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#but the heartbreaking part is is that they keep dying or having to leave
mx-paint · 1 year
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I REFUSE TO BELIEVE
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a-hazbin-reader · 3 months
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Hey‼️
Soooo I was wondering if u could maybe possibly write an alastor x reader where reader has a secrets admirer and alastor is super jealous but he can't show it bc they're technically only friends and acting protective would be weird.
Bonus points if the read is completely oblivious to his jealousy and eats the snacks from the gift baskets all the time, right in front of him, and wonders why his eyes is twitching so much.
Pleaseee?
👀 I don't have time for this but-
Alastor X Reader Headcanons
✅️Romantic
❌️Platonic
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TW: Alastor being a red flag fr
Description: ☝️⬆️
What does Alastor care if someone wants you? He has no interest in taking you for himself. Nope. Not. At. All.
Would laugh if anybody tried to claim he felt something for you other than mild fondness
It's just been a particularly annoying few weeks because of all the gifts being sent to the hotel with your name on them, from some persistent admirer
So he does his best to convince you that they aren't good enough for you
Alastor feels his mood sour when he hands you a bouquet of flowers, your face lighting up at the sight of them as you hold them like they're precious
He misses the way your smile falters a bit when you read the tag, a small part of you hoping they were from the demon in front of you instead
"Another lackluster gift from what must surely be the most lackluster admirer on this side of the pentagram. Just look at how wilted those flowers are already!"
You shake your head and toy with the petals on the flowers, picking off the dying ones delicately
He loves me... he loves me not...
"Oh hush, it's rather darling that someone took time out of their day to give me something so thoughtful.."
You walk away to put the bouquet into a vase so you miss the twitch in Alastor's eye, the tight clenching of teeth and fierce grip on his staff
"Thoughtful? Those are yellow roses! Yellow roses stand for friendship, not romance! You can do so much better!"
Or another time, you offered him a chocolate, munching away on sweets while holding a heart-shaped box
"Are you confessing to me? You shouldn't, I'm quite the heartbreaker just so you know~"
He regrets saying the words the moment they leave his mouth, but they're the only thing keeping a blush off his face, taking a chocolate to shut himself up
You only hum and roll your eyes, putting a hand on your hip as you shake the box at him, mostly all an attempt to get his eyes on the candies instead of your blushing face
"No, my secret little lover dropped off a bunch of these and I can't possibly be expected to eat all of this myself, now can I?"
The sweet treat suddenly feels bitter in his mouth and he wants to rip up the box in your hand
"Oh, so that's why these taste so uninspired! Most likely store bought instead of homemade, such a shame."
You only snort and shake your head, popping another chocolate into your pretty mouth
"Who makes homemade chocolates anymore? Let alone take time out of their day to have them delivered to me?"
Alastor is embarrassed by the warmth and genuine emotion in his voice, his smile softening as he looks you over
"Someone who cares about you enough to recognize you're worth the effort, my dear."
He leaves quickly to avoid any further embarrassment, blushing deeply and sliding the rest of the candy boxes into the trash on his way out
"A-Alastor!!"
"I'm simply doing you a favor, my dear!"
He doesn't see your sputtering and blushing as you try to comprehend what just happened
Alastor can handle the flowers, chocolates and all other sorts of gifts but when the letters start pouring in?? He's about to lose his mind
It's been at least three letters a week, and he's sick of finding them outside the hotel. He actually rips up the ones he gets to first
He finds Charlie and Angel leaning over your shoulder and reading a letter in your hands, a soft blush on your face
Charlie was cooing over how sweet the letter was while Angel was obviously teasing you, making your blush deepen
"And just what is that in your hands, my dear?"
You jump and try to hide the letter but Angel quickly snatches it away to keep reading it, laughing as he does
"Toots here got another love letter from her secret admirer~ They think she's just the most precious babe around~"
Charlie is squealing and fanning herself with her hands as she jumps up and down, making you groan and hide your face in your hands
"Isn't it just so romantic? They're really head over heels in love with her!"
Alastor feels his eye twitch as he snatches the letter from Angel to read it over himself, ignoring the noise of protest that comes from you
Finally, he glances over at you, crumpling the letter up and ripping it into pieces in front of everyone
"Well now! That was about the worst thing I've read all day!"
It felt good to rip it up, picturing it to be your admirer instead
You stand there in shock, eyeing the bits of paper then Alastor, Angel and Charlie slowly backing out of the room only to peek their heads back in
"They... they said I was beautiful."
Well... now he feels a little bad...
He recovers quickly though and wraps a casual arm around you, guiding you away from the mess as Niffty runs in to clean it up
"That's exactly what they wrote in the last one! It's nothing new, I'm afraid! Truly, you deserve better than that!"
You pout and lean your head on him a little, trying not to look disappointed about the letter
"Yeah? And just what do I deserve?"
He grins at you and leans in, pulling you closer to him
"Let me show you, my dear~"
You simply roll your eyes as you let him lead you out of the hotel on a walk, enjoying the weight of his arm around you
There's no more secret admirer after that, which suits you both just fine
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Here~
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darlingshane · 4 months
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Professor Castle
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Frank Castle x F!Reader
Summary: Frank has a weakness and it's named after you. No matter how much he tries to push you away he always returns to the same point.
CW: 18+. Explicit, Smut, Angst, Oral Sex (f. receiving), Fingering, Making out, Professor/Student relationships, Age Gap, Reader is an undergrad student in her early 20s. [I know this is very problematic. Don't come at me. It's just fiction.]
Word Count: 2.8k // AO3 Link.
A/N: This was inspired by this picture of Jon in Origin. I couldn't write for that character in particular, so I thought Frank was the best choice for it, even if it's a lot OOC.
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As you muster the courage to enter and confront Professor Castle, you observe him through the cracked door of his office. He looks as good as ever, freshly shaved, in one of his Bexley plaid shirts in white with blue plaid lines, and a dark tweed blazer on top. His hair has slightly curled from the humid weather. His glasses slip a little over the bridge of his nose when he looks down, and he pushes them back in place before tucking a folder in his leather case. You haven't seen him in a few days. Even when you submitted the form to drop his class you managed to leave it on his desk yesterday after he left home. And just early this morning before getting to campus you got an email from him from his uni account, formally denying your request to drop. You don't give a fuck about failing and having to take another course with a different teacher but after what he told you last weekend, you can't stay in his class any longer. It'd be like torture having to see him and not being able to be with him like you desire to.
Of course, you don't ever want to get him in trouble either, he has a lot more to lose than you. But if he doesn't want to see you anymore, then so don't you. So, after a moment of consideration you just clench your fist as hard as you can, set your jaw straight, and storm into the office without announcing yourself. The door slamming the door behind you is what alerts him of your presence. The loud sound makes his head snap up to look at you, standing as tall as you can.
“You can't force me to stay in your class.” You say firmly without raising your voice.
His brow knits behind the thin frame of his glasses as he processes your intrusion.
“No, I guess I can't force you. But I can't let you drop either. You missed the deadline. Unless you have a good excuse like a serious medical condition or emergency the school is not going to let you withdraw at this point. It's out of my hands.”
“Does dying of heartbreak count as a medical emergency?”
“Jesus Christ, you theater kids are really dramatic.”
“Hey, you're the one who told me to join a club.”
“Yeah, but I meant something else like uh… the debate team, the honor society, the newspaper, or the fucking model UN.”
“Well, I made my choice and so did you. I can't just keep showing up at your class and pretend that nothing happened. Can you just think of something? If I meant anything to you… just give me this, Frank.”
You never said his first name before on school grounds. It sounds like a curse word as it slips out of your mouth.
“There are only two months left. That's nothing. Are you telling me you're willing to throw all of that away for me?”
“Yes, because if I can't have you then I can't see you either.”
You catch when his Adam's apple anxiously goes up and down as you say that.
“This is all my fault. I should've never… I should've put a stop to it when I had the chance.”
“Frank—” You take a step closer to his desk, but he promptly holds a placating palm in the air to push you to a stop.
“Don't. Please. Don't throw away your future for me or for anyone for that matter. You're smart and young and strong enough to endure a few more classes. You'll be getting your bachelor's next year, sweetheart. After that… you won't even remember I was ever part of your life.”
“I won't ever forget. I'm begging you. Just let me go or take me back… but…” your frustration knots in your throat. “Stop pushing me away. I know you love me.”
“It doesn't matter if I do. We both have a lot to lose if they find out.”
“Nobody will. We'll be more careful… We could just start over somewhere else, just you and me.”
“Life is not a movie. It doesn't work like that. I know it feels like a matter of life or death right but when you're older—”
“Don't patronize me. I know what I feel. Just take me out of your class or don't. I won't show up either way.”
You turn around to leave the room at once but Frank quickly shuffles behind you and as you reach to grab the handle, he holds the door closed and secures the lock before your eyes.
“So help me God, you're gonna be the end of me, sweetheart.” His tone changes to an octave graver that sends a chill through your spine.
“What are you doing?” You turn around as he steps so awfully close you can capture the strong scent of his aftershave.
“You're going to stay in my class. Front row. Every Wednesday at 10. Then, you're going to ace your final in May. I don't ever wanna hear you again saying otherwise. Is that clear?” He states as a matter of fact, as if you had no choice but to comply with his demand.
“Why are you so convinced I will?”
You watch him up close as he takes off his glasses and lifts his opposite hand to frame your jaw. With conflicted thoughts he pushes your back against the wall, as his face leans to seize your mouth. Professor Castle slowly spells with his tongue all the secrets kept between you in just one beautiful kiss that leaves you breathless.
“Is that enough?” His head pulls back as he sets his glasses back over his eyes as you smooth the lapels of his blazer.
“I'm not sure,” you draw a breath and let the bookbag hanging on your shoulder fall to the floor. “I think I'm gonna need a bigger incentive.”
“There's never enough for you, huh?” he holds your jaw again and tilts your head to the side as he buries his mouth in the crook of your neck.
His lips hold some sort of spell that enchants your body with just a few nips on your skin. The tip of his tongue is laced with poison that intoxicates each and all of your senses as it juts out to leave a wet trace from your collarbone to the back of your ear before pulling back. His eyes turn darker behind the glass as he locks eyes with you. Your pulse picks up in your chest as he licks his lips and allows lust to take over. He watches his thumb trace the shape of your mouth before fiercely succumbing to the temptation of your lips once more, with feeling.
As your arms curl around his neck, his hands travel beneath the hem of your striped, knitted sweater to bask in the warmth of your skin. The sloppy sounds of your kisses sound like sin in this room. You should stop. He should too. But neither of you have enough strength to push the other away.
One of his hands stays pressed on your spine while the other travels down your denim skirt and slips underneath the hem. Hiking it up, his large palm shamelessly grabs your ass, molds your flesh to the shape of his fingers over your panties. Your skin quickly heats up and your mind swirls along the maddening rhythm of his tongue. He presses himself so hard against you, it feels like he's already fucking you, but it's the illusion of his fingers bluntly sliding between your legs and pressing over your opening, stirring a good moan out of you.
“Sh, sh…” he breaks the kiss and whispers a millimeter away from your mouth. “Gotta be quiet now, yeah?”
You simply nod, having his eyes gauging your expression changing as his hand viciously massages your pussy.
“Like that?” His lips pull up at the corners, and you mirror his expression as you softly pant.
“Fuck yeah.”
Then, you close your eyes and press your forehead to his shoulder, keeping your hands anchored to his arms as your juices stain the fabric of your underwear.
“You're dripping, sweetheart.” His voice echoes in your ear. “Is this what you want?”
He presses harder as your grip on him tightens.
“Yeah.”
For a second you think he's going to finish you right there but all of a sudden he stops.
“C'mere,” he locks your arms around his neck before lifting your ass in his hands without much effort. You tuck your legs around his hips as he takes turns around and walks toward the desk.
Keeping you secured in one arm, Frank blindly moves the stuff in the middle before carefully lowering you down on the wooden surface. While you lay on your back, he sits on his chair and brings your ass close to the edge. Instead of letting your legs dangle, he places your feet on each arm of his chair as he kisses one of your knees.
“God, you're so beautiful,” he mumbles against your skin as he rolls down the fabric of one of your thigh-high stockings to uncover your leg. He does the same with the other stocking before letting his lips get his reward.
The inside of your thigh leads a straight road down to hell. After last weekend, he promised himself he would never cross that line again, but he has a weakness, and it’s named after you. It's taken him through a dangerous path that puts everything he ever believed into question. He could lose his job and his reputation if someone were to cross the door to his office and find you spread like a meal ready to consume. It's lunchtime after all, and he can't think of anything better to feast on other than you. His lips trail that perdition-paved road on your thigh as his fingers softly brush the back of your leg. Your skin sticks out as you pull your knees further apart to make room for his face as it gets closer to your center. The corner of his glasses gently pokes the top of your thigh when he reaches that crucial point. You bite your lip and stare at the broken fixture on the ceiling and try to keep yourself from moaning when he pulls your panties to the side. He stretches the fabric as far as it goes, it makes a tearing sound, but it doesn't break. You couldn't care less if he rips them apart. It wouldn't be the first time either. He’s ruined two pairs already. Professor Castle has a wild side that only comes untamed when he’s with you. But this is different. He's never gone down on you right in his own office on campus like he's about to do. You both know the implications of that, but rules be damned right now. All that worry floats out of your head as his tongue makes first contact with your pussy. He draws a line from your opening up to your clit ever so softly before pulling your outer lips apart and diving in. He has just an ounce of restraint himself from going too hard and making you scream out in pleasure, even though he wants so badly to suck on your clit to hear you pleading for more. To stir out of your voice call out his name and title out of sheer joy. But he holds back. He presses an array of kisses and nibbles all over your folds as you close your eyes to focus on the torturing slow pace of his tongue. Your nipples are hard as a rock under your bra, your legs strain to stay in position when Frank slowly laps around your clit, collecting your arousal as your breathing hollows. He places a palm on your stomach, right under your sweater and catches the effects of his mouth in the way your body reacts. There’s an added edge to doing this right here, it makes his cock throb in his underwear as you mumble his name.
“Frank.” It comes out as a murmur, and he hums against your tender skin before going a little harder. There’s only so much he can do to up the pace and make you come without alerting anyone behind that door of what’s happening inside.
We'll be more careful, you said. He eats out your words straight out of your sex.
To speed up the process uses his other hand to slip two fingers into your opening and press on your g-spot. Your back arches in response. Frank has to press that hand on your abdomen a little harder to keep you from squirming too much. It feels like an eternity until you reach the point of no return, once you're there you can feel that fire burning bright at your core as a mind-numbing chill settles at the back of your head. You've never felt that intense jolt sparking your body like fireworks before. Then again you don't have much to compare him to other than the one and only boyfriend you had when you started college.
You grip at his hair as he cues your orgasm. With a strong flick of his tongue and that adamant pressing of your walls you finally come undone. You bury a moan in your throat as every cell of your body is touched by that wildfire that travels from your center out in every direction. It curls your toes in your shoes, your eyes shut, your knees clench together before he can pull his face away. As the orgasm ebbs he sets himself free from your thighs and watches you descend from cloud nine. He uses a tissue to clean up your cunt and fixes your panties to their former position. Then, Frank settles your legs down as your body goes completely limp, and straightens your skirt over your thighs with such love it almost makes you cry.
“Frank,” your voice comes out watery.
“Sh, it's okay, baby. I know. Come here.” He helps you up and pulls you onto his lap.
“I missed you.”
“I know.” He smiles against your hair as he snuggles you against his chest. “I’ve missed you too, sweetheart.”
You clear your throat and stay still for a minute while his hand soothes your back before noticing he’s still hard.
“Do you want me to take care of this?” You fondle his bulge over his pants.
“No, that’s okay. That’s my punishment for hurting you.” He takes your hand away, brings it up to his lip to kiss your knuckles.
“You really have a thing for punishment, huh?” You quip, lifting your head to look at him. It’s then that you notice his messed up hair and send our fingers to fix it.
“Not as much as you do.” His hand pats your ass reminding you of all those times you've begged him to spank you when you were being a brat.
You laugh as you take off his glasses and use the hem of your sweater to clean them.
“Can I come over this weekend?” You ask putting his eyewear back on.
“I have that wedding I told you about. Can't get out of it, I'm the best man.”
“Right. Of course. One of your marine buddies. Florida, right?”
“Yeah.” His stare goes down as he massages your hand thinking that maybe… “You could come with me if you want.”
“I uh… I don't think I'm ready for that.”
“No, you are. Nobody will know you there, and I don't wanna keep lying about you, at least not to my friends. They won't give a fuck, you know? I'm tired of being set up for blind dates and shit.”
“Oh, it must be really hard being you.” You mock.
“Don't laugh. Just think about it. It'll be something casual at the beach. I'll get you a ticket if you're worried about that.”
“I really changed your mind, did I? That's a full 180 from what you said the other day, Frank. Are you sure you want this?”
“Yeah, I was only fooling myself thinking that I could stay away from you. Which I would've if you hadn't shown up here with a fucking attitude. But you're right, we'll have to be more careful from now on.”
“And we can do whatever we want in Florida.”
“Yeah, you wanna come?”
“Only if you really want me there.”
“I wouldn't be asking if I didn't.”
“Then I'll go with you.”
You press your lips sweetly against his and let them bounce together for a moment before getting back to reality. You pull up your stockings all the way up and fix up your clothes before collecting your bag from the floor. But Professor Castle can't help but stall for a bit longer to kiss you once more until you have no choice but to run to your next class.
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vinnyhongnsfwgurl · 3 months
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1st Vinny Hong FanFic? I literally have no idea what this should be LOL
Hello all Windbreaker fans and Vinny Hong lovers. This is my first Vinny Hong x female reader fanfic. I hope you enjoy and comments/feedback is always welcome! Thanks :3
So, I didn't realize what kind of fanfic this would be after I finished writing it LMAO. Complete despair and heartbreak hahaha. I just chose to write and not think to hard. tbh I'm pretty happy with it. Let me know what you think :) .... also I did not proof read haha I am lazy.
I think I'll do a part 2 to this one!
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"y/n? ...... y/n?"
"Y/N?!"
You're head snaps up to look at your mother sitting in the hospital bed next to you. She looked at you slightly worried.
She tilted her head as she asked "Are you okay? I called your name multiple times."
You sat up straighter in your chair and nodded. "Yes. Sorry. I, uh, just got lost in my thoughts for a moment." A lot had happened in the past couple of weeks. My mother got very sick and ended up in the hospital for a second time, nearly dying due to a brain aneurysm. It had put a lot of stress on every part of our lives, mostly financially. We weren't poor, but we certainly did not have the luxury to not work and stay in the hospital for extended periods.
I had thought about picking up extra hours at my part-time job, but I knew it wouldn't help much and I knew my studies would suffer. I was already struggling to keep my grades up. Besides my part-time job, I had to train for the upcoming final race of League of Streets. I was a part of Hummingbird and it was amazing but like my personal life, it was a mess. So much had happened with our team.
The most recent event was Vinny leaving our team deciding to ride with the Ghost crew. He started doing small races for money, which were broadcasted online. I had seen a few. Everyone was confused and upset including me. The whole reason we created Hummingbird was to compete in LOS and win the price money for Vinny's mother but I guess he had different plans in mind.
"It'll be okay honey" my mom said as she reached for my hand. I let let her hold my hand. It was warm and reassuring.
I smiled. "I know mom. I'm glad you're alright .... I was really scared actually." I could feel the pressure behind my eyes build up.
My mom started tearing up. "I know. I know y/n. but it's okay, I'm okay." She squeezed my hand.
I just nodded. "yeah."
After a few minutes and making sure my mother didn't need anything, I hugged her goodbye and started making my way out of the hospital. I took a seat on a bench that was stationed right next to the entrance of hospital. I had taken a bus here and planned on taking it to get back home. It only took me ten minutes to get to the bus stop, so I had a bit of time before I had to leave. I was really tired and too stressed. I found myself looking for more quiet moments out of my day.
I looked out toward the street across from the hospital. It was already dark out, but there was quite a bit of traffic. Honking interrupted the empty, docile night every now and than.
I heard footsteps come around the corner that ended abruptly once they caught up to the bench I was sitting at. As I turned my head to see what or who it was, I hear a familiar voice.
"What are you doing here?"
Vinny. It was all I thought as my eyes met his. His red eye seemed strikingly brighter than it usually was. Maybe it's just because I hadn't seen him in awhile.
"Oh. I was visiting my mom. She recently had surgery." I explained. ".... Are you hear to see your mom?" I asked.
He was quiet for a second before answering my question. "Yeah, she's staying here."
"MMm that's good. Glad to hear she is getting treatment" I said.
"What about your mom? Is she okay?"
"oh yeah! The surgery went well, so everything is good." I gave a sheepish thumbs up. I always became painfully aware of how awkward I felt when interacting with Vinny. I was a fairly shy person and it didn't help how handsome I thought he was. It took time in the beginning for us to get along and establish a relationship. It wasn't hard for me to figure out soon after that I was falling in love with him.
There was a lot I learned about him after Hummingbird was formed and the more I learned the more I desired to be near him. He was hot headed and pretty reserved, but it never really bothered me. I always went out of my way to greet him at practice and I chat with him when I could. I never cared if it was just small talk.
He just stared at me for a moment before saying "Good to hear that."
I knew what what was coming next, or what wasn't. This would be the end of our conversation. I didn't want it to be.
"How have you been?" I asked.
"I'm fine." He said plainly.
"And Jack?" following it up with a smile.
"He's fine too."
Man of few words I thought. I was used to it but I always wondered what actually behind those words: I'm fine.
"Are you really doing fine? I know I'm probably not the first person you think of when you want to talk to someone, but you're my friend. I'm here for you." I blurted out without much thinking.
When I had mentioned how confusing and upset I was when he left our crew, it was an understatement. I was sad and hurt. I also felt so helpless. He left us all behind and had no desire to return.
I looked down at the backpack I held in my arms. There was so much I wanted to say, but none of it seemed enough.
"I'm sorry for everything that's happened. I know you're having a hard time. I wish you hadn't had to leave the team."
"I don't know why you're apologizing, y/n. You don't need to." He replied.
Vinny walked up closer to me until he stood just a few inches from my feet. I looked up and he gaze had softened just a bit.
"You don't need to worry about me. Just focus on yourself. You have a lot going on."
"Yeah."
There was a moment of silence as Vinny and I held each other's gaze.
Then Vinny turned to leave. "I'll see you later y/n."
Before he took another step, I reached for his hand. It was a light grasp, just enough to stop him.
"Come back to Hummingbird ..... at least, at some point. We'll wait for you. It's nothing without you"
Vinny just stared at me before pulling his hand away from my mine.
"Y/n."
"It doesn't matter if it's not tomorrow, or the next day, or weeks from now! J-just come back. Please." I could feel a increase in my heart rate and the pressure behind my eyes building up again.
Vinny sighed and turned away from me.
"There's no reason for me to come back." He said sternly. "There's nothing you or the others can offer me." He continued has he started walking away.
Something warm slid down the right side of me cheek. I blinked and more came out. I was crying.
I just stood there as I continued to watch him walk away. My crying only worsened and I could feel a lump form in my throat.
I can't give up on you Vinny I thought as I recollected the memories of us together and how much our relationship progressed.
I just can't Vinny. I won't. I love you.
After he was well out of my sight, I finally left for the bus station. I cried the entire way.
For once, I wished it wasn't so quiet out.
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queerfandomtrifecta · 7 months
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How Izzy’s Death Could’ve Made Basic Storytelling Sense
Just to be clear, Izzy is my favorite and I wanted him to live more than anything. This isn’t about that, and that is NOT why I hated his death. Had it served the narrative in a way that made even the most basic storytelling sense, while I’d admittedly have been devastated in a different way (i.e. the character whose queerness was relegated to the subtext in s1 and as soon as it’s textual and his whole arc is that he’s killed, but that’s a whole separate post…), but at least there would’ve been a correctly crafted arc from a surface level narrative standpoint that ended in the death of my favorite character. But that’s not what this is about. It’s is about how the show could’ve actually made the death actually make sense and work effectively. (Also, if you want my unasked for thoughts on how most of the existing plot of s2 (minus 7-8) could’ve easily been adjusted to fix the narrative as a whole and keep Izzy alive, I wrote this)
But. For those in the fandom insisting that Izzy HAD to die, including DJenks who has said as such in interviews (for reasons I do not understand), from an objective developmental editor standpoint, this is what I think needed to change to make Izzy’s death serve the narrative, character arcs and dynamics, pacing, structure, and thematic elements correctly.
It’s about 2K words just so you know what you’re gonna get into. Spoilers under the cut.
Issue 1. Izzy’s relationship with the crew and how they truly became his family this season totally vanished during his death scene. The same crew who he protected from Ed during the later, worse parts of the Kraken phase. The crew who banded together to save his life by hiding him from/lying to Ed about it, and amputating his leg to save him. The crew he saved by crawling up those stairs during the storm, hobbling out into the rain with one leg and shooting Ed before he could shoot a cannon ball through the mast and kill them all. The crew who called him “our dick”. The crew that then banded together with Stede’s half of the crew to him the leg and the new unicorn (aka the figurehead of the ship). That crew didn’t cry a SINGLE tear when he died. What?? Fang sobbed most of episode one and really lost it when Izzy got shot. Where was that when he died?? Izzy’s last speech to Ricky had something along the lines of: piracy is about belonging/family. We are Good. (Forgive me, I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist). Izzy truly did find his family in the crew outside of Ed. That was absolutely fantastic, especially in the first four episodes and episode six. It VANISHED when he was dying and dead.
The fix: To make the death impactful, effective, or even to make it make sense on a very basic acting and writing level, the crew should’ve been utterly DEVASTATED. At least heartbreaking music and like 30 seconds of everyone breaking down and holding each other. At least some of them crying and holding each other in the background when he was dying. Come on.
Issue 2. Thematically speaking, is piracy Good or Bad? Again, Izzy tells Ricky that they (the pirates/his crew) are capital G Good. Yet Ed has spent a lot of time maintaining piracy is capital B Bad. He tells the urchins as such. Here’s some money that I never had, now you don’t have to be pirates. Don’t be pirates. He doesn’t want Stede to kill Ned Low in cold blood. Ed just doesn’t want to be a pirate. Even at the end AFTER Izzy dies telling Ed he’s with his family (implied that this is the crew) and they love Ed, Ed LEAVES THAT FAMILY AND LEAVES PIRACY IMMEDIATELY. We’re left with him and Stede watching the family Izzy swore was Good and loved Ed sail away because Ed thinks piracy is Bad. Which is it?? The death served nothing in convincing Ed he could be happy with his found family on the sea as Ed, not Blackbeard, so the dying words were pointless. The thematic elements are all over the place (for the whole season but that’s another post) and that needs changing to make the death scene make sense.
The fix: Izzy should’ve told him he sees he doesn’t want to pirate anymore, he’s glad he’s found love with Stede because Izzy isn’t going to make it, go run your fokkin’ inn, you twat (affectionate).
Issue 3. Izzy died of bad planning and bad luck. Why didn’t they take the gun from Ricky? Between Spanish Jackie, Izzy, and Jim, SOMEONE would’ve thought about it. If not those three, someone else would’ve, but come one. One if not all of those three would’ve known better. Yeah, Izzy happened to be standing in front of Ed and he got shot instead of him, but you’ve gotta be REALLY looking for that to even be aware it’s what happened. It wasn’t even on purpose unless Ed strategically placed himself behind Izzy (which I doubt was the intent). Izzy didn’t position himself protectively/take the bullet for anyone on purpose. It was just happenstance and you only notice it if you’re rewatching and hyper-analyzing everything (which a lot of us, me included, in the fandom do, but casual watchers don’t. It’s totally unclear as far as the surface level narrative goes) Any sort of “heroism” is not acknowledged, it’s barely even noticeable in the shot. If that was the intent, it HAD to be clearer and acknowledged by the characters so the audience would realize the stakes and repercussions of clear choices. As it is, I don’t think it was intentional. If Izzy HAS to die, it should truly have rounded out his arc in a way that CLEARLY changed the course of the scene, leaving him to protect people he’d put in danger at the end of s1. It didn’t. It just read as terrible planning to the point of it being out of character for more than one character, and bad luck.
The fix: Izzy should’ve saved someone. I personally don’t like the idea of it being Ed. I’s have rather he save Stede (Not really, but it’s better than Ed I guess) But really Izzy should’ve died saving the crew. The crew makes the most sense to me, narratively speaking. He’s their figurehead, he’s protected the Kraken Crew for months and they should’ve been fiercely loyal to him, he blames himself for what Ed did to them (more on this later) so it makes sense for him to fiercely protect his crew. His family. Who should’ve been devastated that it happened because Izzy is the one character of the main three who’s managed to earn that status this season.
Issue 4. The death did not serve to move the plot along. There are literally zero things that would’ve been different for the end of the episode, save Izzy being alive and on the Revenge in his rightful role he earned with his crew as the captain, if he’d have lived. Ed and Stede aren’t partnering with Zheng to go after the guy who killed him in the next season. Nope. They got the offer but nah. They’re running an Inn. Which Izzy would’ve supported based on literally everything we’ve seen from him in episodes 5-8. The crew who Izzy protected fiercely and who viewed him as their leader? Not one tear during his death or the the funeral. Happily sailing away to do presumably more Muppet Treasure Island hijinks. No character development happened. No plot development happened. The season could’ve ended literally the EXACT SAME WAY with Izzy alive aboard the Revenge!!! No stakes were changed at all. No one was impacted enough for it to seem like it was even going to be a plot obstacle next season. It just happened, Izzy’s toxic situationship who maimed him multiple times over the course of months to the point of his leg needing to be amputated was sad for one (1) scene, then we moved on and did not seem sad at all at the funeral. What.
The fix: The plot should’ve been driven by the death. Ed and Stede (but especially Ed), and DEFINITELY the crew should’ve been sailing off plotting to avenge the death and defend piracy against Ricky and the British, especially with Zheng who lost her whole fleet. Ricky and the British are clearly (or so I hope, nothing’s clear here anymore tbh) the primary antagonist for the theoretical third season. No one should be running an whim-based inn for fun or sailing off happily into the sunset after the death of the most major character aside from Ed and Stede, who beyond proved himself a major part of something every character (his family) should’ve cared about this season. If he HAD to die, that death should have furthered the plot. But instead, it seems everyone shrugged it off with tears exclusively from Ed.
Issue 5. Izzy got shot in the left side. The side in which canonically NO ONE DOES FROM BEING INJURED ON IN THE OFMD UNIVERSE.
The fix: Yeah I know this is just too nit-picky but it was also just SO sloppy. Like just shoot him on the other side if he has to die, because this was a very memorable plot point more than once in s1. Like, come on y’all.
Disclaimer: Issues/fixes 1-5 would all need to happen together to truly fix it and make the death serve the narrative correctly. Issue/fix 6 is a totally separate route, which I personally hate, but at least the narrative would’ve made sense this way.
Issue 6. The idea that Izzy had to die so that Ed could be free of Blackbeard makes no sense at this point in the story. Ed already threw away his leathers and gave away his treasure to symbolically get rid of Blackbeard, and Izzy very sweetly encouraged him to follow the feeling that throwing out the leathers gave him. Izzy told Stede that he and Ed were good for each other. They balance each other out. Izzy is on good terms with both of them and their relationship, so Izzy “having to die” so Ed could flourish as Ed genuinely makes no sense and came totally out of left field.
The fix for 6: This one stands alone and is my absolute least favorite option, but if it HAD to happen without the 1-5 fixes, here’s how it could’ve made sense. If THIS is truly the way it was going to end, Izzy needed to be continuously antagonistic or avoidant to at least Ed and actually be shown holding Ed back from happiness until that last second. He wasn’t. He was so much better. Izzy clearly does blame himself (that’s for a separate post because I have lots of thoughts there) but to be fair they were both abusive in that relationship, for years it seems. Although I think by the beginning of s2, the power dynamic has clearly flipped and it was Ed who was doing most of it and Izzy was exhausted and knowingly “reaping what he’d sewed” (I don’t Blame Izzy for his abuse but I think this was his mindset) so the crew wouldn’t get the brunt of it.
If he seriously HAD to die because the writers just had to have it that way, those are the changes I think would’ve made the narrative work/make sense, served all the character arcs and dynamics correctly, and actually driven the plot as fictional deaths are supposed to, compelling things into a third season. Seriously, this season finale was a mess of baffling choices the most series finale season finale I’ve ever seen.
Anyway. There’s my unsolicited two-cents. Now back to hoping Izzy’s in the gravy basket waiting to be sea witch necromancied back by seagull Buttons in season 3. I love this show and I hate hating what I hate hating about it because it’s my absolute favorite and I can’t stand it because it’s fantastic and the worst thing I’ve ever seen. (Also, Izzy should’ve lived).
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vintagehellfire · 3 months
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Life Eternal | E.M
summary: You'd promised each other your souls forever, that you'd be with each other forever...
warnings: angst, hurt/no comfort, grief, major character death, graves, death, no seriously there is no comfort... okay maybe mayyyyyybe if you squint, but tbh just pure hurt, based on Life Eternal by Ghost
18+ MDNI
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There was no denying the pain that came with having someone ripped from you far too soon, but what was worse was being unable even to have one last goodbye, being unable to see their face one last time before their soul departed from their body and before the rot settled in. There was something akin to a knife being driven through one's chest repeatedly when the devastating news of a loved one taking their last breath was delivered, and it was made much worse when the two parties touched each other’s souls in a way that no other had been able to. 
Tears fell onto the dampened earth, the lot still fresh, disturbed. The cold granite of the headstone felt glacial and yet unreal. It was a physical manifestation of devastation and yet its existence felt completely ersatz. Not only because the stone was clean for the most part - barring the red spray paint that refused to be removed, another permanent mark on the memories of that which is lost - but also because stuck out like a sore thumb in the old and run-down cemetery, a symbol of the young loss. 
Sobs wracked your body and your breathing uneven, but how could it ever be even again? It wouldn’t be, not as you sat at your kitchen table to receive the news, not as you received the devastating emotional blow of finding out that there wasn’t a body to be recovered, and not when you were in front of his grave, knowing that he wasn’t even beneath the earth below your feet. How nobody was able to find him left your mouth drier than the Sahara - you weren’t able to hold his hand one last time, no matter how cold they would be, unable to see his button nose or hug his dying body to you as you lost him for what felt like the second time in the span of a week. You choked on your breath for what was probably the hundredth time, the hundredth time you breathed your soul out through earth-shattering devastation. 
With nobody but the sodden cemetery ground to turn to, you fisted the earth and let out a heart-shattering sob into the open air, nobody to hear you or to console you through the pain. The one person you wanted most was the one person you would never see again. The lump in your throat silenced your voice, vocal cords worn thin from the sleepless nights that you sobbed into the infamous Hellfire shirt he wore. His scent was quickly fading from it and once you had realised that you were left an even bigger wreck than you could have imagined - the last tether to him slowly fraying, the last little fibres unravelling themselves in tune to your own emotional demise. 
Your whole body shook with anger and heartbreak - you wanted to get out of this god-forsaken town, but he haunted you and this cursed place was the only thing keeping him alive. You could swear that you’d feel his hands on your shoulders while you tried to cook - the first time it happened, you called his name before the sensation disappeared into thin air, leaving you heaving for oxygen. Your food was forgotten and left to burn while your wails carried through your apartment and your eyes stung from the tears. That night you sobbed until there was no longer any breath left in your lungs, until the walls of your home felt cold and unwelcoming. 
The second time it happened, you were walking past the arcade and you could have sworn you felt his hands on your hips and a laughter-filled call of your name. That time you spun around so quickly you nearly lost your balance, head whipping around to see who it was behind you, but his voice haunted you and so you pushed past everyone in your way, trying to hold yourself together enough to break down the moment you reached your car. You didn’t make it and instead, you found yourself sitting by your car’s front tire as you bawled, your body wracked with tremors. They felt never-ending – the tremors – terrorising you when you would least expect them. You longed for his arms around you again, to hear his laugh, to dance with him in your little kitchen as you did on the first night you had moved into your place. The memory only served as a painful reminder of that which you no longer had. Your body had memorised the way he held you to him, his quivering voice that told you that you’d touched his soul forever before leaning in for the most gentle kiss. The way his kiss seared into your skin was like a burn that would flare up when you least expected it, and it was clear that he too had touched your soul in a more permanent way than you had ever expected him to. 
“Eddie…” You sniffled, managing to find the capacity to croak out his name for the first time in months but the assault of tears that came immediately after you breathed life back into his name was too painful, your chest seizing, lungs collapsing on themselves as if you’d just been plummeted a thousand leagues under the dark ocean. Your life certainly felt much darker with him gone. You longed for him, even while he was around, you longed to spend time in his arms, to hear him ramble about his campaigns, about his little sheep, but now that he was gone you couldn’t help but yearn for all that you used to have with him. 
It had been months of this, of showing up to his gravestone and having to clean it from the obscenities that adorned it, a painful reminder of how little love he received for how much of it he had in his heart. You spent agonising hours scrubbing the red paint off with cleaning products and salty tears, leaving flowers and letters to him in hopes that they would somehow reach him on the other side, and yet with each passing day, the fire that lit your soul grew darker, and the yearning only grew stronger. Your jaw was in a state of constant pain from how much you were trying to hold yourself together, clenching it in both your waking hours and the moment sleep consumed you, trying to keep your very being from shattering. 
“Can you hear me say your name? Can you see me longing for you?” Your voice was hoarse, unused for far too long. You barely recognised it yourself, as if it was a third party speaking for you, projecting your thoughts for you. The moment you realised you had spoken, another wave hit you, knocking you down further than you had been before. You dug your hands into the graveyard dirt and let out a shaky breath, unable to fathom the reality that wrapped itself like a noose around your neck, slowly suffocating you. You wanted nothing more than to scream but the cry never came - your last breath was spent, it seemed, and all you could muster was a weak whimper. How could he be gone? You wondered to yourself, unable to come to terms with the devastating passing of your boyfriend. You refused to believe it, the lack of a body, he couldn’t be gone, could he? But as the days passed, your hope dwindled, and you had to resign yourself to the reality that he was gone. You had to just let go… Or so everyone seemed to preach. 
The promises you both whispered to each other in the dead of night, when the witching hour struck, and you had nothing but each other, haunted you. Sometimes you swore that you could hear whispers of his voice when you couldn’t fall asleep but ultimately it was most likely your delirious conscience that plagued you, making you hear things in the dead of night. 
“You promised…” Your sobs wracked your body, shuddering the more you tried to contain your tears, your voice completely breaking as you let go of the last ounce of strength that held you together. Your mind wandered to the sweet nothings that Eddie would shower you with, and that is what they amounted to in the end, wasn’t it? Nothing. With him gone, you didn’t have any options but to let go of those feelings, those sweet words, those promises of being yours forever. His romantic monologues and ramblings of being yours forever, and if death chose to do you part, how he’d find your soul once again from the afterlife, you had to let them go for they found themselves amounting to nothing. Death did you part, except it didn’t take you as well. 
You danced slowly in the candlelight, your hand on his shoulder, his on your waist, and his soft lips right beside your ear. He pulled you close to his body and while he was warm, his hands were cold against yours, as if he’d just come in from a cold winter’s night, but all he had done was share a joint with you, something that loosened you both up after your long day. His wild curls tickled your soft face and you giggled at some ridiculous line he was feeding you but soon the suave facade fell and his voice dropped to a low murmur. 
“Sweetheart, I love you.” His voice rattled, rattled like old windows in a summer storm, sturdy, protective, and yet stable, protecting that on the inside. “I would rip the heavens apart to find you again. I’d search for you in the afterlife if it meant I could be with you in lifetimes to come.” And while this sounded like standard Munson drivel, there was a certain intonation that inclined you to believe him. 
“I don’t think God would be too happy with you, Munson, nor the devil himself for that matter.” You tried to joke with him but it fell on deaf ears. Eddie was unrelenting with his honesty. His voice was earnest and thick with emotion when he answered you, a conviction you’d never heard before lacing itself into every word. 
“I don’t care, sweetheart, I’d fight Gods and devils alike… I’d fight Satan himself for you if it meant getting to be with you in the next life.” You couldn’t do anything but hold him closer in this moment, your words dying on your tongue. How were you to answer him when his emotions were so raw? How could you even muster up something as eloquent to say to him when he opened his heart up to you in such a vulnerable way?
“I’d raise armies to rip hell apart to find you, Eddie. I’d be longing for you forever…” You whispered to him as you both slowly danced together, the candles flickering softly, illuminating both your features in a warm glow - there was nothing more beautiful than the love you both shared, nothing more pure. 
Your forehead fell to the dank earth, lungs set ablaze by your dry heaving. You couldn’t find it in you to make this the moment you just let it go. Your soul called out for him as you longed painfully for his touch, his soft words of reassurance, but you wouldn’t get them, never again. The most you had was the little love notes he left you, his DnD notebooks… There wasn’t all too much that was left of your boyfriend, and you cherished every last thing that you had in your possession. He had touched your soul forever, whether he knew it or not. 
Your eyes burned painfully as sobs tore through your raw throat, your fingers digging further into the fresh dirt of the uprooted grave. The further you stuck your hands in, the more you prayed you’d hit something, anything, but you never would. Your hands would grow cold, and there would be a story in your heart - yours and Eddie’s - but your hands would never again find his body, never again hold him to you. They would never run through his tangled curls, or feel the plush of his lips, no, instead they’d feel the humidity seep into their bones and devour them from the inside out the longer you kept them buried, and the dirt would surely cake your fingernails to the point you wouldn’t be able to get it out from underneath them. The scent of petrichor would overtake the smell of weed, cigarettes, and his cheap musky cologne. You’d never feel his callouses graze across your soft skin again, and that small detail, the one that made Eddie so… so him, would in a year escape you, fading into nothingness as you were forced to let go of him. 
You wanted to dance with him once again, to feel the chill of his long fingers against yours but that was something that wouldn’t ever come back. Not even in the ghostings of touches, the whispers and bumps that came in the night. No matter how much those moments shattered you, no matter how much pain they brought on, the most painful would be the moment you forget the feeling of his lips or the way his hands splayed across the small of your back - those moments would disappear one day… or one day until someone came along that made you remember it, and that day would be one that would make every other touch but Eddie’s feel wrong. Nobody would have the honour to touch you in the same ways as he did. 
As you bawled into the graveyard dirt, you could have sworn there was a weight on your upper back and while it wasn’t pushing you into the dirt itself, it might as well have been. Part of you hoped it would be Eddie’s arm around you but when you turned, your body was violently assaulted by an onslaught of sobs at the realisation that your boyfriend wasn’t there to hold you while you cried. You were choking on each short breath, unable to calm yourself down. The one time you needed him more than anyone, he wasn’t present. 
I’m here. Just breathe, sweetheart, thassit, I’ve got you. 
There was something so off about the whole situation, about how clinically everything was treated, about how none of his “friends” seemed to show up. The funeral was quick and dirty, arranged by Wayne and yourself in the best way you both knew and after everything was said and done, you hid away, isolating yourself from the world itself. You barely left the house. The only time you breathed the fresh Hawkins air was when you went to visit his grave or the once-a-month trip to get groceries. You should have gone to see Wayne but he reminded you too much of everything that was ripped away from you and while you yearned to visit the man and sit down with him, to speak Eddie back into existence through memories and laughter, you couldn’t bring yourself to do so. You couldn’t bring yourself to break your heart over and over again even though you knew that in some capacity you both needed each other in order to sew together your broken hearts. 
“P-please Eds…” You choked out, your emotions were getting away from you, the more you thought about it, about him, the more you felt like you lost your family. He was your rock, the love of your life, in your own ways you’d sworn yourselves over to each other, sworn yourselves to life eternal with one another, and so having him ripped from you so suddenly left a dark pit in your chest, deeper than the ninth circle of hell would ever reach. You didn’t think it would have been possible for 
I’m right here with you, sweetheart.
The wind blew colder and you shivered, but you didn’t dare move, not an inch, because it meant moving from the grave you’d come to memorise - your muscles, your fingers, your heart, even your nose, all of you had come to memorise his grave - it was ingrained in you, and the epitaph was one that burned across your vision every single time your eyes closed – another ghost haunting you as you tried desperately to soothe your aching heart. People who say breakups would be easier are liars, you decided in this moment. 
They’re not… I promise you they’re not easy. At least nobody can compete with the dead.
They’d be easier because maybe on the off chance you’d get to have the person in your life, in your heart, you wouldn’t lose all the meaningful quirks the person had, you wouldn’t forget them in due time. You wouldn’t have a dead-end trail left of them, and yet… and yet it wouldn’t be easy either. Part of you wished you could have been the one to see the light disappear from his eyes, to have this confirmation of his departure from the mortal realm, another part of you didn’t even want to think of the darkness taking over his eyes, the reflection of the light fading to nothing, his breath stopping, and his brain giving out. You simultaneously wanted and did not want to be the one to witness his last breath, you did and didn’t want to be the one to watch the light behind his eyes disappear as he croaked, you did and did not want him gone because you weren’t sure which would wind up being easier to deal with. 
Neither would be easy, sweetheart.
“I wish you were here, Eds.” You sniffled the moment your sobs slowed, your body taking too much stock into keeping you alive and warm. You had exhausted yourself and cried every last tear you had in you for today, leaving a dry husk - a shell of a human – until tomorrow when you’d replenished your tear ducks.  
I’m right here with you always. I’m not going anywhere, I promised you that not even death could do us part.A cold gust of air pushed your hair from your face and you couldn’t contain your shiver, the cold was becoming as unbearable as your boyfriend’s passing, every waking hour haunted by memories of him, every corner of Hawkins harbouring his ghost, and every unconscious moment plagued by nightmares of his last moments, twisting memories, contorting them into grotesque scenes of abject horror. With a deep breath, you pushed yourself up to your knees and swallowed down any emotions you had, bringing your soiled sleeve to your face and wiping away the tears that threatened to spill. You were sure you looked like you had just crawled out of the grave due to the amount of dirt that caked your body and yet you couldn’t bring yourself to care, not when he was gone.
With a shaky breath, you leaned over and kissed his gravestone, your eyes fluttering shut, and at that moment you swore you heard his voice calling to you, you swore you felt the warmth of his hand on your puffy cheek, his thumb brushing across the damp valley of your eye. You kept your eyes shut for just a moment longer, longing to feel this small moment of reprieve despite the fact that it probably did far more harm than it did good. 
“I’m with you always, sweetheart.” Your eyes snapped open and your head dropped against the headstone, lip trembling as you tried to bite into it from the inside of your mouth - you couldn’t stop the heavy squeezing around your heart nor the feeling of a dark pit opening itself up in your stomach. When you lost your boyfriend a chasm had ripped itself through your chest, leaving you empty and numb to everything but the onslaught of pain that each waking moment brought you. Each waking moment was plagued with the knowledge that Eddie was gone before you were even aware of it. You hadn’t even been in town when the manhunt had begun, having been away to visit your mother’s side of the family, only to come home to find out he was in hiding - ripped away from you once, then twice. 
The fresh torrential downpour of tears was unexpected but they kept you at his grave, they kept you closer to him, they kept him alive even by some fucked up means. If crying for him meant that his memory was kept alive then you’d cry for him into the next lifetime, and while you thought you’d cried them all away, it seemed that neither love nor grief had limits.
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tags: @munson-blurbs @rip-quizilla @the-unforgivenn @littlesubbyflower @hellfire--cult
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espinosaurusrexex · 1 year
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Flooded
SteveRogers x Female!Reader
summary: There was something off in the air that morning - Y/N should have known. But bad things always happen when you least expect them. The life she was living was threatened by the one secret she hoped would never be revealed. And now that it had, there was no going back.
a/n: Welcome to heartbreak city! This is dedicated to my 2015 teen wolf obsession (make sure to tell me when you find the passage). I know it's sad and angsty; but I put a bunch of fluff in there too. I hope you enjoy - as always, feedback is appreciated!
word count: 5.5k
warnings: torture, trauma, drowning, experimenting on people (in flashbacks), mentions of abuse, mentions of dying, angst (in case that wasn't clear), swearing, idiots in love, fluff, and a happy ending :)
I don't think the bad parts are super descriptive, but please do not read if anything mentioned in the warnings makes you uncomfortable (18+ only!).
・゚✫* 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 。✭・゚✶ 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐎𝟑 ✧*・゚
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This just captures the vibe too well. You'll know the passage... i'll never fall in love with myself - Zeph
It’s normal to feel your heart in your head right? Like it’s pounding so hard that it literally makes your veins jump beneath your skin? There was a rush of adrenaline shooting through Y/N‘s Body. Pain sharp as lightning zickzacking its way down her spine and up again. Her lungs felt tight. Solid. As if they were of stone weighing her down and not giving in to her urge to breathe. It felt like that. And the look at the rusted metal door with the white number ’15’ brought back an awful lot of pain. Blue and green splashing their way through her brain, voices layering over one another, and a distinct smell of chemicals in her nose. Oh no. She was back there. Right now. How was that possible? How did it get that far? Were there not a bunch of people making sure that this would never happen to her again? A shiver overtook her but at the same time, sweat assembled on her skin. The room was wet and moldy and sterile all at once. No. No. No. She escaped, she was safe - fought her way through hell to get there. There was no way this was really happening.
Dull voices broke through to her. “We’re at 12 Minutes”. “180, going down”. Beeping of sorts and then - somehow, through all the water and noise, the unremarkable sound of pen on paper. What an odd thing to remember, right? But Y/N recalled thinking ‘what an odd thing to hear’ back then. Not now, though. Now it was… normal. But that day it wasn’t. It was in fact the very first time it had ever happened and the moment everyone had seemed to work towards. Even if Y/N didn’t know it back then, she was the breakthrough Hydra needed to create yet another group of human weapons. One that luckily never saw the light of day.
They didn’t know. And it should stay that way. Y/N didn’t want to be associated with Hydra anymore. She never did. She wanted to be herself when she joined the Avengers. A woman with power and endurance and, well, certain enhanced abilities. There was one person that knew how she got them, and that person was Nick Fury. But he had promised to keep his mouth shut. Y/N held onto that promise because it kept her from losing her mind - reminded her that she became who she was without their help. She had escaped, and fought, and grieved, and wept in order to get over that old self. And yet, despite all the hard work, she was in that old skin again.
It shouldn’t be possible though. She had put a recognizable amount of time into burying every piece of evidence of her past life - Her dumb anxiety included. But here it was: dark and strong and the thing that would ruin everything, every piece of harmony she had associated with its absence. 
Y/N was frozen to the ground, the image of the door branding itself into her mind and leaving a burning hole in its wake that made her head feel blank. Because that’s how it had always been: at first there is so much going on in your head that it feels like exploding and then, all of a sudden, it's wiped off everything. And all you are left with is this shell of a body that is not responsive to anything.
She didn’t know how long she had been standing in that hallway. A minute? Maybe an hour? Time moves differently when you’re not really there. But after whatever amount of time had passed, another voice rang through to her. A deep, and reasoning one, pressing and dripping of worry, though. Y/N shook her head. Steve. Steve was here.
❁ ❁ ❁
“I can’t have my team zoning out on missions.” The impatient voice echoed through the room accommodated by an expensive pair of shoes clicking on the polished floor. “We’ve had the problem before and I don’t like being lied to. Tell me what’s going on or she’s off.” Toni was pacing the floor of the common room until he came to a stop in front of Fury with his hands resting on his hips impatiently. But the man dressed in black didn’t do so much as move a muscle. He was casually lounging on the cushioned chair, waiting for his employee to finish.
“This might not feel like a big problem to you, Nick, but wait until half the Avengers are wiped out because Will Byers over here risks their lives by not cooperating.” Fury’s eye twitched when it lifted to the woman tugged into the corner. She had already been staring at him, trying to drag out the unavoidable, but there was no stopping this. She knew that, and he knew that too. 
“I can’t.” He said while still staring at Y/N. Nick would have done everything to prevent this very moment from happening, he had kept his promise for years. But this - this was the signal for her to know: ‘It’s on you now. You make the call.’
Y/N stared down at her hands that were nervously fumbling in her lap. Though from a distance it might have looked like she was disinterestedly avoiding everyone's eyes on her. Because they were - especially a specific pair of blue ones. Every single person in the room was expecting her to say something. Even more so the man whose worried expression hadn’t faded ever since he had dragged her out of that base hours ago. And even now - away from harm and safely huddled in the confines of the compound, his unrelenting stare was drenched in fear and urgency. Y/N didn't even have to look up to confirm her suspicions. Steve had not moved ever since she sat down in that chair, his arms crossed, shoulders hunched, and eyebrow furrowed as his gaze locked on her. He probably tried to find something - a twitch of a brow or the corner of her mouth - something to tell him that she was okay. But Y/N fought with everything she had not to give him that - because she was in fact not okay. She was far from it, and the storm of emotions rioting through her stomach did very well prove it as nausea crept up her throat.
She was about to reveal the very thing she had kept hidden for years - something she never thought would get dug up again. But here she was: moments away from having every assumption about her changed for the worse. And Y/N hated it. She hated that this would be defining who she was from now on. Because it always did. It happened with Bucky and it happened with Wanda, hell even Steve didn’t get away without being associated with Hydra. Even if his story bore a different relationship to the World War II organization. 
Y/N didn’t want to tell them, but deep down she knew that she would. Because what were her other options? Leaving the Avengers and drowning in sorrow over the lost family she had gained not too many years ago? God, that sounded like the villain origin story. No, she had to come clean, even if it hurt her and her status and possibly every other person surrounding her right now.
A wave of heat overtook her body, but her hands were cold. There was no going back - Y/N owed it to the team. Tony had every right to know what had put his people in danger today, but that didn’t change the fact that it would hurt nonetheless. Because she would be brought back there in her mind. And when she slowly inhaled to talk again, she tried to remember what it felt like to be free, even if the rushing of water already flooded her ears.
“You know when you’re drowning you don’t actually inhale until right before you black out.” Y/N was still staring at her fingers, desperately holding onto something she could feel. She was nervous to say the least, even if she knew exactly what her next words were going to be. 
“It’s called voluntary apnea.” She had known it for years, starting with picking up pieces of conversation in the labs and ending with a reality-shattering file search that settled the gravity of what had actually happened to her. Y/N closed her eyes as she remembered that day, trying to hold the hot tears pooling in her eyes at bay. 
“It’s like no matter how much you’re freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won’t open your mouth until you feel like your head’s exploding.” We’re at 12 minutes. 180, going down. Just fucking breathe. “Then when you finally do let it in, that’s when it stops hurting.” Her voice was shaky now but she was determined to pull through. Though her head was still hanging low - almost ashamed at what she was going to say next. “It’s not scary anymore, it’s… it’s actually kind of peaceful.” She shrugged weakly. “At least that’s what I told myself.” 
She paused then, mentally preparing for the next part was impossible, but for some reason, she still couldn’t get it over with. This was it. This was the moment she was going to change in their eyes. The moment she would turn into a charity case that deserved nothing but sad looks and encouraging shoulder taps. And the thought of that made the lump in her throat grow. One last shaky breath and then she finally looked up, eyes locking with that of a blonde Super Soldier whose posture had faltered drastically since she last looked at him. A grey and brooding shadow had overtaken his cerulean orbs and it was shaking with the plead that settled in between: ‘Please tell me that’s not true.’ 
The first tear found its way down Y/N’s cheek, goosebumps rippling through her but her next words were said steadier than ever before. “I drowned in that room. One hundred and eighty-six times.”
And there it was: pity. Thick and unmistakable - smeared all over their faces. Y/N didn’t want it - dismissed it like a hot plate, pushing it further and further away from her on the table until she, herself, was backed up against the wall. They should stop pitying her. Try to feel what she felt but that proved itself difficult. Because Y/N didn’t feel anything. She’d expected to hear the voices in her head shouting numbers or smell the sterile smell of sanitizer or be unable to move - anything. But her mind was blank. It had all stopped buzzing as soon as she had stopped talking. With that last syllable, all the flashbacks faded into darkness and all that was left was this huge empty space. And she reveled in the calmness in her head for a second, but then Steve stepped forward with a heartbreaking look on his face and when he said her name and reached out his hand, that’s when her pulse picked up.
Y/N couldn’t do this - not from Steve, who was the only person whose opinion really mattered to her. Those dreadful eyes bored into hers when she sprung up from the chair, legs screeching over the dark floor, and then, she bolted. 
❁ ❁ ❁
Steve watched as Y/N ran out of the common room, a blank stare covering his features while his heart grew heavy with every step she took from him. 
“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Tony screamed.
“She didn’t want you to know.” Fury answered, and his voice hosted a sense of sadness.
Y/N. A Hydra experiment. And Steve hadn't known. He would have never known had they not happened to raid the base she had been kept at. It killed Steve to know that he could have prevented today from happening. He could’ve told Fury what a bad idea it was had he just known. But he didn’t. Somehow it unsettled him that Y/n chose not to tell him. It was traumatic and painful but did she really think that he would judge her for it? He of all people. No, he would never.
A look at Bucky rattled another zap of pain through his bones. His friend had this distinct mystery etched on his face. And when Steve shot him a questioning glare, Bucky jerked his head to the side, signaling for the blonde to follow him. 
Bucky’s shoulders were stiff when Steve watched them leading the way to a private lounge area and the spring in his step slightly faltered. 
When he had woken up that morning, Steve would have never guessed that the day would bring such dramatics. It was a simple mission - one he had done several times, too. And yet it could have not gone worse than today. Steve couldn’t let his emotions get the better of him, he knew that. His position as Captain didn’t allow him to let them lead his choices. But right now, with Bucky visibly agitated and Y/N clearly upset as well, that duty seemed near impossible. He cared too much for both of those people. 
Bucky stopped by the window, his gaze focused outside where the rain pattered aggressively against the concrete. He swallowed thickly before his head turned to his best friend.
“I think I remember her, Steve... I remember seeing her in the base.” Bucky finally confessed, though there was a distance in his words. And despite the information doing fairly little to calm Steve’s nerves, he was glad that his friend condoned in him. 
“You do?” A hopeful wave of emotions washed him over, suggesting that he might get a little more information about Y/N’s situation. And that maybe... he had been looking out for her back then. Yes, Bucky was most certainly sedated by hydra at that time, but the Winter Soldier had proven time and time again that he was not completely clouding Bucky and his sense for the good.
“I was there. I was-“ Bucky stopped as if he had suddenly said too much. A dreadful look overtook his eyes before his jaw wired shut and Steve’s hopeful feelings vanished.
“What? What is it?” He pressed, but his friend remained silent. 
Panic rose in his chest with every second filling the quiet and Steve couldn’t help but feel like the words Bucky had withheld from him drew far heavier consequences than he had anticipated.
“I - I can’t tell you that, Steve. I think you should talk to her.” 
Why did everyone decide they had to hide things from him today? What could have possibly been so bad? 
“Anything else I should know?” Steve asked stiffly, a slight coldness overtaking his mind.
Bucky shook his head with what looked like guilt. Nonetheless, after a frustrated huff, Steve thanked Bucky and made his way to the dormitories.
❁ ❁ ❁
Steve leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed before his chest and a worrisome look pressing on his features. But Y/N just stared blankly ahead, ignoring the boring stare from the hallway. She didn’t want him to be here. Because he was - and that Y/N was 100 percent certain of - here to tell her things she didn’t want to hear. 
Their relationship had just recently reached the brooding edges of the pot. So close to overflowing into uncharted territory for the both of them. But for once in her life, Y/N had been excited about where it spilled. She wanted to feel the burning hot sensation on her skin and be dragged down into its endless abyss of warm feelings and excitement. But the information she had just dropped had taken the pot from the flame. She knew it the moment her eyes met Steve’s. They were dull, and lifeless, and sad. He had probably registered how much work she would be - would not see her as equal anymore. More of a menace than someone he could actually enjoy life with. And it broke her heart.
To say the least, there were far more parts of hers broken than her heart at this point. But Y/N didn’t know how to cope with them. For all her life, she had pushed it away. Brushed it off like it was nothing except a memory destined for her past, only allowed to creep to the surface when the dark corners of her mind leaked into the rational part of her. These times were not with people, especially not Steve - who was her captain and something more... up until now, that was.
Nonetheless, she needed a friend and Steve was the closest thing to that. Since more was probably not within her reach anytime soon, she decided to give into the nagging urge to spill every feeling on the floor before her. She looked up at him when he walked into the room and that’s when a dam of tears broke. She was ready to lay it all out bare for him. She had to, because for some reason - from one second to the other - all the things she had kept hidden for the past years felt unbearable to hold in. They seeped through her eyes in form of salty water and leaked through her nose and eventually built a big fat lump in her throat, one that was not possible to swallow. She had to get it out, along with all the other things hiding beneath.
Steve laid a warm hand on her trembling shoulder. A soft stroke pushed the last bit of reluctance from her body and prepared her to make it all go away. He was so close, but for some reason, she felt further away from him than ever before.
“You know I never stopped counting,” she whispered through ragged breaths. The nights in the dark cell encased her like a fog. Cold and moldy smells and the sound of dripping water echoed through her skull with every word she revealed to Steve. 
“I thought I would lose track at one point - maybe die,” she huffed, bitterness seeping through her tone, “but they pulled me back from the dead so many times… sometimes I feel like I got stuck somewhere in between.” Not really living - not really there. But she wouldn’t say that out loud. Not again, at least. She did it once - to the Winter Soldier, when she had thought to see a glimpse of humanity seeping thought the tough exterior. But it didn’t change a thing then too.
The movement of Steve’s hand stopped but he caught himself after a beat. He probably knew what she was thinking. And he probably also thought that dying was the cowardly way out of her situation, which was why a wave of shame came over her. 
“You know what’s funny? I’ve tried so hard to keep this a secret in order to have people like the real me and now... I feel like the only way I have any chance with the people I love is by giving this all away.” And it was true. Y/N felt like the last thing keeping her connected to Steve and the others was her cooperating and coming clean. She would be the prettied avenger, the one they always felt like they had to look out for - and she hated that because, really, the last thing Y/N wanted was to be babied - but if it was the last chance of keeping even a piece of them within her reach, she would have no choice but to take the deal. She would never be seen as an equal again. Always the inferior that never got over her trauma but if it meant staying with her family, she would be just that. Even if it was not even half of what she had made herself to be.
Steve’s eyes softened but at the same time, they filled with worry. His shoulders looked like they urged him to speak but his mouth closed as soon as it opened. And the last shimmer of hope vanished from Y/N’s consciousness. She wasn’t ready to let him go into pure friendship again, not when they had been dancing around the edge of something more for so long now. And she realized that now. So much, in fact, that she decided it would be better to just shut the whole thing off before the situation played out the way it was doomed to. Maybe that way she had a little more time to dwell in her fantasies. 
With that thought in mind, she licked up the last pieces of pride she had and patted her hand on Steve’s knee.
“Don’t worry about it, Captain. Thank you for checking in but I’m okay.” She said steadily, though she couldn’t help but notice the slump in the man’s shoulders beside her when she led him to the door.
❁ ❁ ❁
Captain, she had called him Captain. Steve exhaled on his way to his room. For some reason, he was devastated by that even more than the events that had taken place just half an hour prior. She didn’t trust him. She never trusted him enough, for that matter, to tell him about her past. A past he very well shared and understood better than any other person on the team - well, except Bucky... and Wanda.
He had wanted to tell her that she was okay now. That she should not let her past define her. That he would never in a million years even consider neglecting her because of it. But he couldn’t. For some reason, he had been still beside her like a stupid puppet. 
Tears brimmed in his eyes when he defeatedly sunk onto his bed. He wanted to stay rational. He wanted to think it through before burning up into flames, but his heart was pounding like a sledgehammer and his brain was running a mile a minute in opposite directions. There was no possibility to think straight. 
His body felt torn between the two most powerful organs within him and they were fighting like there was no tomorrow. He wanted to punch the wall and lay the softest kiss on Y/N’s lips at the same time. It was infuriating. 
For the first time in a long time, Steve had no idea what to do, or how to behave. There were no rules in the territory he and Y/N had created for themselves. There were times when he could come up behind her and press her into his chest and others when he wouldn’t even dare look at her. Right now, neither of these were an option, unfortunately. 
Of course, deep down Steve knew that he had to talk to her again. Make sure she knew where their differences lay and clearly state what he had been thinking about the whole situation. But his heart was screaming so loud into his head that that thought never reached his ears. 
It was strange, Steve was never the one to lose control over his emotions like this. But this situation felt as though it deserved every last drop of the feelings he had to offer. It was because of Y/N, of course. She tumbled up his feelings every time she looked at him. And to say that the look she had given him in the meeting room had shattered all his perceptions regarding her and her wellbeing was an understatement. He had been worried about her before. But never like this. Never in a way that had both his and her identity questioned. 
For some reason, he could deal with death threats and vital injuries - it was sadly a normal routine in his line of work - but the added emotions that came with everything concerning Y/N ordered a whole new level of consciousness to his duties. He no longer felt the need to care for his team and make sure they got out of and through missions unharmed because it was his job, he now had to care for them because his heart was involved if anything were to happen to any of them. And he had to care more about himself, too because there were people who would get hurt if he were to. Y/N did that - she had sucked him into her warm and welcoming self and Steve had embraced it with all his being.
Now, he saw how dangerous that was. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. Getting closer to her was the best thing that had happened to Steve in a long time. He was happier and more energetic.
It dawned on him, then, that he had to tell her that. No matter how rage fed his brain or love blinded his heart was in the moment. Y/N deserved to know. Much like he had deserved to know about her secret much sooner. This thought sent another wave of frustration through his body. Steve tried to push it away, but it lay heavy on his heart when he stepped into the hallway, trying to suppress the nervousness brooding up within him.
❁ ❁ ❁
Y/N twitched up when the door slammed into the wall. When it bounced back from the gray concrete, there was a sizable hole visible where it jammed. But as her ears picked up on something else, that’s when her eyes wandered past the door to the heaving man within its frame. Steve’s eyes were dull, his shoulders hunched but his heart was beating at a rapid speed. He must’ve heard it in his head from the pressure with which it traveled over to Y/N. 
Thumb, Thumb.
Steady and yet rapidly pounding. And for some odd reason, it had a soothing aspect on the woman. But before Y/N could register and ask what was going on, Steve stepped into the room. He was hesitant but still carried himself with a familiar confidence she’d only ever seen from him.
“I’m sorry,” he straightened up, “...for the door, I- I dint think it would open that easily.”
“It’s okay.” Y/N was still seated on her bed - hadn’t moved a muscle since Steve left.
“Y/N...” His voice was heavy with sadness, though she didn’t dare look at him. There was no going back. He would be saying what she had been dreading from the second she confessed. She didn’t also need to watch the disappointment in his eyes when he told her that itwas over - whatever it was. “I know what happened to you can’t be changed.” He sat down beside her, though there was a significant distance between the two Avengers now. “And I can only imagine how hard today has been for you. I don’t think I would be as strong as you are keeping this for yourself for so long. But you don’t have to shut us out. Please don’t shut me out, Y/N. We can help you, we can be there for you. Just... please. I don’t know how to-” he inhaled deeply but his speech didn’t continue like she had expected it to.
Y/N just sat there, her fingernails suddenly the most interesting thing to ever exist, even though there was a distressed man sitting inches away from her. Whatever he had said, because frankly, the words had swayed by her like a breeze, sounded like heartbreak to her - for her. There was pretty clear that Steve didn’t see a future for them. And if Steve thought this - the person she had grown closest to over the years - she could only imagine what the rest of the team was thinking. 
Tears burned in Y/N’s eyes and when the first one fell in her lap, she closed her eyes in pain. “You pitied me..,” she whispered, the burning in her throat threatening to swallow her whole, “You felt bad for me... you of all people, you decided I need comforting.”
Steve sent a confused look at her once her eyes met his. He was looking through her gaze as if the answer to his questions lay beneath them.
“Of course I do.” He spoke calmly but irritated. Y/N shut her eyes again, trying to ignore the confirming string of pain wash over her. Somehow hearing him say it out loud was worse than she imagined.
“It shouldn’t even concern you, Steve. I’ve managed very well on my own over the past years. There is no reason for anyone to pity me-”
“Not pity,” he interrupted, “concern, yes. Pride, worry, fear... I feel all of those things for you. But not Pity.”
“But why.” The words were barely audible through the stream of tears that had broken loose by now. Y/N couldn’t possibly comprehend why Steve would say that. Because she didn’t see how Steve could see anything but her past from now on. She had struggled to do so herself at first. It had taken years to finally become herself again, even if that self bore a terrible secret for everyone else.
“Because I admire your strength. And I care about you.” His hand hovered over hers, but he didn't dare touch her just yet. “I care about you more than I probably should.” He closed his eyes and retracted his hand when he saw the dread in her eyes. “And I try to ignore it, I really do but then you come at me with that smile and with your wit, and I... I can’t stop my heart from racing.”
“I know I can hear it.” She was whispering again, feeling like an intruder for listening in on something as personal as his heartbeat.
Steve looked at her with an indescribable look on his face. “I hear yours, too, you know? But for some reason, it’s telling me other things than your eyes are.”
“What are my eyes telling you?”
Steve’s fingers grazed her chin, moving upward until his thumb stroked the skin on her cheek. “That you are afraid of something. That you are waiting for something bad to happen... but I don’t know what.” Y/N nodded in awe - somehow this man could read her better than she could herself, which was scary and comforting at the same time.
“And what is my heart telling you?” She took his hand and placed it upon her chest, where a steady rhythm pushed through her skin.
“The same thing I’ve been trying to say.” His heartbeat was steady and sure as well. It was fast, yes, but not in a bad way. There was an unfamiliar glimmer in his eyes when they softened upon her love-dazed face. Maybe her intrusive thoughts had blinded her after all...
“And what-”
Suddenly, his soft lips pressed to hers. A warm and tingling feeling traveled over Y/N’s body as her arms almost automatically reached up to his shoulders. Steve pulled her closer by her waist, deepening the kiss with the lean of his head. He was warm and he felt like the hug she had subconsciously craved ever since staring at that white number ’15’ in the base hours ago. All the tension drained from her like a waterfall. Steve pulled the fear from her body with every stroke of his tongue against hers. And for the first time in a while, Y/N felt as though everything had fallen into place. She was right where she belonged. The squeeze of Steve’s fingers reminded her of that.
When they pulled apart, breathless and floating, she tightened the grip on his collar.
“But- I thought...” Y/N breathed out shakily. Her forehead was firmly pressed against Steve’s and her lips were grazing his with every word she whispered, sending waves of shivers down her spine.
“What? That I’d sign you off as a charity case?” Steve locked his eyes on hers for the hundredth time. There was so much emotion in them. “I would never underestimate you. I know you are stronger than half the people on this team... well mentally that is.”
“Stop,” she chuckled before pressing her face into his chest. Steve kissed the top of her head as his hand began to soothingly stroke up and down her back, leaving a warm trail of comfort in its wake.
“I really like you, Y/N... and if you’d let me, I would like to take you out sometime.”
Y/N smiled. It seemed silly how worried she had been about his feelings now. Considering hers were just as strong for the man in her arms, there had not been a reason to believe it was different for him. Though the edges of self-consciousness nipped at her brain every now and then. Those were the monsters pushing intrusive thoughts into her heart - convincing her of things, for which there was no indignation. She would learn it with time - that her past didn’t define her. It did to some extent, but it would never become her entire identity. And until she could tell herself that alone, she would have Steve to help her remember.
“I would love to, Steve.”
Steve pulled back and held her by her shoulders before leaning in again. A content smile etched on his lips before they sealed to hers again, capturing her in another searing kiss.
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vaguely-concerned · 6 months
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Thoughts upon finishing Master and Apprentice! A good double read with Padawan; the ending of that leaving Obi-Wan slightly hopeful about his relationship to Qui-Gon makes for a very sad yet hilarious ‘Local Padawan loses last little bit of hope he didn’t even know he still had’ sort of vibe to the beginning of this one, which is set one (1) year later and Obi-Wan is So Done with Qui-Gon’s whole deal by this point (correctly btw). Also if you can’t tell already I will not be objective or free from bias in this because I love Obi-Wan so much and some of the stuff Qui-Gon pulled made me incandescent with rage on his behalf <3 let’s go
- 'oh obi-wan, you're so mature for your age, I keep forgetting you're only seventeen years old,' qui-gon says, word for word, repeatedly, in master and apprentice, apparently willfully deaf to the industrial-sized warning bells about their relationship dynamic that should probably be setting off in his head. qui-gon believes in vibing with the living force and being in the moment right up until the moment requires him to pay attention to the kid he's raising for more than oh, one and a half minutes of self-effacing inner monologue and then he's like 'well unfortunately there is simply no time for that right now there are prophecies to be pondered'. (the fact that the admission that obi-wan has essentially been left to raise himself emotionally and the resigned reframing of that as 'and maybe that is a good thing!' is part of the olive branch they extend to each other towards the end... will my sadness never end)
- most of all it's so heartbreaking to me that qui-gon seemingly never understands just how much obi-wan as a person is rooted deeply in shame. I don't think that's a feeling that's particularly prevalent in qui-gon's own inner world so he doesn't recognize how central it is in obi-wan's psychology and completely misunderstands and misaligns with him again and again and again and then gets annoyed with obi-wan for that, thus making the shame even deeper. doubly painful because he does see the way rael lives so much of his life out of shame now and feels sad about it, but can't see the way he's contributing to obi-wan doing so. this is what fucks me up so bad about the generational trauma in star wars -- no one here meant to be cruel. for all his faults I do think qui-gon does love obi-wan and doesn't mean to hurt him. but the original sin of the prequels as far as I'm concerned is qui-gon tenderly drying away obi-wan's tears as he's dying even while completely failing to see him, his eyes too fixed on anakin's future to actually be with obi-wan, who's there right now and needs him.
these are simply very different people trying and failing to understand each other, and the harm that can still happen in that… 'if you love me, you don't love me in a way I understand', all the way through the disaster line, even when the love is there, it is there, that’s what hurts the most, it just doesn’t reach where it’s needed, there’s a connection that doesn’t happen. (ironically I think ahsoka doesn't doubt that anakin loves her, it's just uh everything else that went down. so y'know family curse broken! new even more fucked up curse achieved now with more child murder. I mean there already was some child murder in this family but anakin upped the game exponentially) 
- a lil guy who's basically tarzan except the gorillas are replaced with protocol droids and then he becomes a jewel thief is one of the funniest star wars concepts I've ever heard and I hope pax and rahara get to pop up in more star wars media, they’re great fun. (also an idea I think would be super fun to make a character/campaign around in Edge of the Empire or something, everyone playing different droids and then one person being robo-parented lol) 
- was not prepared to have rael posit a theory of what essentially seems to be the jedi version of predestination in his despair, but I do love to see it haha. especially interesting since he, qui-gon and dooku must be among the people alive who've studied the prophecies in most depth, and they've all reached different conclusions -- dooku decides to join the war of light and dark on the side of dark for some reason, qui-gon (possibly the stubbornest fucker the jedi order ever produced) 'turns towards the light not to win some great cosmic game, but because it is the light', and rael in the middle falls into the depressed apathy of 'it doesn't matter what we do here, the outcome is already decided; for there to be true balance there has to be as much dark as light in the world so we're fucked'. but in the end he does take qui-gon's words to heart and turns towards the light rather than accepting dooku's offer, even if he might not believe it makes a difference in the long run. man I love rael. hobo-looking sonofabitch living in a castle for eight years will just suddenly fling out some deep jedi theology huh
- master rael 'I'm gonna make up for the big terrible mistake I made on accident by making an even bigger more premeditated mistake on purpose' averross (affectionate)
- the added layer to dooku’s fascination with prophecy after reading dooku: jedi lost — that his best friend in the world was a seer who couldn’t turn it off and it destroyed him……….. dooku you’re not getting him back if you just understand what he saw you know that right
- the more I read of master and apprentice the more I realize that the reason yoda and qui-gon don't get along is that they're two of the judgiest bitches the jedi order ever produced. They’re like two cats scowling judgmentally at each other from opposite sides of the room pretending to live and let live while going ‘you’re wrong tho’ internally. 
- I dunk on him constantly (not entirely without affection, however grudging), but Qui-Gon is genuinely a really interesting character. He’s so… he’s so. He’s infuriating but he’s infuriating in an equidistant sort of way. You feel me. He’s pissing everyone off equally and he just doesn’t care because again, he’s the stubbornest judgiest bitch around and thinks he’s right all the time. I would be free to just enjoy his ornery ‘no actually I’m right about this’ ass and the chaos he wreaks so much more if Obi-Wan didn’t have to live with the emotional consequences of it lol. 
- poor rael closing in on fifty with his puriteen middle-aged little brother clutching pearls about his getting laid once in a blue moon fhdskjahfas. again a really interesting insight into different ways of interpreting the jedi code, though, I love seeing the jedi not be an ideological monolith. to be fair to rael, having sex sometimes does seem to be the indulgence he has that causes the least conflict with his principles or loyalties so you know what honestly force speed you my friend why not. (and then there's qui-gon 'noooo sex is only okay if you're In Love (implied: like I was)!!!' jinn lmao. I wonder what he'd think of anakin and padme's relationship, would that pass the 'being sufficiently purely in love' test for him) I do like how consistently it’s shown that rael doesn’t mean to be cruel or unkind in anything he says, he always notices something landing too close to home and then pulls carefully back from it instead of pushing on. He seems to be the emotional intelligence powerhouse in this lineage (as long as he doesn’t have his feelings too tangled up in something, at least). 
Dooku: jedi lost also shows us that dooku absolutely knows rael is out there in the galaxy laying pipe and is, at worst, softly amused by it. So in this little family unit it’s only qui-gon losing his mind over it fjsdkafa I’m so used to having qui-gon be the wild card maverick compared to obi-wan ‘*in tears* but what are the RULES master’ kenobi, it’s so fucking funny that within the context that raised him he’s the stick in the mud 
I guess. the book also had a plot and it was not bad! some interesting insights about how the republic interacted with the big corporations and just how fucked everything already was by this point. I'm a pretty character-driven reader so that's what sticks with me for the most part
- obi-wan’s big teenage rebellion here being that sometimes. Occasionally. When he really loses his temper and gets hot under the collar. He’ll say something slightly passive aggressive out loud instead of keeping it contained inside his head. And qui-gon still can’t handle that gracefully AT ALL he snaps right back fdjskfhas. (I guess he also snitches on qui-gon to the council but well, you know, qui-gon was breaking republic law pretty brazenly at that point I think that moves beyond teenage angst and into ‘...master that’s a wholeass felony’ territory). Obi-Wan does go for a couple of low blows, but like. Nothing that’s not actually true, is the thing. And mostly he blames himself for not being good enough, because surely if he were qui gon wouldn’t treat him like this. Augh. hngh. Pain. suffering. 
- I am not one of the people who think everything would have automatically been just hunky-dory if only qui-gon lived and could have been anakin's master (in fact I would have given it a 50/50 chance of going exponentially worse way faster; being more similar as people is not always a guarantee that a relationship will go smoother and qui-gon is an incredibly difficult man to be close to for any length of time), but the way this book basically presents how the dynamic between dooku, rael and qui-gon could have gone on in the next generation too... it would have been incredibly unfair to obi-wan (as always I think that's just an universal constant lmao) but I think the odds of it turning out okay would have been better if you had him in the mix to run crisis control for both qui-gon and anakin, as he does for each of them individually as best he can anyway. at least he could have been free to be anakin's brother and friend purely in that scenario, without all the added mess of grief and having to take on a parental role there so young. he does basically fill that role in ahsoka's apprenticeship, after all.
- qui-gon finally hugging rael before he leaves the planet (and especially since when they were younger he wanted to, but held himself back from it)... that's still his big brother even with all the shit that's happened since ;_____; when someone teaches you how to swim (literally and symbolically) that shit stays with you I suppose
Relatedly: DOOKU getting hugged, and gladly. What the fuck. Are you all seeing this shit. I’m gonna cry or laugh I’m not sure which one why am I emotionally invested in the galaxy's most problematic grandpa now this sucks
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prodbyblush · 1 year
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Could I get the aib characters crying in front of their s/o please :0?
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▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 100%
ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ!
・❥・ requested
→ gn!reader
Not just one but two, ARISU lost two important people in his lives. A death of two close friends is as painful as a death of a relative - painful. Made aware of his own suffering in silence, you kept sticking by his side, keeping him grounded and reminding him that the games doesn't wait for anyone, that no one is going to save themselves except their own selves.
So when the 10 of Hearts game commenced inside the Beach, losing you mid way of the game and catching sight of a similar beach wear like yours, body laying lifelessly down on the red carpeted floor, Arisu felt like the hollowness in him is resurfacing; ready to suck in all the life out of him.
As Usagi kept dragging him out of the burning facade, all he could think of were the words he wished he could have told you. All the unspoken words that will forever be unspoken.
"There you are!" He hears your soft voice speaking to him, whipping his head to look at you, giving you a kind of look.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" You asks, chuckling. "Hey, don't look at me like I'm a ghost!" You chuckle again.
With no words spoken, the tears that he has been holding in finally fell down and cascaded his face, arms thrown around your frame, hugging you tightly.
He didn't want to be swallowed by that hollowing feeling anymore. He's gone through a lot. He didn't want to be hollow anymore. With you, he'll be fine. And he'll like that just fine.
At a game like this, CHISHIYA wonders why do you have to play the role of a hero and save others when they barely save yours? No matter how much you reason with him, no matter how much logical thinking and reasoning he's making, he just couldn't understand you.
And maybe, that's what made him fall for you. An exact opposite of him. Opposite do attract, as they say. Opposites yet each other filling the gaps of what the other needs. To say the least, a perfect match.
Almost being fallen over a burning debris and rushing out of the burning building, he will scold you once getting out and into safety. Telling you to quit your little heroic actions.
"What about me? Did you think of me when you were almost getting fallen over? If you want to save lives, think of me too."
He knows it's a selfish request, but a part of him will die if you do. You may have fallen for him first but he fell harder. He loves you so much and the mere thought of you dying will leave him crushed.
Nevermind if something happened to him, NIRAGI cares more for your well being than his. Raging inside the burning building, looking for at the bodies and making sure you aren't one of them.
Though yours isn't in the main lobby, what are the odds that yours could be somewhere in the rooms? Body having already engulfed in flames? Niragi's stunned on the outside but freaking out on the inside.
That can't be. His sweet petal can't die on him. He has so much to give them.
And as he gets out of the burning building with Aguni and seeing your well being outside, he'd let himself be weak and fall into his knees, crying and pouring his heart out.
Expect that Niragi won't leave you alone after that!
KUINA would look back and watch as the flames engulf the rest of the infrastructure, the blazing orange color reflecting against her face as she cried softly and heartbreaking.
She is like a bird who's cage door has finally been open, left for the bird to fly away and freely, regaining it's freedom. But she didn't want that. She wanted you alive and by her side. But it looks like, it's not happening.
Ann had never seen her cry like that before. And it is heart breaking to see her cry like that. Hearing her mutter "I'm sorry" multiple times under her breath.
"Hm? Who are you sorry for?"
Kuina would stop from her cries and slowly turn her head to look up at you, peering down at her face.
"I'm sorry I couldn't join you on the way out! I tripped and my foot suddenly began to cramp." You say, giving her a soft smile. "Sorry for making you worried!"
Kuina's young and you being her first love, she'll do anything to keep you safe.
He may appear calm but KARUBE is ready to kill anyone who harms you in any way they could think of.
He's naturally caring towards you, Arisu and Chota. And the thought him losing you is going to be too much for him to bear. Not when the ring he planned to use to propose to you is already tucked inside the safety of his pocket.
But to figure out that he doesn't have much time left and he's going to die in some place like this with you? Karube already considers going down with you. Not letting death be the reason why you two will separate.
A part of him would be so upset at the situation, he wanted to see you in white and hear people start calling you by his last name. But it looks like...he'll never be able to see and hear those. Nothing but a dying wish.
"You guys! I finally figured how to win! Come out of your hiding spots and trust me!" He hears your voice in his headset, a spark of hope igniting in him.
Maybe, this isn't where he bows down just yet.
TAGS: @aikerx @retrospacealien @chishiya-of-diamonds @boowoomuu @ang3liclov3ly @kenqki @shadowheads-shitshow @lunoxxy @supercoffeeblogs @laylasbunbunny
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lunerna21 · 4 months
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***I meant to do a post for Chapter 1 of Book 7 earlier but it’s been super chaotic with the holidays 😭***
***Slightly longer post but I just want to get my feelings out lol***
BUT I do wanna vent about specific parts of this chapter cause I’m constantly on edge waiting for the release of Chapter 2 (even though I’ll be crying and hyperventilating throughout the next chapter)
First of all, let me start off with how much I love seeing Sebek have a bitch fit from us calling Malleus Tsunotaro
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Like dude basically had an aneurysm and tantrum over it and I fucking love his reaction 😭
(Also totally not loving the attention from Malleus in the very beginning of the chapter 🙈)
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Being such a huge fan of Sleeping Beauty I’m thriving on the focus of it for this Book and I can’t wait to see where it takes us ❤️
BUT BUT There were two parts that had me almost to the point of losing my goddamn mind
1. The idea that we could be leaving Ace, Deuce and Grim
When Deuce and Grim started reminiscing and getting upset about us leaving and Grim being alone again
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JUST THE ABSOLUTE HEARTBREAK I FELT IN THIS SCENE WAS AWFUL LIKE TWST WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME
CAN WE GIVE OURSELVES A BREAK WE KEEPING GOING THROUGH SO MUCH SHIT TOGETHER
BUT THEN ACE'S REACTION IS SENDING ME TO THE HEAVENS
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I'M SO CONFUSED AT ACE'S REACTION LIKE CMON TELL ME HOW YOU ACTUALLY FEEL
Throughout the whole series we've always seen Ace consoling us and keeping his positive outlook, and I'm DYING to see how he reacts to us leaving when we have a guaranteed way home
I feel like once he know's our time is coming to an end, Ace is gonna be inconsolable and just completely break down and beg us to not leave
AND I WILL NOT BE OKAY
IF I SEE ALL THREE OF THEM CRYING ABOUT US LEAVING OR THE OTHER STUDENTS IM GONNA BE IN THERAPY FOR WEEKS
I wish we got to see him more vulnerable but I feel like Yana is just cooking something up to DEVASTATE the fandom
AND THE ACEYUU LOVER THAT I AM IM HOPING WE GET SOME DEVELOPMENT CAUSE THIS LITTLE SHIT IS SO GOOD AT MASKING HIS FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS
LIKE CMON ACE TRAPPOLA LET ME KNOW HOW YOU FEEL
2. Malleus speaking about this past
LET ME TELL YOU MALLEUS DRACONIA NEEDS SO MUCH GODDAMN LOVE
THE AMOUNT OF TIME MALLEUS WAS ALONE AND HE WAS USED TO IT IS ABSOLUTELY AWFUL
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(Also screw that last option like why would I ever pick that after what he told us)
Just the fact as he was telling his story and we pointed it out and he was just like "Oh, I guess I was" and acknowledged it
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Does everyone need to be so traumatized by their past in this game like goddamn the whole goddamn school needs a therapist
Just reminiscing on his reactions to spending time with us in the main story and side stories, and how much he enjoyed being included just makes the past events more special with him 😭
....And his reaction afterward we told him we'd found a way home...
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WE'RE JUST ADDING ON MORE TO HIS LONELINESS AND I HATE IT CAN'T WE GIVE MALLEUS LOVE AND A BREAK
AND THEN THE WAY IT ENDED JUST SENDS ME INTO OVERDRIVE EVERY GODDAMN TIME
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.....Malleus facing the horrible reality that everyone is slowly fading from his life and he has no way to prevent this is just....
When I tell you I'm going to be in therapy after Chapter 2, I will be so inconsolable that I will be in shambles for a while
I'm glad I'm also caught up to the Chapter 6 on the JPN server, but having to now relive everything in the EN server I will not be okay
Now I will sit in and cry impatiently as I wait for a date for the newest Chapter (ALSO MANIFESTING MORE CHAPTERS NEXT MONTH FOR BOTH SERVERS EVEN THOUGH IT HURTS)
Enjoying the rest of your day~~!! *walks off in tears*
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odue-sp · 1 year
Text
Bakugou Katsuki x Male Reader
inspo: integral - dios
M/n is Izuku's older brother who is also quirkless.
TW: potential age gap, undiagnosed depression, anhedonia
M/n knew how the blonde explosive boy looked at him. It was strange but he couldn't care less about the child's feelings. He only cares for Izuku and his mother, some boy who gave him flowers and a small clay abomination wasn't important...
"Wow, Kat-chan! That's amazing," he heard his brother shout looking at the mess. His cold and sharp words could no longer be said... 'For Izuku.' he thought as he reached over and carefully took the presents. With the same smile he gave his brother he sang praises.
The light in his eyes when he did. It was something that was amusing. Like a pet getting a treat. No, a pet would listen more... They wouldn't leave such a bruise on his brother's body. At night, he would stare at the clay mess. His hand clenching over the object like it was filth before Izuku gently grabbed his hand. "Don't hurt yourself."
"Oh," his smile appeared again as he picked up the greenette and sat him in his lap. "It's okay. He'll just make more anyways." He spoke calmly as he crushed the mess in his hands. Izuku stared in shock. The flowers were in the trash. Unlike the ones that he gave. They were littered around his room, some even hanged to dry.
Though he was quirkless, he didn't treat him any differently.
"Mama?" His eyes gazed over his mother's pained face as she hugged her son tightly. "Mrs. Midoriya, as you know, there was an incident at your son's school," oh right. They kept talking as he just stared. "What do you have to say for yourself?" The teacher asked as the principal watched. "Mama, did I make you cry? Km sorry," he stood up and took a tissue. Gently wiping her tears away. Resting his head on her shoulder.
His eyes gazed over the two adults...
She was crying again. What happened? She covered her face as she dropped to the floor. The nurses rushed to her side as the doctor carefully pulled him away. "Mama..." He whispered. "Hey, how about we play a game." He turned his head towards the man who tried to take his attention away from his weeping mother. "Something's wrong with me, isn't there?" He asked while glancing at his hands.
The doctor seemed shocked.
"I've noticed. I don't care for others. The only people I care for are my mother and brother," He spoke as he stared deeply at the doctor who slowly became uncomfortable with the intense stare. "My classmates, they wanted to kill me," he remembers why he was sent home that day. "Why am I here? Shouldn't they be evaluated? They threatened to kill someone who is quirkless,” his voice slowly became agitated. "They were going to shove a pencil in my mouth and they used their quirks on me," he remembers the blood.
The screams.
"Oh, is it because they were girls in the mix? Damn, I should've kept their mouths shut."
"Oh, you should keep your mouth shut. You may have a quirk but it doesn't stop you from dying. A gun is easy to purchase these days."
The doctor stared in disbelief.
The doctor didn't stay quiet.
He was sent to therapy, so much therapy and given pills to keep his symptoms at bay. He was somewhat better, he clearly had interest in anyone other than his family. "M/n!" Katsuki rushed over with another flower. He reached over and took the flower with a smile. Without Izuku's praises... "Thank you, it's wonderful."
The flower was thrown away later that night.
Years later...
M/n was part of the Shie Hassaikai. Overhaul was obsessed with the quirkless male, he was perfect. He was stronger without the quirks. He was able to aim perfectly. Everything was perfect to be a right hand man. The fact he couldn't care for anyone was a bonus.
And that he became.
Eri, a child that reminded him of Izuku. His eyes widened as he read the experiments she endured and was heartbreaking. But he needed to make the world perfect. So Izuku could be the only hero. So he could be like All Might. "They could never outshine him." He spoke as he hugged the very thing that could make it happen.
Eri mistook that as love. She saw his face. "Shh, my little brother looks like me. If you ever see him. Run to him. Let him be your hero."
She found him. He was her hero.
He smiled.
"M/n!" Izuku shouted as it was his turn to visit his brother. His classmates stared in shock. This was new! He gave a soft smile towards his brother, he was lifted up with ease before being put down. "M/n." His head turned to see Katsuki. That same light... It was amusing to see it again after so many years.
Izuku was now a teen. He knew that look and blocked him. "M/n! Let me show you the dorm! Even the school!" He grabbed his hand and dragged him away. He knew about M/n's diagnosis. "I was going to say hi," he spoke up after they stopped. "No you weren't." He glanced away. "He's so pitiful, still having a crush after so many years. Isn't that pathetic?" Izuku flinched.
"Not now." He whispered and dragged him away. "It's funny, how do you think he would look if I told him I broke every one of his gifts?" He pushed his brother's button knowing he still cared about his best friend. "I want to tell him. How disgusted I was to pretend to like them." It seems they didn't notice the group stopping and listening.
"Stop it, did you take your medicine?" Izuku asked, his fists shaking holding in anger. "Plus those kids he hung around? Did he think being so annoying was cool? Ah," he sighed out. "I guess I don't need to even hide it anymore." Izuku's eyes widened turning to see his class staring in shock.
Katsuki's eyes shadows as he clenched his fists.
"Oh dear," M/n walked over and ruffled his hair. A gesture that would bring many feelings... Now it only felt fake just now. "Don't feel bad. I was born this way. Even if you try your hardest," his hand moved away with a fake smile reserved for only Katsuki. "I won't be able to love you or anyone for that matter."
Harsh reality.
They were young adults now.
Katsuki didn't care anymore... But every time he heard Izuku talk about what his brother was up to... He couldn't help but feel hurt but didn't want to miss anything. "M/n is getting married," Katsuki's eyes widened. He said he couldn't love. Did someone achieve what he wanted?
The wedding was beautiful, and the bride was just as beautiful. The kiss they shared made Katsuki sick. Izuku and his mother smiled tearfully.
Katsuki couldn't handle it. He walked out quietly for a smoke. The party was loud and it managed to snap him out of his thoughts when he drifted too far. M/n appeared out of nowhere, smoking as well but away from the blonde who only stared.
That smile again, so fake (yet so handsome). "Oh, hey," his voice was terrible (beautiful). "How's my wedding, nice right?" Salt to the wound.
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blacklegsanjiii · 26 days
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Hii i wanted to share my thoughts on the soulmate for Oisín Sanji if thats alright
I voted for Zoro myself (even thought honestly they would all be sweet/funny) but i think the situation with Zoro is the funniest like-
imagine all your life till this point youve been training the be the greatest swordsman of them all and you has your eyes set on this one guy all this time and also in the back of your head youre aware he has a kid thats around your age (based on the wanted posters when they stopped updating) and you see it as someone to help you get closer to your end goal
Que you becoming a pirate and later meeting this pretty asshole of a cook who you quickly become head over heels for when he shows his spark when fighting, he's your equal and you havent had that since your best friend died
And then you find out he is the kid of your rival but somehow instead of it being heartbreaking it only makes it better because even in the time you didnt know, he takes care of your swords with so much love and care, he helps you get a proper swordsman diet like he has done it a thousand times already and- he has a swordsmans soulmate mark!!!
Idk i just think zosan for this would be very funny but at the same time very sweet (love sick Zorooo 💥💥 he loves his spicy boy friend)
But i also think it would give mihawk a giant headache so thats also funny
No, no I get it. Trust me. It is the funniest option but also gives Mihawk the largest headache-especially if Zoro never connects the dots fully until they meet up on Karai Bari. BUT BEFORE THAT???
Zoro who hasn't had a decent match since Kuina died. He's had his eyes set on Hawkeye since he was a kid and joined the dojo and wanted to be the best since. Not because Hawkeye was the best then-he wasn't but everyone knew he would be and he had a kid around his age and the kid has a twirly brow with a dumb name. Then the posters stop updating and Hawkeye becomes a warlord then Kuina dies. He takes Wado and leaves to fulfill his and Kuina's dreams. He becomes a bounty hunter because he needs the money and the roads and islands keep moving on him. He keeps his eyes out for the guy around his age who could be Mihawk's kid. Then he gets tied up in a marine base and is freed by a guy who wants him to become a pirate. He agrees. They get a crew, a navigator and then a liar/sharpshooter and when they get to this fish restuarant? Sure he loses to Mihawk and gets bisected and the prettiest guy he ever saw is yelling at him to give up his dream but he doesn't die. It's fine, it's fine~. He's alive and the blond guy is hot and he can kick ass and he doesn't use swords.
Also the blond guy's name is Sanji and Zoro doesn't use his name at all. He is whatever nickname Zoro calls him in that moment. He's an equal and Zoro tells him all about his plans to find Hawkeye's kid when it's time for a rematch and draw him out to a duel, twirly always laughs at him for it, keeps saying it's a one way ticket to dying. He says it with a dopey smile though. He cares for Zoro's swords when he's on bedrest and isn't allowed to move, doing so anyway despite Chopper's protests. Also they know they're so soulmates, Zoro's whole back covered in blue and fish. Sanji's shoulder braided like the hilt of Wado Ichimonji and just as beautiful. Zoro wishes he knew what Oisín's soulmark looks like because it would be so much easier to find him.
After Sabaody when he's on Kuriagana and wishing he could have been there for his captain but he's training against his dream, with the man who holds his dream and it's good. Even if ghost girl is there and he's away from his soulmate. When he asks Mihawk where his kid is and Perona is curious because he never came to warlord meetings with the kid. Mihawk is like 'yes, that was part of the deal I made becoming a warlord, they would stop updating his bounties. As for his current location, no idea.' because he has his own dream and he's not taking his father's mantle, doesn't want it. Zoro yells that he's no help and Mihawk asks if he wants to follow suit of the people who tried to take his son before him, just because he's stronger doesn't mean he's strong enough yet. Zoro takes massive offense to this.
When they get back together and are leaving Sabaody Zoro is absolutely complaining about this to Sanji despite saying he's stronger and Sanji is laughing his ass off again. Sanji points out that Zoro seems to be overlooking the fact the kid was raised by Mihawk and Zoro grumbles and just buries into his side. Of course after WCI and Wano Sanji is prickly, even to his soulmate, even after the death pact. Zoro is absolutely never letting Sanji out of his sight again so when they go meet Mihawk and the rest of the Guild on Karai Bari the crew is nervous. Except for the monster trio and Robin.
At some point either Mihawk or Sanji slip up, it's just habit as they cook together on the Sunny since Mihawk is the only one to get along with the Straw Hat pirates. They're chatting idly and the crew is there just to make sure and Sanji points at something and is like 'hand the salt over, dad' and Mihawk just hands it over 'Oisín, you're an adult, really?' before they both pause and sigh. The crew is absolutely losing it in different ways. Nami is pissed that Mihawk wasn't there for WCI, Zoro is pissed that Sanji hid being Oisín, Luffy is laughing really fucking hard and asking Zoro how he didn't know, Chopper and Usopp are despairing. Robin hums and asks Mihawk if he knew Zoro was Sanji's soulmate and Mihawk sighs long and loud and Sanji asks if Zoro was telling him the same shit he was telling him for their whole relationship, Mihawk says yes and that Zoro is a fucking moron.
Do I also have something utterly heart breaking and wrenching for acesan in Oisín!sanji? Yes. Was this fun to write? Yes.
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I'd imagine if he did end up killing the dragon, the reader would at first cry and scream and grieve, but then become unresponsive over time. They still eat, drink, and do as they're told. But they don't smile, laugh, or really seem to have any joy in their eyes at all. Killing the dragon would be the thing that breaks everything in the reader he loves about them
The Reader’s dragon is their most cherished and loved companion, they’ve spent a good majority of their time and life being with their dragon and to lose that would break his darling completely. And Aegon knows that. Given how the Reader has helped forge him into being a rightful king, Aegon will be much more calculated in how he goes about things. He still has moments of impulsiveness and immaturity (especially when concerning his darling) but in most cases he can push that aside long enough to make certain decisions. But when it comes to his darling his impulsiveness, immaturity and jealous always win over.
Aegon is hellbent on doing something with his darling’s dragon to take away their main source of leaving him. But his impulsiveness and immaturity would cause him to want to do something that would send a message to the Reader, he wants them to see the death of their dragon for themself so they can see how far he’s willing to go to keep them with him. But it would probably have to be someone else to bring up the dire consequences of going through with that plan and the fact that he would detrimentally fuck up his relationship with the Reader. Either Alicent, Aemond or Otto comes up with the idea to still kill the dragon but they plan to wait for some time to pass after the darling’s most recent adventure that caused Aegon to spiral before doing anything. And when they finally do go through with their plans they’ll make it look like a dragon fight took place in the dragon pit resulting in the darling’s dragon dying, or they’ll hire someone to try and kill the dragon leading to even more chaos to happen. This way it will seem like an accident or an attempt from their enemies. There’s a good chance that the Greens will blame the Blacks for it, causing for mistrust and paranoia. This would also take away any suspicion away from Aegon. Unless his dumbass were to say something to the darling that makes it pretty glaringly obvious he had something to do with it.
Aegon and Helaena would be there to comfort the Reader in their time of grieving and heartbreak after the tragedy of losing their dragon. Aegon has to do his dampest to hide his giddiness to finally having his darling not be able to leave him so freely. In due time, Aegon and Helaena would invite the Reader to come on dragon rides with them respectively, Aegon more than likely having to drag the Reader down to the dragon pit to get them to go on rides with him. The two of them do it as a way to help comfort the Reader but it only hurts them all the more but that doesn’t stop Aegon from continuing to force them on these dragon rides. He still very much loves going dragonriding with his darling but this time he’s the one in control and his darling has to ride with him, not to mention they have to wait for him to have any free time to do so instead of going off all willy-nilly whenever they felt like it.
The Reader would never be able to get past their dragon’s death but they would be able to function more normally again after some time, but there will be a part of them missing now. If the Reader were to ever find out the truth in what happened to their dragon and everyone who had a hand in it, they will leave without hesitation and make their way far away from the Greens and the Blacks, living a new life where they could be as free as they wanted to be.
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betasquads · 10 months
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Unexpected heartbreaks just happen.
witch!kai parker x femalewitch!reader
A/N: I like to do some hella sad one-shots, so enjoy because I'm going to do some more, maybe even more than smut. If anyone wants part 2, let me know. (this imagine is also apart of a book I'm currently working on in wattpad but with less details.)
▪︎ warning: gets heated but no smut
The surroundings of Y/N was never really supportive towards her studying for college. What I mean by surroundings, is the supernatural world revolving around her, her powers being used for. It was terrific that she should be worried about dying any second instead of being at her dorm and studying.
Most of the time it was like that for her.
She was a witch, a newbie witch, but she came from a strong family line that made her easily do spells that were used by her friends. What I mean, is that each one of her friends asks her but never let's her accept the offer or not. They always assume it's a yes.
It was tiring, better yet, exhausting. But one siphon witch was keeping Y/N going, and that was Malachai Parker.
He was an individual whom she hated at first, but slowly and slowly, their friendship began, but a burning desire was hidden in their own minds.
Laughter was all you could hear when you left these two in the same room, he was happy he had someone who truly gave him a chance without neglecting him.
They could always feel the tension whenever they were in the same room, him staring at her with parted lips and dark blue eyes, as if he has never seen a woman in his life. It was intimidating that he made her feel like the only woman alive.
Maybe they did have a sexual desire for one another, but they still had a friendship like no other.
Although, the tension had been going on for a year, none of them uttered a word but they both knew they wanted each other. The perfect Y/N always pretended she never liked him and he would play along, but he knew.
That was until one day Y/N was trying to find him to speak to him since no one figured where he was after the merge, just to find him swirled with emotions, mostly it being sadness. Feelings were exposed, hearts were spilled, and two souls have finally found each other.
Now they're together, the both of them being very relatable on some specific things. And that made them addicted to the other, because they understood each other in a way no one could.
"Can you at least state 2 facts about mesopotamia?" Y/N's all time favorite person asks her, interrupting her thoughts.
They were both in her dorm studying for an upcoming exam, he decided to join in and help her.
"The Babylonian law created by King Hammurabi, the Code of Hammurabi, may be the oldest written law in the world." she smiles, victorious when Kai nods in a way to praise her as she tries to find another fact that is buried deep inside of her thoughts.
Kai suddenly began giving her kisses across her neck and her jaw, making sure it was slow so she could feel every nerve hitting her with every kind of feelings. His lips was finally nibbling and making sure to leave a mark while waiting for her next answer.
"Fuck, Kai." She let's out a whimper at the sudden action. She immediately grabbed his other free hand for support, the cold rings giving it an immaculate feeling.
He tuts in disappointment but inside of him he felt his stomach churn at her words, "That's not the answer, sweetheart. I don't think your professor would be very fond of that. It's very inappropriate." He tries to stiffen his chuckles as he speaks against her skin, sending waves through her entire body. She turns to give him a glare, and that erupted the laughter that he wanted to stiffen so badly, his body shaking with laughter.
After a few seconds he stops laughing, his eyes darkens from his thoughts. He bites his lip as he eyes her entire body and begans running his finger slowly on her thigh, the cold metal rings sending a huge amount of pleasure that was unexpected. She gasps, trying to focus.
He then starts nibbling on her skin again, and that made Y/N grips his other hand even tighter, "Go on." He mumbles against her skin.
"T–The Sumerians are often credi–credited with inventing the wheel. At the center of each m-major city was a temple to the city's god c-called a ziggurat, shit–" She moans when he hits a sensitive spot.
He let's out a chuckle, "Shit? I don't think that should be in the answer." He wonders and she gives him a half–hearted glare.
"Joking. Im proud of my nerd." She turns around, almost offended by his remark.
"Shut up." She places her hand on the nape of neck and adjusts herself by hugging her legs around his waist before pulling him into a languid, heated kiss.
They pull away after, their forehead resting on the other. She plays with his hair and he hums silently, "I'm so glad you're here. I was really stressed." Y/N admits, which makes Kai grin widely.
"I'm always here for my girl." He smiles at her, tucking her hair behind her ears.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
My thoughts were interrupted by Caroline, her adorable innocent tone cutting the depths of the memory that had happened 2 days ago.
"You've been staring at the floor for 45 minutes, which leads me to believe that something is wrong." Caroline immediately brings a shot up to her lips and drinks it like nothing.
"Just a little upset." I shrug, the upsetting apart was a huge emphasis on the upcoming exams.
"Is it because Kai is speaking to that girl over there?" She points towards the left and I roll my eyes. I forgot I was at a party.
"Kai speaking to another girl? I don't think so–" I turn around with the widest smile ever expecting that Caroline saw someone else or was playing around.
But she didn't see someone else and she wasn't playing around. She was telling the truth.
My smile quickly disappears and I place my cup of coffee on the table, upset. I knew Kai wouldn't do anything to me, but it wasn't a sight I'd see everyday. I place a hair strand behind my ear and lean to hear them but I couldn't.
"exauditum eos." I whisper and look down to make it not obvious that I'm overhearing them.
"What are you doing–" I immediately hold my index finger to Caroline to signal her that I was using a spell that could overhear them.
"You caught my eyes two weeks ago when I saw you in town, but I've never seen such a gorgeous guy like you. Are you even from here?" The woman asks kai as her breasts almost touch him.
I bite my inside lip to stop myself from crying, wondering why he was accepting that behavior from a woman, especially a very attractive one. I could feel jealousy running through my blood. One feeling that I couldn't really push, was sadness. She had the face of a model, her tight black dress showing her figure that I always dreamed of having. She was everything I wasn't and that made me furious because I knew I could never give Kai what she had.
He chuckles as if he didn't have a problem with how close they were. They were too close and he was accepting it. "Gorgeous guys come and go, sweetheart. So no, not from here." He bites his lip as he looks at woman with no interest. I still felt jealousy although he was not interested at all.
I clench my teeth as I cringed at what he had said. Sweetheart. He always calls me that ironically.
She looks at him through her eyelashes with a lip bite, "I feel very connected to you."
I felt like I was going crazy once I saw that she was leaning. How could Kai not see that she was trying to kiss him? Was he okay with it?
Her lips met his, and I could see that his eyes widened and that his body froze. My heart shatters at the sight as I heard Caroline slightly gasp, "Are you okay?" She grabs my hand, concerned. I nod and let out tears but I quickly wipe them away, my hand grasping the coffee angrily.
Kai stood there awkwardly as I see that he gulped, his apple bone bouncing as he does so.
Kai was a heretic so I assumed he heard Caroline, because he disconnects the kiss, wipes his lips, and turns to look our way.
He sees my teary eyes and vulnerable soul in pain. I knew it was also his fault for even leading the woman that was infront of him. I felt like a foul at the moment for trying to justify that he wasn't interested, when clearly he could've avoided it if he never flirted back.
I shake my head in disbelief, "Hey it's okay Y/N–" Caroline begins to speak.
I turn around to look at the floor, "uri venis." I mutter as tears fall down my face, Caroline frowning and placing her thumb up to remove the tear.
The girl standing with him started clenching her teeth and shut her eyes, whining in pain from the spell i had just said. The sounds she let out bought me satisfaction, although I was still angry. It wasn't even her fault, she doesn't know he has a girlfriend. Yet, I wanted to take my anger out on anyone, because this wasn't the first time this happened. It was the second time. Maybe because I wasn't good enough or pretty enough. Either ways, Jealousy and hurt was all that was coursing through my blood.
I turn around with teary eyes to see Kai concerned for her, grabbing her before she could fall to the floor. He turns around to me as he pleads with his eyes for me to stop.
I stop the spell because I felt pity at the moment. I grabbed the purse that was on the table, as I heard Caroline say something.
"Hey don't leave–"
I angrily storm out as tears fell, my heels clicking on the floor as I walk too fast. My breathing increased and the sobs were louder, all I could feel was the walls getting tighter around me.
I hear the door swing very fast, and I knew who it was.
"Hey Y/N–" I still walk fast towards my car, not acknowledging him at all.
"Even when you're wearing heels you're veryyyyy fast. Please wait up my feet is cramping. Did you put a spell on my feet?" I hear Kai once again but I avoid him.
I quickly open the door to the front car seat, about to get in but Kai slams it, "I–"
"How could you let her kiss you?" I turn around to look at him with my puffy red eyes. I swore he let her get too close.
He gulps and sighs, "I didn't kiss her, she kissed me."
"This is the second time, Kai! If this was me in your place, I wouldn't talk to any guy because it's always going to be you." I give him a pointed glare, not done with my words.
"And you let her get close to you. As much as i would love to defend you, God, I can't! I can't just excuse your actions in all times because I'm in love with you!"
I've never expected myself to say the L word although I just did, I could see that he froze once I said it, but I didn't care if he says it back or doesn't, cause this was the last time i was going to be having a conversation with him. I look down as I back away, I felt ashamed for no reason.
"Hey..." He starts as he tries to get close to me but I felt weak at this moment.
I knew Kai wasn't capable of love, so at this point I had to push him away because I was afraid of rejection.
"No don't even start, Kai. The same thing happened a month ago, and I don't want it to happen again." I try to stop myself from breaking down, reffering to another girl kissing him and the exact thing happening, "You could've avoided this."
His eyes were teared up, a sight you wouldn't see on the Malachai Parker which truly hurt me so much, "Please don't say it."
My breathing increases and so does tears, "You think I want this? I don't. Because believe it or not, you're the only one who I truly felt connected with."
His hands goes to my cheeks and I wanted so badly to stand my ground, because I didn't wanna break especially infront of him, but all that was heard from me was the sobs the elected out of my throat painfully.
"I'm so sorry. I am so sorry." He chokes from the tears, "But you're the only one who never gave up on me. You made me feel." His lips quiver, my hands immediately goes up to the hands that was holding my cheeks so delicately, a touch that electrified me in every way.
I sigh deeply, looking up at his blue eyes that were light more than ever, yet, the emotions that swirled in there was pain that made him want to fall until he reached the ground, the only person that could save him was me.
"You hurt me, twice. My jealousy isn't going to do you any better, Kai." My voice wasn't audible at the moment.
"I-I will never hurt you again. I would rather sit by your side and never leave you. I care about you, I–" He stops for a second, his eyes going back and forth to my right and left eye, "I love you. I love you so much. You taught me what that was."
My eyes widen and my lips part, like I was relieved that he had finally told me that loved me, but another feeling overpowered every feeling I had towards him. I was hurt, really hurt that Kai was finally capable of feeling towards someone but I was the one to break him, because truly, I don't wanna get hurt again. Seeing a woman truly beautiful twice kissing him, made my heart ache. I knew truly I could never offer the beauty that they had.
I shake my head, "You don't mean that." I whisper. I wanted him to do anything, like laugh at my face and say that he actually didn't mean that and then he leaves for good, I wanted it to be false so leaving him wouldn't hurt. I wanted to believe that it was a lie.
"But I do. I would kill for you. Hell– I would die for you. What does this mean to you, Y/N?" He gulps as he waits for my answer, but I truly don't know how to answer to this.
His eyes searches mine deeply like he wanted to find the answers but also wanted them locked away.
I was going to say it either ways, although I could hear my heart shatter everytime I repeated the words in my mind.
"I'm sorry, but it's over." It was like a huge meteor had hit me right in the chest, because I could see Kai looking down in defeat. Although I couldn't see him, I heard him so vividly. Silent sobs escaped his throat, and I take his hands off of my face.
"I need you in my life." It was as if he was trying to give me a message that he'd fall without me.
"I'm sorry– I'm so sorry but I can't do this. I can't get hurt again." I immediately open the door to my car, shutting it after.
I start the engine as angry tears stung my cheeks, but looking at him in the rear view of the car, he looks like he had lost something so valuable.
It was the first time I had put myself first. No one deserves having a person as their only happiness either ways.
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bp4545 · 6 months
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Butterflies Dying (My Sunshine - Part 5 )
Word count: 1k its pre short:)
Warnings: heartbreak? there isn't really much warnings for this chapter, its more the rising action.
Summary: All feelings for Draco evaporate when the ugly truth is revealed...
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
---
You don't go the kitchens for the next few nights.
You can't bear to see him again when you know that he has eyes for someone else. And that person wasn't just anyone, no slytherin, no pureblood, no bratty rich kid, it was Hermione Granger. 
Maybe that's why you were so upset. Because you knew that she was everything you that you were, except she could offer more. 
You can't lie, you miss your usual meetings with Draco, but you need to stay away from him, at all costs.
He notices. Draco can tell you're avoiding him. You dodge him during class, you don't save him a glance during breakfast, you don't come to the kitchens at night to talk to him anymore. He misses it. 
He doesn't know exactly what he did wrong. Or what might've happened on your end. He just knows he needs to talk to you. So that's exactly what he did.
---
"Y/n!"
You hear someone shout behind you after class that day. You keep walking, because that voice haunts the back of your head.
"Y/n, please." you feel Draco yank you backwards by your bag, taking you by surprise and making you stumble. You turn to him with anger written on your face, scaring him just a little bit.
"Watch it Malfoy!" 
Malfoy?
"Listen y/n please tell me what's wrong why are you avoiding me? Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine" you say with no expression.
"C'mon y/n, I can tell when you're clearly not fine." he rolls his eyes.
"I'm just on my period" you say, hoping he will buy it and leave you alone.
"Y/n you were on your period only 2 weeks ago?"
"It's irregular" you shrug.
"Y/n please don't be difficult with me" he says while rubbing his temples. "I just want things to go back to normal between us, please."
It was different hearing Draco Malfoy say please.
"You like Hermione right?" you blurt out. His eyes go wide and he stutters a bit before looking you dead in the eyes.
"How did you know?..." he says, taken aback. 
"Draco I see you staring at her in like practically every class." As much as it hurt.
He groans in response. "So what does that have to do with you not talking to me?"
"Because you're only talking to me because you know I'm friends with Hermione" you say "Right?"
"W-well yeah that was generally the plan." he sighs. "But I really do enjoy talking to you y/n, it's just a bonus that I can ask you questions about her and ask you for advice."
"No Draco, listen I really don't want to do this" you admit "I don't want to get between you and her, or give the wrong advice to you. I wish you the best with her."
"O-oh" he says slightly surprised. He wasn't very accustomed to hearing girls say no to him. "What does that mean for us? Are we still friends, will I still see you tonight?" 
No. That's what you should have said. "Maybe"
He flashes a smile. Usually it would make butterflies erupt in your stomach, now they were dying. You felt sick. You wanted to get away from his presence.
"Great see you tonight" he said. A hint of excitement evident in his voice.
He did not see you that night.
---
After talking to Draco that one time, you haven't spoken a word to him since. You decided that it wasn't worth it chasing a boy who is interested in someone else and would only break your heart.
You spent more time with your own friends, focused more on your studies, and slowly forgot about the whole situation. If you didn't matter to him then why should he matter to you?
Being around the ones who really cared for you healed you. It mended all those feelings of hurt, talking to Daphne, it made you smile, partying with Justin, Hannah and Zach, and it made you laugh, all those late night talks with Chris.
Nevertheless, you could never tear your eyes away from the blonde boy. It seemed as if everywhere you went he was looking at you with a pleading expression, maybe a slight bit of hurt; because you stood him up that night. Although you never actually said yes.
You shook away those thoughts as you focused back to the lecture. Transfigurations was never your strong point, but you could feel a certain pair of eyes boring into the back of your head longingly. 
Moments like those made you wonder if he ever felt the same way, but then you remembered the way he looked at her. The way his eyes lit up like she was his whole world, what you would give to be loved like that by someone.
The bell echoed across the room and you mindlessly started packing your stuff to finally see Daphne at the end of the day. Every Friday evening you two did the same thing. A girls catch up in your corner of the library, where you would just talk about all your drama, all the gossip, and all your worries for the next week.
"Daphne!" you shout across the hall, bustling with students at the end of the day. You wave your arms around catching her attention.
She walks up to you, and gives you a hug. You two have no classes together this year, which is a bummer because you rarely get to see her unless its your catch up day.
As the two of you laugh and make your way to the library, you see a couple heading out to presumably Hogsmeade, dressed in warm clothing and hand in hand. It's odd, because the couple looks unrecognisable, until you see a familiar platinum blonde figure laugh, and a girl with long brown frizzy hair kiss his nose...
There's no way.
You turn to Daphne and she's looking at you already.
"Is that Hermione and Draco?" You ask her, hoping that she wouldn't say what she was about to say.
"Yeah.." she started "I overheard Draco talking about it in the Slytherin common rooms this morning. They started dating just this Wednesday, apparently he's absolutely smitten for her."
Your heart breaks as Daphne confirms that they are most definitely dating.
That was all you needed to hear, the butterflies were dead.
---
a/n: This was a really hard chapter to write because I didn't know how to make it sound super heartfelt but heartbreaking:/
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animanga-bonanza · 1 month
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i have so many feelings and thoughts about this latest episode of x men 97 -- spoilers under the cut
first, my favorite highlights/takeaways:
As usual, the dialogue is S-tier and this show is really good about putting the characters through dilemmas that have real stakes, and having the characters navigate those dilemmas in ways that both make sense for them and require them to move forward
Xavier is a confirmed bottom 😂 my man was ready to be a PET for this glamorous space lady
Loved that moment where Xavier literally takes the Shi’ar to class and starts SCHOOLING them 😂 he said “hold up I’m a teacher. lemme teach y’all something right now” 👨‍🏫
When talking about what he wanted to remember from Earth, he only mentioned Magneto, his “old friend” (YOU MEAN YOUR EX. YOUR SOULMATE. THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE. C’MON CHARLES)
Speaking of Xavier x Magneto, when he finds out what happened to Magnus…😭 it was already heartbreaking seeing his reaction to Gambit's death
I’m certain the Shi’ar stuff is going to be the main conflict in Season Two or Three; Season One is gonna be focused on X-Men vs Sinister. Having this warmongering galactic empire on the brink of a coup that believes Earth is a “ghetto”, it’s not gonna turn out well for Earth.
I’m glad this episode confirmed that Sinister is behind the Genosha attack (though idk he might be working for someone else); writers sometimes keep their cards too close to their chest because they’re afraid that if they reveal their hand too soon, the audience will lose interest. But in my experience, it’s often more fun when the writers show you their hand and then use their cards to build a magnificent tower. Knowing who all the players are, their goals and motivations, and watching them duke it out is the stuff that drama is made of. It’s kind of like the Hitchcock principle of showing your audience the bomb under the table in order to raise suspense.
I’m REALLY happy that Storm is back, I missed her so much these past couple episodes! Aaah I’m a sucker for characters with weather powers, and hearing about the stuff Storm can do in the comics, I’m looking forward to seeing her use her abilities in a range of creative ways
Now for some analysis/ramblings!!
Storm and Xavier’s struggles mirror each other. Both characters are having to choose between comfort/happiness and duty/hardship.
Storm believes she’d be happier as a normal human. She could leave all her past troubles behind, build a new life with Forge. But that would be a betrayal of herself, her values, and her community. The Adversary’s line about Storm being afraid of living more than dying cuts deep. Storm was never afraid to put her life on the line to protect others. She literally took a bullet for Magneto. Her biggest fear is living her full truth, perhaps because her power is so great that it might alienate her from other people, even from her fellow mutants. As Magneto said (and I paraphrase), she is the closest thing to a goddess their world has ever seen.
And IIRC, part of Storm’s backstory involved her being worshiped/revered as a goddess or holy priestess. I think this past experience made Storm wary of embracing her full power because that kind of existence is lonely.
Honestly, as a black woman, Storm’s journey resonates so much. In real life, black women are often expected to be superhuman, the “strong black woman” who can shoulder her own burdens and everyone else’s. Storm suppressing her own powers for fear of being put on a pedestal as this flawless “queen” or “goddess” who can reliably solve everyone else’s problems? Yeah. That’s some real stuff. Storm, like everyone else, deserves to be vulnerable. To be protected and cared for instead of having to always protect and care for others.
But the expectation to be "strong" is something that Storm seems to have internalized; she didn't have to leave the X-Men when she lost her powers, but she left in part because she felt like she had to deal with her grief alone. And I hope that, even though she’s coming back to the X-Men with her powers fully realized, she’s able to rely on her friends for comfort. I also love that this series emphasizes her friendship with Jean, and I hope to see more of their dynamic going forward.
As for Xavier, he’s having to choose between life on his home planet, where he’s surrounded by family but having to deal with their “drama” plus the persecution of his community, and life among the stars, away from the troubles of Earth but still not accepted as a full person. Either way, he has to play the role of the teacher, the wise mentor who must guide others to the path of enlightened coexistence. It’s a tough burden to bear.
I’m not disabled, but it seems to me that the way Xavier is burdened with the responsibility of having to be a “role model” for others mirrors the way that society treats disabled people in real life. Again, I’m definitely out of my depth here and would love to hear disabled people’s thoughts on the matter, but it’s my understanding that society tends to dehumanize disabled people as either pitiable/contemptible burdens or admirable/brave warriors who can “rise above” their condition. Some of that seems to be baked into certain aspects of how Xavier was conceived as a character and the way he’s often framed by the narrative, but it looks like X Men 97 is aware of this and attempting to interrogate it a little.
Anyway, this episode was really great, a nice breather after the devastation of last week’s episode while still thematically rich and moving the story forward.
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