#damn what happened. how quickly we abandon the old ways

[tomwambsmilk]

Lee Pace is only 10 years older than Nick Braun?

Believe it or not actors can sometimes pretend to be different ages than they are irl

[theemporium]

39 pls

this is just a tester...unsure how i feel about it...i just kinda wanted to see if i could write him or not...anyways!!🤠

39. "everything is going to be okay" kisses

.

It was stupid. Or at least, you felt pretty damn stupid over the whole thing.

It was stupid because the whole damn thing was so predictable, and therefore, avoidable. It didn’t have to work out like this. Your day didn’t have to start like this. There were so many other—and better—things you could have done and yet, just like an old habit you couldn’t quite shake off, you gave in. 

You answered your mother’s phone call despite knowing better.

For a short moment, you thought it could be different. You thought that, for once in your life, you could have a civil conversation with the woman who gave birth to you like any other child should have been able to do. But that thought lasted a total of three minutes before the snide remarks began and the rest of the pieces fell into place. 

The little comments about your life. The way you moved away from home like you were better than the rest of your family. The fact that your dreams and goals never quite aligned with the ones she painted out for you the day you were born. It went from your lifestyle to your job to your appearance. She covered every base, every single detail of your life that she thought you were undeserving of.

Not that she would say the words so bluntly. No, they were firmly hidden under the guise of a mother concerned for her daughter.

You were near tears by the end of the call, but by some stubborn save of grace, you had managed to hold it in until you muttered out a lame excuse and quickly hung up. But the second the soft beep of the phone disconnecting echoed through the room, the sobs started and you couldn’t really stop them.

You didn’t even hear Oscar come in before you felt his body sliding onto the bed in front of you, his warm palms resting on your shaking arms. 

“Baby,” it was uttered in such a soft, worried voice that you couldn’t help but let out a choked noise of guilt. 

He was a blur of coloured blobs through your teary eyes, whilst you probably looked like a mess with puffy cheeks and a red nose. But that didn’t stop him from moving his hands up to engulf your face, his thumbs swiping over the apples of your cheeks to wipe away the falling tears.

“Tell me what’s happened,” he murmured, soft yet demanding. He wanted to help. God, every cell in his body was practically twitching to help you but he couldn’t do it if he didn’t know where to begin. 

However, as it would turn out, words wouldn’t be necessary as your gaze fell down to your abandoned phone across the bed and the rest clicked in his head. 

“Oh baby,” he sighed softly before his arms were around you, pulling you onto his lap as your limbs wound around his torso. 

He didn’t let you go as you cried. He kept your body pressed against his, chest to chest with both your hearts thumping wildly. His fingers aimlessly traced random shapes along your spine, anything to help ground and soothe you until the blubbering sobs stopped and it felt a little easier to get air into your lungs.

“I shouldn’t have answered it,” you sniffled, your face buried into the crook of his neck. “I know I shouldn’t of—”

“But she’s your mother,” Oscar finished for you. “And despite everything, a part of you will always hope that she’s changed.”

“Does that make me stupid?” You wondered out loud.

His arms tightened around you. “Not at all, sweetheart.”

“Feels like it,” you admitted to the boy.

He pushed you back a bit, just enough for you to lift your head from his shoulder despite the whine you let out. His hands were encompassing your face again, his brows furrowed together as he took in your tear-stricken face. 

“She doesn’t know you—the real you. And maybe she never will. But the people who do know the real you love you, and we always will,” Oscar spoke in a soft voice. “You hear me?”

You nodded. 

“Good,” he murmured before he leaned forward, his lips pressing against yours in a gentle but firm kiss. Nothing crazy or passionate or racing for you to be pulling off his clothes, but more than enough to feel the love and admiration melting off him. That little reminder that regardless of everything, you’d always have him in your corner. “What do you think about a pick-me-up?”

“This is more than enough,” you assured him as you leaned into his hold on your face.

His lips twitched upwards. “So no ice cream?”

“Woah, slow down, Piastri. I never said that.”

.

[yourjughead]

Attack Dog pt. 4

Sweet Pea X Reader enemies to lovers

A/N: I really like this part, finally some contact going on hehehe

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

Sweet Pea POV

“Sweeeeeeet peaaaaaaa, moove overrrr I'm coming in-'' he slurred and stumbled past. What the hell is going on? He crashed onto my makeshift bed and stretched.

“-I amm having a sleeeeeep over here, the Seniors haveeen comman-commaannnder-commandereeed fuck it, they took my housee” I looked out the front door and watched some very drunk, very big men crowd into his trailer and close it. I went to object to him but he was already passed out on my sofa.

“Sweet Pea what's going on?” YN said smaly from my room. I quietly rushed to her and into my room.

“Jones kinda stole my digs after the seniors took his….do you mind if I stay in here?”

“I mean it's your room sooo I can just make my way home”

“No no stay, I don't know who's still around outside and besides it's freezing” there was little to no space between the two of us. It was difficult to fight my urge to lean into her. I forced myself to take a step back from her, taking a pillow from the bed and throwing it on the floor.

“Just sleep in the bed with me Snake Brain, your old man back will break sleeping on the floor” she shuffled back to the bed and slipped under the covers on my side of the bed. My side. I slid in next to her trying not to completely freak out that I was legitimately sleeping with the enemy. Both our eyes were locked onto the ceiling. I should really paint up there.

“What happened with you and Jughead earlier?” I couldn't help myself, I had to say something to take the weird tension away from between us.

“He told me I abandoned him and it was my fault he had to join you guys” she exhaled the words out. Fault? As if we're the worst thing in the world to happen to anyone. I have all the right to kick his ass from my sofa.

“Just leave him sleep Sweet Pea, you won't get anything out of him now” was she inside my head? I moved gently in the bed at this thought.

“You're not exactly hard for me to read Sweet Pea, relax” she laughed a little but I didn't relax. How was I so easy to read? No one has ever said that before. She rolled onto her side to face me, hands tucked up under the side of her face.

“What else did he say?”

“That I should have fought harder to come home sooner….that I might have been able to save him from you guys…basically it's my fault I'm upset” save him from us? Save him from us?! I went to move from the bed, I was gonna kick him out I don't care. I was stopped by the feeling of YNs hand wrap into mine beneath the sheets.

“Just leave it Sweet Pea, defend your honour tomorrow after you sleep-” she yawned out.

“-besides it'll be a lot more fun to shout at him when he's fighting his hangover” she gave a mischievous smile as her eyes gently closed. She's still holding my hand….I'm still holding hers….why are we still holding hands and why don't I want to let go?

I laid awake for half an hour staring at the peeling paint of the roof. The pain in my shoulder growing from my unmoving hand was getting hard to ignore as YN slept peacefully next to me. Caught between my dying nerves and the dying want to not let go I quickly rolled towards her, releasing her hand and catching it with my other. I misjudged the distance between us and clocked her straight into the head with my own as I did. She dropped my hand to place it on her forehead. Damn it.

“You're such a freak” she laughed, rubbing her forehead and then rolled in closer to me, draping an arm across my waist and gently pulling herself into me, resting her head between the pillow and my chest. Great. This is great. This is also very confusing. Again, it was like she read my thoughts, even half asleep and she sat up, leaning on an elbow to look at me.

“Sorry I… I don't know why I did that”

“It's okay YN…it was actually comfortable…I'm okay with it if you're okay with it” she gave me a smile I never wanted to see leave her. She has to know that that was difficult for me to admit. She rolled to face out towards the wall and for a moment I thought Id left myself be vulnerable to the wrong person, that she'd laugh and reject me, call me the silly snake brain I was and leave. But no. She didn't. She instead shuffled down into the bed and laid her back flat against my chest. I cautiously moved my arm to cross her waist and she caught hold of it to move it faster and then held it there with her own. Am I asleep? Is this a dream? Am I being punked?

I nestled my chin against the top of her head, pulling her closer into me, tangling our legs. So close to me…..oh shit too close she's too close. I shuffled a little to try to hide the part of me that was betraying any sense of secrecy I had about my changing feelings to YN. She just moved back to where she was, no hiding from her. I could almost feel her whole body smirking as she gently rubbed little circles with her thumb on the back of my hand. Damn it she's winning.

“You're not…hard to read Sweet Pea” yup, she's definitely smirking at me. I tried to push the embarrassment out of my voice before speaking. She's not gonna win this one.

“Well I hardly think that's surprising, I already told you what I think needs to happen for you to relax” I barely whispered, it was her body's turn to…stiffen in the bed alongside me. Point Sweet Pea. I slowly moved my mouth to hover above her neck. We were both so still, I could almost see the hairs on her neck stand on their end. My lips met her neck almost painfully gently. I began to kiss her there until she rolled her head back slightly to allow me more access. I then started to nip her neck, sucking gently as I went. Her own body betrayed her then as she gave a small moan of approval. Point Sweet Pea.

She didn't let my point advantage last very long as she began to push herself into my growing length, a low growl escaping me before I reburied myself in her neck, more feverishly this time. Her hand wrapped tighter around mine on her chest as she grinded into me, encouraging me on. Electric, I was being electrified by her. She rolled more on to her back and I was hovering above her. I didn't really think then, I just leaned down and met her lips with mine. Truly electric. I'm kissing YN. This went further than I thought it would. This is going to go further than I thought it was. She must have had the same thought separating from me. Sex is one thing, kissing someone like that and feeling how we did while kissing during sex is another thing.

“I…didn't mean to….I shouldn't have…” I didn't know what I was saying, almost begging her with my eyes to say anything.

“I-” she was cut off by the sound of Jones sneezing from the sitting room, causing us both to jump. I had completely forgotten he was out there. We were about to…I don't know what we were about to do but we were gonna do it with him out there.

“Night Sweet Pea” was all YN said, rolling away from me again to face the wall, this time not taking my arm with her. Fuck.

I didn't sleep for the rest of the night, the thought of what could have been controlling me. I don't think she was asleep either but I didn't challenge her on it. Fuck.

I got up and got dressed, heading into the kitchen for coffee as the sun hit the inside of the trailer. Jones sat up extremely groggily and groaning. Karma.

“Morning” I smiled at him, only getting a huff in return.

“Sweet Pea I'm gonna go before Jughead wa-” YN whispered as she entered the living area. Not quiet enough. Jones' head shot to hers then to mine and back again. If he wasn't green before he certainly was now. I didn't know what to think or where to look. Karma? YN just looked down briefly at her feet, surely just trying to take any break from his giant eyes. Then she looked back, directly at him.

“Morning Jughead, I gotta say, I kinda get the Serpent thing” she beamed. Oh she's evil, she's really really evil, she would make a great Serpent. She then practically bounced out of the trailer, leaving me back to face the brunt of his darkened eyes. Point YN.

Part 5

[avelera]

Some missed opportunities for Norse Mythology references in the Loki S2 Finale

I want to quickly preface this by saying the Loki show never claimed to be about or even incorporate more than passing nods to Norse mythology, so the following "missed opportunities" are more things that I think could have been cool and were perhaps within reach as references, but that even at my most wildly optimistic I didn't and still don't really expect because the show has been so very clear on this front. It's not fair to say these are flaws because the show never pretended to be about Norse mythology. NEVERTHELESS, because I'm a big nerd:

1) Ragnarok - All respect to Waititi and Thor III, it was a great interpretation of the myth, but I've always longed for something a little closer to the doom and mysticism of the mythology and the Loki S2 finale came tantalizingly close to invoking it, but fell short of actually using the word. Because Ragnarok isn't just about the fall of the gods, it's about the destruction and rebirth of the world. "After [the events of Ragnarok], the world will rise again, cleansed and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors." 

Gee does that sound familiar! Almost like destroying all of the timelines to create them anew! Almost like that's what Sylvie was invoking by telling him it's better to accept destruction rather than accept imprisonment, and to build something new out of the ashes.

That's Ragnarok. That's literally Ragnarok and they invoked it in so many ways there short of actually using the damn word.

Loki, the god destined to bring about Ragnarok, proceeding to directly bring down the current timeline by destroying and then renewing it with a male and female survivor to help rebuild (visualized with Mobius and Sylvie's little chat at the end, even if it's the TVA they helped rebuild not the human population) sure does sound astonishingly close to invoking the story of Ragnarok.

And even though I'm bummed they never called it Ragnarok, I completely understand why! Ragnarok has kinda already happened in the MCU (never mind that Ragnarok itself is cyclical and will come again, but I digress)! I'd even go so far as to guess that earlier drafts probably did make it clearer but the thread, except for its bones and outline, were abandoned or left unnamed explicitly because it would be confusing for those not familiar with the myth or who would conflate Ragnarok with its Thor III invocation. Alas.

2) Loki bound - Already sort of invoked in Thor II with Loki imprisoned, which is why I don't think any more overt reference was made, but Loki was rather famously bound up in mythology. In this case, in a cave with a snake's poison dripping into his mouth. Not saying Loki bound to his throne of time needed to be conflated with how he was imprisoned until Ragnarok in the myhology, but the imprisonment parallel is there.

3) Loki becomes the new Odin, sacrificed upon Yggrasil - "The generally accepted meaning of Old Norse Yggdrasill is "Odin's horse", meaning "gallows". This interpretation comes about because drasill means "horse" and Ygg(r) is one of Odin's many names. The Poetic Edda poem Hávamál describes how Odin sacrificed himself by hanging from a tree, making this tree Odin's gallows. This tree may have been Yggdrasil." (source)

IE, Loki has sacrificed himself upon the world tree for power and knowledge and for the sake of the world. In this, unlike in the mythology where Loki is not Odin's son, Loki ascends to a parallel of his father's throne to follow in his legacy, having finally learned his father's lessons about rulership and self-sacrifice. Perhaps like the mythological Odin, we will learn that in making this self-sacrifice, Loki too has gained phenomenal knowledge and power?

4) Ratatoskr - This is more foward-looking and I don't in a million years think they'll do it but it would be so cool - so cool - if at some later point Loki has a friend or a servant or a squirrel form or idk, something that invokes Ratatoskr, the squirrel that lives in the World Tree and freely travels up and down its branches delivering messages. Please, MCU, give Loki a little squirrel friend??

[slafkovskys]

All of this start of the season Jack content is making me feel things!!! All I can think about is him and older Norris reader after the ring toss! What does he plan for the date? How does it go? What is everyone in their lives reactions to it? Does she go to Jersey with him? Jess your writing is so immaculate this AU has infiltrated my brain😂🥰

read part one here :)

as she hears his footsteps descending the steps, she thinks about how she wouldn't be doing this for anyone else, especially not on a first date.

her dress and heels were long abandoned in a guest room, instead exchanged for a pair of jack’s sweatpants and a too big t-shirt from her college days she had left at the hughes brothers’ house at some point during her many trips there over the past few weeks. her hair was now pulled away from her face, the fact that she had moved her wash day for the occasion be damned.

“so,” he lets out a big sigh before quite literally falling onto the l-shaped part of the sofa beside her. she’s got her legs tucked underneath her, a wine glass held tight in one hand, and her head resting on another on the back of the couch. the remote is resting on her thigh and all either of them had to do was press play on the third mighty ducks movie (“it’s better than miracle, jack. not even an argument,” and she quickly learned that jack does whatever she wants, so that was an easy debate to have before he retreated to shower) that had been queued on the screen for the past twenty minutes. instead, jack throws an arm lazily over her legs, gives her that stupid grin of his she’s become obsessed with, and nods, “tell me about y/n.”

“you know about y/n,” she states as though it was a fact, which it was. they weren’t strangers to each other in the slightest, having been somewhat background characters in each other’s lives for the last eight years.

“no, i don’t. i know about the y/n whose posts i see on instagram or whatever updates my mom tells me she’s learned from your mom. that doesn’t count,” his index finger traces the outside seam of the pants she was wearing from her calf, to just above her knee, and back, “i want to know about the y/n in front of me.”

“okay then,” she takes a deep breath, swirling her wine around in her glass before taking a sip, “i was born here in michigan, but moved to germany for a little while when my dad was still playing. before you ask me, no, the only german i can remember is my old address and how to tell them i was lost. when we moved back here, i picked up hockey for a couple of years before deciding to leave it to the boys-”

“you played defense, right?” jack interrupts, staring at her with such an interest.

she hums, “why do you think i always win when me and my brothers fight? i had potential, but it really just wasn’t for me.”

“is that so? because i remember a certain tipsy moment a few weeks ago where you said you quit because you didn’t like the colors of the uniform.”

“that may have been a contributing factor, but i was fourteen and very fashion-conscious. you can’t hold that against me,” she rolls her eyes. she catches sight of the wristbands on his arm and she can’t help but to reach down and tug on them as she resumes her story, “anyway, graduated high school, moved to minnesota for college. go gophers-”

“debatable,” he teases.

“got my degree in communications. thought that i met the love of my life in the backyard of a sigma chi frat house, which we both know how that worked out. moved down to florida, got engaged, called off the engagement, and now i’m back living with my parents. i have lived a life, jack hughes,” she sighs as she finishes off her glass. she didn’t miss the way that his face twitched at the mention of derek and how she just barely ghosted over what had happened. due to the movement, his damp hair had fallen over his eyes and she reached out to push it away, “it’s going to take more than one glass of wine and a first date to get into the good stuff.”

“but i already knew all of that,” he huffs, “tell me something that i don’t already know. tell me about something that makes you happy.”

“recently?” she quirks an eyebrow and he hums, “honestly, you.”

and jack’s world comes to a screeching halt. for as long as he had known her, she wasn’t the type to get sentimental, vulnerable, but over the last two months, he felt that he had seen more versions of her than he knew existed. from the first night she was home, to that plane ride to florida to get her things, to watching her toss her engagement ring into the water right outside his house, it wasn’t enough. he wanted, no he needed more of her. he needed to know every single version of her, every single story, every single emotion that she had to offer him.

her eyes find his and he squeezes her knee, a silent ask. he watches as her throat bobs and just as he goes to crane his neck up to meet her, an alarm sounds. that stupid fucking pizza.

after scouring the entire grocery store, they couldn’t find any pre-breaded chicken for chicken parm and neither of them wanted to bother with doing it themselves. so that’s how they found themselves snatching up a premade pizza with a reduced sticker on the front because its sell-by date was that day and even though jack insisted on getting one that was fresher, she only rolled her eyes and insisted it would taste the same. he, of course, let her sit it in the basket along with the thing of cookies she suddenly had a craving for the second she laid eyes on them. the way her face lit up made it worth the extra work he was going to have to put in later.

despite the insistent beeping from the stove timer, neither of them dared to make a move to go and pull the pizza from the oven. she blinks, “we should probably go and check on it…”

“i think that it can wait for a couple of minutes,” and yeah, it definitely could, because jack was leaning in and so was she. the second their lips meet it’s like nothing either of them had felt before. the build-up, the tension between the two of them over the summer was worth it as they melted into the kiss.

jack’s hand grips onto her thigh while her hand cradles his cheek. it was easy to get lost in each other, lips moving against one another’s like they’d been doing this forever. only when the need for air becomes too great do they pull away panting, still holding onto each other like either would disappear at any given second.

“we really should go check on the pizza,” she insists, swearing she can smell the cheese starting to burn.

he frowns, “can we do more of that later?”

“if you hurry back, you don’t have to wait that long,” she incentivizes and jack is all but scrambling towards the kitchen with the sounds of her laughter following behind him.

yeah, this was definitely something they could get used to.

(they never did hit play on the movie and the pizza didn’t burn, but it didn’t get eaten either. they were too lost in each other to even bother slicing through the crispy dough as it grew colder and colder on the countertop. oh well.)

[yankaze]

KH OC week 2024 - Day 2: Past What was your character creation process like?

this one will be morally difficult for me 😭😭

I didn't find much old art to show, but I think these ones will say a lot.

Hajime as a character has existed since 2016. In March 2016 (I was 13 uuum 13 ehem) I learned about KH and somewhere around the same time I came up with this, at that time - eh, I don't know- at least unoriginal character who was literally a goth Roxas (I didn't knew about the existence of AUs idk, and Roxas is already ''emo boy'', but 2007 was almost here idkkk, we can joke about it for a very long time actually, but the fact remains a fact).

His name changed many times and there was no special meaning behind them (Sea, Syon), I just liked the way they sounded. I can answer the question why I named him ''Hajime'' right now. Internet says: ''Hajime (Japanese: はじめ) is a Japanese name meaning "beginning" (初め, 始め)''. I liked the way it sounded and its meaning and it gave me a hint where to move the character's story now.

+ in the Hajime's story he chooses this name for himself, because obviously no one gave name to him, but he needed a word to talk about himself and (i'm not sure about that) in the book he finds this name and I can say that it was chosen by him randomly.

He had a terrible written story on the basis of some other AU (???) and without сorvalol I can’t read it, even though it’s stored somewhere in my old dms from those years, I still don’t want to show it 😭

Around 2017 and up until 2019, I tried to make... something... out of him. It feels more like I just periodically returned to KH in a fit of baseless nostalgia and I really wanted to shove a “piece of myself” into this universe (which was already tired of me lmao).

2019 reminded me about KH in the form of KH III release and... this character again (+ my friend's kh oc- Jun).

I think that for a long time I didn't wanted to fundamentally change his concept (which was literally just that he exists and somehow travels around the worlds) because I was emotionally attached to this character. In essence, he was not just a character for me, but also memories that were triggered by each repeated hyperfixation on this universe.

It seems to me that the most obvious indicator of how I jumped back and forth into the KH universe is noticeable by the fact that it gave me the opportunity to look at one of my redraw series with this character through the years.

From 2020 to 2023 there was a long lull with this character.

2023 has been jUiCy in rethinking from the start because the long break gave me the opportunity to finally stop give in to nostalgia (or at least less) and loosen my emotional attachments to unworkable concepts. Therefore, this character now has the opportunity to finally become something better than a copy of another character.

However, this epic attempt was quickly abandoned as soon as the hyperfix ended.

We've reached the present time (mid-2024).

I slammed my fist on the table and decided to finally play through ALL the Kingdom Hearts games (that was therapy for my soul) and finally my understanding of KH universe became kinda complete (I still don't understand everything, the plot is very complex u'know). From what I began to understand, I decided to give this character another chance and close this damned gestalt.

This story is still ongoing, but I told in general details everything that happened to this character all these 8 years. This actually shows not only how the character changed, but also how I changed as an artist. Even my ''psychological problems'' can be seen through this story, and what amazes me the most is how over the years, using Hajime as an example, my drawing skills improved.

At such moments, you understand that you are not standing still and thoughts about "I have no progress in my art" no longer arise.

@khoc-week

[pascaloverx]

DANGEROUS

CHAPTER FOUR (+18)

Summary: You are a retired spy trying to live a normal life. Some time ago, a hired assassin named Tangerine tried to kill you. In response, you sought the help of an old acquaintance who could fake any death, August Walker. However, now your false identity is in jeopardy, along with your life.

Warnings: This chapter will have inappropriate language, explicit content. Readers are warned. The characters August Walker and Tangerine do not belong to me but to their respective creators. Some other characters that belong to both Mission: Impossible (2018) and Bullet Train (2022) may appear in this fanfic. Other characters who are not part of these movies will be of my own creation. I hope you enjoy the reading. Chapter with scenes intended for adults, if you are not an adult, do not read.

chapter three chapter five

August looks uncomfortable. Ever since he agreed to work alongside Tangerine. You know the fact that you had a brief romance with Tangerine doesn't help. As you prepare the bed so that August Walker can sleep, you feel him watching you. Tangerine was too tired to do anything so he just passed out on your bed.

"So after years of partnership, you ditched me for a cheap, less pretty version?" August says while watching you. You tense up, knowing you don't have much to say.You tense up, knowing you don't have much to say.

"I would like to remind you that after our partnership ended, you disappeared from my life. It was as if it didn't matter how many nights we spent together. You can't demand loyalty when you abandon someone." You say arranging the blanket on the bed. August is still standing with his arms crossed in the guest room door.

"I didn't abandon you. We made a deal, Y/N. Feelings were out of the question. And then you put my life ahead of the mission. Damn it, what did you think would happen?" Walker speaks with his authoritative tone, asserting his belief that he's right. But how could putting him above the mission be such a bad thing?

"I should have let you die, Walker. I should have let Ethan kill you on that damn mission, you ungrateful bastard." You say, staring at Walker, growing increasingly irritated. Walker approaches, getting inches away from you. His eyes devouring you as if he's thirsty for something.

"How desperate did you have to be to go from fucking me to fucking Tangerine?" August speaks in a mocking tone. You however laughed blatantly trying to make you feel inferior.

"Honey, you must have a really bruised ego. Tangerine and you are almost the same. And if you're wondering if in every way, yes is the answer." You say looking down, leaving no doubt you are talking about sizes. August seems more excited than angry at this moment, which confuses you a little. You expect a bad reaction, but it doesn't come. On the contrary, he grabs you by the waist and kisses you. At first, his lips touch yours softly. Afterwards it's as if you're missing each other's taste. Slowly exploring each other's mouth.

"You should never have come back into my life, you know that right?" August Walker speaks with his mouth almost glued to yours yet.

"Shut up." You respond, holding the hem of his shirt with both hands and then taking it off his body. He, in turn, lifts you a little off the floor, guiding you to the bed. It was almost as if his body had no weight at all. His hand quickly cupping your ass.

"You're still as hot as I remember." Walker whispers in your ear. You then kiss his neck, as if to say you liked the compliment. In the next second, August Walker is taking off the dress you're wearing and throwing it in some corner of the room. His fingers roam your face, and when his fingers pass your lip, you lick them lightly. Walker's reaction was to hold her face firmly but without hurting her and then devour her mouth with a kiss.

"I want you now." That's all you can say before you completely lose your lucidity as you watch Walker take off the rest of his clothes. You're obviously excited about the fact that you're going touch him again. Your hand passes lightly under Walker's cock, making him moan softly as you kiss his body.

"Lay down." He says dominant as he removes your bra. His fingers press against his breasts, causing a pleasant sensation of pain and pleasure. You let out a grunt when Walker's lips touch yours. He continues pressing the tops of your breasts with his hands while he is on top of you. Already your hands are busy holding his hair tightly. You then remember to grab a condom from the bedside. He watches you and seconds later he already puts the condom that was previously in your hand on his penis. He puts two fingers in your mouth and you suck on them, while looking directly at him. It's been so long since you two have been this close that you feel like you're going to explode. His fingers that were previously in your mouth are now in your pussy, almost causing a pleasant friction. His fingers enter you without delay, and you let out a few noises as you feel the pleasure of having at least a part of him in you. His fingers press into your pussy which is wet enough that he has no problem moving in and out of you.

"You...fuck me. Please." You sputter as you feel your body start to shake a little more. Walker smiles, kissing you next.

"Good girl." He says, taking his fingers out of you and pushing his cock into you. The feeling of having him like this was almost driving you crazy. You increased the pace of his thrusts and into you, as you held his ass to feel him more. His hands held Walker's ass so tightly that you could feel it would leave a mark later. But he didn't seem to care. He just thrust deeper and deeper inside you, as he kissed every detail of you, including your lips and mostly your neck. His kisses got deeper and deeper, as if he really needed you.

"Fuck. I'm going to go crazy with you." Walker says as you become a mixture of sex, moans and sweat. You can only smile, while mumbling disjointed words. You're reconnecting so easily that you don't even notice when you cum. But when he cums right away you smile. A smile of satisfaction.

"I can't lie. You're still one of the few fuckers who know how to fuck well." You speak while Walker is still beneath you. He then kisses you, getting off of you and throwing the condom in the trash. You weakly rest your head on Walker's chest as soon as he returns to bed. And at least at this moment, you allow yourself to sleep with a man who you don't even know if you can fully trust.

[bi-bard]

But After All You've Done, I Never Changed My Mind - Barry Allen Imagine [The Flash]

Title: But After All You've Done, I Never Changed My Mind

Pairing: Barry Allen X Reader

Based On: My Love Will Never Die [can't find an official version to link]

Word Count: 934 words

Warning(s): mention of criminal activity

Summary: (Y/n) knew that Barry took a massive chance on them when he trusted them to turn themself around and help people. When they fall into old ways, they believe that they've screwed up every chance they have to lead a better life. Barry shows them just how wrong they are.

Author's Note: Y'all, that trailer dropped, and I knew that I had to get this shit done.

HOZIER [2014] WRITING CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

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

I was growing very tired of the inside of the cells in Star Labs.

I was tired of the blue. I was tired of hearing the other meta-humans throwing tantrums. I was tired of being in the basement of some random lab.

And, most importantly, I was tired of knowing that I put myself here after I had a chance to get myself away from it all.

I had resigned myself to lying on my side facing the wall.

"I can feel you staring," I called out to the person there. I hated the feeling of eyes on me when I wasn't in control of the situation.

"Can't help it. I always stare at you."

I quickly sat up and turned toward the glass.

Barry was standing on the other side of the glass.

I had done a lot of bad things in my life. What I did to Barry hurt the most.

He was the reason that Team Flash ever trusted me to help them. He stood up for me, helped me, trusted me. After all that I had done, he trusted me.

He kissed me. I thought about that a lot. It was so... nice. I didn't get a lot of nice things like that.

And then, at the first chance of anxiety, I found myself running back to what I knew before. I worked with the same boss doing the same shit that got me caught by Team Flash in the first place.

I abandoned Barry and the team because I got too scared about how I felt and if I was going to screw everything up.

I had already given up hope that I would ever be forgiven before they caught me again.

"I didn't think you'd want to see me," I said.

"I've been looking for you for months," Barry replied.

I ran my hand over my face.

"Why did you leave?"

"Not quite cut out to be a hero. Much better on the other side."

"That's crap and you know it."

I rolled my eyes. "Barry, stop-"

"Tell me the truth," he stopped closer to the door. "Why did you leave? What happened? What did we do? What did I do?"

"I am a villain, Barry. That's it. You can't change who I am. What you were doing was fighting against the inevitable. Even now. You want me to be something different. Face it, I will continue making the same damn mistake. Give up. It'll be easier that way."

There was a pause.

"Did you love me," he asked.

My heart stopped. I looked away again.

"(Y/n). Did you love me?"

"Stop-"

"Because I loved you. I still love you. I am so in love with you that I spent months looking for you. I didn't want to catch you. I just wanted to see you."

I closed my eyes.

I looked back at him when the door to the cell started to open.

"You can go," he said once the door was fully open. "Walk out of here. I won't try to stop or fight you. Walk out the door, and I'll stop trying."

I suddenly wished that the door would close again. I didn't want to be in charge of this choice. It scared me. Oh God, I was so in love with him that this choice scared me.

"But know that it's because I love you... not because I would ever give up on you," he continued. "I love you enough to let you leave if that's what you want."

I slowly stepped forward, out of the cage.

I stopped just in front of Barry. He looked at me with this soft look that I was certain was going to make my heart explode. He was my entire world. How was I supposed to walk away from that?

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. I reached out and grabbed his sides, pulling him closer to me. His hands touched my back. I could never let this go. All I wanted was to feel like this forever.

I pulled back slowly.

I basically spoke against his lips, "I love you too, Barry."

He seemed to bite back his smile. He thought that there was a chance that I was going to leave still.

"I want to stay," I muttered as I stepped back fully. "But I can't work here. Not again."

"Why," he asked.

"It's too close, Barry. Too close to... that."

He furrowed his eyebrows, looking ready to argue about it.

"I'm not comparing you to them, I promise," I continued. "I just... I need something that isn't connected to it at all. I need time away from meta-human fights and saving the city and... all of it. I don't trust myself."

I was scared that my confession would change something.

I froze when Barry leaned in and kissed me again. I slowly kissed him back, grinning against his lips. He pulled away this time, smiling at me fully.

"I don't care about you working with us," he said. "I just want you."

I smiled back at him.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

There was a pause before he spoke up again, "Do you wanna go to dinner now?"

I laughed and leaned forward, touching my forehead to his collarbone. "I would rather go lay down somewhere that's more comfortable than the floor."

"I think I can arrange that," he replied.

"Thank you," I moved my head to look at him. "For everything."

"You're welcome."

And this felt like a much better step forward than I had ever taken before.

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

Navigation Guide

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[sol-consort]

I feel like a threesome with Jack and Miranda would slay. 1. Because they hate each other, but shepard always finds a way to keep them in line 2. When they fight all can hear is that one tiktok sound that's like "fuck it everybody get naked lets see who pussy the best". Like is it so wrong that I want to have a big Normandy gangbang.

P.S. It's crazy that you can't date Jack, Miranda, Tali, or Ashley as femshep because the tension between them and femshep is literally insane.

P.P.S., who are you're mass effect threesome pairings. These are the ones I can think of

1. Garrus and Tali (like Tali literally said she was thought about it all the time 🤨)

2. Thane and Samara (they similar vibes and I feel like it would be crazy hot)

3. Jack and Miranda (obvi)

4. Kaidan and Liara (because when I was playing the first mass effect they were fighting over femshep and in my head I was like omg just have a threesome)

5. Just one big orgy with everyone of the Normandy (idk I just think everyone's hot even Mordin 🤷‍♀️)

That's all I can think of, what do you think?

It is crazy that you can't date Jack!!! That's what I'm saying, especially with her dating women before like damn. First, they took wlw Ashley from us, and now this? Let my femshep get dicked down by a single butch I swear to god—Liara sit your femme ass back down!!

I agree with the tension between Miranda and femshep, I noticed it too. The rebellious laid-back leader and the uptight second in command who's an open spy for cerberus. Each time she invited shep to her room I was like "are we about to makeout sloppy rn?" so many scenes of her staring wishfully at femshep, wondering what would happen if she'd just make a move...how freedom would taste like on her lips.

-

Hmm, for the threesomes you mentioned, Thane and Samara oh my god you're a genius!

Both are brimming with devotion and unbridled yearning. Samara trying to resist you so hard for her oath, you're the greatest temptation she has ever faced. She is genuinely scared she might throw it all away just to find out how your naked body feels like pressed against her in bed.

Thane, who never thought he'd ever love again, who was a dead man when you found him, one foot in the grave. Ready to give up on life and everything. You revived him, you helped him make up with his son, became his sole reason for existence, to fight the sickness and live each day fully.

A threesome with them would burn with the same intensity as a thousand suns. They've both been starved for so long, stealing you from one another at any opportunity, working in unison to experience as much of you as possible in this short fragment of time.

Thane who's overeager for you, to show you how grateful he is for everything you've done. To let his tears run as you bring him to another climax while riding him, how he can't help but marvel at this powerful human atop his thighs.

Samara, who hasn't felt another's touch in centuries, an old asari past the age of passion and love, a matriarch through and through. To her, you're a sweet nectar she's been depraved of, an addiction she's quickly spiralling into. Eating you out with fervor, swallowing all of your cum, demanding more and more.

Thane is too gentle, she's too intense. Samara's too restrainted, he's too passionate. Both worship you in their own ways.

Thane's honeyed words, how even during sex he pours his heart out to you. Direct with his emotions and infatuation, absolutely transparent with his overwhelming adoration for you. Love gets so intense for the drell that it physically pains them.

Samara's is at a loss for words, ashamed of how delicious this sinful act feels. What the first bite of the apple must have felt to eve. Abandoning her oath of celibacy, breaking her convictions for you. Getting more and more rough in bed as she lets her conflicting emotions out by claiming her ownership over you through bitemarks and hickies, prints of her that grip on your thighs.

-

Jack and Miranda 100% Ever since that "Cerberus cheerleader" comment all I could imagine was the visual of the two of them in bed, battling over Shepard's attention.

While Thane and Samara would work together and find a middle ground despite Thane monogamous nature, these two women would absolutely refuse to meet eye to eye. In fact they'll use you to gain leverage over one another, prove that they can fuck you better than the other woman, that you frankly should just kick her out of bed and end this threesome.

...only to end up hate fucking one another by the end with you in the middle.

Fun times!.

-

Kaidan and Liara 👀 I see your vision, especially with that love traingle confrontation scene. Where you suggest just sharing, Liara is cool with the idea but Kaidan gets all huffy offended and leaves.

Because I want him to eat those words, to try and deny how much he actually enjoys sharing you with Liara. Because he is such a good scouts boy, he always tries to do the right thing and remain a true romantic at heart, a tender lover. I want to see him break his own code, to indulge in the most filthy threesome and be shocked by how much he enjoys it.

How much he likes watching you get taken by another person, especially Liara. He was so defencive around the smart asari, intimidated that another nerd beside him weasled their way into your heart.

Lowkey he had a crush on her but was too focused on wooing Shepard to notice it.

-

Sidenote: Mordin IS extremely hot, won't take any objections. It's so fucking hot when he basically tells you to swallow Thane's cum ingame by using medical terms to hint at how Drell's skin and other stuff are stimulatants to the human brain.

How hot would it be if he was this shameless and intrusive with your sex life all the time? like sure yeah he doesn't sleep with you, but he always asks–no demands explicit details about your last sexual experience and with whom, yk, as a part of routine checkup <3 no other reason.

Anyway, I want to spit roasted between James and Ashley. That's my ideal threesome...maybe Ashley and Thane too?

[coquitokisses]

Trusting Again | prologue

Word count: 3325

series masterlist • previous chapter • next chapter

— 2015 —

📍Austria

So after this man tried to kill us all, Sam and I are being the nicest friends Captain America could ask for because while he's out there saving the world, we're on Winter Soldier duty. We've been trying to locate Bucky for a few months now and we finally have a location so we came here. Just the two of us, so the chances of us dying are... pretty high considering we're dealing with a super soldier murder machine.

"You're taking too damn long, dude." I said walking around the hotel room waiting for Sam to give me a location

"It's still searching! Oh my god" he said "Take a seat and shut the hell up, you're making me anxious."

I walked over to a window and stared at the cars outside taking a deep breath.

"Got it." Sam said after a few minutes and I quickly walked over to him

"Where is he?" I asked looking at the computer

"Some street cameras caught him three hours ago."

"Let's go." I went to my backpack and grabbed my guns

I placed them in my holster and then I grabbed my knife putting it in my pocket.

"So you got two options," Sam told me "You either drive almost 4 hours to get there or you fly with me."

"Fine, but drop me and you're dead." I pointed at him with my other knife before putting it away

"Deal." he nodded

Before I could say anything else he dragged me to the balcony and he put his arms around my waist before jumping off making me let out a scream. He opened his wings and we were fucking flying.

"Don't fucking do that again!" I held on to him tighter and wrapped my legs around him

"Such a baby" he rolled his eyes

When we got to the location close to where the cameras caught Bucky, Sam did some more digging and we found where he was staying, it was like an abandoned building, but it didn't looked quite abandoned..? But people live here.

"Are you sure you wanna go in there alone?" He asked, we were on the roof by the way

"Yeah, I'll be fine" I nodded putting on the earpiece "Besides, I need you up here in case anything happens. Just.. be prepared, he already tried to kill me once."

"Be careful."

"Always."

I took out one of my guns and I entered the building, I walked down the stairs checking each floor, each small apartment but there was no sign of Bucky. And boy, there were 40 floors in this shit.

"How are things?" Sam asked through the earpiece

"It just look like a normal apartment complex, it doesn't look like he could be here." I pressed on my earpiece so he could hear me

I went to the next floor and started looking around, but again, nothing. Everything was normal, some of the people had their doors open and again, it really looked normal.

Where the fuck is this guy?

I walked down the stairs to the next floor.

"Can we talk to the people?" I asked Sam

"You wanna ask them?"

"Well.. yeah." I shrugged getting to the next floor "I don't think Bucky has austrian features so if someone has seen him they can tell me."

He sighed. "Alright, ask."

I walked to one of the apartments that had their doors open and I knocked twice on it with one of my knuckles catching an old lady's attention.

"Hi, um.. do you speak English?" I asked

"Yes, love, what do you need?" She walked to the door

"I'm looking for someone.. I believe he lives here but I'm not sure which apartment and I was wondering if maybe you've seen him." I explained and she nodded letting me know to keep going "Uh.. he's tall and has long brown hair, down to his jaw maybe.." I pointed my jaw "And uh, he has bright, steel blue eyes, kinda broad shoulders.. he’s a big dude."

"Oh yes, the man with the cap." She said

"You know him?"

"Yes, yes, he lives downstairs." She nodded "But I don't really know the apartment number."

"That's okay, this was helpful." I said "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, dear." She smiled

I quickly made my way downstairs to the next floor and I spoke to Sam.

"So I know he lives in this floor, but I don't know where." I spoke pressing on the small earpiece

"You got a pretty good intuition, use it." He replied

I rolled my eyes. "I'll try."

Not a lot of people live here by the looks of it. I walked around and decided to ask a man that was sitting just outside his apartment and thank god I did. I walked over to the apartment that the man told me and tried opening it but it was locked so I took out one of my bobby-pins and tried picking the lock, after a few tries I got the door open so I got in. Mentally preparing myself in case this guy decides to kill me.. which most likely will happen.

I walked inside and saw that there was a mattress on the floor next to a small sofa, some empty bottles on the table and on the kitchen counter.

"I think I found it." I said to Sam

"You think?"

"This is it, yeah." I nodded walking over to the table

"Is he there?" He asked

"No, I don't think so" I said looking over at some newspapers that were there

"Be careful, Cat."

I moved the papers away and there was one of those comic books of Captain America from back in the 40s and I also saw some old pictures along with a little notepad. When I grabbed it I heard the door creaking so I quickly took one of my knifes out and turned around immediately trowing it towards the door, only for Bucky to catch it with his metal hand. But in his other hand he had a gun.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." I said to him as relaxed as possible even tho I was terrified

"Oh yeah? Then what's this?" He threw the knife in my direction causing it to be nailed on the table

"Just a precaution." I grabbed my gun in my holster

"Uh-uh." He shook his head after seeing my action

"Then put the gun down."

"You're the one trespassing." He raised an eyebrow

Well he was kinda right. But I couldn't care less.

"How'd you find me?" He asked closing the door with his foot

"Well we've been keeping an eye on you since DC." I said, my hand was still on the gun

"Why are you here?" He took a few steps closer so I took a few back

"Why don't you put the gun down so we can talk?"

"Why don't you?" He looked down at my holster

He looked back up at me, straight in the eyes, and if I was fucking nervous just by being here, you can imagine how nervous I am now that he's just feet away from me while pointing a gun at me.

"You're very defensive." I sighed

He scoffed. "Look who's talking"

"Put the gun down, Barnes."

"You first, agent."

His eyes never left mine, not even for a second. I debated with myself for a few seconds before agreeing.

"Fine." I took a deep breath and then I lifted my hands

He lowered his arm and put the gun on the back of his pants, I put the safety back on the holster

"You're scared." He said walking towards the kitchen and he left the bag he had on the counter

"Well can you blame me? Last time we saw each other you tried to kill me."

"Then why are you here?" He asked

"I'm working with Steve, I'm sure you know him." I said and he looked at me

"I don't."

"Don't lie." I scoffed "You saved his life, now why would you do that if you don't remember who he is?"

"I just felt like I had to." He replied "Some part of me knew him and I knew that." He turned around to face me "Is he okay?"

"He is." I nodded "What are you doing here?"

"Well no offense but that's none of your business, agent..?"

"Navarro." I rolled my eyes "And no offense to you but after you tried to kill us I think I'm entitled to know what may be your next move."

"There's no next move." He said "I'm just trying to figure out who I am exactly."

"We can help you."

"With all due respect, how do I know I can trust you after what happened?"

"We're the good guys here, okay?"

"Are you?" He raised an eyebrow

"We're not the ones turning people into killing machines and ordering kills everywhere." I said and he scoffed

"You sure about that?" He frowned a little "You don't look much like any ordinary agent, miss Navarro, with all due respect."

"You don't know me, Barnes." I folded my arms

"No but I think I know a killer when I see one." He nodded slowly "After all, takes one to know one, right?"

"You're very quiet, is everything okay down there?" I heard Sam’s voice

"Give me a sec." I responded to him

"You didn't come alone." Bucky said "Smart."

"Listen, we wanna help you."

"Unfortunately I don't think you can."

"Look, Steve knows how I work and what I'm capable of and when I said I would find you, I meant it." I said "And I don't leave things halfway done."

"Then I guess you're gonna have to do it this one time."

"No I don't think so." I shook my head "You're coming with us whether you like it or no."

"I'm not coming with you." He said

Who does he think he's talking to?

"Why not?" I asked

"I just.. I need time." He sighed "Look, I'm not planning on killing anybody if that's what you're all worried about, that's not who I am."

"We don't know that."

"I'm telling you I won't do it." He said "Just trust me."

"Trust you?" I raised an eyebrow

"Oh the irony." He scoffed "And you want me to trust you? When you don't even trust me."

"Well no offense but given your reputation I don't think anyone would trust you."

"Steve would." He said "If you're here risking your life coming to find me, I assume it's because you're close with him because no one is that dumb to go after the Winter Soldier alone"

"I'm not alone."

"You know what I mean." He rolled his eyes

"And yeah, we're close."

"Then trust him, okay?" He said

Honestly, I could see in his eyes that he really wasn't a bad person. And I gotta say, even tho I was terrified when I saw him walking in here, I'm feeling a whole lot more calm now. He's not so bad when he's not a psychotic killer, I feel like he actually was being genuine about all this. Like he really means it and he actually doesn't mean any harm. Or at least for now. I can't believe I'm saying this but I believe him.

"I can't leave empty handed." I sighed "And I don't lie when it comes to my job so don't even think I'm gonna lie for you."

"You won't." He said

"I can't exactly just let you go."

"Well then why don't you actually try and stop me?"

"Stop you?" I scoffed "Look, I.."

"I'll help you, make it look like you actually tried to stop me if you let me go."

"I can't do that." I shook my head

"Like you haven't broken some rules before."

"It's not that, we're talking about screwing with the mission."

"I'm not going with you, miss Navarro and I think you know I'm serious."

I let out a sigh trying to think what the hell I was supposed to do now. He was serious about not coming with me and to be quite honest, I don't feel like fighting him on this, but I also don't want to go knowing that I didn't do anything to bring him.

"I want you to know that I don't do this, like, ever." I spoke "But I think I can manage to let you go if you're actually being honest about not killing anyone."

He sighed. "I don't want to kill anybody."

"For some.. dumb reason, I think I trust you." I ran my hand over my face "This is insane."

"So you're letting me go?" He asked

"I am, yes." I let out a sigh "But you gotta help me out."

"Deal." He nodded "I'll go easy on you."

"Not too easy." I rolled my eyes "Gotta make it believable."

God.. I'm in so much trouble.

He took some steps closer to me and I didn't have another choice than to pick up my gun.

He closed his fist and before he could hit me, I shot him but he blocked the bullet with his metal arm. He then grabbed me by the arm and threw me on the floor.

"Cat, is everything okay?" Sam asked, I'm assuming he heard the gunshot

"What the fuck?" I groaned and looked at Bucky

"You said you had to make it believable" he said "Well you are."

"You're crazy." I stood up from the floor and he grabbed me by the arms

He threw me to the other side of the living room and I took out my knife, he came onto me and grabbed me by the throat but I cut him in the arm.

"Ah!" He groaned and I pushed him getting him off me "That was very bold of you, you know that?"

What? I panicked.

He lifted me up by the shoulders and pressed me against a wall next to the kitchen cabinets, making me hit my head pretty hard tho. He reached his hand up and I saw him taking out a backpack from the top of the cabinets, then he. grabbed me by the shoulders pulling me away from that wall and pushing me into another one, his face was really close to mine and I was very nervous. Even tho I knew deep down he wasn't really trying to kill me this time.

"Just tell them you lost me." He said before cutting my arm with his knife

But the cut felt pretty deep. Well I can't complain, I did cut him pretty deep too.

"Ah shit." I winced pushing him away and he ran over to the balcony "Wait!"

Before I could say something else, he jumped off the balcony. I quickly made my way over there just to see him disappearing into an alley.

I can't believe I just did this. I let him go. You had one fucking job, Catalina, just the one.

And I decided to let him go. This is a first.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." I mumbled to myself "I lost him." I said to Sam as I pressed the earpiece so he could hear me

"What do you mean you lost him? Where'd he go?"

"He jumped off the balcony." I said "Ah motherf.. oh that asshole." I winced leaning on the wall

"What happened? Did you fight him?" He asked worried

"Something like that." I sighed

"Did you see where he went?"

"No, I was too busy pulling myself together." I lied walking back inside and saw that he left everything on the table "I'm coming back up, just give me a sec."

I walked over to the table and saw that the comic book and the pictures were still there. I looked around for the little notepad but I didn't find it anywhere so I guess he took it with him. I grabbed the comic book and I opened it, took the pictures and put them inside before grabbing the book and my knife and then I walked out of the place.

I walked up the stairs back to the roof and when Sam saw me, he quickly walked towards me.

"Are you okay?" He asked

"Yeah." I nodded "I found this tho." I gave the comic book to him "Look inside."

He opened it and saw the pictures. By the way, the pictures were like the ones on the museum in DC. They were of the Howling Commandos and Captain America and all of that stuff from back in the 40s.

"We gotta bring these back to Steve." He said and I nodded "How the hell did you lost him?"

"Well he's a fucking super soldier, what do you expect?" I rolled my eyes "He threw me across the room and left."

"Oh my god." He sighed

"We'll find him again, don't worry." I said "Now let's leave, my body's sore and I'm getting hungry."

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yes, I did."

"How was he acting tho?"

"I think he's going to places he has been before, that explains why he's here." I said "I think he may be remembering things with time, but maybe he's trying to jog his memory too by going to these places."

"Well makes sense, these are the same pictures that are at the museum." He looked at the pictures "And assuming he went there well then he knows pretty much how everything went down before HYDRA took him."

"Exactly." I nodded

"He needs help, Cat, he can't just go jump from one place to another trying to jog his memory."

"Technically he can, Sam, it's not illegal." I sighed

"He's probably doing things illegally."

"The man doesn't want our help, he made it clear when he threw me across the room." I rolled my eyes "Besides, I think he just needs time."

"Time? What, are you crazy?" He looked at me "Time for what?"

"To wrap his head around the fact that he's been an assassin for the last few decades." I said "All these years, they were wiping his memory and sending him on missions, the man didn't even recognized his childhood best friend, for god's sake."

"Why are you all of a sudden on his side? We're talking about a HYDRA assassin who, by the way, tried to kill all of us."

Yeah, what the fuck? Why am I on his side? He tried to fucking kill me when he appeared at SHIELD last time.

"He's not just an assassin, he's Steve's best friend."

"He was an assassin for HYDRA."

"He's a victim, Sam." I crossed my arms "Any sane person is gonna realize that."

"We don't know what he's gonna do, Cat." He said "There are probably people from HYDRA who survived, what if someone finds him?"

"I know that! Just.." I sighed

Maybe I made a mistake in letting him go.

I don't know why but something about him told me that he meant what he said. And to be honest, I do believe he was being honest, I don't usually do this but let's be real, the man has gone through some serious shit, give him a break. And Sam's right too, I mean, I see his point, he doesn't trust him completely after what happened and that's understandable. But I talked to him and I felt.. I just felt that he was being genuine about what he said.

"What?" Sam asked

"Let's just go." I ran my fingers through my hair "We need to tell Steve."

"Wait, you're bleeding." He grabbed my wrist watching the cut on my arm

"I'm fine." I said letting go

"Come on, let's go."

And just how we arrived here, we left the same way, flying. My body was a little sore actually.

Let's just hope the guys don't find out about this or else Steve is never gonna talk to me again.

Likes and reblogs will be appreciated!

previous chapter • next chapter

[mageofseven]

When Heat Cools: A MephistoMC Love Story

Chapter 5

Taglist: @astroseuss @fcxyviixen @jar-of-moondust @marvelous-maniac @missloserqueen

A couple days passed. MC didn't hold that argument back at HoL against her boyfriend, but she also didn't want him anywhere near the brothers or vice versa.

Fair enough. The couple still spent plenty of time together at school.

The two received some looks from their fellow classmates. I mean, the arrogant nobleman and the human exchange student being all tender and affectionate around school? Oh boy, were a lot people losing bets and a few lucky bastards were racking in the dough on this day.

One day, Mephisto finally gained the courage to talk to his parents about the baby

And it went about as well as he expected.

"This is ridiculous!" His mother screeched. "You've been raised better than this, Mephistopheles!"

His mother was a tall woman, around 5'10 (~178cm) and shared her son's purple hair, but had eyes as dark as the Devildom's sky.

"Mother--

"You've embarrassed our family enough!" She chastised.

"I under--"

"Enough! Now just pay that little...pet of your off," She spoke in disgust, as if MC was some gross little stray her son found in an alley way. "And cut ties; your father and I will clean up the rest."

"I won't do that." Mephisto said strongly. "MC is--"

"Your mother worked tiredlessly to get you an engagement with Duke Bastien's daughter and this how you return her effort?" His father stared down at him coldy.

This man was an impressive 7'2 (~219cm) tall with dark, greying black hair and the same green eyes as his son.

Most are intimidated by his father's height, but what most don't is that Mephisto's mother, on average, is the real one to be afraid of.

"I never meant for her work to end up fruitless." He defended. "However I won't abandon my child--"

"It's a bastard." His mother corrected. "Your father a had few of them himself and dealt with them as any nobleman should; exactly how you should."

Mephisto flinched.

"I am not like Father."

"You could have fooled me..." The woman said bitterly.

"Lamia, can we not do this right now?" Her husband asked tiredly.

"I don't know, can you do something about your son then?"

The man sighed before turning back to his son, eyes steeling once more.

"You leave your mother and I no choice. If you refuse to cut ties with this human, we will be forced to disown you...or worse."

Mephisto's eyes widened.

In truth, he wasn't scared of being disowned. He knew damn well it was an empty threat. He knew his parents weren't going to get rid of him when he was nearly ready to help his father with work just to wait a few hundreds of years for his little brother to be old enough.

How ever...he knew exactly what 'or worse' meant and his parent knew that the meaning came across crystal clear

And so the young man felt powerless.

~

MC was breathing quickly and her heart raced in her chest till her vision went white and the world went silent.

Slowly, a scene formed in front of her. Translucent beings swirling through the air in some form of dance, their strange voices reverberating off one another and creating a strange but somewhat familiar melody.

Seemingly just as soon as it came, the swirl of dark and light beings left, returning the woman to her room.

She took a moment to focus on her breathing.

In truth...this wasn't the first time the pregnant woman has had such a strange experience. These... visions (?) have been happening on and off since she's been pregnant. She never told anyone though not even Mammon because it seemed as if when things like this happened to her, the best thing was to stay quiet about it.

I mean, think about it. When was the last time her head of was messed with? Back when Lilith was directing her to save Belphegor and the rest of the brothers.

Often, it just seemed like when her head was affected by a seemingly supernatural force to just stay quiet till she got her answers.

However, these were getting tiring and whatever or whoever were causing these were not leading her to any solid answers about what she was seeing so far and it's been three months already.

Her phone beeped.

Out front. We need to speak for a moment.

Mephisto?

MC rose from her bed and left her room before heading to the front of the house.

The nobleman was at the front door, his limo behind him.

She growned.

"Did you have to bring that thing?" She complained.

"That's not important." He waved her words away. "I need you to do something."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

Mephisto told his corazón a slightly censored version of his conversation with his parents and asked her to come to the castle with him.

In truth, the man had no power in his home against his own parents so he decided to try to hit them where it hurt--politics.

However, he cannot do it on his own. Obviously, he and Lord Diavolo are not as close as they were as children. MC, however, is an important friend of the prince's and so Dia would surely step in to help the both of them if it was a request of hers?

So the couple headed to the castle and was led to the prince's office by Barbatos.

The prince raised his eyebrows.

"My friends, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Lord Diavolo...some issues have arisen and we are in dire need of your assistance." Mephisto explained.

"That...sounds quite urgent indeed." Dia looked to MC with a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

She hugged her small belly and leaned into her boyfriend for comfort.

"Kinda?" She answered, worried about the situation she and Mephisto were in. "Look, Mephisto and I are...kinda together--"

"I heard!" The prince smiled at her before his gaze traveled to the other man. "This is great news and especially great personal growth on your part, my old friend."

"I...thank you, my lord."

"That's not it though!" MC interrupted, tearing up slightly. "I'm...I'm pregnant and his parents are upset and we aren't sure what to do..."

"My parents said they will disown me or worse," Mephisto emphasized those last words. "If I don't abandoned MC and marry Duke Bastien's daughter."

Diavolo's eyes darkened. The human may not know, but both men in the room knew what the 'worse' his parents spoke of was. A last resort when noble parents don't get their way; they put a hit out on the person their child is breaking the rules for.

Essentially, Mephisto's parents are threatening to hire an assassin to kill MC simply for carrying their son's baby, a baby he refuses to abandon.

Neither man will explain this out loud though. No, the mother-to-be had enough to worry about; best to let her in-laws' lethal plans not be one of them.

"I understand." Diavolo nodded in seriousness. "I will lean on them, let them know I am watching and that no...'accidents' will be overlooked."

"Thank you, my lord."

The human was quite confused about what the prince meant, but it seemed as it he had things covered so...that's good?

"Now," Dia clapped his hands and smiled. "Enough of all those stressful things. How about joining me for some tea in the garden?"

MC sighed and relaxed her shoulders before looking up at Mephisto.

"Can we stay for tea? Please?"

In truth...considering his past with the prince, the nobleman would rather not. However, he is in no position to refuse now that MC has asked him so sweetly.

Well...tea it is.

[nevadancitizen]

“like the tiptop tournée”

synopsis: what would kim kitsuragi be like in the m:pn self-aware au?

word count: 2.7k

characters: kim kitsuragi, sanford, deimos, 2bdamned, hank, player! reader

trigger warnings: canon-typical violence, deimos being a menace

notes: i finally got a free day because everything’s frozen over and got to finish this 😭😭

Nevada really isn’t anything new to Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi. He doesn’t consider himself the finest of Precinct 57, but he’s pretty damn notorious for his detective abilities – and he’s been in strenuous situations like this before. 

But, honestly? In his many cases, he’s never met anyone like you. The only god he’s met is Evrart Claire: a man masquerading as the god of the dock worker union’s corruption. Don’t get him wrong, he doesn’t revere you in the same way the others do – you carry somewhat supranatural power, you have an unnatural warmth about you, and others worship you – but Kim’s never been one to believe in gods, and he’s not about to start now. 

Sure, he felt your presence while in Revachol: some entity looking over his and Harry’s shoulders. Harry described you as “maybe some type of Dolores Dei,” but Kim knew you were more than a political figure somehow dubbed an Innocence.

(Kim looked down at the pinball machine. It was themed after the Dolorian Age – a time of early airships and beautiful, sad, pearl-laden women. He was glad it was broken. 

“How about we fire one of these bad boys up and play some ball?” Harry du Bois asked. He was the partner assigned to him by Kim and Harry’s competing precincts (the 41st and 57th, respectively).

“We can’t ‘fire them up,’ they’re broken,” Kim said. “Only that one machine in the main hall works. The Royalist Pinball.” his voice was ever-so-slightly laced with disgust at the name.

Harry laughed through his nose. “Sounds like you don’t enjoy pinball, Kim.”

Kim was almost too ready to reply. “No, I love it – I love pinball. Who doesn’t love pinball? Let’s move on.”

Their heads turned to the damp ceiling as they heard a quiet laugh. It wasn’t an actual laugh, mind you, not one they could really hear, but one they could feel resonate within themselves.

Kim and Harry looked at each other. They both decided, unspoken, that it was just the wind or the city or the rattling of this old brothel-hotel. But really, deep down, they both knew it was you.)

He’s always known everyone has the capability to murder, but the ease at which it’s committed here almost astounds him. He still keeps his cool, and (before you discover your powers) even defends you.

(It happens fast. You can do nothing but look down the barrel of the rifle. You can almost see the grooves on the inside. Its scope looks like a camera lens, focusing on you. It will take a picture of absolute destruction when the trigger is pulled. 

You hear Kim quickly whisper “God, please.” 

A shot rings out. It takes a moment to realize you’re not dead. Smoke rises from the barrel of his Kiejl A9 Armistice. Kim stands from his semi-crouched position. Your hands shake. His do not.)

It’s a shock when you find the grunts. Deimos and Sanford found you in a – what they thought was – an abandoned warehouse. They were clearing it out, trying to hide. You were too.

(You grip the handle of the broom closet door and try to keep your breath steady. Kim has his gun pointed at the door. You both know that if it opens, you’ll have nowhere to run.

“We know you’re here, bozo!” a voice rings out. They talk lowly to another person. You’re so pumped full of adrenaline you can’t recognize who it belongs to. 

Kim pulls the hammer of his gun back slowly, and it lets out a soft click. The conversation stops.

You’re good as dead.

An axe head crashes through the wooden door. You crumple into the corner. Kim backs into the wall. A hand reaches through and unlocks the door. Kim exhales sharply and shoots it. 

The owner of the arm screams. The next bullet clicks into place. Another arm, belonging to someone else, shoots through and flicks the door handle down. The door opens.

“Stop!” Kim shouts. He grips the gun harder. “I am an officer of the RCM, and have been permitted to use deadly force.”

They laugh and step closer to him. 

You look up to see two grey men. Through the shadows, you can see the one closer to you is wearing a durag and sunglasses. He has a natural pout that’s turned into a twisted smile.

“Sanford?”)

To say they’re overjoyed to see you would be an understatement. They could almost feel you in Nevada, and the wanted posters plastered with your face didn’t help with your poor attempt at stealth. But they were wary of the man you had brought with you, and made it very apparent.

(You barely managed to calm your nerves when you were sitting in the back of a pickup truck. Sanford immediately started the engine and drove. 

Deimos’ breathing was labored, and he clenched his bicep where he had been shot. And yet, he still talked. Some things never change.

“So.” You could hear him gritting his teeth. “Who’s the crackshot?”

“Kim Kitsuragi, Lieutenant of Precinct 57 of the RCM.” Kim answered for you. “And I apologize for shooting you. But I will not hesitate to do it again, if you present yourself as a danger.”

Deimos barked a laugh that was cut off by coughing. “Yeah, right.”

Kim opts to look out the window at the desolate landscape. The wind rolls in through a prominent crack, causing his orange aerostatic pilot jacket to ripple like water. 

Tension clouds the air like humidity.

“The, um,” you stutter. Deimos looks back at you. “RCM stands for the Revachol Citizen’s Militia. Kim knows how to shoot a gun, but he still knows how to holster it: he’s useful both as an officer and as a man. He is useful to us.”

Deimos turns forward. Sanford glances at you through the rearview mirror. If you say so…)

When you get back to base, it’s much of the same. Hank greets him as he does anyone else – with violence. Doc is more formal, of course. 

(“Lieutenant Kitsuragi.” Doc tries the name out on his tongue. It tastes like an old motorpool and authority – an authority he’ll barely respect, surely. “Just call me Doc, or 2B, if you like.”

“So you are the medic?” Kim asks. “What are your qualifications? If you don’t mind my asking.”

You shoot him a glance. There’s no strong-arming someone in Nevada unless you’re waterboarding them. This place doesn’t recognize your authority. Kim, we’re foreigners here – please, don’t do anything too rash.

Doc is curt. “I’m qualified enough.” 

“Yes, of course,” Kim says. “I didn’t mean to offend you. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” 

Kim starts to reach a hand towards your shoulder, but a hand shoots forward and grabs it. You look up. 

It’s Hank… the one man you were dreading introducing to Kim. You’re excited to see him nonetheless, but…

“Hank!” you exclaimed. His red goggles shined in the low light, glaring at Kim. He still held his wrist in a crushing grip. You eased his hand away, so he opted to hold yours instead. 

Kim glanced down at your hands. You could tell he was itching to ask many questions – probably about how you were able to ease the wrath of a psycho.)

Kim tries not to discuss the grunts to their faces. He does his best to keep up his professional persona, as draining as it may be. 

(It should’ve been night by now, but there was no sun in Nevada. You could only tell because of the moon rising in the sky and your biological day/night cycle. 

You sat on the steps leading up to the base. There were footsteps behind you. 

“I thought I told you, I’m gonna be okay. I’m just a few steps outside –”

“You did not tell me anything.”

Kim sits down on the steps beside you, but keeps a healthy distance. He has a feeling someone would know if he was too close, and promptly eviscerate him. 

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. It’s just that… this day…” you sigh.

Kim looks out at the horizon. “Yes, I understand. If I have too many more days like this, I may die prematurely. If I do not die in the line of fire first.”

He reaches into his jacket to pull out a single cigarette and a lighter. You smelt chestnuts when he lit it. He takes a deep pull and lets it settle in his lungs before breathing it out.

You watch the smoke dissipate. “So, what do you think? You like organizing your thoughts on paper. You written anything interesting?”

He brings out his blue Mnemotechnique notebook. Two fat, shiny pens hang from the binder like large caliber bullets hanging from an ammo belt. He flips through it, stopping on a page of importance. 

“Hm. Well, your men are very protective of you. I suppose that connection can only come with being one of your – how do you describe it? – ah, vessels. I understand the basics, but I don’t understand why it would inspire the need to revere you as they do.”

“It sounds freaky, but I can control them. I controlled Lieutenant du Bois. I protect them, and I guess that would deserve worship. Not that I want it, or anything.”

Kim scribbles something down in his journal. 

“So you were with us throughout everything?”

“Yeah. I remember most everything, too… especially standoff-style eyebrow raising matches.”

There was barely a crack of a smile on his face. That was the most you could ask for. 

“Still – those men are guard dogs. Be sure to keep them on a short leash, lest they do anything… unsavory.”

You laugh and shake your head. “Yessir, Lieutenant.”)

The grunts honestly don’t understand why you regard Kim as you do: why do you feel the need to have a man that’s practically an intruder in the base when you have them?

(“Yes, Lieutenant du Bois is… an interesting man,” you laugh. “But he’s Harry, and what more can you ask for?”

“A man with his memory intact would be a nice start,” Kim jokes, deadpan. You laugh harder and agree. 

Deimos cuts into the conversation. “So, what about you, Kim? What’s your background?”

He chose Kim’s first name on purpose, you think, so Kim knows he doesn’t respect his lieutenancy. But he has no interest in Kim’s personal life. Why does he ask?

“Well… I’m half-Seolite. Or – quarter. My father’s father was from Seol – so was my grandmother, but from my mother’s side…” he shakes his head. “But I’m still just a regular, garden-variety Revacholiere. I’m not an interesting topic.”

“Your police work,” Sanford says. “He’s asking about your police work.”

“Ah.” Kim thinks for a second. He’s choosing which cards he wants to reveal out of his entire hand. “Well, I was a juvenile officer for around fifteen years. I had a long-haul job, was successful, and moved into the homicide wing.”

Deimos is desperately trying to play nice. “And what was… this long-haul job?”

Kim spares a barely-detectable glance at you. “I’m not telling you that.”

Deimos sighs out a “Right…”)

They’re frustrated at Kim’s investigative nature, and at your willingness to appease it. They ask themselves constantly, what are his ulterior motives?, even though he has none. He never leaves you alone, and they interpret that as more of a “I’m in love with you,” type of way and less of a “You’re the only human I know, and I’m concerned for your safety. I want us both to get home – you to yours, and me to Revachol – but I’m scared we won’t be able to, though I would never admit it. Let’s stick together for now” type of way.

(“Doctor.” Kim greets Doc as he enters the room. 

“Lieutenant.” Doc’s eyes skip over him and fix on you. “Hey, do you have time to come into my office? I want to do a check-up – maybe learn more about the differences between our species.”

“Oh, okay.” you stand up from where you were sitting. “Maybe Lieutenant Kitsuragi can come with? So you can do a cross-examination.”

Doc is quick. “No.”

“It would be wise to do as they say,” Kim says. “You are a man of science, no? Science needs information. If you had twice the subjects, you would have twice the information.” 

Doc screws up his eyes behind his goggles. “Yes, I suppose you can come by later.”

“I’ve been meaning to have a look at your office and supplies. I would like to know what we have at hand.” Kim stands. “I can take a look while you do your examination.”

“I’d rather you not ferret through dangerous weapons and chemicals without direct supervision. I can bring you an organized list later.”

“C’mon, Doc.” you walk forward and turn him towards the door, letting your hand linger on his shoulder. “Lieutenant Kitsuragi knows what he’s doing – how else would he be so high in the RCM? He won’t make some bioweapon while you do a check-up. And he knows drugs: from a purely knowledge-based standpoint, of course.” you look over your shoulder. “What was that one, the – the d-something?”

Kim’s looking at where you touched Doc. His mind is racing with possibilities, taking too many mental notes to remember. “Diamorphine.”

“Yeah, diamorphine,” you look forward and start leading Doc outside. “See? He’s of stable mind, stable health, stable spirit. He even remembered what diamorphine was even though it was taken off the streets years ago!” you pull him closer. “He’s not that bad of a guy. A cop, sure, but he’s more of a detective anyway.”

Doc’s eyes flicker around the room. He’s flustered, yet you can barely tell. “I… alright. But I’ll be keeping my eyes on you. I don’t want you making some type of incurable disease.”)

God, and they get real fucking angry when you defend him. Why do you feel the need to do so? He’s obviously a non-player human, and he’s weak compared to grunts. 

(“Jeez, these are like magnifying glasses.” you say, peering into the lens of Kim’s glasses. “I’m glad you have them, otherwise we would’ve been dead meat when that guy decided to get smart with us.”

You’re just about to hand them back to him when Deimos swipes them from you. He brings them up to his face and laughs.

“God, you’re right!” he exclaims. “What are you, Kim, blind?”

Kim snatches them back and puts them back on. “No. I’m significantly farsighted.”

“Yeah, Deimos,” you say. “They’re just glasses.”

“Well, how am I supposed to know?” Deimos says. “Basically no one wears them here.”

“So you have amazing technology, but no one wears glasses?” Kim asks. 

You can foresee the argument blooming between them. “Almost everyone’s a clone here, Lieutenant. They have identical eyesight, along with identical… well, everything else. Except for personality, tastes, experiences, and the like.”

Kim hummed and wrote something down in his notebook. What you wouldn’t give to be able to take a look inside…  and be able to read his handwriting, of course. 

Deimos notices you staring at Kim. What he wouldn’t give to be able to slaughter him, right then and there… and be able to still build a relationship with you, of course.)

All in all, Kim’s a good companion: understanding, empathetic, and knows damn well how to shoot a gun. But here, he’s a target. He’s used to being one, and has been shot at plenty of times, but sleeping in the same base as four murderers, knowing one of them could knife him quietly in his sleep and blame it on raiders… he’d rather be home. Who wouldn’t?

He contemplates slipping away at night, sneaking out of a window or something like that. But he knows each person has their part to play in the world. His part was to solve crimes, now to stay by your side. He’s under no illusion that his role isn’t a minor one, in the grand scheme of things, but he embraces it because it’s his role. It’s the grunts’ too, whether they accept it or not. This story isn’t about them. It’s about you.

[sorcerersandskillusers]

Here's an extract of an old fic I wrote years ago, writing Dazai was and is one of the most fun/hard things to do ever

Context: Atsushi just found Dazai floating in the ocean with a crab in his mouth there are other people there, but they don't matter for this part “Damn it, he got away.” He muttered as he crawled around franticly searching for something, until he came face to face with Atsushi’s legs.

“Atsushi-kun, fancy seeing you here. This must be the third time we’ve met like this, remind me to have Kunikida get you an ice-cream as a prize” his tone was friendly and perfectly normal as if he hadn’t just nearly drowned but was instead meeting a friend in a café.

“Dazai-san… I thought you’d stopped doing suicide attempts by yourself?” Atsushi said with a mixture of disapproval and resigned sadness in his voice

“Ugh, Atsushi you think I would try to pass on from this world all alone? You doubt my honour as a suicidal maniac? It breaks my heart to hear my own college say something so cold.” Dazai replied in an overly dramatic tone, completely ignoring the sudden shift in atmosphere.

Looking unconvinced, Atsushi sighed and asked, “then what were you doing in the ocean? Were you just ‘having a relaxing float’ again?

His tone clearly indicated that this kind of thing was not new to him, and probably happened more often than any of the others could have imagined.

“Ah…” Dazai said, a smile slowly creeping its way onto his face, “so you want to hear about my grand hunting mission.”

“Grand hunting mission!?”

“I shall call it”

‘Dazai Osamu Adventures!: The Terror Beneath The Harbour’

He then posed dramatically, which might have looked impressive… if he wasn’t still soaking wet and covered in bits of seaweed.

It all started at the office, I was studiously working on some reports for the president after having wrapped up my 3rd case of the day-

Studiously working? I don’t think i've seen you actually finish a report since I joined the agency, you always just give them to me to do

Do you want to hear the story or not? As I was saying. I sat at my desk when I overheard Kenji say something very interesting.

“The best food is always the food you kill and cook yourself; I remember when I made my first beef bowl from the cow, we’d been rearing that year, it was like heaven in my mouth.”

I was inspired, I wanted to taste that heaven myself. So, I decided to hunt down my own meal and cook it for the agency. Of course, I chose to hunt the most delicious creature in the whole world the king crab, so long had I enjoyed the canned crab from the supermarket, now I would finally feel the thrill all great crab hunters must feel to give us such an amazing food.

I don’t think that’s a real job-

I immediately started researching and quickly found that there was a perfect crab hunting spot not too far from the city, and after collecting my supplies, I set out on my great hunt. I walked to this spot and dived straight into the ocean.

After searching the dark, cold waters for a while, I was beginning to give up hope, but then I spotted it. A horned shell as red as blood and two claws that could tear through a tank with ease, my quarry was here, and I was ready to fight. I pulled out my weapons, (a crab fork and a knife I stole from the kitchen). And dove towards the beast, we clashed in an epic battle, steel against shell, claws against bandages. But in the end, he managed to disarm me.

I knew I stood no chance against such a mighty foe without a weapon, it was hopeless, I would have to abandon my mission and run.

But then…

Dazai’s voice rose to be even more dramatic as he slowly raised his hand to his chest.

I remembered my colleagues, how much trust and faith they put in me as the most respected detective at the agency. How many trials they had overcome for my sake, and I knew that couldn’t fail here. I would have my home cooked crab even if it cost my life.

I grabbed the crab's claws with my own hands, there we wrestled back and forth, neither willing to give in, two warriors locked in mortal combat. then I thought of you, Atsushi-kun my loyal and faithful student and like you decided to solve my problems by biting them-

Hey that’s not-

-AND so with my prey defeated, I triumphantly celebrated, which was interrupted when I remembered I hadn't taken a breath for 15 minutes and promptly passed out.

"And that's when you found me," Dazai finished with a smile.

This was from a chapter draft for my very first fanfic, it's crazy how much has happened since then. Since ill probably never update that fic again, I figured I'd share this with you guys.

(side note; It's weird how much this feels like a bsd wan, considering I wrote this before I knew what bsd wan was)

[vorpal-doll]

I have this reoccurring dream, or nightmare.

Could be classified as both, but sometimes I just wonder what if.

Not in a yearning or romantic way; but what if there was an opportunity for a different outcome? Would that have mattered at all?

Or would we have been damned regardless of the attempts?

I found myself thinking about the time when we were friends, you were stuck in a hurricane down in Florida, and I remembered being so worried about your safety. It consumed my mind to know if you were okay or not.

You somehow found a nest in my heart and made yourself a home. But in that home, there were cracks. The foundation wasn’t solid.

And I hesitated, I remember being scared that you were getting close. I didn’t want that to happen; I knew the risks.

But the foolish hopeless romantic in me, couldn’t fight it; truthfully, I don’t know if I even really wanted to?

I remember the way you lightly touched my neck for the first time.

It was the first time you had touched anybody in a long time, and there was something so innocent in the way you touched me; so tenderly… delicately.

I remember feeling every intense spark, the undeniable chemistry.

I was happy.

But look at where that got me.

From being told I would never be given up on; how scared you were to lose me—

to being left behind so quickly.

Abandoned when I needed you most.

I was so angry. I can’t adequately explain the emotion I felt.

It was all-consuming.

Abandonment wounds triggered, the home I felt rapidly taken away leaving a hole where you placed it.

Sleepless nights. No appetite.

Eager for the day that we would talk again.

You said “give me some space if you want me back.” So I did.

But you never planned on actually coming back. It was a tactic to make me go away.

Everything you did afterwards was to get rid of me.

I was too naïve to realize that at the time.

I didn’t want to believe that.

I guess part of me was hoping that you had actually loved me the way I had loved you.

But you didn’t, and deep down I knew that.

A story as old as time.

You sold me a partial fairytale and I bought it. There was no perfection in our story.

You treated me like I was the scum on the bottom of your shoe the second you were done and I was discarded.

And if you don’t see that for what it is, then we have two very different lens. two stories on parallel planes.

I’ve learned to let go of you, my anger toward you… but sometimes I just get glimpses of what remains,

memories.

11. 01. 23– a message I’ll never send

[justnerdy15]

Misermie Mall (Flash Fiction Friday/daily snippet 8.25.23)

wip: original fiction wc: 1005 prompt: @flashfictionfridayofficial Mall at Night

The mall in Misermie, Tennessee finally shuttered its doors in 2007, leaving its massive buildings derelict and abandoned in the town’s crumbling downtown district.

It served no purpose — considered useless even by graffitiing teenagers and lone squatters who left the building untouched and alone — than to be the biggest eyesore that the residents of Misermie ever seen.

Yet, the city council had spent the past sixteen years striking down any attempt to get the mall demolished. At the beginning there were promises of new businesses, of a so-called economic revival for the destitute local economy, but those were quickly proven empty when a year passed, then two, then four with no sign of improvement. By the fifth year the Coming Soon banner, tattered and dirty, disappeared from sight after its cords snapped during a thunderstorm.

And that’s about the most exciting thing that’s happened to damn thing since.

People don’t even talk about it anymore. Maybe mumble a “Oh, that old thing” or even a “You mean those buildings downtown” when a kid tries to bring up the fact that nearly 4 blocks of downtown is obscured by the industrial corpse of the mall.

And god forbid you try to bring up the smell.

“Dude, my mom acts like I’m crazy when I bring it up,” Sam complains as she vaults herself over the fence. Her sneakered feet hit the asphalt with a smack and she winces at the sharp pain that zips up her legs. “Like, how can you not smell it?”

She turns to watch as Henry clambers his way over the top of the fence, the dim streetlights illuminating the dull metal, making sure he doesn’t snag himself on anything on the way.

“Yeah,” he breathes out as he swings a leg over, “My parents are the same way. It’s pretty weird.”

He decides to drop the rest of the way down and nearly topples over because of it.

“Jesus, Henry,” Sam says as she reaches out to steady him. “We haven’t even made it inside yet.”

He makes a face at her and wipes his hands on his pants. “I’m fine,” he grumbles, adjust the backpack on his shoulders, “Is Violet here or what?”

Sam pulls out her phone, studiously ignoring the texts from her parents, and checks her conversation with Violet. “Uh, she’s already at the back entrance. She said to keep the lights off until we’re around the back.”

“Of course she did.”

She kicks him with her foot. “C’mon, don’t be such a baby. Let’s go.”

As they walk through the parking lot, cracked and weedy, Sam looks over her shoulder every once and while, making sure they’re still in the clear.

“Hey, did you hear about that news reporter?” Henry asks a couple of minutes later, knocking his shoulder into hers. “The one from ETNN?”

Jeremiah Meadows. Knoxville native. Graduate from Northwestern. Missing five days and counting.

“A little bit. Not much though,” Sam says, glancing over at Henry. “What about it?”

“My sister’s weirded out about it. You know, she works for the city — the mayor’s office? They were bitching about the guy visiting for days. Like, downright being nasty.”

“Buncha old hags. Not your sister,” she added quickly, giving a brief grin, “but I’d say that seems pretty par the course.”

“Yeah, but then the guy goes missing! That’s pretty fucking weird.” His nose scrunches up. “Ugh, god, it’s getting worse.”

It’s hard to describe the smell. Like floral rot and mold and rust. A kind of, like, raw meat smell? It ebbs and flows, but never quite disappears and it feels like it invades every part of town no matter how far you are actually from the mall.

How her parents have no idea what she’s talking about is beyond her.

Sam smothers a gag, reaching up to cover her nose with her sleeve-covered hand, and shakes her head. So gross.

They turn the corner, finally reaching the back portion of the buildings, when she barely spots Violet a couple of yards away.

“Well, there’s Vi,” she says, muffled through the cotton fabric.

“Hey, Vi!” Henry calls out, waving.

Amateur.

Sam kicks him again.

“Shut up,” she says, muffled, wacking him on the shoulder. “We’re trying not to get caught. Remember?”

“Oh my god, it’s not like anyone else is here but us, Sam, lighten up.”

“Hey Henry!” Violet replies just as cheerfully and as loud. Henry gestures towards her. See.

Whatever.

Violet greets them with a wide smile, scooping her bag up from the ground, and jerks her head towards the boarded up doors. “Welcome, welcome,” she chirps, bouncing on her toes. “You nerds ready for an adventure?”

“Sure, if we can even get in.”

Sam rolls her eyes. “We’ll get in. Where’s the loose panel at?”

“Over here.” Violet walks to the closest door and nudges a wooden panel with her foot. “I thought about kicking it in, but you said you had it covered.”

“Yeah. Fair warning,” she says as she rummages through her bag, “This is going to take a minute.” There it is. Sam pulls out a hammer and goes to kneel by the panel.

She grips the hammer tightly and pounds the head against the panel. It takes a few hits before she can feel the wood give a little and she starts to move around the perimeter.

She nearly has the panel loose when a wave of the smell hits her. Recoiling from the door, she blinks away stinging tears. Shallow breaths, Sam.

They’re getting into the damn building.

“Do you want some help?” Henry asks, tapping her on the shoulder.

She shakes her head and stands. “Nah. I’m good.” And kicks the panel in.

Violet claps her hands. “Well, welcome one and all to the Misermie Mall!” She takes a step back. “Henry, you first.”

[vital-spirit]

OFFSCREEN POST

Spirit Talk: Part Two | Final Part

Braviary craned his neck down a bit to get a better look at what he was being shown, “I am lookin’ at yer grandbaby, Boltund!” The bird chuckled, “Howdy there, lil’ lady!”

The Lillipup internally sighed, “Hi there, Mister Braviary.”

The avian Pokemon stood up happily, nodding in greeting to Typhlosion before his eyes drifted over toward Lucario who stood a bit away from the group, “And I take it that that’s yer boy over there, Boltund?”

“Yup, that’s right!” Boltund said. “The one I said was. Y’know what I said. I do not have to repeat it.” She gives a large, forced smile. 

Braviary stared at her in silence for a long moment before nodding, “Riiight. Well–” He turned his attention toward Lucario, his eyes seemingly scanning the canine Pokemon before gesturing with his talons as he smiled, “C’mon, boy, you don’t gotta stand so far away, we don’t bite.”

Lucario awkwardly shuffles a few paces closer, but is still a distance away. 

“How do ya’ plan on contributing to the conversation while so far away, boy?” As the Braviary spoke, Typhlosion shook his head with a quiet chuckle before the avian Pokemon beckoned Lucario closer with his talon, “Bit closer now, c’mon.”

Bingo threw a look over her shoulder towards Lucario, her eyes narrowed as if to say “Do not fuckin’ leave me to deal with this by myself.”

Lucario shuffled another few paces closer only for Braviary’s talon to shoot out and pull him into the group. 

“Now, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Braviary asked, his tone chipper.

Bingo stuck her tongue out at Lucario from where she was being dangled in Boltund’s paws, scrunching up her nose with a grin.

“Right. Not so hard…” Lucario says, a thousand yard stare. 

Boltund puts Bingo down and addresses Typhlosion again. “Do you know where Houndstone is?” 

Typhlosion shook his head, “Mayor Houndstone is busy dealin’ with some things. Don’t know quite what but then again that ain’t my business, just know he ain’t gonna be available for a couple of days.”

Bingo gave herself a shake before freezing, feeling a pair of eyes staring down at her. Glancing upwards, she noticed that Braviary’s curious gaze was resting on her, they locked eyes for a moment before she quickly looked away.

“Damn,” Boltund cussed. “I wanted to show these two to him.” 

“You remind me of someone, lil’ lady.” The eldest Pokemon mused, grabbing Bingo’s attention, “An old friend of mine, in fact.”

The Lillipup stared up at him, tilting her head in confusion as her eyes studied the avian’s face, “Pardon?”

“An old friend of mine,” Braviary repeated as if that would explain anything, “I’m not completely sure on why you remind me of them…” After a brief silence fell across the group he slowly turned to stare down at Lucario, his expression unreadable, “Where did you find this lil’ lady?”

Lucario looks up at him. “In the desert. Woulda died if I hadn’t. Cyclone was standing over her when I did.” 

“I understand.” The large avian Pokemon hummed, a strange look in his eyes before he turned his attention back to Bingo, “You know, the friend you remind me of is actually who I’m waitin’ for. It’s why I haven’t let Typhlosion take me along the tracks quite yet.”

Braviary shook his head before Bingo could respond, “No matter, though.” He looked towards Typhlosion, as if silently asking him something.

The sharply dressed Pokemon flicked the brim of his hat, letting out a low whistle before quickly changing the subject, “So! How’d you two end up in Lost? Not many of the livin’ folk make it here unless you’re of the Ghost Type variety.”

“We came in through the Mystery Dungeon. Boltund said that’s ‘The Wrong way’ to get in, so we ended up here instead of the completely abandoned one,” Lucario explains. 

Typhlosion bounced his pocket watch between his paws, “Right, right. That happens sometimes. But mostly only Ghost Types come here on purpose.”

“Then why are you here, Mister Typhlosion?” Bingo piped up, her nose twitching in curiosity once more.

“Oh!” Typhlosion blinked before answering in a cheery tone, “I’m the conductor of the Spirit Train! I’m the one who gets spirits to the afterlife! It’s somethin’ my family has done ever since the town became what it is now. We’ve been doin’ it for so long that we’ve become Ghost Types ourselves!”

The Lillipup stared up at the Ghost Type in wonder, “Ooh, that’s really cool!”

He beamed, “It really is, kiddo! We’ve been at this for generations upon generations!  And once my time is up it’ll then be my own kiddo’s job to run the train!” The magenta-flamed Typhlosion hummed, “Everyone boards the train eventually, whether it be soon after they pass or several years later!” 

Lucario doesn’t like that. It feels like a threat. “That’s… great?” 

“It is!” Typhlosion grinned, unaware of how strange of a topic this may be for others.

“I haven’t boarded the train yet,” Braviary interjected.

The conductor patted the avian on the wing, “You’re included in the several years category, ya’ lug. Yer friend will join ya’ eventually and you both will be able to board the train together!”

Braviary looked off toward the edge of town where the fog rolled through an old rickety bridge that led into the swirling mass of white, his brow furrowing as he mumbled out, “Right...”

Lucario looks between the both of them, and back at Boltund. “Hey Ma, don’t you have more people for us to meet?” 

Boltund nodded. “Right! We shouldn’t keep ya any longer, Typhlosion. See ya!” 

Typhlosion tipped his hat as he stared down at his watch, “Was fun talkin’ to y’all but you’re right, I really should be goin’ now. Byedy Bye!”

With that, the conductor boarded the train, the doors swinging close behind him and a deafening whistle sounding from the engine car.

Part Two: Scene End.

Spirit Talk: Complete.