#i'm glad to know because now i can just mourn it and move on

[justalittlebluetiefling]

.

Well, I didn't get the coaching job which is really fine in the end because it would have been super stressful. And I never actually wanted to run a program. I mostly applied because I care about the kids and they asked me to. Honestly, the thing I'm the saddest about is that I know how she's going to spin it and they're going to think I'm not involved in the program anymore because my friend isn't the head coach, but it's really because this lady has some weird vendetta against me and I can't just TELL the kids that because she's their coach and I want them to respect their coach.

The Athletic Director did ask me multiple times to talk to her about being her assistant because I guess they had multiple kids go into his office to say how much they want me there but it ultimately came down to the fact that she's been a head coach of a program before.

I don't know. I'm going to be sad for a while. This was 50% of the reason I moved back to this town and I love these kids a lot, but I do not trust this person as far as I could throw them and I'm not interested in pretending that I agree with her for the sake of peace anymore.

[lighteyed]

you and i (back at it again) / steve harrington

summary: steve's left standing alone after starcourt, until you show up for him.

word count: 2.2k

author's note: inspired by this tik tok because i nearly shed a tear also this is my first time posting in awhile be nice pls

He watches his friends reunite with their families, mournful. He stands alone and contemplative by a cop car, the various spots of bruising and swelling on his face beginning to pulse with pain the more his adrenaline began to fade out of his bloodstream. The cops at the station said they'd called his parents house, his house, but no one had picked up. He knew they were home. He kicks a rock near his his foot, shoving his hands in the pockets of the bloody uniform he was still wearing. He wants a shower. He wants to go to bed. He wants to go to bed with the serenity of someone who knew they were loved. He wouldn't be able to do that if he went home. The word home a loose term.

"We can take you home if you need a ride, son," one of the cops says to him. Steve kicks at another rock. Home.

"That's alright," Steve says dismissively, ignoring the tight twist in his chest. "Someone will have gotten in touch with my parents by now. I'm sure they're on their way." The cop looks doubtful. Steve hates that he looks doubtful. Steve hates that he's also doubtful. "Couple more minutes," he swears. He knows he might as well walk his ass home, though.

He leans against the hood of the car, rubbing at his jaw. His hand comes away bloody. He's about to accept the cop's offer for a ride, maybe, he figures, he'll just go to Robin's and sit there for as long as her parents will have him, when a car comes careening into the lot like there's not fifty officers of the law standing around, the tires screeching loudly across the gravel. It's barely at a stop, practically still moving, when you throw the door open and throw your body out of it.

"Steve Harrington, what the fuck?" You leave your car door open, leave it in the middle of the road, still running, to get to him in time. He gazes at you, and it's a stupid look in all honesty, mouth agape, his brown eyes big and tragic looking, his face torn up and swollen. He wasn't expecting you. Why would he have been? You'd been broken up for a few months now and he was still nursing his wounds from it, knowing it was supposed to be for the best; you felt like he was hiding things from you and he knew that he was, hiding all the stuff about the Upside Down, not wanting you involved, wanting you safe. And in a way he was glad for it. He'd gotten through this with you unscathed, and who knows what would have happened if you guys had still been together. When he looks at you, though, when he allows himself to be pulled in closer, your hand coming up to graze his cheek, examining every scrape on his face with softness and worry, he allows himself to want. To miss you.

You tilt his face back, scrutinizing his features. He keeps his eyes on you. You showed up for him. No one else but you. You were here. "The fire is all over the fucking news and I didn't know if you were working tonight so I was sitting by the phone waiting to hear from someone and then your friend Robin called and said you were waiting here for someone to come get you so I just came in case and- and what happened to your face? And where are your parents?"

He shakes himself out of his stupor. "They didn't answer the phone." But you did. You answered and you were here. A wave of pure love rushes through him. He knew a thing or two about being alone, had felt that way for as long as he could remember, no matter how many people he surrounded himself with or how many parties he threw, but you were here, and he wasn't alone. Steve wraps his arms around you in one sudden movement, an outpouring of affection he hadn't realized he'd been reserving for you. Always you.

You stand there for a moment, processing, before you respond, leaning into his touch. The sirens wail around you. Neither of you move. He's safe. You breathe relief into the embrace, holding him tighter to you. He's hardly talking, and usually he's the one talking the absolute most, but he's stunned, both with what's just happened, what he's borne witness to, and with the way you care about him despite everything, more than anyone he's ever met, and the way he cares about you and how could he ever, ever let himself let you go? How could that ever happen? It's all he thinks about as he holds you, feeling safer than he's felt in awhile, the smell of your hair and your skin filling his brain with serotonin.

"Am I taking you home?" You pull away, staring up at him, his ruined face that is still so painfully gorgeous, still so hard to look at. Your hand is remains poised on his cheek. It's warm and welcome.

"No, no, your house, please," he brings his hand up to meet yours.

"I got you, c'mon, honey." He turns and thanks the officers who'd been waiting with him before letting you lead him to your car. He keeps his hand on yours. It tethers him to reality. He's here and he's okay. Or he will be, soon. He's here and he's safe, at the very least. He's not trapped and being tortured. No one's going to hurt him. He's got your soft hand in his and he's okay for right now.

The drive to your house is silent, but it's not awkward. You try to keep your eyes on the road as much as you can but you can't help that they keep finding themselves back on Steve. You've never seen him so reserved. You're sure it was more than a fire that happened back there, and you're sure he won't tell you a thing about it. You drive one-handed the whole way home. You let him need you.

At your house, you get your bathroom set up for him to shower, placing fresh towels on the rack for him, laying out your products on the counter. He would've been able to find them regardless, but you busy yourself with it anyway. When you go into your bedroom to tell him the bathroom is ready, his shoes are off and put into the corner he used to always put them in, and he looks exhausted. "I didn't bring clothes to change," is the first thing he says.

"That's what you're most concerned about?" You give him a funny look. You open your closet and rummage around on the ground for a second before tossing him a pair of his old sweatpants and a t-shirt. He stares at them in his hands. "I didn't know if I should give them back. So I just... didn't." He smiles a little. The first you've seen all night.

"Thanks," he waves them in the air before retreating down the hall. The door shuts and the shower squeaks on.

The way you loved Steve was unconditional, as much as you wish it wasn't sometimes. Even when he was pushing you away, even when he kept things from you, you'd always be there for him. He didn't have anyone in his corner like that. And you wanted to be. It wasn't something you felt obligated to do. You cared about him, and so you went to him. He'd do the same if the roles were reversed. It was unconditional because even when being there for him hurt, you still stayed. You still loved.

When he comes back into your room, his hair dripping but clean, God, he feels clean, his face devoid of dried blood but bruised and wounded, you're waiting for him with a first aid kit and a fresh ice pack. You must've heard the water shut off and gotten everything ready for him. The old sweatpants and t-shirt smell more like you now than they do like him but he's not complaining in the slightest. Something about you keeping them instead of throwing them away or lighting them on fire makes him think maybe there's hope. Not that you had a bad break up to begin with, it was more sad than angry, nothing that warranted a clothes burning, but still. Still, still, still.

He sits down where you indicate, rubbing his towel across his head to soak up the sopping water. His face is flushed from the hot water. You sidle up next to him with the medicine and bandages and try not to get too caught up in him. He places the ice pack on his puffy, blackened eye. He doesn't get it, this gentleness. He doesn't think he deserves it, really. After everything, does he deserve it? Does he get this peace?

"You're fidgeting," you mutter, narrowly missing the spot you were aiming for.

"Oh, sorry," he lifts his chin up a bit more and tries to sit still. You're so patient and kind and it makes him ache a little. You take care of him and it's not for any reason other than you caring about him. He's not used to anyone caring about him. "Are you sure this is alright? You don't wanna... be alone?"

"No, I wanna make sure you're okay," you answer easily, as easy as breathing, swiping medicine across his wounds with the lightest touch you can manage. He hisses in pain, and you wince, feeling it, too.

"Are you sure? You don't have to."

"I want to, Steve, I promise." You pat his cheek, another gentle, affectionate maneuver from you. If he's okay, you're okay. He takes this in. He thinks he really feels his heart expanding.

As you start dabbing at his other wounds, you speak, finally. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can," he replies, blinking up at you with his good eye.

"Was this..." you hesitate. He probably won't answer. "I don't doubt there was a fire but this..." you gesture to his face. "This looks a hell of a lot worse than just escaping a fire, Steve, you look seriously fucked up."

"What, you don't think I look pretty anymore?" He smiles again and you roll your eyes at him, but you smile back all the same.

"You're very pretty, Steve, but you have a black eye and there was blood all over your face and you're all cut up." He swoons just a little when you call him pretty. He's got an ego, what can he say? He continues smiling at you, a little high off painkillers, a little high off being here with you. If he's gotta be tortured he may as well get you back out of it.

"You look pretty, too, y'know," he says softly, his free hand twisting a strand of your hair around.

"Dodging the question I see," you raise your eyebrows at him but say nothing else. It was to be expected.

He takes a deep breath, looking up toward the ceiling, thinking maybe all this time he's just been stupid and silly for not telling you sooner, maybe he could've been with you all this time if he'd just told you, maybe it wouldn't have been the end of the world to have you involved. Maybe it would all be fine. "I wanted to keep you safe from all of it. See what happened to me? It could've been you, if you had been there."

"I would've wanted to be there with you," you insist. "You know I would."

"I do," he nods. "And that's why I don't involve you, babe, if something happens to me it doesn't matter to anyone but if something happens to you-"

"Why would you say that to me? You think I wouldn't care if you died?" You take his face in your hands, and he drops his ice pack. "Steve, are you an idiot? It would matter to those kids you spend all your time with if you died. It would matter to Robin, and to your family even if they take you for granted, and it would matter to me. I love you so much you moron, you can't say it wouldn't matter. I wouldn't be here if it didn't matter. I go out of my mind worrying about you, don't tell me you don't matter."

His head spins, in the best possible way. The pain from his wounds doesn't register. Your hands on his face registers. You words register. Everything else is background noise. "You still love me?"

Oh. Your face warms. It's not like it had been that long since you'd called it off, it should've have been a surprise to him, but hearing you say those words makes him light up. You see him light up. "Yeah, of course I do, it doesn't go away just 'cause you won't tell me anything about your life," you grumble, taking your hands off him.

"Hey," he whispers, grabbing for you before you can tear yourself away from him. He brushes the hair back from your face. He has that look in his eyes that make people fall to their knees. Heavy-lidded and tender. Soft. Loving. "I love you, okay? I do. That's why I try to protect you. I'll tell you anything you want." He knows it now, for real, that he can't lose you again. Not this time. "C'mere, come back." You let him pull you in. "I'll tell you anything, please don't leave me, okay?" You shake your head at him. Never, never. He's pleading, desperate. When he moves to kiss you, the desperation is laced in it, he's lurching forward and he's hungry and yearning and your lips meet soft and fast because he wants to savor it after so long.

The disconnect of your lips sends him reeling, he wants to dive back in for more, for more of everything, but you stop him. "It's me and you, okay, always. But you gotta let me all the way in this time." You tap his heart lightly. "All the way, Steve. Everything."

He leans back. He is hesitant and bruised and bloody, a little bit broken, but mostly he's in love. Mostly he wants to give you the world. So he takes your hands in his. He tethers himself to reality. And he talks.

[chrysalind]

last chance

pairing: kuroo tetsurou/reader wc: 860 tags: pre-relationship, fluff, high school setting (third year), bad flirting, kuroo is really trying

"What'd you get for number 8?" Kuroo asks as he leans over you.

"Umm," you tilt your head and the golden light of the late afternoon sun flickers across your cheek. "I think I put down 1868 to 1912."

"Wait, seriously?" He claps his hand on his forehead. That's five questions he's probably got wrong now, not to mention he'd barely finished writing his second essay, meaning the maximum possible grade he could get is...

"I hate history," he grumbles, trying to redirect his train of thought from its depressing destination. "I'm never taking it in university."

You sigh ruefully. "I feel the same way about chemistry. The moment I walked out of yesterday's exam, every piece of knowledge about thermodynamics just—" you wave your hand near your temple, "—vanished."

"Bet you're glad I gave you my notes though, right?"

The train doors slide open and a crowd of students from another school shuffle in. His legs brush against yours as he tries to make more room around him.

"Only because I gave you my English notes," you counter dryly, moving your bookbag onto your lap as a freckled teen slides into the seat beside you. The small plastic Keroppi charm on its side swings erratically against your thigh.

"A more than fair trade," he reasons. "Especially since I was getting the highest mark in chem, while you were just below Takaichi in English."

"Takaichi's mom is from New Zealand," you reply, with a roll of your eyes. "He's been practically fluent since he was born. Plus, your handwriting sucks, so you get points taken off for that."

Kuroo snorts, but has no choice but to concede. After all, he can barely read his own notebooks from last semester.

He watches as the Tokyo cityscape rushes past, still thrumming with life, even as the sun dips low in the sky. It's hard to imagine an afternoon where he won't be packed into the subway at this time, with his loosened Nekoma uniform tie around his collar, and your occasional company on the afternoons he's able to catch you at the school entrance.

His short spell of mourning is interrupted by the announcer as the train pulls into a familiar station. You both exit onto the platform and make a beeline towards the escalators.

"I'm not staying in Tokyo," he says, as you're halfway through the barriers.

Keroppi's face smacks against your zipper as you pause. "Oh?"

"I'm going to Osaka," he continues, weaving through the crowd. You fall into step beside him and there's a second in which Kuroo thinks he's vastly overestimated his importance in your life.

"That's..." He watches as a crease forms between your brows. "I thought you were going to Tokodai."

"Nah," he says, re-adjusting the strap of his bag. "I think it'd be good to gain some independence, you know?"

"Right," you say, tucking your Suica away. The sound of the city fills in the quiet that follows as you step out of the station.

Truthfully, Kuroo had been hoping for something—anything—more than the pensive silence that now settles between the two of you as you both walk the last few blocks of your high school era. But as you round the corner, the weight of the moment only grows heavier.

From his peripheral vision, he can tell you're sulking with your lips turned down in a pout that you probably aren't even aware of. And even though you've never admitted it to anyone, he's not oblivious to the way you can barely hold his gaze for more than two seconds, or how you linger at the intersection when you part ways.

"You know," he says, as you both stand before a crosswalk, "this is probably your last chance."

Your eyes flash up at him.

"What do you mean?"

He straightens up.

"Your last chance to admit that you're in love with me," he blurts. He had meant for it to come out a bit smoother, maybe aiming for a kind of teasing tone, but something had gone horribly wrong in the last second. Embarrassingly, he feels his own cheeks grow hot at the boldness of his declaration.

The crosswalk indicator changes, but you're both frozen in place.

You blink, looking absolutely bewildered, and he begins to fear that he's broken you.

And then an odd sound emerges from your mouth—a short snicker, followed by an open burst of laughter. Your giggle seems to carry over the noise of the traffic around you and Kuroo tries very hard not to die right then and there.

Instead, he forces himself to laugh along. How could he have miscalculated so bad?

He's sure he'll remember this moment for many sleepless nights ahead.

"Don't worry," you say later with the world's most bemused smile, as you near his building. "It's not my last chance."

Kuroo works up the courage to look you in the eye.

"After all, I still have our graduation ceremony."

[star-suh]

Don't Chew More Than You Can Swallow

Johnny Suh x Male Reader

cw: top johnny, pseudo-incest, underwear kink, musk kink, degradation, praising, breeding, hickeys, blowjob, deepthroat, manhandling, implied size kink, snowballing, age gap (yn is 20 and johnny is 25).

an: this is the other idea from @ldrei

also i was lazy to think about names for the mom and the stepfather so yuh.

—

“ok yn, i want you to put on a smile on that face we're almost near the house” yn's mom said while driving towards their new home.

some years ago yn was part of a loving and happy family until one day his father, an honorable police officer, died during a raid against a gang. yn and his mother were devastated, mourning his death for the next couple of months. but life goes on and we have to let go and move on, right? after like a year yn's mother started dating another police officer, months later they made their relationship official and decided to get married, which brings us to the beginning of the story, yn and his mother would move to their new home, where yn's new father and new brother, a 25 years old guy, live already.

“hello we're home” yn's mom greeted, “hey honey” yn's stepdad appeared and kissed her, “hey yn, how are you?”; “i'm good.. thanks” he replied, “glad to know that” the older man said with a smile on his face.

yn walked towards the kitchen searching for a glass to drink some water, “the cups are up there” someone said, yn turned around and there he was his new stepbrother “the name's johnny” he extended his hand and yn grabbed it to shake it, his hand was way bigger than yn's, “i'm yn.. n-nice to meet you” he laughed nervously, “i say the same, see you later then” johnny said winking at him and waving a goodbye.

a couple of months have passed, everything was going good for everyone except for yn. he was thirsting over johnny 24/7, when he walked around the house with just a short on and no underwear because he can clearly see his bulge swing around everytime he walks, his body is to die for ‘god i wish i could lick those abs right now’ thought yn. it was even more harder for yn to not think about johnny fucking him when he was on the room next to him rearranging some woman's insides, the banging sounds going straight to yn's ears, ‘i wish that was me’ he thought. and that's the only thing yn can do, fantasize about him because well… his stepbrother is straight.

johnny sent yn to search something in his room, he did as he was told but something catches his attention, a pair of underwears resting on a pile of clothes. driven by his impulses, he grabbed one and began to sniff it, his face immediately turning red and a bulge growing in his pants "johnny~" he moaned softly.

he went quickly to his room, locked the door and began to jerk off, wrapping the underwear around his cock sliding it up and down while biting a pillow to suppress the moans.

the weeks passed and yn's desire for johnny only increased. every time johnny brought someone home to fuck, while his parents were away, yn always masturbated listening to their moans.

one day yn was masturbating again with his the underwear until a voice interrupted him, "hey yn!" a shirtless johnny called opening the door with a bang "what the hell were you doing? i've been calling you for a while" he asked with a somewhat angry tone. "sorry johnny, what do you want?" yn questioned, "these last few months you have been the one picking the dirty clothes to take them to the laundry room, have you by any chance seen my underwear? they have been missing” he scratches his head. “i have no idea johnny” yn replied with a nervous laugh. “hmm… it's okay” and just like that, johnny left.

worried that johnny would find out, he grabbed all the dirty clothes and ran down to the laundry room. there he turned on the washing machine and placed the underwear there and just when he was going to press the button to start the washing cycle a big hand stopped him, a low and very deep voice whispered in his ear "i thought you didn't know where my fucking underwear was" the warm breath sending shivers down his spine, “you're such a dirty pervert yn” he laugh was deep and sexy.

“j-johnny i-i” yn didn't know what to do, “you thought you were slick with it but no, did you think i didn't notice how you stared at me every time i walked around the house shirtless, how your eyes went from my abs to my bulge, shit i even could feel how you fucked me with your eyes”. johnny positioned himself behind yn, his huge bulge rubbing against yn's ass, "even every night i fucked someone i could hear your slutty moans on the other side of the wall, how you moaned my name was… so sexy... now i kinda want to hear them again" the taller was leaving small kisses on yn's neck, he then took out his huge cock from his shorts and rubbed it on yn's clothed ass “do you want to taste my cock, yn?", his sexy low voice doing things down there on yn's crotch area.

“j-johnny” yn stuttered “i-i'm sorry” a little moan escaping his mouth. “if you want to apologize you have to take responsibility about this” he slams his thick heavy cock against yn's ass again. “y-yes” yn fell to his knees and started kissing the tip, using one hand to stroke the rest of the shaft while the other was stroking his own.

“you're so nasty yn, look at you sucking at your brother's cock. aren't you such a nasty slut huh?” johnny grabs his head and starts to mouthfuck him, forcing yn to deepthroat him, “come on you can do more than that, it's barely halfway in”, little by little yn swallowed it all, johnny locked his head with his arms. the gagging sounds being like music to his ears. “there you go, you're doing so good for me”.

johnny lifted yn and fold him against the washing machine, rubbing the tip of his cock in the other's hole “want me to destroy you, cockwhore?” he says once again using that sexy low voice that drives yn crazy “p-please~ do it”.

johnny was slamming so hard that the washing machine was moving too, yn's legs were shaking due to how good johnny was fucking him, "how does my little fucktoy feel.. is this what you wanted? my thick, heavy cock opening your ass?"; “yes johnny please wreck me” yn replied withiut thinking, “so desperate”.

johnny lifted yn and carried him from the laundry room to his bedroom but without stopping fucking him. the thrusts were slow but as powerful as the harsh ones because he always manages to brush yn's prostate with the tip of his cock, drawing whimpers out of his mouth that made johnny chuckle, ‘so cute’ he thinks.

they're finally on the bedroom, johnny throw yn towards his bed, attacking his neck with kisses and leaving some bruises here and there. his big, tall body towering over yn's. “i have a deal for you” the taller comments, “if you can take me without cumming you'll be my little fucktoy boyfriend. what do you think?” he keeps on kissing yn's body until he reaches the nipples and suck on them. “hngh i really w-want that” the bottom squirmed.

the fat cock went in and out, going in even harder than the last time, johnny's balls slapping against yn's ass “who's being a good cockwhore?” the top asks, “m-... me” yn struggles to answer due to the harsh thrusts “i'm johnny's g-good cockwhore”.

“but you're only mine right?”.

“yeah i'm only yours…”.

both sealed the deal with a gentle kiss, contrasting with the rough thrusts. “fuck i'm gonna cum” johnny growls, he took advantage of the fact that his cock reached so deep inside yn to make him cum, however he let himself be carried away by the moment and filled yn's ass up with that warm sperm.

yn barely managed to hold off his cumming so johnny now has to fulfill the deal they just made. "it seems like i'm your little fucktoy boyfriend now"; "i think so," johnny adds, “and a cute one”.

“you took me so well pretty boy, i think you deserve a threat” and as he said that he went down and started to suck yn's cock “j-johnny you don't have to~”; “mmm mmm, i want to, prince” the sweet name embarrasing yn so much that he covered his face with his arms, feeling the little chuckle the taller let out. with a few more strokes yn came inside johnny's mouth, “shit that's some good blowjob johnny” yn rode his high while johnny crawls up until he is face to face with yn, with one hand he opens the bottom's mouth and spits the sperm in there, then kisses and plays with it between their mouths.

johnny carries yn to the bathroom where they both take a bath, then get dressed and fall asleep in the bed.

“look at them, aren't they cute” yn's mom said watching them both sleeping while hugging, “yeah i think they're gonna be good brothers” the stepdad adds with a huge smile in his face.

[doe-eyed-fool]

Fear Of The Known

Lucifer x Fem!Angel!Reader

|Chapter Three|

Michael was starting to act like his old self again. He was leaving his home more, and even spending more time with his brothers.

Speaking of.

Y/n never thought she'd be around Michael as much as she had since that day. Dare she even say, she and him were growing fairly close. Sure, they had been friends for a long time, but it was never like this. Spending more time with each other, having long talks, and just being in each other's company.

Y/n was grateful for Michael's company more than anything. She needed someone else to mourn with, at least, that's how it was at the start. Now, she felt the need to be with him just to simply be with him.

Yes, they had truly became closer friends overtime. And Michael was just as grateful for Y/n being around. He had his brothers, he had his heavenly father, but he was glad he had someone to call friend.

Together, they would slowly move on from Lucifer. Though, they would never forget him.

They made each other happy, comforted each other during rough times. Maybe things can finally go back to the way they were.

A sudden gasp left Y/n, alerting Michael. "What is it?" He asks. Y/n blinks a few times, putting a hand to her head. "It's Lucifer..."

Or maybe not.

Michael's expression fell. "What about him?" Y/n looks to Michael, and quietly answers.

"He and Lilith will soon have a daughter."

There was a look of shock on Michael's face. "A daughter?" Y/n nods. "Charlotte Morningstar, is her name. In just two months, she will be born."

Michael furrowed his brows, he fell silent as he was thinking. After a moment he exhales. "Do you see any possible threat coming from this?" He asks. Y/n shakes her head. "No, at least, not now."

"Alright then." Michael starts. "Then we should tell the others immediately."

"Right. Sera should know what to do next." Y/n says. "Actually, Y/n." Michael sighs. "I believe we should inform father before anyone else."

Y/n froze. She had not spoken to God in person for quite some time. Not since Lucifer fell...

"You're nervous." Michael places a hand on her shoulder. "That's an understatement." Y/n sighs shakily. "Lucifer was his son...and because I chose not to speak up, he's gone."

Michael offers her a comforting smile. "Y/n. You know my father, he is one of, if not, the most forgiving being there ever was. If I, and my brothers forgave you. Then I know he has. I will stay with you while you speak with him, if that will help?"

Y/n smiles a bit. "It would. Thank you, Michael."

"Of course, Y/n. Now, let's be off." Michael says as he takes her hand in his. The two of them were teleported inside of God's palace, just outside of his throne room.

Y/n inhaled and exhaled shakily, but she became slightly less tense as she felt Michael's hand gently squeeze hers.

"Are you ready?" Asked Michael. Y/n takes one more deep breath. "I am." Michael knocks at the door, and after a moment, someone called from the other side.

"Come in."

Michael and Y/n entered the room, ahead of them stood Galim. And right next to them, was none other than God himself. He easily towers at a towering ten and a half feet tall.

Upon noticing the two, God smiled brightly. "Ah, Michael! Hello my son!" He greets with open arms. Michael smiles and approaches him, leading Y/n along.

"And Y/n, always a pleasure to see you, dear!" God nods his head to her. Y/n looked up at him and tried her best to return the smile without seeming nervous. "It's nice to see you too, your majesty." She says respectfully.

God waved his had with a scoff. "None of that royal formalities, please. We're all friends here."

"Right." Y/n cleared her throat. She nervously glanced over to Michael, who gave her an encouraging nod. "Um, I apologize for showing up unannounced. But, I have news to share of the future. It's highly important."

"Of course." God says with a grin. "It involves Lucifer, I'm afraid." Y/n says cautiously. The smile on God's face fell, he was silent for a moment. Even Galim looked shocked by the news, they glanced up at God worryingly.

"And, what of him?" He asks.

"In two months time, his wife Lilith, will give birth to a baby girl named Charlotte Morningstar." Y/n explains. "So far, I see nothing we should need to fret over. Especially not while she is an infant. I can not say anything more than that for now."

God inhales and turns away from the three. Galim and Michael both looked concern, while Y/n was on the verge of panic.

This was fine. She needed to do this. She did the right thing, telling God about this. And yet, she couldn't help but worry about what he might do next...

But she did the right thing.

She couldn't let what happened before ever happen again. She tried to protect Lucifer before, and looked where it got him. Look what's happened to Heaven's progress, and the Earth now corrupted beyond repair. All because she did not speak up.

She did the right thing.

She did.

"Thank you for telling me, Y/n." God finally spoke. Y/n nods. "Of course."

"I suppose there is nothing we can do but what and see what will become of Lucifer's daughter in the future. Speaking of..." God turns to face Y/n again. "I'm sorry to ask, but I'd like it if you would look into the future of Charlotte Morningstar from now on. And please keep me informed."

"Yes, of course." Y/n tells him.

"If that is all?" God wonders. Michael nods. "Yes. Thank you for seeing us, father." He reaches for Y/n’s hand, ready to take her home. But before he could, God spoke again.

"Before you go, Y/n, may I speak with you for a moment? Privately."

Y/n's heart stopped for a moment. But she remained calm on the outside. "Alright."

Galim starts off out of the room, they noticed Michael hesitating before slowly following after.

After they left, God sighed before slumping on his throne. He brought a hand to his head. "Well, I suppose I am happy Lucifer isn't alone down there. He's even starting a family of his own." The smallest of smiles grew on his face, a sad one however. "Looks like I'm going to be a grandpa. It's a shame I can't congratulate him personally..."

There was that guilty feeling again. "I'm...I'm sorry." Y/n starts. "I should have done more to prevent him from going to that meeting. Maybe he'd still be here, if I had."

God moved his hand onto his lap. "I don't think anyone could have prevented him from going. Not even me." He chuckles. "Lucifer was a dreamer like none other. He'd stop at nothing to accomplish what he's reaching for." There was a fond smile on God's face. "He was truly one of my greatest creations."

Y/n felt tears gathering in her eyes. "He was." She says softly.

"Y/n. Back then, was there any future you saw where Lucifer's dreams became reality?" God asks. Y/n thinks back, after a moment she answers.

"One." She starts, smiling weakly. "And he looked so happy."

God was silent, smile still on his face, but Y/n did not miss the slight tremble in his shoulders.

Or the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

Y/n did as she was told, and kept tabs on Charlotte's future. So far so good. There was nothing that Heaven should be concerned about. Speaking of Charlotte, it wasn't long after she was born that all of Heaven knew who she was.

But again, Charlotte posed no threat to them. At least, not so far.

Throughout her childhood, and even into her adulthood, Charlotte was...surprisingly nice.

Really nice. To nice.

She lived in Hell all her life, and yet, she was the sweetest demon down there. It baffled everyone in Heaven. How could a demon be nice? Not only nice. But caring, merciful, pleasant, and so on.

And all of her own choice. She was never taught to be that way, she just, is.

But what bewildered Y/n the most, was what she would learn next of Charlotte's future.

"A hotel? To rehabilitate sinners?" Sera scoffs. "This is unheard of. No demon can be redeemed."

Sera was the second person you've told about this. God already knew about Charlotte's new project and seemed...confused? He definitely was shocked, there was no doubt about that.

"Charlotte seems to be very passionate about it." Y/n starts. "She even manages to get two people on board with this project of hers. Maybe even three. One who has an immense amount of power."

"An immense amount of power, you say?" Sera hums. "Y/n. Look further, please. I need to know just what we are to expect out of that...project."

"I'll try." Y/n says before closing her eyes. So far, she saw the same future as before. Charlotte Morningstar opens a hotel to rehabilitate sinners. Two others join her. A woman and a man. Then another man, one who radiates raw demonic power.

Y/n tries to look further down the line. Two more show up, significantly weaker than the previous man. Then there is Charlotte again, she's meeting with someone.

Y/n focusing in on who she's talking to. When she realizes who it is, her eyes shoot open.

"What is it?" Asks Sera.

"Charlotte Morningstar will arrive in Heaven. Very soon."

Sera looked puzzled for a moment before her expression returned to neutral. "I see. I will bring this up with Adam personally, thank you Y/n. That will be all."

"But, don't you need to know why?" Y/n asks. "No. If I can help it, this meeting will be avoided entirely. Now, I must speak with Adam, so if you'll please..." Sera says dismissively.

Y/n was confused, but decided to take her leave anyhow. Technically, Sera and the other Seraphims had authority above her. Y/n didn't want to push her luck by disobeying, and risk upsetting the head Seraphim.

Otherwise, Y/n would have questioned Sera as to why now she didn't want to know as much as about the future as possible. Surely Charlotte Morningstar meeting with the first man would raise some questions.

So why wouldn't Sera want to know why the meeting between them was called? Sera most certainly wouldn't have called for it. None of the Archangels would have any reason to. Even God wouldn't have done something like that.

Not unless there was a reason.

Y/n could help but feel like something was off...

Tags-

@bloody-delusion-expert

[thesofthuman]

I just want to die

since you've sent this to me i hope that means you want me to answer. i want to begin by saying how empathetic i am towards you and how i'm sorry this is what you're feeling. i was there too, years ago now, and i'm glad it wasn't something i gave into. being a person can be really hard. really, really hard. some people don't get it. they can function like it's no weight. but for others it can feel so heavy. what i can tell you is that feelings pass, and thoughts pass, and we can learn how to reinvent them and have new ones that eventually feel like the only ones we currently know. now i can't tell you what to feel or how you feel it, but i can tell you what i felt. something that clicked for me when i felt this way was maybe that i didn't fully want to die, that i didn't fully want to leave everything in my life. i loved aspects of my life, i just felt so deep in my darkness that these things seemed out of touch, they couldn't reach me and i couldn't reach them. i couldn't feel any of the things that mattered to me. and what hurt, what felt impossible, became a weight strapped to my legs. everywhere i went it followed. i'm not saying this to be cliche, only because it is the truth. what i found was that i wanted to kill off parts of myself, parts of my life, parts of the past that haunted me. i wanted a new life. i wanted something to love me back. so i killed off what i needed to. i dove all the way in to a different way of being, as much as i could. i mourned. i felt what i needed to feel. i got help. i talked to someone, i wrote in my journal, i made it a serious commitment that my life depended on to LOVE something every day. to SEE something in the world that i had been blind to before. it took all of me to do it, and it saved me. i kept note of what i saw in a little journal. i still do this today. i put myself in the world and i let the heavy wall get knocked down bit by bit. i committed to it more than i've ever committed to loving someone, or hating myself, or staying in my room. yes, the heaviness carved away at me, but it left room to fill up. so i filled it up. it wasn't a quick fix, but it was real and it worked and i'm telling you this because i'm still here to tell you this. i killed off what i needed to. i moved, i went to a new school, i left the school, i made new friends, i let go of attachments, i stopped asking for what couldn't be given elsewhere and looked within. of course some parts still stay, and we learn to soften the edges of them. and life becomes beautiful again. the beauty, the meaning, the joy, the feeling creeps in slowly like sunlight under a door. hang on for that. hang on because there are a million lives to try on and live and you can start tomorrow, you can start at 3am, you can start as soon as you read this message. the heart of life is always there and you can touch it again. i wrote a list a long time ago here of all of the little reasons to stay alive, and since then in my mind i've added 1,000,000 new things. if i can find it i will reblog it for you. i care for you, i care about you staying in this world and living a big love-filled life that you deserve, no matter what has happened in the past. kill off the past and have something new. it saved me, it can save you.

[rainofthetwilight]

LEVI LEVI

In addition to Evil Arin, another thing that is potentially the saddest of all is if you compare his situation with the rest of the kids.

He always wanted to be a ninja, Sora and Wyldfyre didn't, and yet they're still "better" than him. They manage to contribute to the team more easily because they have powers while he has to work twice as hard to feel useful with a skill that he hasn't even mastered yet.

Sora finally found a real family on the team, Wyldfyre still has Heatwave (and she has begun to get closer to the team), but Arin can't allow himself to feel happy there because his parents are STILL missing.

The others can allow themselves to be happy with their new family, but for him, the guilt is overwhelming because his other family is still missing and he feels like he is failing to find them and be useful to both sides. And it's unfair because the one thing everyone keeps telling him that makes him a valuable member of the team (being a spinjitzu prodigy) is no longer enough to keep up with everyone else.

I want you to know that all your posts has inspired me to make a short comic of the poor boy because I love the potential angst of this so much

USGKRKKWJDJSKRJSWSHHSJAWJ YOU ALL REALLY WANNA KILL ME W/ ALL THIS ANGST HUH

UGHBBFBDBDFBJF THIS??? ALL OF THIS????

HE ALWAYS SO BADLY WANTED TO BE AN NINJA IT WAS HIS DREAM...AND WHEN BE DID HE FEELS UNWORTHY AND FEELS LIKE HE CAN'T CONTRIBUTE, WHILE SORA AND WYLDFYRE EASILY DO BC THEY HAVE POWERS...AND THE ONLY SKILL HE HAS WASN'T ENOUGH...

UGDHHDJE HE'S SO FULL OF GRIEF AND TRAUMA AND WHILE HIS CLOSEST FRIEND HAD MOVED ON AND ADJUSTED TO HER NEW LIFE, HE WAS STILL GRIEVING AND MOURNING WHAT HE LOST...

like. Oh my gosh. do you see how much happier and playful sora is in s2? she's so more animated, more cheerful, more like herself, as she finally let go of the past. so when you compare her to arin this season, who's grief has been attacking him in every waking moment, who everytime he speaks he's full of nothing but hopelessness and denial, still having his past haunt him more than it ever did. he still cannot find his other family, he still can't adjust, while sora already did, letting go of the other...

and wyldfyre, she still has her own family while adjusting to the new one, and she's happy! she's so happy, she has good dynamics with them (especially with kai), and is even told by rontu how much potential she has!!!

while arin, who's whole dream was to be a ninja, to be useful and worthy, was immediately crushed. the skill he was once praised for is now suddenly not enough, it's suddenly too weak and sloppy and unmastered. while sora and wyldfyre easily fit in, despite them not wanting to do anything w/ the ninja at first, he's still off in the corner, the jealousy consuming him even tho he doesn't want it to

they easily adjusted to their new families, while he still can't, because just like you said the guilt is overwhelming him so so much because he still can't find his other family and it hurts. he feels useless to both families, literally the first thing he said when he thought he saw his parents was that he wasn't good enough dude...

and all of these? these are all motives for him to snap, to crack his facade and become someone no one knew before, his self doubt absolutely eating him up and he succumbs to ras's words about the ninja holding him back....

oh my god I'm actually INSANE for him bro SHDHSKDJJAJS....POOR ARIN DUDE THIS SEASON HAS PUT HIM THROUGH THE WRINGER 😭

ALSO I'M GLAD I INSPIRED YOU!! :D you better thank everyone that sent the asks for that, you are all feeding me with all this angst bro 😭 also would you mind tagging me when you finish that comic? 👉👈 👀 I need more arin angst despite the fact I'm about to explode rn OUDHDHS

[modelbus]

did you ever plan on making a part two to your accidental confessions fic with wilbur? would love to read more!! <3

Your wish is my command <3

Check out Part 1!!

Pairing: Cc!Wilbur x Gn!Reader

Friends to Lovers - Accidental Confession Part 2

“I have the worst headache.” Wilbur groans, rubbing his temples while collapsing into the chair next to you.

You poke at the cheap hotel breakfast, trying to ignore the nerves fluttering around in your stomach. Last night was fresh in your mind, occupying every bit of thinking space. Wilbur’s dopey grin, his words. The only question was if he remembered it. If he truly meant it all.

From across the table, Ash raises his eyebrows at you. You nudge his foot with yours, a silent threat. If Ash brings it up, you will ensure his suitcase "accidentally" gets left behind.

“Don’t drink so much wine next time.” You suggest, dropping your fork onto the plate. Your plastic fork, might you add. The hotel didn't even offer metal utensils.

“God. I don’t even want to perform.”

“That’s why our concert is tomorrow.” Mark chimes in. “Because we all knew you’d hate having it today.”

“You are a fucking genius, Mark.” Wilbur slumps further down into his chair, and you stand. Joe doesn't even look up from the plate of food he's absolutely devouring.

“I have to grab my wallet. Anyone else need stuff?”

Silently, you pray they let you go alone. Really, you only think you could face Mark or Joe right now. Even though Wilbur was the one you were trying to avoid, Ash definitely knew something was up between the two of you. And that was assuming Wilbur didn't run his drunk mouth last night.

“I’ll come with you.” Wilbur quickly says, also getting up. “To grab Ash’s camera.”

A rush of nerves fills you, but you shrug. He hasn’t said anything about last night yet, so what are the chances he’ll say something now? Or at least that's what you're telling yourself.

The two of you walk down the halls in complete silence. You attempt to focus on anything but his presence beside you. The blue carpet, the beige walls. You’re suddenly really fucking glad your rooms are on the first floor. An elevator ride might've killed you. You couldn’t just forget what he said, not when you so desperately wanted it to be true.

“I’ll grab my wallet while you grab the camera?” You suggest, unlocking your door with a swipe of your keycard.

Wilbur follows you into your room though, not going along with your plan. “We aren’t in a rush. Are we?”

“Maybe.” You grab your wallet off the bedside table, turning to see him lingering by the doorway when you make to walk out. “Time-wise it made more sense, but if you want to be slow-“

He reaches out and loosely grabs your wrist, making your words die in your throat and your legs stop moving. It's the contact, more than anything else. The feeling of his warm hand touching your skin makes your heart pound wildly.

“Calm down, okay? I can tell you're nervous."

"I'm not nervous." You boldly lie, barely able to look him in the eyes for a second.

"I'd like to think I know you well enough to know when you're lying." He scoffs. "If this is about last night-"

"It's not. About last night, that is." You cut him off.

His hand falls away from your wrist, but neither of you moves from that too-small doorway. Part of you mourns the loss of contact, while the other part is just trying to calm your heart before you go into cardiac arrest.

This is a challenge, one you can't back down from without losing. You're more afraid of what he's going to say next than anything that happened last night. Will he drop it? Unlikely, Wilbur also never backed down. What will he say?

"No?" He asks, and you pick up on the glimmer of amusement in his tone.

"No."

"So you aren't interested in if my feelings changed at all from last night then?"

Your eyes are drawn to him in surprise, only to see him grinning at you. Shit. You've played directly into his trap. This is why you don't play chess with him anymore.

But you'd be lying again if you told him no. Every bit of you was itching to know if he really meant it last night, to the point that you could jump out of your own skin. Every bit of you was hoping to hear things hadn't changed.

"Have they?" You speak so quietly that he has to lean in close to you. Or maybe he's just leaning in because he wants to.

You can't look away now, not from him. For a second the entire world seems to hang in its balance around the two of you.

"Lets check."

His lips crash onto yours, and he's suddenly kissing you. It hardly takes you a second to register what's going on and kiss him back. Wilbur braces an arm on the doorway behind you, and the two of you pull apart.

"Have an answer yet?" You ask.

"I think I need another kiss to tell. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I think that would help."

This time, when both of you manage to pull away, he steps out of the doorway. You follow after him without hesitation, letting the hotel door shut behind you with a soft click.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Yeah?" You echo, confused.

"Yeah, my feelings have changed." Your heart drops. His feelings have changed? After you fucking kissed? Twice?

"I definitely like you more than I did last night." He grins, and you hit his chest.

"Asshole!"

Wilbur laughs loudly, and you find yourself grinning with him.

[lovelybrooke]

I Have to be Dreaming. (Chapter 7).

Regular masterlist~~Series Masterlist

"We're here today to mourn the loss of a wonderful woman, Alicia (L/n). She was a teacher, caregiver, but most importantly, a mother. Her impact on the world will not be forgotten. Now, (Y/n), Alicia's child, is going to say a few worlds."

You slowly stand from your seat in the front of the room, smoothing down your clothes as a way of soothing yourself. You were so nervous, shaking the entire short walk to the podium. You don't dare look at the casket, containing the body of your mother. You've barely looked at it during the service, only doing so when you absolutely had to. You didn't want to except what was happening.

You take a quick look at your prepared note cards, placing them down on the podium with a trembling hand. You stare out into the large group of people, some crying, some giving you sympathetic looks, but all of them unfamiliar.

"Hello." You speak into the microphone, your voice quiet and wavering. "I'm happy to see so many people here, celebrating my mother's life." You smile, but it didn't reach your ears.

"My mother was an amazing person, I always wanted to be like her. As most of you know, she was a scientist and professor, I'm pretty sure most of you were her students." You gaze at some of the unfamiliar faces in the crowd as you speak.

"I never know my mother very well." You look away from the crowd, looking at your notes. "She was always so consumed in her research. But, when we did spend time together, we went to the beach."

"We'd go and look at the ocean, and It was during that time when I felt closest to my mom. She'd say "(Y/n), scream your worries to the sea, and the sea will answer!"" The crowd laughs, though it was more endearing than funny. "I'd scream about school, or work, life in general. But when mom got sick, I went to the sea one last time, and screamed about her."

You started to cry lightly, wiping the tears away quickly. "I cried and screamed because I didn't know her, I couldn't help her, and because it felt like she didn't care. Even as we got older, she was still so focused on her research, and she'd never share it with me."

"Her research was what killed her, and she kept that from me to the very end."

"I miss my mom, but even now, I feel worlds apart from her."

---

You gasped as you awoke, sitting up in your bed while clutching your chest. The sun was out, most likely meaning it was mid-day, Usopp probably let you sleep in.

The man in question was sitting in the corner of your shared room, tinkering away at something. As you shifted in your bed, he looked at you, eyes brightening as you yawned.

"(Y/n)! You're finally awake!" From the table, he held up your gauntlets. They were cleaned of all the blood and looked refurbished. You could see some new wires and medal platting on them. "Look! I improved those gauntlets of yours! I was inspired by the impact dial, look, look!" He moved to sit on the edge of your bed, showing you the palms of the gauntlets. "Now, when you uses them, you can absorb the impact of your punches! If you squeeze on the inside, you'll release a big blow!"

He goes on and on about the improvements to your weapon, but you couldn't help but notice the strain in his voice. He kept talking, but you knew deep down that he was struggling to adjust without the others. "You miss them, don't you Usopp."

That shuts him up immediately, his eyes widening in embarrassment. He looks away from you, frowning. "You're only like this with the others, Usopp." You point out, placing your hand atop of his. "It's okay, you're allowed to miss them."

Usopp shakes his head, looking back at you. His look was intense, matching his words as he spoke. "No! I-I don't miss them." He pauses, clearing his voice before continuing. "I'm just--glad you're here with me, I don't know what I'd do without you." He holds your hand tighter, a little bit too tight, making it impossible to let go. He takes his other hand, holding his pinky in front of you. "Promise me, no matter what happens, you won't leave. You're the only one I have left." His worlds were quiet, and scary, but you nod your head, wrapping your pinky around his.

"I promise Usopp."

---

"Zoro, please stop talking, you're only making things worse." Nami begs, following the swordman around as he argues with the captain.

Luffy doesn't look at Zoro, eventually finding his was to a hammock and laying down in it. "No, Nami, this is exactly what I said would happen if he didn't keep them away from battle."

"What were we supposed to do, we're pirates." Luffy responds, his eyes closed, and voice relaxed.

"I don't know, not drag them across the sea against their will!" He yells, exasperated. Luffy doesn't move an inch, waving him away.

"I asked you to keep an eye on them, so in a way, this is more your fault than mine." Zoro is reminded of that night, on the Sky Island. When the battle was won, and everyone was done celebrating. He was tired, and his head was aching due to all the alcohol he consumed. But when his captain has orders for him, he follows them no questions asked.

I need you to keep an eye on (Y/n) and tell me if they try anything." Luffy asks him. This was different that other orders though, his voice was low and demanding, leaving no room for argument. "They want to leave."

"Why?" Maybe it was the alcohol, but he couldn't help but wonder why you desired to leave so badly. He wasn't stupid, he saw how uncomfortable you were, how you were scared of absolutely anything. He knew you desired to be anywhere but with them, but he couldn't help but want you to stay.

Maybe he was selfish, greedy even, but there was something about you that Zoro craved. He couldn't describe what, but he wasn't about to let you get away.

Luffy stares the swordman down with an unwavering gaze "I don't know, just make sure they don't." Zoro nods, watching as Luffy walks away, his mood instantly shifting in front of the others.

In the present, Zoro narrows his eyes at the laid-back captain, scowling with furrowed brows. He's only able to get one step closer to him before Nami is standing between them. "You two can argue about who's at fault until the sky turns purple but that's not going to change a thing!" She turns towards the hammock, glaring daggers at Luffy. "Speaking of which, you need to apologize to Usopp. He got so upset because you came to a decision so unexpectedly!"

Luffy takes one look at the upset Nami before covering his eyes with his hat. "Well, it's too late to back out now."

"That's not true! You can apologize and talk it over with him!" She yells.

"I said it's too late." He responds lowly. "Usopp isn't foolish enough to wager his life over a temper tantrum."

Luffy shifts slightly in the hammock, "If it was something we could patch up by talking about it, it would never have come to this in the first place." He yawns.

Nami sighs, excepting defeat with a sag of her shoulders. She rubs her temple, feeling a headache coming on. Right on cue, arguing out on the deck could be heard.

"It's your fault this is happening! You should've beat those Franky freaks to a pulp then Usopp wouldn't have had that awful experience, and (Y/n) would still be here!" Sanji yells right in Zoro's face.

"Then you should've stayed here to fight, instead of going out shopping!" Zoro screams back. "And (Y/n) was planning on leaving before this all happened!"

"You're lying! You just don't want to admit that you played a part in---"

"Stop fighting at a time like this!" Nami yells, the two shutting up. "Don't argue about things that can't be changed." The soft patter of footsteps is heard, diverting all of their attention to him.

"Chopper, I thought you went after Usopp." The reindeer nods.

"I wanted to treat his wounds. But he brushed me off." He places his medical bag down. "They're both staying at an inn in town. Usopp said, "We are no longer apart of the crew, so go back to the ship."" Chopper sobs, tears running down his face as he whimpers.

Nami sighs, taking a seat. "All the great times we've had seem like a big lie now. On top of that, if something happened to Robin, I feel like our crew is falling apart."

---

"Usopp, are you sure you don't want me to come, what happens if you get hurt?" Usopp shakes his head, his hand on the handle of the door, ready to leave.

"It's best if you stay here (Y/n)--" He says quietly before turning around with a brave face, posing. "I don't want you to see what might happen to Luffy when I destroy him, it'll probably be a gruesome fight." You give him a worried look but smile regardless.

"Please be careful, Usopp!" You hug him.

Usopp faulters in your hold, not knowing what to do in your arms. He shakes for a bit before wrapping his arms around you tight. The hug lasted for a while, Usopp didn't want to let you go. He was afraid that if he did, this wouldn't be real. That you'd realize how weak and hopeless he was and you'd leave him.

You eventually let go, much to the annoyance of Usopp. You laugh, patting him on the shoulder, "Go gettem Usopp! I know you can do it!" Usopp's heart swells at your encouragement, blushing before nodding and heading out. He was going to make you proud.

---

"You guys stay on board. Do not get off." Luffy demands his crew, stepping out onto land. It doesn't take long for Usopp to meet up, the dirt beneath his feet crutching as he walks closer, standing tall in front of the Strawhat captain.

"You came. So, you didn't lose your nerve." Luffy dooms. "No matter what happens, don't regret it! You chose this fight!"

Usopp keeps his eyes on Luffy. "Darn straight. Go ahead and try to kill me. I'll bet you at your own game. I've already figured out how to bring you down."

Usopp narrows his eyes, snarling at the captain. "Don't lump me in with enemies you've faced up till now. They didn't know your tricks, Luffy. We've known each other a long time. I know your powers well."

The others watch anxiously from their spots on the ship. "Can't we stop them, Usopp is seriously injured!" Chopper asks Zoro. The man doesn't spare the doctor a glance.

"If you can't bear to watch, go to your room." Zoro couldn't see any signs of you, causing him to scowl at his former crewmates.

"Don't be shocked by what I tell you, Luffy. I--have 8,000 henchmen! If you fear for your life, surrender now!" Luffy doesn't flinch at Usopp's shouting.

"Huh?! 8,000 men?!" Chopper gawks.

"Go to your room."

"I know you don't have that many henchmen!" Luffy yells, only for Usopp to collapse suddenly. Luffy runs over, winding up a punch.

"What? Pity for you enemy." Covered in his hands was what Luffy thought as blood but could tell from the smell was nothing but ketchup. Before he could react, a flash of light blinds Luffy, pushing him back as he covers his eyes.

Usopp stands, flinging ammunition at Luffy over and over again, staggering the pirate. A rotten egg hits the corner of Luffy's mouth, causing him to gag.

"Ugh, that stinks!" Luffy sticks his tongue, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. "Darn you! Get serious and fight you jerk!"

"You think I'm fooling around?! I'm deadly serious Luffy!" Usopp growls, huffing from exhaustion. "This is how I fight. Watch out or that gaping mouth of yours will get burned." Usopp fires his slingshot, a pepper flying into his mouth. Luffy gags, covering his mouth as he begins to sweat.

Luffy stumbles around, spitting out the pepper in pain. "If I were you, I wouldn't stumble around so much either. The soles of your feet are already in caltrop hell!!" Luffy yelps as a spur digs into his foot, causing him to fall onto of more spurs.

Nami gapes at the sight of Luffy flailing around. "Usopp's controlling the fight!"

"Luffy, I'm going to beat you and take the Going Merry with me no matter what it takes!!" Usopp announces. The sniper was fueled by thoughts of you cheering him on, promising him that everything would be okay, that you believed in him. He kept his head held high as he fought his best friend for Merry, and for you.

Luffy is finally able to stand, shaking off the spurs while coughing. "It's stinky and it's hot!"

"I told you; I won't use an attack that won't be effective against you! I won't give you an opening, not even an inch!" Usopp fires again, shuriken's flying past Luffy, who is barely able to dodge in time. He flips around, stretching his limbs when needed in order to avoid the stars.

Luffy huffs as the stars hit the ground, smoke billowing around him. He looks around, confused, before seeing the dial on the ground near him. He groans in annoyance, looking back at Usopp.

"A wind dial!! You didn't notice the smell because of the rotten egg all over you." Usopp points at him with his slingshot. "You're currently surrounded by a cloud of gas." The others on the ship gasp as Usopp fires a large, fiery bullet at their captain.

Luffy watches as the bullet hits his abdomen, exploding on impact and causing a ripple of black smoke to billow around him. The boat shakes, creaking as the waves around it shoot out in every which direction.

"Luffy, Usopp!" Nami screams as she watches her friends fight. The smoke around Luffy eventually clears a bit, revealing Luffy laying on the ground, staring up into the sky. Usopp, exhausted, falls down onto his butt, laying back on a rock near him.

"Luffy!" Chopper cries. "Usopp." Neither respond, both motionless. Eventually, Usopp stands, a painful sound coming from his mouth.

"You--you won't die from something like that. I know that Luffy..." Usopp loads his slingshot, flinging ammo at his former captain. There's no response, the smoke still top thick for Usopp to see through.

The smoke ripples as Luffy shoots himself towards Usopp, punching dead each bit of ammunition Usopp fires. Once close enough, he jumps into the air, sending a punch straight into the side of Usopp's face, blood spewing from his mouth.

Usopp is able to move before more damage is done, blocking the attack heading for his stomach with a dial. It makes a low hissing sound, before its shot back in Luffy's face. The sheer force of the attack causes Usopp to cough up blood, crying out in pain.

"How did you like that, jerk?!" Usopp yells, but Luffy was right in front of him, glaring down at his friend. Usopp watches in horror as Luffy sends his arm backwards, before swinging in forward right into Usopp's stomach. He gurgles, stumbling back before falling straight forwards onto his face. Luffy waits for him to stop moving, falling to his knees while clenching his wrist.

"You idiot!" He yells to the unconscious man. "There's no way you could defeat me!!" Luffy sighs at the bloody sight of his friend and looks around the battlefield. Where were you, why haven't you come back yet, didn't you want to support Usopp? He pouts, realizing you weren't going to show up.

The pirate shuffles to his feet, grabbing his hat which wasn't far by. "This was your plan, isn't it, Usopp." He whispers. "Keeping them from me, just to spite me." He turns back, walking back to the ship.

"Do what you want with Merry. We're gonna find a new ship and we're gonna keep sailing forward!" Luffy declares, putting his hat back on his head. "So long Usopp, it's been fun."

Chopper cry, rushing towards the railing in an attempt to get to Usopp. "Hey, don't go, Chopper!" Nami yells as he cries for Usopp.

Sanji grabs hold of him, pulling him back. "Why?! He was in bad shape to begin with, and to just leave him after that beating..."

"This wasn't just any old fight." Sanji says as Chopper transforms, breaking out of Sanji's hold.

"So what?! I'm a doctor! Let me tend to him, at least!" Chopper begs. Sanji jumps onto his chest, holding him down.

"He lost his challenge...The last thing he needs now is your pity. Think about how that would make him feel!" Sanji explains. "Excessive kindness just hurts the vanquished even more! He made the challenge knowing what the outcome could be."

Luffy listens to Sanji from land, staring down at the ground. "This is too much...!"

Zoro looks at him through the corner of his eye. "That's the burden of being captain."

"Don't doubt yourself. If you start becoming unsure, who can we have faith in?!" Chopper, back in his smaller form, hops off the ship, running towards Usopp with a bag of medical supplies. He places it down near him, scurrying back towards the ship.

"Let's leave the ship to him." Zoro says. "This is it for us. We can never return to this ship."

---

Usopp doesn't return to the room in the morning, your stomach churning in worry. Sleep did not come easy the night of Usopp's fight, both because of your fear for his life, but also because you're dream from earlier.

You didn't know how to feel about the dream. You think you're supposed to be happy parts of your memories are coming back, but you wonder why. Why now?

Maybe this is a sign that you need to hurry up and contact the Navy, that they can help you. But another, louder part of you, reminds you that you have no one waiting for you.

You mother, the only family you had, is dead.

And you abandoned the only people who cared about you in an effort to find home.

You cover your face with the arm, sniffling in the dark of your room. Why did you have to be so indecisive? You made your choice, damn it, stick to it!

Was Zoro right, was there even a home you could return too?

You wished Usopp was here.

---

Sanji walked onto the roof of the inn they were staying at, being greeted by Zoro and Chopper. "Where's Luffy?" He asks the two.

Chopper points towards the top of a large bell tower. "Over there."

Sanji watches his captain as he lights a cigarette. "Where'd you go Sanji?" He blows smoke from his mouth, looking down at Chopper.

"I stayed by Rocky Cape all night keeping watch just in case Robin returned. I wonder where she went."

"I was planning on searching the town today. Whatever happens, let's make this inn our contact point." Chopper nods.

"I'll--I'll come too! To Search!" Sanji nods calmly.

The small peace was broken by Nami bursting onto the roof. "Luffy! Terrible news. The whole towns in an uproar." Luffy looks at her from his spot on the tower. "Last night Mr. Iceberg from the shipbuilding yards was shot in his home!"

"Ice guy?!" Nami nods. "Yes, he's in a coma right now."

"Who's that, Nami?" Sanji asks.

"A man we talked to at the shipbuilding yard yesterday. He's the president of the shipbuilding company and also the mayor of Water Seven." Nami explains. "He's quite a big shot. There's never been a bigger incident in this town."

"Everyone loved and respected him..." Luffy ads, jumping off the tower. "I'm gonna go check things out."

"Wait, Luffy. I'm coming too!" Nami yells, racing out the building. Sanji turns and looks at Zoro.

"We're going to search for Robin, what about you?"

Zoro shrugs. "I'm gonna wait and see what happens."

----

"Agua Laguna is coming!"

"Notify every household that hasn't heard!"

"All works stops now!"

Announcements rung out all across the island, people scurrying around you, sometimes even bumping into you as you walked down the winding roads of Water 7.

Aqua Laguna?

"Excuse me?" You tap a woman on her shoulder, "What was that advisory about?"

The woman laughs, clearly not as worried as some of the of the others. "Oh, you're a tourist? Man, you sure came at the wrong time. Aqua Laguna is high tide."

The woman lets out a hardy laugh at your shocked expression. "You better evacuate to someplace high up. This town will be submerged in seawater." She waves you off, taking off down the street. "It's an annual thing, take care."

Dang, that sucks. What does that mean for the locals who live in Water 7. You assume it's probably something they're used to, but that doesn't make it any less scary.

You shake your worry off, continuing your journey down the street. Finding a way to contact the Navy once the others leave is your top priority.

---

"Just as I though, look at that crowd of people." Nami and Luffy both stare at the crowed canal in front of them, everyone clumped together right in front of a large gate numbered 1. "We won't be able to get into the shipbuilding yard either."

Luffy pouted, looking at the people around them. "But I have to meet Ice Guy one more time."

"Excuse me, do you know where the head office is?" Nami asked a bored looking man on the boat next to them.

"Oh, that's impossible to get to. You have to go through dock one." He explained. "Only authorized personnel and reporters with special permission are allowed though."

"People are all gathered here to get the news as soon as it breaks. Everyone's worried--so worried they can't sit still..."

The man was right people were basically climbing on top of each other to get even the slightest glimpse past the gate. Loud shouting was heard as they beg for their mayor.

"So many people, there's no way we can get up close." Nami laments to a silent Luffy. "It can't be helped. We'll find out in time though the newspaper or something."

From above, a man watches the sea of people with an annoyed gaze. "What's with the ruckus, anyway?" He grumbles as upbeat music starts to play.

The music travels down all the way to the canals, silencing the locals in their boats. They groan, covering their ears at the mere sound. "Ugh! Th-that beat!" "No way, it can't be!!"

Luffy and Nami look around for the source of the music. "Alright everybody, did someone call my name?" A loud voice declares, far away but booming.

"We didn't call you! Get lost!" One-man yells.

"Where are you? Where?!" Another man screams to the air.

The music gets louder and louder, an onlooker pointing to the top of a tower high in the sky. "I see him--over there!" The people look at a silhouette of three posing people.

"Don't be sky, just sit back and listen!! To my name!"

"We don't wanna hear! Just disappear!"

The people started spouting accusations at the three, all their attention quickly focused on getting the man to shut up. "There should be a guy named Strawhat Luffy today!!" Nami gasps as the man speaks. "Show yourself!"

Suddenly, the cover hiding the three was blown away, "I am the number one hero of this island! The hidden face of Water 7. Oh yeah, everyone say it!" The man beds down, drumming is abnormally large arms on the ground.

"Franky!" The man poses to the sky, two women to his sides.

"Come on out, Strawhat!" People scream, the canals clear out as people attempt to escape from the potential fight.

"Who is that werido?" Luffy asks, furrowing his brow at the eccentric man.

"Didn't he say he was Franky?" Nami points out. Luffy's was taken aback, standing up in the boat and shouting at the man.

"Hey! Speedo guy!" Luffy's face darkens. "I'm Luffy."

"So, you're the one known as Strawhat Luffy!!" Franky booms. "While I was away, you sure caused some trouble didn't you, bro?" Franky continues to strike poses, the women next to him following along with him.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I returned. I mean, there was nothing left of my house!! You beat up my boys pretty good too..."

Nami stands up, "Hey! Where's our 200 million berries?!" Nami screams, Franky laughing at her.

"Huh? Oh that..." Franky tilts his head with a cocky smile. "All spent. Not a single Berry left! You probably stole it from somewhere anyway, so don't act so high and might, you pirates!"

"I don't care about that anymore. I won't be satisfied until I kick your butt!" Luffy roars.

Franky sneers down at the pirate captain. "That's what I'm saying you idiot." People start darting away from the two pirates as Franky takes a big, deep breath in.

"Hey! Come down here!" Luffy demands.

"What's he doing?" Nami questions with a slight worry.

Franky lets out a loud exhale, fire billowing down into the canal right in front of the two. Luffy backs away from the fire, nearly tumbling into Nami, who was already attempting to steer the boat away from fire. "He breathes fire!!" Luffy shrieks, a loud smug laugh.

"Never see anyone break fire." Smoke escapes from Franky's mouth as he speaks.

"Maybe he has powers! What fruit is it?" Luffy gapes.

With a huff, Franky jumps into the water below, water splashing everywhere. "He jumped into the water!! if he's eaten a devil fruit, he's gonna drown." Luffy mentions, watching the water calm.

"He probably just slipped and fell! His fruit ability must have been to breathe fire." Nami mentions.

Screams come from them as the boat they're on breaks into pieces, both being shot up into the air. Underneath them was Franky, his fist where there boat previously was. "He can swim?!"

"I didn't eat any devil fruit!" Franky screams, crawling onto one of the larger pieces of wood left floating above water. While he was too busy getting up, Luffy sent his arm back, extending it towards Franky.

"I've heard all about your powers..." Franky says, aiming his own arm towards Luffy, his hand detaching and hitting the pirate in the stomach. Connecting his arm and first was a long chain. Luffy grunts as his back hits the gate leading to the mayor's office, Nami watching from the sidelines in horror.

Franky's hand eventually finds its way back to his arm, clicking in place as Luffy slides down the gate. His head hits the ground with a thump, Franky staring at the sight with a triumphant smile.

"Oh, don't you guys know?" Franky patronizes them, Luffy scowling as he speaks. "Then I'll tell you."

"I'm a cyborg!"

---

The two men's fight eventually led to the shipyard, both of them heaving as they stare each other down.

"I'm going to beat your brains out." Luffy threatens.

Franky simply laughs as the boy. "Just try it! Your attacks won't have any effects on me!" Franky extends his arm, his hand detaching and bending to the left, revealing a barrel in his arm and a scope on the palm of his hand. He aims right at Luffy, before a large explosion goes off. Luffy dodges barely, stretching his foot towards Franky. As Franky raises an arm to block the attack, both of them are slammed into a pile of wood.

"Who are you?" Luffy rises, the Galley-La foremen standing behind him.

"You've got some nerve, just what is it are you after Strawhat?" Nami heart sores at the sound of Paulie, the companies vice president, voice.

"It's the shipwrights from yesterday! They'll be on our side, right?!" She hopes, the others around her sighing in relief. Though, the two women with Frank couldn't be more displeased.

"Hey now, Galley-La boys." Frany says calmly, raising his arms to his sides as he attempts to show he means no harm. "You know, you shouldn't stick your noses into other people's fights. Do you want to get hurt?" Franky was obviously trying to together in front of the foremen, but they were having none of it.

"You're one to talk." Kaku says. "Looking at what you did to our factory we were bound to come after you."

"Grah! That's right Franky, you fool! How are you planning to atone for this?!" A large burly man yells, Paulie motioning for him to calm down.

"Just hold on, Tilestone. We'll deal with him later." Paulie's attention was turned to Luffy, who was pouting, assumedly due to his fight being interrupted. "We have more important business here, remember? Don't we Strawhat Luffy?" All of the foremen were staring at him excitedly. Luffy remained silent, causing Paulie to grow angrier by the second.

"You what I'm talking about. I'm amazed you showed your face here again." The cigar in Paulie's mouth sizzled, ash falling to the ground as Luffy's mouth gaped open, confused.

"Why? When we heard about the old guy, we--"

Franky sighs from the side of Luffy, his eyes rolling behind his sunglasses. "So, our family wasn't enough for you, huh? You had to go and mess with Gally-La too? You must be at that awkward age when you hurt everything you touch!!"

Luffy turns towards the cyborg, his face scrunching up in anger. "We didn't do anything!" Paulie heard enough, charging towards the pirate in a rage.

"If you're gonna play dumb, I'll just turn up the heat!!" A rope extends from Paulie's jacket. He grabs one end, the other wrapping around Luffy's neck. He groans as the not tightens and he's thrown into a wood pile.

"You jerks! I told you not to get in the way!! What part of that don't you get?!" Franky shouts to the foremen, diverting their attention away from Luffy. "I'm the one who's got a score to settle with that guy!!"

Nami watches with the onlooks from the side of the destroyed shipyard. While the locals were screaming in support for their beloved foremen, Nami sweats as she watches Luffy stand. "Why!? Why are all the shipwrights our enemies too?!"

The pirate captain let's out a cough as dust circles around him. "Hey, hold it! I've got no reason to fight you!" Luffy's attempts to calm the foreman was fruitless as two bullets were shot at him, sending him back slightly as the spring back out of him.

"Did you eat a Devil Fruit?" One asks as the bullets hit the grounds. Luffy doesn't get the opportunity to, being kicked in the jaw before a world could even come out of his mouth.

The sight caused Franky to sweat, gritting his teeth backs away from the foremen. "Come on, are you people even listening to me?! I told you..." Franky's arm detaches, snapping into place with a clank and becoming a clank, "...to stay out of it! That kid's mine!" Franky fires bullet after bullet towards the foremen, explosions going off near them as the jump and dodge out of the way.

"We don't have time to mess around with you..." It was Kaku directly above the cyborg, "...Franky." Franky aims towards Kaku, smoke coming from his arm.

"What was that, you bumpkin!" He prepares to fire, a large pillar hitting him in the back interrupting him. Franky flies away, a sickening smack being heard for miles.

"You're the one who's in the way, Franky!!" Tilestone huffed as he swung the pillar around. The onlookers awed at the sight of Franky being pushed further into the ground by Kaku.

"Knock it off!!" Luffy was too preoccupied with fighting Rob Lucci to even pay attention to the cyborg behind him. Lucci was bocking each of Luffy's attacks with ease, frustrating the boy greatly. The silent man paid no mind to this however, ending the fight with one strong blow to Luffy's stomach.

Luffy coughs as his back hits wood. "These guys are really strong." He laments with a groan. "What's wrong with you?! At least yell me why you're doing this?" Luffy questions as he sits up, his face a mixture of confusion and frustration.

"We're the ones who want an explanation!!" Paulie yells, walking up him. Luffy wipes his mouth of blood and debris as he furrows his brow, nearly pouting.

"Last night, somebody broke into headquarters and attacked Mayor Iceberg." Paulie points a finger towards Luffy, anger dripping from his voice. The man was nearly shaking with rage as he gazes at the pirate. "And that somebody was you guys, wasn't it?!"

Franky was up and moving at his point, his voice a tone quieter than previous. "Iceberg was...? What's this all about?!" Franky scratches his head, a hint of dejection in his voice as he spoke. The people around them gasp, Nami shaking her head at the accusation. "What are you suggesting?"

Luffy snarls at the man, sitting up straight as he bellows loudly towards the man. "Don't be an idiot!! Why would we do something like that?"

"After the Mayor came to, he said there were two assassins." Paulie said in a critical voice, staring daggers at Luffy. "When we asked the Government, they told us on of them was a buddy of yours. A bounty named Nico Robin!"

---

Word spreads quickly throughout Water 7.

Especially in regard to their mayor.

It didn't take long for you to hear the rumors regarding the Strawhats and the "assassin" Nico Robin. In honesty, you didn't know what to believe, you don't really know Robin, who are you to say that she's a good or bad person. But when you think of her, you think of that night exploring the forests in Mock Town.

"Before you came here, I worked with a terrible man. He hurt people, and Luffy helped take him down. He saved me." When she spoke, it was like she was talking directly from her soul, nothing but truth coating her words.

You wonder, if all of this is true, was Robin simply lying to them, to you, to herself. Or is there something deeper at play.

The busy, crowded streets eventually die down morphing into a near ghost town, you assume due to the evacuations. So far, your search for any way to contact the Government was a dead end, most regular people have no need to contact the Government and well, you don't think you're going to be speaking with Iceberg anytime soon.

"Sanji?" He was sitting on the street near some stairs, his body soaking wet and lacking a shirt. His head instantly turns when he sees you, and for a second you swear you saw his eyes light up.

You can't deny the painful beating in your heart as you stare at him. You know deep down you miss him, miss all of them, but you made a promise not only to yourself to find a way home, but to Usopp. You couldn't abandon him now, no matter how crazy everything was currently.

"(Y/n)?" He asks quietly, like he wasn't sure if you were actually real. You take a few short steps towards him, testing the waters to make sure he wouldn't start yelling at you. When he remained silent, watching you, you sighed and motioned towards the spot next to him.

"Can I sit?" He nods quickly. You thank him quietly as you sit down and for a second neither of you say anything. You can feel Sanji look at you, but you don't dare look at him back. You're too afraid to see the look of hurt and betrayal that seeped into every corner of him.

After a few long minutes of silences, Sanji finally speaks up. "What are you doing here?" It was strangely judgmental, but you have no room to judge. You're the one who left them, you made your choice.

"I heard about Robin, I uh--wanted to make sure you were all doing okay." You lied through your teeth. Sanji looked away from you to light a cigarette, after inhaling the smoke taking a deep, long sigh.

"I-I've been thinking a lot since you left." You've only been gone for a little more than a day, must've been a lot of thinking. "Did you only ask me to train you because you were planning on leaving?" His voice dripped of sadness, like it hurt for him to even think about you lying to him. It made your earlier lie seem much, much worse.

You swallow down your regret and nod; hearing Sanji take a shaky breath from beside you. "It wasn't a full lie; I really did feel so useless after all our time at the Sky Island." You stammer, playing with your hands as you try your best to ignore your reflection in the water.

"I thought, "yknow, they've been spending a lot of time with Luffy" and I was so excited to finally get time with you to myself." He lets out a dry laugh and another drag of his cigarette. "Maybe it was just wishful thinking."

"I really am sorry. I-I just, I felt like I was just taking up space with you guys. I really did think that learning how to fight would make me more useful." Your voice cracks a bit, you hate this. You hate this situation; you hate having to acknowledge your feelings. It makes you feel gross, and small, and pathetic, just like before.

Sanji, yet again, lets out another sad laugh. "Well, it doesn't matter now, does it? You're gone." It's the first time you looked at Sanji, and to your surprise, he was looking at you. Your eyes were filling with tears, and Sanji looked exhausted. But when he looked at you, you could see the exact moment his expression turned from pure fatigue to remorse. His eyes widened, his mouth opening a bit as he stared at your guilt filled face.

"Come here." In a second, Sanji's snubbed out his cigarette, wrapping his arms around you, you gladly taking the hug. He smelt mainly like smoke, but you could smell a small bit of sea salt from what you assumed was earlier. The water covering him didn't matter to you as cry softy into his chest.

"(Y/n), I want you to know that no matter how far you are from us, we will always care about you." He speaks into your hair, his hold tight and comforting. "Even if you don't believe it, you were, you still are, an important part of the crew." Your lip wobbles as you sniffle.

It takes a while before you're let go, Sanji fixing a part of your hair as he smiles at you. He waits for you to calm down, the tears dry on your cheeks as you move to look at the ocean near you. The waves were getting larger and more violent as the day turned into night, and he wondered how bad it would get until high tide.

"I had a dream last night, Sanji." You spoke. He follows you gaze to the ocean. "It was more of a memory, about my mom." You frown at the word "mom", but Sanji was too concerned with the implications. "I think my memories are coming back." You didn't sound happy, but you also didn't sound sad, so Sanji didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to you, telling you how happy he was, because he wasn't. Getting one memory back means another would come, and another, and another, until there's no room left for them in your mind.

"That's good, right?" You tilt your head at him, the cook remaining silent. You were so cute, your cheeks sit a little wet from tears, your hair framing your face nicely as it tilted to the side. He let out a small nod, looking away so you wouldn't see his red cheeks.

He's such a terrible friend, swooning over you as you confide in him. Perhaps it was the caregiver in him, wanting to take all your worries away so you could just focus on him. But he knew there was a more selfish part of him that wanted you look at him, and never look away. A part of him that relished in the naive looks and mumbling words. You were just so undeniably you, and he couldn't get enough.

Sanji had to light another cigarette of calm down, focusing on the situation at hand as to not get too caught up with being back with you again. "You said you heard about Robin, right?" You hum, it was sad.

He takes a short drag of his cigarette. "Would you be willing to help us, get her back I mean." You don't answer for a bit, thinking. "Luffy's been off the rails ever since, yknow..." He alluded to the incident with you and Usopp. "And now all this with Robin." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Earlier, right before you got here in fact, I saw Robin. She took blame for the attack and told me she was leaving, and I-I just can't except that." You stare at him as he spoke, his voice determined. "I know something has to be going on with her, and--I'd like your help figuring everything out." He looks at you.

"I-I don't know..."

He suddenly takes your hands in his, holding them tight. They were cold because of the water, causing you to shiver. "Please, (Y/n), I've seen you fight, I know you can hold your own! Besides, once this is all over, I promise we'll all be out of your hair." You knew he couldn't promise that, but a small piece of you hoped he was telling the truth, that this could be your last thank you to the Strawhats before finally going home.

Maybe this would be good for you. Robin has always been kind to you, even though you barely knew each other. She deserved someone to be there for her as well.

You nod, shaking his hands, Sanji grinning ear to ear as his face turns a light shade of red.

---

A/n: Uwu Sanji and Usopp fans are eating.

[chainofclovers]

Ted Lasso 3x12 Thoughts

I have always loved, and still love, that Ted moved to London and loved it. He acclimated, or more than acclimated. The three years was a story about new places and people and experiences and old ghosts that followed him there. I understand that the one thing in the middle—a kid, not a ghost, who still exists in the place left behind—necessitated him making a painful decision. I am mourning that because Ted had to make the decision to leave London, the magic of arriving in a place and never wanting to leave has been broken. He had to re-outsider himself, and I can imagine many complex (and realistic, damn it) futures for him, including futures that would involve him spending significant time back in that place, but there's a real sadness in just...the leaving. He's doomed to return (or not return) instead of just getting to exist there, after we've gotten used to seeing him in an environment that suited him.

Something I'll love when I'm able to be more mature about all this is that Ted doesn't argue with Rebecca when she tells him she wants him to consider the possibility that Richmond is his home.

Something I love now--as painful as it is--is that Rebecca seems, in a lot of ways, like she's in love with Ted. He's slipping away, and instead of wailing about how much she'll miss the biscuits, she sits herself down in front of some croissants. (And while I don't particularly like that the Dutch man has returned to her life in such a magical, serendipitous way that only timed out because of her tremulous, seemingly to-the-wire decision not to get on that plane or say anything more to Ted, a charitable and practical part of my brain is glad she'll have companionship if she couldn't have what she spent most of this episode seeming to believe she wanted. Even if what she wanted wasn't actually romantic. Or wasn't supposed to read as romantic. Even if it did.)

The immediacy of Ted's emotions in 3x11, when he has the fight with his mom and it's so clear that he's got to go back and face what he's run away from, reminded me of how sharply he can feel. So it was really hard to watch him be almost stoic throughout this episode in the way he pulls away. He leaves everyone well, but everyone else's feelings are so big and he's kinda glazed over, and I didn't expect to feel the wind knocked out of me with the force of Rebecca's longing for him to stay.

(And I'm so glad that Rebecca didn't sell all of the club, instead taking her ownership down to just 51%, but I'm also glad she cares enough about Ted to have genuinely considered it. I'm so glad she and Keeley are going to work together to form a women's team. I'm so glad she promoted Roy to head coach, and that he's actually going to work on himself now that he knows he'll be working to be his best self rather than someone else. I am glad Ted was only dreaming about Beard and Jane marrying at Stonehenge--Ted has never understood how seriously bad that relationship is. I'm glad life is moving on, but it's just. So. Painful.)

I know a lot of people will talk about how this was a disappointment after all--a savior story with a pat, happy ending, rather than a true love story. But my feeling is that it genuinely was something better and sadder than a savior story...a narrative about choice with a tragic end. (And I don't mean "tragic" to imply that he shouldn't have gone to be with Henry, because I think he needed his reconnection with Henry to take place in Kansas, very essentially. It's just that everything else about the ending is tragic.) Maybe Ted spent the last three years at home, and maybe it won't hit him until much later, the magnitude of all that he's left. I like that it wasn't a happy ending, even if there are happy parts. I don't like that people will mistake it for a happy ending, even if a happy ending that angers them. I don't expect people to feel good about this paragraph, but it's the thing that's saving me where this show is concerned.

This is my favorite show. I've never obsessed over or connected to a piece of media quite like I have with this. I don't particularly care about the better things out there, and I'm not particularly curious what my next obsession will be because I'm still in this one. The finale didn't ruin the show for me, but I feel like I'm being stabbed by the last ten minutes, by the pain of the end really being about that impossible choice feeling impossible for as long as our eyes were trained on his face.

[twistmusings]

hi! i’m so happy your requests are open! i love your blog :) i was wondering if you’d be comfortable writing how the dorm leaders would mourn for you if you died? i know that’s pretty angsty but angst is my favorite 💕 if you’re not comfortable with it, i totally understand! thanks either way!

Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad you've been enjoying it. I don't mind angst at all, though I may be a bit rusty, so hopefully this does it justice!

How would the Dorm Leaders mourn for MC if they died?

TW: Dark content, death, mourning, bad mental health and coping mechanisms, implied relationship but it could also be read as very intense friendship (just depends how you wanna view it!).

CW: Mentions of a major spoiler from book 6 in Idia's section. Please be careful of that and skip reading if you would like to avoid it!

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle is convinced he must have done something horrible in a past life. His life was supposed to be getting better, right? He was supposed to be moving past the things that happened in the past with his mom and his isolation and be making moves to improve himself, right? So why was someone so important to him taken away from him so soon?

At first he couldn't bring himself to believe it-- it had to be some cruel prank. Despite him having attended their service... there was no way that they were gone. It had to be a joke and someday he would wake up and they would be there and they would be smiling and say "Gotcha!" and he would be mad but they would still be here and he could learn to forgive them someday.

And then that had not happened. Trey had told him that he was worried about him-- about how little reaction he seemed to have. Chenya came to check on him every few days to try and drag him out of the house, but he said to him that something had changed with that worried look on his face. People were tip-toeing around him again, he could see it.

It might take several weeks, but when it finally hits him, he snaps. He starts crying-- loud and ugly and miserable. He's inconsolable, and even though he has people there to help, no one is ever going to be able to fix this. He can't stop the tears, and they come on so randomly. He can't quite bring himself to be as put together as he always has been-- his hair is an unbecoming mess and his clothes don't sit on him right and he's exhausted to the point that he can barely hold himself up.

He has people to help him work through it, and he's so gracious for their support, but it's still going to take him a long, long time to be even be "okay" again.

Leona Kingscholar

Leona's first thought when it happened was that he should have known. He should have known because his life had always been this way. Happiness had always been dangled just outside of his reach, and yet somehow he had hoped this time would be different. He'd let his guard down enough that this hurt, it felt like someone was tearing a hole in his chest and it feels like a piece of him is missing now. He's hollow on the inside.

He shouldn't get his hopes up, and so he doesn't. Anything he loves or values is snatched away from him, so it's in his best interest to just stop caring about anything. It's what he'd been doing for years-- and what he should have kept doing because he wasn't allowed to know contentment. Maybe if he had, they would still be here.

He's starting to wonder if they really would be-- maybe he was cursed by someone as a cub and he would have to watch the people around him that he cares about wither and turn to sand whether he uses his unique magic or not. It's ironic, really, because it feels like every time he tries to find any light at the end of the tunnel that it slips through his hands just like sand.

So he sleeps. And he doesn't get up anymore, not unless someone pulls him physically. He can't find it in himself to care anymore, it's exhausting to constantly be disappointed and grieving. He doesn't have the energy and he can't muster it anymore. His body feels weak, like the only thing that was holding him together was momentum and their loss was the last straw and he was finally going to fall apart. It's so much easier to just sleep.

And at least when he's asleep there's still a chance he will get a chance to escape to somewhere where he's still allowed to feel hope. And maybe, if he's lucky, he'll get to see them again.

Azul Ashengrotto

It's like someone has cut a limb off of him. There isn't a better way to describe it-- it feels like someone has taken one of his legs and now he's left there to look at the place where it used to be and to know that something is missing... except, unlike his own limbs, this one won't regrow. It can never, ever regrow.

For a while, he throws himself into his work. He needs to fill the void with something, at it feels like his job and the Leech twins are all he has left to try and mend. And even the Leech twins sometimes look at him like he's broken-- look at him with such pity in their eyes and it takes him right back to that pathetic, small octopus that he was as a child. It makes him feel helpless, so when he notices Floyd behaving because he's worried, he tells him off. Likewise for Jade, when he notices that he's shying away from giving him a hard time. He expects them to be on the top of their game.

On some level, he knows it's unfair. It's unfair to them to expect that he should just be okay to move on like this. Unfair to himself to not give himself the time to mourn, and unfair to Jade and Floyd because they were also close to them. But if things don't feel normal, then he's going to fall apart. He just might overblot, again, if he has to sit and wallow in it. He needs to feel some semblance of normal. He needs it. Please.

But that's not how it works. It's not normal, because he's trying to ignore it. He's trying to push off having to deal with it until he feels well enough to deal with it and it backfires horribly.

It overwhelms him, one day in the lounge. Floyd and Jade are in the back room with him and they're chatting with each other. Azul hasn't really been listening to them-- he's trying to crunch the opening predictions and he doesn't need to know what they're saying. At least, not until he hears Floyd say Shrimpy, and suddenly it feels like Azul's lungs are collapsing. It feels like he can't breathe-- like his potion is failing and he can't breathe the air on land anymore. His grip tightens on his pen and his desk, fingers flexing so tightly against the wood that they go white. He feels like the walls are collapsing in around him, and though he can see the way the tears splash against the papers and desktop below him, his brain can't quite connect that he's crying. He's started crying.

"Azul?" It's Jade, and something about hearing him address him snaps Azul out of the hole he feels like he's falling into and everything snaps back to the present around him. Jade has this worried look on his face, and he's apparently had his hand on his shoulder. Azul is confused and overwhelmed, and all at once it's too much. He feels the sob wrack his body painfully, and he hiccups. It's like he's a cup and he's overflowing. He must look pathetic. Floyd and Jade move quickly, one on either side, arms around him in a hug and there's something soothing about feeling small and safe knowing that despite all of their ribbing, they won't abandon him here when he's at his lowest. And they stay until he stops crying.

He's lost a limb and it's never coming back, so he's going to have to learn how it is to live without it. It will take work and time, but he will learn to live without it someday, though he will never forget it.

Kalim Al-Asim

For one of the first times in his life, Kalim feels entirely lost. Hopeless and adrift, and since all he knows is showing his heart on his sleeve, he cries hard and repeatedly. The only person who he really lets near him is Jamil, and that's only because Jamil is too obstinate to let him self-destruct.

He can't pull himself out of bed. He feels like he's been run through the wringer and he has been thinking about it non-stop since it happened and wondering why. They were so kind and fun and wonderful, he doesn't understand why it had to be them of everyone. They deserved better, and though he knows the universe doesn't work that way, he can only hope that they still exist somewhere and that they know that he does care. That he misses them, and that he hopes they can still have fun. He's not spiritual, nor is he religious, but the thought brings him comfort, so he clings to it.

Since he's really the only one who actually gives himself space to mourn, it might look like he gets over it quickly, but really he just reaches his equilibrium faster than anyone else because he isn't trying to stuff the feelings down. He will always, always miss them, but he can only hope that they know how much he cares and how much love he has for them in his heart.

And even if privately, he will hold out the hope that someday, in some form, he'll get to see them again.

Vil Schoenheit

Vil handles his mourning with silence, and with shutting people out. No one needs to know how he is feeling, he's not a spectacle, and it's none of their business how he's handling it. That might be well and good in the eyes of the public but... in private, people are worried about him. They can't see him cry, but they can see that he's tired. His normally perfect complexion is marred by the dark bags that are under his eyes. He does a good job of covering them up, but for the people who see him every day, they can see the difference.

It's not that they haven't tried to talk to him about it, but whenever they try, Vil's temper gets the better of him. He is fine, they need to act like it. At least... he will be fine someday, and he doesn't have time to dally and linger on it right now. He can deal with processing his emotions when it's more convenient.

It fails in about the most spectacular way that it could have. He's asked for an interview, and while he's not acting right now to finish out his education, he still needs to keep himself relevant so he accepts. He doesn't know how the interviewer found their name, but they ask about them. Ask how they're doing-- entirely unaware-- and it hits Vil like a train. It is so unbecoming to have a breakdown on camera and especially so on live television, but he can't seem to stop it before it happens since it happens so fast. Before he's even aware of it, he's started crying and his mascara is starting to run.

He handles it as gracefully as he can, apologizing profusely for his crying and phrasing in the most detached way possible that they are no longer among the living. He ends up needing to ask to be excused half way through the interview and leaves the stage with cheeks streaked with his makeup and shaking. Despite it all, he holds it together long enough to get to his dressing room before the dam breaks and he starts sobbing.

He still has a long way to go, but if there is any saving grace, it's that the people around him care about him and are patient with him. After the interview even Neige reaches out to make sure he's okay and offer his support, and though Vil is overwhelmed and miserable, at least he knows he still has people to go to if he needs.

Idia Shroud

Idia is no stranger to death. Their death wasn't so traumatic as Ortho's, he hadn't seen them get mauled, and he didn't feel responsible for it, and yet it still hurts so badly. They had managed to get him to lower his walls-- get him to let them in to see who he was despite of his fear of their judgement. They had so easily made themself at home in his heart and now there was nothing there to fill that gap. Idia has no desire to fill it-- no one else is worth the effort.

Somehow he expected something like this should happen. It was a sort of dread that always stuck with him-- maybe its trauma? Either way, Idia has a track record of losing everyone who is important to him, so why would he try? He should have learned his lesson the first time and he can't find himself to feel anything but disappointment to start. He'd always shown his grief strangely-- look at Ortho.

He doesn't try to make a replacement for them, though. Something tells him that isn't what they would have wanted him to do, and as much as he loves Ortho, he thinks trying to recreate them might be impossible. He'd know Ortho better than anyone, but they were always so unpredictable and seemed to know exactly how to push him to open up. Even if he tried to recreate that, he would fail-- even he doesn't know how they managed to earn his trust.

He doesn't cry. Not really. He's spent a lot of his life crying over the dead-- cried more times over Ortho than he can count, and eventually it just... stopped. He doesn't think he can cry from sadness anymore.

He ends up knowing that he is destined to be alone. He already knew that, actually, but this cements it. He's going to end up losing the people he cares about, and regardless he's going to end up having to care for STYX and the underworld, and that's all he's got going for him in life.

Malleus Draconia

Nothing anyone could have said could have prepared Malleus for the reality of death. And a young death, at that. Malleus cared about them so, so much, treasured their company and their opinions and seeing how quickly their life had been snuffed out was devastating to him. He wasn't able to bring himself to speak to anyone for several days after it happened. Instead he retreated into himself entirely.

He knew that the others were worried-- Lilia kept bringing him food and insisting that he eat to sustain himself, but he finds that he can't taste anything and really has no desire to. He's listless, and while Lilia and his other retainers keep coming to sit with him, he's having a hard time holding himself together and continuing to push on.

It marks a fundamental change in Malleus-- something inside of him morphs and becomes cold. He struggles to let people in again. And while he ends up warming up again to his fellow fae and SIlver, he finds it so, so hard to let another human in even if he wants to. They're so fragile and getting hurt and he doesn't know if he can take it again.

Especially not when the person that he lost was as special as they are.

[elkkiel]

fuck it I know I said yesterday I'm gonna hold on and wait but I just need to get some thoughts out of my head.

Content covered: love and empathy to Caiti, why he's taking so long to get his statement out, and frustrations with balancing personal mental health vs understanding that this isn't about *you*

1) Love to Caiti

I can't even imagine what she's going through right now. Regardless of if George had innocent or malicious intentions, it's obvious that this situation was incredibly traumatic for her. And I'm so glad that she has friends that are publicly willing to support her. I talked about it when Shelby spoke up so I won't bring it up again, but I get what she's going through and how much it fucking sucks. Hopefully, no matter the outcome, she can find peace and healing moving forward.

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2) Why he's taking so long

*I'll make statements empathizing with how difficult the self-defence process must be, but it in no way condones or excuses his potential behaviours or actions involved in this situation. He is a grown man and can deal with the consequences as such

The rush to get a statement and potentially closure to move on is understandable but still super stressful all the same. Given the severity of how this will impact his entire life moving forward, I wouldn't be surprised if he's seeking legal counsel or other advice before proceeding with a statement. Additionally, this is likely a situation where there may be little to no evidence that proves he didn't do anything, so whatever he presents has to be circumstantially rock solid with little room for doubt.

This isn't twitter drama where you can link a few screenshots and a twitlonger, or hop on stream quick to spout out your perspective. He stands to lose absolutely everything in his life today and it all depends on what he has to say and how he manages to say it. I know if I was in a situation like that (in the case that he legitimately believes he hasn't intentionally done anything wrong) I would be preparing in every way possible, short of a lawyer speaking for me, to clear my name to the best of my ability.

It makes sense that he's taking so long. He's probably not trying to ignore it and move on, but the lack of clarity on timelines certainly doesn't help him either. I wish he'll say something now too, but there's nothing wrong with taking longer than anticipated to detail out (probably with some fairly intimate detail that may be uncomfortable for anyone to share at such a scale) the most important stream of his life.

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3) Autism and grieving a special interest

There are (or were) a lot of neurodivergent people in this community. Like, a LOT. Some of us are able to drop hyperfixations or special interests and move on to something new with relative ease. Others struggle a hell of a lot more. You're not a bad person if you mourn the loss of a special interest in your life, it's just important that you keep the right perspective about it.

It's not as strong now as it was years ago, but the dream team have been a special interest for me since like July 2020. Emotionally, it honest to goodness feels like a loved one has died and I'm having a really hard time coping with it. Fuck, like I called in sick to work today because I the mental toll is so extreme I'm feeling physically ill.

Things will be okay and I'm so grateful to have Sleep Token right now, otherwise I don't know if I would be in a very safe place at the moment. It's really fucking hard and your pain is valid, despite what neurotypicals or neurodivergents with different experiences may say. The important thing to keep in mind is that your pain does not outweigh the pain of those genuinely hurt in this situation (Caiti in this case)

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4) Moving forward

I guess it all hinges on what's to come later today. Regardless of the outcome, things will never be the same here and I would be very surprised if any of the dream team carry on with their careers in the same capacity. I'm glad that people seem to be self-blaming less this time compared to the drituation. It still hurts to see this once-vibrant community crumble in such a short period of time.

I don't know what I'll do from here but I don't think the last 4 years were a waste. The dream team was a huge source of happiness during some of the darkest times of my life, and I don't think those memories could ever be tainted.

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Much love to everyone, whether you're still hanging around or not. I hope everyone finds happiness wherever they end up and that the truth will prevail in the end

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Now that we've listened to the cadence of rappers through the interplay between the flow and beats it is time to listen to what rappers are saying. Rap has its own language made up of metaphors and references that can intimidate new listeners, but there is one skill that should be easy for anyone to appreciate. Storytelling. These songs are some of the best storytelling that hip-hop has to offer. And Storytelling is one of rap's strong suits so really this is some of the best storytelling that music has to offer!

The Art Of Peer Pressure Kendrick is why were here right? Well he is probably the best lyricist in rap history. The Art Of Peer Pressure may not be his biggest hit but it is unparalleled in terms of storytelling. Kendrick describes a night as a teen in Compton. Him and his friends emulating the violence heard on their favorite rap albums. The story seems simple, but the message is complex. He disavows every action he engages in saying that he's normally sober, normally peaceful, but he's with the homies right now. As the title suggests its a story about how peer pressure helps reproduce systems of violence.

Children's Story Slick Rick is the storyteller of all time. It honestly baffles me how naturally he communicates this simple fable without missing a beat. It flows so casually that you actually forget that he's maintaining rhyme throughout.

Gold Simple fables about street violence are extremely common in hip-hop. This one builds bravado and avarice until the tragic ending where the singer buries his mother before he can use all the money he's attained on her.

I Left My Wallet In El Segundo And now for the lowest stakes in any rap story. This is the gripping story of Q-Tip trying to remember where he left his wallet. The energy of a couple of friends trying to retrace their steps is actually really relatable though.

It Was A Good Day I've seen people on here try to use the details of this song's lyrics to pinpoint the exact date Cube was talking about. It's a simple song, but the simplicity belies some depth. It's pretty telling that to Ice Cube playing basketball and dominoes with his friends is on the same level as not getting harassed by the police or shot.

Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa De La Soul decided to ditch the fun and games on Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa. seriously content warning for frank discussion of csa. The tense story of a girl who is brought to the point of desperation because no one will believe that she is being abused. Its dark stuff and extremely well told.

Neighbors J. Cole dodged a bullet when he decided not to actually beef with Kendrick. Which is good cause I actually like Cole's music. Neighbors is about J. Cole tried to move into a nice house in a white neighborhood and got harassed until he was forced to leave. He meditates on the fact that fame can't actually stop the baked in racism at the heart of America.

Hey Mama If you want to know why fans are mourning Kanye or even hoping for him to get better instead of just dropping him like a rock look no further than Hey Mama. This ode to his mother is the sweetest song ever made. I'm kinda glad Donda West didn't have to see what her son turned into.

Just A Friend Biz Markie is the clown prince of hip-hop. his flow is goofy, the beat is kinda wonky, and the story is simple. And then he just kinda yells the hook like he's half drunk. It is either gonna charm you right away or annoy you. Just A Friend is the kind of stupid that I always fall in love with and it's enduring popularity is proof that others feel the same.

Fat Cats, Bigga Fish The Coup are the group that would eventually make the film Sorry To Bother You. Fat Cats, Bigga Fish is a deftly told story whose moral is "stealing is only illegal if you aren't rich"

To Be Continued ===> Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

[welcometoteyvat]

the wanderer and furina story was beautiful!! i loved the little foreshadowing to dancing a waltz alone, which i read was furina dancing at the stage as the hydro archon all alone—but she’s not alone because scaramouche is there as well.

it was genius to have scaramouche see the funeral of furina and furina the funeral of scaramouche. i’m not sure if this is reading too much but the front part of the story hints at neuvilette controlling the rain, and the fact that it rained at the end… does it allude to how neuvilette was mourning for the death of what furina was (which was her act and the furina that he grew to know) but in the midst of people mourning the loss furina is freed and found a partner who understands her turmoil and they sort of relish in that fact they aren’t alone??? either way, i loved it and i would love more author’s commentary!

i don’t think this is particularly ooc too. — @apologems

for people who missed the context it is here

ehe (venti voice) thank you!!!!! wahhh this is such a sweet note 🥺 also i'm so glad you picked up on all the things i added in by chance and intentionally FDSKFJKDSJF it's good to hear they were expressed clearly enough!!

tbh both the waltz and the rain were kinda spontaneous BUT im very happy they both had their intended effects. i was thinking about that exact scene when writing the waltz line—it's such a good cutscene from the archon quest i had to refer to it. lowkey was also thinking about coppelia and coppelius, especially since they're a pair of dancers, based off a play about an almost human mechanical doll and the creator who fell in love with her... yeah. it's not 1:1 but the pieces are there. also yeah her and scara! it worked nicely as his intro, but I also wanted to show furina as someone who's suddenly alone, but slowly trying to live for herself.. in an empty ballroom there's nobody for whom to put on an act, and now she can dance only if she feels like it. she can also teach scara how to formal dance! and maybe his puppet body can finally control its own strings </3 also im sure she's been to some kind of fancy ballroom party before with neuvillette and maybe this just reminds her of the artificial foreignness that's estranged them now. oh furina my dear actress on the stage

i was so close to cutting out the rain at the end but i was like nooooooo i need the weather symbolism (incredible archetype btw i love weather), and furiously tried to figure out a good ending sentence. you basically got all my thoughts LOL i wanted people to make the connection between rain as rebirth and the washing away of old sins, but also like. the sky is crying. it is dreary and miserable and they're soaked to the bone but the last string connecting their present to their past has finally been dissolved, and now... maybe they're free to move on to sunnier days.. etc,,, i didn't think too much about neuvillette's role in this but what you said 100% works <3 im still unsure what he thinks of furina tbh so i didn't really elaborate DSKFJKSDJ. last thought about the rain: they both have a thing about crying, but the only thing wet during that scene was the rain—i guess i was trying to show like, neither furina nor scara think that this death is a bad thing, or maybe all the tears they could've shed already dried up. it's only other people who mourn for their pasts.

also i forgot but the fire was supposed to be a lowkey callback to when scara burned the house down when his unnamed child died. the entire theme i was kinda going for was like. a farewell to your past; no matter what happened before, maybe you can finally put it down, and leave it behind, live today unrestrained by yesterday's pain, etc.

if i was an animator this would've gone so much better because the scenes were so clear cut in my head. ideally the flow is like this: furina says she can see kabukimono. wanderer's face whitens in a flash, until he's the color of a sheet of paper and it's actually scary to look at. he recovers, says the line about his and furina's funeral. he steps closer to her and turns so that they're directly facing each other, faces like two feet apart. it cuts to a closeup of their faces, panning from furina's, neutral/apprehensive, to wanderer's, eyebrows furrowed, face set (entirely self centered anger that this, of all things, is fate's last laugh at him). and idk the light changes and makes his eyes glassier and more reflective, and furina sees her old self—the camera gets sucked into her reflection (like you're diving into the void) as her face warps in a terrible twisted way, maybe some blood idk; the camera zooms back out, furina breathes heavily, looking disturbed and a bit sick. wanderer is slightly off to the side and his face is blurred (the focus is on furina's slightly horrified face) but he's watching her closely and carefully, but without judgement. wanderer holds out his hand, and furina takes it, and immediately the hiss of the fire starts. its like one of those gigantic funeral pyres, wild and leaping and intense, and she watches the pile of kabukimono doll get smaller and smaller. somewhere in the middle a blackened chunk of something gets spit out (his heart), lands at their feet. the most important part is that after the fire burns itself out, the rain starts immediately. sudden downpour, very heavy etc. the viewer should feel a wave of Closure and Relief after the intensity of the burning. a slow waltz starts playing in the background, low, smooth, and very quiet. they just stand there, and the camera zooms out until they're just two dark blue/black smears against a blurry gray backdrop. end scene

also about the characterization: that's good I always wonder whether I'm leaning too much into my own writing voice instead of sticking closer to the character's canonical language register and mannerisms haha

[hollytanaka]

I finished the MWIII campaign and here are my thoughts 💭

Obviously, MAJOR SPOILERS below. Remember to filter #mwiii spoilers if you want to avoid them from me.

The Structure & Ending

I finished the campaign in one sitting, which I usually never do with games. So, my initial complaint that it felt short might be because I literally rushed my playthrough of it. But if others felt the same, l'd love to know!

The ending felt incomplete. I feel like it's basic/traditional writing knowledge that you don't end the story on the climax unless it's like a major cliffhanger. This was not a cliffhanger. We ended it after Soap being killed in cold blood by Makarov, and we see the rest of the 141 mourning and spreading his ashes. The only way I could be nice about this, is if we just describe the story not as a triumphant story of military victory and defeating evil but as a tragedy. A story that ends in failure (a la Ghosts [2013]). But the rational part of my brain says, no, this was just the writers cutting the story in half so that they can bank on a Modern Warfare 4 in the future—and use MP seasons and co-op/raids to tell the rest of the story.

Still, I'm glad we're actually moving along with the Makarov story and what was actually the story for MW2. The reboot timeline is so slow and slow delayed because of adding Farah's backstory and Los Vaqueros. We're finally getting to the good stuff from Modern Warfare, that classic story that everyone loves. So, that's a plus.

Los Vaqueros & El Sin Nombre's Absence

My major complaint about MWII (2022) was that for a game that bases itself on a lot of real-life geopolitical conflicts, the inclusion of Valeria's storyline as a female narco boss in relation to Hassan, an Iranian villain, didn't really make sense (and this is from me, someone who has multiple degrees studying Latin America). So I'm glad Valeria and her cronies did not re-appear in this campaign. They just do not fit.

I liked Los Vaqueros in MWII, but I think the writers were right not to include them either—at least for this installment—just because they would've had to juggle too many things at once. Already, we have to juggle a lot with Farah's forces and Shadows being our allies. Having to deal with additional characters would've made the game lose its pointed focus. I wouldn't be surprised though if for "modern Warfare 4" both groups make a comeback.

It's just funny how much fans and Activision were hyping up Valeria so much, including in MWIII's live-action trailer, just for her to not make even one appearance.

Open-Combat Missions

Not gonna lie these missions stressed me the fuck out. I could NOT stay in stealth no matter what. But I think that's somwhat good, since a lot of grouchy fans who follow COD complain that every campaign is essentially the same—just move up, aim, and shoot—with just a slightly different plotline about either some Russian or some Arab villain. And I think we can commend COD now for try to shake up the campaign a little, even if I'm not a fan of Warzone (lol) and OCMs are essentially Warzone-ified campaign missions.

But mixing traditional campaign missions with these Open Combat Missions felt like a bad idea. I get that they're trying to gradually gauge our reaction to them by slowly introducing it. But it also felt disorienting switching between just following directions in one mission to in another having total liberty to do whatever by scavenging for guns or certain field-upgrades.

Either make them mainly all OCMs or all traditional.

Makarov as a Villain & Soap's Death

Yuli's work as an actor is totally praise-worthy! It's hard to step into the shoes of Makarov after the notoriety the OG Makarov gained in the original games. I think he isn't as cartoonish and weak as some of the other COD villains have been so far in the reboot—a complaint I once again have of how the narco villains were written in MWII. He actually generates fear and intimidation and we can see his power and resources—unlike villains like Hassan and whoever the generic Russian general was in MW2019. They were not memorable at all. If MW4 gets developed, it'll be great to see Yuli work with that character more.

Now, Soap. I AM HEARTBROKEN as well as PISSED. I'm pissed because we got to see Soap in the OG games grow & develop so much. Hence why so many veteran COD fans love Soap, perhaps more so than Ghost even though the latter has gotten more popular recently. We saw him going from just entering under Price's wing to becoming a Captain; and that growth of him as a character made his death so much more painful. It warranted Price yelling out in horror and shock when he realized Soap was dead before his eyes in the OG MW3. Even the background music to his OG death has become so iconic too.

We only got introduced to reboot!Soap last year with the release of MWII. We did not get to see him in the campaign in MW2019. He's still a very new character and the writers did NOT develop him properly enough in my opinion to warrant a tragic death/killing scene. I think that's part of why his death here hurts so much for me. Because it was also a killing of his potential as a character. And it sucks that Neil won't get to work with this character more in a MW4 storyline unless they do more memory/flashback scenes.

Hell, Farah gets more development and more screentime than Soap and the rest of the 141 task force aside from Price. I understand she's a main character now, but it sucks that first in MW2019 we sidelined Price as a character (in my opinion) for Farah's storyline. Now, Farah is taking up a lot more of the agency and space in the story once again at the expense of other characters taking less charge. This is honestly just me having a hard time accepting this new dynamic with Urzikstan with the rest of TF141 that the writers have been trying to cement with the rebooted series.

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In sum, it does feel like some of the grouchy COD fans who were saying off before release that this was going to be a glorified DLC were right in hindsight. It's clear they put a lot of work into the geography, the missions/game-play, and I genuinely enjoyed playing it. And of course, the VAs put a lot of work into their craft. But plotwise it does feel like they gave us only a partial campaign with a very abrupt ending... but I also liked it anyway and had fun. And that’s what matters :-)))

[smileandasong]

that tumblr post reminded me to update my age description and like!!! (gonna put some ~slightly emo thoughts~ under a read more)

i'm glad i did that because ngl, i've been kind of struggling with the idea of being 30 for the past week since my birthday. i felt really fine about the idea of turning 30 until it happened, and i think that's mostly because of the way everyone else acts about turning 30 and some of the comments i got. i'm not talking people younger than me "thinking i'm old and cringe' (i've been old and cringe since i was like twelve, let's be real here), because no one has bat an eye at that. i'm talking people 30+ both irl and online (not really on here, tumblr has honestly been very pro 30s despite that silly dashcon post gfdfdsfrdsdes). the way everyone 'mourns' the loss of youth and just suddenly acts fucking decrepit is honestly really triggering? the amount of people that are like "well, it's all over now, welcome to 30" and just live their life like this and i??? can we not normalize this narrative? i know this is a construct as old as time itself and rooted in some deeeeeeep misogyny, but idk, maybe it's idealistic of me to think we moved past this. and this toxic cycle is only being continued because of the content being created of it. like, challenge for the 30/40-something year old millennials of tiktok to make content that's not about "life in your 30s" and it's them writhing in pain and mourning their youth and yelling at zoomers. truly, this is why i recoil every time someone calls me a millennial (and have preferred the microgeneration "zillennial" term) because i haaaaaaate the idea of being associated with this. and i recognize this is probably a lot of them using it as an outlet for dealing with growing pains/griping with mortality, but idk, i just wish people in this age range could see that they're probably feeling this way because by consuming it they're letting this be perpetuated. if they made content CELEBRATING being 30/aging, then they probably wouldn't be feeling this way as much? anyway, this is long and winded but tldr; i'm glad tumblr is very pro 30 and i'm pro 30 too~! (but really, should i expect anything less from the site has thirsted over men 30+ since the inception? thank u to the 2012 cumberb*tches and ofc the gerard enjoyers for normalizing thirsting over people beyond 20somethings)