. The two closed the doors behind them, waiting for Nagisa to say goodbye. The younglings hand reached for the door handle, struggling to open the car door. I went to assist him, just to realise it was locked. Shuichi and Kokichi strained to unlock the doors from the inside.

How did this even happen-

“D-Dad!”

Nagisa panicked as he saw the two people he seemed to be the closest to stuck inside the black and white car. I sighed as I saw the trapped kindergarten teacher flirt with the parent. Shuichi literally looked like his parents were a combination of a tomato and strawberry. I watched them as they continued to flirt together. I mentally facepalmed and refocused on the incident infront of me.

I saw Nagisa’s confused face as he walked up to peer through the window, prying into their business. I gently tapped the window, catching their attention.

“Are you two lovebirds done?”

I yelled from the other side of the window. They both were facing me, furiously blushing. In full honesty, they look like they dyed their faces bright pink.

“I’m going to break the window- “

“NAGISA DON’T- “

Too late. Nagisa had grabbed a rock off the ground and pounded it against the window.

“Really- “

“Sorry I was panicking…”

“It’s fine…”

“I guess we’re driving back with a broken window.”

“I guess they call you a detective for a reason!”

Kokichi laughed at his own joke as Shuichi giggled as well. It was so obvious they liked each other, they were so blind and dense. I could tell they liked each other, yet they were uncertain the other loved them back. I sighed and grabbed my purple helmet, putting the blue one Shuichi used in my sleek black bag.

“I’ll be going now.”

I waved goodbye as I hopped onto the motorbike, smiling as my purple streaks of hair flowed relaxingly behind me as I sped down the road. Out of the corner of my eyes. I could see the Kokichi pull Shuichi into a quick kiss through the car’s windscreen, Nagisa just staring in horror. Poor innocent thing.

-BONUS SCENE-

||TIME SKIP||

||W.O.H SLEEPOVER PLANNING||

||3RD PERSON||

“Hey Nagisa…Hey Jataro…I was thinking, I really want to get away from my parents…Do you know anything I could do?”

Kotoko raised a finger to her chin, in deep thought, looking a little depressed. Jataro looked sad as well.

“I just want to get away from everyone…”

Nagisa peered down, sad from seeing his friends loose hope. Monaca wheeled herself over to join our conversation.

“I just want someone to notice me…”

Masaru sat on the ground soon after, despairful.

“I just want to have a peaceful household…”

Nagisa peered down at the ground, wanting to encourage his friends to be joyful. Sure, he had trauma as well, but there is still happiness. He just began to spit out words of reassurance to his small group of friends.

“Jataro, why would you want to disappear from everyone? We are all here. We want you to be here. What’s that point in leaving everyone if everyone needs you here?”

He peered up at Nagisa, who was staring at him, the boy’s wise words causing a smile to form on his face.

“Monaca, we are your friends We notice you. Stop acting like nobody does, because if you haven’t already guessed, you are our friend. We notice you. Why would I be talking to you if I didn’t know you were here?”

She smiled at the blue haired boy, watching as some of the other kindergarten teachers came over. Komaru, Toko and Nagito stood there, watching their students, along with Kokichi who the whole time had secretly been there, unnoticed.

“Masaru! Kotoko! I think I have a solution to your problems!”

Nagisa shouted as the teachers watched, inspired by the boy’s acts of hope. Nagito especially. Toko had to slap a hand over his mouth so they wouldn’t interrupt the kids. Nagisa thought of the time where he was talking to Kirigiri while saying his goodbyes. She had told him these exact words.

“Shuichi has been so happy since he adopted you, y’know. I’ve been thinking about what my future would be like if I had a child. Say, did you know any that need a better home? I do want more than one though…”

“There is a solution I might have, but I need to check. Also, my Dad agreed on the idea to have a sleepover!”

“Sounds great!”

Everyone cheered in unison as they started planning what they would do, also deciding what snacks to bring. Monaca was spinning in her wheelchair in excitement, Masaru pushing her around in circles while Jataro inspired them to continue. Kotoko and Nagisa were drawing each other with crayons, Kokichi sitting on the other side of the table, spreading conversations.

Soon enough, it was time to go home. They all wished each other goodbye, as Kokichi drove Nagisa back to their house. They parked in the driveway, to see Shuichi waiting for them on their front porch.

“Good afternoon you two! How was your day?”

Kokichi ruffled Nagisa’s hair as he explained his day to Shuichi, also asking if he could tell Kirigiri about what I had found out.

“Ah- Sorry, Kyoko wants to see me. I will tell her the news as well Nagisa.”

“Bye!”

The small boy and Kokichi cheered and waved in unison, watching as Shuichi peered back at them, about to leave.

“Bye! I love both of you. And this time, I mean it.”

[faedawayyy]

og verse: my plans for the guys.

this gif of chloe is nothing to do with this but i love the bratz lol. triggering topics below! read with caution.

DALLAS JACKSON, 23, third year. 

SECRET: he deals drugs. the jacksons are in the circle of wealthy families in violet springs alongside the calloways, hamiltons, carmichaels, barhams sinclairs etc.but they’re bankrupt, the family has a lot of dark secrets and the main one is that his dad is an addict to both gambling and drugs, to the point where their family is now bankrupt and loaning tons of money from other families are dodgy loan-sharks. the pressure from being the main bread-winner of the family has turned dallas into somebody he never set out to be. 

WHERE HE IS ATM: mentally, dallas is on a rocky road to health. he’s still addicted to drugs himself but after a very messy break-up with zara and a messier one with soraya, he’s working closely with friends to focus on his career and try to at least get his mental health in the right place.  MY PLANS: another downfall is literally inevitable, it’s dallas. i do think he’ll build himself back up to be huge, though, but he has a lot of resentment to a lot of people and can count on both hands the people he actually likes at st judes. i think there’ll be a lot more of OG dallas; hurting people/arguing with those he doesn’t care about etc.  UP COMING PROJECT: justice the album.

MASON CARMICHAEL, 26, fifth year.

SECRET: mason is the only child in the carmichael family who knows that their dad isn’t dead. after getting too close to being tied to a very serious money laundering case, he took his stroke in 2019 as a route out. however, he kept in touch with mason knowing he’s probably the most trustworthy to keep his whereabouts a secret. mason is sitting on the information but it’s getting harder and harder to do when he sees how much the loss of such a key figure is affecting him.  

WHERE HE IS ATM: at the moment, mason and kendall have been trying to start a family and he’s also found out that amy is his daughter. this threw him into a huge dilemma and he clashed extremely hard with madison over it. there are still hard feelings - and towards bash, who was just given the role of amy’s father despite mason knowing nothing about it.  MY PLANS: i think mason is going to want to see amy more and more despite knowing kendall isn’t hot on the idea/neither is madison to an extent. depending on how everything goes, he’ll definitely take madison to caught for joint custody of amy seeing as he’s never refused to be her dad or acknowledge her - he was just never told.  UP COMING PROJECT: princesses, the franchise. 

BRODY CARMICHAEL, 25, fourth year. 

SECRET: brody has very publicly become a father. he and disney have had their relationship watched by the world since they started high school musical at 14. on the outside, he has everything together. he’s the alpha male type; not that that’s great; think the character taylor plays in her “the man” video and pretty untouchable. on the inside, he’s seriously grieving the loss of his dad and isn’t coping well with the pressure of a new family. his drinking problem happens very much behind closed doors and is straining his marriage but divorce isn’t a marriage, both of them are way too invested in being the world’s most perfect couple.

WHERE HE IS ATM: he’s already had a warning from the hospital that another binge like he’s had could be the end of him and he’s on a very stern plan to become sober. again, nobody actually knows this so he’s kind of recovering in silence but i think he’ll genuinely get better.

MY PLANS: it’ll take a long time but he’ll definitely get better. i don’t think plots always have to be about characters spiralling. i’m also planning for him to see his dad by mistake or something of the sort. i feel like a lot of people will assume he’s high/drunk and it’ll really fuck with him but i haven’t sat and thought out of the details. 

UP COMING PROJECT: neighbours 2: sorority rising 

BLAKE CRUZ, 23, third year.

SECRET: he watched his brother die. blake didn’t really know what was happening at the time but when he was 12, his older brother charlie was 16. he’d come in after a night of sneaking out and crept back into their shared room as usual. blake was still awake and heard he was clearly drunk, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. he only knew something was seriously wrong when he fell asleep, and then woke up a few hours later and realised charlie was unconcious on top of his bed, still in his clothes - he never just passed out and always got ready for bed; even when completely wasted. he finally called for his parents but it was too late. by morning, charlie was pronounced dead and blake is living with the guilt of not saying anything because he didn’t want to get his brother in trouble. instead, he just let him die. he still hasn’t come to terms with it and tells charlie’s old friends that his death was undetermined instead.  WHERE HE IS ATM: blake is very good at burying his memories of charlie and focuses on his relationship and career to stop him from falling down a rabbit hole of guilt and self blame. he’s focused on his new marriage and releasing music with the 5SOS boys, although he’s had his own projects in the works for a very long time - he just doesn’t know how to go about it.  UP COMING PROJECTS: CALM, 5sos. 

OTIS KINGSTON, 21, second year.

SECRET: otis actually wants to become a teacher. he’s enrolled in the academy for acting after his uncle pushed him towards doing it and he’s had moderate success but his true passion lies in teaching others and being out of the spotlight. that’s why he’s very slowly failing on purpose; he wants to be a seventh year and be given more normal career paths. it might have something to do with the fact that he was having an affair with his older brother’s girlfriend who also failed her final year and is currently a student teacher. his brother never bothers with her so it makes it easy for the two of them to sneak around.

WHERE HE IS ATM: otis is very good at pretending. he puts on such a show that when he loses out or doesn’t get a role, people think he’s GENUINELY upset when in reality, he probably did it on purpose. he feels a little bad taking the spot from someone who wants it, but he did what he needs to do.

UP COMING PROJECTS: euphoria (?)

NATE HARWOOD, 23, third year.

SECRET: nate never got into st judes to begin with. he cheated himself in by changing some of his exam results in high school. a good friend of his tried to push him to do the right thing and consider his other options but nate was fixated on getting into the school, along with two more of his friends who initially failed. his friend threatened him and told him that he’d let their professors know if he went through with it. to stop him getting anywhere near, nate and his friends spiked his drink to get him too drunk to remember on prom night; however, he was so drunk he fell down a huge staircase outside the venue on the fire escape and ended up paralysed from the waist down. 

WHERE HE IS ATM: nate has more or less buried the high school mistake but every now and then it comes back to haunt him. at the moment, he’s just making music and doing his best to live the dream he risked WAY too much for. 

UP COMING PROJECTS: a good friend is nice

DARIUS RICHARDS, 24, fourth year.

SECRET: darius is actually a west ivy’s student. he was selected by his principle to secretly enroll in st judes to check out the competition. he’s also behind a lot of the sabotages that have been happening in the school (including the up and coming fire). his main aim is to make sure that west ivy’s is better than st judes in everyway, no matter what it takes. 

WHERE HE IS ATM: he’s hiding in plain sight. nobody suspects a thing from him. darius is being extra careful with the projects he releases and to always stay a little bit below complete stardom - it makes it easier for him to navigate and do things unnoticed. but, he has met people he genuinely likes too and does his best to save them from sabotage. 

UP COMING PROJECTS: starboy

TATE SIMPSON, 26, fifth year. 

SECRET: back to the tragedy in his home...it’s true that tate was never harmed by anyone growing up; not physically, anyway. but that doesn’t mean his home was perfect. his parents were young when they had him and he grew up with little money. this put a lot of strain on them and his dad couldn’t deal with it. he resorted to cheating, drinking and being wildly abusive. there were mornings tate turned up at school without sleeping because he’d been up all night hearing his parent’s argue and fight. it escalated. his father moved on to beating his mother and he’d feel helpless. one night while they were arguing, the fire alarm went off due to them leaving the oven on and it stopped them. so, the next time the fighting got severe and tate heard his mother being beat again, he had an idea. he grabbed a lighter from his parents bedroom and set fire to one of his stuffed animals to set the fire alarm off - it did, and his parents stopped arguing, but not before the fire had spread across the top floor of their home. the fire brigade rescued tate and his father, but not his mother. she passed away and he’s blamed himself ever since. nobody ever found the real case, but that doesn’t make it much better for him.

WHERE HE IS ATM: he’s new and just starting out! 

UP COMING PROJECTS: big time adolescence 

MARCUS CARMICHAEL, 26, fifth year.

SECRET: marcus is often used as his uncle’s scapegoat. james never wanted to get leo, mason or brody too tied into the shadier side of the family business so marcus; child of a single mother and secretly desperate for an in to their world was the perfect candidate. he’s never minded either, to be honest. if he gets paid for shifting some money around or scamming a big time director, so be it. however, the last job he did for james was way too intense, even for him. it included the trafficking of janey and collecting the money made off of her. he had a chance to save her, he knows that, but not without exposing his uncle’s dark secrets. he was never DIRECTLY involved but he knows that doesn’t make him any better. 

WHERE HE IS ATM: marcus is focusing on his acting career and making a conscious effort to be better and stay out of trouble. with ghosts from his past constantly showing up, though, it really is proving to be difficult. 

UP COMING PROJECTS: hemlock grove

ANTHONY HENSHAW, 27, fifth year. 

SECRET: anthony is a stalker. he fixates on people and it gets intense. after being bullied in high school, he latches on to the people who’re nice to him and reads too much into small acts of kindness. he can actually be incredibly dangerous; not many people have noticed yet. 

WHERE HE IS ATM:  he’s currently fixated on natasha but always open for more.

UP COMING PROJECTS: probably some kind of deal with spotlight to shoot different students idk 

KRISTOFER NILSEN, 27, fifth year.

I’LL DO HIM WHEN I CBA 

PHILIP LAWSON, 27, fifth year. 

SECRET: the stunt at the calloway isn’t random. his dad persuaded him to get it in order to get more information on gerald and more specifically, his account details. believe it or not, philip has already managed to access one of his minor accounts after snooping through a secret office of his, but it only had hundreds in there. he’s ok though; he’s ready to play the long game - and steal from all his less privacy-savy friends while he’s waiting.

WHERE HE IS ATM: just starting out! 

UP COMING PROJECTS: big time adolescence/bloom

JUDE BAKER, 18, first year.

SECRET: he’s family are super broke, but he doesn’t let on TOO much. everybody in town knows that his family own the motel that’s on the border of violet springs and london, but that leads to people assuming he’s quite well off or at least average which is how he likes it. his dad is way too carried away with his dream of being a hotel owner which has lead to the baker family selling everything. he literally lives in the motel and really doesn’t have much else to report on.

WHERE HE IS ATM: he’s quiet, anxious and i feel like he’d have one friend who isn’t exactly popular either. all through attending springs park, he was bullied by assholes and st judes was meant to be his fresh start, but he’s realised everybodys worse and with a bigger ego. he keeps himself to himself and is just tries not to be a target. 

UP COMING PROJECTS: stranger things >:) 

EZRA HUGHES, 25, fourth year.

AGAIN I’LL DO IT WHEN I CBB 

[warsmith-38]

How I would do RWBY pt.6

Season Six.

RWBY and JNR (and Ozpin, Qrow, and Ilia) on route to Atlas.

SSSN and CFVY have responsibilities in Mistral so they stay back. IE: Ozpin now doubts their loyalty due to their headmaster being compromised.

RWBY and co. get stopped at SDC border checkpoint.

Almost get detained for questioning.

Blake remembers the last time a friend of hers was ‘detained for questioning’.

Winter intervenes, using the authority of the military. Allows RWBY and co. into Atlas.

As soon as they get a moment away from the grunts Winter embraces her sister and admonishes her for not even leaving a note when she left.

She understands why she left, but still.

Blake ribs her a little.

Yang points out to everyone that she’s the only one who’s never ran off without telling anyone.

Winter takes them all to Ironwood.

Ironwood explains that the Atlas military has been doing everything they can to keep the peace short of using scorched earth tactics.

The SDC and the White Fang have armed patrols going through the streets, are having regular firefights in the streets, harassing civilians, and blowing shit up, but almost always peace out when the military shows up.

Jacques is incommunicado and Sienna hasn’t been publicly seen in Atlas for over a decade.

The Atlas government is a bunch of corrupt fuckwits taking bribes from both sides (and Salem too).

Ironwood is doing all he can, but he’s being forced to do it with his hands tied behind his back.

Ruby wants to know if anyone’s seen Cinder.

Ironwood tells her that they’ve been busy with more pressing matters.

Winter says that she has encountered and even fought CEMN.

She lost half of her unit and CEMN got away.

No sign since then and no agents to spare to chase them anyway.

Ruby’s disappointment is curbed by being reunited with rebuilt Penny.

Aren’t data backups a beautiful thing?

She lucked out that her memory core wasn’t destroyed with the rest of her old body.

Her new body, to make room for newer and better features, had to do away with the data backup thing.

If she dies now, she’s dead for good. She only had the one extra life.

Both are beyond overjoyed to see each other again.

Both thought the other was dead until Penny saw Ruby on a news broadcast from Mistral.

Ruby cries while saying that she never thought she’d be able to hold Penny in a hug ever again.

Ciel is there too, not that anyone in or out of universe really cares. (…I care)

She is Penny’s supervisor as well as both Ironwood’s and Winter’s aide.

If she was old enough, she’d take up every vice there is due to how crappy her jobs are.

Everyone notices that Ironwood’s forces are almost equal parts human and faunus.

They cite that they’re sick of the SDC’s many abuses, the White Fang’s lies and broken promises, and the self-righteous indignation of the both of them.

Both sides suck and they have chosen option three.

Option three being telling both sides to go fuck themselves.

Ilia starts to think about things.

Weiss and Winter go to try to talk to Jacques to get whatever intel they can and/or stop the fighting.

Blake and Ilia try the same with Sienna, following whatever dead drop signs they can.

SDC secretary tries to wave Weiss and Winter off.

Jacques hears that his daughters are here and drops everything to talk to them.

W+W try and get Jacques to de-escalate.

He says he’s stuck in a stalemate and can’t even if he wanted to.

If he de-escalates then the White Fang will go wild at the sign of weakness.

He also admits that he’s ready to do the same should the White Fang try to de-escalate.

W+W tell him there’s a good chance that most of the more recent problems are Cinder and co. operating as accelerationists.

Willow enters the picture and sides with her daughters.

Eventually browbeat him into agreeing to a negotiation with Sienna if she also agrees.

Weiss has moment with her mother, finally addressing family problems.

Willow tells her that Jacques was contacted long ago by someone willing to give him an extra monetary and military edge in the fight.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that that someone was Salem.

Weiss is considerably less optimistic about the peace talks now.

Blake and Ilia manage to track down Sienna.

They get sneers and threatening looks from the White Fang members at her hideout.

Blake gets a ‘I’m sorry you had to kill your ex-boyfriend’ hug from aunty Sienna.

Blake accepts the hug in the name of diplomacy.

Doesn’t mention that a good chunk of Adam’s problems were made worse by Sienna’s actions and prompting or were just straight up her fault.

Blake and Ilia try to get Sienna to de-escalate.

Yeah, talking, that’s how you stop violent terrorists, totally. That’s a thing that works.

Sienna tells them that she will only de-escalate if Jacques does so first.

Until she gets a token gesture, it’s business as usual.

Blake tells Sienna about Cinder and that she’s probably causing most of the recent issues for Salem.

Ilia corroborates.

Sienna says she already knows and doesn’t care as long as it might give her an edge.

Damn the ever increasing body count.

Besides, Salem herself has been bankrolling a good chunk of the White Fang’s efforts for a while now.

Blake leaves in a huff and Ilia goes with her, both now entirely disillusioned with Sienna’s leadership as well as Sienna herself.

Ruby, Penny, and Ciel are hunting for signs of Cinder.

Get minimal results but it’s a nice opportunity for them to reconnect.

Penny is more than a little worried at how starved for vengeance Ruby is.

Ciel is skeptical as to if it’s a good idea to leave Penny alone with Ruby.

Yang is with Ironwood, trying to help however she can. Mostly kicking the ass of anyone who slacks off.

Yang is a pretty damn good XO.

She may not have the head for direct leadership, but is good at making troops do their best.

She has gained experience in such things since working with RWB.

Jaune is strategizing circles around Ironwood’s upper echelon.

Hasn’t acted this smug since wargaming night.

Ren and Nora are helping the boots on the ground, even managing to catch a good amount of both SDC militia and White Fang members.

Easier to legally prosecute people if you can catch them. Looks better in the papers and such.

Ozpin is conspiring with his inner circle as to what Salem might be planning in Atlas.

Interfering with the WF-SDC conflict to this degree isn’t Salem’s style.

She didn’t start this one, but it is her style to start a war and bankroll one or both sides.

However, she would leave it at that and let the two sides kill each other as they naturally would.

Come to the conclusion that Cinder is operating as a rogue element from Salem. That makes her less predictable and, as such, all the more dangerous.

That still leaves them in the dark as to what Salem is planning in Atlas or if she even has an active plan in Atlas for that matter.

Ruby meets Penny’s ‘father,’ a weird mad scientist who has a lot of projects ranging in levels of insanity.

Projects include but aren’t limited to: Super lasers, ICBMs, logging the genealogy of most of the planet (this one is important), Penny, making good tasting fruits taste like cat fur, pineapple on pizza, and so many more horrifying crimes against decency.

Atlas higher ups would get rid of him for being insane, but he has tenure.

Some of his projects are rather useful, too.

Ruby makes her excuses and leaves with Penny as the scientist tries to reveal certain revelations.

Yang discovers a little criminal element in the city.

That little criminal is Neo.

Yang learned her lesson from last time, takes her time to take Neo down.

Neo, surprised at how badly she’s losing, escapes with a tracker that Yang plants on her.

Weiss and Blake meet up to touch base on whatever progress they’ve made in peace talks.

Frustratingly little.

They’re both about to return to their contacts and relay plans when Sienna herself shows up with a sizable entourage.

Says that Weiss is coming with her as a bargaining chip against Jacques and asks Blake to stay out of it.

She ain’t gonna.

Ilia takes care of Sienna’s entourage.

WB vs Sienna.

Fight is cut off when SDC forces come to detain as much of RWBY as they can ‘for their own good’.

Goes about as well as expected.

Willow shows up to kick the crap out of them while Blake and Weiss cheese it.

Weiss and Winter had to get it from somewhere and they sure as shit didn’t get it from Jacques.

RWBY reconvenes.

Peace talk plan failed because both sides are led by lying douchebags more concerned about winning than the actual reasons why the fighting started.

Both sides are also being prompted to keep fighting by the same ancient witch-bitch and are too ignorantly angry to even consider the idea.

Fighting ain’t stopping but they can at least see if they can nab the people making things worse.

Ruby is eager to see if she can find and murder Cinder.

Weiss calls for an intervention on Ruby’s vengeance fetish.

Tries to tell her that this is ridiculously unhealthy and taking Cinder alive could infinitely be more useful.

Ruby lashes back at her, citing that Cinder killed Penny in front of all of them.

Penny then comes in to say salutations to everyone.

Ruby then cites that Cinder killed Ozpin.

Ozpin tells them that he’s been ‘killed’ plenty of times, Cinder ain’t special.

Ruby then cites that Cinder killed Pyrrha.

JNR point out that Ruby said less than a dozen words directly to Pyrrha during their time at Beacon and are very offended that Ruby would try and use Pyrrha’s death as a justification for her vendetta.

Ruby refuses to not go after Cinder but does reluctantly agree to try and calm down about it.

Weiss gives her a hug and says that she’s an idiot but she’s still her best friend.

Penny befriends JNR because she’s Penny.

RWBY sets off right as newest round of street skirmishes happens.

Both sides have tanks, explosives, and things that you’d need a really damn good lawyer to justify usage for ‘security’ purposes.

The latest delivery of bribes has arrived so the Atlas government orders that the military stands down and stays out of the conflict entirely.

Ironwood (with Ozpin’s prompting and despite Qrow’s objections) decides fuck that noise.

Orders that any and all SDC or White Fang combatants are to be met with extreme prejudice (the shooting kind of prejudice, not the racism kind).

What’s the government going to do, he’s the one with all the guns.

The monkey with the biggest stick makes the rules.

Peace through power! Peace through power! Peace through power!

JN(P)R work to help maintain order and minimize collateral damage in the warfare.

The P now stands for Penny.

RWBY maneuver through a warzone to where the tracker leads them.

Tracker is leading them to SDC headquarters.

CEMN are planting a big stupid bomb with a big stupid White Fang symbol on it.

CEMN season/arc final boss fight.

The plan was B fights C, Y fights N, R fights M, and Y fights E.

But we all know that was never actually going to happen.

W+Y fight E+M.

B-level 2v2 rival match. Go!

Countdown ‘til boom-boom starts.

Blake gets to work on the bomb. (She’s already had her decisive rival fight)

CEMN did their homework. It’s the exact kind of bomb that the White Fang would have used.

That also means she knows exactly how to disarm it.

Ruby chases Cinder and Neo further up the building.

Corners them and prepares for a fight.

Cinder points out that it took an insane rage state for Ruby to stand a chance and now not only does she not have that, it’s two on one.

Neo then cheap shots Cinder.

Neo reveals that she doesn’t even hate Ruby.

Ruby vs Roman was just business. Live by the sword, die by the sword. No hard feelings.

Her involvement with CEMN was just a ploy to fuck over Cinder, whom she blames for Roman’s death.

Cinder roped him into this crap, not to mention she was the one that set off the bomb that killed him.

Neo’s been subtly fucking up Cinder’s plans as much as possible without being noticeable.

If not for her, Atlas would have exploded while RWBY was chilling in Haven.

Neo’s plan was that Ruby would go berserk again and tear Cinder to pieces with Neo providing the extra edge to Ruby so that another draw doesn’t occur.

All she needed was the three of them alone together.

Is a little disappointed at Ruby’s level headedness, but is fine with helping non-berserk Ruby beat the ever-loving shit out of Cinder.

And yes, she manages to communicate all of this without speaking a word.

Cinder goes all out but so do Ruby and Neo.

Fire vs White fire with illusion bullshit.

Cinder’s grimm arm is an even greater liability than the last fight due to Ruby’s growing skill with the white fire.

Still a very dangerous opponent.

Neo gets her shit kicked in, but due to her help, Cinder is weakened.

Ruby gains a close victory.

Now comes the moment of truth.

Cinder cowers away as Ruby approaches with the scythe raised.

Neo is enjoying what she’s seeing.

Ruby cuts off the grimm arm, burning it afterwards, and cauterizes Cinder’s stump.

Neo feels gypped but shuts up (ha) when Ruby glares at her.

Says that the both of them are under arrest, but she’ll say something nice about Neo helping.

Neo is both annoyed and not willing to argue with the girl who can shoot white fire out of her eyes.

Emerald uses Willow as hostage, seemingly kills her (hallucination).

Weiss awakens her second semblance. Summoning. Summons the knight from the white trailer.

Kicks the ever-loving crap out of Emerald who then reveals that it was just her semblance and Willow is just unconscious.

Weiss still punches her and knocks her out.

Speaking of punches, Yang overpowers Mercury and knocks him out too.

Team CEMN is down like Frazier.

The bomb’s defused too.

Everyone’s proud of Ruby for resisting the urge to do brutal murder. ‘Cept Neo, that is.

Oh wait, the war is still happening.

Oh wait, no it isn’t.

SDC and White Fang stand down.

Willow and Ilia assumed command of their respective organizations, exposing all the accelerationist false-flags, and the fact that both sides were being led by members of the same Cabal.

Both sides de-escalated, stopped fighting, and detained their respective leaders to make them sit down to peace talks.

Ciel even manages to convince Ironwood to not have all of both sides lined up against a wall and shot.

Blake and Weiss give speech about togetherness and neighborliness and sunshine and you get the idea.

Jacques and Sienna both agree that ‘yeah, we could have handled all of this better, huh?’ and accept jail time while people try to fix relations that they came very close to permanently ruining.

They would have both gone to jail anyway but it sounds better to say that they ‘accepted’ the penalties.

CEMN is now also in custody. (This is seen by a motherfucker that looks like a black armored Myrmidon).

Ironwood officially crosses the Rubicon (RWBYcon, A-hey~) and deposes the corrupt fuckwits in the Atlas government and puts himself in charge as military governor.

Makes a point to emphasize to Ozpin that his position is very much temporary.

He’ll set up a new government after they’ve made Salem calm down for a century.

Ozpin ignores him and reminds everyone that this whole thing had shockingly little to do with Salem’s current masterplan.

They still have work to do.

But they did just finish taking out every meaningful member of The Cabal.

So for now they’ve earned a little party to blow off some steam.

Season six done.

World Travel arc done.

[atopearth]

Collar X Malice Part 4 - Shiraishi Kageyuki Route

Lmao that the way to get on Shiraishi's route is to be honest and call him strange hahah. Honestly, Shiraishi isn't my type, but I'm interested in him because he doesn't appear much in the other routes so he's pretty mysterious. I can see why Shiraishi is interested in Ichika though, especially considering he's involved in criminal profiling, it's like Ichika is such a normal girl, why exactly would Adonis be specifically interested in her? I liked how Shiraishi made it plain to Ichika that they needed to co-operate because she definitely wouldn't be able to find anything about a mole in the police force by herself, with no connections etc when others much more capable than her haven't been able to lol. It's actually cute how much Shiraishi seems to like cats, I agree that naming them as numbers is much easier to remember, but at the same time, to recognise 37 different cats? That's pretty amazing in itself lol. Honestly though, when he talked about it was nice to be a cat, getting to be lazy and free, but at the same time living with uncertainty and not knowing when you could die as a "price" of that freedom, it felt pretty sad... Is living freely better or living securely?🤔

Takeuchi (the teacher who taught the guys who died in the September and October cases) is so pretty! Anyway, I actually really like how much Shiraishi and Ichika bump heads with each other, especially considering how different they are, yet how "honest" they both are in the sense that Ichika doesn't hide her dislike towards him, and Shiraishi doesn't hide how much he's "interested" in people like her that he can't understand because they can empathise with others I guess. Personally, in terms of questioning Takeuchi, I would say that I have to agree with Shiraishi's methods, mainly because, I'm sure Takeuchi has been questioned many times, and there would have been many different officers, but probably not one as interested as Shiraishi and Ichika since they actually believe there's more to Hachisuka (the guy that was killed in the September case) than the "perfect" student. But I do think that if they want more information, then Shiraishi's methods would only let you know that there's something more to it, whereas Ichika's methods might get to her better? Anyway, what I really enjoy about their relationship right now is how upfront Ichika is about her feelings and thoughts towards him. I especially liked when she told him that he should remember her name because she felt that it was important for him to remember that so they could trust and respect each other. 

Lmao when Ichika thought she was joining some top secret coalition with Mukai but it was really just a complaining about Shiraishi group that comprised of Sakuragawa🤣 HAHAHA, I was wondering why would Sakuragawa hate Shiraishi but OMG it's super justified. He purposely bothered to have a chef make a "hamburger patty" out of natto just to see her reaction since she absolutely hates it lollll. I would hate him too. Honestly, I love Mukai, and how she handles Shiraishi because he totally deserves it lol. I find it funny how she can be so blunt with him, and lmao that she actually tried to kick him before but missed🤣 Shiraishi spending time every now and then to go and hear Mukai and them complain about him is so sadistically funny lol. Awww Ichika sleeping on his lap is super cuteeee. I wonder what Mukai and Sakuragawa are going to say since Shiraishi implied that they're in that sort of relationship and that's why they left the passed out Ichika (from accidentally chugging Shiraishi's drink) to him, I feel like they'd tell her to reconsider🤣 I wonder if no one ever thanks Shiraishi and that's why he was so surprised when Ichika thanked him for hiding the collar from Sakuragawa and Mukai for her lol. To be fair, considering his personality, I can't imagine anyone thanking him for anything he does lol. Lmao when Mukai and Sakuragawa interrogated Ichika about Shiraishi and her relationship loll, and now they want her to be a spy lmao. I don't know why so many guys like to think it's their responsibility to "teach" the heroine that it's either dangerous to let guys into their homes or to go to the guy's house alone, like seriously!! It's not that we don't think it's dangerous or anything, we just trust you! Like geez. Anyway, Shiraishi definitely went overboard pinning Ichika to the wall, regardless of his intentions, that's scary and unwarranted. Otherwise, I'm impressed Ichika wants to understand Shiraishi better after that. Anyway, I do feel like Shiraishi acted the way he did because he didn't know how to act towards Ichika. Usually he's met with people who either dislike him, don't care or outwardly dislike him, so I feel like Ichika being so nice to cook for him made him feel awkward and not know what to do and act since he's always so sadistic and cynical. I could be wrong though haha.

I forgot to mention it but it's interesting how it was Shiraishi's profiling that ended up catching the culprit 2 years ago when the attempted assassination on the Prime Minister was, since that was the case that changed Okazaki. I really liked how Ichika and Shiraishi finally communicated properly in the sense that they just bothered to talk to each other and try to understand each other. I guess considering his personality, most people would give up on him, so it must be surprising that Ichika is so persistent. I liked how he finally called her by her name haha. Awww, I love how they exchanged the cat straps they got from the gachapon machine. Imagining Shiraishi fiddling with one of those machines, never having played with one is pretty cute haha. Pretty hilarious when Shiraishi got flustered over Ichika saying she preferred him this way (not so weird lol) and he accidentally dropped a stack of papers🤣 I also found it pretty funny when she told him to be careful and he said he didn't need to, and Ichika was like you should practice what you preach since not taking your own advice is dumb😂😂 She totally got him hahahah. Aww Shiraishi thanking Ichika for trusting him was so cuteee. It was really sweet how Shiraishi acknowledged Ichika's efforts in the SCRPO, she really does try her best to listen to the people calling the police to complain and she really takes it all to heart, so it's nice to see how much he recognises her efforts. I wonder if Shiraishi's flashback means that he got experimented on as a child🤔 Anyway, I think I'm really warming up to their relationship. I think it's really cute how "normal" Shiraishi actually is lol. Him getting mad that Ichika was telling Sakuragawa and Mukai that she didn't feel anything for him, and then her running after him just to explain that she doesn't hate him, and then him getting happy and saying it back to her was just so adorable hahaha.

I feel so terrible for the counsellor lady (Uno) who got driven to suicide because of Hachisuka. Like, it was obvious Hachisuka wasn't as "clean" as his records said, but to think that he had so much power over the school because of his mother's "donations" and then couldn't hack that Uno rejected him (since you know she has a husband and kids, like c'mon dude) and then started threatening her + other mental torment from his groupies. It's just crazy to think that she ended up so ballistic (killed her husband and tried to kill her kids but failed and then ended up committing suicide) just because she refused a teenager's "love". That's just so sad.. It's nice to see more of Saeki this time around, it was so funny when he told Shiraishi to take care of Ichika because he believed in the rumours that they were dating. To be fair, he's eating dinner with her at work late at night sharing a lunchbox etc so it's hard to not think that even if they say they aren't lol. I guess those murderous twins are Uno's children? Anyway, I like how even though Shiraishi said a lot of mean stuff and crap to Ichika about everything being a lie, but Ichika decided to believe in the him she spent time with, and that if it was a lie, then he should show her his real self then. Ichika is pretty strong haha. Personally, I'm not a fan of the voice acting for Shiraishi, or maybe it's just Shiraishi himself lolll but I think I do like the progress with their relationship because of how blunt they are with each other. I think her honesty really works well with how sneaky and evasive Shiraishi usually is, since it's difficult for him to handle someone so genuinely kind and appreciative of him as a person haha. Well, Takeuchi's thoughts etc were pretty much expected, but very understandable, I don't think I could ever move on if I felt like I betrayed my friend and left her all alone just to protect myself. And her guilt would make her want to protect Uno's children now.. I'm not sure about Takeuchi's decision to tell Uno's children what really happened with their parents at the young age of 18 but I guess I can understand her thoughts of not wanting them to hate their mother. I guess she regrets it a lot now but yeah...that's sad..

Seeing the story of the Uno siblings was pretty terrible. Such a normal happy family getting crushed was terrible. I think the worst was definitely when their mother murdered their father right in front of them. Anyway, considering Shiraishi's analysis and everything, there's really no new information about their "story" so it's really just watching them struggle between their desires to live but also to die. I'm just glad the siblings had Takeuchi in their lives tbh, otherwise it would have been worse. When Shiraishi said that the feeling of someone needing you makes you think that it's all right to exist, I couldn't help but agree with that. I used to be obstinate with the idea that a person should create their own "value" and I guess their desire to live because in the end, you can't rely on others for your own life, and I guess I still think like that. But at the same time, I feel like there will always be times when another person can be your drive to live, and to make you think that you want to live because of them. Sure, it's not always the healthiest mindset, but at the same time, when you have nothing else to live for, at least having them makes you think that this life is still worth living to an extent even if other things suck. I'm glad that Takeuchi, Shion and Suzune got to properly talk it out and communicate their feelings, but I still find their reason for killing those three people to kinda like "free" Takeuchi rather...silly? Like I guess I can understand their perspective in the sense that they wanted to end things for Takeuchi, but even though they ended that part, they started another part where Takeuchi would feel guilty that her actions led to those decisions that they made. Anyway, I guess the main thing we can be happy about is that they understood well enough that killing themselves would torment Takeuchi much more, but it's still kinda funny that they can understand that but not understand enough to not commit murder. I guess their hatred and emotions needed some sort of outlet, and just because you understand doesn’t mean you won’t do it.

It's understandable for Shiraishi to love cats for their freedom, and I think that's what I love about cats too, well I guess more specifically stray cats or outdoor cats. They don't live according to anyone's schedule, they go out and do what they want, come home when they feel like it and are cute lol. Their lives are much more vibrant than mine and I think that's so interesting. I loved their cat observing date, it was so cute how serious Ichika was about trying to remember each individual cat and writing notes down just because she knew Shiraishi likes them so she wanted to be more engaged in it too. Them holding hands to the supermarket was adorableeee~ Lmao, I love how Ichika lured Kazuki to the office with Yanagi and them by stealing his guitar, I mean of course with how disobedient he is, he'll never go just because she told him so. I guess it's good that Shiraishi helped to make Kazuki more understanding of the seriousness of the situation. 

Hmmm interesting, when Adonis executives were leaked, I'm pretty sure it was Shiraishi, but killing Mikuni (prime minister's son in Adonis) in broad daylight? I'm pretty sure the "voice" Shiraishi talked to throughout the story was Mikuni and he seemed to have some kind of relationship with him that was relatively positive, so hmmm.. Did Zero do something to frame or manipulate Shiraishi? I see, Shiraishi's been brainwashed to practically follow Zero and Adonis... I really liked how there were flashbacks with Ichika and Shiraishi to kinda remind us of everything they've gone through, because even though Shiraishi isn't really a favourite of mine, I did enjoy Ichika and Shiraishi's relationship build up and I can understand why she would believe in the him that he showed to her rather than the him that Zero tells her he is. Hmmm I guess that "good ending" was interesting. I'm kinda disappointed with how things were revealed and how they ended though, like... I'm honestly rather mixed about the whole thing because I feel like Shiraishi's story could have been dealt with much better alongside his feelings, because I found his reasoning to kill Mikuni to gain the trust of Zero just to get Ichika's collar off I don't know...weird? There could have been better ways? But I guess this is how Shiraishi is in his own twisted and brainwashed way so it was understandable that he did it this way? But at the same time, I agree with Ichika about if he really loved her that much, why couldn't he find a method where they could live on together instead of this. Anyway, I wanted to call Shiraishi selfish for keeping Ichika with him when she was in a coma when she could have gone to a hospital etc, but knowing Ichika, I'm sure she would have wanted to spend as much time as she could with Shiraishi before he atoned for his crimes. And, he did seem to be in regular communication with Yanagi and them, so I'm glad Kazuki didn't have to think she died and stuff, but I’m still iffy because considering Kazuki and stuff, I wouldn’t trust this random with my sister lol. Anyway, it's a bittersweet ending, but I did enjoy how everything ended with the Christmas party they promised to celebrate together. That tragic love ending CG was really beautiful though! And I'm glad to finally see an ending where Ichika gets practically brainwashed and joins Adonis after failing to save Shiraishi, and inversely Shiraishi failing to protect her and her heart. Although I kinda still find it unlikely that she would be able to kill Yanagi and them but who knows, doesn't really matter I guess.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Shiraishi. He's definitely not my type but I did enjoy how Ichika and Shiraishi kinda bounced off each other with their differences and personal values. They were always upfront with what they thought and honest about what they liked, what they didn't like and I think their relationship was done really nicely. They had a lot of cute moments such as visiting the stray cats and holding hands etc and I honestly feel like I should have liked Shiraishi, but I actually don't lol. Like, I guess I liked their relationship, but his story and everything didn't resonate with me. Personally, I feel like the greatest setback for this route was actually that it focused too much on building the romance and neglected Shiraishi's background with Adonis, his feelings and thoughts, and his relationship with Mikuni that ended up hurting him because he basically killed him to help Ichika. I feel like everything about Shiraishi and Adonis at the end was like an information dump about how Adonis takes care of orphans to raise as their officers or whatever, which imo felt kinda weird because supposedly so many of them exist but they’re never a part of the story in any way, and why do they bother trying to find people like Ichika to become executors other than to use them as scapegoats or something, but the core of the X-Day plans basically has nothing to do with these officers? Anyway, I just found the whole thing with Shiraishi and Adonis to be handled poorly and I think it could have made a bigger impact on me if they bothered to focus a bit more on it throughout the route instead of just at the end where it honestly didn't make me feel anything for him or the whole thing. I sound so slack lolll, but the biggest indication that I really didn't enjoy it that much was when I straight away went into Yanagi's story afterwards loll. I usually need time to digest when I finish a route, but yeah I think I was pretty disappointed with Shiraishi and his route. But I do like how it was different to the others since it's not really a "happy ending" considering he's a criminal etc, so that was interesting, but I feel sorry for the people that would have wanted something happier. Anyhow, really liked the romance development and their relationship but not so much the Adonis stuff surrounding Shiraishi, however the Uno siblings were nice “villains” for this route.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ @sasuhinabigflash2020​​ || Day Nine: A Cat Walks By ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Neji, Uchiha Manami ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: We’re Not in Konoha Anymore... ] [ AO3 Link ]

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Normally, the sight wouldn’t really catch his attention. Bustling as the city is, there are still a share of stray animals out and about, looking for scraps or friendly hands to offer tidbits. Maybe even feel generous enough to take them home.

But something about this just feels...off.

Doing his homework as he always does at the little table outside the cafe, Sasuke finds himself tasked with a reading passage from his literature class. Boring, but at least it’s not that hard. Blinking owlishly as he takes in the text on the page, his lackluster gaze is immediately tempted by something more intriguing: movement.

Glancing up, chin resting against a curled fist, he takes notice of...a long-haired brown cat. It saunters along the lip of the opposing sidewalk, which is surprisingly empty for early afternoon. The tall buildings that flank both sides mean there’s not a scrap of sunshine despite the strip of clear blue sky above them. In the lurking grey down below, nothing really seems out of place.

And yet…

Watching it curiously, Sasuke sees as it sits just above a storm drain, sweeping tail flicking idly, paws aligned neatly with the edge. It almost seems like it’s...waiting for something. Furtive eyes - which Sasuke notices are a strange, pale color he can’t quite put a name to - seem to glance side to side.

...do cats usually do that?

Frowning, Sasuke just...stares as the cat continues to sit, eyeing its surroundings so...oddly grumpily.

And then, without warning, it gets up...and keeps walking right by the cafe.

For a moment, Sasuke weighs his choices. He can...pretend that didn’t seem as odd as it did, and just sit here and keep doing his homework. Or...he can get up and follow it.

Chewing his lip, he glances in where his aunt is still working. Surely she won’t mind, right…?

“I’ll be right back!” he calls just in case, not giving her a chance to refuse him. His book closes with a slap, fleeing his table and taking off down the road.

By now, the feline has slipped around a corner, Sasuke skidding to slow and trying to find it. A more trafficky route, pedestrians block a great deal of his view, but...there! Weaving around ignorant legs, the cat keeps going, oddly calm in the sea of human feet.

That only drives Sasuke further. Apologizing as he pushes his way through the crowds, he struggles to keep the animal in his line of sight until it takes yet another turn into a narrow alley.

Peering into it...Sasuke finds it empty.

A bit out of breath, his brow furrows. Where did it go…? There’s no turns, and it couldn’t have made it around another corner, could it? His eyes flicker up, wondering if it climbed something.

And then he hears a clack.

Perking, Sasuke eases into the narrow gap between the buildings. It’s oddly cold, and he feels the hairs on his neck and arms stand on end.

And then, he spies a wrought iron gate tucked into an inlet he couldn’t see from the street. That must have been what he heard. Did someone let the cat through…?

“...anything?”

He freezes. Someone’s talking…!

“No, nothing. Seems we’ve been stood up again.”

A delicate sigh permeates the quiet. “Well...at least it w-wasn’t a trap.”

“Which is why I insisted on going first. After last time -”

“I know, I...I know. But we have to make money somehow...I don’t want to have to fish through any more dumpsters…”

“I’ll keep stealing if I must.”

“But -!”

“It’s wrong, but we must take care of ourselves. Until more work can be found. I won’t let you come to harm just because this city is -”

As he struggles to see who’s beyond the gate, Sasuke flinches as his foot nudges a bottle. Beyond, he barely makes out a pair of silhouettes: one of a child his age, and another of a cat.

But in the next moment, it changes. Suddenly, the cat is gone. And in its place is...another child? They posture protectively in front of their companion, who quails back in surprise. “Who’s there?!”

At the harsh, hissing tone, Sasuke flinches. How can he explain…?

“Neji, i-it’s okay.”

“But -?”

“Look, they’re just a kid!” There’s a pause. “...maybe...you were followed?”

“Impossible,” the first voice scoffs.

“I...saw a cat acting strange,” Sasuke decides to offer. Being truthful should help, right…? “I just...wanted to see what it was doing.”

The silence sours only to be broken by a wind-chime giggle. “...seems you were followed,” the more feminine voice teases, earning a scoff.

“I’m sorry, I...didn’t mean to bother anyone. Did you guys see that cat? Or where it went?”

Another pause. “He’s, um…” The voice hesitates, and then someone steps forward. A girl, around Sasuke’s own age of thirteen. Dark hair cut short, she has the same pale eyes as that cat! “He’s here.”

“Hinata, I don’t think -?”

“I-it’s fine, Neji. Come on.”

Behind her, the other figure lingers...and then steps forward. Pale eyes, and...long brown hair…

...wait…

Sasuke balks in surprise. “...y...you’re the cat?!”

Arms folding defensively, the boy - he...thinks they’re a boy? - narrows his gaze heatedly. “Nosy brat, aren’t you?”

In spite of himself, Sasuke bristles. “Well it - er, you - were acting funny!”

“It was still none of your business.”

“Neji was o-out on my behalf!” the girl cuts in, physically stepping between the two nervously. “He’s...he’s my familiar. And...my cousin.”

Sasuke blinks in disbelief. “...what?”

“It, well...i-it’s a long story. You see, we -”

“Don’t tell him anything, Hinata,” the one called Neji interrupts sharply, an arm held out to blockade her. “We can’t trust him!”

“But -?”

“I’m not gonna hurt anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Sasuke retorts, arms folding. “But it is weird a couple of kids are out here alone. Let alone...changing into cats, and going through people’s garbage. You know that can get you in trouble, right?”

At that, Neji’s face alights an embarrassed red. “How much did you -?!”

“Neji, please,” Hinata counters softly, instantly quieting him. “...maybe...m-maybe he can help…?”

“Him? Help? How?”

“Tell me what you’re doing out here first,” the Uchiha mutters.

The pale-eyed pair exchange a glance...and then Neji concedes with a short sigh, retreating.

“...we come from a long line of witches and...companions,” Hinata begins softly. “One side of the family being gifted in magic, and...the other side meant to protect them. I’m from the f-former, and...Neji is from the latter. For a long time, we would offer our skills in exchange for money, but…” She wilts. “...anymore, we’re treated more like criminals.”

“Lady Hinata was attacked last week,” Neji cuts in, tone hot with anger. “Someone lied, saying they wanted our help, only to try and hurt her. We barely escaped…”

“We offer h-honest work for honest pay,” she mumbles, wilting. “But not everyone s-sees it that way. So we haven’t been able to f-fend for ourselves.”

“Can’t you go home…?” Sasuke asks, confused. “Why are you out here on your own? Aren’t you my age…?”

“We’re meant to go out on our own for a year at thirteen,” Neji explains. “It’s a kind of...training. Surviving on our talents. But that’s an old tradition, no longer suited for a changing world…”

“M-my father won’t let us return until the year is o-over.” Hinata’s tone starts to bubble, threatening to cry.

“Hiashi is a cruel man,” Neji confirms, tone softening as he puts an arm around his cousin’s shoulders. “So we’ve been making due however we can...even if it’s not pretty. Our pride can survive what our stomachs cannot.”

Sasuke, all the while, slowly looks more and more ill at ease. Sending children out on their own? At this age, and for an entire year with no help?! Given the struggles he’s faced himself - losing his parents years ago, his widowed aunt taking in him and his brother on top of her own son and disability - he can understand struggle, but this…?

Looking the pair over, he then makes up his mind, jaw setting. A hand reaches out and takes Hinata’s, much to both of the cousins’ surprise. “C’mon.”

“But -?”

“C’mon!” Offering no other explanation, he starts towing her along. Neji, shocked, shrinks back into his familiar form, tucked safely in Hinata’s remaining arm as she stumbles after Sasuke.

Back down the street they go, around corners until they see the cafe. It’s getting late, but the doors are still open. “Aunty Manami!” Sasuke calls.

Crutch under one arm, the woman makes her way outside, expression stricken and then wilting with relief. “There you are! Where’ve you been?”

“Uh...long story. Hey, is the kitchen still serving?”

“Yeah, for another half an hour - you hungry?”

“No, but...my friends are.” He then pulls Hinata up beside him, the girl pink and clearly flustered.

“...oh!” Manami blinks. “Well, sure. What’ll you have, sweetie?”

“...I-I -?”

“Can she look at a menu, first?”

“Yeah, one sec.”

As she disappears to fetch one, Sasuke guides Hinata to his table. “What are you doing?” she whispers harshly. “I...I don’t have any money!”

“I’ve got an allowance,” Sasuke counters.

“But -!”

“It’s fine. I never spend it, anyway.”

Floundering for words, Hinata wilts as Manami reappears.

“Here you go, kiddo.”

“...thank you.”

Smiling, the woman then glances to her nephew, jerking her head to make him follow her back inside. “So...what’s really going on here, Sasuke?”

“...she got kicked out of her house.”

“What?!”

Without revealing too much, Sasuke spins a half-truth. “I just...wanted to help. She’s been trying to find work but no one’ll take her on.”

Sighing deeply, Manami watches Hinata through the window, Neji standing his front paws on the table from her lap and seeming to read alongside her. “...I have an idea.”

“Wait, what -?”

Gesturing for him to be quiet, Manami heads back outside, startling Hinata as she approaches. The pair talk, voices too muffled for Sasuke to hear. But then the girl threatens to break down into tears again, Neji perching protectively around the back of her neck as she jumps up and latches onto Manami tightly.

What the…?

It then seems like Hinata places her order, and Manami steps back in, looking smug.

“...what did you do?”

“I offered her a job.”

“What?! But -?”

“It’s fine. There’s an empty room over the storage building she can use. I need someone quicker on their feet than me, anyway. She can be my missing foot,” she jokes, swinging her half-missing leg idly.

“...you really…?”

“I know we’re struggling, but one more mouth to feed won’t break us,” Manami insists, waving aside his concern. “For now, she needs something to eat. We’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”

At that, Sasuke can’t help a small feeling of guilt. Technically, including Neji, there’s two more mouths...but hopefully it won’t make too big of a difference. He’ll just...defer his allowance back to his aunt for a while. Without her knowing, of course.

He doesn’t need it.

Heading back outside, Sasuke gives a sheepish smile. “...well, guess that’s happening, huh?”

Hopping back to her feet, Hinata seems to fight back tears. “...thank you…!”

“It’s okay, really -”

“No...t-this is…” Lacking the words, she just bows her head shyly.

Atop her shoulders, Neji blinks slowly.

“...well...consider it payback for being nosy,” Sasuke then offers nonchalantly, glancing aside. “Guess you have Neji to thank, really.”

Straightening, Hinata blinks before giggling, a hand reaching up to scritch at his ears. “...yeah. I do.”

     Welp, this is...technically yesterday’s prompt, I’m behind. My darn toothache just got the better of me u_u Not sure if I’ll catch up tonight but I’ll try!      Anyway, if anyone can guess what movie this is based off of, you get ten internet points because it is my all-time favorite movie xD A bit changed around, but...well, I didn’t want to copy it exactly. But I’m still calling this my crossover verse for lack of anything else that fits lol      Manami is an OC of mine, Mikoto’s older sister and Shisui’s mother! In canon she loses half of a leg during the Nine Tails’ attack, so...I usually have her that way in other universes, too. She’s a very sweet bean, I love her ;w; In modern verses she usually takes Itachi and Sasuke in after their parents’ death, like here.      Anywho! Gonna take a break and see if I can must up another one before passing out for the night lol - if not, I’ll just try again tomorrow xD Thanks for reading!

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Riverdale 4x19 Finale Review/Analysis

First off I’d like to apologise for how late this review is I had written all but the last part but then was dealing with some family stuff so its a bit later than usual. But anyway here it is my review/analysis for the season 4 finale. Despite them having to reschedule everything so that this was the season finale when it clearly wasn’t suppose to be I still actually really enjoyed this episode. However that said there were some things that, well I guess you could say they didn’t quite sit right with me but overall I think this was one of the better episodes of the seasons. I don’t have as much to say about this episode as I do feel like it was a bit of a filler episode but I figured we could still go through the episode and talk about the things I liked, the things I didn’t but also what clues might have been left for us. I’m also going to give some theories and predictions for season 5 based on some of the interviews I’ve read since watching the episode. As always these are just my own opinions its fine if you disagree and of course there are spoilers.

  No Seriously Though Who Is The Voyeur?

So to kick things off I figured we could talk first about the video tapes and again who I think the voyeur is. Well I’m sticking to my theory that it’s Donna accompanied by a group of lackies. Yeah I know I’ll die on this hill. The episode starts out similar to the one before with Charles, Betty and Jughead watching the re-enactment of Jason Blossoms murder. Just as a quick tangent here but can we have a shout out for the casting team because seeing all three of them side by side really brought out the resemblance between them, like Charles looks so much like both Betty and Jughead like I can fully believe that Charles is brother to them both. Any way back on track, during this scene all three of them ask some very good questions. Charles asks why the escalation now and could it be a warning. Betty suggests that maybe its a pratice run for an actual murder. (This is actually something I suggested myself when the first re enactment was shown and I said that Donna and the stonies might have filmed it as a practice run for Jughead’s actual murder.) Jughead also makes a suggestion saying it seemed like the voyeur was trying to blur the lines between fact and fiction. This I think might be a clue to who the voyeur might be. I also think its more evidence to support my theory. Fiction makes me think of writing and story telling, when we first meet Donna its at Stonewall Prep where she is part of a writing seminar. In my opinon from the way these videos are set up it seems to me that the person sending out the videos isn’t just a voyeur but a storyteller too and Donna fits this bill. We know that she is a writer so thats a check for the storyteller, and by her own admission she watched the tapes Bret was making of the other students at Stonewall so thats the check for a voyeur. Also all of the re-enactments can be linked back to Jughead in some way. Obviously the first one shows Jughead’s would be murder with Betty killing Jughead with a rock, the Jason Blossom one I talked about in my last review and how Jughead had based his first Baxter Brothers draft on his murder, Midge’s death can also be linked to Jughead as he filmed the whole Carrie BTS thing and so was actually the one who (accidently) recorded Midge’s original murder which the voyeur then watched and used for the re-enactment. The latest one depicting Mr Honey’s murder can obviously be linked back to Jughead as its his story. In an interview RAS said that the voyeur had very personal reasons for what they were doing and well we know that Donna is holding a grudge against Jughead. The other thing that is interesting is that there are several references to Stonewall, the Stonies and that plotline throughout the episode. The first is when Jughead says getting into Iowa could be a way to make up for the Stonewall hell, then during his story they all wear Stonewall jackets and the infamous bunny masks, there is another reference when during the story the two boys in the locker room are talking about rumours that Mr Honey had an affair with a student, I mean a false accusation of an affair with a student made against a dead teacher, hmm that sounds familiar. Of course I do think this is a reference to Donna and the story she made up about her and Mr Chippens in an attempt to cover up his murder. Also the story line of a group of teenagers commiting a murder and then murdering one of their friends when they get cold feet is the same as the Stonewall plotline where the others murdered Jonathon because they were afraid he was going to tell. The last reference comes from Mr Honey when he says hes going to be the new principal at Stonewall. I don’t think its a coincidence that just as things a heating up in the storyline with the tapes they are now starting to drop more references to Stonewall and by extention Donna, I think these might be clues left by the writers. Of course I could also be barking up the wrong tree. 

So who else are my main suspects for who the voyeur could be? Well RAS said this in an interview about the voyeur.

So we know from this that the voyeur’s primary motive is a personal vendetta but we also know that on some level they are also interested in how trauma has changed the town and the kids in it. So now we just need to figure out who fits this criteria. I do think its going to be a character that we have already met because its too late in the game to introduce a new character or have it be someone we don’t know as it would be very anitclimatic if that did happen. 

Ok so unfortunately my boy Charles could fit this description. As much as I love him he does have a very personal reason to have a grudge against the town. It is very possible that he is angry that he was given up for adoption but also that Alice, when he came looking for his family, shut the door in his face. He could also be angry specifically at Betty, Jughead and also even Archie and Veronica as he could consider them responsible for getting Chic (his lover) arrested. It also wouldn’t be a reach for Charles who due to being an FBI agent has a very inquisitive mind and an investigative nature to be interested in how his birth town became corrupt and what trauma can do to kids especially if he on some level is trying to figure out why he was given up for adoption and why he was later turned away by his family. Maybe he wants to know if it was because of the town’s sickness and the darkness of the people in the town. It could also be him looking into whether he too has been twisted, afterall we know that he was raised by the Sisters of Quiet Mercy and who knows what kind of an effect that has had on him, so he could be trying to learn about his own darkness too. I personally, as I’ve said before, don’t want them to go this route. I just, one, feel like it would be way to predictable, it wouldn’t shock me at all. Two, they’ve done the whole evil brother earns the family’s trust then turns out to be a phychotic killer with Chic. I don’t want or need to see that storyline again, like please please Riverdale show me something new. I just think it would be more interesting to go the secret FBI agent route where he is manipulating the villians to take them down than the he’s evil one.

Another of my suspects I’ve also spoken about before is Terry the Ticklemaster. This one I’m less sure on and is based mostly on the fact that I just think he’s really suspicious and we know that he works with cameras. I’m unsure on what his personal vendetta could be as we don’t have enough information about him to know. However I could see how as a film maker he might also be interested in human behaviour so might also be interested in how the trauma effects Riverdale and its kids. To be honest I think its more likely that he is helping the voyeur than him actually being the voyeur. 

Suspect number 3 is Evelyn. I know she’s been in prison but she could be using the hypnosis she’s put on some of the farmies like she did with Polly and Alice to get others to do her bidding. Kind of like she’s the puppet master. As for what personal reason she could have well she could blame all those in Riverdale who used to be with the farm and who now aren’t, like Alice, Fangs, Kevin, Toni and Cheryl for abandoning the Farm and also Betty for the fact that she has been arrested and her husband has been killed. Also we know the Farm used people’s darkness to manipulate them into joining the cult so its possible that she would have a dark, twisted interest in how trauma is infecting the town.

Mr Honey could also be another possibilty. I know they kinda painted him as being the good guy at the end of this episode but I still haven’t forgotten about him visiting the red suite or other questionable behaviour such as wrecking Reggie’s car and being manipulative with Kevin and Reggie in the halloween episode. He also seems to have a weird vendetta against the students. Also his whole speech about trying to prepare them for the outside world because Riverdale isn’t normal makes me think that maybe he is sending the tapes to force these kids to look at their past traumas and understand how the town has a darkness and a sickness, a way of forcing them to see how dark they’ve become themselves and how wrong it is. Also weirdly the fact the show is trying to show him as a good guy makes me more suspicious of him. Of course all of this is provided he wasn’t the one being murdered at the end of this episode which I will discuss in a bit. 

Another option is Ethel. I mean poor Ethel has been mixed up in some pretty messed up situations. She’s got alot of reasons to be angry at the town. I mean there was the whole thing with Chuck in season 1, then in season 2 she was sending those threatening letters about Cheryl pretending to be the black hood in the Carrie episode, season 3 was the G&G plotline and she ended up with the sisters, now in season 4 we find out she is mixed up in the red suite where they had homemade sex tapes and snuff films. Plus she had that line about making it out of Riverdale in one piece which suggests that she recognises that the town isn’t normal and had a traumatic effect on the kids. Out of all of them though I think she’s the least likely. 

Ok this one is a little more out there but when going over the footage of the Honey Murder I did notice that the woman in the Betty mask does look to have blonde hair. It is a little hard to tell though because of the low quality and the lighting. But if they did have blonde hair who do we know who might have an issue with Riverdale. Well I think it could be Polly. We haven’t really heard from her since the beginning of the season so we don’t know for sure if she is still at Shady Grove or not. Also she’s got plenty of personal reasons to be doing this. Her fiance and father of her twins was murdered by his own father, FP hid the body, her own Father tried to force her to have an abortion before with her mother’s agreement she was locked up with the Sisters. Then she is taken in by blossoms only to find out that she was having her cousin’s babies and that the blossoms were only helping her so they could get the babies. Her dad turns out to be a serial killer. Then she ends up joining a cult, gets a bomb strapped to her chest and then ends up locked up in a mental hospital. She’s been deeply affected by the darkness of the town and more specifically Jason’s death. His murder has been brought up alot this season this could be in preparation of revealing the voyeur to be Polly getting revenge for Jason’s murder. 

Ok please forgive me for this one, I’m really hoping this one isn’t true but the thought did pop into my mind so. But I realised that the two videos found at the Red Suite, the Jason Blossom murder and Midge’s have something in common. They were both pieces of footage that were handed into the Sheriff’s Department. More specifically they were handed in when Tom Keller was Sheriff. Now I’m not suggesting that its Tom but rather Kevin. We know that Kevin was one of the first people to see the footage of Jason Blossom being murdered. He was also in charge of the Carrie production and I feel like he felt alot of responsibility for what happened to her. It’s also not unreasonable to assume he might have been able to get hold of those two pieces of footage through his Father he could have snuck in and stolen them. We also know he knows how to use a camera as we saw him filming for Alice in episode 15. Also Kevin has gone through alot of crap the last couple of years and I think his speech to Mr Honey in the musical episode is very telling of his mental state right now particularly how he talked about how he felt numb but was screaming on the inside. Also in the beginning of the season when he was talking to Betty and Charles he said he had felt alone all summer after leaving the Farm. Maybe these tapes are his way of getting the anger out. Also he was in prime position to get his hands on Jughead’s story about Mr Honey. It was Kevin who came and told Jughead and Betty that Mr Honey was looking for them. Its during this scene that we see Jughead leave his pages on the desk. Its possible that Kevin then went in there and took the pages. However although I don’t watch Katy Keene I am aware that apparently Kevin was on that show and that its set 5 years in the future I believe. I did see one clip where Kevin is talking about how he is still in Riverdale and that he works at Riverdale high. But if he were involved surely he would be in jail. But its possible that he was either hypnotised by Evelyn, the group  find out he’s involved but the authorities don’t, he’s sent to jail but is released by the time he is seen in Katy Keene, he makes a bargain with the authorities where he gets immunity if he turns the ringleader in. I feel something must have happened though because last episode Kev was talking about going to Carniege but after watching that clip I’m not so sure he did go because I feel like if he had he wouldn’t now be back in Riverdale working at the school, he’d be onto bigger better things. Him being involved in the video tapes could explain why he didn’t go to that college if that is the case. But as I sai I don’t watch the show, I haven’t seen the full episode I’ve just seen the one clip so there could be something in the episode that exonerates him of my accusations.   

So out of them all who do I think is most likely the voyeur? Well actually pretty much all of them. We know from the Mr Honey tape that the Voyeur is not working alone, there were six people in that video doing the murdering so there must be at least six people involved. There were three females and three males. So I think our ringleader is Donna and that she is accompanied by Polly, Evelyn (who seeing as we haven’t checked in on her in a good few episodes it possible she could have either been released from jail or escaped), Terry, Mr Honey and Kevin. All of these characters have a motive and they can all been linked, Donna knows Evelyn because she went to visit her in jail and they worked together to mess with Betty, Evelyn is connected to Polly and Kevin through the farm, Kevin is connected to Terry and Mr Honey. Several of them can also be linked to the Red suite or to film making in some way. 

As for whether it was really Mr Honey being killed in the video I do have some thoughts on that. Firstly the bandage that was on Mr Honey’s hand all episode doesn’t appear to be on the victims hand, of course they could have taken if off. If we go with Mr Honey is one of the killers in the video then we still have the problem that no one in the video had a bandage on their hand. Another thing I thought of is if it is the real Mr Honey why bother putting a mask on him? Is it just for theatrics? In which case surely it would have been much scarier and dramatic if the viewer knew it was Mr Honey. So I’m kinda 50/50 on that one. If it is him then I don’t think that neccessarily means he wasn’t ever involved after all if it is Donna masterminding it all then it wouldn’t be the first time she’s killed someone on her side because they stopped being useful. But if it is him then Jughead could find himself in hot water considering he was the one who wrote the story about Mr Honey being murdered by his group of friends and then that actually happens, that looks very suspicious. But what about you guys do you think it was Mr Honey who was killed or do you think he’s lived to cancel prom another day? 

Freaky Friction 

Next I want to talk about the storyline of Jughead’s revenge fantasy story. I actually loved these parts of the episode, mostly. There were some things that I wasn’t quite ok with but for the most part it was really entertaining. I loved loved loved seeing the kids work together as a group. Also just them hanging out as a group. Those scenes where they were altogether are the kind of scenes I’ve been looking for all season, these characters are suppose to be friends and it was refreshing to see those interactions, the only thing that could have made it better would have been if Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea were also included. What I found most interesting about this storyline was firstly, this whole concept of how the kids are really the monsters and how the town has become dark and corrupted. Jughead’s story kind of held a mirror up to both the kids and the town as a whole and showed just how dark they had become. I loved how that was a gradual realisation as well, like as the story went on Jughead is slowly beginning to see that. The other thing I thought was really interesting is the way Jughead depicts the characters in his story. So starting with the way Jughead wrote the charaters. To me they all seemed really ooc like none of them behaved the way I thought they would. For example it was interesting that he depicted Reggie as the one who can’t handle the aftermath of the murder and starts to slip up and cave and tell people about what they had done and that it was Archie who stopped him. The reason why I think this is interesting is because although we don’t know how Reggie would react in that situation, we have some idea of how Archie would because of the whole Jughead attempted murder thing. Now I know they are slightly different scenarios because Jughead didn’t die but we have to remember that in those first couple of days they didn’t know if Jughead was going to die and they also didn’t know if Betty had actually been the one to do it. So essentially they were acting how they would have if they were trying to cover up a murder. In that scenario it was actually Archie who nearly slipped up and told his mum what had happened. The only reason why he didn’t was because Betty saw what was happening and rang him up to warn him to stop talking. Later Archie actually does cave and tells his mum the truth about how Jughead had faked his death. So we know that really if Jughead had written the characters accurately then Archie should have been the one struggling not to tell anyone. 

Also its interesting the way he depicts Reggie, as mostly throughout the series he and Reggie have been at odds with each other. In season 1 Reggie straight up bullied Jughead and there has been alot of conflict between Reggie and the Serpents in the rest of the seasons. But there have been moments when its really mattered where they have all come together. Given all the physical altercations he and Reggie have gotten into you’d think Jughead would write him as a violent unremorseful character but he doesn’t while he does have one scene where Reggie loses his temper and beats on Mr Honey for most of the story Reggie is seen being very regretful and guilty of his actions. I think this is because Jughea recognises that alot of Reggie’s anger and outbursts stem from the abuse he has suffered growing up. Reggie says to Archie that his dad has been hitting him for as long as he can remember. That has to have had an effect on him. I think Jughead knows that unltimately Reggie is a good person underneath it all.   

Veronica was another one that wasn’t written the way I was expecting her to be. I’ve said this so many times in my other posts that you are probably getting bored of it but we have to remember to look at things from the character’s pov in situations like this. Obviously all of this is told from Jughead’s point of view. This is what makes it so interesting because in the past Jughead has villanized Veronica. In season 3 there was pretty much an all out war between his family and hers and he was fully aware of the fact that she was helping her parents with their schemes. She knew about Southside High being closed down yet acted like she didn’t and even tried to manipulate the situation in her parents favour, as nice as it was for her to greet the serpents and welcome them to the school she wasn’t doing that out of the kindness of her own heart it was because her parents told her to. She also knew about the prison and actively helped her parents bring that about. She got her redemption arc later when she then turned agaisnt her parents. But I feel like Jughead has always seen her as a cold, calculating person who is often influenced by her parents and I wouldn’t say they have been particularly close over the seasons. Also again, as with Archie, we know how she would react in a situation like this due to the whole Jughead is dead thing and in that situation in my opinion she was the calmer more logical thinking one out of the three. So its really interesting to me that in both versions of his story he wrote Veronica as the moral compass. I do have one theory on it though. If we are going on the assumption that Jughead has a negative and biased view of Veronica because of his family’s hardships at the hands of Veronica’s family and that he believes that Veronica is the one who is the most corrupt because of those events then maybe him putting Veronica in the position of being morally correct is his subconcious telling him there is still hope that they could escape the darkness of the town. Like if Veronica can turn things around then there is hope for them all. It’s possible that he has watched her fight her way out from under her parents thumb and escape their dark influence and make her own path and he actually kind of admires her for it. It’s been something he himself has tried to do in respect of getting away from his own family’s dark past and being the first Jones man to go to college. He’s been judged his whole life for where he comes from and who his family is and its something he has fought back against as long as we’ve known him, this whole idea of no you’re wrong I’m so much more than what you think I am. I think he is now starting to recognise that Veronica has been through that same thing too. From day one people have judged her for being Hiram Lodge’s daughter, that her family are criminals and she’ll be just the same. But as I’ve said he’s witnessed her journey and seen how she has fought to prove people wrong and make herself into the person she wants to be. I think this is a character trait that Jughead really respects and admires. This is why he then writes her as almost the heroine of the story.

Cheryl is also another one that behaves differently to how we’ve seen her at in the same situation in the real world. Its really intriguing that Jughead chose to write Cheryl the way he did. Again we know that when confronted with a dead body to get rid of and a murder to cover up, Cheryl will react calmly and in that situation she was the one that came up with the plan to get rid of the body and how to make sure her relatives stayed quiet she also showed little signs that it had effected her much afterwards. Yet in Jughead’s story she’s one of the most emotional. We and also Jughead have seen in the past that Cheryl tends to keep most of her emotions bottled up, she rarely really reacts to trauma. She tends to put on a brave face most of the time but then we’ve seen her show emotion enough to know that she is still capable of feeling emotion and that she is effected by what is happening around her but she tends to keep it all in check until it finally bubbles over. Out of everyone you could argue that Cheryl has had one of the roughest times on the show and I don’t think she is ever really given the time or space to properly process her trauma or grieve her losses. She’s been damaged by the things shes gone through and her parents abuse who I feel like taught her emotion was a weakness. We know that her mother often told her she was a loveless monster and heartless and I think on some level Cheryl believed her, it was something that plagues her as we see from her conversation with Toni at Pop’s after they saw Love, Simon. Her relationship with Toni is helping her realise this isn’t true but I still think those scars from her mother’s phsycological abuse run deep and I think this not being allowed to properly grieve was what led to that really unhealthy situation where she had Jason in her basement. What I think Jughead has done in his story is portrayed Cheryl how she probably should behave and react to this situation given her past traumas. He’s allowing her to let her emotions out and actually grieve. Maybe he recognises that she’s hiding behind a wall and feels some kind of sympathy for her and so in his story where he is the master of what happens he lets her process things in a more healthy way of crying it out to her friends. 

Which brings me to the next part because if that is the case and he is trying to write Cheryl as processing things healthily then why does his own character of Jughead behave the way he does towards Cheryl and tell her to get ahold of herself and even potentially plans to kill her for showing emotion? Well I think the most interesting part of Jughead’s story is the way he depicts himself and Betty. Again these are characters where we’ve seen what their natural reaction to getting rid of dead bodies is. With the whole Shady Man plotline we saw both of them have very emotional reactions, Betty is seen throwing up and having flashbacks and Jughead looked visibly shaken when she told him about it. Betty again reacts the same way when she thinks she might have hurt Jughead we again see her throwing up and really struggling with it. Yet in Jughead’s story they are without a doubt the most ruthless and darkest out of all the characters in the story. It almost comes across as them enjoying it, they show no remorse for killing Mr Honey or Reggie and they ridicule the others for showing emotion like they see it as them being weak. They seem straight up psychotic at times. So why has he written them this way? Well some of it I think is his own fears making their way into his writing. I think he has this fear that they’ve all been through so much that by this point they are too damaged and that they will never fully escape the darkness of the town, that no matter where they go that darkness will follow them. I think this particularly hits home when Story Jughead says ‘are we going to be monsters in college or in jail.’ This to me seems like he doesn’t believe that leaving Riverdale will free them from all the pain and horrific events they’ve experienced. That this is something he fears. I feel like its a fear that alot of the other kids feel too. But I think Jughead fears the most that he and Betty are the ones that will struggle the most to leave it all behind. If you think about it he and Betty are the ones who are most often pulled into the murder and mayhem of the town by their investigative adventures. More and more willingly over time they went looking for mysteries to solve. I think it got to the point where they started to enjoy and almost become obsessed with solving these mysteries to the point where they are now almost in too deep. I also think it would be natural for Jughead to worry more about Betty the most as she’s the one he’s closest too. If you think about it the next darkest character in the original story is Archie who is the next closet person to him. The other interesting part though is when he rewrites the story he ‘saves’ Archie from his darkness and makes him a good guy who does the right thing. I think part of this is because he has seen Archie consistently try to do the right thing and so maybe he thinks this will somehow help spare Archie from being stuck in the darkness. But both he and Betty are still the dark characters who get no redemption in the end, I think this is because it is such a deep rooted fear that he believes neither he or Betty will ever be able to walk away from it all, that they will always be sucked back into another murder mystery. 

I think another reason why he might have depicted them as the darkest of all the characters is because as Cheryl said they found each other in this town of nightmares. It was the darkness of Riverdale that their relationship was born out of. I made a post about how Archie sees the light in Betty well I feel like its the opposite for Jughead and he sees the darkness in her. Now before some of you start picking up your pitchforks and flaming torches I don’t necessarily mean that’s a bad thing. In fact in some ways its a good thing that Jughead can understand that darker part of her and that he accepts it, I feel like its what Betty needed at times. I also think it was important that Betty was also able to do the same for Jughead. But this only works if they are helping each other work through their darkness, which they used to do in the past.

And this is where we reach the true problem, that epiphany that Jughead reaches. These kids have stopped helping and supporting each other through the darkness, now instead they’ve started to encourage each others inner darkness. As Jughead says after he rewrites his story he realised that he was revelling in the town’s sickness and enjoying the suffering of another. This was true of all the kids. I liked this running theme, that ran simultaneously through both the story Jug was writing and the plotline of the kids going up against Mr Honey over prom, of the real monsters being the kids who have been corrupted by the town and all its happenings. I mean during the whole planning out the revenge fantasy and planning how to overthrow Mr Honey not one of them stopped to question whether what they were doing was right, not one of them called their friends out they all just encouraged each other and threw in their own ideas. I mean when Betty starts talking about how Mr Honey works late on tuesdays so they could sneak into school and kidknap him, Archie doesn’t comeback with wow Betty that’s really dark maybe we shouldn’t be thinking about this, instead he points out that Mr Honey would recognise them. It all just kind of snowballs from there. And yes I get that its all fiction and made up and its played off comically but its different when its set in a town where this sort of thing actually happens on a regular basis and, as Betty says herself, alot of lines in the story they have said in real life, I mean Betty, Jughead and Cheryl have been in the postion where they have had someone tied up, Cheryl has actually mapleboarded her mother which is what gave them that idea for the revenge fantasy. Some of them have legit had to get rid of a body before. Its the fact that while it might be made up they are getting the ideas from real life experiences that makes it seem all the more sinister. 

The other disturbing thing to though is throughout most of the episode the kids don’t recognise that they are the bad guys. They see Mr Honey as this enemy because when you think about it every person in town in twisted in some way, that’s what’s normal for riverdale. I think its very telling that the first thing Betty plans to do when thinking of a plan to overthrow Honey and get prom back is look for skeletons. Again she does this because that’s just how Riverdale works, everyone has a secret that they are hiding or some dark past they don’t want anyone to know about and using blackmail to get what you want is just a normal way to deal with things in Riverdale and its been this way for so long now that the kids don’t even see why that’s wrong. I saw alot of comments saying about how they thought the way the kids were behaving with Mr Honey was wrong and that he was in the right most of the time when he was punising the students, like he was right when he punished Cheryl for locking her coach in a room and causing that coach to have a panic attack, the tickle gang were wearing school uniforms in those videos which could give the school a bad rep, he didn’t know that Betty didn’t cheat on the quiz and if as the evidence suggested she had then banning her from prom was the right thing to do. There were some things he did that were very questionable and as I said above I’m not completley sold on him being a good guy. But all these comments are right, for the most part he behaved as a normal strict principal would in most of those situations. But we have to look at it from the kids point of view and remember that the majority of the adults they’ve had in their lives have been abusive or manipulative and done some pretty awful things to them so its not at all surprising that these kids would see Honey’s actions as him being out to get them afterall that’s what a normal adult in riverdale would be doing. I think the most worrying part though is that it almost seemed like on some level the kids didn’t want things to change. For example when Jughead told Honey not to mess with them in their own town or how when Honey pointed out the all the murder, mayhem and depravity in the town was not normal, Betty replied it was normal to them. I feel like the kids are stuck in this limbo where some part of them wants to escape and get out of Riverdale and another part of them is afraid of leaving what is normal to them. Whilst Riverdale and its ways are not normal to the rest of the world its what these kids know and understand. I just thought this idea of holding up a mirrror to the town and showing just how effected the residents of riverdale and the kids in particular was a really interesting one that they explored this episode.

I’m Not So Sure About That

Ok so I do want to quickly talk about the parts that I had a bit of an issue with. Firstly I really didn’t like that Jughead used Reggie’s abuse at the hands of his father as a plotpoint in his story. This story was being sent off to a College where other people, strangers that Reggie doesn’t know will read it. Ok so Jughead was going to change the names but even so something about it seemed wrong to me. I also feel like it is something that happens alot with Jughead’s writing to, he wrote about Jason Blossom without taking into consideration how it might be traumatic for Cheryl to know a book about her brother’s murder at the hands of her father is being read by people worldwide. Especially when she is trying to move on from it. Also he did the same with Betty where he was going to write one about her father which she got understandably upset about. I just feel like we are seeing this pattern of Jughead using his friends’ traumas for his writing without asking them first. Like I understand that he is drawing from his own experiences like he was heavily involved in solving these mysteries but it still didn’t seem right. Like if they had written in a quick scene or line where he talks to those who will be effected and was like hey I want to write this story, I think its important people know this story, I’m going to change the names, is it ok for me to do this, then it might have been a bit better. 

The other thing I was conflicted or even confused about was Jughead writing Betty the way he did, as Dark Betty and how ok Betty was with it. Now I did explain above why he might have done this but I’m still somewhat conflicted about it because I feel like this season Betty has really struggled with this whole dark side of herself to the point where she thought she might actually have hurt someone she loved and where she was willing to be hypnotised so she could kill her dark self. It seemed a bit insensitive for Jughead to then write Betty as Dark Betty and I was genuinely confused as to why Betty seemed to like it so much. I feel like she was a bit ooc this episode in that respect and it almost felt to me that she had gone backwards. I mean she had made all this progress before where she had moved on from this darkside of herself she had wanted to move away from the whole murder mysteries and focus more on other things and now its like she is being sucked back in again. I do think some of it is because thats the dynamic of her relationship with Jughead, they go on murder mysteries together and they’re both a little dark and twisted. But I can’t help but wonder if you take that away what’s left? What would their relationship look like without that stuff because I feel like its such a big part of them. I think the other part is as a mentioned above as much as these kids want to escape they also don’t want to leave what’s familiar to them. 

The other thing that I found a little odd and this one is minor, but when did Archie tell them about going to the Naval Academy? Because it seemed like a big decision for him but it was kind of just brushed over. I mean Jughead clearly knows about the Naval Academy because he writes into the story and Betty must know to because she didn’t have much of a reaction to reading it. The only thing I could think of is that Archie mentioned he had applied but they don’t know yet if he has got in. I’m pretty sure Jughead in the story said he was going to Iowa but we don’t know if he has got in yet. Obviously in that scene though they had to say they were going for it to fit the scene seeing as they were all listing the colleges they were going to. If that was it though its a bit disappointing as they made a bit of  a big deal out of him questioning whether to go and I feel like him telling his friends he’s going would be kind of something we should see. But I guess they still might ave a scene where he confirms he’s going to his friens, we’ll have to wait and see.

The fact that Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea weren’t included in this episode. I’m assuming that they had some good reason why they weren’t included like scheduling or something but still I would have liked to have seen them in those scenes.    

The Bits I liked    

Ok so now I want to talk about the bits I liked. I loved the comedy in this episode. Like it was dark humor but it was still good, I laughed alot during this episode at just how ridiculous some of it was and I do think that was the point they weren’t expecting you to take it seriously it was meant to be fun and it was. Some of my favourite moments was Archie suggesting he could sneak up on Honey and knock him out then when it shows the story acting it out Archie just runs straight at him and punches him in the face, no subtlety, no sneaking just pure chaotic energy. Everyone putting up their hands when asked whose got experience dealing with a body before and  Reggie commenting on how was he the only one who hadn’t dealt with a dead body before was another golden moment. I also loved the scene when the parents are confronting Honey and FP says he and Tom are just the muscle. I gotta admit as well that as sorry as I felt for him there was something very amusing about seeing Mr Honey being wheeled out of his office while stuck to his chair and with the hand still glued to the phone. There were just so many comedy gold moments throughout the episode. 

Reggie. Just Reggie as a person, he was great in this episode I loved every minute he was on screen and I really hope we get to see more of him in season 5. 

The scene where the kids recruit the parents and they all come walking slow mo down the hall and then threaten Mr Honey with lawyers and governors and scathing news articles (and of course the muscle) was amazing. 

Also the scene with the parents and the kids celebrating at Pop’s was really sweet with everything the parents were saying it did feel a bit like the end of a chapter like the parents are getting ready for their kids to fly the nest.  

Season 5 Predictions and Theories. 

Ok to finish off I want to talk about what I think might happen next for our Riverdale gang. I’ve based some of this off of the interviews that I have read since watching the episode and on what’s happened in the show already and where I logically think the show can/ will go from here. First I want to address the issue that there’s been some talk that the time jump might not happen. This is based off of an interview RAS gave where the reporter asked if the time jump will still happen and this is what RAS replied:             

So obviously this has caused some confusion as to whether the time jump will still happen. I personally feel like even though its going to be more difficult then doing it between seasons it is still something they should do. I feel like it could be a bit of a mess trying to follow them while they are all at colleges miles away from each other. I mean only Toni and Cheryl are going to the same school so they would have to build at least 5 new sets for each of the colleges. I feel like it would be kind of impossible for the group to interact when they are all at different schools. Alternately they do some storyline where none of them go to the colleges they wanted to and they all end up at local colleges which is kinda what they did with Gossip Girl and to be honest it turned into a bit of a mess. By the mid point of the season the audience wasn’t even sure if they were still even in college because they would never go and it just stopped making sense. They could try and draw out a storyline set in the summer right before they go to college up until the midseason finale and then do the 5 year time jump inbetween the mid season break. They did this with Pretty Little Liars and while it was a little jarring it worked slightly better than Gossip Girl trying to follow them through college. My personal preference would be for them to stick with what they planned orignally and finding a way to make that work so still have the time jump after episode 4x22/5x03. It’s not ideal I know but I feel like ultimately it will make more sense from a storytelling point of view. But seeing as it is so uncertain I am going to base my preditions off of the assumption there will be a time jump as planned. 

FP and Hermione

So we know that FP and Hermione won’t be in season 5 past episode 3 as the actors are leaving the show. However RAS has confirmed that neither character will die and that he hopes that they may be able to return now and again in the same way that they have Mary Andrews pop in and out when the narrative allows it. So if they aren’t dying how might they be written out of the show. Well this is where the time jump could come in handy. If Veronica goes to Barnard then maybe the Lodges or just Hermione move back to New York to be close to her. When whatever draws them back to Riverdale happens it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Hermione to choose to stay in New York. Maybe Hiram either doesn’t leave Riverdale to start with I mean he is Mayor, or if he did maybe he also comes back to keep an eye on Veronica. As for FP I think with Betty and Jughead going to college maybe FP and Alice decide that they’ve had enough of Riverdale and all the crap they’ve been through and so they decide to move out of town and raise Jelly Bean somewhere a little more kid friendly you know where she might not be murdered or roped into joining a cult or running drugs for a gang. Then when Betty is back in Riverdale maybe Alice comes back to help with whatever is going on. 

The Love Square. 

So based off the interviews we know that ep 20 was going to be the prom episode, that 21 was one where alot of emotional journeys climaxed and that 22 was graduation. We know that at some point Jughead and Veronica will find out about what happened between Archie and Betty and RAS did confirm two things one was that it won’t be the video tapes that outs them. The second is that they both find out in different ways. 

In regards to Veronica and Archie I think Veronica is going to find out in the prom episode. This is what RAS said about it:   

From what he is saying here about how we haven’t seen the last of the song Archie wrote for Betty I think it might be the song that gives him away. Now it could be that he sings it at Prom but I’m not sure why he would do that. Realistically you are not going to sing a song that you wrote about your childhood friend who you’ve caught feelings for and who is dating your best guy friend while at prom with your girlfriend. So I feel like someone is either going to find a recording of the song (we know that Archie sometimes records his songs as we’ve seen him play them from a portable recorder and his laptop) or someone will overhear him singing it. This could be Cheryl as she does like to meddle in things and cause some chaos. But maybe whoever hears the song puts Archie on the spot and asks him to sing it at prom leaving him with no other choice. Its possible that Veronica then realises that its not about her and there is some big dramatic blowout between them.A more awkward situation would be if something happens at the prom that prompts Archie’s mum to go on stage and suggest that Archie come up and sing as a way to distract from whatever drama is going down. Trying to be helpful maybe she asks if he can sing that beautiful song he wrote for Veronica. Again this puts Archie right on the spot as now everyone is expecting him to sing and Veronica is there beaming at him thinking he’s written some love song for her only to realise as he sings it that its not actually about her. Maybe this then forces him to come clean to Veronica and then they break up. 

Another option is that on Prom day/night Veronica either finds the song, either written in his notebook or a recording of it, or is mother mentions it to her and thats when she realises he’s written a song about someone else. Understandably this puts her in a bit of a bad mood but she doesn’t want to spoil the night so she quietly seeths for a bit until eventually during prom Archie having recognised she’s in a bad mood asks whats wrong and she can’t keep it in anymore and confronts him. 

Option 3 is again someone finds the recording and they download it and then play it at prom as oppose to Archie signing it live. I could see a potential scenario like this happening if Cheryl were to find the song and decides she really likes it and wants it to play while she and Toni have their prom queens dance so she just takes it and gives it to the DJ to play. Then we get the same as I’ve said before, Veronica confronts Archie he confesses and they realise their realtionship isn’t going anywhere. I feel like finding out about the kiss will bring up alot of other things they need to talk about too such as where their relationship is going in regards to what happens when they go to college and that kind of thing. 

As for Jughead and Betty RAS doesn’t mention anything about them in this interview in regards to prom but in another he does say that when they were looking at the footage of 4x20 to see if they could patch an episode together a big part of the reason why they chose not to was because they hadn’t yet filmed some important character scenes between Archie and Veronica and Betty and Jughead. So we know something important happens between Betty and Jughead during the prom episode but I don’t feel like its actually at prom because RAS said they had already filmed the big event. RAS had also said that after everything happened with Barchie Betty was feeling good about returning to Jughead and that she was trying to reconnect with him. To be honest this makes sense to me and we saw a bit of it in episode 19. I did feel like Betty seemed to be trying a little too hard with Jughead she just seemed more touchy feely with him than she usually is. We all said that we thought she would throw herself back into that relationship and really try to focus on it to distract herself. This is the same behaviour as the last time she and Archie kissed. Just pretend it didn’t happen and put extra attention on her relationship with Jughead. It would also make sense for her to feel good about it as she has convinced herself she made the right choice, Here’s the thing though RAS said trying to reconnect he doesn’t say anything about succeeding in that. Also Betty is being untruthful with Jughead right now by not being honest with him about what happened with Archie. So long as she is being untruthful with him its not going to work between them. Eventually its going to come out and its going to be made worse by the fact that Betty has been lying to him. RAS says this about episode 21:  

He also in another interview said this about Betty an Jughead’s relationship:

So I could see a couple of things happening here. One it’s still possible that Jughead finds out about Archie and Betty in the prom episode just maybe not at prom itself. It could be that Veronica finds out earlier in the episode and then Jughead finds out at the very end of the episode and its the cliffhanger for the episode which would leave things unresolved between Betty and Jughead. RAS says that in episode 21 alot of emotional stories climax meaning they come to a head or to the end. He also says before graduation Betty and Jughead have a big, difficult conversation about their future as they are going to different schools. The thing is similar to how I think its going to go with Veronica and Archie I do think that this big, difficult conversation will start off about what happened with Betty and Archie and then evolve from there into a discussion about where there relationship can go from here considering they are going to different schools. I do think it’ll be in episode 21 that Betty and Jughead will break up. As for how I think Jughead might find out we know its different from how Veronica does. Also RAS when asked if Barchie were truly over mentioned how Betty kept her diary which suggests that as we suspected will come back into play. I actually think it’ll be through the diary that Jughead finds out and I think that’s why so much focuss was put on these two items (the song and the diary) in episode 18 because these were the things that were going to reveal the truth about Barchie. I think its possible that at the end of the prom episode they’ve made it home after prom and maybe Betty is grabbing a shower or something and while she’s out the room Jughead knocks the diary off the side or desk and it falls open at the page where Betty wrote about the kiss. As Jughead picks it up off the floor the words catch his eye and he can’t help but read what it says. At that moment is when Betty comes back into the room and Jughead looks up from the diary to her and thats when it cuts to black. 

Another option is that Jughead doesn’t find out in ep 20 but in ep 21 they talk about what’s going to happen after graduation and decide they are going to make a long distance thing work. Then either at the end of ep 21 or the beginning of ep 22 he finds out about the kiss through the diary, another way he could see the diary is if someone else finds the diary pages about Barchie and decides to make a photocopy and send it to Jughead, maybe Jellybean is snooping in Betty’s room for some reason and wants to protect her brother but doesn’t want anyone to know she read Betty’s diary so she sends it instead. After a confrontation they then break up.   

Then graduation will be this really emotional bittersweet episode where the core four will be broken apart but also coming together to celebrate the end of this stage of their lifes then they will all go their separate ways. 

As a quick interjection I have seen some speculation that maybe Jughead and Betty will get engaged. I personally don’t think its likely, I’ve not seen any hints myself that suggest that may happen. I think from the sounds of this difficult conversation they are going to have its more likely they break up and it does seem like the goal was to break up the core four for the time jump. However one scenario where this could happen is if they get engaged before he finds out about Barchie and then they break up after he finds out. While I’ll admit that would bring alot of drama to the show I personally really really don’t want that to happen. The main reason for this is, and I know some might disagree with me here, but one thing I hated, like really hated, last time they kissed in season 2 was how Betty then slept with Jughead before telling him the truth about Archie. Now anyone who has read my barchie analysis for ep 17 will know that I don’t hate characters for making a mistake, so I want to make it clear that I still love Betty and I’m not hating on her when I say this I recognise that she is a young girl who is still making mistakes and growing. But like I said for me I thought it was wrong of Betty to take that next big step with Jughead whilst he was in the dark about the kiss. I feel like he should have been given the option to walk away from her without having taken that next step if he wanted to break up with her because of it. Whilst we know now that Jughead doesn’t break up with her when he finds out there was no way of knowing that at the time. What makes it worse was that Jughead was honest with Betty about how he had done stuff with Toni when they were separated. I just wish Betty had returned the favour and had also been honest. I feel like if she were to get engaged to him without him knowing about what happened with Archie it would be the same situation. I just feel like if you are going to be making these big steps in a relationship then you need to do it with all your cards shown. It kinda reminds me of the situation in this movie I loved growing up called The Wedding Date, if you haven’t seen it then I’m sorry but I’m about to spoil it for you (to be fair it did come out in 2005) so skip this part if you want but its where a bride is revealed to have been sleeping with her sisters ex and cheating on her fiance, the ex also happens to be the grooms best friend, there’s this one scene where the sister confronts the bride when she says she plans to tell her fiance the truth but after the wedding, and the sister sarcastically tells her that she should pick the right time because when he finds out she has been cheating on him ‘he won’t feel like the whole world is collapsing around him and there’s no escape because you tricked him into marrying you.’ I feel like this would be a similar situation if Betty were to accept Jughead’s proposal without telling him that she cheated with Archie. It might make Jughead feel more trapped if they are engaged. With every new step they take together its going to be worse when Jughead does eventually find out. Anyway I feel like I’ve just gone completely off course here. But yeah it could potentially happen, it would definitely be drama filled but while I might be a Barchie shipper I still love Jughead and I would hate to see him crushed like that. 

So I’ve spoken about the other two couples so what do I think will happen with Barchie? Well as I said Veronica and Archie will break up in ep 20, Jughead and Betty I reckon will be ep 21 and I think Barchie will come in ep 22. In his interviews RAS said that Betty’s emotional affair with Archie reconfirmed her feelings for Jughead. Again I feel like this makes sense. I said myself that I felt like Betty choosing Jughead had more to do with not wanting to lose Jughead than it did with how she felt about Archie. Thinking back on it, twice now this season Betty has been confronted with this possibilty of losing Jughead, first with his attempted murder and then when she cheated. Jughead isn’t just someone she loves he and their relationship is something familiar to her and so I think she is clinging to that out of fear or not knowing what her life will look like without him in it. She got a small taste of what it was like to be at different schools when he was at Stonewall and it was during these times that she drifted closer to Archie. The thing is she hasn’t yet had to fully comprehend what it’ll be like to lose Archie. I think when she ended it with him at no point did she believe that she could lose Archie by ending it. I think she just knew he would still be there for her even if they weren’t romantically involved. Again this thinking would make sense as the last time they kissed after despite the fact that they didn’t get together he was still there for her. Archie has been this constant in her life and I think in ep 22 there will come a moment maybe at graduation or right after where she will realise this is it, they are going to go their separate ways and that she might not ever see him again. I could see it happen while everyone is sitting around at the graduation after party and they’re all talking about what their plans are next and maybe Archie says something like he’s not sure if he’ll come back to riverdale after he’s done with the navy. I do think they will then have a really emotional goodbye scene where they both admit they have feelings for each other but accept that now just isn’t the right time for them. My ultimate fantasy would be if they then make a pact that in 5 years time they’ll meet back in Riverdale and see where they stand with each other. I do think if they ended the episode there it would be nice follow on for the next episode where it is 5 years in the future. 

What Brings Them All Back

So if they do go with the time jump then what is it that could bring them all back to Riverdale 5 years later? The obvious one would be someone is murdered so they all come back for the funeral and end up staying to solve the mystery. I mean its definitely possible but I feel like from some of the interviews and the direction they have taken this season so far that they are setting up the show to have a huge shift in focus. A time jump could be a great way of kind of resetting the show and turning it into something new and well I think they are running out of ideas for the whole murder mystery type genre and  I think people are getting a little tired of it too, so they might shift it to focus more on just a drama full of adult life obstacles and problems. No murders or cults or any of that, maybe turn it more into a later seasons gossip girl, One tree hill or 90210 type of show. In that case I can think of three possible reasons why they come back. 1) There is a 5 year high school reunion. 2) At graduation they all made a pact together to all return to riverdale on that exact day 5 years later so they could see where everyone ended up. 3) This ones my favourtie, what if Choni are getting married and they all come back for the wedding. Whatever the reason for them coming back I do feel like something will happen that will keep them all there. It could be like a One Tree Hill type thing where they came back because nathan was injured but found reasons to stay for example Peyton wanted to open her own recording label and said she needed inspiration which One tree hill was giving her (but lets be honest she also stayed for lucas). Brooke stays because she decides to open a store there. I could see something similar happening here. If they do a time jump of five years to skip over their time in college then they still have a problem with one of the characters Archie. When Brooke (the woman from the navy academy) told him about the navy academy she said it was four years at the academy and then five years on active duty in the navy. That means 9 years away so if the time jump is only 5 years then Archie will still be in his first year of active duty in the navy. However it is possible that they will go with a storyline where Archie is injured in his first year of active duty and has to be medically discharged from the navy or at the very least take time off to recover. This could be what brings the rest of them back to riverdale as they all want to help and support Archie in his recovery. It would be a rather tragic stroyline for Archie as he would go through all that training, work on his boxing career only for it to all be torn away from him. If they do it right it could be a very emotional and moving storyline and it would take the show in a different direction but still have storylines that the audience can get invested in. They could make the show more about human emotions and real life struggles and the relationships of the characters as oppose to all the wacky, strange mysterious murder stuff.

So that is where I could see Archie being post time jump, he went the academy things went really well for him, then during his first year of active duty a sustains a life changing injury. He then has to go on this journey of dealing with this traumatic event thats happened to him and recovering from his injury. It would be a story about healing. 

As for Veronica I think she would have graduated from Barnard with a business degree and would now be foucced on growing her La Bonne Nuit into a franchise or something similar to that. Or maybe La Bonne Nuit isn’t doing so well so she wants to reinvitalise it and restore it to its former glory. I do think she’ll return to Riverdale engaged though. Likely to a rich and ambitious kind of fellow. I also feel like either she would have already gotten close to Jughead over the break or she will start to get close to Jughead when they are all back. I think this joint betrayal will bring them closer together. I don’t know if it would be a romantic situation but if they did do that I could see them as doing something similar to Spencer and Caleb on PLL in the sense of they have both broken up with their S/O and are feeling lost and end up connecting with each other. Now I don’t think their relationship would neccessarily go the same way as Spaleb went but I could see it starting out the same way in that they connect through the hurt they are feeling about their break ups.

Jughead I could see struggling to get a book published after leaving Barnard or maybe it’ll be the same thing as Lucas on OTH where he’s had one book that’s done really well but now the pressure is on him to give his publishers another one. Maybe this is why he stays in Riverdale as a way of drawing inspiration. 

As for Betty again she would have graduated from Yale. I could see her going one of two ways, either shes looking into journalism or I do think she could start training with the FBI. It would be a good way of tying Charles back into the storyline if he doesn’t turn out to be evil and it does seem to me like Betty really enjoys being in the Junior FBI program. We also know how much she loves to solve mysteries so I could definitely see Betty coming back as an FBI agent. 

Choni as I mentioned above I feel like they will be getting married. I think they’ll probably still have custody of the twins who will be much older now which could be quite fun to see. As for job wise I’m not sure where they’d be. I’m assuming Cheryl will still be doing the family Maple business. Maybe Toni goes into photography of something like that, I’m sure there was a storyline where she said she liked photography when we first met her, but I could be wrong on that. I feel like Cheryl probably kept in touch with Betty over the years and Toni probably kept in touch with Jughead. 

So yeah that’s what my predictions for season 5 are. 

Final Thoughts

So overall I thought this last episode was really good. It was a fun episode to end on. A huge well done to Madchen because she did an amazing job directing this episode, not that I’m surprised she is an absolute queen afterall.  It would have been nice to see the prom and graduation but I’m happy knowing that we will get to see them in season 5. I think this season as a whole was good. I thought the storyline around Stonewall Prep was really interesting and I am intrigued to know who is behind the video tapes. I loved that we got to see Charles and that he has been interacting with Jughead and Betty, I think seeing that sibling bond grow has been fun, lets just keep our fingers crossed it doesn’t all end in tears. Obviously I loved the Barchie storyline we got and I am glad that they seem to be changing things up in the show. I think it was starting to feel a little stagnant and stale and I do think that by changing up the relationships and having different characters interact with each other like Toni and Reggie, and Veronica and Cheryl, I think we need to see some more variety in the interactions in the show. Also it does seem to me like that might move away from the murder mystery part of it which could be interesting. I do think this whole idea of them forcing the characters to see the darkness of Riverdale is what will ultimately make the characters change their ways and heal Riverdale. I do think season 5 could be a season about healing, the town healing, the people healing and the relationships healing. So thats it for now, we’ve got a bit of a wait but as always thank you so much to everyone who read to the end of this.  

[starshipsofstarlord]

Perception is Key

Part Two to Hell on Earth

avengers x reader

series masterlist

masterlist

Summary; dread is all you feel as you take up temporary residence in New Asgard. Something big is coming, and you are not the only one that can feel it, but despite that, Thor tries to make you feel safe in his rebuilt kingdom, though all you see is it falling before your knees

Warnings; mentions of death, angst, secrecy

divider by @firefly-graphics

Death, it was a certain doom for all living mechanisms, even Asgard had been demolished by its inevitable demise. Yet here you were, nursing an off handed bottle of ale that came from the gods, whilst you breathed in the salt scent that regarded from the ocean that crashed by. New Asgard, the home of Thor and his brothers in arms, whilst his real sibling was killed by Thanos. It was a shame to see the brave deity in mourning, however, there was nothing that you could do about it. Nothing.

The concept of the end came to all, it was a daunting curse that teased its victims, and pried them into sculpting their own fears of it. But for all the people in the galaxy knew, death could be peaceful; you liked to think that you were the same. A wound cog that did not work for their purpose, a villain that could do some good. And whilst you had never threatened the end of the world, your hereditary abilities sure as hell did. It was another danger to humans and more, thus making you one in regard.

Killing was a route that you didn’t want to take, it was dark, and there was no way back for redemption. Murderers and the bad guys, if they wanted penance, would spend their whole lives trying to make amends for what they did, in exchange for a forgiveness that they would never be granted. And if you did such a thing, as regretting causing exhibitions of death, your father would send for you from the underworld, and have you dragged back down to his bleak halls.

Those heroes would rise, as the ones that you came to know and befriend were brought to bottomless pits of service for Hades, suffering for all eternity as they knelt before the god whom ruled hell. Mother could only prey that he would give up his display of the deceased, he used them like puppets, and it was not a friendly scenic for the next batch of Demi gods that they were planning. You were brilliantly strong, but they would be stronger, as not only would they have the army of warriors behind them, they would be invincible.

Their carriageway into ironic new life, was affecting to you, you could feel it as their existence seared through your veins. There was a war coming, and it was going to be a blood bath, there would be bodies littered on all the planets as they respected their appetites, and they would come for you. It wasn’t silly for you to fear them, they had been around before, it was a rebirth for the ages, a damning revolution that would drain all the breathing from the lungs of species, flushing their external beings into whisperings of blistered remains.

Zagreus and Macaria were coming, pursuing the punishment that was deemed worthy for your scoundrel self, you were nothing more than another revamped version of yourself, raised from the ashes, and taking your overdue time to age. You were supposed to be the cause for the world’s destruction, but they, they would tear every atom down piece by piece, because you were unable to complete your mission of birthright.

Humans, nor other vessels of aspiring and mundane inventions, had the impact of defence to protect themselves from more dominant species. They were simply specks with heart beats in the universe, thumping in their chests as they strived to usher their own planet under the hypocrisy of a dying climate.

“Heimdall once said that Hades had a vision, and he, a seer of all people, couldn’t see how far his faction of thought went. There was no end with his quarrel with the nattering of life, instead, it was competently endless, going on for light years upon light years, straggling the gods into the grand demise. To put it into other words, you are his vision.”

“Well I’m not sure that our Vision back at the compound would be too pleased if I coined his name.” But all joking aside, the air shifted every time that you brought lightness to your words. Continuing, you spoke to Thor, whom had brought you to his evolved demeanour of his homeland, and stole you from the consequences of the violent struggle that you had instinctively conquests upon James Buchanan Barnes. “However, on a more serious note, you are aware of my origin, and the truths that Hades is my father. You know of why he crafted me, but there will be a greater shadow than my foresworn self, and the others need to know of this oncoming riot.”

“We shall tell them, but first; eat.” The god of thunder intended for you to follow through with his kind hearted order, though a heated rumble shook the core of the earth, the energy trembling up your legs. They had been born, sooner than anticipated, and much closer to your break from the ruckus than you had wanted.

“I am not sure we have the time, you felt that cause of apocalyptic foreshadowing, I can tell by the fearful promise on your face. My father will not rest until he has me, a weapon in his hold returned, and to do so, he will tear apart this family, in literal terms, so that I can return to my biological home.”

“Eat.” Thor spoke once more, gulping down the terror that graced his long spanned veins. “If there is to be a fight on earth for the ages, destruction raining down on midguard, then you will need your strength. There is no need to deprive yourself of basic necessities, young warrior.”

Accepting the small loaf from his hand, you watched as the crumbs fled a trail through your palm. Even you appetite was frolicking trauma upon bacteria that swayed in the depths of the bread; the gathered yeast feared you, much like you feared yourself. “I’m going to have to return to the compound, as much as I hate to do so after what I had done, they have to know. And throughout our excursion of informative speech, then they shall have to know of my dreaded secret.”

But what if they already knew?

“A weapon like that...” Steve shook his head as he threw the classified papers onto the desk space he had reserved for his affiliated research. “We have to protect the earth, and if we have to do so from her, then we will have to stretch to any means necessary.” The captain gulped, not pleased as he divulged deeper into this situation with his friend.

Bucky remained shocked from the fleeting threats that had deranged from your form; it was like a curse adorned you, but it turned out, it was just you. Nothing had made you this way, instead, you were born a vigil monster, a daughter of a fraternising god.

“The daughter of Hades... I miss the old days where we believed in one god, and went to church every Sunday morning.” He wasn’t have supposed to have heard Barnes talking, but the figure did as he pressed himself against the wall, his hearing inclined to listen to more.

Peter’s eyes bulged as he was silently affirmed with the truth. He had a web stringing each digression together as he thought of your independence that you had been determined to keep. They were going to tell everyone, swaying their opinions from what they knew, rather than what they did not.

But that made you a legend, a mortal infliction of ancient religion; there must have been more to know. He had to be silent to ensure he didn’t trigger an alert to the super soldier’s enhanced hearing, as the boy that was pursed with a spider bite slipped away, portraying his fawning portrayal of being a vigilante.

His assumed destination that his quiet feet were carrying him too was the library. There’d surely be something useful in the walls of filled shelves, and if there wasn’t, then the internet was a useful friend. As he entered the subjective room for required reading, he saw the Falcon himself, Sam Wilson, seated at a small and solitary table.

Perhaps... no, it’d be wrong to turn him against his close friends... but possibly what was necessary. Peter allowed his doe eyes to scan the various sections. Mythology. Though, all avengers knew that there was some truth to every realistic evolution of belief, though it was usually only a little. But maybe, in your case, there would be more.

Tony had told him there had been an incident, and Peter had believed that Mr Stark was concealing a devise of perception from the rest of the aligned team. It was certainly wrong for him to delve against the ruin of the circumstances, but he was eager to do anyways. Whatever happened must’ve been lined coursing seriousness, and he was afflicted with firm interest to find out what.

Ah, he found something. Adjoined with the abilities he knew that you were capable of, he knew it must have been in regards to you, it just made sense. The spine spoke with integrity, daring anyone to read the biblical novel of fumed remark that raised hell on Earth.

The goddess of invoked, bringer of nightmares and madness, Melinoë.

[vios-rockland-corner]

RoR Article 2: Help Callum

To make things easier on myself, I’m splitting up my thoughts on the Rumors of Rockland second article.  I already gave an overview of this game.  Here, I’ll cover whatever random thoughts and observations I had for the events that occur when you choose to help Callum.

[Major spoilers below for Rumors of Rockland Article 2]

First surprise here, Callum can actually hold his own.  Have to admit, wasn’t really expecting that (dude kind of looked sickly in older sprites). Well honestly, I wasn’t exactly expecting the MC to be capable of driving off the drunk dudes themselves unless they were going to threaten to call 911.  More like…I didn’t know what to expect.  Since it was now 2-on-2, was the MC suddenly going to start throwing down? I just didn’t see it happening. No, turns out Callum was quite capable of taking these guys out by himself.  

What I love about this though is that the minute the MC enters the scene, Callum actually goes into protection mode.  He may genuinely have not been afraid of these guys from the start and thought it was even funny to see them riled up.  He’s initially holding back his laughter when the two guys are initially antagonizing him and only got a little serious when they brought Whesker’s name up. Between the first two articles, Callum’s now shown concern for people like Avery, Whesker and the MC.  The MC isn’t even someone he’s close to yet. Maybe I’m calling this a little too early, but Callum might just be a nice and well-meaning guy.  There are certainly a lot of dangerous characters in Rockland, but so far nothing to suggest anything sinister about Callum whatsoever.

Getting back to the scene, I kind of found it adorable that the MC rushing in flips a switch for Callum. It was like he was going, “Hey, woah woah woah.  These guys are a joke, but seriously I don’t want anyone getting hurt now.”  So his playtime had to end.  Otherwise, he seems like he’s pretty goofy and relaxed most of the time.

By the way, who else took a good look at that CG of Callum giving a good kick?  If you look in the background, you can actually see the silhouette of a person.  SOMEONE saw that whole altercation go down, but didn’t interrupt.  We can’t be sure though if the MC hadn’t been there, if this person would have come down to assist Callum instead.  Might not have been someone concerned about Callum (just watching out of curiosity).  In the “Do Nothing” path, Callum does not even mention what happened outside when he goes to talk to Avery (but he doesn’t act frazzled at all).

A curious thing about the silhouette though is that it’s very reminiscent of the drawings seen in the “Nightmare Realized” teaser game for the Misfits.  Coincidence?  We do even see Sydney show up in the “Do Nothing” path.  Was he the one watching and came to help out Callum if the MC doesn’t help in anyway?  Sydney did mention helping his friends, but whether that’s related to Callum or something else, I’m not sure.  Callum is Quill’s brother, but we don’t have evidence yet that Sydney and Callum are friends with one another.

Moving on, it seems Callum is quite similar to Quill when it comes to being very chatty and dropping names like crazy.  Must be a Willow thing (wonder if the parents are like that too).  Callum gives you a lot of interesting information though, but it differs vastly depending on what person you’re most interesting in asking about.

If you ask about Sergio, you learn that the town is basically run by the IRISH MAFIA. That…explains a whole lot.  Prior to this, I had theorized that some of the crime syndicates may have some pull with finances and politics of Rockland when I was trying to think about how the Professionals could operate for so long without repercussions.  I believe this might sum it up pretty well.  It’s kind of funny how normal Callum treats the matter too.  I mean, I appreciate that the mafia aren’t racists and try to keep some order (mafia is indeed ORGANIZED crime).  That’s always nice.  Still…it is a mafia.  Not only does that mean that people in Rockland might not want to get a swelled head for justice around these parts, but crime is still crime.  We don’t know yet what kind of illegal activities the mafia does yet.  Could be just a lot of theft and forgery.  Or perhaps there is a lot of murder and human trafficking behind the scenes.

This also explains why a lot of the characters in Rockland have Irish accents.  Before these games, I knew a couple of the characters like Trevor and Roy were Irish.  Apparently Whesker has an accent too.  I genuinely just thought it was just a foreign type the creators’ favored.  But there’s actually more meaning to having numerous Irish characters in Rockland now.  It also means if you come across someone in Rockland with an Irish accent…maybe do your best to stay on their good side.  Just in case.

Wait a minute…Roy is Irish (or at least he was)…That either could be just a coincidence, or there might be something interesting later down the road about that.  Is he linked to one of the Irish mafia families in anyway? If so, did he cut ties and is in opposition?  Or is he actually still part of that group too?  If it’s the latter, that would mean the police force in Rockland IS under the mafia’s thumb too.  We won’t know this I think until much later though.  Like I said, could also just be a coincidence that he’s Irish (if he still is). Not all Irish people know each other. It’s more likely though in such a small and tight nit town like Rockland.

If you ask about Scarlet, then you just get some fun image in your head of family gatherings for holidays. Cute but what I really want to focus on here is that BEASTKIN ARE OFFICIALLY MENTIONED IN GAME FOR THE FIRST TIME!  I know there are probably several people who are excited about that.  It’s officially our first supernatural element introduced if you don’t include the Zeitgeist demo.  Now we don’t know a lot about beastkin, just that they’re around.  Both Scarlet and Foal are beastkin, but you probably wouldn’t be able to tell Foal is one at a quick glance.  They can have tails (though unfortunately some had their tails cut off), but we don’t know what other kind of physical aspects usually manifest.  With Foal, she has darker skin and white hair.  The darker skin isn’t really a giveaway, but the white hair might be.  I had figured she just dyed it or something, but it’s possible that’s her natural hair color.

If you’re trying to make a beastkin OC for Rockland, not much I could say yet for what is fair game in canon.  Just tails and possible hair color at the moment can give their beast status away. We don’t know anything about abilities yet.   I feel like we’re also going to be focusing on the more human elements of Rockland for the most part.  The beastkin are around, but not the main theme here.  Still nice to know it’s an existing element though.

If you ask about Jett, you learn Callum and Avery play music.  On the website, the Callum and Avery are indeed listed under “The Band” section.  This was more foreshadowing I believe for a future “Battle of the Bands” themed game. Fun, but not much else I feel I need to comment on here.  

After talking with Callum so long, I can’t be certain to say you gain full friendship status with him in this route, but you’re definitely on some pretty good terms now.  Avery probably appreciates hearing that you went to help Callum, but otherwise he’s more occupied with his troubled thoughts in this situation rather than getting to know you better.  You probably have earned good points with Avery here, but not nearly as much as if you do the “Get Help” route where you get much more conversation time with him.

Since you let Callum go after Avery though, Foal seemed to appreciate the choice and you get some positive interaction with her.  So points earned there too.

In the end, choosing to help Callum yourself gets you in good with Callum of course, and a slightly better reputation with Avery and Foal.  Not bad.  I can’t be certain if you’ve earned brownie points as well from the person who was watching in the CG because I don’t know if they were looking out for Callum’s safety or just looking for a show.

[sunmisgirl]

EXO Reaction to Fight With GF

For 🍎 anon: If reactions are open, exo's reaction to their cold gf growing even colder and distant during an argument? Cold meaning they don't open up easily, not temperature lol anyways thank you in advance and I love your writing!

Nina’s Note: Thanks so much for your patience, darling. I hope you enjoy it! I chose to go an angst route with this. I lowkey don’t think I fulfilled what you requested but I tried 💀 some members’ reactions are longer than others.

Xiumin:

Usually Xiumin is even-tempered during an argument. However, he notices how distant you’ve become over the past few nights. He’s tried countless times to brighten your mood and forget about the argument but instead you refuse to open up to him. The extended silence during dinner one night makes him irritated and he remarks,“You’re not making this easy for me.” 

“Of course you’d say that,” you mumble to yourself and reach for your drink. “Could you repeat that?” Xiumin challenges with a steely glare across the table. Setting down the cup with a heavy sigh, you meet eyes and reply, “Everything's always about YOU. We’re not a team anymore. I feel ignored in my own relationship. It’s almost like I’m an outsider looking in. You’ve been so distracted lately you forgot about my birthday.” Your voice gets unsteady so you stop talking and look away from Xiumin. 

His glare immediately softens upon realization. He knows how special birthdays are to you especially being far away from your family and friends. You push the chair back and stand to walk towards the front door. “I need some time to myself. I’m already used to it,” you utter before storming off for a walk into the somber night. Sitting on a bench at the local park, you curse yourself for leaving your cell phone behind. The light wind tousles your hair while you silently reflect on the relationship wondering when things got so difficult between you two. 

Suho:

Suho surprised you with reservations at your favorite restaurant. Your careers keep you two occupied so this was a perfect opportunity to catch up on lost time. Deep down you have slight uncertainty about your career choice but you’ve always been one to follow your heart. Lately you’ve experienced a few hurdles at work and share them with him which isn’t easy to do since you keep things to yourself. 

He tugs on his collar and flashes you a small smile before starting one of his famous lectures. You know Suho means well and only wants you to succeed but it would be nice for once if your partner could support your wishes instead of seeing everything from a business perspective. You scowl while he rambles and absentmindedly poke the food on the plate with a fork. “Maybe if you didn’t daze out like this you wouldn’t have problems at work.” 

“Perhaps I’m tired of hearing the same rehearsed speech from you,” you reply in a bitter tone. “It’s just suggestions, dear. Don’t take everything as criticism,” he counters. You slam down the silverware and snap back, “I hear this speech at least once a month. I’d expect my partner from all people to respect my choices and not question the path I chose.” 

Grabbing your purse, you exit the restaurant highly distraught drawing attention from nearby patrons as they watch the scene unfold. Suho awkwardly clears his throat and swirls the wine in his glass trying to hide his evident embarrassment and regret.

Lay:

You’re incredibly proud of Yixing’s achievements (especially with the solo tour) but that means he’s home a lot less and the apartment is starting to feel emptier without his presence. Whenever you try to sneak a call or text at work, he doesn’t reply or tells you he’s busy rehearsing for different stages. You can’t help but feel frustrated by the lack of communication between you two. 

After a rough day at work, you wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep for an entire week. It just so happens Yixing decides to contact you during his free time between rehearsals. He sends a few texts expecting a quick reply but they get ignored. He then tries to call you but reaches voicemail after a few rings. Confused by your silent treatment, he video calls much to your dismay.

After accepting the call, he greets you excitedly and rambles about the progress of the tour but suddenly notices your unusually quiet demeanor. “Is everything alright?” he asks with genuine concern in his eyes. Still affected by your bad day, you reply, “I just find it shocking you finally decided I exist and contacted me.” Yixing furrows his eyebrows and responds, “I haven’t forgotten about you. Work always keeps me on my toes--” 

You interject, “Yeah, I know. Work work work. It’s always the same story with you. I guess I’ll let you go since you seem busy.” “Wait I--” he begins to speak but you abruptly disconnect the call. That night you stay awake feeling guilty and selfish for arguing with him but plan to apologize later in the week once the bad mood fades away.

Baekhyun:

Baekhyun drove you home one night but the date ended with heartache rather than bliss. He felt quite awkward around you lately. It’s almost like walking on eggshells. You didn’t laugh at his jokes anymore, car rides were always quiet with the radio playing as background noise, and you didn’t share exciting news with him like you used to. 

He tried prying a response out of you one last time while parking outside of your place. Unfortunately emotions flared and yet another spat began in the car. You huffed in frustration preparing for the next ten minutes of bickering, but instead, Baekhyun demanded you to get out of the car. 

“I don’t have time for this right now. I try everything to make you happy and all you do is push me further away,” he explained with a face set in stone. Rolling your eyes, you exited the vehicle and shot back, “Do what you always do, Baek. Run from confrontation. That’s what you’re best at anyways.” He drove off the second you shut the passenger door and gripped the steering wheel agitated with the state of your relationship.

Chen:

Chen heavily sighed for what felt like the tenth time that night. Your relationship was stuck in the ‘honeymoon phase’ for a while until frequent disputes ruined your bliss and drove you two further apart. Your demeanor changed completely, growing more distant and keeping to yourself. The time spent together diminished within weeks despite sharing a place. He couldn’t imagine a life without you let alone a few arguments destroy your connection. 

For weeks, Chen searched for the perfect engagement ring, the best statement to express his everlasting love. Once he finally gained the courage, he decided to leave work early one day and surprise you at home. He never expected to walk in and find your belongings already packed and a few suitcases beside the doorway. You emerge from the bathroom with slightly puffy eyes from crying earlier in the day and immediately halt when you notice Chen standing by the front door. 

“You weren’t supposed to be home yet,” you mutter, eyes cast down to avoid his questioning stare. His lack of response and the silence in the apartment only increase the tension. “We’re obviously not working out anymore so...” you trail off and gently grasp your suitcase handle. “I’m sorry it had to end this way.” Chen steps closer to you, his pleading eyes shining with tears threatening to fall. “Please don’t leave. We can get through this.” The sorrow building within you prevents you from replying. 

You can only shake your head in disagreement and brush past him to exit the apartment, your own eyes forming tears at this point. He stands there speechless with his hand in his pocket twiddling the engagement ring with his fingers. He walks over to the window and silently watches you enter the taxi downstairs, the yellow vehicle driving away with the love of his life.

Chanyeol:

At this point you’ve lost count of how many disputes you and Chanyeol had this month. It’s even more awkward that he stopped by tonight for your planned weekly movie marathon. He hoped by coming over he could squash the tension between you two. However, that plan wouldn’t work when he noticed the separate bowls of popcorn and stacked pillow tower dividing your seats on the couch. 

Ironically you chose a movie where the main characters broke up because their relationship turned toxic. It killed Chanyeol to consider breaking up with you but the arguments slowly took over your relationship and you’ve gotten more distant. What was once built on love and support quickly came crashing down. Instead of focusing on the movie, his mind wandered to how he’s going to break the news to you. His limbs felt heavier, his mouth started to dry, his heart began aching at the evident outcome of this night. 

Chanyeol reached for the remote to pause the movie and turned to face you. He grasped your hand before saying the next few words that broke both of your hearts. “We can’t stay together. We’ve outgrown each other at this point.” You opened your mouth to respond but he continued speaking. “When was the last time I made you smile? Or laugh? You can’t even remember right? We’re both miserable in this relationship.” 

He spoke these words but his eyes pleaded with you to save the relationship. The truth was you’ve grown tired of the constant spats and considered breaking up too which is why Chanyeol’s heart broke more than yours when you agreed to end it.

D.O.:

The sour mood from this morning’s argument lingers in the car when Kyungsoo drives you two to dinner that night. He hates when you fight and tries coaxing you out of silence by sprinkling in compliments during the drive. He even sings you one of your favorite songs but all of his attempts go ignored. With a frustrated eye roll, he remarks, “Sometimes you’re so difficult to be around.” 

Shifting in your seat and glaring at him, you retort, “I could say the same thing about you.” Kyungsoo senses another fight brewing and stops talking. His fingers impatiently tap the steering wheel desperate to reach the restaurant already.  Becoming exasperated, you cross your arms and demand him to stop the car. He soon reaches a red light and that’s when you dramatically exit the car, slamming the door behind you and walk in the opposite direction. 

He turns around watching you leave and shouts, “Stop acting like this!” However, he’s well aware of your stubborn side and sighs in defeat as you continue walking to clear your mind. Other drivers in the lane begin honking once the light turns green but he ignores them. Kyungsoo looks on wistfully knowing you need your space and will find your way back to him. You always do.

Kai:

Kai grows concerned when you don’t embrace him as often as you used to, your greetings becoming more stale. There’s obvious tension between you two but neither of you choose to address it. He’s slightly nervous your relationship is going to take a crashing halt and decides to have a serious talk with you before he leaves for his scheduled photo shoot. 

Unfortunately, he chose the wrong moment to have this discussion because it transforms into a huge argument. The frustration evident on your face as unfiltered thoughts fall from your lips. Kai abruptly leaves your place and arrives at the photo shoot a few minutes late, the venomous words shared between you two still lingering in the depths of his mind. 

Once the photographer calls him over to begin the shoot, he tries his best to block out the negative thoughts. His face remains etched in pain, revealing whatever was plaguing him internally. Murmurs from staff on set compliment his attitude and focus during the shoot. The photographer praises Kai in every shot pointing out how expressive he is but little does everyone know you’re the source of his pain.

Sehun:

The shared apartment is usually filled with laughter or terrible shower singing, but lately it’s awfully silent and tense. Sehun lost count of the days you haven’t spoken to each other. Living in the same apartment but still feeling like complete strangers. 

Arriving home from work one night, you find him in the kitchen drinking a glass of water and watching you carefully. Deciding to take the leap, he utters, “You could’ve told me you were planning to end this relationship.” Surprised that he broke the silence, you furrow your eyebrows in confusion and ask, “What are you talking about?” Sehun sighs and leaves momentarily to retrieve the airline ticket he found on the nightstand. 

Instead of answering him, you scroll through your phone to show him the texts from your bestie expressing her excitement to see you for a few days. He instantly feels terrible for jumping to conclusions and starts to apologize, his heart growing weary from the lack of warmth and love in the apartment. “Save your breath. I’m so tired of this,” you interject and storm away to the bedroom slamming the door behind you. 

Sehun decides to sleep on the couch that night too ashamed to speak to you after assuming the worst and plans to rebuild your relationship. The next morning, he awakes in a groggy state but nonetheless determined to put a smile on your face. However, when he rushes over to the bedroom, he’s met with a neatly made bed, empty drawers, and your copy of his apartment key on the sheets.

[cosmicangst]

I bought Café Enchanté since I’ve been hearing so much about it since the JP version released and saw you post about it as well and it’s so fun. Definitely one of the better otome games out there! I’ve done Rindo’s route which I really enjoyed and am currently doing Ignis’s. What are your thoughts so far?

oh im in love with it ! i’ve played through canus and ignis. right now i’m on chapter 2 of il’s, going to play rindo next and saving misyr for last because he’s the cover boy. so full disclaimer here that all of my thoughts are just based on the first eight chapters + canus and ignis’s routes.

anyways, i’m so glad you asked this because i’d been meaning to write commentary after i finished but now’s a good time as any. i can safely say that this is objectively one of the best localized mainstream otome and has become one of my favorites (esp in contrast to how disappointing piofore was for me). and i attribute this to four things: (1) setting as story, (2) show don’t tell, (3) specificity, ambiguity and humor and (4) the heroine.

(1) the setting is fantastic and a character in it of itself. i love the coffeeshop au of it all and the whole “and then they were roommates” situation going on upstairs. i vibe so hard w the idea of the cafe as a haven, a safe transition, a place of community and communication, both a liminal space and a permanent home. this part is strictly just for me but my current thesis centers on diasporic subjects and displacement so the premise of these powerful characters isolated from separate worlds into a new one of marked difference but finding acceptance and refuge in this seemingly mundane and ordinary place is just chefs kiss mwah

(2) one of the biggest failures in writing romantic relationships (or any intimate relationship) is falling prey into telling rather than showing. it’s very unbelievable that two (usually het) people are deemed as “meant for each other” when the only thing that binds them is (1) their attractiveness, (2) close proximity with one another and/or (3) their supposed chemistry, which is just rooted in them bickering for no good reason. my biggest question for a functional relationship besides “are they supportive and caring of each other” is “do they have fun together?” i think the game’s biggest strength is those eight chapters in the main story. because while there were intimate moments with each li, romance wasn’t the focus at all. the focus was building friendships with everybody, not just with the heroine, kotone. for example, i love ignis’s disgruntled but concerned tough love he shows to il, misyr casually threatening rindo and everyone teasing the latter for his age. i love canus taking on a protective role and a voice of reason for everybody and kariya becoming the unofficial younger brother that everyone looks out for. and as for the dating sim aspect, kotone manages to be both specific to her character and also incredibly compatible with all lis. and partly why that is is because she was friends with them first in a way that i found organically and believably developed. the best moments are when they’re drinking a latte and playing poker while talking about their day. they hit so many found family bullet points and are such a solid, well balanced unit of a dnd party that every time kotone and her li were going through something difficult, i felt this immense sense of security because i knew everyone else would be doing their damnedest to back both of them up

(3) so i can’t account for il, rindo and misyr since i haven’t played them fully yet but what i love about my experiences with canus and ignis is their distinctiveness. i love how their roots in their respective folklore (with canus as a dullahan and ignis as an eldritch werewolf) and the worldbuilding of their individual homeworlds made each of their philosophies and struggles specific, grounded and exciting to read. i remember finishing canus and going to ignis’s route and being worried about what would happen to medio if kotone got with ignis instead. and similarly in il’s route, every time [redacted] made an appearance, i would be like what’s going to happen to ignis and bestia now??? like with most otome, the lis here are taken from classic stock characters (canus as the protective older brother type and ignis as the tsundere w a heart of gold) but they become more layered by virtue of ambiguity. one way to increase a hero’s complexity is to make them vulnerable and show them messing up. i won’t post full spoilers here but oh man, ignis’s low points were especially heartbreaking and terror-inducing. and to that point, i have to shout out the ambiguity of the antagonists/villains here (including [redacted] who pissed me off to no end). a good villain is someone you can find yourself in the danger of agreeing or at least sympathizing with even if their means are reprehensible. as charming and whimsical as this game is, the trauma of their respective worlds is very much real and very much at the heart of the protagonists and the antagonists’ drive. that’s why it’s so potently cathartic that the support and care that enchante and kotone represent are the ones literally saving the day in the end. not once is the game ever meanly ironic or cynical or treats love defeating evil as an antiquated or juvenile notion. it pays respect to trauma but it also pays equal if not more respect to healing.

and the game is just plain funny. it really is. the banter, the moments of self-aware satire and the slice of life situations make it. idk if it’s the localization or what but i’ve screenshotted so many lines that made me burst out laughing. also i just love how the comedy grounds things. even when an li was making a grandiose confession of love, it’d be punctuated with a little fumble of humor that made it more realistic and true to life. part of the trap of making a heroic love interest is this false equation of detachment with attractiveness aka... the more disaffected from sentiment and/or the more distanced from embarrassment and fallibility an li is, the more appealing he becomes as a romantic target which is completely untrue for me. i get why alpha assholes or completely gritty, stoic men are appealing in the romance market but frankly i think they’re boring and one note. if you can’t see a character making a mistake or doing something embarrassing, they’re not well written. what i love about the lis just based on those eight chapters is that they’re not untouchable or disaffected. they treasure each other’s friendship and softness just as much as the heroine

(4) and speaking of. my biggest problem w a lot of otome (or at least romance visual novels featuring male lis) is a lack of balance and mutuality. it would make sense that the lis be given a lot of attention and treatment to character development but the heroine is more like an afterthought in some cases. a lot of games shuffle between the “heroine” as placeholder for the reader/player or her own character. in a placeholder situation, they are literally just a receptacle of the li’s attentions and the reader is free to apply whatever characteristics/backstory they want, which is valid but personally uninteresting. when the heroine is her own character, the decision to play vicariously or treat the heroine as her own person is up to the reader. there are games with a mechanism to mold personality (the most complex i’ve seen being the indie visual novel, our life) but in other cases, it gets harder the more distinct and specific the heroine is (so for ex: in some old school voltage games where the heroine is kind and naïve more in the mold of the japanese ideal of “yamato nadeshiko” vs romance md, a more current voltage title, where the heroine is distinct bc she’s assertive and unafraid to be unlikeable).

kotone here follows the yamato nadeshiko tradition. her main characteristics are that she’s kind and hardworking, which are admirable traits but not necessarily interesting when a lot of otome heroines follow that mold. however, what makes her interesting to me is that these traits are double edged. she is kind sometimes to the point that she has a tendency to idealize. she is hardworking to the point that she becomes persistent and stubborn. and the kicker here is that she’s both aware of her limitations and still active despite them. kotone is a magic-less, ordinary human woman who constantly has to battle her naïveté and her fear of futility. yes, she gets kidnapped for plot reasons and could easily become a sexy lamp if not for the fact that she still tries to resolve the situation by employing the actual strengths she has. her kindness and her willingness to understand despite her fears are what propel the conflict to resolve. the whole theme of the otome from going through the main chapters and canus and ignis’s routes is acceptance of the other. and this means accepting not just the positives but also the negatives of someone else. her grandfather accepted these men but died without knowing the full picture. in each routes, kotone becomes witness (and even victim) to all their negatives and it is through her persistence and ability to endure (essentially to be hardworking) that she asserts her agency and enacts real change. there’s this wonderful moment that i’ll slightly spoil where she and her li are confronting each other about facing reality. she tells him that she’s done the work of accepting the reality he’s presented despite her fears and it’s high time he start accepting hers. and i think thats just so indicative of the fact that yes, she is absolutely the hero and protagonist of this story. she is not a placeholder object or a sexy lamp or a supporting character secondary to her lis. nothing in this story would happen without her, strengths and weaknesses included.

and it’s not as if she easily comes to these conclusions! she works through it. her kindness for example isn’t rooted in some abstract notion of goodness. it’s grounded by her memory of her grandfather who taught her acceptance and of her own personal need to find understanding and belonging for herself especially with her past experiences with harassment and bullying in the workplace. whats also great is that you’re shown that she works hard and is persistent. she practices. she messes up. she deals with it. one of my favorite small moments is when she’s constantly trying and testing out her barista skills and repeatedly struggling to make a good cup of coffee. it’s only when she gets help that she improves. she and her cafe become metonym to a safe haven for her guests but the exchange is mutual. there’s no unequal dynamic in which the woman is made to carry the emotional labor of building up her lis. the others are sensitive to her emotions and become concerned when she’s struggling, offering their help and support in their own ways.

anyways, it’s a great otome. not without its faults. otome aren’t really known for their subtle prose so i didn’t expect that from the writing here. and as usual, the appalling lack of developed female relationships is still a problem. kotone starts a friendship with titania but the full breadth of it isn’t really accessible unless you’re playing canus’s route. but again it’s probably the best title aksys has put out. it has the same kind of depth and heroine agency as hanzo’s route in nightshade (which is one of the best in mainstream otome imo) but applied to the whole game. also ignis probably has one of the spiciest end cg ive seen in a non-eroge so if that’s an appeal this game has my wholehearted recommendation. like it kept me sane throughout election anxiety. that should be their tag line

[dat-town]

CODE Z3RO | CODE 09

characters: BTS & Red Velvet genre: thriller, futuristic au warning: death summary: The twelve most ambitious and promising university students are welcomed in Choego, the world’s first entirely artificial intelligence-driven city, to compete for five job contracts that could change their life. But what if something goes wrong? What if they get trapped? What if the city suddenly turns against them? Can they find a way out before the countdown reaches zero? words: 4.5k tagged: @philosopher-of-fandoms​

➼ Chapter Index

After Yerim’s cries died down, the silence was deafening. Climbing down the ladder one by one to the dimly lit sewerage system felt like descending to the deepest pits of Hell. Hoseok's horrified expression burnt itself into each of their minds haunting their thoughts as the artificial light shimmered around them. It didn’t take long and total darkness welcomed them as the lights above went out. They had no choice but to hold back their breaths in the awfully stinking odour coming from the pipes and the sewage disposal area under them. But nobody whined because they knew they had no other choice but to follow this route. They couldn't go back nor sit around waiting for help to come. Their only chance for survival was going forward.

When Yoongi's feet reached something concrete with his next step, he let go off the ladder tentatively, not knowing what to expect in the dark. Tapping the ground under his feet, the metal's clanking sound echoed around them.

"The ladder’s end is here. Come down carefully," he spoke up voice firm even though he was panting hard only a few minutes prior. His asthma decided to act up at the worst time possible, so he was thankful to the group for not leaving him behind in such a state. He felt sorry for Hoseok who hadn’t had any help and it had brought his end. But he felt even worse for the loved ones of the fallen fellows, for their parents, friends and lovers. They had no chance to know they were waiting for them to return home in vain.

And if they all died who would tell them the truth about this killing city?

It made him rethink his choices and decisions, edging him to apologize to his mother whom he treated unjust just because she didn’t support his choice of major. Ever since he had said no to becoming the family’s third-generation lawyer, their relationship had gotten worse. It seemed like they weren’t able to understand each other’s point of view. His mother had even called this Smart City Project a waste of time and looking back, she might have been right. He shouldn’t have turned his back on her without any word of goodbye. If he ended up dying in this hell on Earth, he knew he would regret his childish impulsiveness. But oh, youth always thinks death cannot reach it.

Yoongi narrowed his eyes trying to make out what was around him down there somewhere half-between the ground and the trap door. He heard water running and some machines working from under but other than that he only heard the noise of others' climbing. He reached for the wall searching for a switch to light up the space around them again but he found none. It probably used automatic sensors but they seemingly didn’t work. So it took awhile but when his eyes got somewhat used to the dark, he saw fences on two sides on the metal bridge they were standing on and he spotted a red flashlight on the other end of it quite far away.

"What is that noise?" Namjoon asked once he set his foot on the metal too right after his girlfriend. Soon they all gathered there, still shaken and uncertain because of the darkness fallen upon them. They could only see silhouettes, so telling each other apart was easier by the voices.

"I think the sewage water is getting cleaned under us. I read in one of the marketing documents we got that the used water is recycled for watering the plants but it needs to be filtered and thoroughly cleaned before adding it to the hose pipes. I think it's the sound of the extruding machine," Jungkook enlightened them as he accompanied Yerim to the fence and helped her wrap her fingers around the metal to make sure she kept herself steady.

"And why is it so hot and humid? It won't explode, right?" Wendy chirped in, worry evident in her usually confident voice. After elevators broke down and doors got shut without warning, they couldn’t be sure of anything.

"They boil and cool it too before reuse, so I think it's that," the young engineer answered and Yoongi was glad at least someone had thoroughly read the materials they had gotten. It came handy now because he liked to know what kind of problem he was facing before starting a fight.

"So it means, be extra careful! I will go forward first on the bridge but make sure to get a grip on the fence," Yoongi gave the orders and this time even the limping Taehyung had nothing to say.

The IT guy strictly followed the red light ahead which seemed to be the sign of a door to another room. Behind him he heard some unsure steps following him and Yerim's faint voice asking for water. He guessed that with her, Wendy and her boyfriend also lagged off because the noises sounded from farther away as he got closer to the light. It was hard to tell how much time passed, it could have been minutes or hours for all he knew but they walked for quite a while and the little group split into smaller groups. Only one person could keep up with him who led the row and Seulgi's quiet, shallow breathing gave his heart a rest. At least he knew he wasn't alone when he reached for the door handle.

It was Joohyun followed by the slow-paced Taehyung who closed the line, hand sweaty as she wrapped it around the cold fence. It was nerve-wracking, barely been able to see anything, much less their teammates ahead of them. Once or twice she even though they lost them when the faint echo of steps were suppressed by the sound of sewage water running below. The alarming silence over the noise and the lack of human contact, even just hearing or seeing them, also ticked her nervousness off. Maybe that’s why she slacked back staying with Taehyung whose steps were remarkably loud due to his injury. Sticking to him meant she knew that at least someone was close by and oh, she wanted nothing less than to stay alone.

Taehyung pulled one of his legs but he refused any further help. It must have been because of his pride or competitiveness. He didn't want to seem weak. As someone who studied psychology over the years it wasn't hard for Joohyun to guess why. He was distrustful towards anyone since he probably never received love so unconditional to make up for the loss he encountered.

"How is your ankle?" she spoke up not letting the silence stretched too far between them.

"What? Suddenly you care?" Taehyung rasped out, voice full of spite. Was it how he reacted to every question that was intended to be kind? With full of suspicion? Joohyun just wanted to be nice but now she wasn’t so sure anymore. 

She gritted her teeth, not letting the hurt be heard in her tone as she answered. 

"If you're being a deadweight and hold us back, there was no point in saving you over Hoseok," she remarked just as dryly even though her throat closed up speaking so harshly about the dead boy like he was nothing else than an asset to choose. It would have been a lie to say she had liked Hoseok even just a bit, he had been too whiny and he’d had not much use but he had been a human being and nobody deserved to die such a cruel death. No one, not even Taehyung despite his impossible personality.

"I never told you to save me or to wait for me. I can make my way out of here alone. I don't need any of you idiots," he scoffed, all too mighty if you asked Joohyun. 

"Keep telling yourself that," she rolled her eyes but in the dark it couldn’t have been seen.

She wasn't too keen on boosting the Marketing guy's ego though he really did seem like the type who would have survived all kinds of obstacles and could have even lived on the surface of ice just fine. But it wasn't a game made to be played alone.

"Anyways, you owe me. Don't forget that," she reminded him firmly.

She liked fairness and believed the universe always found its balance. So she knew she might get punished one day for leaving Sooyoung alone in the dorms like that but back then she had no idea what her actions meant. But knowing the consequences, would she have acted differently? Would she now? And what would it tell about her? She knew very well that emergency situations brought out people's inner selves. The way they behaved when something life-threatening happened made all the difference between the selfish and the selfless ones. But she also knew that her unsaid alliance with Taehyung could make or break whether she survived, so she intended to make the most out of it. Did it mean she was self-absorbed, only caring about herself? Or rather that she knew her way in this harsh, cruel world?

“Whatever,” Taehyung scoffed with a low grunt as they continued walking forward in silence. The boy's panting became louder as they kept going, the long tunnel seeming never-ending after the first dozens of steps. So it happened between one frivolous moment and another, it might have been Joohyun's carelessness or just a bit of misfortune, but in the end it didn’t matter, the result was all the same: she lost her balance and fell.

She could tell that the metal was slippery under her slippers but it was too late by the time she realized the consequence of her misstep. She slipped on the water – that probably Yerim had poured out accidently with her shaking hands when she had drunk – and it would have been fine if they weren’t walking on a bridge over nothing. As her bottom landed on the cold hard ground she automatically tried to find her balance again by placing her hands down. But one of those found nothing and ended into the emptiness. She misplaced the edge of the bridge in her mind and it seemed to become a deadly mistake on her part. As her hand found no concrete there the force of momentum tilted her body towards the void. As she fell she barely had time to blindly grab on the metal pole of the fence. Gasping, she clutched onto it with sweaty hands, forehead fitting close to the material of the bridge while her legs dangled in the air.

"What the fuck was that?" Taehyung, who only heard the fall, questioned as his steps halted. The darkness brought paranoia out of even him. 

"I'm down here, Taehyung, help me up," Joohyun forced her mouth to form the words even though she felt like she was wasting her precious energy needed to hold herself even by just breathing too loudly.

"Oh so you need that favour back already?" he mocked her way of asking for help as he knelt down towards the source of her panicked voice. His knees hit the metal hard, hand following the handrail.

How could she be so stupid to let go, he must have thought but Joohyun knew very well that in the moment of danger most people didn't act rationally, they let their instincts take over just how she wanted to lessen the impact of the fall by putting her hands down. The possibility of the bridge's edges being all too close didn't even occur to her in that moment. The same as she didn't even care about her pride now when it was a matter of life and death.

"Don't be an asshole and pull me up," she growled at the boy who didn't seem to understand the severity of the situation. It wasn't him who hung over an unknown depth after all and it wasn't his hands that kept slipping from the metal that even scarred her palm.

"What's the magic word?" he hummed all too calm and Joohyun swore she would punch him in the nose once she was safe. How did he dare to play with her life as if she was nothing more than a puppet on strings?

But maybe for him that's all she was. 

"Please… please," she panted, eyes brimming with unshed tears.

She really didn’t think she could hold on for much longer. Though according to her studies her body should have kept on until her last breath because during a crisis like this the human body and mind was capable of things otherwise it wouldn't have thought possible. The saying about holding on with tooth and nails really made sense now. She never wanted to live more than in that moment.

"Alright," Taehyung sighed heavily as if it was such a generous decision of him and he reached down with his free hand.

As his fingertips grazed Joohyun's shoulder she grabbed onto him with one hand. Once she was sure he held her firmly enough she let go off the metal pole in order to push herself upwards on the bridge. However, the boy wasn't too much of a help. He didn't made any effort to lift her, pulling her into safety, he just held her and let her struggle.

"You know, you were so close to the top 5," he remarked in a scornful tone which confused the girl for a moment, just one before she put the puzzle pieces together. But by then it was already too late and she felt herself fall into the abyss.

Her scream got cut off as she disappeared in the hot sewage water waiting to be processed. Yet the betrayal hurt more than the burn against her smooth skin. It hurt even more because despite what she had been taught about human behaviour during her academic career, despite all the signs she should have noticed, she made the stupid mistake of trusting and laying her life in the hands of the wrong man.

"Did you hear it?" Frightened, Yerim whipped her head backwards and clenched onto the fence even firmer.

"It sounded like a scream," Namjoon whispered but his premonition didn't receive objection nor agreement. They continued their walk towards the door that was now opened thanks to the ones at the front. Through the gap between the frame and the door it shed suspicious red light over the bridge, painting the shadows of the duo standing by the threshold onto the dark metal. Their figures appeared side by side but while the boy tried relentlessly to figure out why the bracelets stopped working, the girl just stood there, almost unmoving.

Kang Seulgi had always been an odd girl. Quiet and smart. She had been often picked on by her former classmates and since she’d had a hard time making friends, there had been nobody to protect her from the bullies. No matter how uncomfortable a task was, saying no wasn't her cup of tea. She liked to follow what she was told because the route taken like this was deemed safe in her eyes. But in Choego only she seemed to know where to go in order to stay alive. If only she dared to speak up. But wouldn't it be too late by now? Wouldn't the deaths of those who were left behind be blamed on her? The burn on her hand was already enough of a reminder about her mistakes. Under the red light it was even angrier burgundy and she hissed as she touched the wound drawing Yoongi's attention to it. Feeling the burn of the guy's gaze on her skin, it prickled and she gulped, remembering the way he looked at her when the fire alarm went off.

"You should put some cream on it before it gets infected," Yoongi advised quietly and the girl's head snapped towards him. Her long brown hair fell into her eyes, covering her sight.

"I don't have any on me," she whispered not daring to meet his eyes. It was useless to pretend dumb and ask what he meant by it, it was obvious he had it already figured out. Just how he should have known that they weren't in the position to run to pharmacies with every little injury. They had just left the hospital which was probably their last chance to get medicine of any kind. But she was okay with the burn mark, it wasn't the first time it happened anyway, she was used to scars, be it physical or mental.

Yoongi hummed at her answer since he couldn't offer any other kind of remedy either. He turned his head, looking into the distance, narrowing his eyes to make out the silhouettes of the groups of four and two following them. Seulgi looked the same way, hoping they would arrive soon, so they could get going, out of this dark and inauspicious place but they were still quite far. Probably because of the scared Yerim and the limping Taehyung.

Seulgi thought they would wait for them in silence, letting it cover them like a warm blanket on wintery days but Yoongi didn't turn back to his bracelet and his computer. He kept his eyes on the abyss but his words were directed at her without a doubt.

"You caused the fire drill, didn't you?" he asked but it didn't seem like he needed an answer. He was confident enough but his voice was just slightly stern. it didn't feel like he was calling her out on it or that he blamed her for any misfortune it might brought. He sounded almost understanding as he added: "You're a smoker."

"I–" Seulgi's already faint voice broke off as she tried to find an excuse. Gosh, this is just what she wanted to avoid, being questioned about her bad habit. She just didn't think it would be by the IT guy.

Taking notice of her self-conscious silence, he looked at her, searching for her eyes under the ominous lights and for the first time since she set her foot into this chaotic place, Seulgi truly felt like she wasn't alone.

"It's okay, I know the signs," Yoongi probably intended to reassure her this way, implying that he only figured it out due to his knowledge but Seulgi couldn't help but wonder what kind of sign it was. Was it the smell of smoke, the burn itself or perhaps the twitch of her fingers when she didn't get nicotine for too long? And how could he know? Was he also one of those who reached for this kind of drug to forget about their problems?

As if he heard her internal question, lowering his head he answered it without pushing her limits.

"My dad was smoking too," he said, tone changing too abruptly to end the sentence properly.

Until lung cancer took him away, the unsaid confession hung between them like a string waiting to be cut off by the Moiras.

Seulgi didn't know what to say to that, so she did what she did best: she stayed silent, words not reaching the tip of her tongue, not even when the steps were getting louder and the arrivals asked whether it was just the two of them.

"Finally! I thought we would never make it here. What's over there?" Namjoon grunted as he peeked over the threshold into the red room. It was lack of any helpful device but it had four doors with different numbers written on them on small metal tags. It meant nothing for most of them, just a random combination of five digits of numbers and characters.

"Nothing really. We should wait for the others and decide which way to go. I don't want to hear Taehyung whine because he didn't get the chance to butt in the decision," Yoongi remarked bitterly and the snort coming from the younger engineer guy signalled that he wasn't the only one whose nerves had enough of the Marketing guy's quirks.

"Do we have to stay in the dark for long?" Yerim spoke up with voice trembling like ravaged leaves falling during windy autumn months. Poor her, it hadn't been long since she lost her brother and now she was forced underground with an obvious fear of dark. However, she held on, she didn't give up or hold them back and Seulgi respected the young girl for her strength.

"I hope not. These passages branch throughout the island like a web of spiders, so I bet there are multiple ins and outs," Namjoon stated, although he was also confused because of the long journey they had to take without seeing any exit. What kind of architectural decision was it by the founders? But sooner or later they should have found a drain grate above them, leading to the surface... right?

"Can anyone tell how much time we have till the next zone shuts done?" Jungkook asked looking around as his own digital devices acted up with no wifi around. His question was reasonable since none of them wanted to walk into a trap.

"It's a few minutes past midday," Wendy checked the analog watch she wore on her wrist. "Gosh, time really flew by. How many zones can still be active?" She wondered aloud because it was around ten when they got into the hospital at the cost of the countdown's accelerating.

Being good at Maths, it didn't take too much for Seulgi to calculate the correct answer. From midnight to ten in the morning ten zones shut down, Two hours passed since which meant four more down at the current speed. But the number of the active ones didn't matter as long as they were within the safe border of these.

"There must be a pattern in the order they close off," Jungkook claimed and the quiet girl were surprised how talkative he became suddenly. Maybe it was Yerim's presence, that he had to constantly murmur comforting words to her.

"If I were the researchers I would have left a path leading to the main computer last, so if we head that way we should be okay," Yoongi added to their discussion and humming, everybody agreed with his reasoning. However, it didn't help their case too much without the knowledge of the exact arrangement of the city.

"Sure, but how we know where that is?" came the logical question from the tall boy beside him but Yoongi wasn't taken aback by it.

"We don't know. But she does," he pointed at Seulgi. Dumbfounded, the girl could only blink, not understanding what he meant.

"What?"

Yoongi tilted his head, watching her from under his dark lashes. There was a challenge in his voice and fire in his eyes as if he told her to step up for herself, to show them she wasn't just a gray little mouse following the horde.

"You said before we were safe. How did you know that?" he asked and oh, it all made more sense now. She didn't think anyone heard her.

"Fucking finally! I thought I was going crazy," an angry voice snapped closeby and everybody turned towards the lilac haired guy catching up to them.

However, he was alone no matter how hard they tried to gawk behind him in the dark. It stirred up uneasiness in their insides.

"Taehyung, where is Joohyun?"

The fear was all too clear in the Med student's voice as she asked about the eldest girl. Her question however was followed by deep silence. It had cuts and claws, scratching their throats, hungry for their dread. The pause before Taehyung's answer was like the quiet before the storm, safe that it didn't bring rain and thunders but guilt and grief afterwards.

"I don't know how it happened. She was in front of me in one moment and then she fell down in the next. It all happened so fast. I could barely see anything," the guy said in an emotionless voice and for some reason it sent shivers down Seulgi's spine. Even if there was no dead corpse in front of their eyes, they all knew what it meant.

There was something very wrong about this place. With every passing moment she hated being here more and more. She hated that they couldn't let themselves mourn properly because they had to focus on their own survival. It felt like losing a part of their humanity.

"Let's get the fuck out of this zone before we all die here," Taehyung passed by them, rushing into the red room, only to stop a few meters before the four doors. He didn't know either which one would have been the wise to choose.

None of them knew, except for one.

"Seulgi..." Yoongi's deep but smooth voice reached said girl's ears and curiously she looked the boy in the eyes. She had no idea what to make of the hope he saw in those dark orbs. "You know where to go, right?" he asked, almost pleading and Seulgi was more than surprised. She was used to being invisible, going unnoticed by others. But how much did he notice about her?

Bashfully, she cleared her throat, not knowing what to do with all that attention on her.

"The numbers, there are all over the city... they are zip codes," she spoke up, voice a little rough and too quiet to be heard at all through the roaring of the water. "The first number is for the region, like one for Seoul postal codes. The second and third are the number of the districts... the zones here as we called them. So the route behind each door is probably follows the sewage system heading towards those districts."

Always searching for something wrong in everything, of course, Taehyung snorted.

"And how do you know that?"

"She's an architect, don't you remember?" Yoongi answered instead of her, shielding the girl with his body from the lilac haired guy's rage. He didn't seem to be in a good mood at all and the IT guy wasn't planning on letting him blow their chance now. Annoyed and angry at the world, the Marketing major didn't realise it wasn't him with the upperhand in this situation.

"Then can she tell us why the hell we had to walk kilometers in the dark?"

"We crossed the canal from beneath," Seulgi replied in a quiet voice staring straight ahead, gaze burning holes in the back of Yoongi's black shirt.

Astounded oh sounds filled the sphere and for once Taehyung had no more annoying questions either. Their non-appointed leader turned to the girl inquiring further.

"Which way should we go now?"

She pointed at the door with the label 522NN.

" I... I saw a map and the numbers are increasing in a spiral, the last one is twenty-four, it's between the twenty-third and twenty-second zone," she explained and for the first time in forever she experienced the impact of her own words as everybody moved forward to the 22th district of Choego.

[ladytp]

(EDIT: Oops, I thought I had posted this already a while ago but apparently forgot, as it still sat in my drafts... D’oh!)

The second and the last chapter of my Sansan Christmas in July 2019 fic to @sincerelydayyy, “Jumping from the Ropes” takes us into the conclusion of this short and hopefully sweet story… “The Jump” is also up at AO3. Merry Christmas in July once again!

Sansa

The Hound had been right: the shit did hit the fan soon after.

Bobby Baratheon suffered a massive cardiac arrest, and while he was recuperating in the hospital, his wife and co-owner Cersei Lannister called a meeting of the WWA board and announced a ‘friendly’ takeover with her and Joffrey at its helm. The board agreed, and sooner than one could say ‘contractual obligations’, Ned Stark was out of a job.

He took it well though, telling Sansa that he preferred not to work for ‘that woman’ anyway. In a family meeting it was decided that Ned would fly home and consider his next step back in the North, while Sansa would finish her semester before following him.

As for the Hound, Sansa saw him in the shows, of course, defending his championship and delivering his characteristic brusque promos, threatening to gut any of the ‘gnats’ who imagined themselves to be a match for him.

He saw her too, often glancing in her direction during the show and between the matches. Sansa was usually seated in the prime seating area – advantages of the Premier Pass she had received from her father and which even Cersei in her pettiness hadn’t revoked. That meant that she was close enough to the action to be fully aware of his looming presence and attention – which, however, was quickly withdrawn when she looked back at him.

Only once had he and Sansa spoken, and that more by accident than by design. She had gone backstage after the show, and when turning the corner, had almost collided with him, only her abrupt halt preventing a head-on crash. Instead, she had found herself eye level with his sweaty, heaving chest, covered with dark hair.

While Sansa had murmured her apologies, he had asked what she was doing there and if she was looking for someone. Then Joffrey had walked past and greeted her – and The Hound had slid away without another word.

Still assailed by the intensity of their meeting at the party, Sansa had stooped as low – as per her usual standards – as to find out everything she could about him from the internet, searching by both his ring-name and his real name, Sandor Clegane. His biography was scanty, he rarely featured in news or articles outside the usual wrestling sites, and his social media presence was non-existent. His only entry on Twitter, apparently forced upon the employees by the WWA, was a one-liner, “So here I am – enjoy”, not followed by any other tweets.

Even adding “girlfriend” after his real or ring-name didn’t bring up any hits in Google – which was unusual by itself. If not real news, most wrestlers’ profiles were inundated with gossip and speculation about who they were dating or not – but not him.

All she could glean from her search was his career development from a solitary youth, who had discovered pro-wrestling as an outlet to whatever demons he had on his back - and now Sansa knew what they were – via indie circles, hard-core death-matches and small promotions, all the way to the WWA. That, and that the cause of his scars was universally accepted to be a house-fire in his bedroom when he had been just a child - just as he had first told. His brother’s – another wrestler in the WWA under the ring-name ‘The Mountain’ – web entries had lots of information about his career, but no hints about the atrocity he had committed.

---

It was the day of Sansa’s departure. She had packed all her belongings and sent most of them ahead by airfreight, leaving only one carry-on bag to take with her on her flight.

She eyed her room for the last time. It had been a good year and she had enjoyed every moment of it, and part of her felt sorry to leave it all behind, but another part was keen to get back home to her family and friends. This year things were going to be different for her: she was going to move away from her parents’ house, possibly with her best friend Jeyne. She was going to focus on finishing her studies, maybe get a part-time job… she was going to start her adult life for real.

Sansa sighed and glanced at her watch. She still had a few more hours to kill before she had to be at the airport so she decided to pay one last visit to her favourite café only a block away.

Stepping out of the front door, she was hit by a blast of brilliant sunshine. The weather was warm and there was a hint of spring in the air, lifting her spirits even higher. The sun in her eyes blinded her so that when she first heard the humming sound of a car engine slowing down beside her and heard a shout, she had to squint her eyes and cover her brow to see better.

“Little Bird!”

The car was big and black, one of those four-wheel utility drives favoured by rugged outdoorsmen and adventurers with extra cash. The tinted side window lowered and she saw the man driving it.

The Hound.

“Hello,” was all she could manage, surprised by his unexpected appearance. Why was he here – had he come to find her? Or maybe it was just a coincidence that he was driving by at that precise moment?

“You have a minute?”

The car had stopped right next to her, but the motor was still running. If she said no, explaining that she was in a hurry, would he take her at her word and drive away?

The thing was, she didn’t feel like saying no.

“I do have a moment, but not much more than that,” she said, bending to peer through the window. She saw the same big black dog on the backseat, its ears perking up as it saw her. The Hound reached for the door handle and with a click, the door opened.

Once Sansa had settled in the seat, the Hound steered the car to the first available parking spot and stopped, this time turning the ignition off. The silence following the death of the motor was deafening - he didn’t even have a radio on.

“So, how are you?” Sansa asked. That’s what people ask after not seeing each other for a while, don’t they?

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re leaving WWA?”

“Everything.” The Hound’s hands rested on the steering wheel, which looked awfully small in comparison. The backs of his hands were hairy but his fingers were unexpectedly long and there was something delicate in the way he slowly rubbed the spokes of the wheel, probably not even realising he was doing it.

“I told Cersei she can shove my contract where the sun doesn’t shine and packed my bags. I’m done with the Baratheons and Lannisters.”

Well, he had told her so, so Sansa wasn’t terribly surprised.

“What do you plan to do?” she asked, out of genuine interest.

“Don’t know yet. I could be a free agent for a while, wrestle in indie circles.” He looked at Sansa then. “I think I’ll leave the city, go somewhere else for a while. North, maybe.”

Sansa’s heart started to race. It was quite ridiculous, really. What was it to her what he decided to do? In the name of mutual sharing, she decided, however, to tell him about her plans.

“I’m leaving too. As a matter of fact, I have to be at the airport shortly for my flight to Wintertown.”

“I know.”

“How?”

“Cersei told me.”

“She did?” Sansa remembered mentioning her departure in the parting email she had sent to Bobby and Cersei. They had been welcoming to her and her father when they had first arrived and it was only good manners to bid them farewell, no matter how things between their families had ended. Besides, Ned and Bobby’s friendship still endured, and Bobby had sworn to pay his old friend a visit as soon as he had recovered enough to do so.

The Hound turned to her fully. “I could give you a ride.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I’ll be fine. I only have a carry-on bag and I can easily take an Uber,” Sansa said.

She wouldn’t have really minded accepting the offer, but what would have been the point of it? They were probably not going to see each other again, and the awkwardness of their interactions was unlikely to pass during the short drive to the airport. There was something between them, Sansa had realised over the last few weeks, something that had been ignited that evening at the university party. Something unsure and fragile, something that was more of a promise of potential rather than a thing on its own.

Yet it didn’t matter. Even should he move to the North and wrestle there, their life situations were so far apart that…

“I didn’t mean to the airport.”

Sansa’s trail of thought was so abruptly interrupted, she was confused at first. If not to the airport, then –

Oh!

“You can’t mean Wintertown? It’s halfway across the country!”

“I know.” Seemingly realising that it was not enough, The Hound continued. “I like driving. And I’d hate to confine Stranger in one of those crates for the flight. And I couldn’t leave him behind.” He reached to scratch the ear of the dog, who had poked its head between the seats. Sansa looked at the dog warily. Those breeds had a reputation, after all.

“Go on, pat him. He’s a big sook,” The Hound urged – and she did. The dog’s fur was silky and soft and its nose, when it sniffed her hand, was cold and wet. Tentatively, it licked her fingers.

Sansa’s head was whirling. For her, the notion was crazy. It would take at least four or five days to drive up, whereas in a plane it would be a matter of hours. She would be back at home this same night, embraced by her mother and her many siblings. Why should she even consider such an offer?

“That’s a very long drive,” she offered. As if he didn’t know.

“They say the route along the coast is pretty. And the scenery in the Vale is supposed to be breathtaking. I might take a few side trips. Haven’t seen enough of this country, as it is.”

The Hound glanced out of the window, which he had wound down when they had stopped. He might have appeared nonchalant and not caring a whit whether Sansa accepted his offer or not, but his fingers, tapping against the wheel at an increasing tempo, gave him away.

He is nervous, Sansa realised, to her astonishment. And something warm started to bloom inside her chest.

Every sensible brain cell in her head screamed 'NO' – it would be the height of stupidity to ditch the plane and join a man she hardly knew for such a long ride. Gods, if her mother knew she was even passingly contemplating it, she would have a fit.

And yet, every cell in her body and every nerve-ending that was ignited by his proximity screamed 'YES'.

She would be safe with him. It didn’t make sense to think so, but deep in her core, Sansa knew it to be so. True, he was a gamble, all odds stacked against him – but maybe he was worth the risk.

“Okay, then,” she breathed out.

The fingers stopped their drumming and The Hound stiffened. His eyes widened and brows lifted so high that it actually looked a bit comical, and Sansa had to stifle her instinct to giggle.

“Okay what?”

“I accept your offer. I need to call the airline to cancel my ticket – luckily it’s fully flexible – and get my bag from my room, and then we can be on our way.” She glanced at the back of the car and saw two large suitcases and a couple of boxes. “Do you have all your stuff with you already?”

“You’re for real?” The Hound stared at her, brows furrowed. “I mean… we wouldn’t have to take any side tours. And we could drive just as fast and directly as you want. And stay in proper hotels for the nights – in separate rooms, of course.”

Was that a flush creeping up his face? Sansa’s amusement grew. He was like a dog chasing after a car, who didn’t know what to do when one actually stopped.

“I’d certainly hope so; I hardly know you. But side trips would be fine. I haven’t seen enough of this country myself.”

Getting no answer from his flustered companion, Sansa clutched her handbag in her lap and straightened herself in her seat. “Well, I better get my things and make the necessary calls. Can you take us into the parking lot next to my building, the big red one in front of which you saw me?”

It took a moment longer before The Hound acted, turning the ignition on and manoeuvring the car around.

“What should I call you, then? I think ‘The Hound’ may not be quite appropriate. I know your real name is Sandor – do you mind if I call you that?” Sansa asked while he was reversing into an empty spot.

“Ah, yeah, sure – call me Sandor,” he muttered, seemingly still in shock at the turn of events.

“My name is Sansa, not a Little Bird. Can you wait for just a moment, Sandor? I’ll be right back.”

When Sansa climbed the stairs to her room, something vibrant and exciting started to bubble inside her. She felt lightheaded and couldn’t stop grinning. The whole thing was outlandish and bizarre and against all common sense.

It was… as if she had just climbed up the turnbuckle again and was standing high up, looking into the bright lights of the stadium, into the middle of the ring, so far away. She was nervous, she was anxious – but it felt right. Sandor was going to be there to catch her if she leapt.

It was time to jump from the ropes.

                            -- THE END --