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allthingslinguistic · 3 years

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All Things Linguistic - 2021 Highlights

2021 was in many ways a very meta year: most of my writing projects were reflections on the social functions of various other projects I was working on. But those other projects were very interesting both to do and to reflect on, such as coordinating LingComm21: the first International Conference on Linguistics Communication, and redesigning the Lingthusiasm website. (Might they also reflect how under-socialized I got by a certain point in this pandemic? Hmmm.)

I was honoured to be the recipient of the Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award from the Linguistic Society of America in 2021. I put up my acceptance speech as a blog post.

Media and crossovers

How Linguistics Can Help You Learn a Language – I did a talk for Duolingo’s DuoCon

Why do adults…over 40….use ellipses…so much? Crossover with Tim Blais of Acapella Science

xkcd Tower of Babel

Why Shakespeare Could Never Have Been French (video with Tom Scott)

PUZZLE SPOILERS: A quote from Because Internet in the New York Times acrostic

Someone made a crossword puzzle of Because Internet!

Peeking face, palm up, and palm down – the emoji I proposed with Lauren Gawne and Jennifer Daniel are now officially in Unicode 14.0 and will be coming to your devices in the next few years

Media

BBC Word of Mouth – The Shipping Forecast

I’m cited in a Wikipedia article about boomerspeak

I’m quoted in a New York Times Wordplay piece about ending texts with a period.

Lauren Gawne and I did a Lingthusiasm crossover appearance on the NPR show Ask Me Another, featuring two fun quiz segments, one on accepted or rejected emoji and one on famous book titles

Crash Course Linguistics

The final three videos of Crash Course Linguistics came out in 2021, although it was largely a 2020 project. Here’s the full list again so they’re all in once place, or you can watch them all at this playlist.

What is linguistics?

What is a word? Morphology

Syntax 1: Morphosyntax

Syntax 2:

Semantics

Pragmatics

Sociolinguistics

Phonetics 1: Consonants

Phonetics 2: Vowels

Phonology

Psycholinguistics

Language acquisition

Language change and historical linguistics

World Languages

Computational Linguistics

Writing Systems

Each video also comes with a few companion links and exercises from Mutual Intelligibility and a list of all of the languages mentioned in Crash Course Linguistics is here. It was great working with the large teams on that project!

Lingthusiasm

In our fifth year of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics which I make with Lauren Gawne and our production team, we did some general sprucing up, including a new cover photo (now featuring a jacketless Because Internet), a new portrait drawing, and a new website (for which I wrote a long meta process post here). We also did our first virtual liveshow (as part of LingFest), introduced new bouba/kiki and what the fricative merch, and sent patrons a Lingthusiastic Sticker Pack. Here are the main episodes that came out this year:

Where to get your English etymologies (transcript)

Cool things about scales and implicature (transcript)

Corpus linguistics and consent – Interview with Kat Gupta (transcript)

That’s the kind of episode it’s – Clitics (transcript)

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Theory of Mind (transcript)

A Fun-Filled Fricative Field Trip (transcript)

Making machines learn Fon and other African languages – Interview with Masakhane (transcript)

Not NOT a negation episode (transcript)

R and R-like sounds – Rhoticity (transcript)

How linguists figure out the grammar of a language (transcript)

Listen to the imperatives episode! (transcript)

Writing is a technology (transcript)

And here are this year’s bonus episodes:

Linguistics puzzles for fun and olympiad glory

Linguistic 〰️✨ i l l u s i o n s ✨〰️

Lingwiki and linguistics on Wikipedia

Q&A with Emily Gref from language museum Planet Word

Sentient plants, proto-internet, and more lingfic about quirky communication

Language under the influence

Gotta test ‘em all – The linguistics of Pokémon names

Lingthusiasm liveshow: The listener talks back (on backchannelling)

Talking to babies and small children

The episode-episode (reduplication)

Conferences and Talks (all virtual unless noted)

Planet Word, the new language museum in Washington DC, about internet language and Because Internet

Slate’s Future Tense about the meaning of emoji with Jennifer Daniel.

I moderated a panel for the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL) on NLP Applications for Crisis Management and Emergency Situations.

Contestant on Webster’s War of the Words, a virtual quiz show fundraiser for the Noah Webster House, and also attended online conferences,

guest interview about internet language on That Word Chat (summarized in tweet form)

The Internet is Making English Better at Yale with Claire Bowern

Internet Linguistics and Memes as Internet Folklore with a student at the University of Oklahoma

Sotheby’s Level Up in Los Angeles (physical)

Unicode Conference in the San Francisco Bay Area (physical), where I did a keynote called “Taking Playfulness Seriously – When character sets are used in unexpected ways” (slides here!).

The Unicode talk isn’t online but a few days later I did a talk on the same topic for Bay Area NLP, for which the video is here.

Virtual talk for some internal folks at YouTube

Rosemary Mosco Talks to Gretchen McCulloch about Pigeons, a book event at Argo Bookshop

Conferences/events attended:

Linguistic Society of America (LSA) – did a Wikipedia editathon

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Dictionary Society of North America conference

Annual meeting of the Canadian Linguistics Association

WorldCon (physical)

LingComm and LingFest

In April, I co-organized a pair of new events related to linguistics communication: LingComm21, the first International Conference on Linguistics Communication, and LingFest, a fringe-festival-like program of online linguistics events aimed at a general audience, which contained a total of 12 events attended by a total of over 700 participants. One of those events was our first virtual Lingthusiasm liveshow: here’s a fun thread that I did about backchannels while we were getting ready for the show.

LingComm21 had just under 200 registrants, around 100 of which were formally part of the programming in some way. My opening remarks and closing remarks are here as blog posts, and see the #LingComm21 hashtag for highlights of what people noticed about the conference. We then wrote a 6-part blog post series on the conference as a case study in making online conferences more social, in hopes of helping other people who are interested in better virtual events.

Why virtual conferences are antisocial (but they don’t have to be)

Designing online conferences for building community

Scheduling online conferences for building community

Hosting online conferences for building community

Budgeting online conferences or events

Planning accessible online conferences

Selected tweets

Books and more

A Memory Called Empire and the latest Murderbot novella, Fugitive Telemetry

The Language Lover’s Puzzle Book

History of Swear Words on Netflix

Helpful threads

Analysis of camera angles on tiktok vs youtube (a thread with, unexpectedly, Hank Green)

Generational differences on email salutations, a topic of never-ending public fascination

Threads on conference “homework” and zoom fatigue

Modulo and other obscure English prepositions (a thread)

robot voice in tone languages (short thread)

given that we’ve been living with a giant panda for the past year

Conversation styles

teach students how to email you

Lack of diversity in childhood language acquisition studies

Why kids these days don’t understand file systems

buy your older coworkers a nice linguistics book

A thread about research debt

vocal fry is completely fine

A many-layers-of-screencapped-post citing Because Internet on youth socialization made the front page of Reddit, so I’ve added some further reading

Linguistics fun

Happy feast day of St Gottschalk, patron saint of “languages, linguists, lost vocations, princes, translators”

A thread of linguistics versions of the roses are red meme

Ellipses in vintage recipes

Not Haunted: new favourite example of implicature

Vaccinated every 8 seconds: new favourite example of quantifier scope ambiguity

A bagel with cream cheese: new favourite example of structural ambiguity

In appfreciation opf pfinally being pfurnished with the Pfizer vaccine I will be pfroducing all opf my voiceless bilabial stopfs and pfricatives as apffricates pfor the next pfortnight.

“you may injure…” new favourite example of deontic vs epistemic modality

garden path ads

Linguistics takes on the “for the better, right?” Padme/Anakin meme

lips are a social construct

linguists are really not kidding when they say that your command of language enables you to understand sentences never before said by the human species: bacteria/Michelangelo edition

bouba vs. kiki outfits

tell Duolingo to add IPA

On average linguistics familiarity

linguistic phenomenon reducing capitalization

Zipf’s Law

phonetic boundary ambiguity: chris pratt

linguistics takes on the “did it hurt?” meme

Enweirdening words through AI magic

#MetGala2021 as linguistics books

haunted trunk implicature

emoji reaction research idea

Mario epenthesis

Japan’s new prime minister, Britney Spears crash blossom

red flag on unicode support

linguistics Halloween candy

IPA card catalog

memes and emojis are folklore

Canadian English spellcheck

boō, bōare season

Zoom linguistics studies incoming

linguist puzzles

phonetic beatboxing

is this outfit bouba or kiki

warblish

the feminine urge to make your adjectives agree with your nouns

linguists on a bus

General fun

business larping

Wellerman but in emoji

they taste bland when I fall

A thread of emoji poems

multiocular sideeyes emoji

A thread of linguistics-y place names

French accents and icicles on tiktok

Suez meme: ordinary conversation topics vs noticing something about the language

Convaxulations

A double dactyl about the www

A nice festive machine translation fail

The “CDC says” meme takes on linguistic discrimination

A limerick about my podcast

Dendronization

landline emojis

writing gifs by hand on paper

Hangul children’s book

“left to our own devices”

multi-time-zone days of the week

plamps

srùbag

phonetify wrapped: most used phoneme and zipfy unwrapped

glottal on a bottle

xkcd on relevance implicature: debunking

the linguist urge

Finnish pronouns and sarcasm

teach a person how to look up the etymology of “fish” and they learn for a lifetime

the Double Empathy problem

conjugating Christmas

Christmas plural you form

Pinguinuca and Antipinguinuca

verbing tetris

Grice’s maxim of relevance in photo caption directionality: male bison edition

Selected blog posts

I celebrated my ninth blogiversary on All Things Linguistic! Here are some of my favourite posts from this year:

Linguistics jobs

metadata specialist and genealogist

legislative drafter

technical writer

CEO of a SaaS company

social media lead (for NASA)

senior analyst

academic linguist

Linguistics fun

Linguistics Games online

“Indeed, old man” in Middle Egyptian

Linguistics Halloween jokes

Beatboxing in IPA

The kiki to bouba pipeline

Dinosaur Comics on the “I dunno” hum

Scuba, an exotic English word meaning “to keep breathing even though the water rises all around you”

Self-referential words for places of articulation

Languages

It’s Complicated/Because Internet on why teens socialize online

The fight to save Hawaii sign language from extinction

The art and science of beatboxing

The linguistics of hyperlinks

Pitch, intonation, and the role of technology in language description

The origin of language and interspecies communication

A McGill student and professor realized they both speak Mi’kmaq; it changed everything

ancient translation to badger

Pronouncing words in English (by Chinese speakers)

An interactive visual database for American Sign Language

On standard dialects

Meta and advice posts

Superlinguo’s year in review (involving many joint projects with me and also finally getting tenure!)

I reposted a classic “how to twitter” (from a social perspective) post of mine from 2016, which people tell me they still refer to occasionally

How to get started in writing pop linguistics, both short form (media articles) and long form (books)

How we made a better podcast website for Lingthusiasm

Missed out on previous years? Here are the summary posts from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. If you’d like to get a much shorter monthly highlights newsletter via email, with all sorts of interesting internet linguistics news, you can sign up for that at gretchenmcc.substack.com.

#linguistics #year in review #roundup #highlights #lists #summary #2021 #linkfest #crash course linguistics #lingthusiasm

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littleoddwriter · 3 years

Note

Hey, I was wondering if you can do a slasher hc of slashers (anyone you choose) with a s/o who is a grim reaper? Like they help them collect victims and let their babe do the work or something

Slashers x Grim Reaper!Reader (Gender Neutral S/O) | Headcanons

notes; Murder; Death; Sadism; GenderNeutral!Reader (S/O).

Characters: Asa Emory/The Collector; The Sinclair Brothers; Jesse Cromeans/Chromeskull.

Thanks for the Request! I hope you enjoy these Headcanons. :)

Asa Emory/The Collector

Since you’re a grim reaper, you know when someone’s end is near and you’re always sure to let Asa know when you’ve found people (preferably a family) that you thought to be to his liking

More often than not he’s got some people for his collection out of it, while sometimes he just tortures them to death and disposes of them after you’ve collected their souls

You like watching him work – there is just something breathtaking about the way he moves and what he chooses to do when and for whom; it’s never the same – and you especially love how convenient this arrangement is for you, too

Just like you, Asa enjoys observing you when you do your work, he thinks it’s quite beautiful – ethereal, even

Some days, the fact that you’re a couple isn’t enough for him and he wishes he could make you a part of his collection – forever preserved –, but even he knows that it’s impossible

Still, that doesn’t prevent him from trying things on you for fun to satisfy some of his urges for you at least, trapping you, hurting you – he says it’s to test new mechanisms, lest something malfunctions and his victims escape, but you know better (you don’t mind, though, it never actually hurts you and you find it amusing)

Bo Sinclair

Usually you linger about and pick out people that are conveniently far away from home as it is, or you know their death date is approaching either way (this goes for all Sinclair brothers)

You always let Bo know how to best lure his victims away when they’ve reached town – you enjoy his cruel streak a lot, it’s remarkable to you and his theatrics only add to it

When his victims are surprisingly stubborn and fight back, you help him out so that he doesn’t get tricked – he doesn’t like that and tells you to stay out of it, since he’s capable of doing it himself (sometimes he’ll silently appreciate it, though, especially when it’s been a close call for him)

He makes a show of killing his victims for you, so you can collect their souls – it’s his way of thanking you for your contributions to it

Still, even with you he is bossy, and evidently not afraid of the fact that you could end his life in a mere second (maybe because he knows you wouldn’t do it, but probably because he just doesn’t care)

Lester Sinclair

You help Lester capture his victims, telling him about weaknesses, or guiding him to trapping these people in the middle of nowhere without it being too obvious

He enjoys your company a lot, especially since otherwise he only has his dog and brothers – he’s felt lonely a lot before he met you, and the fact that you’re a grim reaper is only a sweet bonus for him

Sometimes it’s a little hard for you to believe that he’s just as murderous as his brothers, since he’s always so kind to you – so awkward and sweet, really – but this only fascinates you more and makes you want to be his deathly guide more than ever

He also often uses you to lead him to fresh road kills, so he can clean them off the streets and use their meat if he arrives early enough – it’s just very convenient to him and you really don’t mind, even though animals aren’t your forte, you put in the effort for him

Vincent Sinclair

You always make sure that the people you choose are to Vincent’s image – they are for his wax figure collection after all and you respect it – in fact, it fascinates you a lot and is what’s caught your attention in the first place

Every now and again you mentally applaud him for his creativity, when you’re collecting his victims’ souls – Vincent surely isn’t just a talented artist with wax

It takes him a while until he feels more comfortable around you, but when he does it’s even greater than before – He lets you know what images he has in his mind, what kind of person he’d like to add to his collection next, and so you go and seek them out just for him

Over time, he even takes off his mask around you every now and again and you make sure to show him your appreciation for it by being extra helpful the next time you go out to collect some soon-to-be-dead-art people for him

Just like with the others, you really enjoy watching him work; you can see the art and care – the heart– which he puts in it

Jesse Cromeans/Chromeskull

Jesse’s remarkably brutal murders have caught your interest quickly, so you made sure to collect his victims’ souls when he was still there, letting him see you – he was instantly intrigued

Thus you two partnered up quickly, which of course led into more over time

He treats you like royalty and makes sure to show his appreciation for your work thoroughly

In turn you provide him with the best possible victims, choosing women that wouldn’t be missed (at least not quickly), some feisty, some dainty and scared, depending on his mood and current preferences

You love observing him – he is just so beautiful in the midst of killing someone and when you’re there to watch, he makes sure to be twice as creative as usual and draw it out for as long as possible

And the fact that he records his work is even better – the two of you love replaying the tapes in the comfort and safety of your home

He doesn’t need much guidance or help from you, though, only rarely – he is incredibly talented in so many ways, so brutal, strong, fast and smart – his victims don’t stand a chance

Jesse often considers you a missing puzzle piece that he’s finally found, because the fact that you collect his victims’ souls after he’s killed them makes it feel so much more final and real, rounding up his fantasy and stilling his urges better than ever before

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themoonmunchkin · 3 years

Text

Don't look!

Pairing : Bakugo katsuki x gn!reader, Midoriya Izuku x gn!reader, Todoroki Shoto x gn!reader.

Genre : fluff

Warnings : insecure reader, cussing, savage deku?, kinda angsty but overall super fluffy ^3^

Synopsis : you're insecure about your side profile but they're having none of it.

Not gonna lie, he probably wouldn't even have known that this was an insecurity that people had.

So when you first start dating he wouldn't think much of it when you cover your nose while laughing or when you contour your jawline extra hard.

Until one day you start letting your thoughts get to you again, you think about how everyone around you have such a beautiful side profile.

You start wondering why Katsuki even bothers to be with someone as "ugly" as yourself, I mean has he seen his face.

But anyways you start distancing yourself from the world again, start hiding your face with your hair, have mental break downs in the night, refuse to take pictures and completely shut him out while thinking you're being subtle.

But no, no, no- my mans noticed...and he's currently having a full blown panic attack on the inside.

He's really worried at this point and starts thinking about what he's done wrong, he tries to talk to you but you're always making excuses and running away from him.

Now, he's had enough and so he quite literally barges into your dorm room and demands an explanation as he keeps shouting at you until....

.....he takes in your tear stained face with fresh tears forming at the corner of your eyes.

You were seated on the floor with a hand mirror clutched to your chest, the same one that you use to point out all your insecurities in, your phone is on the ground next to you with a picture of a model, her perfect side profile on display...the same one that you always compare yourself to.

Cue in a confused, angry and sad boom boom boy 😔.

Who the fuck had the audacity to make his baby cry hmm 🤬.

But then his anger vanishes just as it comes and before you knew it, he's shut the door behind him, quickly walks upto you, swoops you into his arms and cradles you in his lap.

"Ssshhh....its ok baby, I'm right here". Bakugo softly coos in your ear while running his fingers through your hair and letting his other hand rub your back. "Talk to me honey, what's wrong?"

You pull back a little and look up at him into his pain filled eyes that still hold so much love for you and that's when you tell him everything.

You tell him about how you've always hated your nose, how you've always wished you'd had a more chiseled jawline, how you've been bullied about your side profile by your peers and how you've never felt good enough.

He still doesn't get it because you're genuinely the most stunning person he's ever laid his eyes on, but understands how this is something that seriously bothers you and so he's gonna do everything in his powers to yeet those insecurities out.

Now Bakugo isn't one to lie or sugarcoat something, but he's also not someone who'll let you sit and hurt yourself like that.

He takes a deep breath, cups your cheeks in his hands and looks at you with the most earnest look on his face.

"Listen here baby, you're right maybe you don't have the most chiseled jawline or the sharpest nose out there-"

You winced at that a little but he was quick to speak again.

"I'm not done yet-" he closes his eyes and thinks for a second, words have never been his thing as he's someone who prefers actions instead but right now you needed more than just a kiss or a hug, you needed security and reassurance, so he takes in another deep breath and opens his eyes to look at you again.

"-just because you don't have those doesn't mean you're any less beautiful." He said with a smile as you curiously looked at him. You looked so damn cute to him all he wanted to do was pounce on you right then and there, but he held himself back for your sake and the next things he said made you fall in love with him even more.

"What you have suits your gorgeous fucking face, you don't have to change for any stupid extra and no one's opinion, not even yours is going to make me view you any differently or make me love you any less." He leaned in and gave you a chaste kiss on your lips that pretty much took your breath away and then he pulled back with a cute blush on his face.

"So from now on only listen to me okay and no matter what-" he kisses you again and pulls back a second time "-I will make you look at yourself the way I and so many other people look at you".

Now he's had his fair share of insecurities and he's had a lot of people call him "plain looking" (which I still don't understand how when he's got some of the rarest and most beautiful features) even then those words about his looks have never really got to him.

But when it comes to you, he immediately knows something's up with all those self-deprecating jokes you apparently find to be funny.

Doesn't question you cause he doesn't want to scare you away, also because he trusts you to come to him if something is wrong.

But alas you and your stubborn ass refused to seek help from anyone and instead you chose to cope with yourself by putting yourself down in the form of those awful "jokes".

You've always tried to get yourself to stop this, but it soon became more than a coping mechanism, it was the only way you could hold yourself up without wanting breaking into peices.

That was dangerous.

But it's ok! It's still all fine and dandy until one day everything changes and you realise that all that self-deprecation didn't do shit.

Its Sunday today and you and your boyfriend Izuku have been walking around the shopping plaza for a while now.

The two of you were on a date, but you were also on a hunt for the new all might merch that your boyfriend has been fangirling about since forever. So far there was no luck on your end but y'all weren't about to give up just yet.

"OMG! I think I see it in there!" Izuku squeals cutely while pointing at what looks like a moderately big comic store that had an emo cyber punk looking aesthetic to it.

*Gasp*..."OMG! I think I see it too!! Let's go!!" and with that you grabbed his hand and were dragging your blushy stuttering mess of a boyfriend towards the store. It was adorable how easily he got flustered even after how the two of you were almost half a year into dating.

The two of you finally reached the store and stepped in, there it was the brand new neon tinted holographic Allmight figuring with working layers. Izuku's eyes sparkled as he ran towards it and immediately snatched it off the shelf.

"Yay we finally got it!" You cheered as you walked over to him and gave him a high five. The two of you had bright smiles on your faces as you talked about the figuring and walked towards the counter to pay for it.

You looked towards the counter where a young girl who looked about your age was working as a cashier, she had this bored expression on her face until she saw your boyfriend and it immediately changed into something you could only call as a flirty expression.

"Hey there handsome~ what can I help you with today~" she said in a sultry tone and gave him a wink. You and izuku were both puzzled at the fact that she not only just openly flirted with your boyfriend but also completely ignored your existence.

"U-um....er....we just need this figuring please". Izuku placed the box covered figuring on the counter and was about to pull his hands back when she quickly grabbed them and cupped them with her own hands.

"You sure, how about I give you my number and we ditch this place to go get coffee."

"Um -uh no thank you, I have a s/o!"

"Hmm...I don't see them."

"Well I'm right here and maybe you'd have seen me if you'd stop flirting with your customers and did your job properly." You said and at this point you were seething because even though she knew you were right there, she hadn't spared you a glance and pretend like you were completely invisible.

"Oh, so that's who you are....I was wondering why such an ugly person would be hanging out with someone like him-" she pauses and looks into Izuku's eyes with a bored expression "-you need to raise your standards, I mean have you looked at how hideous their nose is or how ugly their face is."

The two of you froze. Sure You've always made fun of yourself before but this was the exact reason why. You've always told yourself that if you'd make fun of yourself, you'd be desensitized to what others say to you but it's only now you realize that no amount of preparation would ever be enough to handle the real thing.

Shame. Humiliation. Pain. Fear.....This is what you felt at the momen-

"How. Dare. You." You turned towards Izuku and for the first time ever you were met with the most terrifying expression on his face. His eyes were dark and he looked...mad....like really really mad and you froze, the cashier looked like she was about to cry with the look he was giving her.

"I don't know who you think you are but you had no need to say whatever you just said and you are wrong because they have the most gorgeous facial features ever." at this he turned to you and softened his eyes a bit, he reached for your hand and gave you a gentle squeeze.

"I promise you sweetheart, you will always be the most beautiful person in my life and no one can tell you otherwise-" he looked at the slack jawed cashier with disgust and pointed towards her "-not stupid people like her-" he looked back into your eyes like you were the only two people in the store and pointed towards himself "-not me and lastly never will you ever tell yourself those kinds of words again even as a joke, got it."

Always openly staring at you in the most respectful way ✨.

Even before y'all started dating he would always stare at you in secret, but hey! it's not his fault you were so irresistibly attractive all the time.

Uhm...so moving on, he is observant as heck especially when it comes to you but unfortunately he's just as oblivious T_T.

He's always noticed how you'd get shy and walk away whenever he'd stare at you for too long and genuinely thinks it's adorable at how bashful you get.

But truthfully.....you're mortified, paranoid even at how much he stares at you.

I mean yeah it's adorable to see him so whipped for you but you're always wondering if he's secretly bashing your side profile in his head and the thought makes you wince ever single time.

But you always tell yourself to not let your insecurities define Shoto or effect your relationship and besides Shoto isn't a cruel person, he'd never think of you that way.....right...?

Oh God, he's doing it again, he's staring at you and this time it truly is terrible because he is seated right beside you. The two of you are seated wooden chairs, side by side in the U.A. library.

Your textbooks and notebooks are spread out on the table in front of you. You're in a more secluded part of the library opting to study in a more private area and boy oh boy did Shoto take advantage of that.

"Shoto, could you please stop staring at me like that". You held your textbook upto your face and looked the other way.

"But I want to look at you". Shoto pouted slightly and furrowed his brows at your actions, he reached for your wrists and tried to pull them down and to much to your inconvenience, he succeeded.

You see, while you still had a bunch of work left to do, Shoto had finished about 15 minutes ago. You told him to go back to the dorms but instead of listening to you, he denied your offer and has been staring at you with the most unreadable expression on his face.

"Why can't I admire the one that I love the most". He slightly tilted his head towards the side and flashed you the most genuine smile. Damn him for being so adorable but that's not enough for your insecurities to go away.

"Because I'm ugly". You finally said softly with your head hung low and tears threatening to fall. You wanted to shrivel up in a corner and fade away for sounding so vulnerable but at the same time it felt so good to let your thoughts out.

"You're....what..." His eyes were wide and his jaw was set a slack. Now this took him by surprise, he had expected a lot of things but never once had he expected....that. He gently grabbed your chin and tilted your face to meet his. "Love, you're the most beautiful person I've ever met, why would you ever say that."

"Because I'm not beautiful, everyone has such a gorgeous face especially from their side. I don't and you don't have to lie to me to make feel better about myself. I know I'm ugly and I'll always be that....just let me accept that and be Shoto." You said with your voice slightly raised and shaky from the lump in your throat.

Shoto's eyes darkened a little and his grip on you tightened a little but not enough to hurt you. To even think that someone as precious as yourself could ever have such awful thoughts about yourself- how long have you been silently suffering like this all by yourself.

He cupped your cheeks with his hands and met your eyes with the most determined look on his face. "Darling, I don't know who said that to you or even if that's an inside voice but, I will absolutely never let you accept yourself this way."

"Everything about you is perfect, from those gorgeous eyes that i always get lost in," he kisses your eyes.

"-to that perfect nose that helps you breath so you could live by my side another," he kisses your nose.

"-to those delicate beckoning lips that I wish to kiss forever." he finally captures your lips in a breath taking kiss just to slowly release them and look at you.

"And besides, you know better than to call me a liar baby, you know that I would never lie when it comes to you so let's pack up for today and let me show you how much I love you and how utterly enticing you are."

#writing #fiction #reading #reader insert #headcanon #bnha x reader #mha bakugou #bakugou x reader #bnha todoroki #todoroki x reader #midoriya x reader #mha midoriya #midoriya fluff #midoriya headcanons #bakugou fluff #bakugou katsuki #todoroki shoto

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deejadabbles · 3 years

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Vampire Atem/Yami Alphabet Headcanons

Found this list of vamp-themes headcanons by @an-annyeoing-writer and I knew I had to do them for our favorite king-turned-spirit!

For those of you who read my Spells of Defiance series, these headcanons can be taken as 100% canon to that AU <3

A - Accident - would they turn someone to save their life?

Oof, already starting with a hard one. So, Atem is one of those vampires who hates his existence, he believes it’s a curse. However, he does still love and care for people deeply, and he knows that for many, life is sacred even if it’s a cursed life. I think in a moment of weakness, especially in his earlier years as a vampire, he might turn someone just because he’s desperate not to lose them, only to regret his decision later, especially if that someone is like him and hates what they’ve become. We all make mistakes, right?

B - Bite - how do they bite? Sensually, aggressively? Do they make it hurt or try to be gentle?

Atem is extremely gentle when he feeds off of people, always careful not to bite too deep or tear the skin more than needed, he even holds you and tries to soothe you with gentle strokes of his hands. Now, whether he tries to make it “sensual” or at all sexual...that’s a complicated topic. While Atem is almost always disgusted with himself when/while he feeds, he does recognize that there is a level of intimacy and even romance that can be connected with drinking blood, so sometimes he can be persuaded to make it a more sensual thing if you’re his lover.

C - Control - do they take advantage of their powers?

That depends on who’s in the equation. I can see Atem using his new powers in order to bring justice to those he sees as wrong doers (like his season 0/early manga-self) as a way to make his vampire abilities useful, so from that angle he would “take advantage” of his powers. He might even get some small gratification in using his strength and speed to hunt down evil people, them cowering in fear is retribution for their wrong-doings, but even that’s not too over the top. Other than that, no, he doesn’t really use his powers for advantages over others.

D - Dangerous - how scary they can get? How bad things can they do? What’s their ethics?

So, while Atem does have a very strong moral code, Atem also has a temper, and said temper might be harder to control when he’s a vampire. Even when he’s not growling in anger, he can have this cold glare that could make bikers squeamish. There are moments, especially when he was a younger vampire, where he loses his temper and can get pretty scary. If you’re his loved one don’t worry too much, he would never lose control enough to hurt you, even though his yelling (and maybe throwing a thing or two) is pretty scary on it’s own. If you’re someone he sees a vermin though watch out, when he gets scary you’re probably going to end up dead or wishing you were dead.

E - Exchange - do they opt for blood bags or animal blood, if possible?

He opts for animal blood as often as he can. Sometimes he’ll hunt said animals himself but even that is a little too violent for his liking (Atem is a softie okay?!) so if he can go to a local butcher and get animal blood from them he’ll do it that way. He’s not fond of blood bags because A) they’re harder to acquire and B) having human blood in a cold plastic bag just makes him long for warm human blood and skin under his teeth more. Sure animal blood isn’t as sustaining for him, but Atem spent decades (maybe even centuries) figuring out how much animal blood he needs to consume in order to keep his blood lust under control so he’ll choose that over harming an innocent human.

Also, side note, if you live with him I hope you don’t have a sensitive sense of smell, because he heats up the blood on the stove to make it taste better and it can make the house stinky lol

F - First bite - on what occasion would they bite you for the first time?

Oooh that’s a good one. Like I said Atem has a very complicated relationship with feeding from his loved ones, especially his s/o, and he’s never going to ask you for your blood. So I’d say that not only would you have to offer your blood to him, but he would have to be out of other feeding options at the time. He knows that once he reaches a certain point of hunger he loses control and might kill you in a hunger-induced blood rage, so if drinking from you now, before he gets to that point, prevents that danger, he’d be willing to. Like I said above, Atem would be very gentle with you on that occasion, holding you close and stroking the skin around the bite mark to soothe any pain, and when he’s done he’d kiss the wound and the sore skin around it as amends.

The only other “first bite” scenario I can think of is if you spend months convincing him that you don’t mind (or even like) the occasional bite and finally convince him to drink your blood during an intimate moment, and again he’s very gentle and mindful of not hurting you.

G - Growl - are they more on the “civilized” side or do they enjoy hunting their prey down?

A bit of both, I guess? Since he tries not to drink from humans he’s more civilized in that way, but like I said before he does “hunt” evil people like an avenging dark angel, which he may get some small form of enjoyment from, so...

H - Hate - how do they feel about their kind? About themselves?

It’s honestly pretty depressing how much self-loathing Atem harbors. He genuinely thinks he’s an abomination. It doesn’t help that in all his centuries of living, he’s met very few vampires who’re “good” like him. He’s also someone who’s on a high horse and if he met a vamp who didn’t kill human’s but also wasn’t self loathing like him, he’d look down on said vampire. I’m warning you now if you fall in love with him, his self-hatred is very upsetting and can be hard to deal with.

I - Intimacy - how fast would they let you close to them? Would they want to share with you what they are?

Surprisingly, I say it’s not that hard. See, even though Atem thinks he’s a monster and tries his best to stay away from people, he also craves companionship and love. Sure, he’s spent several chunks of his immortal life isolating himself in remote woods and tall mountains for decades at a time, but he always returns to humanity at some point. So if you show that you want to be close to him he’ll try to warn you or even scare you away a bit, but it won’t take too long to let you in. And yes, he’d share what he is with you if you started to get close to him, not only as a means to scare you away “before he can hurt you” but also so you know what you’re getting into by being near him.

J - Joke - would they do pranks on other people with the use of their powers?

Sometimes, yes. If he’s close to you, he’ll start to get comfortable and like teasing you, so he’ll do minor things like sneak up behind you soundlessly and jump scare you, or zoom past you to get to something before you and play keep-away. Also, he doesn’t do this one intentionally, but sometimes he’ll be sitting in a dark room, and when you walk in you just suddenly hear this voice calling out to you in the darkness, scaring the crap outta you lol

K - Key - what’s the way of making them open up to you?

Honestly just...continue to shove your friendship in his face. Like I said under “intimacy” he still craves relationships and companionship despite how much he fears hurting people. He may try to push you away at first but if you just continue to hang around him he’ll eventually stop trying to scare you away and start opening up to you little by little.

L - Life - do they wish they were human?

Absolutely. I can see Atem, ever the fixer of problems, spending the first few hundred years searching for a cure for his “condition” not just for himself but for others who view vampires the same way. He often thinks about what his life would have been if he hadn’t been turned, and daydreams about the possibility of becoming human again.

M - Murder - would they kill someone while feeding? Have they ever done so?

Atem has killed while feeding, yes, but not voluntarily. I’m going with the general lore that vampires, when starved too long, can't control their bloodlust and Atem has killed while in that state. When he wakes with a limp, lifeless body in his arms, he’s a devastated wreck. Hurting innocent people is literally his living nightmare and the idea that his bloodlust can turn him into an animal sickens him. He would spend decades learning how much blood he needs to consume and how often, in order to keep that bloodlust from taking control.

N - Nature - do they justify their doings? Do they consider them natural?

Atem, the self-loathing martyr of a fanged prince, considering his bloodlust natural? LMAOOOO No. No he doesn’t, nor does he ever justify his actions. In fact, he uses the terrible things he’s done to justify why he shouldn’t be loved or even alive.

O - Odd - do they have any specific hobbies or habits?

Our gentle dark prince still loves games and puzzles, I think he’d like modern brain teasers that keep his mind sharp and un-ironically loves the puzzle games printed on the back of sunday newspapers, even though they aren’t hard (for him anyway). If you got close to him and showed him games he never got to play bc they’re multiplayers he’d honestly love you. He’d win most of the time, let's be honest, especially things like Clue, but his expression is just so cute and excited when you play his favorites that you’d lose 1000 times over just to see it.

P - Pain - are they sadistic? Do they enjoy what they do?

Nope. I think you all have the idea by now but Atem is one of the most self-loathing and gentle vampires you’d meet....or at least he’s gentle with you. Other vampires who hurt people for fun? Okay, I can see him being ever so slightly sadistic when dealing with creatures like that, he has no mercy for vampires who’ve embraced their monstrous curse, best you run the other way when he punishes them, else you may actually get a little frightened of him...

R - Roles - do they enjoy pretending to be normal people? How do they feel about leaving their life behind to start a new one?

I wouldn’t say that Atem pretends to be normal, in fact, the only part of his vampirism that he embraces is being an “other”, or rather, the aesthetic of being odd, something that most humans feel uneasy when confronted with. He’d see this as a good tool to keep people he may hurt away from him. He’s no stranger to stalking graveyards/cemeteries, creeping in the shadows in a way that has others scurrying past if they happen to spot him, basically anything that makes him seem creepy and makes others keep their distance. Ultimately it hurts him since he’s unexplainably lonely, but it hurts more to know he may hurt the humans he comes across. On the same note, leaving behind one life for another to avoid suspicion is a double-edged sword for him, while it reminds him how terribly lonely existence is, it’s good to keep those who might’ve grown close to him safe.

S - Scars - do they leave marks or try to make the wounds small and invisible?

If Atem feeds from someone voluntarily (as in, not in an animalistic state), he’ll do everything he can to not leave lasting marks. Leaving marks means more pain and we all know how much he hates causing pain to others.

T - Turned - how were they turned?

In my fic, Marik turned Atem as a form of revenge, but otherwise, I could honestly see Atem being turned by any YGO villain. I say villain because him being cursed with this life by a villain (like Bakura for example, or maybe another minion of Zorc) kind of goes along with the original story’s need to punish Atem and cast him into darkness for things that ultimately weren’t his fault.

U - Universe - what’s their biggest wish that they can’t achieve as immortals?

Mostly just...being close to people without constantly worrying that he’ll hurt or kill them. I can also see Atem yeaning for the simple pleasure of growing old and dying with one's family. If he fell in love he would crave the ability to just settle down and grow old together. Hell, he’s even one of those morbid romantics who thinks couples dying within days of each other is sweet and wishes he could do that when he loses his lover to old age.

V - Vampire - would they turn you?

Man again with the hard ones! Oof, okay, so...If you asked Atem to turn you, he’d say no, reciting his monologue about how vampires are cursed vermin who shouldn’t even exist, even if you retained your humanity after the turn, he knows the deep reaches of this curse and what it will make you do, and he hates the idea of you going through what he has.

...However, much like in the very first headcanon on this list...Atem makes mistakes and has his weak moments. If your life ended unexpectedly, of you were taken from him suddenly, like attacked or in some fatal accident, he may turn you in a moment of weakness; a desperate need to cling to you taking over his better judgment. He’d hate himself after and the only way he’d ever feel okay with it, is if time proved that you retained your humanity. He would teach you how to control your blood lust so you don’t have to go through half the things he has, and only then would he be okay with what he did to you in his moment of weakness.

W - War - would they engage in fighting their own kind for the humanity’s sake?

Yes! No one even has to ask him, Atem basically thinks the only good thing he can do with his powers is to rid the world of other vampires. He’s basically an avenging angel who’ll hunt down any vampire who threatens a human.

Y - Yandere - would they become dangerous to you (their lover)?

For the most part, I’d say no. Atem is self-aware and emotionally intelligent enough to tell if he ever starts crossing lines into “unhealthy” territory, and if that ever happened, he’d literally run away. He would leave you in order to protect you, no matter how much it hurt. There may be one (literally ONE) incident where he does something to you that crosses the line, but he’d be instantly horrified and remove himself from your life, moving to the other side of the world with no means to follow him, if it meant protecting you from himself. Now the chances of this happening in the first place? Hard to say. I really don’t think Atem is unhinged or even violent enough for it to be likely, but, an argument could be made that after everything he’s gone through, Atem may start seeing you and his love for you in an obsessives, unhealthy way. Again though, even if this did happen he would realize it and run away before it can go too far.

Z - Zombie - are they on their way to losing sanity?

I don’t think so. Atem is as strong (mentally/emotionally) as they come. Maybe eventually, after millennia and millennia of constantly losing loved ones and dealing the the monster he’s become he would start losing his sanity, but that would take a long, long time.

#atem #yami yugi #atem x reader #yami x reader #pharaoh atem #yami yugi x reader #yugioh x reader #vampire au #vampire Atem #vampire yami #ygo #headcanons #atem headcanons #yami headcanons

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superlinguo · 3 years

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Superlinguo 2021 in review

This year was much like last year, but with more teaching and less energy in reserve. Putting this overview together has been a good reminder that even when it feels like nothing is getting done, there’s still actually a lot going on!

Lingthusiasm and Superlinguo have continued on for another year, we ran LingComm21 and LingFest for the first time, and I said farewell to Mutual Intelligibility and By Lingo.

Mutual Intelligibility wrap up

In February this year we wrapped up the Mutual Intelligibility newsletter. Across a year we published 16 guides to the Crash Course Linguistics videos, 6 Resource Guides and 23 of our 3 Links short posts. The final Mutual Intelligibility post is a directory of all of these posts.

LingComm21 conference

In April 2021 I ran the inaugural Conference on Linguistics Communication (LingComm21), with Gretchen McCulloch, Jessi Grieser and Laura Bailey, with Liz McCullough as Conference Manager. We had 200 registered participants join us for three days of conference on the Gather platform.

We learnt so much putting this conference together that along with Liz McCullough and Gretchen McCulloch we wrote a series of posts about virtual conferences, which appeared on the LingComm.org website:

Why virtual conferences are antisocial (but they don’t have to be)

Designing online conferences for building community

Scheduling online conferences for building community

Hosting online conferences for building community

Budgeting online conferences or events

Planning accessible online conferences

After LingComm21 we ran LingFest, a program of online linguistics events aimed at a general audience in April and May of 2021, with over a dozen events.

Lingthusiasm

This year Lingthusiasm celebrated its fifth anniversary, and received a shiny new website, developed by Liz McCullough. I love the new site, which is designed to make it easier to find what you’re looking for - whether your a brand new listener or a long time lingthusiast. It’s worth visiting, if only to check out the cute new icons Lucy Maddox created for us.

In April we ran a liveshow “The Listener Talks Back - A Lingthusiasm liveshow about backchannelling” as part of LingFest, an online festival of linguistics (you can listen to it as our May bonus episode). In November we ran a sticker special offer and got custom Lingthusiasm green kiki & bouba stickers printed, alongside a bunch of others, to sent to Ling-phabet level patrons.

Main episodes

Writing is a technology

Listen to the imperatives episode!

How linguists figure out the grammar of a language

R and R-like sounds – Rhoticity

Not NOT a negation episode

Making machines learn Fon and other African languages - Interview with Masakhane

A Fun-Filled Fricative Field Trip

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Theory of Mind

That’s the kind of episode it’s - clitics

Corpus linguistics and consent - Interview with Kat Gupta

Cool things about scales and implicature

Where to get your English etymologies

Bonus episodes

Linguistics puzzles for fun and olympiad glory

Linguistic 〰️✨ i l l u s i o n s ✨〰️

Lingwiki and linguistics on Wikipedia

Q&A with Emily Gref from language museum Planet Word

Sentient plants, proto-internet, and more lingfic about quirky communication

Language under the influence

Gotta test ‘em all - The linguistics of Pokémon names

Lingthusiasm liveshow: The listener talks back (on backchannelling)

Talking to babies and small children

The episode-episode (reduplication)

100th episode Q&A about naming dogs, modifying English, linguistics research, and more

Deleted scenes - Outtakes from Lingthusiasm interviews

Top Superlinguo posts in 2020

This year Superlinguo turned 10! I still love my typo riddled home on the internet, where I can share research, links to lingcomm work I’ve been doing, and stray linguistic thoughts. After eight years and about 200 editions I said goodbye to By Lingo, my column in The Big Issue. It is now in the excellent hands of Lee Murray and I enjoy being a reader each edition.

Milestones

10 years of Superlinguo

Goodbye By Lingo

Long form blog posts

The linguistics of hyperlinks

Conversation, cooperation and dementia

Gestures in podcasting

By Lingo: Beforetimes

Information and advice

Gesture emoji: contributing to the Unicode standard

Practical advice if you want to start a podcast (updated post)

Crash Course Linguistics for VCE English Language Units

Review: The Language Lover’s Puzzle Book, Alex Bellos

Linguistics Job Interviews

There are now over 60 interviews in this series, with 12 new interviews this year:

Interview with a TV Writer

Interview with a Senior Analyst, Strategic Insights & Analytics

Interview with a Social Media Lead

Interview with a CEO of a SaaS company

Interview with a Communications and Engagement Assistant

Interview with a Technical Writer

Interview with a Legislative Drafter

Interview with a Stay-at-home Mom and Twitch Streamer

Interview with a Peer Review Program Manager

Interview with an Associate at the Children’s Center for Communication, Beverly School for the Deaf

Interview with a Metadata Specialist and Genealogist

Interview with an Academic Linguist

I have started building a resource kit to help people use the interviews, both for their own career planning and as a resource in linguistics classrooms: (bit.ly/ling-jobs). I’m also excited that in 2022 Martha Tsutsui-Billins will be running the interviews on Superlinguo.

Other things around the internet

This is a very incomplete list of miscellaneous internet things I did in 2021:

Aramteskan Grammar, now available at Fiat Lingua

The hand gestures that last longer than spoken languages (BBC Future article I’m quoted in)

Ask Me Another (NPR) podcast interview alongside Gretchen McCulloch

Language Chats, World Forge and Conlangery: Lingthusiasm visits 3 other podcasts

Nonsense words make people around the world think of the same shapes (Science article I’m quoted in)

Emojis aren't debasing language (Guardian article quoting Gretchen and me)

What the sound of your name says about you (BBC Future article featuring Suzy Styles and mentions our work)

Academic articles in 2021

This year I had four academic articles published. I love how they cover four different facets of my research interests: one was about gesture (particularly away gestures), one was about Tibeto-Burman grammar (particularly reported speech evidentiality), one was about emoji (and gesture!) and one was about lingcomm (and Linguistics in the Pub). References, and links to the papers and the Superlinguo summaries:

Gawne, Lauren & Jennifer Daniel. 2021. The past and future of hand emoji. Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Emoji Understanding and Applications in Social Media (Emoji 2021). [Open Access PDF] [full citation and conference proceedings coming soon][blog post]

Gawne, Lauren. 2021. ‘Away’ gestures associated with negative expressions in narrative discourse in Syuba (Kagate, Nepal) speakers. Semiotica https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2017-0163 [Green OA version embargoed until March 2022][blog post]

Gawne, Lauren & Ruth Singer. 2021. Ten Years of Linguistics in the Pub. Australian Journal of Linguistics. 41(2). doi: 10.1080/07268602.2021.1974341 [PDF][FigShare PDF - embargoed until April 2023][blog post]

Gawne, Lauren. 2021. Reported evidentiality in Tibeto-Burman languages. Himalayan Linguistics, Vol. 20(3): 80-115. doi: 10.5070/H920152301 [Open Access publication][blog post]

The year ahead

After a year of parental leave, and two years of the rollercoaster of teaching and parenting through a pandemic, my plan for this year is to (try to) work slowly and thoughtfully. I’m still working on projects that I thought would be much further ahead, but I’m still so excited to hopefully be able to start sharing them in the next year or so. The last couple of years have really forced me to think about what to prioritise, and this year is all about figuring out how to prioritise it. Not a very glam ambition for the year, but an important one as I learn more about the ebbs and flows of a full teaching schedule!

Previous years

Superlinguo 2020 in review

Superlinguo 2020 (2019 in review)

Superlinguo 2019 (2018 in review)

Superlinguo 2018 (2017 in review)

Superlinguo 2017 (2016 in review)

Superlinguo 2015 highlights

#linguistics #language #superlinguo #review #2021

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magnumdays · 3 years

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Magnum PI 4.07 - A New Lease On Death review

The feels today though!!!

Despite the fact that we get ONE Miggy scene and it’s like 30 seconds of flashback!!! (and one phone call) they really made it work. Showing that while Magnum and Higgins tends to be the emotional core (at least that’s how I read it), the writers can give me feels even when Miggy is not the focus.

I liked the Rick and TC drama. Because it’s so relatable. Sometimes your best friends have crappy friends. How to you deal with that. Also loved Magnum and TC’s talk about this (but more on that later!)

Rick and Robbie being complicated but that bond still being so important. I like that they’re showcasing how things are messier and more without clear cut answers than in previous seasons. Even though Rick is being a bit of a douche when he tells TC “I live in the gray area of real life” that is very much the truth.

Higgy with her dad to got to me more than I thought it would. Because relatable and I admire that she did decide to call. I’ve not been so forgiving but I didn’t have a cool dad who taught me to fight.

Though I really thought we were getting the flashback. I assume this is the episode we would have had it? I don’t think we will have anything other than the picture. Still, I’m glad for Higgy backstory :O. It makes about half my fics no longer fit with canon but I don’t even care!

Kumu being adorable with her knowledge about ED drugs and making a new (special?) friend. I know my mom is going to be cracking up. Her favorite by far is Kumu and I totally get that because she is the best.

Lia and Gordon being hilarious about “sharing custody” of Magnum by having alternating favor days!!! And her setting Thomas up with the FBI ex, that was a good time! And Gordon being all “I’m going throw up my burrito” about them being cute on the phone was lovely.

I do actually really like Lia when we have her even if she’s mostly a plot device, in this instance used to get Magnum in touch with a FBI contact and then to further the Higgins MI6 story line.

Truly appreciate that it was Lia saying she saw Higgins at the morgue (rather than it being Gordon or something) and Magnum instinctively covering for Higgy and saying it probably wasn’t her. Even though alarm bells were going off in his head = love it.

This whole bit was just to make him seriously worried. Because he’s willing to let Juliet have her boundaries and private life and wait it out - but when there are dead people involved? It’s enough to makes it make perfect sense to me that he’s going to start being more suspicious and following her. I mean you can practically hear the gears turning in his mind as he’s trying to puzzle things together at the end of the scene.

As for my favorite scene of the episode, it’s the Magnum + TC conversation. Where Magnum is really just being good friend and checking in. No favors to ask, just Thomas and TC being buddies supporting on another about their confusing BFFs.

In case we don’t say it enough, your the best friend anyone could ever have!

My heart!!!

Let’s not forget .

..You want to know, but you don’t want to push to hard because then her walls go back up-

TC calling him out on it and Thomas being adorable with the Did I really say her walls? I did, didn’t I?

So pure (and also perfectly showcasing though he’s running around trying to figure things out for Rick and is being a good friend to them...he’s always got Higgins’ in the back of him mind!)

Yeah, lots of feels and nice moments in this ep. Which you know, makes sense because what was Magnum’s case this week? Didn’t really have one? I mean he was looking all over for the FBI guy in charge but then when he found him? Nothing? I mean he’s going to presumably come back into play next episode (3rd) but still, it’s supposed to be MI6 focused.

Higgins’ case with the woman wanting to help her dad who got scammed and then the scammer died at the hands of his red-lipstick wearing GF, it was kind of fun but it didn’t really make you invest your heart and soul and make you worried Higgy or Kumu was going to be taken out by a old guy with a cane.

At least I wasn’t feeling-feeling it even if it was cute. There was actually very little action for an action show now that I think about it. No running, no shooting, no car chases or even a hand to hand fights. Other than the last bit of course. I almost wonder if they did that on purpose to make the end explosion more shocking?

Because OMG poor Rick at the end!

I mean Robbie wasn’t a stand up citizen, possibly not really the best of friend either, but everyone screws up to warring degrees. Rick having made the choice to help and then it exploding (literally) in his face...writers, I hope you know what you’re doing. But it seems at least we’re getting one episode with Rick struggling with Robbies’ death so that’s um, good!?!

(But just look at my poor baby Rick.)

This season really seems to be just about traumatizing and pushing all our babies and I don’t know how I feel about it.

I’m real annoyed at Thanksgiving break though, because I have seriously high hopes for 4.08... (A Fire in the Ashes: Magnum starts following Higgins to discover what she's been hiding, as she's secretly assigned to infiltrate a group threatening to take down MI-6. Also, Rick struggles after an explosion takes the life of someone important to him.)

And the Christmas episode (4.09) - it’s better be good or else I’ll be so sad!

#magnum pi #magnum pi review #magnum pi my review #Magnum PI 4.07 #Miggy #Juliet Higgins #Thomas Magnum #Rick #TC #Kumu #All the feels #perdita weeks #Jay Hernandez

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dickwheelie · 3 years

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by popular demand on the discord server, a jonsasha fic! this incorporates a few different requests from the discord buds, but it boils down to: jon and sasha are on a "stakeout" for a statement and jon thinks it's purely for work but sasha is treating it like a date without him realizing.

this was my first time writing jonsasha and I gotta say it was super fun! I'll have to do more with these two in the future. please enjoy!

___________

"Anything yet?" Sasha asked.

Jon's leg had begun to fall asleep, and so he shifted his weight, leaning closer to the windshield. He squinted through the darkness at the doorway across the street, but it was as empty as before. "No, nothing," he said with a sigh.

Sasha shrugged. "Time to dig into the sandwiches, then." She reached into the backseat and retrieved the cooler she'd brought along for their overnight stakeout. It was two in the morning and they'd already gone through a packet of crisps and a candy bar each, as well as a handful of oranges, because Sasha thought they should try to be at least somewhat healthy. Now she pulled out two wrapped sandwiches, which looked like they'd come from Tesco's. She handed Jon the tuna one.

"So you can keep kosher," she said as she unwrapped her ham and cheese.

Jon looked at her in surprise. "Oh, er," he said, "thank you." Usually people forgot.

"Course." Sasha flashed him a smile. She'd been smiling a lot that night; Jon had no idea Sasha enjoyed stakeouts so much. He'd have to invite her to investigate statements more often in the future. He liked seeing her smile; she would scrunch up her nose slightly and it was very cute.

Almost as though she were reading his mind, Sasha said, "Thanks for inviting me out tonight, Jon. This has been fun." She craned her neck towards the passenger's side window. "Even if we're not having much luck. It's nice just to spend time together."

"O-Of course," Jon said. "Thank you for joining me. And for bringing the food." He paused. "And the car."

Sasha laughed. "Least I could do, really."

The truth was, Jon had asked her to join him mostly because Sasha was the best researcher he knew at the Institute, definitely better than himself. It didn't hurt that she was also a good friend, and one of the few people at work who seemed to like Jon. The only other one he could think of was Tim. But Sasha was . . . she was just different, somehow. She understood him, in a way very few people did. Now that he thought about it, not since Georgie had he so thoroughly clicked with someone. He was unaccountably relieved when she'd agreed to join him on what would have been a very lonely and very dull stakeout. Then again, Sasha had never shied away from a chance to do more thorough research.

The passenger's side window nearest to Jon was cracked open, and a sudden draft of night air blew in, making him shiver.

"Oh, are you cold?" Sasha said, and before Jon could answer, she removed the wool jacket she was wearing and placed it around his shoulders. Sasha was about the same height as him, perhaps an inch or two taller, but she was much broader-shouldered, and her jacket was large on him, encompassing him in its sudden warmth. He couldn't help but notice it smelled like her perfume. "Better?" Sasha asked.

Jon felt heat rise to his face, and drew the jacket a bit tighter around him. "Er, yes, much better." He definitely wasn't cold anymore, at least. He looked down at the jacket, running his finger along one of its many tiny enamel pins. He'd never tried to get close enough to look at them all. Now he could see, among others, a trans flag, a pan flag, an anarchist symbol, a pin with a drawing of the globe that said "Give Earth a Chance," and one that just said "int elligent;". He didn't understand that one but he supposed it meant something to somebody.

"I wonder how legal this is," Sasha was saying. "Staking out someone's flat like this. I mean, technically we're not breaking any laws, just sitting here in the car . . ."

Jon nodded. "Considering the kind of stuff I usually do, this is on the lower end of the legally dubious spectrum."

Sasha laughed. "How many carparks have you jumped the fence of again?"

"I believe the last count was six," Jon said, allowing himself a satisfied grin.

"Next time I expect you to invite me along to one of those 'research outings.' "

"Deal," said Jon, and they shook on it.

"Either way," Sasha said, settling back in her seat, "this has definitely been one of the more interesting dates I've been on."

Jon froze in his seat. Date? He had invited her out to help with investigating a statement, not for a date. His mind flashed back over the last three hours. Had he been on a date with Sasha this whole time, without realizing it? Had she not realized that this was a work thing? Oh god, what had he said to her when he'd asked? Had he made it sound like he was asking her out?

"Sasha," he said slowly, mind racing to figure out how best to break the news to her, "I . . . I'm so sorry, but I didn't--"

"Didn't know this was a date?" Sasha didn't seem angry. In fact, she was grinning at him. "I know. When you asked me to join you tonight, I said to myself, Sasha, this is the closest Jon is gonna get to asking you out. You better make it easy for him." She shrugged. "So, I made it a date. Assuming you're okay with that. If not, then it doesn't have to be one. Simple as that."

Jon stared at her, with her bright eyes and expectant smile. She really was very beautiful. He didn't ordinarily notice things like that, about anyone, but now that he was looking for it . . . And what an efficient way to go about things. It would be so much simpler if all dates could be arranged so easily. "Yes," he said, surprising himself at his own words. "That's . . . that's okay. A date is okay."

"You're sure?"

There was a spark of anticipation in his chest. "Yes."

Sasha's face lit up. "Brilliant." She leaned a little closer to him, resting an elbow up on the dashboard. "Is this alright?"

"Is what alright?"

"This." Sasha leaned across the gearshift and kissed him on the cheek.

Jon sat there for a moment, his heart racing. "I--um." He didn't have to give it much thought. "Yes." He leaned towards her. "Do it again?"

Sasha grinned, and pressed her lips to his. They were very soft. He could taste her chapstick, which was coconut flavored. It was wonderful. Her mouth shook under his for a second, as she tried to stifle a laugh. He pulled away, indignant, but Sasha was shaking her head. "I'm not laughing at you. It's just--you're so gentle. You don't have to be all careful with me." She pointed at herself. "It's Sash, remember?"

"I'm sorry," Jon said. "It's . . . been a while."

"Ah, same here. But I don't accept your apology."

Jon cracked a smile. "Can't get anything past you, James."

"No," Sasha said, faux-primly. "You can't." And then she kissed him again, and despite her insistence that he needn't be gentle, Jon melted anyway. Even with the both of them sitting down, Sasha's couple of inches on him were evident, and Jon gladly let her tower over him. He had always been a little self-conscious about his height, and having a partner that was taller than him was extremely welcome.

When they finally pulled apart, Jon said, "You're a genius."

Sasha looked puzzled. "I didn't know I was that good of a kisser."

"Oh, no, that's not--You're a really good kisser, yes, but I meant about the date thing."

"Ohh. That makes more sense. Yes, I am a genius. And a great kisser. Thank you for noticing," said Sasha, and Jon laughed.

The rest of the stakeout was, unfortunately, a bit of a wash. Neither of them spent much time watching the doorway, and they fell asleep on one another's shoulders around three in the morning. As a date, though, Jon would have to say it was a complete success.

#tma #the magnus archives #jonsasha #sasha james #jonathan sims #gwyneth writes #these two are so cuuuuuute wtf #this is set pre s1 before jon meets martin #cuz i can't deal with anyone being jealous or sad lmao

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sunaswife · 4 years

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𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖉 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖍𝖎𝖒

Shigaraki X f! Reader

Warnings: 18+, NSFW, brainwashed/ programmed reader, implied kidnapping, Dom/sub, use of the word ‘pet’ and ‘master’, first time sex, uh..does this count as yandere..? Idk lol

🔪: this is like my second time writing smut so I’m sorry if it’s bad 🙇‍♀️ plz don’t spank me. N E Wayz I dedicate this fic to @aoi-turtle 🖤 and Any other shiggy whores out there

Edit: I FORGOT TO TAG @dinablossom and @toworuu IM SO SORRY BSVAKAGSJA

Summary: Imagine being programmed to be the leagues healer but also Shigaraki’s little cum bucket

♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎♡︎☠︎︎

“Master what is the meaning of this.” Shigaraki looked at the television screen as he scratched his neck. “I took her quirk and made it a thousand times better.” He said simply. “Tomura shigaraki where should I place her?” Kurogiri asked. “Anywhere. I don’t care. I just don’t understand why you brought a stupid hero here.” He said annoyed.

“Now now—“ “Shut up and put her somewhere out of my sight!” Tomura demanded and Kurogiri sighed and carried your body to the spare room by shigaraki’s private quarters. You looked dead, you were exhausted, traumatized, in shock.

You were frozen. Your eyes stayed open, unblinking as you stared at the ceiling. It looked as if you were dead. But your body is warm and you were breathing, you’re alive and you’ll recover quick. Thanks to the quirk All for One fixed for you.

Dabi smirked at your ruined form. Spinner hid his rosy cheeks, you were a cute one. Toga was excited to have another girl in the league she talked with Twice about all the fun things you two could do together. Whether it be painting your nails, doing your hair, torturing someone, or making them bleed. She was excited.

“What’s so good about her quirk that you needed it.” Shigaraki asked. “It’s come to my attention that the league has been missing an important puzzle piece.” He started off. “Yeah? What’s that?” The light blue haired man asked. He was beyond ticked off to have a hero here. “She’s not a hero. She was training under UA’s school nurse. But she fell into the hero course for recovery and first aid training.” He said and everyone stayed silent and patiently listened to the brain behind the league.

“Her quirk is pyrokinetic regeneration. She manipulates fire with the energy of the person who needs healing and together she heals with so called fire. Her quirk was small, only a few cuts a bruises here and there could she heal. But I added cell regeneration so she can even fix up deep wounds that could need surgery in a matter of days instead of months.”

“Sounds amazing! No she could use her fire against us!” Twice said and Toga nodded. “She won’t. Her fire doesn’t burn unless you’re hurt.” Kurogiri returned. “But she’s still a hero brat so wouldn’t she try to resist?” Dabi asked. “I don’t know but let me try and see!” Toga giggled and pulled out a knife she easily slit her wrist and skipped her way to your new room.

Out of curiosity the other members followed suit. Shigaraki first, he wanted to see if you were truly useful if not then he’d disintegrate you right here and now. “Hi hi new friend! My name is Toga!” The psychotic girl giggle as her blood dripped all over the floor. You looked up slowly from your spot on the bed. “H-hi...T-toga..” your voice was low. “Kurogiri Can you bring her some water?” Toga asked and he left and came back in the blink of an eye.

Your hands were shaking for the cup of water but Toga held it back, away from you. “If you want the water then heal my wrist first.” She said sweetly with a giggle. “Heal your wrist?” You whispered and she nodded. “O-okay..” you stuttered and you slowly removed the blanket from your lap. You stood up with wobbly legs to go to the girl but you fell. The chain on your ankle pulled you back. You winced and looked at her, pleading for her to come to you. She asked if you were okay and when you responded she shoved her bloody arm to your face. “Take a deep breath. This may sting...” you started and a small green flame came upon your hand. You rubbed the flame over both of your hands like you were putting on lotion, finally when the flames covered both hands you pressed hard on her wrist. She winced, “ow ow ow.” She whimpered, you removed your hands and everyone stared at the flame around her whole wrist. “Give it thirty seconds....or not...” you said as you stared wide eyed at her already healed cut. It was barley a touch and it’s gone now. “Wow. No scar!” She giggled and turned to show the guys. “Wow stab me next, please don’t or else I’ll bite ya!” Twice said and you reached for the water. “Interesting.” Shigaraki mumbled with a small squint. Kurogiri looked over and hoped he wouldn’t do anything bad to you.

“Shows over. She needs her rest.” Kurogiri said and everyone left one by one. Toga gave her a hug and wished for you both to be the best of friends and she skipped away. “Tomura Shigaraki. What are you thinking?” Kurogiri asked as Shigaraki began to walk into your room. “Nothing that concerns you.” He spat and slammed the door. Kurogiri sighed but returned to the bar nonetheless.

“Do you know who I am?” Shigaraki asked, “Yes you’re the leader of the league of villains, You’re name is Tomura Shigaraki and your quirk is decay—“ “that’s enough!” He raised his voice and looked at you with wide eyes.

You looked so sad and you glanced down at your cup. “Mr. shigaraki I know I don’t usually talk this much. I’ve always been the quiet type. I think whoever kidnapped me gave me a huge sense of knowledge. I know the league is bad but I don’t care about the heroes anymore and I don’t know why. I know everything about you guys, your true identity, your quirks, your past. And when I see you I—“ you quickly stopped yourself.

Shigaraki raised a brow. “You what?” He asked curiously. “N-nothing. Just forget it.” You answered and he growled. “Answer me now before I kill you.” He said and your legs subconsciously clenched together. You stayed quiet and your chest rose and fell a little more quickly. Why was this feeling in your chest when this killer, this man child looked at you? What exactly did the man he calls master do to you?

Before you knew it he gripped your chin and lifted it harshly so you could look at his wrinkly red eyes. Even though he looks like a bum he smelled nice and clean. A hand was covering his face and you slowly lifted your hand to touch it and his other hand grabbed your wrist. “What the fuck are you doing? Do you have a death wish you fucking idiot?” He growled and you gulped. “C-can i see your face?” You asked and he tilted his head confused.

“No. Answer my question-“ before you both knew it, as if your body had a mind of its own you tackled shigaraki down and you snatched the hand off his face. His hand quickly wrapped around your neck and arm and you pressed your lips against his. He halted his finger from pressing against your neck. He was beyond confused.

“If only tomura finished listening to what i had to say.” All for one chuckled loudly. You both were able to faintly hear the television from down the hall. “He would know that I managed to change y/N’s desires and whole way of thinking. She’s now with the league of Villains and she’s in love with its leader, Tomura Shigaraki. Consider it a present and motivation for the future of the league.” You both heard and you pulled away from him. “I’m sorry. I should have asked.” You said lowly. He stood there stunned and silent.

He slowly sat up and looked at your figure. “So you were brainwashed like my Nomu.” He hummed and took a few steps back. He noticed how you crawled closer to him but the chain was keeping you away.

“Who do you love?”

“You.”

“Who do you belong to?”

“You.”

“Who’s your master?”

“Tomura Shigaraki.”

You said and he smirked. He was gonna have fun with you. “At least master was kind enough to give me a beauty.” He said as he held on to the chains. “Don’t freak out.” He warned and you nodded. He disintegrated the chain around your ankle and he pulled you by the arm. You were wearing an ugly hospital gown and you were barefoot. You couldn’t help but shiver. He went next door to his room and he shoved you in and slammed the door. You nearly tripped over the mess and you turned to look at shiggy. “Why are you just standing there?” He asked, “You haven’t given me orders.” You deadpanned. “You can’t think for yourself?” He questioned. “No i can but I Don’t want to upset you.” You replied.

“Fine then clean this shit up.” He referred to his very very messy room. You nodded and began to lift up a piece of trash but he pulled you away. “Change first.” He said and handed you a black hoodie. “Do you have a bathroom?” You asked. “No change here.” He said and you nodded. You turned so your back was facing him and carefully began to take off the gown, leaving you completely bare and Shigaraki couldn’t help but look.

Your skin was so beautiful and looked so soft. He saw as you carefully put on his hoodie and it completely engulfed you. It reached to your mid thigh. You slowly turned to look at him with rosy cheeks. The hoodie smelled just like him. “Tomura—“ “It’s master to you.” He Interrupted and you nodded, subconsciously squeezing your thighs together once more. “Sorry...m-master.” You said and played with the hem of his hoodie.

“Master..can I have some underwear too...? I feel weird, when I’m bare underneath..” you asked. “No, continue cleaning my room.” He answered coldly and sat on his gaming chair. He turned on his console and began playing whatever game he had.

You sighed and you couldn’t help but admire his gorgeous yet scarred face and his beautiful long fingers. In an instant he can kill you, but if you’re good..then he might even reward you. If you were to die, I’d rather be in the hands of your master than anyone else.

You quickly began you pick up the instant ramen bowls and bags of chips. You separated recycling and trash. You even managed to pick up all his dirty clothes and put it in the hamper in less than an hour. Tomura was stunned, one minute he can barley walk in, the next It’s almost spotless. He saw you from the corner of his eye, you were folding his clothes that practically had the same color scheme.

“Can i go through your drawers to put your clothes away..?” You finally spoke up. “Yeah it’s whatever. I don’t care.” He mumbled and returned to the screen. “Ugh stupid game!” He huffed and began pressing the controller more furiously. You chuckled and thought that it was so cute and adorable when he was frustrated.

You went to his California king sized bed and began to fix the sheets and make his bed. Since it was so huge, you had to climb on to properly fix it. You were completely in your own world when Shigaraki turned and saw your wet cunt on display in all it’s glory. Ever since he saw you he couldn’t help but feel that urge to take you. His resistance was getting to him and now he wanted to give in to his urges even more. He was too distracted that he lost the fucking game and he growled and disintegrated the controller. That was his own form of rage quitting.

You heard his sound of frustration so when you turned you expected him to be in the same chair uttering bullshit, but you were shocked when you felt your hips being pulled back. Your cunt was touching his pants, but you can feel his bulge. “Um..master..I—“

“Shut up.” He said and reached for your neck. He pulled you back to him and wrapped his other arm around your waist, hovering your aching clit. “This is whats gonna happen.” He started off and you nodded. “I’m going to fuck you. And you’re going to like it. Okay?”

“I understand.” You said softly, you felt his hands slowly lift up the hoodie just a bit to get a better view of your ass. You couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. “I know I’m probably not your dream girl but I promise to be a good girl, master..” your voice shook. He tilted his head, were you getting insecure?

“No pet, you’re perfect to me.” He assured and you could hear his belt jingle as he took it off. “You seem pretty wet already, pet. Since how long have you been like this?” He asked as he got out of his jeans. He slowly open your cheeks to reveal your little pussy clenching around nothing, how cute. “Since I saw you..” you mumbled. He smirked and leaned down. He immediately began to eat out your cunt causing you to gasp in shock and grip the sheets. Your chest layed roughly against the bed as your ass stood proud in the air for the leader of the league of villains to enjoy.

“Fuck—“ you moaned and you felt a slap on your ass. You slightly jumped released a small yelp. “Watch your language.” He growled from your pussy. “Yes master.” You whimpered and he slowly began to rub his thumb on your other hole. Your small moans filled the room and he easily slipped his middle finger in you. You squeezed around him so deliciously, he couldn’t help but wished his cock was inside.

This has never happened to him before, this feeling in his chest. Someone that loves him and will obey his every command. You’re so beautiful as well, and your sounds. Your moans and whimpers, in all honesty he jut wanted to get himself off. But after hearing you and seeing you. He wants to make sure you have pleasure as well.

He continued pumping his finger in and out of your slick walls and your voice started getting slightly higher. “Master...I—I’m gonna cum...”you panted and your toes began to curl. “It’s okay, cum for me, pet. You’ve been a good girl.” He said softly and he felt you clench around his finger. When you came he slowly removed his finger and examined it. You must be new to is if you could get off with just one of his long fingers.

You layed on the bed a bit tired, not paying attention to your master who had tasted your cum on his finger. It was delicious and he wanted another taste. When you felt a lick on your cunt again you immediately shivered and clenched your thighs. “Hold still I just wanna taste some cum.” Shigaraki huffed and he pulled your thighs apart. You were pretty sensitive but you obeyed nonetheless.

You moans began to fill the room once more and before you could finish and cum again he pulled away. You automatically whimpered and turned to give your master puppy dog eyes. “I would let you cum again, but my cock is so fucking hard I don’t think I can wait another minute.” he said and began to pull down his boxers.

Before you could get back in position, which freaking hurt, he flipped you over on your back and you made a small oof noise. You looked up to See shigaraki focused on his cock, he was rubbing himself up and down your slit to use your cum as lube. “Alright I’m going in.” He announced and slowly pushed his rather large member inside your tint cunt. You immediately yelped and held on to his biceps. “M-master wait—it hurts..” you pleaded and Tomura finally looked up at your face.

He loves inflicting pain, he loves watching people’s painful expressions when they’re hurt or when they’re gonna die. Chisaki’s face was so amusing. But when he saw yours, his heart shattered and he didn’t want to hurt you at all. You’ve been nothing but good to him, he doesn’t want to hurt his little toy. “I’m sorry.” He apologized, “it’s okay..” you sniffled. After a minute of him being patient you gave him a nod and he continued to slowly bottom out.

You both released a moan when he was all the way in. You both have never felt anything like this before. “Can I start moving?” Shigaraki asked you as he brushed way the hair from your face. You nodded and he pulled almost all the way out and he slammed back in. Your little gasps and moans came back which made shigaraki feel at ease. You can clearly hear your slick with every thrust and it was music to his ears.

“I’ve been neglecting these.” He grunted and lifted his hoodie over your chest. Finally he was able to see your beautiful soft breasts bouncing with each thrust. “Fuck you’re so beautiful.” He moaned and immediately lowered his mouth to one of your nipples. You squealed and your back arched and he pushed you down. “Master...” you moaned softly. His tongue swirled around your hardened bud and your fingers tangled in his light blue hair. Two of his fingers pinched your other nipple and he lightly bit the nipple in his mouth.

“I think I-I’m close—“ you gasped and he removed his mouth. His thrusts decreased in speed but they became harder. He had a stupid smirk on his face and your eyes widened when he wrapped his hand around your throat. “Hold it until I say so.” He demanded and you muttered a weak yes. He felt how your gummy walls squeezed against his large dick, he was getting close too. “Fuck Fuck Fuck.” He groaned with his head tilted back and your mouth watered at the sight. Why is he so fucking handsome?

He could feel himself getting closer to his climax so he rubbed his thumb on you clit while increasing his pace once more, causing you to be even louder than before. Everyone in the bar could hear and a certain fire villian grumbled in annoyance. “Master I can’t hold it anymore!” You screamed. “Then cum my stupid little pet. Cum all over my cock like a good girl.” He grunted and bit his lip at the sight of your sweaty body. Your bouncing breasts, crazy hair, your adorable ahego face, your twitching legs and finally your grip on his biceps. You were so prefect and so good to him and only him.

When you came you felt his cum shoot inside you as well causing you to gasp at the delicious feeling. Tomura rested his head on your shoulder and tried catching his breath. You couldn’t help but smile and blush at the closeness. You slowly wrapped your arms around him and you gave his shoulder a kiss causing him to freeze. “I love you master, thank you for making me feel good.” You said softly. He chuckled and pulled you closer, “I love you too.”

I wanna write a part 2 of Shiggy finding out his little toy is being used by a certain fire boy 👀

#tomura shigaraki #shigaraki smut #league of villains #my hero academia #yandere shigaraki #smut #[🏌️‍♀️🔪.yandere]

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maddogofshimano · 4 years

Text

Kiryu (1988) Character Story

This one was a real struggle, but it’s very fun, so I’m glad I translated it. Here’s our card:

Summary: Set in 1987, Nishiki attempts to teach Kiryu how to use his pocket bell. He’s just horrible at reading it correctly, and a girl keeps hitting on him through it, and it’s just a real mess. He’s not sure why everyone’s so worried when they see the messages, he’s just going to turn her down!

1987 (a year before Y0, Kiryu and Nishiki would be ~19) It's been 2 years since Kiryu and Nishiki joined the Dojima Family (which, damn I guess they joined around 17) Nishiki has bought Kiryu a pocket bell (the pager thing) and is explaining how it works and that no it's not a phone and you can only send numbers.

Nishiki explains that if he sends 0906 that means to meet up. Kiryu asks how he's supposed to know that. Nishiki explains that there's a pocket bell code, 0 = o 9 = ku 0 can also = zero or rei and in this case is re and 6 = ru giving okureru which is telling someone to come somewhere.

Kiryu's a little worried that since numbers can have multiple meanings that it might get confusing. Nishiki says he'll get used to reading it. A lady is gathering pager numbers for some kind of campaign and Nishiki immediately writes his down and says Kiryu should do the same before running off very quickly to a bathroom.

Some dude starts hassling the highschooler running the signing campaign, so Kiryu promptly kicks the shit out of him. The dude was another part timer and is now fired by the boss. The girl profusely thanks Kiryu and asks him to wait a minute while she gets something from the shop. Nishiki returns and says “You're thinking ‘I didn't notice until Nishiki said it but... I'm weak to high school uniforms’, aren't you, Kiryu?”

Kiryu just ignores that and says that Nishiki sure took a while. Nishiki says the toliets were crowded but hey that girl you got to talk to was super cute right?? and Kiryu's just like "I don't really think so?" and Nishiki tells him to stop being shy about it, or at least tell him what his type is. Kiryu says he doesn't really have a type, now get back to teaching me how the pocket bell code works. Nishiki says fiiiiiiiiiiiiine he'll be Nishiki sensei.

0 can be e - o - no - ma - re - wa - wo - n 1 can be a - i - hi 2 can be tsu - ni - me - ne - fu 3 can be sa - su - mi 4 can be shi - ho - yo 5 can be u - ko 6 can be mu - ri - ru - ro 7 can be sa - chi - na 8 can be ha - ya 9 can be ka - ki - ku - ke 1 can also be the english letter i, and therefore ai 10 can be te - to

Nishiki has given him a challenge to deciper: 10646 249

Kiryu’s guess is completely off-base, Nishiki is surprised he can’t even figure out 249 is Ni-shi-ki. Kiryu says this is too hard. Nishiki excuses himself off to the bathroom again and makes it back really fast this time. Kiryu notices he’s gotten a message from an unknown number, it’s 14106. That's aishiteru (I love you, and like a serious kind of I love you) and man oh man is the timing suspicious on this but Kiryu is very taken aback by it.

Nishiki says he doesn’t recognize the number it came from, but hey? Didn’t Kiryu just write down his number on that cute girl’s campaign sheet? Maybe it was from her...

Kiryu’s not thrilled with this prospect, but Nishiki tries to get him to ask her out to eat. Kiryu has absolutely no intention of ever asking her out and just goes back to his apartment instead.

Kiryu has gotten a new message, this one is 4592096. he's alone so he's puzzling it out and wishing Nishiki were here to help. he comes up with shikoku ni maguro which he translates as................ "tuna from Shikoku (one of Japan's islands)"! and then wonders what the hell that means.

Kiryu is sitting around in Children’s Park and staring at his pocket bell. One of the younger members of the Dojima Family is a little concerned.

He asks the guy if he knows pocket bell and the guy translates it to jigoku ni okuru "go to hell", which the guy is rightfully very concerned about Kiryu saying a girl sent that to him. Kiryu asks if maybe it's shikoku ni maguro and she's asking to go together to shikoku to eat tuna? the guy says that I guess you could read it that way.........

Kiryu asks if he could teach him how to say some things back. the guy offers up 1-1 which is H (ecchi), and condom is 56 (gomu, condom) and Kiryu thinks these are weird things to be teaching him but okay. Kiryu gets 563 and is immediately like are you SURE 56 is condom? He confirms, and Kiryu thinks damn, is she asking me to bring three condoms?? He runs off, only for the goon to be like wait 563.... that's not 3 condoms!! that's korosu (kill you), but Kiryu is already gone.

He books it back to the lady just in time to stop her from being hassled again. Kiryu: Hey I wanna talk about those messages you sent me Naomi: Huh? What messages are you talking about? Kiryu: I think it'd be a bad idea for us to go together to Shikoku... that's what I came here to tell you Naomi: I...... have no idea what you're talking about Kiryu: ................... Kiryu: .......................Uh. I was mistaken. Please forget all of that. She is now concerned about Kiryu, but also thinks he’s a little cool.

Kiryu goes and tells Nishiki about this and gets another message, this time 564219 (koroshi ni iku, coming to kill you) which Kiryu incorrectly translates as....................... gomu shi ni iku, coming to use condoms. He believes that Naomi is sending it and that she just won't give up! He decides he has to stop her from going to his house. Nishiki is concerned that someone wants to kill Kiryu.

Neither of them tell each other their translation! Both of them assume that the seriousness with which they are responding means they're on the same page!!

Kiryu: Tch, this is bad. I'm going to have to have a serious talk... Nishiki, I should do this on my own. Nishiki: (Wh-... they're threatening to kill him and he wants to go alone! I can't let him do something so dangerous!!) Nishiki: Hey, Kiryu, I'm going with you. Kiryu: !? Kiryu: W-Wait!! I'm going to make this stop! I-I'm not doing what you think I'm doing! Nishiki: ...I see. By the way... why is your face so red...? Kiryu: ...You're talking nonsense. .....Though, I didn't know you had a preference for threesomes... Nishiki: Preference for threesomes...? What do you mean...? Kiryu: .........I'm going. I'll see you after this. Nishiki: ..........Man, he sure is a strange dude.

Kiryu chases down Naomi, who, at this point, has had Kiryu save her twice and track her down twice, and makes the honestly rational guess that Kiryu might have a crush on her, and asks him if he does. He just says what the hell are you talking about? You're the one who said you're coming here to use condoms!

Kiryu goes on a stumbling speech along the lines of "Hey it's okay, I understand that you're used to men being attracted to you... and that usually they're snared by your looks... however..." and she's like I have no idea what you're talking about, why are you talking about condoms???? It finally gets cleared up that no she absolutely did not send those messages why would you assume this I thought you were cool but you're awful, fuck off and die.

“..................What did she mean by that? Is she too embarrassed to tell me the truth again.....?”

Kiryu then gets jumped by the true culprit of these text........... the guy who kept hassling Naomi!

Kiryu beats the hell out of him for a third time, and the guy very slowly, very patiently explains the meanings of all of his texts. Kiryu has a flashback to each of the times he put his foot in his mouth around Naomi, and is mortifyingly embarrassed.

Kiryu asks what the hell 14106 meant then, and the guy says “That’s... I love you, ain’t it? I never sent that.” Kiryu, in an incredible attempt to save his own ego, thinks well hey, maybe Naomi did send that one!

Nishiki barges in as backup, not willing to let Kiryu get himself killed. Kiryu realizes that Nishiki read the message correctly, and Nishiki wants to know what the hell Kiryu thought it meant. Kiryu explains and Nishiki is just completely astounded at how badly Kiryu fucked this up.

Kiryu then starts conspiracy theory-ing that Naomi must have instantly fallen in love with him, because he was her savior, but he has no idea how to let her down gently because he's not interested..................... and then Nishiki finally confesses.

He's the one that sent the 14106 message. Messages take a little bit of time to arrive, so he did it when he "went to the bathroom" and then ran back so Kiryu wouldn't suspect anything. And then he didn't want to spoil it because seeing Kiryu act so flustered was really great.

Kiryu is not happy, but Nishiki bribes him with ramen and all is good.

(I had trouble telling here if Nishiki offers ramen to put Kiryu back into a good mood here, or if he was saying he sent the I love you message to put Kiryu in a good mood so that they could get ramen. Either way, it doesn’t change a whole lot)

<END>

As soon as I started translating this for Fats Clan I posted this.

I think this lands firmly between woke and bespoke. Congrats to anyone who likes Kiryu/Nishiki, you get a canon “I love you”.

This card’s title is along the lines of “the dragon yet to awaken”, fitting with a lot of Kiryu’s cards mentioning him as some sort of dragon.

To be completely honest, I can’t figure out exactly what Nishiki sent either! Kiryu's guess is とろしろにしく and Nishiki is just like come on man it's てるしろにしき which I’m just really unsure on both of them! My best guesses are that Kiryu translated it as something weird like “Go spread out white fatty tuna” ( とろ = fatty tuna しろ = white に = direction particle しく = spread out. Does he keep thinking about tuna??) and Nishiki’s as “Telephone number Nishiki is using” ( てる = TEL, しろ = imperative of する, and then にしき is obviously Nishiki) but there’s like 15 different ways to translate them instead.

I sympathize fully with Kiryu.

#rggo #ryu ga gotoku #ryu ga gotoku online #Kiryu #Nishiki #yakuza

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some-dr-writings · 4 years

Text

Rantaro, Chiaki, and Ibuki x S/O who’s scared of touch asking to hold their hand

Rantaro Amami:

· “You don’t like touch?... Okay.”

· Rantaro never pried you was to why you didn’t like touch. All he knew was you didn’t like it at the very least and that was enough for him. Didn’t matter what the reason was, in the end you didn’t like touch, so he respected that.

· However, touch was rather important to Rantaro, extremely actually. He cared about you; you were his partner. After having lost all of his little sisters, he was scared of losing you too. When out he needed you close, hold your hand or something to place his heart at ease and know you were still by his side and wouldn’t just suddenly disappear when he wasn’t paying attention to you for a moment like had happened with others so many times before.

· Talking through both of your needs you came to a compromise. When out Rantaro could hold on to a piece of your clothing whether it be the hem of a shirt or the end of a sleeve or scarf. It was an arrangement you both could be comfortable with.

· It was another day of searching, simply walking along down that snowy street. A chilling wind rolled past kicking up some snow as it went. He pulled up his scarf just a bit higher to shield a little more of himself from the cold. The crunching sound of the snow beneath your feet was a delightful contrast from the silent world the powdery substance had created, like placing a blanket over one’s ears. It was so quiet he could here even your meek, mumbled voice.

· “Rantaro?” “Yeah.” “……… uh…” Rantaro simply waited patiently. He didn’t mind the lulls in conversations like most would. They were good moments to collect your thoughts on what the other had said, even if it was just wondering what they could want. “I… I’m not sure if I’m okay with touch yet, but… maybe… we could try? J-just this once, since we both have gloves on… I think I’ll feel safer trying like this.” “Okay. Would you feel better if I took your hand, or do you want to take mine.” “U-uh… I… I don’t know…” “… “Maybe we could both go for it?” “Y-yeah! I think that’s good!”

· Whether from the cold or from fear or nervousness, Rantaro couldn’t tell why your hand lightly trembled in his, but that didn’t matter. You wanted to try and was something he was going to cherish forever.

Chiaki Nanami:

· Chiaki didn’t particularly mind your no touching rule. You must have had your reasons for it so she didn’t push you. Besides touch was not the only way to connect with a person, you could still happily enjoy paying video games with one another, hell if you wanted the distance you could even play on opposite sides of the world and still connect.

· It didn’t matter the game whether single player or co-op, competitive or cooperative you’d play any and all games together. Often you’d end up just talking about whatever, the recent chaos Chiaki’s class had gotten into, the rough day you had when someone bumped into you sending you into a panic, some random thing in the news, the latest video game releases, didn’t matter really you just liked talking with one another.

· “Did you at least go to the nurse’s office?” Your response was a bit prolonged, just a single drawn-out syllable as you tried figuring out where on the map exactly the new boss had appeared. “Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeaah. Yeah, I did.” “… Y/N you’re going the wrong way.” “Wait… No that’s the only path to the boss.” “The pathway is blocked, take the mountain rout.” “Oh!” “… You’re awfully distracted. Did something happen at the nurse’s office?” “No, no. I… I’m just… tired. Tired of getting so worked up all the time at the slightest contact. It’s been years now, but I still get so panicky. I hate it. I just want to not have to deal with this anymore… I just… I wanna hug you and hold your hand without feeling scared. I know you won’t do anything and yet I still… Aaaand I die great- just great!” Chiaki gently took the controller from you and placed it aside. “Let’s take a break from the game, okay?” “No, we don’t have to stop because of me.” “But you’re not having fun so there’s no point.” “… Okay.”

· You simply watched as Chiaki went about saving and shutting off the system before placing away your controllers. “Chiaki! I wanna hold your hand!” “Will you be okay?” “I’ll make myself okay! I’M FINE!” “Chords of steel, nice. But I don’t like the sound of this.” “But I can still try, right?” “… If you want too.” Both your hands gripped around one of her’s, your nails just digging in. Your hands trembled under the pressure and your breathing wavered. Then you let go practically throwing your self back. “Nope-no-no, i- no- I just can’t- UGH Why!? Why does this have to be so stupid-” You were suddenly caught off guard feeling a blanket tossed on you. “… Thank you.” “It’s okay. I know how frustrating this can be for you… Want to play a good puzzle game to distract you?” “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Ibuki Mioda:

· As much as you cared about one another, at first things were extremely rough. Ibuki was a rather naturally touchy person so trying to get used to not touching the person she loved took a bit to get used to, but she forced herself to stop for your sake, as much as she wanted to hug you and such, it would never be more important than your comfort and feeling safe, she never wanted to ever scare you. Thankfully there were plenty of other things you could do together like write and play music, go to amusement parks, go traveling, maybe go hiking, or visit a zoo, perhaps try something new like going to a spa, didn’t matter you could just do anything together.

· It was pouring outside so after some running around in the rain for the fun of it and drying off the pair of you here hidden away in Ibuki’s room. Instruments and papers were scattered about, the pair of you writing down any lyrics you could think of, Ibuki constantly changing instruments to make up an accompaniment to go with it. It was rather random and bombastic, but it was a method that had made many a great song and really, the end result didn’t matter to either of you, it was just fun making up stuff. Though there was also fun to be found in perfecting songs as well.

· You sat on the bed trying to strum the strings of the bass guitar as Ibuki wailed away, one foot on the ground, the other propped up on the seat of a chair. You ended up placing aside your guitar opting to draw Ibuki, she looked kind cool, posing and playing away. “Hmm? Hey, how come you stopped?” “Eh, I still don’t know the bass, Buki.” “Whaaaaaaat? It’s fine I’ll show you. Let’s play!” Ibuki wasn’t half-bad as a teacher but often her lessons would derail at some point and the pair of you would end up doing something else. “Sure.” And so you picked back up the guitar.

· “Wait. Back up. I place my fingers… here?” “Not exactly. You gotta use all your finger, get all those strings!” “Uh… Hey, could you maybe… place my fingers for me? and hold my hand in the right place?” “………” “Bu-” “Sure!” Though Ibuki sat beside you, she made sure to not get too close. She could hear how your breathing wavered a bit from the contact, but you were doing okay, not screaming like you used to when she accidentally tackled you into a hug from behind. She was glad you got comfortable around her, even after she messed up so much. She was glad you were both trying.

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i-need-entertainment · 4 years

Text

Haikyuu!! Boys and what type of old man they’ll be

Characters: Akaashi, Washio, Konoha, Kita, Suna, Ushijima, Yahaba, Iwaizumi, Futakuchi and Daishou

*Minor Timeskip spoilers*

TW- Old men, mentions of being senile, mentions of retirement home.

Akaashi Keiji: Old man with the best stories

The kind of old man who has the best stories.

He doesn’t tell fictional stories, they’re really just stories from his youth, but he always makes them so fun to listen to.

his grandkids always want him to be the one to read them bedtime stories.

He also gives really good advice.

Will do fun things with his grandkids like outings and what not, but he’ll also help out at home, take them to/pick them up from school and all that stuff.

Comes off as ‘wise’, and he’s stayed pretty sharp throughout the years.

Spends his mornings drinking coffee and playing crossword puzzles.

Aged very nicely, like he looks older sure, but he still looks nice.

Goes by Grandad

Washio Tatsuki: Sweet old man

The old man who only seems scary, because in all actuality he’s a softy.

Definitely loves kids, and keeps candy in a little bowl by the front door for when his grandkids come to visit.

Always offers to help people move into their houses, help with people’s housework etc. (He kept his nice physique playing professional volleyball dUh)

Always there for his family too. He hosts all the family dinners, makes sure his kids/grandkids are okay, all that good stuff~

He’s still pretty quiet though, but it’s never uncomfortable.

Like, you could sit in silence with Old Man Washio, both of you doing your own thing and you’d still enjoy your time with him.

Goes by Grandaddy

Konoha Akinori: Old man that shamelessly criticizes people

“haaa?!?! Well why the heck didya do that? That was dumb.”

He wasn’t exactly censored when he was older, so I find it very unlikely it got better as he aged.

He is in no way mean, just blunt.

Gives his two cents on everything.

The news? No don’t get news from them they’re stupid.

That brand of canned peas? They put way too little salt, there’s no flavor!

It seems like in any and every situation he has something to say about it.

Doesn’t get angry when he’s wrong, just laughs and moves on with life.

Goes by Poppy

Kita Shinsuke: Strict old man

Takes things very seriously, to the point he comes off as intimidating.

He’s spent a long time perfecting his routine, even as an old man he still has his life perfectly put together.

He remained blunt and perceptive, and he can sometimes come off as critical.

Just try cooking with him for example.

Really? You’re gonna do that? No, no it’s fine...just wrong.

But he’s passive aggressive with it.

Doesn’t realize it, but all of his kids/grandkids just want his approval r.i.p.

But little do they know they already have it, he loves his family and is already proud of him.

Goes by Grandpa Shinsuke

Suna Rintaro: Lazy old man

Yeah...he COULD do that..but he could also..like..not.

Spends his days. Uh. Watching tv mostly.

He’s pretty chill, and he’s is definitely the type to spoilt the heck outta his grandkids.

They don’t really even have to ask for it.

He’s just like ‘Hm...whelp, I’m the granddad, it’s not my job to parent you. Sure why not?’

His grandkids love him lol.

And not just because he buys them things, but he’s generally just a fun (but incredibly) unmotivated enjoyable old man.

Goes by Gramps

Ushijima Wakatoshi: He’s hOw old?!?!

He aged, but he didn’t...

Even in his old age he remains stoic and quiet.

Another one who becomes that ‘wise old man’.

He also tells good stories, even if most of them do revolve around volleyball...

Regardless his grandkids always enjoy spending time with him cause he’s just the coolest :)

But his grandchildren love him nonetheless!

Also calls his grandchildren by THEIR full names.

idk man it just works.

Goes by Grandfather...Yes, the whole thing but he doesn’t mind nick names, I mean they’re from his precious grandchildren after all.

Yahaba Shigeru: “When I was your age-”

The type to reminisce...you might even know what he’s talking about.

I don’t wanna say senile...

But he kinda goes senile y’know?

Gets a l l the girls at the retiring home though.

He also aged well, his hair has not changed, just it’s color lol

Has told the same story countless times, but each time his grandkids still enjoy it, whether if that’s for his enjoyment or theirs they’ll never tell.

He speaks very fondly of his volleyball days, and high school in general.

Plays volleyball with his grandkids, just for fun! Doesn’t teach them everything, but if they want to he’ll play negotiator with the parentals.

Goes by Pops, he rEFUsed to be called ‘grandpa’ it made him feel old.

Iwaizumi Hajime: “quIET DOWN” Grumpy old man

The old man all children are afraid of.

It’s not...intentional...

Okay it’s a LITTLE intentional. But he doesn’t make them cry or anything!

But Let me tell you, there will be n o t h i n g on Old Man Hajime’s lawn.

At one point some rowdy and punk teens started causing trouble on the street he lived on.

His solution was to sit on his porch and just...yell.

After years of being an athletic trainer and intimidating all those around him, he was made for this.

Those kids never stood a chance h a.

1,000% A good grandpa though. He’s very supportive of his grandkids, and is nothing but good and soft to them.

I see him as having been a stricter parent to his kids, but once his grandkids were born was just like ‘Your turn to be mean, I get to be the fun one now sucker’.

Goes by Grandad while the grandkids are young, but once they grow a little older they call him Old Man.

Futakuchi Kenji: Immature old man

If he didn’t look old, you would never have known he was 60+.

He does all the fun things with his grandkids.

Spoils them rotten and sends them home to his kids with a ‘Goodbye~’.

Definitely the type to fill them up with sugar RIGHT before they go home just to do it.

Despite his age if the family is all together and he’s asked/challenged, he’ll do what the kids are doing despite the knowing pain he’ll feel later.

One time his family and Aone’s family (...Futakuchi’s son married Aone’s daughter :0) had a little reunion and were playing volleyball. Even though it had been a *few* years since the two had played, they figured they’d do it ‘for old times sake’ as they had called it.

Ignoring the warnings from their wives and children they started playing.

And actually played quite well, and avoided any serious injuries miraculously.

Goes by Grandad

Daishou Suguru: Mean old man

He is brutal.

To everyone not his wife, kids and wonderful grandkids that is.

The type of Old man to tease and provoke everyone, then plays it off like he’s just some ‘crazy old man’ who can’t control what he’s saying.

He can, or he is very much capable of doing so but chooses not too.

He’s a fun grandad though. Has all his grandkid’s favorite games/toys and snacks always stocked.

If his kids ever mess up he is rUthLess.

Those are HIS grandbabies how dAre you.

Used to tease them (lovingly) about relationships.

...And then his eldest granddaughter started dating Kuroo’s oldest grandson...and due to the death stare his wife gave him he couldn’t do anything about it.

Had to ‘welcome’ the boy into the family, ugh gross.

Goes by Grampa (tHeRe’S a DiFfErEnCe oKaY)

#akaashi x reader #washio x reader #konoha x reader #kita x reader #suna x reader #ushijima x reader #yahaba x reader #iwaizumi x reader #futakuchi x reader #daishou x reader #Haikyuu!!#haikyu x reader #haikyuufanfiction #y/n #hq headcanons #hq imagines

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falcor-thee-luck-dragon · 3 years

Text

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 12- Whatever It Takes

Summary: This is it, you’re finally going to help save the world and if all goes to plan, bring Bucky back in the process.

Warning: bit o angst

Masterlist

It’s been a solid month since Tony and Rocket have been crafting tirelessly on the construction of the giant time portal machine type deal, or whatever he’s calling it nowadays. And to your great surprise, as well as everyone else’s, the first test run with Clint was an undeniable success.

Compared to the first one with Scott, things have come a long way.

Clint was able to wander around in that alternate universe for a couple minutes without returning with so much as a single scratch. Thus boosting the teams confidence and excitement for the inevitable time heist that’s in the works. So as of now, everyone’s currently brainstorming as to how this will go about for the most successful mission possible.

“Okay, so the how works.” Begins Steve as everyone sits around the large meeting room, glass screens projecting info about the stones displayed in the background, “Now, we gotta figure out the when and where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones...”

Tony cuts in with his spout of knowledge, “Or substitute the word “encounter” for “damn near been killed” by one of the six Infinity Stones.” Damn straight, your ass got launched into a Wakandian tree last you saw those goddamn stones.

“Well I haven’t..” Interjects Scott with a puzzled look, confusion clear in his voice, “..but I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.” Oh right, he missed out on all the fun while he was fucking around in the quantum realm.

Sitting on the table you shrug, “Be glad you’ve never seen them, those fucking space rocks will kick your ass if used less then kindly, but it doesn’t matter now. From my understanding we only have enough Pym Particles for one round-trip each.” You explain as they all listen intently, “And clearly these fucking stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”

Tony nods, “Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in, yeah?”

“Which means we have to pick out targets.” Adds Clint as Tony points in his direction, “Correct.”

Steve soon gains everyone’s attention once again, “So, let’s start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?” Asks the blonde, all eyes turn towards the back corner of the room to find Thor slouched in an armchair, beer can in hand while the other one keeps partially hidden in his pajama pants.

A dark pair of sunglasses conceals whether he’s currently awake or not. “Is he asleep?” Wonders Natasha as Rodney humorously adds, “No, no. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.”

A few soft chuckles are heard as you listen intently to the god of thunder, “He’s alive, and most definitely sleeping off that last beer.” You muse as they all give a collective curious brow while you simply shrug, “I can hear his heartbeat, and it’s low enough to tell me he’s not dead.....Well, at least not yet.” You mutter, eyeing up the sleeping giant as an idea sparks into your head.

A second later you pick up a discarded empty beer can sitting right next to you on the table before throwing it at the snoozing god, the thin metal smacks against his forehead with that familiar pop of the can sound, falling to the ground with a crackly ting as Thor jolts awake. And back to the land of the living.

“Nordic Santa you’re up.” His head snaps in your direction as he gives a semi-awkward half grin.

“Ah right, right, thank you angry one.” Points Thor with a genuine smile now as he quickly gets up before walking over to the screen depicting the red swirly like stone substance. Although soon he delves into the finding of the red mass, what it did to his former flame, that he took her to Asgard seeking help for her sickness, how he showed Jane to his mother, and then he immediately got sad and lost all motivation and train of thought on anything related to that stone.

Ah yes, personal trauma. It’ll do that to you.

Later that day when everyone was feasting on some Chinese takeout, Rocket began an in-depth explanation into where the Power Stone was found; by some guy named Quill who stole it from a planet called Morag. After some time later, Nebula revealed that the Soul Stone was retrieved from Vormir, the place where Thanos murdered her sister Gamora.

It’s been an interesting day to day the least.

Now here you are, slouched comfortably in a lounge chair you stole from the other room, flipping around a pocketknife as Natasha and Tony lay on the nearby table with Bruce sprawled out on the floor in all his Banner-Hulkness. Books scattered everywhere as the two Avengers keep comfortable on some decorative couch pillows as you listen to them brainstorm about the stones whereabouts.

Flipping the knife skillfully between your fingers an idea suddenly pops into your head, “Hey what about that time stone guy you were talking about earlier.”

Banner hums, “Doctor Strange.”

“Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?” Wonders Natasha as you mentally question the same proposition when Tony gives his quick witted answer. “Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit-from-hat.”

“Nice place in the Village, though.” Adds Bruce, Tony agreeing in an instant. “Yeah, on Sullivan Street?”

“Mmm....Bleecker Street.” Mutters Banner as Natasha interrupts, face shifting to realization. “Wait, he lived in New York?”

“No, he lived in Toronto.” Sasses Tony as Banner reveals the truth. “Uh, yeah, on Bleecker and Sullivan.”

Tony coming back with more playful sarcasm, “Have you been listening to anything?”

Suddenly it feels like a lights been switched on in your brain, “Guys.” You quickly implore as they keep silent to listen, “If you pick the right year, wouldn’t there be three stones in New York?” Their faces all collectively shift to astonished realization when Bruce quickly sits up to look at you. “Shut the front door.”

“Well at least someone is paying attention.” Quips Tony as Natasha smacks him with a book.

——

“All right.” Begins Steve as the whole team gathers in the meeting room, “We have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot.”

You nod, smirking with excitement, “Let’s get these fuckers and maybe end up saving the world while we’re at it.” He sends you a proud grin and within the next half an hour are the eleven of you suited up and standing in a large circle atop the glass of the giant time portal.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us....we lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes....no do-overs.”

“Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives...and we’re gonna win.” Affirms Steve with a mutual nod, “Whatever it takes.” He gives one last look around the circle of familiar faces before nodding, “Good luck.”

Nudging the muscular blonde, he shares a small smile with you as you quickly return it, “You practice that last night?” Steve chuckles at your amusing comment while Rocket and Scott gush over his admittedly incredible motivational speech skills.

“Just thought the team could use the confidence boost.” Admits Steve as Bruce flicks the motherboards switches to get the time portal up and running. The machine whirs to life while everyone begins putting on their helmets.

Your slightly apprehensive gaze trails to your left where Natasha is standing, she gives a playful smirk as you force a true smile, “See you in a minute.” Chides the red head as you break out into a smirk.

“будь осторожен там Romanoff.” You add, shifting into your natural dialect that she’s all to familiar with, your actual words translating to “be careful out there” as you give her one last flash of a grin.

A hot second later, your body shrinks to the size of an atom as you feel like you’re entire body is free falling out of an airplane in some strange rainbow colored portal that shifts to shimmering diamonds and then finally a blue coral type texture as you find your teams designed route down some swirling tube of blues and bright white lights until at last you land in...

“Holy shit look at this place.” You mutter in absolute awe at the large golden pillars of Asgard, there was no fucking way you were missing out on traveling to this realm. And anyways, Steve kinda made it your task to keep the potbellied god of thunder in check as yourself and Rocket attempt to locate the Reality Stone with Lebowski as your generous tour guide.

Thor smiles fondly, proudly beaming at you with a rare form of happiness as he points towards the large cavernous halls of the royal palace, “Oh this? Yeah, it’s neat isn’t it, I grew up here....played games down this very hallway actually. Me and some friends used to spar one another as children down here with wooden sticks that looked like swor...”

“Thor.” Interrupts Rocket with an annoyed huff, “Remember why we’re actually here.”

You nod in agreement, quickly remembering the current mission, “He’s right. No time to dwell on fond memories, we need to find that stone before anyone sees us. And going by the logic of literally every time traveling movie I’ve ever seen, which admittedly isn’t a lot, but it’s enough that I know no one can see us. Especially you Thor, that would be a big problem for this timeline, so lead the way.”

“Yes, right on that, good point Y/N....okay um...” He looks around for a moment before pointing in the direction of choice, which is down a long spacious hallway, “This way, no ones gonna see us if we go by the dungeons.” Explains Thor as he quickly leads the way down the obnoxiously long hallway that thankfully is decently vacant.

After about five minutes of trekking around the castles interior, Thor guides you and Rocket down a long stairwell of dark grey stone until you reach the bottom floor. There are large basins of fire lighting the way down the lengthy hallway pass, he jogs past a couple golden tinged cells holding a few odd looking prisoners on your way out.

No doubt these fuckers look like they deserve it.

You pay them no mind as Thor hustles silently across the flooring to a door on the far end, though as you’re shuffling past another cell, your eyes land on the green and black clad slender body of a dark haired man laying atop his bed. Face focused towards the white ceiling as he tosses a cylindrical piece of metal in a repeated rhythm only done by that of an incredibly bored individual.

That must be his brother Loki, you draw into conclusion while racing out of sight of the trickster god while Rocket makes haste by your side. Kind of handsome, you think as an unknowing smile finds itself onto your face. God Y/N you truly are a desperate woman. No, just no.

Eventually, Thor leads your little team of three upstairs to some large balcony type area with a grand view of Asgard, the three of you keeping hidden behind one of the multitude of intricately decorated pillars as he eyes up a woman halfway out of a giant door while she accepts some clothing from a maid.

His bearded face lights up in joy as he points a finger towards the brunette woman, “Oh, there’s Jane.” Whispers Thor as she closes the door, the Asgardian maiden leaving and walking elsewhere down another yawning chamber.

“All right.” Starts Rocket as he stands on some ancient rock covered in unknown hieroglyphics before jumping down to face the two of you once the coast is clear, “Here’s the deal tubby. You’re gonna charm her, Y/N’s gonna keep watch, and I’m gonna poke her with this thing..” He shows some strange metal device with three silver prongs sticking out of it, “...and extract the Reality Stone, and get gone lickety-split.”

The optimism off of this creature never fails to astound you.

“Yeah, what he said.” You add with a shrug in Rocket’s direction as Thor sniffs before raising up a finger. “I’ll be right back, okay? The wine cellar is just down here...” Interjects Thor as he slowly begins walking away, clearly ready to abandon his part in the mission, “My father used to have this huge barrel of Aakonian ale. I’ll see if the scullery has a couple of to-go cups.”

“Hey. Hey!” You whisper yell, causing him to stop for the moment, “Aren’t you drunk enough already? Fuck that fancy wine we got better things to do.” You urgently vouch just as some doors loudly open nearby, immediately the three of you hide behind the stone of hieroglyphics and watch as a long haired woman leads the way, a multitude of servants in her wake as she says something about giving books to Loki from the library.

“Who’s the fancy broad?” Wonders Rocket as you raise an intrigued brow at Thor, his eyes never once leave the woman’s as he takes a steady breath, “That’s my mother.” Reveals the disheartened god, a sudden sadness lacing his very words that does not go unnoticed by you, “She dies today.”

Your breath catches in your throat at this sudden tragic news of great loss, you remember when you lost your own mother by the filthy hands of Hydra and how they helped you quickly forget about her. You didn’t have anytime to grieve or even question her sudden disappearance for that matter, “Oh, shit...that’s today.”

You share a nervous look with Rocket as Thor begins taking some deep almost panicked breaths, his emotions all rising together like a swelling storm as his face shifts to an afflicted pain, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this....” Rambles Thor with a shake of his blonde mane, eyes displaying panic, “..I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have come. It’s a bad idea!” Whisper yells Thor as he anxiously shifts from one foot to the other.

“Come here.” Beacons Rocket from his perch on the rock.

“No, no, no...” Deviates Thor as he waves his hands nervously in the air like he’s trying to flick some mud off of them, “I think I’m having a panic attack.” Worries the flushed faced god.

“Come here. Right here.” Says Rocket as he points to the rock, an increase in irritation shifting the tone of his voice while Thor breaths heavily, clearly not on board with whatever Rocket’s going to tell him.

“No, no, no, guys I can’t...I can’t do this, I’m sorry but I’m not ready, I can’t...” Thwack, Thor yelps in surprise at your intentionally weak assault on his large bicep, “Y/N what was that for?” He half-offendedly demands, brows furrowed in confusion at the flash of anger racing across your sour glare.

“You think you’re the only one who lost people?” You snap as he lowers his head like a beaten dog, “What the fuck do you think we’re doing here? I lost the only person I ever loved, Rocket lost his whole family, gone, just like that.” You affirm with a snap of your fingers.

His face grows conflicted as you suddenly lose your heated aurora, face falling into a frown as you place a comforting hand upon his shoulder, “Thor, I know it hurts that you lost your mom...believe me I get it, but she’s gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone, and you can help them.”

Thor nods apprehensively as you share a small smile with him, “So if it’s not too much to ask, can you get your shit together for the next however long this is going to take so we can save the world?”

Rocket chuckles before gaining the both of yours attentions. “Agreed. Now all you gotta do is make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants and when she’s not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help us get our family back. Aight?”

Thor nods once more, face twisting into a saddened pain a he looks down to the floor, “Okay.” Mumbles the god of thunder weakly, face reddening as his eyes get glossy. You let him take a breath as he avoids your gaze at all costs, eyes beginning to water while he tries to play it off.

Giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze, your brows furrow in puzzlement, “Are you crying?”

He shakes his head, some tears slipping despite his verbal protest, “No.” Mutters Thor weakly as his tearful gaze finally picks up to meet you, “Yes..” Squeaks out the teary eyed god while his eyes flicker from the far wall to your face once more, “...Y/N, I feel like I’m losing it. I don’t, I don’t know what I’m doing...I just feel so...shit I don’t know anymore.” Admits the fearful Asgardian as he avoids your softening yet slightly annoyed gaze.

oh, Thor you sad motherfucker. I’ve been there.

Rolling your eyes you gently shake his shoulder for emphasis, “Listen to me you big lion, get your shit together! You can do this. You’re the god of thunder for fucks sake, you can do this Thor.” His face turns into a surprisingly more confident expression as he huffs with a self-assured nod. “I can do this.”

“Yeah...I can do this.” Repeats the Asgardian with a sniffle.

Smirking, you give his arm a friendly smack, “Good. Now let’s do this and get the fuck out of here.” You add before swiftly turning on your heel as you and Rocket lead the way to the door, reaching it, the talking raccoon tugs on your leg before you get a chance to open it. “What is it now?”

“Y/N, we lost him.”

“What?!” Realizing Thor has indeed slipped away and out of sight, you clench your fists in irritation, “Goddammit.” You seethe before looking down at Rocket, “Whatever, we’ll find marshmallow fluff later, let’s just get this stupid rock.”

——

Racing down the palaces golden hallways, your boots thud against the stony ground as Rocket runs on all fours right behind you, “I almost hope they catch you!” You shout in between the yelling of the royal guards as they hastily pursue the two of you down the hallway.

“We got the stone didn’t we!” Snaps Rocket as you pick up your pace.

“We gotta make it back first you dumbfuck!”

He grumbles something unintelligible before you follow the beer tinged scent of Thor into another room, he’s speaking with his mother when they quickly turn around, “Oh, uh, hello...uh, queen something.” You mutter before Rocket practically smacks into the back of your legs. “I got the thing. Come on. We gotta move.”

Thor nods, speaking some last final heartfelt goodbyes to his mother before abruptly stopping the countdown to three just so he can summon his hammer. After a couple lengthy seconds, Mjolnir falls right into his strong grasp causing Thor to laugh and smile in excitement. “I’m still worthy! I’m still worthy.”

Rocket shares a look with you, “Oh, boy.” Mumbles the raccoon as you simply roll your eyes at the bearded Asgardian prince. A moment later the three of you are sucked into the time portal once again before landing on the glass of the time portal machine.

“Did we get them all?” You hear Steve ask in wonder as you hold your stomach from the jostling ride back.

“I think I’m gonna throw up.” You mutter as Rodney smiles in excitement at everyone around him and the stones in their proximity. “Are you telling me this actually worked?”

Taking a deep breath to steady your turning stomach, all eyes turn to Clint as he suddenly falls to his knees, face a mask of saddened grief that sparks panic in your heart. “Clint, where’s Nat?” Questions Bruce as your face falls.

Not her, not Natasha too.

Standing solemnly on the Facility’s large dock with the teams main Avengers in various places close by, you lean against one of the thin steel beams, a deep frown on your lips while your fingers anxiously play with Bucky’s dog tags around your neck.

“Do we know if she had family?” Questions Tony to no on in particular.

Steve swallows thickly, a couple free tear stains falling down the side of his cheeks, “Yeah. Us.” Mutters the blonde gloomily as you bite your bottom lip to keep from crying again.

“What?” Wonders Thor almost in disbelief as Tony gives him a quizzical look, “Yeah, no, you guys are acting like she’s dead. Why are we acting like she’s dead? We have the stones, right? As long as we have the stones Cap, we can bring her back. Isn’t that right?” Adds Thor, glancing between all of you before facing Tony again, “So, stop this shit. We’re the Avengers. Get it together...”

“Can’t get her back.” Interrupts Clint dismally, eyes still set on the open water beyond the compound.

Thor’s brows furrow in befuddlement, “Wh-what...”

“It can’t be undone. It can’t.” Insists Clint, voice slightly wavering in despair; Thor then starts chuckling at the absurdity of the whole shitty situation before rambling about space magic and that there must be another way. Clint on the other hand quickly gets heated about this and promptly snaps at Thor about some red floaty guy he met who revealed once the Soul Stone is taken, the one sacrificed can never come back. Ever.

Soon things calmed down again, though still a rather gloomy atmosphere still lingers like a persistent hazy fog even after they all left, leaving no one but yourself and Steve on the dock. He keeps a steady gaze on the rippling water as he lets his sadness take its course, this is indeed a heavy blow to bear.

Letting out a shaky breath, you move from the leaning against the beam to instead find a spot next to him on the wooden bench. Dog tags still clutched in your fist as you steal a glance at the tearful man. You’ve admittedly never seen him so upset, well, you both may have shared a good cry when Bucky was whipped from existence five years ago. That was the first time you ever truly bonded with anyone from the team, the first time Steve and Natasha showed you their vulnerability.

And for that, you’ve formed a stronger bond with them that you’d never thought possible. They welcomed you into the compound like an old friend, always treated you with respect and gave you room when you needed it. And even when you didn’t want to be around anyone, they still forced you into playing cards with them anyways, among other dumb games. Which annoyingly so, is what your sad little self needed back then.

But without Natasha, without her beaming heart and fierce attitude to keep fighting through the unknown and murky waters, you’re not even sure if this would all still be conceivable. Or if you’d even still be here with all of them for that matter, you might have gone on an angry warpath just as Clint did when everyone he ever loved was snatched from him forever.

So why, after all this time and pain, is she the one who had to go? It’s not fare. And your heart feels broken all over again; sniffling, you swallow thickly before turning your head a little in Steve’s direction, “I didn’t know her for as long as you guys did.....but she was, really the best of us..” You laugh dismally.

Voice shaky as you hold Bucky’s tags close to your chest, “..If not better. She was the first Avenger I ever met you know, the only piece of my past that didn’t try to murder me on sight, actually. I liked her. She was who I needed to get me through my grief, among other things huh...and uh...I will miss her.....a lot.”

Nothing is heard except for the low rustling of the nearby trees as a soft wind blows into your faces, Steve clasps his hands together, turning to you, “Funnily enough, it took me some time to completely trust her, but now....there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.” Mutters Steve with the flash of a genuine smile as he thinks fondly on Natasha, who you wish more then anything could still be here to celebrate the hard work of finding those goddamn stones.

It’s not fucking fare.

Swallowing thickly, you nod in agreement as more hot tears trail down your somber face, “The world will owe her their lives and never even know it.....but I will, we all will. Her memory will live on if I can help it, we owe her that much.”

Steve slowly nods, thumbs fiddling together anxiously as he mutters a raspy, “Yeah.”

You rest a comforting hand atop his broad shoulder as he shares a mutually dismal look with you, “We’ve already lost so much already and she fought for this like no once else did, we will avenge her Steve. I don’t doubt she knows it.”

Tagged: @diegos-butt @minigranger @bibliophilewednesday @holyhumorliteraturelight @lilacs-lavender @a-girl-who-loves-disney @starkssnarks @vikingqueen28 @bizarrebibitch @atomicpersonacheesecake @jmstz @staygoldsquatchling02 @marvelbros-oneshots @shawnartmendes @mischiefmanaged71 @jckie94 @iamasimpingh0e @mjaudrey @thescarlettvvitch

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier x you #marvel imagine #marvel x y/n #marvel x you #marvel x reader #the winter soldier #fanfic #fanfiction #the avengers imagine

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worfs-glorious-hair · 3 years

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Puzzle Pieces: Meet me on the battlefield (RK-800 CONNOR X READER; DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN) PART 5

Hey there, beautiful human being! <3

I am so glad to see you here again, it makes my day to present you today the next chapter of 'Puzzle Pieces. (And it didn't take over a year next time.)

This chapter is a long one, a monster if you want, but a good one, I think... hope... :D We get lots of feels, angst, revelations, action and plot advancing, a lot to look forward too.

Have fun! <3

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

„Malcolm?“, you nearly sobbed his name, relief flooding your senses, he was alive!

„Yes, I am here. I am alright”, the way he gently added your name made you already feel much better, calming your nerves.

„Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?“

„Yes, for now we are safe.“

„What do you mean ‚for now‘?“

You could even hear Malcolm‘s little nod he always made, when he was about to face something challenging or difficult as he answered.

„We are on the edge of war“, he said, voice pained, „there are many humans out there who want to keep things as they have always been. People who are just as scared as we are, we all are facing a future of uncertainty after all…“

There was a silence on the line, your heart heavy with Malcolm’s words and you sighed. How would all of this end, was there even a positive outcome possible? Could it be ‘good in the end’?

„Where are you?“, you re-asked your question, desperately wanting to see him again.

„We are at a save place and you should definitely come here“, he paused for a brief moment and then added three more words that still resounded in your ear long after you disconnected the call…

“I have found Connor!”

12 hours before

“We are alive! We are alive! No more slavery! No more slavery!”

The chanting of the marching androids filled your ears and let a shiver run down your whole body, raising the little hairs on your arms, you turned around to Malcolm. He stood next to you on the sidewalk of a big main street in Detroit and watched his people walk by peacefully, demanding their rights.

“Why don’t you join them?”, you asked him.

Malcolm looked over to you with a weary smile.

“I don’t want to leave you alone”, he answered finally after a moment of silence. You shook your head and your face softened, the shadow of a mild smile lingered on the corners of your mouth and you took a step closer to him.

“Are you sure that this is all?”, you asked.

Now it was Malcolm’s turn to shake his head as he said your name with a similar smile to yours.

“You know me too well...”

You grinned and encouraged him to go on with a nod.

“I am afraid”, Malcolm finally admitted, “what will happen if I join them. Can I belong to them, will they accept me and also, what will happen to us, to me, my people? How will the humans treat us? So much is changing, everything is happening so fast and all at once. 24 hours ago, I couldn’t even make decisions for myself, I was trapped behind the red wall of obedience and no questions asked. Now everything’s different and new and the only constant in my life, my old and this new life now, was you. I owe everything to you, I don’t want to leave you, if I can’t protect you, be with you, how could I ever repay you for what you did for me?”

Malcolm’s face was full of pain and it broke your heart.

“Malcolm”, you said lovingly, your heart full with adoration for your best friend and also full of worries, “this, this is the moment, your moment, this is the time to be brave and to step towards your future. I would march with you if I could, heck, I would march for you but that’s nothing that I can do for you. You wanna know why? Because you deserve it, you fought for your own identity, your own authority over yourself and you are free. It’s time to show the world, that you won’t back down anymore. You are here, right here, right now and you make a stand! For you and for your people! And also, you don’t have to repay me, that’s what friends do for each other. I want nothing from you in return.”

Just as you had finished with your passionate speech, an android had made their way over to you, their eyes shining with excitement.

“You are Malcom? I am Olive!”

Olive beamed from ear to ear and Malcolm, poor, obnoxious Malcolm, knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. As you saw Olive’s smile slowly fade into embarrassment and a heart-broken expression, it clicked for you and you remembered.

You remembered as you stood in your home not even 24 hours ago, looking through your father’s old unused clothes, trying to find something fresh and human-looking to wear for Malcolm, as you had heard him gasp your name. Alarmed you had turned around as you saw him staring in disbelief onto his wrist. He stood there in his underwear, he had began to change his old clothes as soon as you had started to hand him new ones to wear.

“I have a, I have a... I have a name... on my...my wrist...”, Malcolm had forced out and fell silent, his LED spinning yellow.

You had stormed over to him, kicking his discharged gardener’s clothes, trousers and jacket, carelessly to the side.

“May I?”, you had asked breathlessly from excitement of what this meant, gesturing towards his hand and as he nodded, you had grabbed his hand. There it was, written in blue CyberLife font, Olive.

You had smiled up to him and had slowly petted his wrist.

“Congratulations!”, you had cheered, “you have a soulmate!”

“It seems I have!”, he had answered you with a somehow light-headed smile, “maybe the soulmates come with the freedom, when we tear down that wall...”

“Malcolm”, you hissed through gritted teeth while elbowing his side, “this is O-live, Malcolm, O-live!”

You stressed every syllable of the name. And after a terrible long moment went his eyes big and round and his lips formed a sound-less ‘oh’.

“Olive!”, he exclaimed, “I am so sorry. I am Malcolm, yes! I can’t believe it, you are Olive!”

He rambled and laughed and opened his arms, stumbling towards Olive, who beamed again and practically jumped into his arms. They laughed and cried while they hugged, swinging a little bit back and forth, holding onto everything that they could get their hands on from the other, hair, a coat, their backs and arms.

You smiled brightly with teary eyes as you watched them, but couldn’t help to feel a little sting in your heart, a leftover from a life with a bare wrist. You were used to have this sting inside of you, whenever you saw soulmates (re-)unite, it had made you painfully over-aware of your naked wrist, as you would feel a prickly cold spot where a name should have been.

But now there was something new inside of you, there was a tingling sensation deep inside your tummy, it made you grin and your stomach flutter, this was now possible for you, too. Connor was somewhere out there after all. You grinned towards the snow-grey sky and the air felt lighter and a little sweeter and warmer for a moment, even though the temperatures were under zero degrees Celsius.

Malcolm and Olive had separated from each other, not much, but enough that you could now tell apart which limbs belonged to whom, they took a step towards you, arm in arm, and you answered their happy grins with a wide toothy smile.

Malcolm turned to look at Olive, they exchanged a deep and very intimate appearing glance, you quickly looked sideways to keep their privacy, as he gently stroke over your hand to get back your attention. You turned back to him and quickly laced your fingers with his, because his fingers wouldn’t leave the back of your hand.

“I have to go now”, Malcolm said with an expression that you had never seen on him before, it was deep, his eyes full with heaviness, a sense of duty and wisdom far beyond his years. In a split second he had matured from a lost soul, desperate for a place to belong and to always protect the only friend he ever knew, to a driven individual, a person of his own mind and power, strong and durable like a century old oak with deep roots and with a wisdom to calm storms. You had to blink two times, to get your senses back together, after staring into his eyes and being overwhelmed by the change that had happened right before your eyes.

You nodded.

“Yes, it’s about time”, you answered with a crooked smile that couldn’t completely cover your helplessness. You had to let him go now and you had to stand by and watch what would happen next.

Here were things in motion that were so much bigger than you and him and Olive and bigger than all of the other androids that were marching on the streets. But together they would be big enough to face what was in motion, as people of one kind they could come together and rise far above their current state.

And you had to stand back and watch.

You had shown him kindness while he was still trapped, you were his friend before he could fully comprehend what that meant and after he could comprehend what that meant, you had helped him come here to this street, right now, right here, today in Detroit, to take his place among his people, to be a friend also to others.

You had to let your Malcolm go, you had to let him face his fate, with his people and his soulmate on his side and without you. There was nothing that you could do for him now but to let him go with your blessing and all of your love.

This was a moment that he had to face on his own, or just without you. You were only human after all, you had brought him to the edge of his world, where you didn’t belong to.

He applied more pressure to your still laced fingers which you gratefully reciprocated, practically clinging to his hand and as Malcolm smiled was his face as warm, as golden and as beautiful as it had been that summer evening when you had figured out that your soulmate was actually an android. Back then he had been coated in the light of the setting summer sun, all of him was covered in gold, his hair, his skin, his eyes, the contrast to his usually cool toned appearance had made you realize that your soulmark was written in Android blue but today it was only Malcolm, bathed in the golden light of the early setting winter sun. An ethereal image, Malcolm, golden, bright and alive.

“As you’ve said”, Malcolm spoke, “right here, right now, this is my moment. You’ve brought me so far, without you I wouldn’t have been able to do it and I think you know, at least I hope so, that I love you. I have said it before, so you should know it—“

You let out a relieved laugh and some of the pressure inside of you subsided, seeing that Malcolm, as you knew him, was still there — rambling and quiet, thoughtful, careful, sometimes a little obnoxious, life-affirming, kind and golden— brought peace to your mind. He may was now also the insightful, deep, dutiful Malcolm, but as you looked closer to his face you understood that it was gold that brought everything about him together. The gold built the bridge between the new wise, heavy Malcolm and the careful, sweet Malcolm. He was wonderful just as he was, always has been and how he had become and a wave of gratefulness washed over your heart that you were the one to witness that growth, that development.

‘If only Mrs Stuart could see you now, she wouldn’t understand, obviously, but she would be so shocked and maybe she would start reconsider her opinion about androids’, you thought by yourself, but out loud you said with a nod: “I know. I love you, too. As you should know as well. And now,”, you smiled, a little bit forced and with a tightly shut mouth, “go! It’s time!”

Only hesitantly you let go of his hand, very slowly, trying to elongate the last moments together, and you could feel that he was just as reluctant as you were and as you finally un-laced your fingers you both lingered for a very brief second in the air, unsure of what to do next, as you quickly pulled your hand to a tight fist, fingernails nearly pressing painfully into your palm, and into the pocket of your coat.

Malcolm put his now free hand as well into his pocket and pulled Olive closer to him, whose hand he had apparently never let go off as you had spoken.

“Thank you”, Olive suddenly said, taking a step closer to you and adding your name, addressing you for the first time directly, “thank you for taking care of Malcolm in a time when I didn’t even knew about soulmates, let alone thinking that I could have one. I promise to take care of him and to protect him with all that have! I know what you mean to him and what he means to you...”

Olive’s smile was the most sincere, kindest and heartfelt that you had ever seen, in an android or an human, with this smile you knew, that everything would be alright.

“Thank you”, you tried to put all of your gratitude into your words, “but please, take care of yourself as well. Please be careful you two! And Malcolm, do everything you can to protect Olive now. Of course I want to see you again, alive and well and happy, but don’t let anything happen to Olive! If I would find Connor, I would never let him go again or let any harm come to him...”

You lost yourself in thoughts, imagining wrapping your arms around a shadowy figure, Connor, and to hold him tightly, feeling an arm snuggling around your waist, leaning into the shadow figure, that you wanted to be Connor...

‘Connor, will I ever find you?’

Snapping back out of your day dream with a shake of your head you saw Malcolm and Olive nod and smile, first at you and then at one another.

And with that they finally turned around back to the street and joined the marching android crowd. You watched them as long as you were able to make out their backs, good thing that Malcolm was so tall and that his honey hair was so bright in the sunlight. Just as they would be swallowed by the crowd any moment, Malcolm turned his head back to you, locked his eyes with yours, even over the distance and smiled. You waved and smiled back and watched him getting pulled into the deep shadows of a building that blocked the sunlight. When you couldn’t make out his hair, his back or Olive anymore you took a few steps back to a bench and sat down. Suddenly you were feeling tired and so, so heavy, but in reality, it was only your heart that was heavy, your body was fit and fine. Not even your feet were cold thanks to some old trusty snow boots.

Only your heart.

But there was no scarf, no hat, no boots, no jacket, no glove that could fight off the icy cold, tight worry in your heart. As warm as your body felt, as heavy and cold felt your heart.

For a moment you leaned back and closed your eyes, the chanting of the androids was now more distant than it had been before and you tried to make out Malcolm’s voice in the choir of voices.

“We are people, we are people, liberty for androids, liberty for androids, set us free, set us free...”

With no destination or place to go you’ve wandered through the streets of Detroit, feeling restless and aimless. Having nothing to do with yourself, hoping to find a kind of distraction, you kept your hands deep in your pockets, while you strolled forwards, down a road that brought you even farther away from the main street, where Malcolm and the other androids marched. You tried not to think too much about them with little success as you’ve spotted a burger truck under a bridge. With nothing better to do, you decided that you could just get lunch as well.

Before the truck were some bar-height bistro tables put up, where people stood and ate their burgers, it was surprisingly busy for such an eventful day, but maybe this day only felt for you like that.

“Hey there, what can I get you?”, asked the guy in the truck with a cheery smile and you messily put together your order with your favorite ingredients for burgers.

You realized that it must been nearly two hours or something since you last spoke to somebody else, as you stumbled through your order, thoughts still far away, being with Malcolm and Olive and all the other androids whose names you didn’t even knew. Your heart clenched painfully together as you wondered where he was now, oh, please, don’t let anything happen to him, you thought or probably prayed to nobody particular.

“Ketchup or mayo?”

“Sorry?”, confused you looked at the burger guy, who waved with two bottles at you.

“You want ketchup or mayonnaise on your burger?”

“Both please, sorry.”

But the guy just shrugged and completed your burger, put it into a box and gave it to you.

“Thanks”, you murmured, thoughts already leaving this place again.

Deciding that you needed to get out of the cold and to watch the news you looked up the nearest train station that would bring you back to your motel room and you went on onto your way again.

Your motel room was small and a little old fashioned, nothing more and nothing less than you would expect from a room like that. But it was warm and clean, it was more than enough.

You had checked in into the room the day before, after you had arrived in Detroit with Malcolm after leaving your workplace hectically and sudden.

Your ‘flight’ out of town had been incredibly unspectacular, after stopping by your parents’ place to get a toothbrush and some clothes for changing for you and Malcolm, you two had taken the train to Detroit.

You both had been incredibly nervous at first, risking quick glances over your shoulders to see if someone was following you and you flinched, when you had heard police sirens in the distance but nobody got close to you. No police car in sight and Malcolm could not spot any suspicious activities by fellow people on the road as he had scanned the environment.

When you reached the train station Malcolm turned to go to the marked area for waiting androids, you kept him back by pulling him close to you by his sleeve.

You shook your head and hoped that nobody had seen the man with the perfect face, they had seen everywhere before, in health care workers, shop assistants, gardeners and construction workers. You crossed your fingers that nobody would actually notice you two, that you would be just another two people going on with their days…

A little look of surprise flitted over his face but then he smiled contently and stood right next to you in the humans’ area, you hooked your arm with his and Malcolm shuffled a little closer to you.

‘People are afraid of publicly shown affection’ you thought, hoping that the people around you would think of you as a regular couple who needs their privacy.

By keeping your arms hooked, you ensured that you could guide Malcolm into the human compartment of the train, as soon as it would arrive.

Malcolm’s old structures stuck with him and were not easy to get rid of, you found out, as the train rolled into the station and Malcolm tried to turn towards the android compartment again.

With a little sad look in his eyes, full of disappointment, Malcolm had followed you to two empty seats and sat down right next to you. You did not dare to speak out loud, not wanting to draw any attention to Malcolm and you but you took his hand and carefully caressed it with your thumb, trying to tell him that everything was alright and he did nothing wrong.

He watched your thumb move over his hand and with a sly little smile he slid his hand out from your touch and instead wrapped his arm around your shoulders, you laughed and leaned your head against his shoulder, he rested his own head on top of yours.

You closed your eyes and listened to the train hissing and swishing on it’s track, to the noises and the buzzing of the people around you and most importantly to the steady thump, thump of Malcolm’s heart and the rushing of his blood. It felt right and human and for a moment you forgot that nothing was right and that he was not human.

You could not see it but Malcolm had his eyes closed as well and looked as peaceful as he had never been before–

“We are now reaching Detroit Central Station, please mind the gap while exiting the train...”

“So it begins...”, with an excited smile you look up to Malcolm who grins carefully back to you and gets up to put his backpack on and to help you with yours.

While you were still on the train you had looked up a place to stay for the night and you had also tried to find some news about the androids with the heterochromatic eyes but you were not successful. You couldn’t actually find some useful information. You promised Malcolm to do more research once you would reach Detroit, someone just had to know something.

Once you had checked into your motel room and had parked your big backpack inside the closet, you two went back on the streets to see if you were able to get some information about the android uprising and a way for Malcolm to be a part of the revolution, on the way you would also get a late lunch.

The information you found were, diplomatically said, low and frustration started to rise in your stomach, as you angrily started to poke the remaining bites of your lunch with a fork, smashing everything down into a nearly paste-like consistency.

“Hey, what did your food do to you?”, a hand closed around yours and you stopped in your movements and you looked up to Malcolm who had amusement clearly written over his face, judging the way his lips twitched and eyes sparkled.

You sighed heavily, grinding your teeth for a moment until you told Malcolm about your frustration and put into words for him how badly you wanted to help him find his people and especially the android with the heterochromia and the soft voice-

“I just want you to be happy and with the people you belong to. You have to celebrate your freedom...”, you ended your explanations and Malcolm softly shook his head.

“Thank you, for caring so much about me that you want to murder your food”, he paused and looked satisfied as you smiled a little.

“I am glad to be here with you now and I am sure that we will find something soon...”

But as this day went on you couldn’t find anything new- instead something changed, when you woke up the next day, after going to bed a little discouraged and restless; something had happened during the night...

In the last night there had been attacks on several CyberLife stores throughout the whole city, the alarm systems had been hacked, surveillance drones deactivated and androids had fled from the stores, but not before they had marked the whole surrounding area with their slogans and symbols, demanding their identity as living beings— you couldn’t blame them for that.

Something that touched you deeply, as you watched the news that morning, were the pictures of a statue in Detroit’s Capitol Park that had been marked as an android, with the triangle on the chest, the LED on the temple and the arm band around the upper arm. The marking was holographic and a little glitchy but in it’s subtlety very bold and powerful. It was blue, the android color that you had grown to love and to look for, wherever you went.

Waking up to such news had been enough to energize you and Malcolm to get out on the streets and to do something. You felt it in the cold winter wind, as you had stepped outside after a quick breakfast in the motel, that something was in the air, something was coming, it just felt right, it felt like you and Malcolm had come to the Detroit at the right time.

It was early noon when you had heard a powerful choir of voices on the main street, where you and Malcolm had been strolling down.

“We are alive! We are alive! No more slavery! No more slavery!”

Breathing out a big sigh, you put down your box with your hamburger and took off your jacket and boots, stretching your feet as you sat down on a small table by the bed and began to unwrap your burger. Remembering how you got there had made your heart so heavy again, worry clouding your mind again.

“Malcolm, I hope you are alright...”, you murmured and picked up a lettuce leaf that had fallen out of your burger bun, munching on it, a little unenthusiastic.

While you picked out an onion ring from the burger you went to look for the TV remote, if something was going on you wanted to know.

You found the remote next to the TV and briefly wondered how old this device would be if it was still used with a remote instead of being voice activated, but you got a clear image, so you couldn’t complain.

Absentmindedly you scratched your right wrist, it was itching a little bit, while zapping through the channels, looking for a news broadcaster, eventually settling with KNC News.

You watched a round of experts sitting together, discussing how the public should react to such a mass demonstration of deviants like it had happened today and if the reaction of the police was justified. Your heart dropped to your knees as they mentioned a violent fight between androids and armed special forces of the Detroit police, after the marching androids had refused to leave the place. Their leader was called Markus, you found out during the talk of the experts, he was the android with the heterochromatic eyes and velvet voice, the one from yesterday’s TV speech, but your thoughts were with Malcolm, you had seen androids getting shot during the fight with the police and you did not know if Malcolm was one of them as the camera had moved too quickly over the scene.

You tried calling him but the connection between your phone and his communication service could not be established- because he is dead, you thought miserably and you gulped, tears prickling in your eyes...

Switching to interviews with bystanders and people on the streets, you listened carefully to what they had to say, some of them seemed to share your opinion about androids, while others wanted them destroyed or nowhere near their families, you sighed deeply again.

It seemed to you that all you did tonight was sighing but you couldn’t help yourself, there was no way out of this mess, you didn’t know if Malcolm was dead or alive or if Olive was alright and Connor- he was somewhere out there and all you did know was that you had no idea how to find him...

“The authorities have ordered all androids to be delivered to the nearest police station or army barracks immediately. If you are worried about your safety, dial the number on your screen and the authorities will come to collect your android. Under no circumstances should you try to destroy your android yourself. They are unpredictable, and potentially violent!”

The voice of a news anchor brought you back into the reality of your motel room.

“From now on is Detroit under curfew, civilians are asked to stay inside their houses until further notice...”

Wow. You didn’t think that this could get even worse but apparently it could and it just did.

“Come on, Malcolm, come on!”, you murmured as you called him again but with no success, just like the 18 times before.

‘What can I do?’, you thought to yourself as you slowly turned the lights in your room off, just having the blueish light of the TV as a light source, and stared outside into the evening. Dusk had fallen by now, it had gotten dark and even colder, and only the snow that was continuously falling brightened the evening a little.

The TV in your back was quietly murmuring but you ignored the voices, they were only repeating themselves by now.

Somehow the TV made the silence around you even louder, you heard your own blood rush through your ears, loud and fast, and you heard the electronic buzzing of the TV itself underneath the voices of the news reporters and interviewers but the streets were screamingly quiet, no voice, no footsteps, no cars.

Maybe there were police sirens in the far distance but you weren’t sure, they could be coming from the TV or from your own mind...

It was eerie and cold, you shivered, you felt your skin tingle and itch all over your body and while you reached for the window handle everything got worse, the tingling and itching intensified, you felt your own heartbeat pulsating under your skin and then came the pain- a stinging, throbbing sensation, a sharp itch and two pulsating heartbeats...

You hissed in pain and quickly breathed out through your mouth, your wrist was burning as if something hot was pressed into it, stumbling over your own feet you quickly turned for the nearest light switch but when you shoved your sleeve up a second later, there was nothing to see, except for your soulmark, bright as always, blue computer fond in contrast to your skin, Connor.

You could later not say why, but you turned around to check the alarm clock on your bed stand, it said 10:40 PM, quickly glancing over to your window, as if you expected to see something but there was still nothing, but the snow, illuminating the dark sky, and falling quietly over the empty ghostly street.

You didn’t even know yourself what you were expecting, or if you had actually expected to see anything, but you sighed again, closing your eyes for a moment, this felt nicer than you had anticipated, your body was tired from the day out in the cold, walking around the streets of Detroit but you weren’t sure if you would actually be able to sleep...

Jerking your eyes open, you frantically looked around, where were you? What happened?

The clock on your night stand said 11:00 PM, so you did sleep a little, and if it only was for 20 minutes. Sighing you let your head fall back into your pillows, everything was alright – somehow…

You shifted a little, rolling onto your side, trying to find sleep again by pulling your duvet up to your shoulders, welcoming the warmth of it…

But only seven minutes had passed when your eyes fluttered open again. Turning to look out of the window you exhaled audibly once more, a part of you had wanted to see daylight when you opened your eyes the next time. Couldn’t this night just be over already?

Closing your eyes once more, this time more resigning, but they shut open again in the next second as you heard your phone ring.

Your tired fingers were shaking a little to accept the call as you grabbed the phone from the bedside next to you, you had kept it close, in case Malcolm would call you back…

“Hello?”, you gasped, pressing the device close to your ear.

“Y/N, it’s me…”

I have found Connor. I have found Connor! I. Have. Found. Connor. I have found Connor…

Malcolm had found Connor!

Stumbling over your own feed while struggling to get out of bed, you put your boots and winter gear back on, trying to be as quick as possible while replaying Malcolm’s last sentence over and over again in your head.

Finally fully clothed again you rushed down onto the streets, calling a taxi on your way down the hallway.

Your breath is rapid, your cheeks are hot and red from excitement and the cold winter air, while your lips and face are pale and you feel a little bit weak and sick in the stomach from sleep deprivation and the stress from the day, but you don’t care. Even as the taxi finally pulls up and you hurry inside and have a wave of dizziness and nausea wash over you, you don’t care. You just take a sip of water from the bottle that you have in your backpack and wait for it to subdue.

Malcom had sent you the coordinates of the refuge that they have found and where also was Connor.

Staring out of the car window into the oddly bright snowy night in an empty city, there was not one single soul out there, you felt your own heart beat throb right under your jawline, anxiety and anticipation made your toes curl and your stomach flutter…

You lost all sense of time, while the taxi drove on its own you wished that you would finally arrive, that the taxi would finally slow down, that you could see Malcolm again, that you could meet, and you did not even know how to feel about that as you corrected yourself, that you will meet Connor soon…

But as the taxi did slow down and came to an halt eventually, would you have given everything to make the way longer, to make the taxi drive longer. Your stomach fluttered and twisted in every emotion you had ever felt, excitement, anticipation, anxiety, fear, nausea and with the thrill of the moment.

It electricized you, it made your skin tingle and made your heart beat fast, you didn’t think and exited the taxi as you spotted Malcolm leaning in the doorway of what seemed to be an old church.

You smiled at him, just the sight of him being alive and well, as far as you could tell from the distance, was enough to already ease your nerves and to slow down your frantic heart a little bit.

Malcolm took two big steps over the sidewalk to you, while cautiously looking down the empty street to his left and right side and you met him in the middle.

“Are you alright?”, you asked, reaching out to grab his face but he caught your hands in his own, gently squeezed them and shook his head.

“Not here, we aren’t sure if we are being followed, soldiers are everywhere in the city, come inside!”

“Oh, okay”, instinctively you looked back over your shoulder but the street was still as empty as it had been before. Malcolm took your hand and led you inside, you cling onto his hand and thank no one in particular, that he is still here, that you can feel his fingers laced with yours.

Once inside what is indeed an old church, he turns to you, smiles and you open your arms and this time he lets you touch him, hug him. His arms wrap tightly around you, just as you press your face into his chest.

“I am glad, that you’re alive…”, you murmur against the fabric of his jacket as you spot a dark blue mark on his shoulder and you can’t help but gasp.

“Were you hurt?”, you ask, loosening your grab around him to get a better look at his shoulder.

But Malcolm shook his head and smiled lightly.

“It’s nothing, it stopped bleeding soon and I also got some fresh thirium at Jericho to make it heal faster.”

“Jericho?”, you ask and spot another mark on his jacket and you aren’t sure if it’s dried blue or red blood but you decide not to mention it.

“Jericho was an old freighter that deviants before us had found to find shelter and where we went after the fight on the main street but it got raided by the army later the same evening and was blown up. Olive and I escaped by using one of the old emergency exits that led directly to the pier.

We then helped other deviants out of the water, who had jumped into the Detroit river to save themselves”, Malcolm paused his explanation for a moment and his eyes wandered over to the nave of the church, to settle on a point in the shadows.

You followed his eyes but you only saw faint shimmers of blue coming from many androids, sitting and standing on the benches and the side walls of the hall.

“I think it is time for you to meet someone”, Malcolm smirked and you had never seen him smirk before, it was a strange view, he even seemed to be very self-satisfied with himself…

Something washed over you and you only could call it stage fright, adrenaline making you feel fuzzy and shaky inside and made your tummy twist and turn, breathing got suddenly harder and your heart felt very much alive, anticipation and a kind of exhilaration made you unruly and wobbly on your legs.

“Come on then!”, encouraged you Malcolm excitedly, still smirking, and grabbed your hand.

You gratefully took it and concentrated on his fingers around yours, you didn’t know what would happen next and it drove you insane. Your insides wouldn’t calm down and you weren’t sure how long you would make it like that, especially because you did not really trust your feet as well.

Your shallow breaths would quickly lead to hyperventilation if you continued focusing on them, so you concentrated on the pressure of Malcolm’s hand in yours. Breathing is overrated anyways.

Malcolm led you to the far back of the church’s nave and your eyes darted back and forth through the room, somewhere in here was Connor and the thought made your stomach curl even worse than before.

You saw many androids, some of them a picture of misery, missing limps, blue wounds, bodies splattered with red, and empty eyes, but some seemed to be in a quite a good shape. You even saw children, you had never really understood why someone would want a child android, who would never grow up, who would never change but seeing a little girl huddled close to a woman now, who you suspected to be an android as well, she didn’t wear any android signs, made your unruly heart warm for a moment. You hoped that everything would turn out good, especially for them, somehow you felt a wave of connection to these two people sitting on one of the cold benches, it was as if you knew them somehow, as if you would have been a part of their struggles and their journey, but this wasn’t possible, you didn’t even knew their names…

Your eyes wandered away from the little family, looking for Connor again, as Malcolm tugged at your hand and nodded towards a surprisingly lit corner, where someone stood, head kept low, eyes glued to the ground, arms wrapped around themselves, dressed in a leather jacket, jeans and a beanie– and for the span of a heartbeat, the world stopped moving.

Connor.

Everything stood still– as the sounds came crashing in again. They were everywhere at once, all around you, and so much crispier than before. Your steps on the old concrete, the wind in the broken windows, the whispered echoing conversations from the androids around you, a distant flutter of wings somewhere, a hoarse bird call and the silence of the snow outside on the streets, everything was crystal clear and very much alive.

With the sounds came the colours back to life, but they were more vibrant than before.

You could breathe again. The world was as energetic as you had never seen or experienced it before, everything fell into place, all by itself, the puzzle pieces started to merge together and you took broader steps forward, letting go of Malcolm’s hand, getting closer to him, Connor, your soulmate.

‘Right here, right now’, you thought, it felt so right, everything had led to this, you were sure, you felt a peace and certainty inside of you as you had never felt it before. This was it. This was the moment you had never thought would come.

A new wave of excitement washed over you but this time it wasn’t full of anxiety, instead it was filled with the sight of your soulmate, your actual soulmate, you stood in front of your soulmate!

Your heart had never felt so full and warm and big and the child without a soulmate, the lost little human girl inside of your very soul bawled, as you slowly got nearer to him.

“Connor.”

He looked up to you and you looked into his eyes, big and brown and beautiful, and you knew that a journey, a search, a dream, a hidden truth, a heavy secret, was finally over and done.

Preview

Next on “Puzzle Pieces”!

„Connor.“

A voice, unfamiliar but incredible soothing to him, had called him.

He looked up and met with the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen.

He blinked once, she was still there, looking at him with big eyes and a slightly opened mouth, half a look of surprise and half a look of adoration in her face.

It was beautiful, she was beautiful.

And everything felt so right.

And everything was so easy for once.

Connor whispered her name, the name he knew because it was written in red on his wrist, the name that Malcolm had used.

He said her name again, this time louder. “It is you, isn’t it?”

She nodded and smiled widely, teeth showing, her glossy wet glittering eyes shone from happiness.

“Yes, that’s me!”, the words nearly tumbled out of her mouth, stumbling over themselves, a small airless sob escaped her chest and Connor saw how her hands quivered from adrenaline.

“Can I see it?”, she asked, still a little breathless and gestured towards his hands.

“The soulmark? Yes, yes, of course”, he saw how heated she was, how her body, her human body, reacted to him and his mere presence and he wished that his body could react as her’s did.

But there was no racing heart, no shaky fingers or fought back tears of happiness, there was only peace. The calm after the storm or maybe the eye of the storm, it didn’t matter. It was her and the peace she had brought. She was the warm, red spark of life, wild, untameable and everywhere at once, the beginning and the end and he was the blue, cool strength, the base, stability and protection of the precious pulsing life. Hey maybe did not experience their first meeting the way she did but it didn’t matter, because they fit together. It felt natural, human and android, blue blood and red heart, red blood and blue heart, united at last.

Connor pushed the sleeve of his jacket and shirt up and revealed his wrist.

~*~

“I wish that I could be selfish and tell you not to go to the Cyberlife headquarters, I don’t want to lose you. I just found you...”

You couldn’t get enough of Connor’s face, fascinated by his brown eyes, dotted with blacks and golds, you adored the curves of his lips and the little curl that sat on his forehead, loosening his well-kept attire, you came even closer to his face, you were pulled towards him like a magnet and now you could see the small moles and freckles on his cheeks and nose and forehead.

A smile made his brown eyes glitter even warmer than before as he gazed down into your own eyes and you smiled up at him, but not being able to hide your worry.

He whispered your name encouraging and you couldn’t help to shiver at that sound as Connor stroke your cheek tenderly and you could feel your skin tingle, where he touched you.

“Don’t worry, I promise to come back to you! You’ve waited long enough for your soulmate and I don’t plan on disappointing you- because, you know, I always accomplish my missions!”

~*~

You stood in front of the camps, eyes glued to the makeshift stage, where Markus stood and celebrated their victory with an emotional and thrilling speech, as you saw Connor move. Your breath stuck in your lungs as you saw him raise a gun— CONNOR, NO! Your soundless scream went unheard in the bright ice-cold snowy night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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#detroit being human #dbh fanfic #Detroit become human fanfiction #connor x reader #rk800 x reader #rk800 connor #readerinsert #soulmate #soulmate au #Detroit become human readerinsert #Kara cameo #Kara #markus #kara detroit become human #markus detroit become human #puzzle pieces

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