#but i see the apology scene & her concern for him after the shooting

[pyramidofmice]

Sally's apology to John really struck me as a raw, meaningful parent-to-child apology. She didn't dumb anything down, she didn't lie to soften anything, she claimed all of her actions... he was so young, and Sally reacted to his age not by talking down to him, but by finding a way to describe the whole truth so he could understand

Most importantly I think is how she kept saying that John is a good person. Like...she thought she was about to die. And she didn't spend that time asking John for forgiveness or to remember her in a good light. She dedicated her words to making John feel loved. She spent that precious time giving him something to make sense of it all, to heal somewhere down the line even when she's not there

[theweasleytwinsownmyjuicyass]

Yogurt | L.N.

Lando Norris x reader

Summary: what's is the best way to show your crush you like him if not by eating yogurt together?

Warnings: fluff/comedy<3

Word count: ~1,8K

“Hey Lan, look what I got!” you excitedly waved the spoon around, a sparkle in your eye.

A smile instantly found a place on Lando’s face, hearing your voice just did that to him these days. He turned to face you but soon enough the smile fell and he let out a scream inside. NO GOD NO!

There you stood before him, so incredibly excited and happy with a carton of yogurt in your hand and Lando knew that he couldn’t run away now, you’ve caught him once again.

“Sadly there was only one left, but we can share!” you sat next to him on the soft sofa overlooking the track.

Gosh you lived for these little moments between you two, because it was literally the only time you two could be together uninterrupted for at least a while and talk about everything and anything.

“Oh that’s great…” Lando tried to feign excitement but he didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up…

As the two of you sat there sharing the small carton of yogurt you couldn’t not tell him all about the new book you’ve read. The yogurt was long gone, but you still kept going, describing every single character and your favourite scenes to Lando who was listening intently.

“And then he totally lost it! Like he’s been losing it since the start, but this was the total culmination where we got to see just how messed up he actually is. He was literally shooting into hallucinations of her! Dude really got one heartbreak and turned completely ins-” your rant was cut short as Lando leaped out of his seat and hurried away and out of the cafeteria.

You sat there now in complete stillness, confused as to what made him act out in such a way. What worried you most was that he always seemed to run off after your little chats. You weren’t going to lie to yourself, but that kind of hurt…

The first time it happened you were absolutely heartbroken. Like how could you not be! The guy you have a crush on running away from you! But after that Lando apologised to you and everything was back to normal. Up until he did that again and again… and again. Yes he’d apologise after every single time, but it was starting to drive you nuts!

“Awesome,” you let out an expiated sign and leave the cafeteria once again with your head hung low.

The next time you see Lando is about an hour later at practise and make yourself a mental note to ignore him, since you could no longer take his weird behaviour and fake apologies.

You’re just about to walk out of the garage when you heard a thud of something or rather someone falling to the floor and a group of shocked intakes of breath echoed around the place.

“Lando!” air was knocked out of your chest the moment you saw him lying on the floor, face a pale white and glistening with sweat.

You kneeled next to him with a few of his team members, “Help me put him on the couch,” your hands were trembling as you assisted the older man to pick Lando up. Your hands were braced under his head holding it softly, afraid to harm him in any way.

“Lando? Lando wake up,” you caressed his forehead lightly, wiping away the curls that were starting to stick to his damp skin.

It didn’t take long before his eyes fluttered open and connected with your gaze.

“Lando, are you okay?” concern was etched into your features, eyebrows furrowed, soft hands still raking through his hair.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” he sat up patting your hand, clearly not helping your mind ease.

“You look pale Lan, are you sure?” you pushed seriously concerned for his wellbeing.

“Yeah, trust me, it happens sometimes, nothing to worry about” he gives you a quick smile before stumbling off to his room.

Pure confusion of what just happened was etched into your features. What the hell is up with this guy?!

Even if you felt confused by his actions you still felt bad that he fainted.

 Why does a person faint? Dehydration? Not eating enough? That sounds like something that could have happened to Lando since he’s always too preoccupied with doing anything else but actually eating his meals or getting enough water until it was too late.

You run to the convenience store that’s close to the track and buy a few packets of yogurt, some flavourless, some with strawberries. You think he’ll like that since one time he talked for an hour about a strawberry tart he had in London.

Your hands softly knock on his door before you enter.

“Hey, I got you some yogurt, thought it might pick up your mood,” you offer him the three yogurt packets and a complementary spoon from the hospitality.

”Oh! That’s … great actually, exactly what I needed right now,” he grabs the yogurt out of your arms and thanks you before eating spoonful’s of it. You smile watching him go through two packets so eagerly. ‘Poor boy was so hungry’ you think.

On the other hand Lando is doing everything in his power to keep the damn yogurt down his throat, but even the smell was now irritating his whole being.

But he couldn’t just not eat it. You got it for him, just for him. And god he knew how much he was messing up these past few weeks he didn’t want to make another stupid move that will make sure he never sees you closer than 10 feet away from him.

‘You got this Lando, just few more spoons and you make the girl happy. You got this man’ he repeated that as his mantra until his body betrayed him. Turns out no, he did not ‘got this’.

You watched with impending horror as Lando launched himself out of the chair and into the bathroom before an array of sounds followed as he emptied his insides into the toilet.

You stood behind the door not knowing what to do but extremely concerned about the boy’s condition.

“Lan?”

“Please don’t come in here Y/n,” his voice was tainted with desperation and as much as worry spurred you to see him you also had understanding for the boy and sat yourself back down on the sofa.

At that time Oscar came into the room.

“Oh Y/n, have you seen Lando? I’ve been looking all over for him, it’s like he disappeared,” the boy sat next to you on the sofa.

“He’s in there,” you pointed at the closed bathroom door with an apologetic expression and Oscar nodded his head silently understanding more about the situation than he let on.

It was only a few minutes later that Lando emerged from the bathroom smelling of fresh toothpaste and with red blotches covering his damp face.

“Lan? Are you sure you okey? Seems like you’ve caught some kind of tummy bug,” your eyebrows pulled together as you assessed the teary eyed boy standing before you.

Lando only sat down at his table and opened the water bottle before taking a sip and letting out a sign.

Oscar was done with the situation after having been in it for all of 2 minutes and decided to push his friend in the right direction for once.

“Lando, for the love of God, please tell her!“ Oscar sounded expiated as he stood from the sofa in frustration, something that looked so foreign on the usually silent boy.

“Tell me what?” your eyes danced between the two boys who now held intense eye contact with each other.

“He’s lactose intolerant for God’s sake!” Oscar was the one to break the silent conversation between the two boys.

“Nooooo!” Lando screeched out at the same time as Oscar admitted his secret to you.

“Oh my god Lando! Why didn’t you tell me! You’ve been getting sick and it’s all my fault!” you clawed at your face hot with embarrassment. Now it all made sense why he’d hurry away from you after your little yogurt dates. Gosh how did you not notice it?!

“Because I like you! And you’d always offer me some of it and I just couldn’t say no because I thought you’d take it the wrong way…” Lando’s gaze was stuck to the floor and his shoulders slumped in defeat, not only did he already feel a fool he also admitted his feelings to you and was getting ready for your sweet rejection.

“Gosh I thought I was the one being slick always offering you some yogurt, just to show that I like you, but then you’d run off and I just thought that the yogurt was all we had.” Your hand raked through your hair anxiously. Yes Lando was the first one to admit his feelings but that did not make it easier for you to say as doubts still covered you.

“You thought that I was being with you just for the yogurt?” Lando stepped closer and smoothed his hand over your hair, putting the strands back into place with a soft touch.

“It sounds stupid I know, but yeah…” your eyes lifted to connect with his adoring eyes. His sweet gaze calmed your heart and you leaned into his touch, reassured by his presence.

“Well good thing you now know that it has nothing to do with the yogurt,” the room erupted in your harmonious chuckles before his lips softy landed on your forehead, once again claiming his affection towards you.

The moment was so personal that neither of you noticed when Oscar silently slipped out of the room leaving it just for the two of you, but you were none the less thankful for his kind understanding.

Later that night you and Lando were watching movies in his apartment, cuddled up on the huge foamy sofa before the TV. Your hand was making soft circles on his tummy, rubbing away the pain.

There was only a faint sound of the movie that engulfed the room until you spoke up with a teasing smile.

“I still can’t believe you were doing that to yourself just because you liked me.”

Lando lifted his face from your chest so he could face you before he answered.

“What’s a little sickness if I get to see you smile?”

^^

[porcelainhrts]

🕸️ | Prophetess! Reader x MK

• "Born" from a tree at the Wu Shi Academy, you were found by Raiden, Kung Lao, Johnny, and Kenshi after Kung Lao's hat sliced a nearby tree that revealed a human inside which is you.

Raiden huffed as he wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead after finishing his daily training with the monks. From the corner of his eye, Kung Lao enters with a huge grin, wider than usual. It made him suspicious. What genius idea does he have in mind now?

And as if the younger could hear his thoughts, Kung Lao beams as he pulls out a razor hat. How the hell he made it, Raiden won't even ask.

"That doesn't look safe," he points out, leaning away cautiously.

"it's genius, Raiden," Kung Lao waves his hand dismissively, trailing his fingers along the hat's sharp edges. He does so carelessly and cuts his fingers, earning himself a hiss and a sigh from his friend.

"See? I told you."

Kung Lao raised a smug brow and the hat was sent flying around, faster than the wind as it cuts through everything it comes across. From the practice dolls, to the stands, and even the tall old tree on the side. The monks ducked, some jumped, few froze, but the genius man stood confidently with pride as it flew back at him, proving his point.

"That's a pretty deep cut," Johnny laughs amusely at the demonstration but as he zooms the camera on the tree's wound, his face drops and his eyes squint.

"I know I'm not much of a plant expert, but I do know plants don't bleed."

Kenshi scoffs. "Has the loss of money and fame driven you insane, Cage?"

"Hey!" Johnny yells, his expression changing from amusement to annoyance. "I have not fallen from stardom!" he claims.

"It's only a temporary setback! When this is all over, I'll eventually find my way back! Like everyone does! When they're lost," he adds as if reassuring himself, his face filled with determination and confidence.

A silent clash ensues between the two and the air tenses as they shoot daggers at each other with their eyes, Johnny's smirk taunting yet Kenshi's brow is threatening. "No, it's really bleeding," Raiden, who has been silently observing, breathes out, staring bewildered at the tree, his eyes wide in confusion.

"Look," he says, pointing to the tree's trunk, which still bleeds profusely.

And as the four men eye the said scene, it is no mistake that the tree is indeed bleeding . The scarlet liquid dirties it's clean wood and as they approach closer, little sniffles could be heard from inside.

"Call Lord Liu Kang."

• You were found nestled within the tree, unconscious and malnourished, with no memory of who you are and how you ended up there or why.

• The first few nights at the Wu Shi were filled with sleepless nights, bothering you with blurry yet bothersome enough to keep you up awake and pacing around your room. Some were concerning, some were scary, and some you would rather not speak of.

• Having enough of all the pent up feelings, you turn to the only thing you knew: weaving. Despite having no recollection of your memories, you knew how to weave— and in those carefully woven fibers tells stories yet to manifest.

• You truly wished not to bother Lord Liu Kang about your weird visions for he had already done enough to provide you a new home, but when you awake from yet another nightmare to find him before you, you knew you can no longer keep it to yourself.

• Despite how weird your story may seem, the God seemed to be unbothered. In fact, it may be small, but you can see the tug of his lips as you speak. You wonder if he knew about this.

• You wanted to ask but a part of you held you back, and so Liu Kang ends the conversation with a "you should get some rest."

---

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: I know her introduction isn't really canon compliant, but let's just pretend it is. Originally, this was written for an oc and is purely self indulgent, but hey, why not let others in on the fun. I apologize if there are grammar mistakes, English is not my mother tongue. I would also like to apologize for the shitty writing because I'm not really a writer. Also, if I were to continue this, I still have no one in mind to pair her up with— comment if you have any suggestions.

[aernx]

꒰ 💭 ꒱ OH, NIKI YOU’RE SO FINE! ˖ ⌨︎ ⁩◞❪니키❫

— 23 ! like she played me

ærin’s extra : telling u guys that this rn is js a mini angst b4 we go to the real climax >0<

𖥻 masterlist ⟲ prev | next ⟳

The walk to the parking lot was silent. Pure white clouds staining the clear skies like cotton on fabric as the sun had longed reached its peak. After a long day of school and practice, Riki longed for the touch of his soft, plush mattress, as he practically dragged himself to get to his car.

But his steps went into a halt as he remembered that he promised to give Sunoo a ride home after his archery practice. Good thing the archery field was right beside the parking lot or else Riki was sure that his legs where about to give in any moment. Screw Heeseung for instructing the team to run 20 laps.

It wasn’t long until he reached the said field. The boy peaked his head through the gates in search a familiar face as his eyes scanned the parameters.

Where the hell is that boy?

After few minutes of scanning and still no signs of Sunoo, Riki took steps forward, heading inside the field for a deeper search.

As he went inside, a peculiar sight of two people seem to have robbed his attention as his mission to search for the sunshine had long disappeared.

There it was, from a distance he can see you with a guy he’s never seen, but somehow familiar with. Riki watched as the guy single-handedly fixed your posture before giving you a sign to shoot your arrow. He saw as the arrow pierced right in the center of the target, marking it with a bullseye.

You jumped in excitement as you saw your successful shot. With his gaze struck to your happy expression, the boy can feel a smile slowly creeping in his features.

Then it clicked. That was the same guy in your recent tweets. His smile slowly faded as he saw that guy, Leno?? congratulated you and patted your head—proud to see your progress—while you just swatted his hand jokingly in response.

They’re just friends. Are they?

Watching the two tease each other from a distance was hard to watch. Feeling dejected, Riki turned his back from the fleeting scene ahead of him, continuing his search to locate his friend only to bump into someone in the process.

“Watch where you’re going.” That someone clicked his tongue.

“Sorry man.” Niki apologized, feeling sorry for not being watchful of his surroundings.

There was an awkward silence that lingered for a moment. “I see you eyeing Yn just now.” The unfamiliar guy chuckled with an emotion he could not place. Confused, Riki scrunched his eyebrows.

“You better stay away from her.” The guy continued, “She’ll play you, just like she played me.” With one last look the mysterious guy exited the field, leaving a dazed and confused Niki alone amidst the field of archers.

Who was that guy? Was he one of the archers too?

Riki’s heart jumped when he felt a hand placed in his shoulder. Quickly turning his head, he was met with a tired Sunoo, who looked as if he wanted to pass out any moment. “You’re here already?”

The boy sighed in response. The image he saw earlier was still freshly imprinted on his mind. He glimpsed back to your direction, seeing you and that Leno guy laughing over something that probably wasn’t even thar funny. At that, the words from the stranger seem to resurface.

She’ll play you, just like she played me. What did he mean by that?

“Earth to Riki? Hello? Niki?” Sunoo began to shake his friend. Niki shrugged away his friend’s hand gently before exiting the gates. “Let’s just go, Sunnie.”

Sunoo looked at his friend, concern laced upon his dark pupils. He felt like something wasn’t right and he was sure of it. So he took a mental note to ask about it later.

OH, NIKI YOU’RE SO FINE! — CHP TWENTY-THREE

𖥻 masterlist ⟲ prev | next ⟳

aerin’s notes ☆

i’m sorry guys…things will get better next chp i promise 😆 also my writing is so shit these days guys pls ignore 😇🙏🏻

TAGLIST. closed !

@roseyrays @itsactuallylina @1-800shutthefuckup @belovedxiao @luvistqrzzz @yanagisprettygf @yunicide @anyavaramyr @ghostiiess @catryu @ixomiyu @maerijw @txtmetonight @jaehaki @be0m9yu @kpop1sworld @astrae4 @whippedforbeomgyu @pkjay @j-wyoung @kazmura @bekiss-world @run2seob @haechansbbg @positivelyinlovewithjungwon @ihrtnrk @rreynca @gyubeari @iea-tsand @l0ve-joy @maybemiko @strwberrydinosaur @beomgyusonlywife @yumilovesloona @miko1ly @gyurtl @momsheaa @leiluvs @rikimylove @myknifeyourlife @r1k1slvr

© aernx 2023 / do not steal, copy, translate — hope you enjoy my works! and let me know if you have any suggestions !

[i-heart-hxh]

Hey! Hope you’re doing well, I’m sorry I haven’t responded to that last question of mine you answered but I absolutely loved it! Your answers are always super insightful. Today though I want to ask about another scene that I believe has big Killugon implications, but I have yet to see a single person really cover so far. I noticed it as I was re-reading the manga and instantly I knew something was up (oh and apologies in advance for the image quality but I had to take them off of my physical manga copies with my phone lol):

Now for context this scene takes place in the direct lead up to the palace invasion, which each character having a short inner monologue about how they feel in the lead up to the fight. In the case of Shoot he chooses to focus on Killua and how he has changed since they’re fight, noting how Killua look very sad every “once in a while”.

Now when I first got to this panel I was a little caught off guard as I feel most readers would be, the reason being that prior to this scene we haven’t had any indication that Killua was sad at all. After all this is post-needle Killua after his big emotional fight with a Rammot, he hadn’t shown any signs of further sadness since then and, as Shoot says, was a lot more confident in himself and his abilities. So why would Togashi deliberately choose to draw attention to Killua’s feelings this way, and why now when there was no prior indication that he was feeling bad at all?

Well, I think the reason lies in a pair of scenes that happen prior to this revelation by Shoot, the first of which is this:

Again, this is in the lead up to the palace invasion where the gang is working out their final plan of attack, while Palm is already enacting her part of the plan in the palace by herself.

Now this scene is interesting to me for a few reasons:

1. Togashi is using all this space (almost two and a half pages of it) to convey to make it clear to us how worried Gon obviously is about Palm since there’s a high chance she could die or already has at this point.

2. Togashi chose Killua specifically to be the one to explain this part of the plan to Gon, even when the more obvious choice would have been Knuckle or Shoot since they were with Morel and Knov when the plan was first made.

3. Killua is very clearly annoyed/dismissive/generally just put off by Gon’s worry about Palm, and is so harsh to Gon in the way he handles it that BOTH Knuckle and Meleoron call him out on it. Clearly there’s something more going on with Killua that Togashi wishes to highlight here, to the point where a scene about Gon’s feelings and worries about Palm quickly turns into a scene about KILLUA’S feelings about Gon’s feelings and worries about Palm!

But that’s not all! There’s also this science which takes place directly before we get Shoot’s reflection on Killua’s feelings:

Again we see Gon ask about Palm the second he has the opportunity and is once more clearly upset by the fact that there is still no word from her.

So why do I bring these two scenes up? Well because when Shoot says that “once in a while” he sees Killua get very sad, we as readers have to then ask the question of when he would have the opportunity to be around Killua enough to gauge his emotions this way, as prior to this the gang has been very much speedster from one another for awhile.

In fact, some of the only scenes we see Killua and Shoot even in the same location are both instances where Gon asks about Palm, which would logically imply that it was some point during those interactions where Shoot came to this conclusion about Killua’s feelings. And considering how Killua’s reaction to Gon’s worries about Palm, it only makes sense that this is what Shoot saw. Killua getting visibly sad when Gon shows concern for Palm.

So essentially, I believe that what Togashi was trying to get the reader to understand in this scene was something like this: shoot comments on how sad Killua is. “Sad? Why would he be sad?” The reader thinks, “he didn’t seem sad at all prior to this, what is he sad about?” They then think back to how annoyed Killua was when Gon was talking about Palm and think “well he must be sad about that then, but he’s never liked Palm, why would he be sad that Gon cares about… OH, maybe he’s just jealous!”

And THAT I think is the point of this scene, or at the very least to keep Killua’s sadness in the back of the reader’s mind for later where it’ll come to fruition.

Now, obviously anyone who knows the story knows that Killua has his big emotional scene with Palm where he confesses that he thinks Gon cares more about her than him, and how heartbreaking that is for him to feel. When you first read that though it may seem to come a little bit out of nowhere and a bit delusional on Killua’s part if you take it on it’s own. However, in the context of this scene with shoot and Gon’s earlier vocal worry about Palm, it all starts to make sense. Killua sees this play out and gets jealous because he thinks Gon cares more about Palm, whom Killua still would think is Gon’s romantic partner because Gon never showed interest to him in stopping his date with her and they never officially called off their “relationship”. So to Killua Palm means more to Gon because she’s romantically involved with him (in his eyes) and he gets sad and… well… jealous honestly whenever he’s reminded of that fact. I don’t really see any other way to explain why Killua would think Palm is more important to Gon than him keeping the context of these scenes in mind.

It also doesn’t help that Gon basically confirmed it by pushing Killua away after he expressed so much outward worry for Palm so yeah. Oof. It makes sense why Killua thinks the way he does and this whole scene is Togashi hinting at that early on. That’s why he orders these scenes the way he does and why he brings Killua’s feelings to light there for the reader to notice.

But honestly what REALLY got to me about this scene, and what inspired me to write this whole long ass ramble on the first place, was one key detail. Togashi chose an objective character like Shoot (who’s about as objective as objective can be in this situation) to clearly highlight Killua’s deeper feelings for the reader in a way Killua himself can’t.

Sound familiar? Well it should because there is one other VERY important scene where Togashi does the exact same thing, and it happens a bit later on:

(I had to cut out the first page for the sake of image number limits, but we both know what scene this is lol)

Isn’t it funny that Togashi would parallel Shoot’s revelations about Killua’s feelings here in the most romantically coded scene in the entire manga, with an equally objective character in Meleoron pointing out the same thing?

It’s hard to articulate this part but I hope you see what I’m getting at here.

It’s a very curious choice by Togashi indeed, to frame those hidden feelings that Meleoron sees explicitly around romantically love, and parallel that with Shoot’s earlier revelation about Killua being very sad even prior to Gon pushing him away… very curious indeed.

Anyway, wow this went on for longer than I thought but I needed to get this out of my head. If you have any insight I’d love to hear about it because I haven’t heard anyone talk about this scene and I need to know I’m not just crazy with what I see lol. To me, it’s just another case of that subtle, genius storytelling g by Togashi, but let me know what you think. Thanks!

Wow, this is a wonderful piece of meta, thank you so much for writing it all up and submitting it to me!! I had noticed/considered how snappy Killua gets to Gon when Gon is worrying over Palm, but this is a very carefully considered argument that the jealousy over Palm is an important part of Killua's sadness and uncertainty about his place in Gon's life going into the palace invasion. I had mostly read Killua's sadness here as Gon being distant prior and Killua picking up on that, Killua just generally being worried about the outcome, plus being hurt that Gon wants to fight Pitou on his own. I think those are all factors, too, but it's true that Killua is very focused and worried specifically about whether Gon considers him just a teammate or a friend.

I've always thought this whole dilemma comes off as "odd" in the sense that it wasn't long ago that Gon openly stated that Killua is his best friend in the whole world, under no uncertain terms. Why would Killua doubt his friendship with Gon? Plus there's the whole theme of not having to "qualify" to be a friend (an attitude towards friendship that Killua later passes on to Ikalgo). It's worth noting he's worrying about this prior to Gon's breakdown in front of Pitou and the "It's none of your business" (essentially) line that breaks Killua's heart. This happens just a bit before they confront Pitou.

I'm having a hard time explaining this because it's more of a feeling I have about this scene than something I can concretely prove, but I feel like from a purely friendship standpoint, it's strange for Killua to be so fixated on whether they're friends or not when Gon has stated his friendship with Killua over and over again. Even if Gon has been more distant and insists on fighting Pitou alone (which is definitely part of the problem here), it's not as though there's some clear reason presented that shows Killua has been demoted and Gon no longer considers him a friend.

EXCEPT...Killua is so devoted to Gon that he has it in his mind that he and Gon might do a lovers' suicide if worst comes to worst. If Gon cares more about Palm than him, where does that put him? This whole struggle Killua is having of friendship vs teammates makes so much more sense when you consider Killua having romantic feelings for Gon, whether or not he's aware that that's what they are. And it especially makes sense tying in with the argument you're making, that the whole situation with Palm is a big piece of what's bothering and hurting Killua and causing him to doubt his standing with Gon. It is also a logical build up between the date with Palm and the ultimate climax of this subplot, where Palm assures Killua that he's the one means the most to Gon, and the only one who has any hope of saving him.

I think this whole friendship vs teammate thing is Togashi code for what Killua is really struggling with, which is the strong romantic feelings he has for Gon and his concern that they're not requited. Of course it's improbable Jump would allow Togashi to state this outright so of course he has to frame it differently, but as usual he makes it clear what he's really saying in a number of ways for those of us who look into it deeply, while also not alienating readers who aren't interested in viewing it in that light.

What you're pointing out here makes this whole subplot more clear and understandable, and also further cements the romantic reading of Killua in Chimera Ant Arc--bravo for pointing it out! I think you're totally right on your reading of this, it ties so much together, and it seems like carefully laid puzzle pieces all arranged in a meaningful order.

This is why I love discussing HxH with people--even after all the times I've watched and read the series, all the meta I've read through the years, there's always some new way to see things or something I hadn't considered yet. Togashi is truly a genius storyteller, and it's an absolute blast pulling apart his writing because it's so rich and filled with intention. Even tiny scenes and little snippets of dialogue that don't seem that important in the big picture can have so much meaning once you make connections like this.

Thanks again for sending this in, it was enlightening to me and I'm sure it will be for lots of other people as well! Feel free to send more observations any time!

[woomycritiques543]

Okay, following up in my heated ask about Viv where I stated her ableism... (And other things about her too but mainly the ableist part) I do apologize for being so heated but as an autistic it hit me hard in a way seeing a joke being played for laughs the way it did

critic-cal-zonez post is an example of what I meant yesterday in my ask where they stated Viv made a very tasteless joke about (blitzo almost calling a neurodivergent character r*tarded) (only to acknowledge Viv can't say the r word because it's used as a slur towards neurodivergent people). Meanwhile in the pilot episode of helluva boss Vivs writing team use the r word freely and even after fans called it out they never apologized for it. You'll find this *joke* in the newest episode "Western Energy" where blitzo waited 5 years to take loona to the vet for a shot. At 3:27 (start of joke) to 4:22 (end of joke) is what I referred to. That being the joke made in the episode about neurodivergent and lower functioning autistic people. Basically playing off the joke like being neurodivergent and autistic automatically means I'm r*traded and stupid and deserve to be treated like crap because of it hope that explains it all :D

Ah, that is very concerning.

They used the r word towards a character who had a “slow” though process, while another character who’s definitely autistic gets called “smooth head, slow-” for not catching up immediately on what Blitz was saying, and he’s also a hyperfixator, both of which are autistic traits. -and even “reta^^^” in the pilot and then this episode now referenced when it depicted the r word as “offensive and quirky!”, shooting itself in the foot since that means that the show showing a slur as “quirky!” is not just something horrible that the writers did-

But it’s now canon in Helluva Boss…

-and people defended this as “But it’s a demon in-“ but that doesn’t fucking matter if it’s depicted/animated as “cute and quirky!” In the scene instead of as a problem especially since we now know that Vivziepop is 100% an ableist person.

These are the same people who have insulted people by calling them “mentally unstable” or a “psycho!” and constantly use the show as a way to mock something people have in real life- aka MENTAL DISORDERS!

Moxxie is called slow and “retar^ded!” and is constantly insulted whenever he has a hard time understanding why Blitz is insulting him, which isnt just gaslighting, but ableism that the show 100% romanticizes to the point of having Millie, his “defensive” wife excuse what Blitz does or just not exist at all every time this happens. It’s 100% ableism on the writer’s part, and the fact that people tried to use the fact that it’s a depiction of ableism to gaslight people into not seeing the way the ableism is being depicted is absolutely disgusting.

Anyone who actually supports the disabled doesn’t write ableism this way, anyone who actually supports us doesn’t defend it either. 

It’s also super weird that the only characters in the show that get ableist insults are ones with neurodivergent traits. Also, Vivziepop is ableist in real life so… that explains a lot.💀

[dari-ede]

Seven Times I Hated Kim Seokjin: Ch 7

Chapter 7: “끝나지 않은 우리 얘기”

Chapters : 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05(M) | 06(M) | 07

MASTERLIST

Summary: I was living a perfectly, normal, mundane life.... So why in the HELL did Kim Seokjin walk into it and ruin it all for me???

Pairing: Idol!Jin x Female Reader

Rating: M (story contains explicit sexual scenes)

STATUS: Complete!

SPECIAL NOTE: Sending good thoughts and positive vibes to the real Mr. Kim Seokjin.  🥰

And a big hug to whoever is needing it today.

_____________________

"How does it look?" he asked, keeping his eyes fully on me.

It was so strange to see him like this. He had just come back from getting his buzzcut. In these five years together, I had never seen the shape of his head so clearly. If I was being honest, it looked a little egg-shaped. I had the immediate knee-jerk reaction to laugh as I imagined his head becoming an egg. I pushed down the laughter and reached out to touch his hair, hoping it would distract him and he wouldn't catch the smile that was threatening to come out. "It's different," I said.

It worked. His eyes followed my hand. "Feels different." He rubbed his head, rubbing his palm against his newly shaved head.

"Good different or bad different?" I asked, mimicking his moves. His hair felt almost like a bristle brush.

"Not sure," he mumbled. "Does it look good or bad?" he asked, pressing, as his eyes fell on my face again.

I smiled at him and took another step towards him. "You would look good bald," I said genuinely. I reached up, took hold of his face, and gave him a kiss full on the lips.

He grinned down at me, his arms coming around my waist and pulling me close. "As long as you like it, I can live with it."

I giggled as he brushed his nose against mine. "I like everything about you."

His top teeth came into full view as his smile turned wider. And once again, for the trillionth time, I feel myself melting into him.

"Seokjinssi," came a voice behind us.

We quickly separated and turned towards the door, which was where the voice had come from.

A staff member gave her apologies but announced that they were ready for him. We were at HYBE headquarters due to a few things Jin had to record. Thankfully, it wasn't going to be too many hours they needed him. He was only going to shoot for a little while and then we would be off to dinner with his family. He was set to have some time with the guys this weekend as well. There would be some time left for us privately, but it wouldn't be until later.

Seokjin thanked the staff and informed her he would be on his way in a bit. As soon as she left, he turned to me and took my hand into his. "I think Maya might be in the building."

I nodded. "She is. I messaged her earlier. I'm going to go see her right now."

With a last peck on the lips, we both went out ways. He headed left to film for work and I headed right toward Maya's studio.

Maya was an American artist and talented songwriter. She had known the guys for years and had helped co-write several of their songs. A few years ago, she moved to Korea to become a freelance songwriter for HYBE. Her stay here only helped strengthen her friendship with the group. I, too, had become quite close to her because of this and now considered her a friend. Whenever I came to visit Jin now at headquarters, I wasn't as bored as often since I had Maya to help keep me company.

After entering Maya's studio, I took a seat on her love couch as she tidied up and saved her work.

"So, how are you doing?" she asked after allowing herself to relax on the chair across from me.

Maya was the type of friend who genuinely cared for others. And not just on a superficial level or physical sense, but mental health-wise. She often checked in on the guys to see how their stress level was and was very vocal to voice her concerns when she thought they were taking too much. From what Seokjin and the guys said, Maya was almost like an older, protective sister. When I first met her, she had been kind and warm. Over the years, we became friends. But this last year, we had gotten especially close, which I was grateful for. During the last part of this year, I had gone through a rough patch due to Jin's ongoing military postponement. Seokjin and I had worked through it, but on days that I was too upset to speak to him, I turned to Maya for a shoulder.

I knew I couldn't lie to her when she asked how I was doing. "I'm trying not to think too much about it," I said honestly. "I'm literally taking it one day at a time. I wake up, check Seokjinie's schedule and build around that. When it's time to go to sleep, I focus on being in the moment with him and not think about the next day."

"That's good," Maya said with a small smile. "Has Jin been the same?"

I crack a smile and roll my eyes a little, scoffing a bit. "That's his attitude regardless. He doesn't like looking too far into the future."

Maya gave a slight nod, agreeing with me.

I chuckled for a little, thinking of how Seokjin could be a bit immature sometimes now that he didn't have a lot of work on his plate. He mostly did nothing during his time off. It never bothered me; quite the opposite, I found it endearing when I saw him enjoying his free time. For so many years, he had worked almost every single day without having more than one day off. Seeing him relax and stress about an AI on a video console warmed my heart.

But he was days away from no longer living in that world. Soon, he would be having long days that would not only be physically exhausting but mentally take a toll on him. He would be sleep deprived and his nutritious foods would be taken away. Suddenly, dozens of concerns began to fill my head. Usually, Seokjin was next to me and I was able to force myself from allowing my thoughts to become too dark. But he wasn't here....

"Unnie," a voice called to me, full of concern.

I took a breath, caught myself, and forced myself to calm down. After a couple of seconds, I turned to Maya and gave her a small smile. "I'm ok."

But she didn't look convinced. Slowly, she made her way over to me. "You sure?"

I nodded but didn't think I had the strength enough to further talk.

Maya analyzed me, trying to figure out how to best handle the situation. Thankfully, she read my mind and decided to keep me occupied with frivolous things, such as a couple of dramas we were watching. Eventually, I forgot about what awaited me in a few days. 

*******

We were both up quite early that day. Neither of us had been able to sleep much.

I tried not to think of it. Tried to ignore the fact that for the next year or so, our time was going to be very short. Tried to ignore the fact that in the next 540 days, we would be lucky if we got to spend 70 days together. Only 10% of the next 18 months, I would be able to see him. Hear him. Feel him.

Laying together on the bed, my head stayed on his chest, breathing in his scent and trying to hold onto that memory. I was going to have to make sure I didn't wash any of his clothes all week. Hell, I didn't even want to wash the sheets. The next time I would see him, he wouldn't smell the same. It would be different. He wouldn't smell like he did now--like home.

Throughout the night, I felt Seokjin's nose press up against my hair, taking a deep breath. Seemed as if he was trying to do the same with me. He was trying to capture my smell and keep it in his memory.

I wanted to talk to him; make sure none of our time was wasted. Since we were both awake, I was confused as to why neither of us talked. It took a long moment to accept that holding each other was enough. No words really needed to be said. Our embrace was enough.

We didn't pay the alarm much mind. We turned it off and got ready in almost silence, speaking a few words to one another.

And as we made our way out of our home, I checked the clock in the entrance hall, making sure we were good on time.

Most of the day had a low energy, despite Seokjin doing his best to crack jokes every time he could. We laughed, of course, but still felt the heaviness weigh in on us.

When it was time to head out, only a few of us accompanied him. He wanted to keep it small and intimate. We respected that.

I took notice of how he never left my side. As he spoke to his parents, brother, friends, and members, he ensured I stayed close. There were a couple of times he noticed I wasn't following him, but he quickly caught on to it. He turned around and took hold of my hand, pouting at me. It was one of the few times that I actually cracked a smile. His genuine pouts were always endearing.

I did stay mostly at his side. The only time I didn't was when I noticed his mother. Feeling he needed privacy with his family, I pulled away. He reached for me, but I brushed away his hand, gesturing to his mother. By the saddened look on her face, she looked close to losing it. I imagined she wanted at least one tiny moment alone with her sons and husband. 

Thankfully, Seokjin took the prompt and caught on to his mother's needs. He went to her.

I stepped back and joined the others. We all stayed still as we allowed Seokjin and his family a few moments.

Minutes later, the Kim family pulled apart, Jin then making his way to the rest of us. Keeping things light and happy, Seokjin did a perfect job of making sure everyone was at ease. He goofed around and prevented the atmosphere from becoming too gloomy.

Sadly, the final call was made. My stomach began to churn.

Seokjin went to everyone and gave his last goodbyes.

Maya was the next to bid him farewell. The pair exchanged a few words, Seokjin whispering in her ear so only she could hear. I heard her tell him something along the lines of "I'll look after her." She gave him a nod and a kind smile.

"Thank you, Mai-Mai," he told her and she pulled away. He didn't call her that too often, only when he was being sentimental.

Next was Namjoon. He and Seokjin spent a good amount of time together. Namjoon had always been a guy very much in touch with his feelings. He had been crying off and on the entire morning. Right now, his face was still a little flushed but he was controlling himself. Then, right before they backed away from each other, Seokjin whispered something in Namjoon's ear.

Namjoon's face turned serious. Namjoon looked intently into Seokjin's eyes and gave him an assured nod. "Consider it done. No problem."

They shook hands and Seokjin held tightly to his leader's hand. "Promise me."

Another confident nod from Namjoon. "I promise, hyung."

Seokjin seemed to be satisfied with Namjoon's response and he finally let go.

I was the last one for him to say his goodbyes to.

Thankfully, I noticed our friends and his family making a kind of circle around us, blocking anyone from looking at us too closely.

He bent over so only I could hear him. "Please look after yourself, gongjunim. Eat well, go to bed at a decent time, and drink plenty of water." He continued to list other things, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy trying to contain my tears from spilling. There was a heaviness in my chest and it was getting a little harder to take in breaths.

I did my best to focus on his eyes, allowing him to ground me.

"Will you promise me that, gongjunim?" he asked, his voice tender with a slight quiver.

It was at that moment that I noticed he was getting emotional as well. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes.

I nodded and reached out, taking his hand in mine. "I love you, jagiya," I said, putting my entire heart into the words.

He leaned in, his lips brushing mine lightly. "I love you."

Taking a breath, we pulled apart. He squeezed my hand one last time and gave everyone one last wave as he took steps back.

He walked off and sent me a sweet and courageous smile. His eyes were red, puffy, and watery, but he kept the tears in.

I waved back at him, giving him the same smile back and also containing my tears.

A hand wrapped around mine and took hold. I wasn't sure who it was, but I imagined it might have been Maya. We all stood there until he left our view.

Surprisingly, I still kept it together.

*******

I did ok the rest of the day. Maya, my sister, and my cousin stayed with me that night, keeping me company. Maya brought a nice bottle of wine to keep our spirits up. We spoke a little about Jin, but mostly they did their best to keep my brain occupied.

The next day, I made sure to stay well over my time at work.

My cousin and sister met me for a late dinner, prolonging the long night that lied ahead of me.

As much as I wanted to go home and have his scent embrace every part of me, I feared the break down. A few tears had been shed since the day before, but they had been manageable. I still felt in control.

Finally, a little after 1AM, I couldn't procrastinate anymore. We all had work the next day and in good conscience, I couldn't keep my sister and cousin up for so long.

Reaching our front door, I took a breath, bracing myself for the emotions I was sure were going to take over.

As I walked down the entrance and entered the empty living room, his scent was instant and hit me like a truck. I inhaled him, feeling his essence run through my lungs and enter every cell in me.

My stomach clenched and something squeezed at my throat.

I took my breaths, calming myself.

After several moments, my body felt more in control. The emotions were still there, but I managed to keep them from overtaking me. Turning to the clock, I noticed it had been about 36 hours since I last had contact with him. I looked down at my phone out of habit. Opening it, I automatically opened my messages and then my email.

Nothing. 36 hours and nothing.

It was rare when he went over 30 hours without contact. But since we had been together, he never went over 48 hours. I wondered how tomorrow would be like.

I placed down my things and made my way over to the wine. I needed it tonight. If I went to bed sober, I was sure I was going to be in pieces.

*******

I left my phone at my desk and did my best not to log into any of my personal emails while I was at work the next morning. I didn't want the temptation of checking to see if he would miraculously message me. I knew it was impossible and illogical to allow my imagination to go there. Despite the small amount of sleep, I left to work extremely early. Thankfully, I had plenty of things to work on to keep me occupied.

I was doing great. I kept myself from thinking of him almost all morning.

However, sometime in the late morning, I started to feel a bit off. It hit me so suddenly; the stomach cramps, the queasiness, the push against my chest. I had never felt this sick.

My coworkers were quick to notice my change and insisted I go home. I guess I looked bad enough that they even called me a cab and pushed me out of the office.

I managed to get home on time. Hurrying to the restroom, I was grateful my team had forced me to come home. It took a while for me to finally feel it was safe enough to get back on my feet. Getting to the kitchen, I poured myself some water and started the kettle. Out of nowhere, I could hear Jin's voice. He was insisting I make myself some tea. I had promised him I would look after myself, yet here I was not eating like I said I would. Consuming only alcohol and coffee. I had been careless.

Even though I had no appetite to eat, especially after everything that occurred in the restroom, I forced myself to order some soup. Nothing too heavy, just light and nutritious. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep for the next ten hours, but it wouldn't be smart for me to do so.

I ate most of the soup and tea. When I was finished, I left them in the sink and told myself I would wash them later.

Selecting the last t-shirt he had worn, I put it on and crawled under the sheets. Rather than sleep on my side of the bed, I wiggled over to his. The warmth was gone, but his aroma was still all over the pillow. Instinctively, I pressed my nose over it and inhaled, allowing his scent to fill my lungs.

Then, without warning, without the smallest sign, the emotions within me took over. My body curled itself into a fetal position as I clutched onto the pillow. My tears came down as my heart ripped into pieces. My nose pressed against the shirt I had on me. And at breathing him in again, I felt my soul rip.

I needed him. I needed him here. With me. This wasn't like the times he was off traveling where I could at least message him and would get a response at least a day later. This wasn't like the times he was working himself close to exhaustion but had his members there to check on him. No one he knew was there to ensure he was ok. No one I knew could check he was eating right and taking his supplements. And I had no one's number to check. On my phone, there were at least four numbers saved for his managers and assistants. On rare occasions, I used them when I became too worried for Seokjin. But now I had no one's. I was in the dark.

The sounds coming out of me were so foreign to me. I had never heard myself this way. But I knew it was only giving audio of how my heart was feeling.

I'm not sure how long I was in bed like that, but eventually, my volume went down.

And that's when I heard it. Someone was at my door.

My body acted without my brain needing to control it. It got up on its own and made its way to the door. Before opening it up, I made sure to check who was on the other side. Seeing who it was, I immediately opened the door. Worry immediately took over.

What were they doing here? It must be bad.

Standing in the hall were six pairs of brown eyes looking at me. All of which contained worried looks as they stared at me.

“Maya called your work and they told her you would be here,” Namjoon said, looking at me worriedly.

“We’ve been calling and messaging you all day, noona,” Taehyung said with a look that mirrored Namjoon.

Something hit me at seeing them all here.

"Ah, noona," Jimin said sadly and then took a step forward to take me in his arms.

The moment my head reached his shoulder, I noticed the rest of the guys stepping forward.

One by one, they each wrapped me into their embrace, soothing words coming out of them.

I must have looked like a mess if they were this concerned about me. Other than Jimin and Taehyung, the rest of the guys rarely hugged me.

Then, something caught my eye. I turned and faced the clock. I noticed the time.

It had been 47 hours and 53 minutes since I had last spoken to Seokjin.

Recognizing this, I felt myself come undone all over again. I cried into every one of their shoulders, my sobs becoming erratic as I felt them cry along with me.

Fuck. I hated him.

Hated him for never allowing me to ever really hate him. 

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

MASTERLIST

Chapters : 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05(M) | 06(M) | 07

AN: I think writing this story was my way of coping. My logical, reasonable mind is completely aware that Jin (and the rest of the guys) going into the military is normal. Dozens of other idols have done this; Jin is no different. When the news was released about a month ago, I was sad but my brain took over and settled me down. Now that the day is finally here, I'm all into my damn emotions. Logic be damned. It sucks.

I adore this man. He's a complete stranger, but it's pretty incredible the impact he's had on me.

Ok, enough talk about feels. Thank you to everyone who has given this story a chance. I wanted to keep it short and simple in honor of Kim Seokjin. Hope you enjoyed it. Please like or comment!🥰

All the best to Mr. Kim Seokjin who I actually have nothing but love for. There is ZERO hate for that man. 💜💗💜💗💜💗💜💗💜

[babybearsnz]

thank you for all of your fics :) i really appreciate them!! 😽i hope you stick around 🥹.

could you write a fic where hobi is sneezy while getting his makeup done. like the makeup brush brushing against his nose makes him sneeze or the powder getting in his nose sets him off. and add in some bless you’s from the members like you always do that’s so adorable 🥰.

thank u in advance!

You and Kookie gonna live?

Sickie: Hobi

Caretaker(s): Bangtan

Relationships: Platonic

Hobi’s pov:

It was our second day of filming for our <Butter> music video and I was promptly dragged over to hair and makeup. Unfortunately for our members with allergies, the flowers on set weren’t fake, despite our company’s concerns. Jungkook and I had already begun to feel the effects of the pollen.

“Hyung,” the maknae sniffled. “Do you have any antihistamines on you?”

I shook my head, handing him a few tissues to make up for the lack of allergy meds.

I was waiting for my turn with our stylist when I heard a couple of harsh sneezes come from where Jungkook was filming his solo scene.

I was startled when Taehyung yelled a blessing from afar.

“Thank you!” Kook responded, just as loud, and I chuckled.

It was finally my turn for makeup and I was feeling sorry for our stylist. My nose had gotten more and more irritated and had started running.

I dabbed underneath it with a tissue and apologized to which she just brushed off. It was when she actually started working on my makeup that things went south.

The makeup brush grazed around my nose and my eyes watered. Before I could say anything, she was gently wiping my eyes. I gave her a grin, but when the brush eventually grazed the tip of my nose, an itch blossomed in my sinuses and my eyelids fluttered.

I gasped out an apology and leaned away. “hhETCHhiii!”

“Bless you, hyung.” I turned to see Jimin before another sneeze took over.

“hHATCHheh!” I felt a hand being placed on my back. When I opened my eyes, he was holding a bottle of antihistamines.

I gratefully accepted them. “Jungkook asked—“ I started.

Jimin interrupted. “I already gave him some, don’t worry.”

********time skip********

We were only halfway through the shoot and my nose wouldn’t let up. It was constantly running and was starting to get sore from the constant rubbing and nose blowing. I sniffled while I was pulled away to get my makeup touched up.

Our stylist frowned at the redness surrounding my eyes and nostrils. I tried to blink back itchy tears as she worked. I could tell she was trying her best to avoid touching my nose with the brush, but the powder made my nose even more sensitive than it already was.

“aaHeTCHh! haKISHHhu!” I groaned after the sneezes burst out of me.

Yoongi appeared at my side and handed me a tissue. “huhNGXTtch!” I muffled one final sneeze into it and sighed.

“God bless,” he said. His words were laced with sympathy and he patted my shoulder.

Once my makeup was finished, I left the chair and our stylist moved on to Jungkook, his makeup seemingly messed up for the same reasons.

I returned to set, sniffling once again, and cleared my throat before turning my attention to our director.

“Hyung, you okay?” Tae wrapped an arm around me. “You and Kookie gonna live?”

I nodded and smiled before shrugging his arm off.

“hHATCHhiii!”

Tae flinched. “Oh, bless you.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Thanks, I’m good now.”

Our shoot continued without a hitch. Well, I guess there was a few hitching breaths. Overall, the medicine helped out.

********time skip********

As soon as we got home, Kook and I immediately plopped onto the couch. I was exhausted. The two of us had spent our entire day as itchy messes.

“You boys want tea?” Jin offered from the kitchen. “Coffee?”

I nodded and rubbed my nose. “Hot coffee, please.”

Jungkook agreed. “Thanks, hyung.” He sounded super nasally and congested. In truth, he sounded the way I felt.

“Let’s watch something.” Namjoon jumped onto the couch next to me and Jimin sprang for the TV remote.

Taehyung climbed up as well and put his head on my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair, absolutely loving the cuddles.

Jin and Yoongi soon came in with the coffee and made themselves comfortable with us.

Only ten minutes into our chosen movie, I had to sneeze again. I wrapped both arms over my face so as not to accidentally spray on Tae.

“haETCHhiew! Ugh, sorry.”

“Ooh, bless.” Yoongi spoke first.

Then Namjoon. “Bless you.”

I thanked them and felt Tae squirm. He must’ve fallen asleep. What a cute little baby.

He turned over to look up at me with tired eyes like pools of honey. He smiled. “Bless you, hyung!” He cooed.

I kissed his forehead. “Thank you, buddy.”

[thevindicativevordan]

Why do you think DC wanted to boot PKJ off Action Comics ?

Anonymous asked: Expectations for Aaron writing Action?

Well I was working on a NYCC 2023 post, and unfortunately the damn thing suddenly deleted itself. Left me totally drained seeing all that hard work gone, so I'm going to keep it short this go around.

Aaron is a very similar writer to PKJ in both tone and style. If he were taking over for the long term I'd be cautiously optimistic - but he's only doing three issues. Doesn't matter if he sucks or is great, he'll be gone in a blink of the eye. Leaves me with no strong feelings regarding him.

Pitch sounds cool, it's the Multiverse Bizarro that Tomasi used. It will be darker in tone and Bizarro has a new power seemingly. Waid consulted and Aaron says he "passed the Waid test". Shows how influential that Waid has become that he's being brought in to help the other Superman writers. Once an editor always an editor. Timms on art is fine, he's not an artist I have strong feelings for but I liked his work on Son of Kal-El and his brief Superman run with PKJ. Given Bizarro was on the cover of Williamson's first issue but is showing up here, I wonder if this is just Williamson farming out a story to Aaron that he didn't have time for himself anymore.

After Aaron, Williamson takes over for "House of Brainiac" which is the big Superman crossover story. Brainiac wants to find his Queen and is unleashing his Bottled City of Czarnia to get her. Supes, the Superfamily, Lex, and Lobo team up to stop him. Great pitch - but Williamson writing another event by himself is a huge red flag. He's 0/2 on events thus far and my concerns had previously been soothed by the assumption that PKJ would help him this time, which sadly is not the case. If it's shit at least we get to see Sandoval draw the hell out of the fight scenes.

Next we will get at least two more creative teams, one of whom is almost certainly Waid and Henry doing the Phantom Zone/Aethyr storyline. Not happy to see Waid claim that story, his Silver Age sensibilities are not going to live up to what PKJ was building to. Huge disappointment at this chance to let PKJ flesh out the Phantom Zone like he did Warworld pass by. After Waid we have one more team, and if Tom King isn't shooting his shot by now he will never get on a Superbook. Turning Action into an anthology book feels like a last minute decision made to buy time while they try and get a permanent creative team, which I do think has a chance of being King.

As mentioned in other posts, PKJ claims he will still be writing Superman and I believe that means he's been tapped to write the Justice League relaunch. He was saying on Twitter that we would get to see his Warworld plot threads such as Kryl-Ux unfold elsewhere, and also he would touch on the backstory of the events we saw in the FS House of El one shot. Sounds exciting to me, the kind of story actually worth bringing JL back.

Oh and starting with issue 10, Williamson is doing a Superman arc that is a Western, expands on Moonlight's backstory, and brings in Terra-Man. Sign me the hell up for that! Redondo seems to have permanently moved to Superman from Nightwing which means I'm probably dropping Nightwing soon.

For other DC news I am ecstatic to see Spurrier and Campbell reunite for more Hellblazer, but otherwise it was a fairly muted showing from DC aside from one huge rumor that I'll cover in a separate post. Oh and I guess there was the Elseworlds announcement but since that was mostly Batbooks I’m not interested.

Apologies to all the Asks about the new Ultimate Universe, I did get them but they were deleted.

Ultimate Spider-Man - Pitch is perfect, a mid-life Peter inspired by Spiderverse Peter B. Parker is exactly what I want. Ideally this Peter will be married to MJ and a father to Mayday but we can't rule out Hickman throwing a curveball and having him be divorced or dating Liz Allen or something. Seeing DoomReed hold the spider in the vial that Maker had, plus the transition scenes of 6160 Peter wearing all the suits makes me guess that DoomReed will time travel back and give Peter his powers similar to how he and Tony used time travel to save Cap. Thus this Peter will have been Spider-Man for a while, in secret. Or it's setting up a bunch of variant covers and instead we will see what happens when Peter gets his powers much later than usual. Either way I am excited about reading Spider-Man comics again, no mean feat.

Ultimate Black Panther - Great choice for writer, Hill's run on Blade rules and his name dropping Dune as an influence has me hyped since I love the book too and it's influence is all over the work of Hickman and PKJ. Great artist in Caselli. Moss is the editor and that is not great. He edited the main BP book and his tenure has been a disaster. Hickman needs to be involved to protect Hill from Moss. Costume design is not great either, feels 90s in a bad way. Of all the new Ultimate books, this is the one I hope is most like the old UU in terms of updating T'Challa, his supporting cast, and Rogues Gallery for a modern era. Fine to start off with "Ultimate Moon Knight", but let's not wait too long to bring in traditional Panther foes like Achebe who need the spotlight and revamps.

Ultimate X-Men - Not interested. Momoko is a talented artist but I only care about the A-List X-Men. A bunch of OC mutants does not intrigue me. Easy skip.

No Ultimates is surprising but my suspicion is that Black Panther will tell the story of T'Challa housing the Ultimates in Wakanda and Hickman wants to push people towards Hill's book. Eventually the Ultimates will spin out of UBP I reckon.

Expect the same level of quality here as Orlando showed on the previous SW book. That said if this is not setting up the restoration of the twins being mutants, I find more Magneto drama tedious. Either pull the trigger and make them mutants again or keep them away from Magneto and the X-Line.

And that was basically it for Marvel announcements that I care about. Might check out the vampire event since McKay is writing, haven't decided yet.

[osp-originals]

Stunt Gone Wrong

TW: concussion, emeto

———

Vio was slightly worried by Ethan and Jessica’s poor stunt-tackling form, but the two didn’t seem to share Vio’s concern.

“We’ll be fine,” Ethan insisted.

“If you say so,” they finally gave up.

“Alright, ready for take two?” Tomas asked.

“I was born ready!” said Ethan enthusiastically.

“Yeah, me too!” Jessica giggled.

Ethan’s arm was already bruised from the last take, but he didn’t care.

This shot is going to be so good!

“Camera?” said Tomas.

“Speed,” said Raj, who was laying on the floor to get the perfect low angle for the shot.

“Sound?”

“Speed,” Min responded.

“Slate,” Tomas said, holding out the slate in front of the camera. “Scene two, shot one, take two, marker.”

Snap!

“And, action,” he directed.

Jessica started running at Ethan and Ethan started running away from her, toward the camera. She jumped on him as if tacking him without actually pushing him. He fell down in what was supposed to be a controlled manner. He wasn’t expecting the camera to be right where his head was supposed to land.

Smack!

“Ow!” Ethan yelped.

He held the side of his head that hit the camera and his face contorted with pain.

“Oh my- I’m so sorry!” Jessica apologized as she climbed off of him. “Are you okay?”

Raj stayed frozen in wide-eyes shock. Vio immediately came running over.

“Babe, are you okay?” asked Vio.

“Oww,” he groaned and rolled over onto his front.

“Let me see it,” Vio ordered.

They pulled his hand away from his head and pushed his hair aside to look for where he hit his head.

“Well, it’s not bleeding,” they said, “as far as I can tell with all this hair.”

“Oh,” Raj sighed.

“What?” asked Vio.

“I thought I heard his head crack, but it was the camera lens,” he explained.

“Oh no, the lens is broken?” Ethan asked, finally opening his eyes to look at it.

“Okay, he’s fine,” Tomas said with a laugh.

“I don’t know about that,” Vio hesitated.

“No, I’m fine,” Ethan assured them. “Just a bit… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” they questioned. “That sounds concerning.”

“No, it’s nothing,” he insisted.

It was not nothing. The room seemed to be spinning, but he couldn’t think of the word to describe that feeling, so he just gave up.

“Alright, fine. You should at least take a break, though,” they advised him.

“Yeah, definitely,” he agreed.

“We can just film the scene four while we’re waiting,” Tomas suggested.

Ethan walked himself to the lounge room. He felt like he was on a tiny boat at sea, but no one said anything about him stumbling or walking weirdly, even Vio.

I must be imagining it.

He was glad the lights were already dim. The bright lights down the hall were starting to hurt to look at. He plunked himself down on the couch.

This is a nice couch.

He had never been in the engineering lounge before. In fact, he had only been in the engineering building once before this shoot.

His thoughts about the engineering building were soon derailed by him noticing an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach. He knew the feeling well; it was a sort of latent queasiness. He also knew that if it progressed to full-on nausea, he would probably lose his lunch.

I don’t know where the bathrooms are around here. I guess I can use that trash can in the hall if I have to. I was careful about what I ate today. I wonder why my stomach is upset?

He decided not to think about it too much. Thinking about it always made it worse. Over the course of a couple of minutes, the headache that he didn’t realize he had got worse and he grew tired. He lied down on the couch.

I wonder if I can sleep this off.

His stomach seemed to object to that idea. After a few more minutes, the trademark feeling of nausea developed.

He listened to the others filming and considered his options. They were around the corner in the hallway, basically on the other side of the wall that the couch was up against.

If I use that trash can, they’ll probably see me. Hmm… I don’t really have another choice though, do I?

He didn’t have much time to think about it either. Saliva started to pool in his mouth, and he knew that meant he had about ten seconds. He sat up on the couch. Right away, he noticed that his balance was even worse than it was before.

Oh, this is going to be… difficult.

He wobbled the moment he stood up. His eyes locked onto the bin.

Come on, it’s not that far.

He staggered forward, using various things for support when he could. He made it to the trash can and grabbed both sides of it.

Yes, alright, now just brace yourself…

“Ethan?”

“HuUEk—” he gagged dryly before he had time to process who said his name. Drool dripped from his lips.

“Oh my goodness, babe, are you okay?” Vio asked.

His body’s answer to that was apparently to send up a mouthful of vomit. His stomach started to hurt and he instinctively put his arm around it.

“Oh, babe…” Vio said.

Their voice had such a sympathetic tone to it. They placed their hand on his back and gently rubbed it. It was embarrassing for them to do this in front of other people, but still almost as comforting as it usually was.

His stomach cramped again and he hurled up a spoonful of thick sick.

Why do the tiny amounts always have to hurt the most?

He spat out the excessive saliva and caught his breath.

“Do you think it’s something you ate?” Vio asked quietly so the others wouldn’t hear.

Ethan shook his head. “Not that I can think of.”

“Hold on,” Vio said, seemingly realizing something. “Does your head still hurt?”

He nodded.

“You might have a concussion.”

The fact he had hit his head had somehow slipped his mind.

“That would make sense,” he agreed.

“Can I see your eyes?”

He looked up at them, squinting at the bright lights.

“Open them a little more,” they requested.

He did as they asked. The light made his headache grow exponentially. After less than a second, he retched up a puny dribble into the trash can again.

“Aw, babe, I’m sorry,” they apologized. “Your pupils are huge, though. We should definitely go to the health center.”

“Okay,” he mumbled.

[christinaklassen]

2/12 Blog

I liked reading the manga “Rose of Versailles” by Riyoko Ikeda and enjoyed the old manga art style. While the story is funny and entertaining at times, it still includes deeper themes like gender identity, societal expectations, and corruption. Ikeda addresses gender identity and challenges traditional gender roles by having the main character as a girl who serves as the captain of the Royal Guard. Oscar's embodiment of traditionally masculine qualities, such as bravery, leadership, and martial skills, challenges the notion that women are inherently inferior or incapable of fulfilling roles typically reserved for men. By excelling in her role as the captain of the Royal Guard, Oscar not only proves her competence but also confronts the societal norms that seek to limit her potential based on her gender. Even when her abilities are doubted by those around her such as the prince who says “Who ever heard of a WOMAN being a regiment commander! It’s so funny I could split my sides laughing!”, Oscar is not discouraged and stands her ground against the blatant sexism. Another aspect I found interesting was the display of corruption and cruelness of the nobility. Interestingly juxtaposed against the whimsical backdrop of typical shojo manga aesthetics- filled with sparkles and flower petals- there is a distinct portrayal of brutality within the nobility. In one scene, a peasant child, driven by hunger, steals money from the prince’s carriage. Despite the prince’s initial acceptance of the mother’s apology, he suddenly turns around and mercilessly shoots the child in the back. The prince laughs after the carnage he has caused making him a symbol of unchecked power and moral decay. This scene highlights the harsh realities of power imbalances and the callous indifference of the privileged. Because of his status, the prince doesn’t face any repercussions for his actions. Even when Oscar attempted to voice her concerns, she is swiftly silenced, reminded of the prince’s position that even the King dared not challenge. However, at the banquet, Oscar seizes the opportunity to confront the prince publicly and I was glad the prince was finally exposed. I really wanted to see the next part where Oscar and the prince duel but then the chapter ended.

The image below demonstrates the corruption and cruelness of the nobility.

[michaelcosio]

Ofc. JARED E. ROBINET 0520 - @SacramentoPoliceDepartment1849

Aug 2, 2022

STORY:

Officer JARED E. ROBINET, 0520 is one of two Sacramento Police officers who shot & killed 22 year old Stephon Clark & then denied him any first aid because they claimed he had a gun.

Later they said he didn't actually have a gun, but a crowbar…THEN they finally admitted that it wasn't a gun, or a crowbar, but HIS WHITE COLORED CELLPHONE.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the two officers took the time to ask how the other was doing. “Are you hit?” one asked. “No, I’m good,” the other responded…as Clark lay motionless on his grandmother’s patio.

The Officers next concern was to reload their guns, even though they had already fired a total of 20 shots, and could visibly see Stephon was motionless down on the ground.

Police officers continued to shout at Clark’s lifeless body that they would not administer aid to him until he “got rid of his weapon.” (his white colored cell phone)

The officers did not attempt to render any medical aid, and when they did approach Stephon, they put him in handcuffs while he continued to bleed out laying face down on the ground.

Once the shooting scene was secured, Officers TERRENCE MERCADAL & JARED ROBINET were released from further duties at the crime scene and their body worn cameras were muted. Several officers approached ROBINET & MERCADAL while at the scene but these conversations were not fully captured because THE OFFICERS MUTED THEIR MICROPHONES AT VARIOUS POINTS.

After the shooting, it was found that some of the 20 bullets that were shot at Stephon, went through the walls and almost hit his little sister who was inside their grandmother's house.

Both Officers were put on PAID administrative leave and eventually allowed to return to work for the same Department, in the same neighborhoods.

The Sacramento County District Attorney refused to press charges against the officers, claiming they did not break the law.

Both officers were eventually cleared to return to work, and Officer TERRENCE MERCADAL and Officer JARED ROBINET are still currently working with the Sacramento Police Department, patrolling the same neighborhoods, showing absolutely no remorse for the life he took.

Both officers involved haven't so much as even issued an apology to the Clark Family.

Contact the Sacramento Police Department today and voice your concerns about these K I L L E R C O P S they continue to let patrol our streets.

Tell them we want these M U R D E R E R S out of our communities!

Contact the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and voice your concerns about her incompetent lack of action in this case.

Tell them WE WANT JUSTICE FOR STEPHON CLARK.

We want Officers JARED ROBINET and TERRENCE MERCADAL to be charged for the wrongful death of Stephon Clark, and let a jury or their peers decide.

#firejaredrobinet

#fireterrencemercadal

#justiceforstephonclark

Contact the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney and voice your concerns. Make sure to blast this video all over their social media accounts too.

SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT:

Phone: (916) 808-0800

Facebook:

/ sacramentopolicedepartment

Twitter:

/ sacpolice

SACRAMENTO COUNTY DA:

Phone: (916) 874-6218

Facebook:

/ saccountyda

Twitter:

/ saccountyda

[guideaus]

i havent watched the show in a long time lol, so i cant remember if they address this, but this is the 2nd time dipper goes full paranoid wanting to react in an extreme way and i wonder if the story is even gonna acknowledge it lol.

both situations are understandable to a point; in the first instance, there's a literal time limit to what dipper imagines is the end of the world (why his great uncle that's been nothing but nice, outside of teasing him, would end the world? who knows), then the 2nd time ford's aggressive paranoia, general demeanor/way he interacts with the kids in the show, and still being a relatively new character immediately seeped in dangerous, supernatural mysteries makes him more suspicious, but dipper still reacts in the exact same way, even after the big finale twist, where maybe he couldve been like "woops sorry, i shouldve trusted you." in a meaningful moment

i think both times the show does have a very short exchange after, but its a quick, mature "aw, you're forgiven :)" from both adults (with ford even praising his actions after??), and im not saying dipper should get punished or ranting abt how he's a stupid cop or smth, but i cant help but think if it was a choice in a rpg or something, that'd realistically be a significant event to experience lol? both guardians getting a moment of "oh, my great nephew does not trust me." whether its a sad, acknowledgement from stan, despite their whole summer together and them laughing abt him lying and doing crimes dipper apparently had no faith at that moment, or with ford, maybe having a eye-opening moment like "maybe i should interact with these kids (or people close to him) better" aka. not being paranoid, causing distrust in others back.

the scene ends with them saying they wont keep any secrets from each other, but its primarily used to set up mabel's mistake in the finale (or before it?). Ford dismisses it easily bc he said hes got a metal plate in his head or whatever lol, he praises dipper for his vigilance against bill cipher, and they end the scene more on equal footing. when mabel comes onto the scene, though, she doesnt get the same treatment, he assures her she's a good person, but still keeps her in the dark. he spends more time with dipper and dipper is with mabel less, and cipher preys on her fear of being left, paralleling what happened between stan and ford. then we get the evil 12 y/o girl mistake that im pretty sure ppl bitched abt. mabel's already been shown to be concerned abt if what happened to stan and ford can happen to them, and she sees dipper interact w ford more, so that issue is understandable, as opposed to where dipper's mistrust comes from

my point is, the ep/final scene kinda treats the entire event like the first season treated mabel and dipper's squabbles over the twins' insecurity over who is taller/smarter, with them both apologizing, forgiving each other in the end, and i feel like dipper thinking his uncle is a mysterious murderer thereby almost ruining stan's 30-year long rescue of ford (and calling mabel crazy for believing in their uncle) and dipper actually shooting ford bc he again believed he wasnt who he thought he was, is a bigger issue than smth that gets resolved with a disney channel "...sorry :)"

[koushou]

an archon’s jealousy

pairing : zhongli x f!reader {fluff}

warnings : none! zhongli cuteness overload 

word count : 1.8k

a/n : genshin has taken over my life so enjoy my favorite peepaw 

the geo archon, once feared by all beings in teyvat, was known for his strength and abilities in battle, as well as his logical way of thinking and planning. his weakness? well, he’s definitely not great with emotions. especially jealousy.

“Ah, this painting reminds me of when an old friend and I had been travelling together for the first time, there was-” 

Zhongli turns around, smiling as he reminisces of events from hundreds of years ago, however turning into a frown quickly. 

His golden eyes scan the dining room, sighing as they fail to identify a certain someone. Placing his cup of tea down onto the polished wooden table, he walks out to the private balcony area of Wangmin Restaurant, breathing in the familiar fresh air of the nation he’d known for as long as he existed.

It had been two days.

Two days since he’s spoken to his lover, two days since the small quarrel you both had in the exact restaurant he’s currently standing in.

It had been quite a trivial matter in his opinion, when a young waitress working there had just been a tad kinder to the geo archon, leaving a few light touches here and there. Even “accidentally” spilling tea over herself, putting on a show of cleaning herself. 

Not noticing the dark glare of his lover from across the table, he offers the apologizing waitress a small smile, assuring her it wasn’t a big deal. As she walks away, he finally turns back to the now fuming Y/N who was shoving food down her throat to avoid speaking to him.

He chuckles softly, still unaware of the reason for your anger, “Love, slow down, the food isn’t going anywhere.”

Refusing to acknowledge his presence, you huff and continue chewing your food as if he wasn’t even there. Zhongli looks at you with a confused expression, but just before he had a chance to speak, the waitress returns.

She takes a few of your plates that were finished being used, occasionally sending small looks at your boyfriend, oblivious to the whole situation.

“I love your earring, Mr. Zhongli,” she bats her eyelashes at the man, your man, as she continues cleaning the table at record slow speed. 

“Ah, thank you.” He sends a small nod her way, not noticing the way she might as well be sitting on top of him with the close proximity of their two bodies. 

“Where did you get it from?” You roll your eyes while still focusing on your food, anyone could tell the way she was speaking in a faker, higher tone.

“Actually, they were gifted from an old friend of mine, we would travel together all the time and-” Zhongli goes off on one of his rants again, to the waitress’s pleasant surprise. To your shock, she takes a seat right next to your unsuspecting boyfriend who was still speaking, nodding along with his words. 

The audacity of this bi-

You slam your hands on the table abruptly, stopping Zhongli in his story as he looks up at you.

You shoot the coldest stare at him, one that even the geo archon, who had fought every monster, travelled to every corner of the world, swore sent shivers through his body.

“Love?”

“I’m finished, have fun on your date,” You spat, emphasizing the last word, and you could’ve sworn you saw the waitress roll her eyes.

Leaving Zhongli still in a confused state, you stormed out of the room, not paying mind to the distant protests of your boyfriend.

Zhongli sighs, snapping out of his thoughts, leaning against the railing of the balcony. He had walked out and tried to find you, but failed and you hadn’t appeared since.

After finally consulting Childe, the last person he’d ever want to speak to, about why you had acted like the way you did, he simply laughed at the man, claiming that you had been feeling jealous.

That had left Zhongli even more confused. Jealous? He was simply sharing his tales with a curious person, what was there to be jealous of?

He sighs again, ready to head back into the dining room until he spots a familiar figure below him.

You were standing below the balcony he was on, not seeming to realize he was there. Zhongli breathes a sigh of relief, oh how he missed seeing you. About to go down and surprise you, he stops in his tracks when he sees a young man walk up to you and begin talking.

An unfamiliar feeling seeps through his body when you laugh at something the stranger said, a wonderful sound he thought was reserved for him, and him only. 

You probably knew each other, that’s why you guys looked so close, right? Friends can laugh at each other, of course there was nothing wrong with the scene unfolding before the archon. That’s why the man’s hand had reached towards a stray strand of hair and tucked it behind your ear, right?

Zhongli grits his teeth, and makes his way down the restaurant as fast as his feet could take him.

He could hear you giggling upon walking out the restaurant’s doors, and quickly makes his way to you.

Walking up behind you, he slips an arm around your waist and pulls you softly back against his chest. 

You let out a surprised yelp, ready to attack whoever was touching you, until you turned and saw that it had just been your boyfriend, who seemed to be seething at the moment.

“Zhongli..?” Something about him seemed a little different, maybe it was the way he glared daggers into the other man who had just been talking to you and touching you. 

If looks could kill? Let’s just say The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has an extra client today. 

“Hey love, I missed you,” Zhongli presses a kiss to your cheek, “Who might this be?” 

A bit flustered from the contact, you looked at the other man who seemed on the verge of peeing himself right there, and had to suppress a laugh.

“Ah, this is just a friend I met a few days ago when I was exploring, he-“

Before you could finish your sentence, the man stutters out an incoherent sentence and almost trips over himself running off in the other direction.

You raise an eyebrow, turning your head back to look at Zhongli who was still holding you protectively against him. He had created a small yellow meteor in his hand and was currently levitating it above his palm in a threatening manner.

He turns to you, putting the meteor away, smiling as he presses a kiss to your forehead. 

“Zhongli, you scared him away.”

He puts on a thinking face, nodding slowly.

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, no— That’s it? You probably scared the poor man into thinking you were going to murder him or somethin-”

He chuckles and raises your chin up to face him with one finger, “Then maybe next time, he should think before touching something that belongs to me.”

You huff, cheeks tinting the lightest shade of red before pushing him away.

“Whatever, I’m going now.”

You start to walk away, not before Zhongli catches your arm and stops you.

“Love, are you still angry?”

You could hear the concern in your boyfriend’s voice, and your heart softens a bit. In truth, you had already forgotten the incident back at the restaurant a few days ago and was about to apologize today when the man from before had stopped you. 

A lightbulb went off in your head, so you decide to play with him a little longer. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Snatching your hand back from his grasp, you continue walking away from your surprised boyfriend.

He quickly follows you, unsure of how to continue. He couldn’t just ask you if you had been jealous, could he?

As your boyfriend got lost in his thoughts of how to ask, you almost laughed at his intense thinking face while nervously walking beside you. 

“Uh, I-,” He cleared his throat before speaking.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you that day, I did not realize that it would have made you feel jealous.” 

He takes both of your hands in his, softly enveloping them as he continues.

“From now on, I promise that I’ll only share my stories with you, and you only, so don’t worry, love.”

He smiles at you, as you suddenly burst out in laughter. 

“What is so funny?” Zhongli asks, confused.

“Nothing, nothing at all, baby,” You finally recover from your laughing and wrap your arms around his waist.

Leaning your head against his chest, you couldn’t help but smile at the way your boyfriend thought you were upset because he was sharing his stories with another person, when you had just been jealous of another woman being so close to him. It was adorable.

Deciding not to tease him any further, you lift your head up from his chest to press a kiss against his lips. 

His eyes brighten instantly. “So, does this mean you forgive me?” 

If Zhongli was a dog, his tails would be wagging expectantly at you with puppy dog eyes right now.

You giggle, nodding at him. “Of course I forgive you, just don’t talk to other girls like that again.”

You pout, as he chuckles and leans down to give you another kiss. 

“I promise, love.” He softly strokes your hair, running the strands through his fingers.

“I also didn’t like seeing you with that man, so don’t let anyone besides me touch you, alright?”

You smile against him, nodding and opening your mouth to speak again when your stomach suddenly rumbles.

Eyes widening, you push away a now laughing Zhongli, embarrassed.

“I assume you’re hungry, my love?” He teases at you, taking your hand in his as he begins to walk the both of you back to Wangmin Restaurant.

“Who was the one who cut my meal short two days ago? I barely had anything to eat recently because I didn’t have any mora on me.” You take your hand out of his hold, crossing your arms and looking the other way.

He laughs softly at you, taking your hand back and kissing your knuckles softly. 

“Ah, you haven’t been eating welI?” He looks at you with concern laced in his golden eyes.

“I apologize, darling, but… I have something to confess to you.”

You turn to him, curious at his words. “What is it?”

“I..do not have mora on me at the moment either.”

“What?! You’re literally the god of mora, Zhongli, but you don’t even-“

He cuts you off short with a kiss, smirking against your lips as he feels you blush.

Pulling away, he chuckles and shrugs. “We can go ask Childe, come on.”

You laugh and continue walking with him, “Poor Childe, at least he’s useful for one thing.”

Zhongli lets out a laugh, as you two walk off, hand in hand, searching for your human wallet.

[octerminal]

Avoiding the ME1 LI Romances

...And also what to do if you’ve already triggered them.

This is a post I’ve been wanting to remake forever, and with the remaster around the corner I thought now was a good time to finally get on it.

A few things first: I say “avoiding the ME1 LI romances”, but in reality this is mostly going to be about Kaidan and Ashley. While there are a few ways around Liara’s romance I’ve discovered, I have never been able to find a simple way to avoid triggering it. (I’ll get to that later.)

This post will be split into three sections: Kaidan, Ashley, and Liara. Kaidan and Ashley’s sections specifically will go over how to avoid triggering their romances entirely, and then the dialogue choices you need to take if you want to end the romance if it’s already been triggered. I have also included a few bonus things for the both of them, such as avoiding the flirting during the scenic view cutscene in the Citadel Wards. For Kaidan specifically, I have also included content about his mechanics in ME3.

Please note that most of these have been accomplished on console. I have gotten several PC users who do attest that, at the very least, Kaidan’s portion works for them. But on the off-chance that platform influences other parts of Kaidan’s, or Ashley and Liara’s, I thought it was worth mentioning. It should also be said that, obviously, these are all using the original games as a basis, though I am not expecting MELE to change any of this.

I will also be using both my Kaidan transcript and Ashley transcript as reference for their dialogue. I recommend following along there if you find Tumblr’s formatting confusing.

Final note before we begin: this post is not an open invitation to hate on any of these characters. ME1 is turning 14 this year and ME3 recently turned 9. Anything you have to say about these characters and their romance mechanics has already been beaten to death, brought back to life, and beaten to death again. No one wants to hear it, least of all me. Please keep your comments to yourself and be civil.

KAIDAN

“I WANT TO AVOID TRIGGERING IT ENTIRELY, WHAT DO I DO?”

Kaidan’s romance can be triggered after the first main mission has been completed. For many players, I imagine this is Therum, but it really doesn’t matter which mission it is.

Kaidan will prompt the conversation, as he will for every other post-main mission conversation so long as his romance remains active. This conversation will be about his time at Brain Camp. You can read the conversation in his transcript if you find it easier to follow along, though I have done my best to format this post as cleanly as possible.

KAIDAN: Commander, do you have a minute?

SHEPARD: (You can choose whatever dialogue option you want. It makes no difference yet.)

KAIDAN: Off the record, I think there’s something wrong here. This Saren is looking for records on some kind of galactic extinction, but we can’t get backup from the Council? Sorry, Commander. There’s writing on the wall here, but someone isn’t reading it.

SHEPARD: (Again, you may choose whatever dialogue option you want. It still makes no difference yet.)

>FIRST CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

KAIDAN: I hear ya. It - It just seems like a group that’s been around as long as the Council should see this coming. It’s funny. We finally get out here and the final frontier was already settled. And the residents don’t even seem impressed by the view...or the dangers.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Zip it, Lieutenant.): I’m sure your letters home are very poignant. Just keep this kind of sentimentality out of the CIC.

KAIDAN: Yes, ma’am. Sorry to have wasted your time. I’m right about the mission, though. I know it. (The conversation will end here and his romance will not trigger.)

>SECOND CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

SHEPARD (Paragon - Cute way to look at it./Neutral - An old-fashioned view.): Well, well. You’re a romantic. Did you sign on “for the dream,” Alenko? Secure man’s future in space?

KAIDAN: Heh, yeah, I read a lot of those books when I was a kid. Where the hero goes to space to prove himself worthy of a woman he loves. Or, you know. For justice. Maybe I was a romantic in the beginning. But I thought about it after Brain Camp - ah, sorry, “Biotic Acclimation and Temperance training.” I’m not looking for “the dream.” I just want to do some good. See what’s out here. Sorry if I got too informal. Protocol wasn’t a big focus back in BAaT.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Just be ready.): I trust you won’t have any questions when whatever’s coming hits the fan?

KAIDAN: None. I’m not questioning the mission. I’m just concerned. Sorry to have wasted your time, ma’am. It won’t happen again. (The conversation will end here and his romance will not trigger.)

The final chance to cut off Kaidan’s romance before it triggers happens after Shepard asks him about Brain Camp. This opens up a lot of investigation options and you may exhaust all of them. If you want to avoid hearing Kaidan imply that he thinks your Shepard is attractive, avoid the “Time to talk, then./Time to “get physical,” then.” investigation options. Once Kaidan is done speaking about Brain Camp, you will get one final chance to avoid his romance.

>THIRD CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

KAIDAN: Anyway. This was supposed to be a casual debrief, not a bull session about stuff that happened years ago.

SHEPARD (Renegade - You’re right.): I pretty much gave up waiting for the good part.

KAIDAN: Bad habit, ma’am. I do tend to run off at the mouth. I will work on it for my next review. Sorry to have wasted your time, ma’am. It won’t happen again. (The conversation ends and his romance does not trigger.)

You will notice all of these are renegade options. There is literally no way around this if you want to avoid triggering Kaidan’s romance. You don’t get any renegade points from them, and Kaidan does not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

Here is an easy way to tell if Kaidan’s romance remains active. Conversations between him and Shepard will end like this:

SHEPARD: We’ll talk later, Kaidan.

KAIDAN: I’d like that.

“I’VE ALREADY TRIGGERED IT, HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS?”

The good news is that getting out of the romance is fairly simple. The game gives you a lot of opportunities before it triggers the love triangle with Liara (assuming her romance has also been triggered, anyway).

If Kaidan’s romance was triggered, you will have an opportunity at the beginning of his second and third post-main mission talks. These are a bit more complex to transcribe, so I really recommend just reading them in my transcription if you need the exact dialogue options to understand.

But the gist: You can’t go wrong with choosing the renegade dialogue options. This is always the dialogue option that will end his romance. You are almost never going to end his romance with a paragon or neutral dialogue option. He will always prompt this conversation by wondering if he’s gotten his signals mixed up, if there’s someone else you’d rather spend time with, if he’s being too casual, etc. Once he does this, just shoot him down with a renegade dialogue option.

Again: you get no renegade points from this. He will not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

Here is an example. This one occurs in his second post-main mission talk if Liara’s romance hasn’t been triggered:

KAIDAN: I’m just saying...try to leave yourself a way out. I’ve seen what cutting corners can do and I’d hate to have that happen to you, Shepard. Commander.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I don’t need approval.): I’m your commanding officer, Alenko. Are you questioning the way I handle things?

KAIDAN: No, Commander. Just concerned about the reception of the brass if things go sour. I apologize for bringing it up. I know we’re getting the job done.

SHEPARD: (You can choose whatever response you like; they all lead to the romance ending.)

If you have repeatedly not broken off the romance with Kaidan after a certain point and Liara’s romance is also active, it will trigger the love triangle scene. This is one of the last points you have to break off Kaidan’s romance, but it will lock you into Liara’s romance instead. If you are wanting a no-romance run, I recommend choosing one of the other options instead.

There is also a separate way to end the romance outside these three opportunities. In the third post-main mission talk, you must pick the dialogue option that triggers the argument that can “renegade” Kaidan’s opinion on the Council. You must not choose the charm or intimidate option here, and you must then pick the renegade dialogue options. The conversation should go like this:

KAIDAN: So yeah, I hated that turian. But he wasn’t “a turian” to me. He was Vyrnnus.

SHEPARD (Renegade - All turians are the same.): You can’t deny the turians are imperialists. And the asari, the salarians - they’re manipulators.

KAIDAN: Shepard, I outgrew the blame game years ago. If the Alliance is missing its chance, it’s because of men like Udina. Not the rest of the galaxy holding it back.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I’m not so sure.): When anyone out here listens to us, the Council starts up with their treaties and heel-dragging. We can only rely on ourselves.

KAIDAN: We’re not doing the galaxy any favors if we try to force our way into a seat at the grown-up table. They aren’t - malicious. They’re just slow to change. My story doesn’t get any better if Vyrnnus is a good guy.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Whose side are you on?): I don’t need you kissing the Council’s asses, too.

KAIDAN: Look, Shepard. You’re in command, and we’ll all follow your lead. But don’t ream me out for having an opinion. I thought we respected each other more than that.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I can’t respect this.): I can’t believe you’d side with aliens over your own kind. I think we’re done here.

KAIDAN: Yeah, I think we are. It’s--It’s too bad we...It’s just too bad, Commander.

This argument will end his romance. He will also not be renegaded. This is obviously a much more convoluted way to end his romance, but I’m throwing the option out there because it’s 1) hilarious, and 2) way more dramatic, if you want to roleplay ending the romance for whatever reason.

MISCELLANEOUS

Depending on the dialogue options you take for the scenic view on the Citadel, Kaidan will always flirt with you. This does not lock you into, or even trigger, his romance. It is entirely possible to not have him flirt with you at all in this scene, and still initiate the romance later. But if you do not want him to flirt with you, simply do this:

[image ID: ME1’s subtitles showing Ashley saying “Or maybe they just don’t like humans.” with the dialogue wheel below it giving the following dialogue choices, starting from the top: “What’s not to like?”, “Let’s move out.”, and “That’s enough, you two.” end ID]

When you get to this part of the scenic view cutscene, choose any dialogue option but the top “What’s not to like?” one.

Also, even if you’ve already avoided or shut down Kaidan’s romance, Liara will still ask if there’s something between the two of you if her romance is active. Tell her that there isn’t (because there isn’t). Her saying this does not re-trigger Kaidan’s romance.

Congratulations, you have now survived ME1’s romance mechanics. Enjoy experiencing unromanced Kaidan for the rest of the game.

ME3 BONUS: “OKAY, WHAT ABOUT HIM FLIRTING WITH ME IN THE HOSPITAL THOUGH?”

I have tested both of these personally multiple times and they have always worked for me, but again: see my warning about different platforms at the beginning of this post. If it doesn’t work for you, please let me know.

If you have not romanced Kaidan previously: don’t buy him the alcohol as a present. That’s it.

If you have romanced Kaidan previously: on Mars, tell him your relationship is over. It is a renegade dialogue option, but it is necessary to avoid the flirtation in the hospital. This route also means that you can buy him the alcohol and he will still not flirt with you.

Please note that going renegade on Mars does not lock you out of his romance. It merely prevents him from assuming you’re interested during your hospital visit.

ME3 BONUS: “OKAY, WHAT ABOUT HIS APOLLO’S PROPOSITION THOUGH?”

This only happens if you have not locked in your romance with your preferred love interest first. For Garrus, this is the bottle shooting date. For Tali and Traynor, it’s inviting her up to your cabin. For Liara and Miranda, it’s her Presidium date. So on and so forth.

This means there is no way around it if you romanced Jacob or Thane and do not want to pursue a different romance after them. If you do get this scene: again, just turn him down. It is never brought up again. He does not act like he’s in love with you going forth. You will get his unromanced date in the Citadel DLC, as well as his unromanced London goodbye.

ASHLEY

“I WANT TO AVOID TRIGGERING IT ENTIRELY, WHAT DO I DO?”

Ashley’s romance can be triggered after the first main mission has been completed. For many players, I imagine this is Therum, but it really doesn’t matter which mission it is.

Ashley will prompt the conversation, as she will for every other post-main mission conversation so long as her romance remains active. This conversation will be about her concerns about the aliens aboard the Normandy.

Note: Ashley has one less opportunity to avoid triggering her romance in the first post-main mission talk compared to Kaidan. You may also read the conversation in her transcript if you find it easier to follow along, though I have done my best to format this post as cleanly as possible.

ASHLEY: Commander. You have a minute to talk?

SHEPARD: (You can choose whatever dialogue option you want. It makes no difference yet.)

ASHLEY: I know things are different aboard the Normandy, but - I'm concerned about the aliens. Vakarian and Wrex. With all due respect, Commander, should they have full access to the ship?

SHEPARD: (Again, you can choose whatever dialogue option you want. It still makes no difference yet.)

>FIRST CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

ASHLEY: This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy. I don't think we should give them free reign to poke around the vital systems. Engines. Sensors. Weapons.

SHEPARD (Side - You're out of line!): That's enough, Chief. You always second-guess your superiors?

ASHLEY: Sir! No, sir! I'm sorry. I was out of line. I'll get back to my duties, Commander. (The conversation will end and her romance will not trigger.)

If you do not pick the above option, Ashley will elaborate her stance further until you get to the dialogue wheel with the second (and final) chance to avoid her romance.

>SECOND CHANCE TO AVOID THE ROMANCE<

ASHLEY: My family's defended the Alliance since it was founded. My father, my grandfather, my great-grandmother - they all picked up a rifle and swore the Oath of Service. I guess we just tend to think of Earth's interests as our own.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Just shut up.): I expect you to keep your family politics to yourself, Chief. The mission will be difficult enough without you picking fights with aliens.

ASHLEY: Aye, aye, Commander. (The conversation will end and her romance will not trigger.)

Note: You can still pick the investigation dialogue options that discusses her service and family history. You just have to pick the renegade dialogue option outlined above afterward, instead of any other option.

Like with Kaidan, you do not get any renegade points for picking this option and Ashley does not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

Here is an easy way to tell if Ashley’s romance remains active. Conversations between her and Shepard will end with the following:

SHEPARD: We'll talk later, Williams.

ASHLEY: Looking forward to it, sir.

“I’VE ALREADY TRIGGERED IT, HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS?”

Admittedly, you have fewer easy opportunities to end Ashley’s romance than you do Kaidan’s, and most of the early game ones require Liara’s romance also being active. You are still offered multiple different opportunities out before the game ends, however.

If Ashley and Liara’s romances are both triggered, you will have an opportunity at the beginning of Ashley’s second and third post-main mission talks to end the romance. The gist is the same as Kaidan’s: You can’t go wrong with choosing the renegade dialogue options. This is always the dialogue option that will end her romance. You are almost never going to end her romance with a paragon or neutral dialogue option. She will always prompt this conversation by bringing up your relationship with Liara. Once she does this, just shoot her down.

Again: you get no renegade points from this. She will not treat you negatively in the ensuing post-main mission talks.

In both the second and third post-main mission talks, the conversation will go something like:

ASHLEY: Surprised to see you here, sir. Thought you’d be chatting up what’s-her-name. T’Soni.

SHEPARD: (Pick the neutral or renegade dialogue option here; they both lead to the same dialogue branch.)

ASHLEY: Scuttlebutt says you’ve got a bit of a thing for her. I could understand why. The crew’s off-limits, with the regs against fraternization. And at least she looks like a woman.

SHEPARD: (Pick the neutral or renegade dialogue option here. They both end the romance.)

One of the easier exceptions to this that doesn't require Liara’s romance being active is in the second post-main mission talk when Ashley gets Sarah’s vid-mail. It will go like this:

SARAH: - Oh, before I go. You said you’re serving with Commander Shepard now? We saw him on the news here. He’s cute! Later, sis.

ASHLEY: Tell me you didn’t hear that.

SHEPARD (Renegade - That’s unprofessional.): I don’t need to tell you it’s inappropriate to gossip about how “cute” your commanding officer is.

ASHLEY: No, sir. You don’t. Sorry about that. It won’t happen again. (Conversation and romance ends.)

Please note, however, that this will lock you out of the remainder of the conversation and you will not learn about Ashley’s family.

If you have repeatedly not broken off the romance with Ashley after a certain point and Liara’s romance is also active, it will trigger the love triangle scene. This is one of the last points you have to break off Ashley’s romance, but it will lock you into Liara’s romance instead. If you are wanting a no-romance run, I recommend choosing one of the other options instead.

There is also a separate way to end the romance outside these three opportunities. In the third post-main mission talk, you must pick the dialogue option that triggers the argument that can “paragon” Ashley’s opinion on the Council. You must not choose the charm or intimidate option here, and you must then pick the renegade dialogue options. The conversation should go something like this:

ASHLEY: But hey, once we save the galaxy, maybe the Alliance will get its act together. Start acting like an actual government.

SHEPARD (Paragon - The Alliance is all right.): The Alliance isn’t perfect, but it does well enough.

ASHLEY: Have to disagree with you there, skipper. Giving aliens the run of our most advanced ship? Kowtowing to the Council?

SHEPARD (Paragon - It’s not like that.): The Alliance should be able to stand on is own. We can’t. Yet. Why not learn from the races that have been standing for the last thousand years?

ASHLEY: How can you say that, given everything we’ve seen out here? They’re already acting like Saren is our problem. Already siccing us on the bear. The Council races will always think of themselves first. It’s - human nature. We can’t afford to trust them. Not if the survival of humanity is on the line.

SHEPARD (Renegade - I’ve heard enough.): Whatever feelings I might have for you, we have to work with the Council. I can’t let you second-guess our superiors.

ASHLEY: Shepard, I’m a soldier. You’re my commander. If you give me an order, I’ll follow it. I don’t expect you to treat me differently from anyone else under your command. And if you have been - quit it. I thought you knew me better than that.

SHEPARD (Renegade - Do I?): Seems like every time we run up against aliens, you whip out the “Earth first” card. I can’t have my authority undermined.

ASHLEY: I never intended to “undermine” you, Shepard. I believe in you. I wish you’d believe in anyone but yourself. With your permission, sir, I’ll return to my duties.

This argument will end her romance. She will also not be paragoned. This is obviously a much more convoluted way to end her romance, but I’m throwing the option out there because it’s 1) hilarious (that final line, oof), and 2) way more dramatic, if you want to roleplay ending the romance for whatever reason.

MISCELLANEOUS

Like with Kaidan, depending on the dialogue options you take for the scenic view on the Citadel, Ashley will always flirt with you. This does not lock you into, or even trigger, her romance. It is entirely possible to not have her flirt with you at all in this scene, and still initiate the romance later. But if you do not want her to flirt with you, simply do this:

[image ID: ME1’s subtitles showing Ashley saying “Or maybe they just don’t like humans.” with the dialogue wheel below it giving the following dialogue choices, starting from the top: “What’s not to like?”, “Let’s move out.”, and “That’s enough, you two.” end ID]

When you get to this part of the scenic view cutscene, choose any dialogue option but the top “What’s not to like?” one.

Also like with Kaidan, even if you’ve already avoided or shut down Ashley’s romance, Liara will still ask if there’s something between the two of you if her romance is active. Tell her that there isn’t (because there isn’t). Her saying this does not re-trigger Ashley’s romance.

Congratulations, you have now survived ME1’s romance mechanics. Enjoy experiencing unromanced Ashley for the rest of the game.

LIARA

“I WANT TO AVOID TRIGGERING IT ENTIRELY, WHAT DO I DO?”

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I have found no easy way around Liara’s romance. If anyone else has, I genuinely mean it when I say I would absolutely be open to you telling me, because I would love to know.

The only way to avoid triggering Liara’s romance that I have found are the following:

Simply not talking to her for most of the game (not ideal)

Completing Therum only after you’ve done at least two main missions (also not ideal since it will require Noveria being completed without her)

Completing Therum only after all the other main missions have been completed (again not ideal, though every player should at least do this once if only for the unique content you get from it)

Okay, so what if you want to complete Therum first but still avoid Liara’s romance? I have found one way to accomplish this, but it requires you to be in a romance with Kaidan (or presumably Ashley, but I have only tested this with Kaidan).

After you recruit Liara, you may check up on her in the med-bay but do not initiate conversation after that. If she prompts you by saying, “I get the feeling you want to ask me something, Commander,” do not pick the yellowed dialogue option:

[image ID: ME1′s subtitles showing Liara saying, “I get the feeling you want to ask me something, Commander.” with the dialogue wheel showing the following options: “Investigate”, a yellowed option above “Investigate” labeled “I’d like to talk about you.”, and “Goodbye.” end ID.]

After you complete another main mission, you can check back in with Liara and speak to her normally. This conversation should be the one you’d normally get after Therum, where you learn about why she likes archaeology and how she finds Shepard fascinating.

After you complete another main mission, you must talk to Kaidan or Ashley first. To clarify: at this point you should be at the post-third main mission mark. For Kaidan, you will be getting the “Vyrnnus and Rahna” talk that you can read in his transcript; for Ashley, you will be getting the “Williams Curse” talk that you can read in her transcript.

After you speak with Kaidan or Ashley, you may speak with Liara as normal. This conversation should be picking up on where you left off last time. Liara will talk about how she’s looked into Shepard’s history and Shepard can press her for why she’s so interested in them. Liara should then say something like the following lines:

LIARA: I admit, your connection to the Protheans had something to do with my initial interest. But it has grown beyond that. My interest in you, however, is strictly professional. I want to make that clear. It is obvious you and Lt. Alenko already have some type of relationship. I would not want to come between you.

Her romance will not trigger for the rest of the game.

Please note: Again, I have only tested this with Kaidan. But it should, in theory, work the exact same for Ashley considering many of hers and Kaidan’s other romance mechanics are identical.

“THAT’S NICE, BUT HOW DO I END HER ROMANCE IF IT’S ALREADY TRIGGERED?”

You will follow the same steps as in Kaidan and Ashley’s portions. When she prompts you with whether or not there’s anything between the two of you, you must turn her down. You can never go wrong with the renegade dialogue options here. Again: you get no renegade points for it, and Liara treats you no differently going forth.

She will also usually bring up Kaidan or Ashley depending on what Shepard you are playing, and mention that it seems like there’s something between the two of you even when you do not have their romance active. If you aren’t romancing the VS, just tell her that she’s got it wrong, because...she does. It does not re-trigger either of their romances.

YES I AM ALMOST DONE TALKING

The game really does give you ample opportunities to avoid or end the romances (which is only fair considering how easy they are to trip), so hopefully I have outlined at least one you are comfortable taking.

There are other ways to end both Kaidan and Ashley’s romance that I did not mention (such as during the locker scene, or if you try to un-paragon/renegade) - the point of no return you mainly have to worry about is en route to Ilos. I imagine most players will have their romances sorted out by then, though, so I’m not sure it’s worth mentioning unless you’re wanting to do it purely for roleplay reasons. (In which case: you may read those in their respective transcripts if you’re curious.)

I cannot say I have tested every single romance cut-off, but I have tested most of the important ones players are most likely to take. I am assuming the romances are cut off based on the fact Shepard and the VS’ farewells will change depending on their romanced status (as I outlined in their respective sections), which I do feel is a safe bet. But if you try one of these and find that it did not end the romance: I’m sorry, and please do let me know (and also what platform you play on).

If you read all of this: thank you for your time, and I hope you find this guide useful!

[kiribaku-queen]

Hiii congratulation for 1000 followers! U deserve it! So i was thinking of bakugou!prohero a reader where he's always busy and always hv this photoshoot with these hot models or hot pro hero that made reader feel left out. And the last straw was when a newly magazine publish of him kissing other girls cheek (or mouth) (u do u;)) and thats when they had a bad fight that caused reader to run away. I would like it to be heavy angst with a happy ending. I love angst but after a heavy angst i like a happy ending to soothe my heart 😂 if u do choose this, gudluck!

Blinded by the Fame

Angst

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Word Count: 3.5K

A/N: Thank you so so much for this request! I was actually so excited to do this piece because I already had an idea I wanted to use and this scenario was PERFECTO~! So painful yet so good!

Thank you for the congratulations and I hope this request met your needs! Please let me know your thoughts!

Who said dating an upcoming hero was going to be easy? It certainly wasn’t easy, not in the slightest. You definitely had hard days. There were times when it got so difficult that you wanted to quit. But was loving the hero worth it and fulfilling? Absolutely.

Bakugou Katsuki was the love of your life. Relationships were never easy. Couples always have obstacles and challenges they have to overcome. Even when you were in tears, screaming at each other at the top of your lungs, even if you gave each other the cold shoulder the entire week, nothing could replace the warmth that was Bakugou’s arms. You would never much refuse his touch every tine, but that wouldn’t stop Bakugou from having you in his arms every night, whispering sweet nothings in your ears despite all the things he said prior. And you would forgive him. Of course you would. How could you not?

But being with a rising hero came with bearing a lot of burden that you had to keep to yourself. You didn’t like how he was working all the time. You didn’t like how he came home bruised up, sometimes not even going to the hospital if it means not being able to see you for the night. You couldn’t bare seeing him like that. But that was part of his job and that was never going to change. So no matter how much you absolutely hated the sight, you let him do his hero work because that was what he loved to do. You couldn’t interfere with his dreams of becoming the number one hero.

But the thing that itched you the most was when Bakugou was forced to promotional shoots to get his name out there. The memory of when he first started made you laugh. Being the Bakugou that he was, he flat-out refused to do it. He didn’t like getting his picture taken. He’ll dress up once in a while, and when he does it’s real clean, but he wasn’t a fan of constantly dressing up. But when he finally let go and tried it once, he saw how much fan votes and popularity he was getting and eventually, would do more here and there.

And you didn’t mind if the shoots were by himself, but most of the time, they were with other pro-heroes or very attractive models. And that you feel insecure. How could it not? Your boyfriend getting close to other women while you looked nothing like these women? You didn’t have the body, the face, the money, or the fame these women brought to the table. You would never admit it, but you hated when other women were in the picture. And you hated when one of the women would be touching him. It left a sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach. You were so sure that he was going to leave you for one of them. But he proved his love by dropping down on one knee with the most gorgeous ring.

“Come with me to the shoot,” Bakugou proposed but you hesitated.

“I can just meet you at the restaurant,” you decided. The mention of being on set for one of his photoshoots seemed like a bad idea.

“I want to go together. It won’t even take long. One hour tops,” he swore and brought you by the waist, your body flushed against him. He takes your face in his hands and gently puts your foreheads together.

“I know you’ve been wanting to go to this restaurant forever. Let’s go together,” he whispers and you couldn’t help but fall for that voice over and over again.

“Okay,” you whispered back. He smiles at you, places a small kiss to your forehead, then your lips, before taking your hand to lead you to the car.

The set of the shoot was intimidating. People were running around everywhere, cameras were set in all positions, lights were blinding and hot, the space just looked so busy. And you felt like you didn’t belong. But Bakugou was so used to this kind of scene. He leads you to where the photographer and the director were talking.

“Ah, Pro-Hero Dynamite, you made it!” the director greeted your boyfriend. “Your stylist is in the next room. Go ahead and get changed and we’ll get started.” Bakugou nodded and turned to you.

“I’ll be right back,” Bakugou said and kissed you on the forehead. You watched as your boyfriend disappeared in the sea of people and then you were left all alone.

This was fine. You would just wait in the back patiently for him to be done. And then you two could enjoy a nice evening out at that fancy restaurant you’ve always been wanting to try. Just relax. You closed your eyes and took deep, but slow breaths. There was nothing to get worked up over. Afterall, it looked like Bakugou was doing this shoot by himself.

But you spoke too soon. Bakugou had appeared from the dressing room, looking all dashing and handsome. You felt your heart skip again. He was wearing a red shirt that was unbuttoned to the third button, exposing his broad and muscular chest. Over, he wore a black jacket with leather gloves and pants. His hair was styled slightly back, forehead showing. He was mesmerizing to look at. But shortly after his appearance, two women walked out behind him. Two gorgeous, fit, and slim women who wore skin tight, elegant dresses were doing the shoot with him. And for some reason, your heart began to hurt. The pang in your heart was constant that you had to beat at your chest to calm yourself down.

They were beautiful. And you had recognized one of the women: Pro-hero Miruko. You knew their history together. Bakugou had worked under Miruko during his school days and eventually worked along side with her after he graduated. You knew she was a flirt. She flirted with everybody. And that was fine, until she got alittle too touchy with your boyfriend. And that bothered you. But Bakugou was so used to her behavior that he didn’t even notice.

You couldn’t say anything. They are old time friends and co-workers. What? Are you supposed to say that he can’t be friends with her anymore just because you didn’t like it? And then you would look like the possessive girlfriend? You were fine with him being friends with other women, but they did make you nervous. Nervous because all the women he’s surrounded by are so unbelievably good looking, it put you to shame. Why would he want to be with you when he could have all these women to choose from?

But you tried to shake these negative thoughts away and playfully tugged at the ring on your ringer. There was a reason why he chose you. There was a reason why he gave you this ring. You shouldn’t think this way. But you couldn’t help it. You tried not to let it bother you, but in the end, it did. It really did. It bothered you so much that you couldn’t stop fidgeting.

You watched at Bakugou sat on the couch with both women on each side of him. His arms were lounging on the back of the couch while one girl sat next to him and Miruko stood behind him. Looking at his facial expressions, he didn’t seem interested in any of the girls. Which is a good sign?

And so the shoot started. Nothing else could be heard besides music playing in the background and the loud click of the camera. Everyone else was watching the shoot take place. Everything looked okay so far. Their outfits were scandalous but nothing scandalous was happening. The only directions the models were given was to look sexily at the camera. Bakugou delivered that perfectly with his go-to signature look. But now the photographer wanted more.

“Can the two women get a little closer, please?” the photographer asked and put his camera up to his face once more. The girls did what they were told and Bakugou didn’t even flinch. But you were growing nervous. There was more skin happening, more touching and it was making you uncomfortable. You gasped when you saw Miruko grab Bakugou by his chin to lift to towards her direction. Then she leans in, her lips ghosting over his ever so slightly, like they were about to kiss. Tears were spilling out and your cheeks heated up in anger until you finally exploded.

“Stop!” you yelled, stopping all production. Heads from all around turned to you. Mirko looked at you shocked and Bakugou was wide eyed with curiosity and concern. You gripped the handle of the purse that was slung around your shoulder, feeling anxious now that everyone was looking at you.

“Sorry, give me one moment,” Bakugou apologized to the staff. He got up, rushing towards you. He takes your hand and brings you in the dressing room. The door slammed shut and Bakugou turns to you in a huff.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he hissed. With tears streaming down your face, you were shocked by his reaction. But you were going to stand your ground.

“I don’t like how she was touching you,” you say.

“It’s my job,” he sighs in exasperation.

“Well she should learn her boundaries, whether it’s a job or not. And if you respected me at all, you would tell her no,” you stated firmly. But all Bakugou did was roll his eyes.

“You’re overreacting.” You scoff and it was your turn to roll your eyes.

“Oh, I’m overreacting? Is it wrong that I don’t like when other women are touching you?” you started to raise your voice and talk back.

“Do I have to say it again? It’s my job. If I’m going to make it big, I have to do it. What? You think I like her? You think I was going to let her kiss me? It’s just for the pictures. Geez, how sensitive can you get?” he stabbed you right in a sensitive topic. You stayed silent because you weren’t expecting him to say that. The moment you think he’s going to stop there, he keeps going.

“I might need to save lots of women who are in danger. What? You don’t want me touching them? You’re going to get jealous because I’ll have some stranger in my arms? You’re afraid that she’s going to cling to me for dear life because I’m saving her? You don’t like that?!” he was practically screaming now.

“No! I don’t like that!” you screamed right back, giving back the same amount of energy. The tension in the air was so thick, anyone could feel it. Hell, they were all listening from outside and they felt uncomfortable with the ambiance of the situation. Both parties’ chests were heaving up and down from the labored breathing. And you just glared at each other. Bakugou turns away from you, breaking the ice.

“Fine. If you’re going to be this jealous, then maybe… maybe we shouldn’t be together,” he said. That was it. That was when your heart broke into a million pieces. You felt like if you stood there any longer, you would have suffocated.

“Fine,” you whisper. He doesn’t even spare you a glance. With teary eyes and a heavy heart, you tighten your jaw as you take off your engagement ring, wiggling it off your finger and then setting it down on the counter beside you. The sound of the metal hitting the hard desk was loud enough for Bakugou to hear, but he still chose not to turn to you. You thought that maybe, just maybe, if he turned around and said he didn’t mean it, then you would have been okay. You would have forgave him for those mean things he said. And then you would have apologized to him. But he looked set on his decision.

Without another word, you turned around and sped out of that building, tears never stopping. Everyone saw you go. Miruko laid her sad eyes on you and her broke for you. Shortly after, Bakugou walks back to the couch, plopping down with a huff.

“Let’s continue,” he says begrudgingly. But nobody moves, still shell-shocked about yousr argument. But this causes Bakugou to explode.

“Are you not going to start? Let’s get on with it!!” he hollers and everyone rushes like mice to get back to production. Bakugou lets out a long sigh, face in a permanent frown.

Miruko sits on the back of the couch and looks down at her old friend. She could tell that he was hurting just as much as you, if not more.

“Idiot~” Miruko sang.

“Ha?” Bakugou glared up at his past mentor. Mirko looked at her nails, not paying mind to the hot head who was on the verge of exploding.

“You need to go apologize,” she told him, more like ordered him to.

“Like it’s my fault.”

“You didn’t take her feelings into consideration,” Miruko pointed out, silencing Bakugou on the spot. “If she was feeling a little jealous, then her feelings are totally valid. You need to do something about it and make her feel like she doesn’t need to worry about anything.” Bakugou was only getting more annoyed.

“Whatever. It’s just business. If she can’t understand that, then we don’t need to be together,” he tried to convince himself. But that only hurt himself more.

“Whatever my ass. Then if you can’t be a good boyfriend and comfort her instead of making her feel insecure, then she doesn’t need you. She can find a better man who treats her good.”

“I do treat her good,” Right?

“Oh yes, I can tell,” Miruko said sarcastically. But in all seriousness, she knew he was hurting and she was trying to give advice from a woman’s perspective, but he is so stubborn and hard-headed that he doesn’t want to admit that he was in the wrong.

“Look, you let her go home like that right now, you’re not going to get her back. Go after her,” she advices on a serious note. Bakugou takes a moment to think but it’s all too much. He ruffles his hair and shoots up from the couch.

“Fuck this shit. I’m not doing this anymore,” he announces and storms out of the building. But not before shoving the metal jewelry in his pant pocket.

You didn’t know where you were going. You just walked and walked until you wind up somewhere. And god, you were so hungry. But you couldn’t go to that fancy restaurant that Bakugou had already made reservations for. God forbid he walks in while you were eating. And with another woman? How embarrassing. You couldn’t use his name or his fame anymore. You didn’t want to go back home. What if he shows up at your place? It probably wasn’t likely. He said he was done with you. You left the ring back with him. You guys were over. He wouldn’t show up uninvited. He has no reason to. You didn’t have money on you. You didn’t have any mode of transportation. The only think you had was your phone but the battery can only last so long. So you continued on walking until you hit a park and sat down on one of the benches. You were left alone to bathe in your thoughts until the set sun.

“Where the fuck did she go?” Bakugou mumbled to himself. He checked all the alleyways, in between streets, high and low, but he couldn’t spot you. No matter how he was frustrated he was feeling, he started to get nervous. He wondered if you were okay and safe right now. You hadn’t eaten all day. Wait. There’s no way…

“Hi. Reservation for 2. Under Bakugou,” Bakugou told the hostess. He arrived at the restaurant, in hopes that you came in. But when the hostess said that you hadn’t shown up, his shoulders deflated. Back to square one. So if you weren’t here, then where were you? Had you eaten yet?

Trying his luck, he went to your apartment, but after many attempts, you didn’t open the door. You could either by ignoring him or you weren’t home yet. Knowing you, you probably weren’t home. Then he was going to wait until you came home. Taking a seat next to your door, Bakugou waited. And he was going to wait until he could see your face.

You watched as happy couples and families walked by you, having the time of their lives. You smiled sadly seeing all their smiles and laughter. How you wish you could be like that. But now you don’t even know if or when that was going to be possible. That was all you wanted. Was to be happy. You didn’t want to be in this rabbit hole of sadness. You didn’t want anybody to pity you just because you were crying. But you did long for somebody to listen to you. For somebody to tell you that it was going to be okay and that you are loved. Love… You wanted someone to love you. He just wasn’t the one for you. Then who is? Will you ever find it? Was this your only chance and you ruined it all just because you couldn’t help but feel jealous?

Stupid.

Stupid (y/n).

You always ruin everything in your life. The one time you got something good, it’s gone in an instant. You knew it was too good to be true. But there’s no going back now. It already happened and now you have to move on.

By the time you noticed, the sun had already set and darkness fell upon you. You wanted to stay longer. You debated whether or not you were going to sleep on the park bench. But after recalling new articles of kidnappings happening around the country recently, you decided to go home.

It took you a while to go home. You walked as slow as you could, taking your sweet time returning back to your apartment. All you want to do is snuggle up in bed and go to sleep. You were so exhausted. Mentally, physically and emotionally. You just needed some rest and then you can worry more in the morning. You were coming up to your apartment and saw a person sitting on the floor what looked like in front of your apartment door. No. But there’s no way.

Blonde hair.

That was all it took for you to turn back, go down those stairs and back to the park. You couldn’t face him right now. You were already broken up so why was he there? He said all he needed to say so why was he there?

You thought you were being sneaky but Bakugou caught you. He saw you going back down those stairs and he immediately got up and chased after you.

“(y/n)!” he called out to you but you ignored him. The sound of his voice made your heart clench.

“(y/n)!” he called again, but louder. Again, you continued to ignore him.

“(y/n)!” he called for the last time, this time grabbing your arm. But you shook him as fast as he grabbed you.

“No, leave me alone,” you managed to say. Just keep on walking. Maybe if you walk long and far enough, he’ll give up. But he wasn’t giving up.

“(y/n), stop!” he grabbed you again, yet this time tighter so you couldn’t escape. Then he traps you in between him and the wall, forcing you to face him.

“Stop! Let me go! Leave me alone!” you cry. Your tear stained face and puffy eyes broke Bakugou’s heart. He did this to you. Fuck. He was the worst. You thrashed around, forcing him to let go, hitting him to push him away. Anything so he could get away from you.

Bakugou let you hit him. He deserved it. Every hit that you take at him, he deserved. Slowly but surely, he pulled you in for a hug. You were so drained that you let him. And as soon as you were in his embrace and your cheek hit his chest, you cried. You let it all out and didn’t stop. Bakugou didn’t say anything. He just held you, patting your head until you calmed down.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. He kissed the top of your head and rested his head there. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He continued to say. Your cries were muffled by being buried in his chest.

You held onto him tight, continuing to cry your heart out. You thought you were never going to see him again. You thought you were never going to hold him again. Or smell him. You world was crashing down on you but was slowly being put together again.

“Do you want to go inside?” he asks you softly. Your voice was too hoarse and sore from all the crying, so you nodded your head, not letting go of him. Bakugou got the hint and picked you up princess style and led you into the house. There was going to be a lot of talking happening soon in that tiny apartment. It was going to be a long night.