#must yell about it at least once a week such is the law!

[flowercrowngods]

they don’t know that steve has stopped looking at his reflection in the mirror because he keeps getting stuck. because he doesn’t recognise himself anymore, is alienated by the reflection, feels too lost to catch himself anymore

they don’t know that his face is speckled with blood, that his hands are stained no matter how much he washes them, no matter how hard he scrubs, robin and nancy and eddie and dustin, their blood stains his hands and he can never wash it off

they don’t know he’s stopped talking

they don’t know he needs to be known to be human. they don’t know there’s nothing left to be known. they don’t know there’s nothing left

they don’t know about i miss you i miss you i miss you i miss you i miss you i miss you

they don’t know about fragile as it is, it’s still a wall

they don’t know that his name doesn’t feel like his name anymore, they don’t know that steve is dead, they don’t know that nineteen, twenty, they don’t protect you

they don’t know that he’s not steve anymore. but he has no one else to be

they don’t know it’s not much, but it’s sort of all i have left

they don’t know what it would mean if eddie called him mister frodo if only as a joke, because it’s a new name, it’s a new thing to be — and yet he’s already that, has been all along, because

I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

they don’t know what it would mean for steve to read about hope and despair and trauma in such a way. they don’t know about how much he hopes for silver shores and green lands under a swift sunrise. just in case he fails. just in case he can’t be frodo even when eddie never stops calling him that

they don’t… they don’t know

[gennyanydots]

Sorry about your small…

Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x f!reader

Part of the Spitfire Universe

Not necessary to have read them all but makes more sense to have read “Preschool Family Day”

“I’m sorry about your small penis, asshole!” You yelled to the vehicle in the turning lane as you finally passed them, completely forgetting your window was open.

You were late. Again. Like normal.

You told your best friend you would meet her at 5 and it’s 5:15 already and you’re still ten ish minutes away.

And the stupid vehicle in front of you was slower than molasses in the winter and clearly did not have the urgency you did.

You try to take some deep breaths to calm down. You’ll get there. It’s not like your best friend isn’t very much aware of your proclivities but you feel bad. So every time you try so hard to make up the time driving. You don’t drive recklessly per se, you’re still cautious and follow the laws vaguely, you just drive a little quicker sometimes.

By the time you get to the restaurant that you were meeting your friend at you completely forget about the car in front of you but maybe you shouldn’t have…

Your work week had turned out to be pretty good. Nothing out of the ordinary made for a nice week. No surprises. No messes. Nobody’s been sick. Plus, the whole week you had been looking forward to Friday, not that you’d admit it.

Eli Seresin told you on Monday that his favorite Uncle Rooster was picking him up early on Friday. You loved it when Uncle Rooster picked him up. Who wouldn’t?

What’s not to like about an attractive, caring man picking up his adopted nephew from preschool early to hangout together and have ‘guy time’? A man that would flirt with you every time he came by while simultaneously being the nicest man you’d ever talked to. He’s definitely had you swooning over him since he first came to the school for special adult day a couple months ago. Pretty consistently Uncle Rooster picks up Eli at least once every two weeks, either at normal pick up time or early for their special Rooster and Eli time. Sometimes you wonder if he’s doing it to be nice or if he’s doing it to see you. You haven’t felt bold enough to ask yet.

Usually if Rooster is picking Eli up early he does so a little before nap time is finished which meant today you had to race out and grab something for lunch and race back so you didn’t miss him. That would ruin your whole week. You didn’t mind spending most of your lunch break in the dark room with your assistant instead of spending time away from the kids, it’s not like you needed it. You loved your class most of the time.

The line at the fast food place you stopped at took a bit longer than you had hoped for and had you speeding back to work with your fingers crossed praying you hadn’t missed Bradley. That would ruin your whole day. And if you’re being honest with yourself probably your whole weekend too.

When you passed the visitor parking area you thought you noticed a car you vaguely recognized but you couldn’t remember why. It wasn’t a normal looking car. You figure it probably was one of your coworkers’ significant other’s car or something who parked there for some reason.

You open the door to the building just in time to see Bradley walking towards you with two armfuls of a sleeping Eli and you smile, “That’s a very sleepy baby you got there.”

Bradley chuckles, “He wasn’t feeling waking up so I figured might as well take him home with me and we can both nap on the couch.”

“That sounds like a great afternoon,” you say holding the door open for Bradley to walk through.

He nods his thanks to you, “Hey, do you think you can open my car door for me? I could do it but I don’t want to jostle him too much. He’s grumpy like his mama when he gets woken up too early.”

You laugh and nod, “I’m grumpy when I get woken up too.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Bradley says as he walks towards the vehicle you thought you recognized earlier. Huh. Weird. You must have just seen it here before.

He nods towards the right side and you quickly open the door for him and he slides Eli out of his arms and into his car seat, strapping him in carefully and efficiently, before gently closing the door.

“Thanks so much,” Bradley says to you and you nod.

“It was no problem at all,” you say and smile.

Bradley heads to the driver side and opens the door then leans in and starts the car but doesn’t slide into the car yet, instead turning towards you.

You look at the sleeping Eli and wave at him even though you know he’s asleep then walk to stand at the back of Bradley’s car, “Well, I hope you two have a fun time napping.”

Bradley chuckles, “Oh, I’m sure we will. He’ll probably nap for a little and then beg me to go to the beach or something.”

“Sounds like a perfect afternoon.”

Bradley nods, “Yep, then I’ll send him back to his parents and go hang out with some buddies of mine. You should come out with us if you’re not busy.”

“And why should I come out with you, Uncle Rooster?” You ask teasingly.

He grins and takes a few steps towards you and bends close to your ear, “Cause the other day you said something and I’ve been thinking about how I need to prove you wrong ever since.”

You look up at him confused. You can’t remember saying anything odd to him lately, “What did I say?”

Bradley chuckles, “You said I had a small penis and I very much so would love to show you just how wrong you are.”

You gulp and try to think back, “I… I don’t think I said that to you.”

He nods, “You yelled it out your window at me when you passed me. Said ‘Sorry about your small penis, asshole’.”

Shit. Of course the one time you yell something like that it’s at someone you know. That’s why you remember his car. Your face heats up, “I am so, so, so sorry. I didn’t realize that was you.”

He brings a hand up and gently brushes your cheek with the back of his first two fingers, “No worries. In fact I thought it was pretty funny. But I do want you to know that isn’t the case if you’re interested. Can’t have a pretty girl thinking less of me. Not that I’m sure I couldn’t still show you a great time if it was true. It’s not the plane, sweetheart, it’s the pilot.”

You bite your lip and nod, “So, if I was interested where would I go later?”

Rooster smiles and gets out his phone and hands it to you, “Put your number in, honey. I’ll text you the details.”

You do and hand it back then take a couple steps backwards towards the school, “I look forward to being proven wrong.”

Bradley winks at you, “I think you’ll have a good time.” 

[isleofdarkness]

A lift.

Riah lit up before any of them even knew what it was and he raced over to it, running his hands over the railings. When they joined him, confused, it was to see the biggest smile they'd ever seen on his face. "It's a lift. Dad made me one at home, kind of, but I always need either him or Hara to operate it because I can't manipulate metal like them, so I never use it. This one has buttons- I can use it without help!" His eyes were alight. "No more falling down the stairs!"

Fucking finally. Despite how hellish his week had been, Jay couldn't help but grin. To see Riah- who'd been so close to death only the day before- so excited about something, to see such a beautiful smile, it made the tension melt away.

At least it did until Fairy Godmother ruined it.

"What on earth is going on here?!" Riah's joy vanished as the six whipped around. The small fae had fury in her eyes as she stormed over to them. Riah shrank against the lift, free hand closing around one of the railings as if to keep it there. "You can't make modifications without permission! This lift is clearly unauthorized! It needs to be taken down and-"

"It was my idea, Fairy Godmother." All eyes went to the source of the voice. A young woman maybe a touch younger than them, with dark red locs, medium brown skin, and dark eyes, was smiling at the lift. She was in a lightweight racing wheelchair with spikes on the handles. Behind her was someone with darker skin, long, white hair, and dark blue eyes, who walked with two forearm crutches. The person gave them a welcoming smile as the girl turned her attention to Fairy Godmother. "I have friends in this wing, headmistress, but I can't visit them. I asked Mr Jabari to create this lift so that I can attend Audrey's study sessions. I'm sorry about it not being authorized, but the request I put in last year is still in review and a lift is required."

Winter Nolan stepped forward, holding up her phone like a shield. "That's right. According to the Auradonians with Disabilities Act, all buildings over two floors must have at least one ramp, lift, or elevator for every flight of stairs, even for flights as small as a single stair. This building has none of these for this first set of stairs, so it is required by Auradon law that one be put in within six months of the issue first being bought to attention. For schools, workplaces, or public buildings where a student or employee is disabled, these measures must be put in within three months. The penalty for refusing to provide a ramp or a wheelchair or lift that cannot be operated without help is a charge of up to twenty thousand dollars and this fine will repeat for three times, leading to a cumulative fee of sixty thousand dollars, for every two months after the initial complaint if measures are not put into place. After these three strikes, a location can be shut down for refusing to comply with international law."

"But-"

"I want all eleven million of my people watching this live across every social media platform I'm on-" Winter continued, voice hard, "To know that complaints have been filed for at least five years, but no action was taken to enforce the laws Ariel insisted be put into place across the alliance. I would also like to remind everyone watching that the six students the headmistress decided to yell at- Mal, Claudine, Jay, Carlos, Genevive, and Zachariah- are the students transferred from the Isle. Zachariah, the boy with the cane, has fallen down these stairs-" she panned to the staircase, then back, "Once, and he broke several bones. I would like to know why these six in particular, coincidentally being of a disadvantaged group unjustly punished for actions the rest of us get away with, are the ones she decided to start screaming at, instead of at the person who commissioned the lift, Elspeth Delphis, or at the person who installed it, Jabari of Agrabah.

"I would also like to remind everyone that these are the students who, as seen in my broadcast yesterday which currently stands at nearly a billion views, were treated unfairly by faculty, the king and queen of Auradon, and by the police officers sent to intercept them on campus. These students were humiliated in front of everyone by an illegal pat-down, which is discussed in the previous video. When one of the cops- a male cop, I might add- decided that these students needed to be strip-searched, they were denied every right they have. As we all know, a strip search must be carried out by an officer of the same sex and gender identity at the police station with a parent or guardian aware, consenting, and present in the room at all times. These six were going to be strip-searched by male police at the school without their guardians present. The king and queen allowed this clear violation of these students' rights. When one of these students froze up- an entirely reasonable reaction, I think- he, Zachariah, was ripped out of his wheelchair and thrown to the ground in front of the entire schoolyard. I would also like to make everyone aware that this student, the boy with the cane, had undergone an extremely delicate procedure, a lung transplant, earlier that day. Meaning this student had a lung transplant yesterday. Why was this student in the quad instead of in a hospital, recovering? Because the headmistress insisted that a lung transplant was not enough to warrant missing class. So, for these past two days, this student has been attending class when there hasn't even been enough time to determine if his body will reject the lung transplant. That's one hell of an accomplishment, if you ask me, and it's one he never should have been forced to make. This student should be in the hospital, not getting yelled at in public for the installation of a lift required by law following a potentially-lethal fall down the stairs during which he broke several bones when the installation of the lift wasn't even his idea.

"I don't know, all fifteen million of you currently watching, does what I just described sound legal in any way? To me, heir princess of Snow White's kingdom, it sounds illegal at every turn." She turned the phone on Fairy Godmother. "Fairy Godmother, headmistress of this school, do you care to comment on any of what I just said?"

For just a second, horror and remorse flashed in her eyes. But something else flashed- something Jay couldn't name- and her gaze became cunning. "If Elspeth was the one to request the lift, she should be the only one to use it. She is, after all, the only one in a wheelchair."

"According to the ADA, access to accessibility services are never to be restricted when required," Winter shot back. "For a lift, ramp, or elevator, the following are considered disabilities that require those services- cerebral palsy-" the person with white hair smiled, "Paralysis of any limb-" Elspeth nodded, "Any disability that inhibits motor function or the ability to walk without use of a mobility aid in any way-" she nodded to Riah's cane, "Chronic conditions of the lung and/or heart-" again, to Riah, "Chronic pain disorders, epilepsy, blindness or any other sensory disability, and any other disability or condition that may cause difficulty using stairs safely and effectively. I know that Zachariah has at least two of those. Kyan Thatch, oldest descendant of Queen Kida and King Milo Thatch-" she nodded to the one with white hair, "Has at least one. One of you faculty, Crutchie Morris, who has paralysis in one leg and partial paralysis in one arm following a polio infection, has at least one. Will you deny all of these people and more their legal right to use this lift?"

Jay wouldn't pretend to know half of the legal stuff she was saying, but she seemed to be right. Fairy Godmother searched for a way out of the hole for several seconds, but there was only one. "Very well, they may use this lift."

"And there we have it." As Winter Nolan closed out her video, Elspeth and Kyan came up to them.

"I don't know which room is yours," Kyan whispered, trying not to be overheard, "But you need to show us to it. We need to talk in private now."

[qqueenofhades]

Could I ask why so many people call Obama a war criminal? I see that so often that I feel like for a lot of people online it's eroded the good things he did

It's because of the Online Leftist/tankie brainworm culture that pervades so many supposedly progressive spaces, when people can tell you eagerly why Democrats are terrible and Not Leftist Enough. If you ask them why Obama was a "war criminal," they will tell you that he authorized a lot of drone attacks in the Middle East -- which, valid, he did do that, I don't think that was a great plan either, and no American president is institutionally or systematically innocent or detached from the lethal force that they are able to wield with near-total impunity.

However, and here's where the tricky part comes in for people whose grasp of foreign policy stretches no further than "America is bad and therefore must be at fault for everything ever, no other country or actor has any volition, only America can do anything, Democrats are evil, I am very progressive," that is not actually a war crime. It's been a fairly standard part of covert warfare and executive operations for many countries, not just America. And this massive expansion of the executive branch, especially in regard to conducting operations abroad with sole legal authority, came under... you guessed it, Reagan! See the invasion of Grenada in 1983 and the Iran-Contra scandal in 1986, both of which were way beyond anything Obama did. This privilege was then also wildly expanded in the Dubya years, while Dubya and company actually were committing actual legal war crimes by the bushel in Iraq and Guantanamo, or at least very deliberately letting them be committed and finding ways to legally sanction them after the fact. "Extraordinary rendition," anyone?

So, like -- if you want to have a conversation about the bloated and evil American military-industrial complex, the unmoored expansion of executive power (Trump was also, for obvious reasons, a big fan of this policy), the wrong-headedness of American policy in the Middle East, and the absolute clusterfuck of twin armed foreign wars that Obama inherited, then we can do that. But you also need to acknowledge that a) Trump ordered even MORE drone strikes, much more indiscriminately, than Obama (remember how he killed a top Iranian general and almost started WW3 for a few weeks?) and b) Biden has scaled them way back, as well as ending the war in Afghanistan (however chaotically that happened and how much of a human rights disaster it has been since the Taliban re-took over).

In short, you have to have a conversation that encompasses all these things, and if all you do is yell about Obama being a war criminal -- which by the rules and laws and regulations of people who actually prosecute this for a living, he is not -- all that tells me is that you're an idiot with a grasp of political and legal nuance that is the approximate depth of a kiddie pool. It doesn't mean Obama is innocent or his foreign policy is flawless, it just means he's not a war criminal. Especially when Dubya and his administration, who actually did meet the legal standards for it, are right there.

Anyway. Once again, if I can't tell the difference between a militant right-wing nut yelling that Obama is the antichrist, and a bunch of braindead leftist tankies yelling the same thing, that means their rhetoric and logical precepts are pretty much the same, and equally stupid. As usual, it's a bunch of people wanting to get Moral Cred Points by ripping the Democrats, while having absolutely no idea what they're talking about and being deliberately unwilling to consider it in actual historical, political, or social context.

[juantheashura]

Update Info

Soooo, as I said in the previous post, the Chapter 5 update will be coming out in around two weeks. It's a shorter chapter than 4, only around 35k words or so, but when you combine it with the reworked prologue and some of the rewrites in Chapter 4 (nothing too serious), it should still be a fun time.

It's going to be full of fighting scenes and discussions and accusations and yelling and “holy shit you let Gloria's health get HOW low? The press isn’t gonna like that!” that I hope you will all enjoy (Just between us, but I'm starting to think Gloria might be a little sketchy...). In the meantime, I've already posted these on the forums, but I've got a bunch of out of game content that I hope you'll enjoy. In order, there is:

A bunch of snippets of content from Chapter 5, mainly dialogue and such.

One of my posts about the 'Seer's Musings', which are short snippets I write from the perspective of a character that you'll meet in Chapter 9 who knows everything that's going on.

Three articles. The first one is written from the perspective of the Cretan President during WW2, who met Seeker, the Broken King, and learned the truth (on his own!) about the history of the world. The second is from the perspective of Crete's first Treasurer, the man closest to the Blitz Queen and the Broken King. And the last one is from the Broken King himself, from the records he writes down to show the Queen, once she awakens.

Anyway, check below the cut if you'd like to read that! Oh, and before I forget, I'm planning to have Forlorn's portrait/commission alongside the Chapter 5 update. I'm not sure yet, since it's finals season and all, and Twitter is going through a... situation, to say the least, but even if not, the loneliest being in the whole world will not be too far behind.

'Hello, demons. It's me, ya boy!'

Seer's Bit:

“It would be impolite, I think, to lay the blame upon the dead. And yet I believe that it must be done regardless. It’d only hurt you, in the future, if I were to downplay the truth.”

“What do you mean?”

“The world, as it exists today, is arguably due to a single existence. America, the whole of Europe, Africa itself, perhaps even Oceania, as distant as it is, would not even remotely resemble what they are now. It… I suppose it is ridiculous. For the world to seemingly only exist due to the whims of a poor, adopted child that lived in the Mediterranean more than a thousand years ago.”

“… You talk of the Queen?”

“Yes, I do. Of the woman that saved a whole island from extinction, that carved a kingdom of her own while tumbing her nose at an empire, and who has had that same kingdom outlive any and all that surrounded it, while becoming a bastion that even the might of half a dozen empires has yet to crack.”

“An exemplary leader, if everything we’ve learned is to be believed.”

“Ha, perhaps. But exemplary does not equal perfect. The Queen had her flaws, and nowhere else is it as keenly seen as with her chosen companion.”

“The King? But I thought they loved each other. It’s the whole reason he’s seeking her revival, isn’t it? How is he a flaw?”

“Hmm… I suppose calling it a flaw is too much. But it’s a lack of foresight, or a mark of overconfidence, at least.”

“I don’t follow.”

“The King is a beast. When the Queen first found him, he was an even wilder one. He didn’t know of morals, of laws, not even of how to eat anything except what he hunted and burned. He didn’t even have a name, so unaware of society that he only knew of the merchants he stole from, and the troops sent to put him down, all broken at the feet of a beast raised by the laws of the uncaring African deserts. It was the Queen that changed him from that to a monarch revered even a thousand years after his disappearance.”

“How?”

“By beating him bloody. Not that he took it quietly, of course. They both bear the marks of that fight. A sign, maybe, that they were each other’s from the day they met. Regardless, the Queen won in the end. For some reason, one not even I know, she didn’t put him to the sword. Instead, she had him join her, and together they saw the world. She taught him history, geography, arithmetics, what was right and wrong, and even the languages she so adored. It was by her side, and through her efforts, that the King became who he is.”

“Those all sounds like good things, though? I don’t see the problem.”

“The problem is that the Queen was a child. A more educated one than the King, perhaps, but she was as much of a child as him. A child, educating a child. Do you see the problem now? The Queen did not reform her King. She taught him her biases, her desires, and that the only wrongs that existed were the ones she disapproved, not the ones the rest of the world considered. The King’s morality is not one of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. It is one of ‘what the Queen likes’ and ‘what the Queen dislikes.’ The sole reason Constantinople was not turned into a crater, and Crete the capital of an Empire spanning from Lisbon to Vladivostok is that she never asked for it. The Queen did not vanquish the beast. She only tamed it, buried it beneath chains she forged. And now…”

“And now?”

“And now the Queen is dead. She has been dead for a thousand years. And though the King’s devotion is no less strong, the chains that bind the beast within have not survived intact. And unless you see the whole East Coast turned into a wasteland as a good thing, that is a problem.”

“You’re saying the King will revert to what he was like before?”

“I am saying the King is a beast. For a thousand years, that beast has been content to starve, content to see the world beat on it even though it only tries to regain its mate. The chains on its neck have made sure of that. But now? Now, centuries have passed since those chains were put down. Now, the ones who think themselves masters of the world prepare to march on the Queen’s dream. Now, an enemy he cannot see or understand makes the world think of him as an enemy. Now, that beast sees itself cornered, with its ward threatened, and only foes around it.”

“And threaten a beast enough…”

“And it won’t care where its teeth sink, only that it can rip off the limb.”

— The Musings of a Seer, a Warning on What’s to Come.

The three articles:

Hope this at least tides you over! Or at least, that it manages to entertain you a little bit. Don't worry, we'll get back to the badass heroics real soon!

[puffin-smoke]

okay, so here's ideas for what some rulers would use the crown for!

Sherrif Jimmy:

Had to do everyone's favourite wet cat first! Of course, he would use it to make everyone obey the law and by proxy, respect him. What I think would be funny is what comes after. He desperately clings to power, hiding the crown in the deepest caverns of his empire but it cannot last forever. I'm just imagining the entire server doing like a heist to get the crown from Jimmy, Mission Impossible style!

Mayor Lizzie:

Now for everyone's favourite literal cat! I've noticed that a lot of her motivation this season has been to hide and protect her fellow animals from humans, so here's my pitch: "All rulers must relinquish control of at least one pet to be sent to Animalia and any remaining pets must have their own private residence built for themselves."

It contributes to her desire to protect animals, lets her build a new district for all the new pets and gives the other emperors a something to add to their empire! It's perfect!

Fwhip of Gobland:

Okay, so I could go and make it related to him and Jimmy's break up but I don't want to; who needs angst when you can have funny.

He forces every ruler to pay a tax of two stacks of stone per week. Everyone thinks it's going to be used in the development of Gobland but in reality he's just eating the rocks.

Just munching on minerals. Just devouring debris. Just gobbling up granite. Just consuming some concrete. Just biting down on-

Princess Gem of Dawn:

I saw in one of Sausage's videos that Gem had decided magic is illegal in her empire, and while I do think it would be cool if she decided to outlaw magic entirely, I feel as though that would be a tad extreme for Gem; I feel going full dictatorship would be quite a jump for the pacifist princess.

Instead, her rule would be for every ruler to join the Church of the Sun and would have to abide by it's rules. I feel like that would be more in character for her, and it would be a win-win for everyone; who wouldn't want those cool as hell sunglasses!

Princess/ Monster Slayer Katherine

Once again, she's definitely more of a pacifist towards her fellow emperors, so would go for something that would help her, but would not harm any other empires.

"Each empire must suggest and execute a potential method to rid Glimmer Grove of its curse."

It'll give opportunity for some interactions, some character progression on Katherine's part and maybe some of the other characters could use it to learn about their own powers ( Sausage could search through a different reality for a cure, Shelby could cast a spell, Joel yells "LORE" at dead grass ). Whether any of it works is another thing...

Great Witch Shelby:

Everyone gets Katherine and Shelby wedding gifts

Potentially something similar to Katherine, just with trying to dispel the fog but I feel like Shelby would be adverse to asking the other emperors for help ( specifically Joey, even though that would be hysterical ). Maybe donations of potion ingredients, or access to any farms that produced said ingredients. I'm not too sure.

[saiikavon]

Well, I do have a snippet, as promised. Might be a ‘behind-the-scenes’ depending on whether I leave it in the final cut. Feels messy and it’s gotta go through edits later, but I need a break from this story for a bit.

[              The next few weeks were the liveliest in Yuugi’s recent memory (without including potentially world-ending events, of course). Opening up to Yuugi had apparently lit a fire under Jounouchi, because suddenly he was working out ways to come out to all of their friends. Yuugi’s phone was flooded with messages pretty much daily.

              The first of which had been from Kaiba, mere hours after Jounouchi had left the shop, saying, “I asked you not to say anything on my behalf…but thank you.”

             A message from Mokuba followed shortly after, hysterically asking, “What did you say to him and why did you say it?!” The only thing Yuugi could infer from a message like that was…something he didn’t want to think about in too much detail. For his sanity’s sake.

              “Well…it sounds like they’re very happy, at least,” said Atem’s voice.

              That had reappeared the morning after Jounouchi’s visit, curiously enough. Yuugi considered that it was just easier for his subconscious to conjure the voice when he was alone, when he had no one else to talk to. He had spent plenty of time talking to Jounouchi the day before, so it made sense that he hadn’t needed the voice quite so much.

              Which might say something…unsettling about Yuugi’s emotional and mental state, but he tried not to think about it too much. He had other things to focus on. Like helping Jounouchi come out to their friends. He’d promised, after all.

              Jounouchi told Shizuka on his own, first, and Yuugi had been pleased to hear she’d taken it well. She was ecstatic for her brother, even, and had asked when she could come visit and meet her ‘potential brother-in-law.’ Jounouchi avoided mentioning how flustered that must have made him, but Yuugi had a feeling.

              He’d been asked to tell Anzu, Jounouchi claiming that, “She always thinks I did something wrong whenever I call! I don’t want her yelling at me!” Yuugi didn’t mind, though. It was easy enough to work the topic into their regular chat.

              She’d thought Yuugi was joking at first, though. He’d had to wait for her to stop laughing to give her more details. She’d been surprised, but then plenty supportive—almost too supportive. She’d threatened to fly over and wring Kaiba’s neck if he ever broke Jounouchi’s heart. But that was also sweet, in its way.

              Honda had threatened something similar, of course, once he’d gotten over the shock of it. Jounouchi had been most worried about his reaction, and his relief was palpable after Honda finally accepted the news.

              Otogi had been mildly confused, but ultimately accepted it as well. Mysteriously, the only one who hadn’t been surprised in the least was Mai. According to Jounouchi, her response had simply been, “Well, it’s about time! Congratulations, hon.”

             “I love her, but sometimes she scares me,” was Jounouchi’s only comment about it.

              Kaiba claimed to be doing nothing but reaping the benefits of their newly-open status, but somehow, Yuugi suspected that Jounouchi’s increased confidence was due to more than just his friends’ support.]

[meisteralready]

To a man I will never really know but celebrate nonetheless

It feels like

We are at least an hour behind

In our spot,

The place we are

As opposed to Crystal Lake

Where we are supposed to be

For the funeral

Of Matt

My brother-in-law

That I barely know.

We’ve had numerous occasions,

Birthdays, first communions,

Other such family must-haves,

And beyond taking the piss out of each other,

Or the random, banal talk-of-sportstalk,

Nothing of note truly happened.

No histories shared

(I’ll most likely meet his three brothers today,

None of which I knew he had),

No common history or even hobbies

(He loved to cook and I loved to eat,

Yet I never saw him do the latter- he stood and surveyed as we would devour his holiday dinners-

Us standing in as his yearly restaurant)

But others knew him,

Knew him well.

He loves my sister,

The one I know least

(I left home when she was six

And stopped talking to that family for many years as she formed

- (I am like a distant cousin but with a past formed in grudges and regrets, even secondary relatives get more disjointed respect than I)-

And my parents loved him,

Contribution a cool 1K to his

GoFundMe/Funeral Fund,

Because he didn’t think to think ahead,

Even though he had a bad heart

And a pacemaker

And a defibrillator installed

For years before.

It was easy for Rich & Shelia to give,

They went to their house for countless dinners,

Gifted them hand-me-down, barely-used sectionals and plasma televisions.

They visited me in the city once,

Exactly one time,

On my daughter’s first birthday,

She’s 16 now

And she couldn’t give anyone who requested

their first names

If demanded to do so,

Even though they only live

An hour-and-fifteen-minutes

Away.

Matt died in his backyard,

Playing catch with his beloved retrievers?

Pinchers?

Some dog…

As my sister,

The youngest of my three,

And apparently the healthiest of cardiacs, shoveled the front drive

Because Matt could not.

Throw.

Vape.

Tell Bob the Dog to drop the ball.

Throw again.

Yet after a while,

Cara just heard unbroken barking,

And Bob,

Wanting a toss,

Could not be satiated,

And my sister,

Interest piqued,

Stopped her shoveling,

Rounded the corner

And found Matt face down,

Dead in their backyard.

A nurse by trade,

Cara quickly sought yet found no pulse,

His lips were blue

From death and snow,

She yelled for help and began CPR,

Eventually so heightened,

That she would fracture his sternum,

Trying to rouse him

From the other side.

“He was dead before he hit the ground,”

The cardiac surgeon told us.

His pacemaker lost rhythm,

His defibrillator fluttered and missed,

Both “common” the doctor said,

Which the rest of the family seemed to accept,

Except all I could think of,

Was which lawyer friend of mine I’d call

Regarding a malpractice inquiry.

We’ll land in about an hour-thirty,

And I’ll rent a car in my own home city,

Because I don’t own one

And no one can pick me,

And I could Uber,

But with that other one back to the airport,

A day-and-a-half later,

The car rental,

More-or-less equals out,

And I get more freedom.

I threw $100 towards the GoFundMeFuneral,

That’s all could do,

Because I am into this for $298 for the plane ticket,

$143 for the car rental,

Not including the gas,

Which, I know, sounds trite

And you should know

That I don’t care.

I’m kinda working for free this week

On account of these expenses

- no offers of a flight home here, $1K or otherwise-

And I will give due respects

And have appropriate amounts of grief,

Because I am fairly certain,

Matt would have probably done less for me and mine

Though he’d go on behalf of the bind shared of my cousin/sister,

But they’d leave early

For the fact,

He hardly knew me.

[nevertheless-moving]

INFODUMP AU continued

(Star Wars AU #22)

Possible Continuations from INFODUMP. I headcanon that exchange taking place about a year before episode II and episode IV

A) Anakin Force Shenanigans

Anakin walks up: “master- who’s this guy?

“You can SEE him/me?”

Obi-Wan urgently cry/yelling at Anakin to either wear a condom with Padme or at least take her to a healer if you’re worried about her pregnancy (seriously healer BEFORE evil sith wtf)

(its been a number of years for Ben so he’s pretty much puzzled out the ‘doing this for padme’ bit)

just before obi-wan fades out anakin panics because ben hasn’t told him how he gets together with padme

yanks him into this timeline and now Old Ben has to deal with Obi-Wan and Anakin freaking out over all the info he just vomited at them AND everything else

B) Brush Off

Obi-Wan practices some good old fashioned repression to mostly convince himself it was all a weird dream

yoda always says in motion, the future is anyway

he mostly puts it out of his head until a year later when Anakin VERY obliquely references having dreams of his mother

“...what kind of dreams, exactly?”

end-up rescuing Shmi shortly after her capture, Obi-Wan’s there to make sure Anakin doesn’t go off the deep end

Council is a little disapproving of their side mission because now Anakin is even more attached/devoted Obi-Wan 

Obi-Wan is a LITTLE freaked out but Shmi being in danger isn’t exactly a hard prediction to make considering they left her on Tatooine but...

almost immediately after they get specially requested to protect Senator Amidala.

things proceed like canon and when Dex says the dart is from Kamino, Obi-Wan has a little panic attack attack

the whole trip to Kamino he’s just thinking pleasenoclonearmy  pleasenoclonearmy  pleasenoawFUCK THAT’S A CLONE ARMY

good news here is when he’s bullshitting his way through the meeting/ inspection he very confidently brings up removing the control chips

at first there’s some hemming and hawing ‘oh you mean the inhibitor chips, are you sure you want them removed we’ve already installed them’

“I DEMAND they be removed- I- can i speak to your manger? Do I need to take my business elsewhere??”

Nala Se is very reluctant, “I was ensured by certain high level parties that the chips were intended to be an important safeguard...”

*Obi-Wan sweating, but all-in at this point* “Well, uh, Master Dooku and Chancellor Palpatine themselves told me they were concerned about the chips being abused by the wrong parties, and sent me to supervise, so,”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were read-in on the project architecture to that extent, well here are our options-”

Obi-Wan still chases to Jango to Genosis because he’s got a mission and ‘this might as well happen’

Still gets captured in that stupid rotating energy field by Dooku 

“What if I told you the senate was now controlled by a dark lord of the sith?”

“...I would say that I would be very interested in any holo-recordings or legal documents you might have to that effect”

“oh?”

“would very much like some sort of proof to bring before a court of law, yeah.”

The rescue attempt actually goes well this time! Anakin is well rested and practically glowing after his week-long all-expense paid vacation at Varykino

They all manage to escape and intercept reinforcement mid-flight

The council is pleased Obi-Wan is safe and not surprised to find Anakin there, but it doesn’t really change their mission as the senate has ordered them to take out the federation army before they can attack...

“The Senate ordered it?”

“Yes, much has happened, while gone you were. Were given to the chancellor, emergency powers. Drafted a military, he has. Generals, the Jedi have been made. Uneasy we are, but serve the senate, we do.”

“Oh kark, the Chancellor ordered it? We DEFINITELY can not invade.” Obi-Wan's starting to have another panic attack, not sure how to get out of the sith trap

Anakin’s a little offended. “Obi-Wan! The Chancellor is a good man; the Jedi must do this, for the good of -”

“PALPATINE’S A SITH LORD”

“what”

C) He tries, ok? (inspired by @ourhitofsucrose )

Very similar to B except for the full year between the ‘vision’ and aotc, Obi-Wan is desperately trying to follow the future’s warnings but failing hysterically

kamino and genosis have both erased from the archives and it doesn’t occur to him to ask dex so he doesn’t even have a direction to go on

tries to find some proof about Palpatine but he is a sneaky bastard

tries to separate palpatine from anakin but he’s like I’M AN ADULT NOW YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO

tentatively brings up Dooku falling ‘in a vision’ to the council because that is something they can check up on- Yoda gets really offended

‘garbage planet on the outer rim’ is not a lot to go on

when he tries to get help searching because he knows that the sith who killed Qui-Gon is still alive and planning to kill his ex-girlfriend even Anakin is like... ‘ok buddy, i think you might be under too much stress, maybe we should visit the healers...”

best he can do for Shmi is leaving her an emergency beacon

A+ success in relationship repair with Anakin tho! through the application of a very awkward hug and a mumbled “you know I love you, right?”

Anakin drags him to the healers immediately, and after a drug test and an overnight stay finally responds by bursting into tears and ugly crying on Obi-Wan’s robes because “YOU’RE A FATHER TO ME BUT I THOUGHT YOU HAATED ME”

Obi-Wan is uncomfortably patting him on the back “Of course I don’t hate you! You’re my padawan! Why would you think that?”

Then when Shmi activates her emergency comm the same night Anakin has his first nightmare about his Mom and they fly to her rescue he’s even more OBI-WAN 5EVER  than canon or scenario B because

“You...checked in on my mom?? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry Anakin, I knew the council wouldn’t approve...”

hugs Anakin again since that is the only piece of advice he can follow from his future self and he just thinks ‘well its a long shot but hopefully this is enough to prevent any lava planet incidents’

it is 

Seriously in this version of events Anakin actively RESISTS being knighted because he was already obsessed with Obi-Wan in canon and now with hugs + verbal affection + protecting Mom proactively he is ALL IN FOR OBI NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN

low-key ruins palpatine’s plans by itself because now when he tries to drive a wedge between them with his bullshit ‘your master doesn’t truly trust you’ Anakin gets huffy and responds with a space powerpoint presentation

i mean other stuff is going to go down once we get to the armies but already the stage is set for him to go running to Obi-Wan the minute he has a nightmare about Padme dying and him responding “J. Force Christ, lets just... go to a healer, fuck’s sake Anakin I hope it doesn’t need to be said but do NOT turn to the darkside over this”

canon would definitely diverge before that point but its also very funny to me to imagine RotS playing out more or less the same but when he gets to Palpatine’s big offer he just goes ‘sorry dad told me no’

[azenkii]

A Long List of Trash Fire Lord Zuko Headcanons

...that i couldn't get out of my head:

(warning: SUPER LONG POST i havent figured out how to trim posts yet)

he's the one who unchains azula despite iroh's protests. she doesn't even try to fight him, just cries into his shoulder and keeps mumbling about how father's going to be so disappointed in her. he takes her to her rooms and has her drink a sleeping draught, then stations the best guards he has left outside her chambers.

his first council meeting takes place literally a day after sozin's comet. he hobbles into the council chamber shirtless with his entire torso covered in bandages and every council member just looks at him like '...what'

he does NOT sleep for like,,a week after sozin's comet and then another two weeks after his coronation. katara, aang and suki try to persuade him to sleep and he doesn't listen. eventually sokka, toph and mai team up to literally drag his ass to bed and tell him he's not allowed to get up until he sleeps (does mai pin him to the bed with her knives? yes. is it kinky or sexual in any way? definitely not.)

he drinks So. Much. Tea. at this point it's practically tasteless to him but he drinks it anyway because he just needs something to do and tea is something familiar. he keeps iroh on his toes because he's constantly asking for new tea blends, uncle, i think i actually tasted the last one,

he flat-out refuses to grow his hair for at least a year after ozai's defeat. the second it starts getting close to his chin he shears it off himself, with his knife, and his stylist has a heart attack every single time

when he's tired he'll occasionally jump up when one of his guards moves. it stops after a bit, but for the first month and a half or so he's really twitchy. when sokka asks, the only explanation he can come up with is that he's not used to having people stand behind him silently and not want to kill him, much less want to protect him (sokka immediately takes him out for a shopping trip and makes a point of walking behind him the entire time, but only on zuko's right side, where he can clearly see it if sokka moves towards him)

when the healer declares azula mentally unstable and in need of an institution, he shuts himself in his office for the rest of the night. no one's allowed in, not even iroh. he finally emerges in the morning, eyes red from crying and sleep deprivation, and tells the librarian that he'd like a list of the best mental institutions in the country, please, the best in the world if you can get them

he loves theatre (is this even a headcanon?). unfortunately it practically died out in the fire nation along with the rest of the creative arts, leaving nothing but small troupes like the ember island players. one of zuko's personal goals (meaning things he wants to accomplish that aren't as important as restoring his country) is to bring back theatre; he finally manages to do it after about eight months or so of being fire lord, along with other arts like dancing, music and sculpture

he establishes a national day of mourning, on the first day of autumn every year, to commemorate the genocide of the air nomads. from 100AG onwards, every calendar printed in the fire nation has it marked. at first it was called the day of repentance, but aang persuaded him to have it changed (by arguing that he didn't want guilt to be a literal staple of fire nation culture)

he introduces literally So Many educational reforms, plus a mandatory class that teaches students about the cultures of the other nations (air nomads included) and how some of their traditions overlap

he turns down the offer of having a statue put up of him in the capital. toph ignores him and does it anyway.

he visits azula regularly, makes sure she's (relatively) comfortable and well-fed, and sometimes just sits down outside her door and tells her about everything that's going on right now ('some of the far colonies have developed their own standardised writing, azula, you wouldn't believe it, and i've asked the fire sages to come visit more often—but you never liked them, did you? oh, well; i'll make sure none of them go into your chambers by mistake')

(he doesn't know it, but when he does this azula sits by the door and listens. she wonders what kind of writing the colonists have developed, and whether or not the fire sages have taken on some new recruits.)

he hates being above anyone else. never sits in the throne if he can help it, nor does he sit on the dais in the council room. when he talks to people shorter than him, he finds himself stooping a little bit to talk to them on their level (the exception to this rule is sokka, who he mocks for being shorter all the way up until sokka grows taller than him, the bastard)

the first time he visits the earth kingdom, the earth king's ministers call a toast. he ends up being the only one who has to sit out, because he's too young to drink by earth kingdom law

once his servants figure out he won't kill them for talking to him, they start becoming a lot more bold, telling him off when he doesn't take care of himself. at one point, they force him to let them take care of him so much that he literally just bolts into the gardens and hides there until the staff rope in mai and ty lee

when he needs to escape, he does one of two things: (a) he dresses up as the blue spirit and does some parkour until he calms down, or (b) he goes to work at the jasmine dragon. (b) happens less often bc the jasmine dragon's in ba sing se, but there's been a few memorable incidents when an earth kingdom diplomat walks in and yells, 'LEE?!' when they see the fire lord

the first court artist who draws him also happens to be the one who drew azulon and ozai. he draws zuko without his scar. zuko takes one look at it and tells him, very calmly, that he'd like him to leave, please.

zuko burns the portrait. he doesn't fire the court artist, but he never calls on him again unless he has to. a second court artist is called, and can't help but be a bit confused when the fire lord tells him to be sure to include the scar

he forgets the crown. a lot. sometimes he walks into council meetings in his sleepwear with his hair tied up in a messy ponytail and a bunch of scrolls tucked under his arm. none of his councilmen have the guts (or the heart) to tell him that this is not, in fact, formal council wear

he goes to feed the turtleducks when he's stressed. he thinks he's being subtle. he's not. the entire palace knows, and they consciously give him space when they see him in the turtleduck garden

most of his staff are older than him, so they look at him and see this teeny tiny fire lord who is So Small and who Must Be Protected. the day after zuko's coronation, the head chef holds a meeting where they commence Operation Do-Not-Let-That-Boy-Turn-Out-Like-His-Father (subsection He's-The-Only-Good-Thing-We-Have)

one night he wakes up to find suki sitting in his room, decked out in full kyoshi warrior garb and makeup, and just about screams blue murder. suki tells him there are suspicions of an assassin in the palace, and would you please stop yelling it's very distracting, we won't be able to hear anyone coming over that racket

zuko gets very, very paranoid of random spirits after that. yeah, suki looks like a possibly malevolent spirit when she's wearing her makeup, what about it? (when he tells sokka he's highkey terrified of spirit shenanigans, sokka just looks at him and says, 'man, the stories i could tell...', and THAT'S when zuko remembers sokka spent like six months more than he did travelling with the avatar)

on his first visit to the southern water tribe, he removes his boots and leg guards, rolls up his pants and kneels barefoot in the snow. even though chief hakoda immediately starts trying to pull him up, he's stubborn as hell and stays kneeling for the entirety of his very long, very sincere apology-on-behalf-of-the-fire-nation speech. he nearly loses his toes to frostbite after that, and both sokka and katara never stop giving him shit for it

the first time he grows a 'beard' is completely accidental. he's stressed over some trade miscommunications with chief hakoda, hasn't slept in a few days...and then when sokka arrives as water tribe ambassador to help smooth things over, he takes one look at zuko and says 'man, facial hair does not suit you'

zuko: facial what now

he checks a mirror to find that he's got stubble covering his chin, dark enough that it almost looks intentional, and holy gods how the fuck did he not notice this before

'UNCLE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME' 'i assumed you were doing it on purpose' 'WHEN HAVE I EVER DONE ANYTHING ON PURPOSE'

he shaves it all off immediately, of course, which prompts a lot of teasing and rib-poking from sokka until zuko finally snaps that he's scared it'll make him look like his father. sokka stops after that.

(the day after sokka leaves, zuko finds that a mysterious someone has scribbled all over ozai's royal portrait, giving him a frankly ridiculous beard and moustache that literally CANNOT be grown in real life. oddly enough, he can't bring himself to care about the defamation of royal property. he's too busy laughing.)

his paths cross with toph and sokka more than any of the others, because sokka is ambassador and toph is technically still a beifong. most of the time, at formal functions, he ends up sequestered in the corner with toph and a hoard of snacks, and they talk and swear much more than they usually do (zuko's ministers once heard him when he was drunk with toph, and the servants swear the older ministers' ears started bleeding)

he restores fire nation cultural festivals, and in doing so subjects himself to learning a lot of complicated dances

during one memorable week, he wrote so many letters and drafted so much legislation that he ran out of paper. he had to go visit the nearest school and ask for some

he keeps up with his firebending and sword training even though it's hard to fit into his schedule. his ministers refrain from reminding him that he has guards to protect him now; it's still hard for zuko to trust his safety with anyone but himself (team avatar is the exception).

he started sleepwalking about two months into his reign. no one knew why. one time, he nearly sleepwalked right off the edge of a balcony, and one of his guards had to grab him by the back of his robes.

the sleepwalking stopped after around a month and never happened again. at this point it's practically palace legend.

after freeing the war prisoners, he went around collecting every single earthbender-proof wooden cell he could find in the capital and surrounding areas. when he'd gotten most of them, he gathered them into a huge pile in the city square and set fire to them with his own hands.

unfortunately he couldn't do that with the waterbender metal cells but he did get toph to come in and bend them all into pretty shapes (well, toph thought they were pretty shapes. everyone else thinks they're meaningless squiggles)

he learned how to write with both hands at the same time out of sheer necessity (he refused scribes until it became clear that he'd be putting some people out of a job; that was when he started letting scribes write very, very minor things, but all important documents/drafts/letters are still written by him)

he once put the wet end of an ink brush in his mouth instead of the wooden end by mistake. didn't even realise until he bit down to keep it in place and ink went oozing everywhere

when his guards rushed in to find him coughing and spluttering black liquid all over his desk they thought he'd been poisoned but no he's just stupid

on his 17th birthday, his first one after being crowned, he got tackled by team avatar in the middle of the ballroom and ended up at the bottom of a cuddlepile for like ten minutes

this cuddlepile happened at an event that was very much public and very much formal. it was a scandal for weeks

just. fire lord zuko, guys. so much potential

[theodora3022]

Selfish Deeds (Yandere! Gojou Satoru)

Summary: Satoru just wants you to be free of danger. If you are so knowledgeable why can’t you understand that he only wish the best for you?

A/N: This is just one snippet of many out of a collection(haven't decide the name just yet)...Since I have not read the manga(anime-only for now) so I just got a vague impression of what Gojou has been through, but that does not stop me from writing him like the cocky bastard he is. Hopefully it is not too OOC(as if yandere variant itself is not OOC enough pfttt) The reader is a stubborn psycho because that is what I am :) Will there be some future pieces that involves nsfw elements? I got a few ideas but no promises.

I blame @popi-the-fatui for my Gojou brainrots. You got your revenge on me by making me attracted to this dubious man. Word count: 1.6k

Banner credit

Warnings: Female pronouns, Possessive behaviour, DELUSIONAL behaviour, non-consensual touching, power inbalance, general yandere content, slight mention of confinement and violence(This is not a healthy relationship dynamic!!!), reader is not a soft UWU girl, kthis is so self indulgent *buries myself into the bottomless pit of shame

It has been nearly fifteen minutes since the headquarter disconnected the call, yet you are still staring at your phone screen with disbelief.

You were supposed to travel to another city for a mission tomorrow, they had notified you of this mission a week ago.

You already got your luggage packed, and your theoretical research on the objective is thoroughly done. Then they dare to inform you: they have found a more suitable candidate! Right on the day before your departure too.

Your curse techniques have already limited you to more of a supporting role for most situations. There are not plenty of missions available for you to begin with. While you are content with educating the fresh blood of the community in classrooms the majority of the time, you still long for field actions every once in a while. It is an essential part of being a Jujutsu sorcerer after all.

Both you and the soft-spoken secretary who made the call know this is nonsense. The higher-ups recognize that you are one of, if not the best sorcerers available when it comes to reconnaissance and espionage.

Letting out a sigh of immeasurable frustration, you swore to yourself that you will find out who is the conductor of this humiliating turn of events. This is going to be difficult since you do not recall having any issues with any of the administration staff recently.

There is no reversing this misfortune, but at least you can be aware of who is responsible for such violation of conduct.

He is only doing this to protect you.

Gojou Satoru tells himself as such, at least.

He is aware of how unfair it is, to make someone less capable to take on the job. But he cannot risk your safety. The man has already got used to your company, and he is not willing to just let you disappear from his field of view for more than a week. Sure, you might have not admitted how much you like him yet, but it is just too endearing to see you flustered at his flirtatious words.

Although there have been some difficulties with rescheduling, he managed to use his connections to exclude you from that first-grade mission at last minute. On the bright side, the sorcerer cannot wait to lend you an ear to vent about how conservative and unfair the higher-ups can be. Maybe you will even say yes to a trip to the newest local bakery! You need some sweet treats to cheer yourself up, don’t you?

But Satoru has never thought about how you specialize in putting two and two together. (understandable since he never saw you in action before).

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

Strange, you are not near the usual area in the library.

Sensing his footsteps, you opened your office door before Satoru had a chance to knock.

“We need to talk, Gojou-san.” That expression is new. This is the first time he sees you genuinely angry, which is to be expected.

But somehow he got a bad feeling about this.

You did not even invite him to sit down, instead just standing next to the floor window, arm crossed, with your back turned to him.

“Why would you do such a thing?” You have to use up all of your self-control to prevent yourself from having a full blow-up right at Gojou Satoru. Maintain composure. But it is easier said then done.

Does he think this is funny? To sabotage someone else's sorcerer career like this? You knew you should have kept him out of your daily life, as he is nothing but trouble to you. But you made the mistake of choosing to tolerate him, and some superficial part of you might even enjoy his dallying words a bit too much.

To the extent, you overlooked some red flags. This is a grievous error indeed.

Shit, now that he vaguely remembers what role you play on missions.“(y/n)-chan, what are you saying-” He knows you always act in supporting positions, however, he has overlooked your actual abilities and curse techniques. You collect intel and spy on enemies, how could he forget that? “Don’t play dumb with me. You got your ways, I got mine. There is no use denying what you have done. I thought you out of all people would understand what it means to be a sorcerer.”

This is a violation of protocol, changing mission assignments at the last minute. However, you know this man would not be receiving any solid punishment should you decide to report this. They would say there is “no harm done” and you would just receive a pitiful apology. Suppose you cannot blame them though.

They need Gojou Satoru, the Jujutsu community needs his prowess to keep innocent people safe. He will remain in the system no matter what.

Why are you questioning his motives? Does he have to spell it out for you? Letter by letter?

“You are not a skilled combatant, (y/n)-chan. What if you got yourself hurt?” Or even worse, killed. It scares him to think that you could be gone one day, how he would walk by this office corridor and never sees you sitting behind the desk ever again.

Not much in this world could send Gojou Satoru a chill down his spine, yet the thought of you dying is now on the list. He knows how petty this is, you wouldn’t be the one doing the actual exorcising after all. But the if, the slight possibilty.

He cannot allow that to happen, not ever. Even that means angering you and getting yelled at.

“What am I, some normal lawful citizen? I am a sorcerer just like you, Gojou-san. Putting ourselves on the line for innocents is part of the deal.” You let out a few short, sarcastic giggles, narrowing your eyes at him with fury. “It’s funny that you, out of all people, fail to understand that. If I am needed I will do what I must. If this is some sort of sick joke, stop it already, not funny. ”

Blunt, unrelenting stubbornness. Not like that’s news for him, Satoru has lots of experience with that since the day your path crossed. Although he finds this quality to be adorable most of the time, it can pose major problems like the present.

Oh, he is not angry at you. Satoru is more outraged at himself, don’t you worry. On the contrary, he is rather intrigued by your sarcastic remarks! However…

Instead of walking towards where you stood near the window, the man decides to take a turn towards the door.

That flashing panic within your eyes did not escape his sight.

The illusion figure you were projecting near the window dissipated instantly once he got your left wrist in his hand. Concealing yourself and projecting illusions, a rare techique indeed.

“Clever tactic. Making yourself invisible, projecting a faux illusion to distract me, leaving the door open and staying close to the exit. Your curse techniques are impressive. I almost got fooled, job well-done (y/n)-chan.”

The grip on your wrist suddenly tightens, you have to bite your lip to hold back a hiss of pain. How can he still flash that casual, playful smile when committing such atrocity? Those damned cerulean blue eyes too, you are ashamed of how you tremble and (internally) swoon at it at the same time.

Efforts to get away would most likely be futile, but you have to try. “See, you underestimated your opponent. I do see why you are good with lurking in the shadows now. Do you have any idea what I am capable of though?” Such delicate hands, it would be a shame if they were to bruise.

It’s unnerving how easy it looks for him to maintain a solid grip on your wrist while you pull back with all of your might. You know Gojou Satoru is strong and all, but this simple demonstration of strength is devastatingly effective. “Let go of me, you bastard!”

To your surprise, he softens his grip and you finally distanced yourself from him, panting and guarded. “Who are you to decide what I should and what I should not do? I made it crystal clear on the first day that I do not like you for the slightest.”

You know the walls are thin and coworkers might heard you, but you will have to worry about it later. It is, sadly, a matter of fact that you are somehow attracted to him, but that does not give him the right to use it against you. You must not give in to the temptation.

“You are pretty slow on the uptake for someone so smart. I was thinking of doing this naturally, we can go on normal dates to coffee shops, amusement parks, or even the museum if that is what you wish for. But now I see you do not know how much you mean to me.” Do you think Gojou-san is only flirting with you for the fun of it? It might have been the case in the beginning, but that is not the case since...recently.

He did not stop you again when you turned away, giving him one last menacing look and disappeared from his sight, even if he could see the faint trace of your curse energy. You will return to him and apologize after you calm down, he is confident about that. You value your job way too much to quit.

Then he could finally pull you into his arms, saying he does not mind and forgive your childish tantrums. Satoru does not plan to lock you up in a cage or anything(yet)! The students adore you and they need your guidance. Your clan is insignificant compared to his, your influence? Does he even need to consider that?

Gojou Satoru would always achieve his goals by whatever means possible. You are no exception to this.

[roommatesfanfictionstory]

Chapter 1 || News from overseas

An hour after you've arrived home, and it is finally time to play a few games with him. Who? Your internet friend of almost two years: Keigo...no last name given. It's strange, you two have never met in person, but he's one of only a few people you really trust and who knows you well. You guys planned to play a few rounds of this new multiplayer shooter game this evening and today you have a surprise for him.

You boot up the game, grab a bowl of leftover spaghetti one of your roommates made, huddle into your blanket and sit at your desk chair, twirling strands of pasta around the metal fork. Just as you take your first bite the call starts.

"Yo n/n! You ready to go?" came a familiar laid-back voice.

You pouted and said with a full mouth, "You've got some nerve asking me that, you're late."

"Firstly, I was busy. Secondly, chew your food first, then speak- you always complain when I do it," he responded. Even though his words where bossy, his tone was much more light hearted, "And thirdly...what are you eating?"

"Yesterday's spag-bowl."

"Sounds good, don't make me hear you eat it though or I'll feel left out."

You put the bowl down, "Keigo, you're not eating anything?"

"Literally just got back home," he simply responded and you can almost hear him smiling.

"I can wait if you wanna grab something," you say, snuggling into the blanket more.

"Nah, my kitchen's basically empty," he says sheepishly, "I been eating out for most of this week."

You don't make a big deal out of it. He's usually like this: always late to sessions, sometimes cancelling plans, sometimes not even showing up and it's all because of he's 'busy'. He's never actually told you directly what his job is, but you've theorized over the years that he's probably a law enforcer, like a policeman or maybe even a sidekick.

Once or twice, he's mentioned that he admires the pro hero: Endeavour, he seems to know a lot about Japan's law system, Hero Association, general events in the country and he has a useful quirk. He told you that it allows him to hear whole conversations and sense where people are, just using vibrations and it apparently has really long range. You know that he lives in a city, so there'd be no shortage of villain problems, which must be why he's so busy. And how he has the money to eat out every day.

"Suit yourself. You want to get started?" You say, fingers on the keyboard.

"You bet."

---

A few hours later, you two decide to call it a night but end up chatting for a little while after closing the game. At first it was mostly to roast each other on how bad the other was. To be fair, neither of you were all that good at it, but then again you both don't have any special talent when it comes to gaming...at least, when it's your first time playing. Most of this session was just you yelling in frustration at Keigo to stick with you and the team, while he ran around the map doing his own thing, oh and telling jokes. Lots of jokes. The rest of the team basically carried you two, and while the team got a couple of victories...neither you or Keigo really contributed to them. It was chaotic as hell, but lots of fun.

"Were you closing your eyes the entire time, y/n?" Keigo said, "Your aim sucks ass."

"Oh really?! Then can I take a minute to comment on your 'teamwork'?" You say, slightly annoyed, "I swear, you're impossible to work with sometimes Keigo! You can't just run around doing your own thing, especially on the third round, I really needed backup."

"You got enough help from the others," he said with an audible smirk. "Besides, you wouldn't need backup if you were just good at the game."

"Cut me some slack, it's my first time!" You said and threw my hands in the air for extra effect, which ended up becoming a sort of stretch, "And you weren't any better, all that charging off on your own just kept getting you killed."

"It's not my fault you guys couldn't keep up."

"Yes, it is, you should've stuck to the plan!" You said, with mock anger, "At one point you even ran into an enemy trap."

"What? I didn't know land mines were a thing," he chuckled, "And don't be mean, it's my first time playing so cut me some slack."

You paused for a second and huffed, "Says the one who basically told me to get good."

After a short pause, he said in a soft, almost melodic voice as if to deliberately wind you up, "You're smiling~"

Your face flushed red and you went quiet from embarrassment after that. He laughed, knowing that he won the sort-of argument and not to mention your lack of response only seemed to make the situation funnier to him. Even though he couldn't see you, you instinctively buried your face in your hands and muttered, "I know and I hate it."

You heard him lean back in his chair as he said, "Well it's been fun y/n, when are you next free?"

"Before we end the call, I need to tell you something," you said, thinking that you'd rather tell him now as supposed to texting it to him later.

This caught his attention, "Sure, what is it?" he asked, curious.

"So, you know how I'm at the end of my third year? Well, my university had a few new year long internships abroad and...well I've already told you about all that," you took a deep breath, thinking about how to word it, before just spilling the beans, "Long story short, I decided to apply for one in Kagoshima and got accepted-"

Hearing a shufftle, you assumed he either sat up or stood up. He sounded genuinely surprised when he said, "You're coming to Japan?"

"Pretty much. I'm so excited, although I don't really like the idea of living in a city," you leaned onto your desk and tapped the wood with your fingers.

"Crime rates are lower here than they are in England," he said, "And I know you're not a fan of cities but you'd be safer here than in...I don't know, London."

"I suppose..." you thought about it a little, making your sentence trail off. Then you remembered the argument you had with your family, "It's just with what happened to my Aunt..."

His voice became a little softer when he assured you, "What happened to your Aunt won't happen to you. Don't fear the villains, just be cautious of them."

"Mhm," you acknowledged. From an outside perspective, your choice to do the internship in a Japanese city would seem silly, considering that most of your family weren't keen on you going and that you're sort of afraid of cities.

It sounded like he was walking around, because you heard footsteps as he said, "So why Japan? Is it because you're jumping at the chance to meet me in person?"

"You wish," you said, trying to sound cool to mask how flustered that made you, and for a second, you were grateful that this wasn't a video call, "Ever thought that it's maybe because I really like the organisation?"

"Yeah whatever," he said and you could just picture him rolling his eyes at that, "What's the organisation? You're studying space science, so I guess it's something to do with that."

"Yup, I got an internship at the national space agency!" you said with a proud smile, "It's not at their main headquarters, but rather at one of their research groups in Kagoshima called Sector Orbit."

"Wow," he responded in an almost deadpan tone and followed it up with a small applause.

"Uh..." your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Hang on was that sarcasm or are you genuinely happy for me?"

"Hmmm, mostly the latter," he said.

"Mostly?"

"It kinda sounded like you were bragging."

Keigo acts all laid back, and for the most part he is, but now and again he'll say something petty. Or maybe it's just that you bring that out of him. You sigh, "You're one to talk and maybe I was, a little. Look, I'm just so excited and you are the first person I've told."

There was a small pause, then he said, "I am, huh?"

This made you laugh, "Purely by circumstance, I'll have you know."

"So you say. But seriously y/n," he said, and his tone shifted from playful to sincere, "This internship really stressed you out the past couple of months, I'm happy you got the place you wanted."

You smiled, "Thanks."

"And hey if there's anything you're unsure about when you come here, then...you have my number."

Your smile grew a little wider and you blushed at that comment, "I'm basically stuck with you anyway since you're my only friend in Japan."

"Ouch," he gasped and again you can imagine him dramatically clutching his chest and collapsing into his chair, "Y/n, why do you hurt me like this?"

You say in response, "It goes the other way around too. You're stuck with an annoying foreigner who'll spam you with stupid questions. Prepare yourself."

With an audible smile he said, "I look forward to it."

"Alright, talk to you later."

"Good night, n/n."

"Good night."

With that the call ended and you went to put your empty spag bowl into the sink to be washed...tomorrow, you'll definitely do the dishes tomorrow. The week has only begun and yet there's already a small pile of dirty dishes. As you left the room your phone buzzed, so you walked over to it and looked at the screen to see a text from Keigo.

Keigo: You didn't answer me, when are you next free??

---

Word count: 1659

[aphrodite-would-be-proud]

Anon said: tried to read through all your request rules, but I didnt specifically see which Characters you write for. If you do, could you write for Porco helping his S/o sleep? I have super bad insomnia most days, and I just really want something fluffy with Porco...just cuddles or stories or something. If you dont write for Porco though could you switch it with a AoT character you do write for, I'm not really picky. Thank you so much in advance! 🥺💗

Porco helping you sleep

{Porco x reader | tw:none | sleep help, fluff | canon }

{ "The Night School" C.1660-C.1665 By Gerrit Dou 1613-1675 }

Unmoving shadows cast into the empty white walls, slightly flickering with the flame on the white candle sitting on the nightstand. Half lidded eyes observe their small movements for they're the only interesting thing in this empty hotel room you've been assigned. 

Your beige uniform tucked into the small closest with a single hanger inside, the armband hanging on the closest door for easy reach. The squeak of the spring mattress chirping up whenever you moved to flip your too stiff pillow. 

Judging by the amount of melted wax collecting on the bottom of the candle, you've been awake for far too long. 

This isn't the first time this has happened, you're used to getting acquainted with the room's walls and shadowy furniture.

Sleep has abandoned you long ago, its friend insomnia visiting you daily instead. Only leaving every week or so to remind you of what you could never have, taunting almost.

You've tried to force yourself to sleep really, did every known trick in the book, you even tried mediation like Zeke has been preaching to you about, but to no avail. so you've started making peace with the thing, you know at least using the night time to get things done since you're not getting rest either way.

Books were your first friend, for staring at the walls could only be entertaining for so long, but now with your stash of books miles away back home, you're left with nothing else to do.

The nightstand drawer only contained an emergency gun with several bullets inside, and the pocket knife under your pillow wasn't interesting enough.

Getting up from the bed, you picked up the candle before slowly inching the creaky door open. Maybe a glass of water could help, who cares that this is your third time going for water in the last hour? Well hydration is important after all, or so you tried to bargain for an excuse to stretch your legs.

Attempting your best to glide through the old wooden boards without as much as a squeak, you headed towards the kitchen, passing through several other bedrooms in the process, probably all deep in dream land already.

Everything was too quiet, the sound of water filling the glass was the only thing interrupting the silence, its cool feeling going down your dry throat helped you a bit.

Drinking down what you can, you decided to take the rest with you back, a good excuse for a trip to the bathroom later. Although as you turned, a figure was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and staring at you.

"Isn't it too early for breakfast?" Porco said, covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned, "you should get some rest while you can, we're getting thrown in the front trenches tomorrow." 

Just the mention of it made your stomach roll at the thought of staying in a muddy hole for days, the smell of gunpowder and yelling of soldiers, not to mention the crowded train rides back home.

"I know, it's just…" you stared at the water moving inside your glass while tilting it, "one of those days, you know?" 

eyes narrowing with his eyebrows pulling down in concentration, even Porco's sleep clouded mind could recognise the heavy bags under your eyes. The ride here used all of your energy and now you're too tired to even sleep.

Feeling an unpleasant weight on his chest, he wasn't sure what to say as he approached you, awkwardly leaning against the sink, a heavy sigh left him.

"You know, you should bother me more often, I don't mind it." His gentle tone was followed by a melancholic smile, "let's just...go to bed."

With that his hand wrapped around your wrist, loosely at first like he was reluctant about it, before it got more secure once you didn't pull away.

…

The old door gave out a creek as it closed behind you, the room dimmer than you left it with the candle you're carrying almost burning out. 

Looking at the small bed with a single pillow, you wondered how the two grown people would fit in it and judging by the frustrated look Porco was eyeing it with, he must be thinking the same.

Looking at him, your mind wondered back to all the battles you've fought together. For some reason the superiors always seemed more strick and harsh with him, especially after the paradise mission was launched.

Belitting and nagging, carelessly throwing him in risky situations.

Your grip tightened around the water glass, feeling growing thickness in your throat. "Hey...it's okay you can go to your room, you need sleep." You said moving past him to sit on the bed, "I'll be fine."

"Should've thought of that before waking me up, now scoot over." He said, rising an eyebrow and stepping closer.

"I didn't wake you up, you're just a light sleeper." Laying down, you stretched your limbs filling the bed, "there's no room, it won't fit."

Silence filled the room for a while, you could feel his eyes roaming over you, "Oh really? Well…"

One second, you were laying on the mattress while staring at his stubborn expression in confusion, the next a pair of arms was lifting you up as he stole your place before dropping you on him. His arm circled your waist not trusting that you won't pull away

"I made it fit." he looked at you with smugness in his eyes

His warm skin felt comforting against yours, contrasting with the cold room air, you could hear his slowing heartbeat with being so close to his chest, your legs slowly tangling to fit under the blanket covering you.

Apparently that's as far as his genius plan went, because after that an awkward silence filled the room.

"So...you made it fit huh?" You couldn't help but say, a grin slowly spreading on your face. 

Porco blinked in response, tilting his head, before his eyes stilled as his ears flushed. "Fucking god, you're such a-" his attempt to scold you was interrupted by a chuckle escaping mid-sentence.

Having a contagious laugh, soon enough you too joined him.

After it died down, the atmosphere was replaced by a much more relaxed one as his hold on you softened, more intimate than the previous one. 

"When I was a kid, i used to have trouble sleeping- well more like i was too stubborn to fall asleep." Porco said, trailing his finger up your back soothingly, "and since Marcel was stuck sharing a room with me, he'd tell me stories to get me to fall asleep."

"What kind of stories?" 

"...if you tell this to anyone I'm reporting you to the higher ups you for treason, they were flower stories." Clearing his throat, you could feel his heartbeat rising under you, 

Closely watching your reaction, Porco continued after some seconds. "now I'm not calling you a kid nor do i think it's as simple, i just think...we should give it a chance." 

With the heaviness of the blanket above you and warmth of his body underneath you, it was hard to refuse his request, especially with the way he looked at you so earnestly. 

You agreed, and felt his other hand reach to pull up the blanket more, tucking you protectively between his body and the soft fabric. 

"This first one is called...well i don't remember what names Marcel gave them, but it's about poppies."

Crimson red bringers of eternal sleep, their crumbled petals and dark centers often found in the ancient tombs of soldiers.

As the mother of nature, Demeter, mourned and grieved from the betrayal of Zeus, it wasn't only the mortal realm in which death loomed at every corner, for her own mind was a tormenting prison of never ending suffering.

And so a droplet of her blood sprang and flourished to create a six petaled flower, easing her heartache if only for a moment as the poppy put her to sleep, numbing the pain.

Following in her trail was a red carpet of poppies, soon enough death and sleep themselves wore the flower, red crowns resting on top of Thanatos's held up head and one almost slipping from Hypnosi's leaning one as he dozed off. for eternal sleep was only another name for visiting the underworld. 

A symbol of peace in resting and condolence for the loss of a loved one, became the poppy's role. 

"This is why you'd often see them in people's front pockets whenever we return home." Porco said, the light slowly vanishing from the room as the candle burned itself out, the flame snuffed.

You've never questioned why a delivery of poppies would always be on the requirements in each returning celebration, it's just always been there. 

Slow and easy breathes flew through you, lazily stretching your arms up till it met something soft. Porco seemed to tense as your fingers loosely combed through his hair, leaning into the touch after a while.

"Don't stop." He murmured, sleep clear in his voice as another yawn left him.

"Do you have any other stories?" Drowsiness sweeping through your mind, you buried your hed deeper against his neck, eyelids fluttering shut.

"Yeah just…" his hand stilled from behind you as he looked into space attempting to recall a memory, soon enough the soft stroking returned. "This one is about peony."

Named after none other than Paeon himself, these flowers lived up to their reputation of healing and honour, for they have their own story to tell.

How the peony came to be declared king of flowers.

During the Tang dynasty, empress Wu Zetian strolled through her garden. Frowning at the empty field of green covered in thick white blankets of snow, the harsh season not showing mercy for the plants.

With a new goal in mind to flip this dreadful looking graveyard of a garden, she set to defy nature for she is the ruler of the land and her word is law.

Per her majesty's order, all flowers shall bloom in the midst of winter's visit.

As the word travelled far, all the fairies in the land couldn't believe their ears, how could such delicate fragile petals grow amidst the storm and snow. For flowers only bloom in spring, how could we go against mother nature?

While merciless mother nature was cruel, she couldn't compare for the empress's strong rule. For the fairies feared for their wings as their knees shook in her presence.

When the sun shined again, it welcomed colourful fields of different flowers in full bloom. The empress was pleased with their sweet smell and proud colours, each one rivaling the other.

And yet, she stood still near one flower bed, eyes wide. The peony deified her words and stubbornly refused to open, only sticks and brittle leaves left in their place.

In a fit of rage, the empress banished the flower to a far away city, striping away their status.

Living up to their stubborn nature, the peony bloomed that spring the most beautiful flowers humans have ever seen, turning the city of Luoyang into a heavenly soft land as their petals danced through the wind.

But their beauty couldn't last long, for a hungry fire swallowed them all, under the order of the empress who turned their green to coal.

And yet to everyone's surprise, when the earth circled the sun again, the peonies were back in bloom. Springing from the ashes were their mesmerising big petals and soft colours. 

In their respect, the fairies crowned them for their bravery as the ruler of the flowers, for wasn't it for their sacrifice the flowers wouldn't have been freed.

"They stayed on the right way, even if it meant going against the world." Porco's slurred words were half muffled against the pillow, head buried in it, his eyelids seemed to get too heavy for him to force them open again.

Turning his head to the side, you felt his lips press a light kiss against your forehead before whispering a goodnight, his hold still comfortably secure around you as if you might slip away. 

Soon enough, you too drifted into sleep as only his soft snoring filled the room. The moon watching over both of you through the windows as her light barely reached inside. 

And at this instant, you didn't think there was anywhere else in the world you'd rather be. Thoughts of what the future holds were pushed to the back of your mind next to the past, for the present is now and what a waste it would be not to bask in these rare moments of peace in this horrible world

[crapitskizaru]

(Most of) The Worst Generation as famous Youtubers

Warning: long post ahead!

MPV - most popular video

Monkey D. Luff (Mukbang/Daily Vlogger)

1,5 mln subscribers

vlogs about everything, most of the time captures only his face with the shaky front camera phone 

always has some of his friends in the videos - whether they consent to it or not 

as soon as Luffy started hitting bigger numbers, Nami got involved

- “Oi, Luffy, do you know how much money you could make on this?!” 

she’s both fascinated and deeply terrified as to how Luffy even got that many subscribers in the first place - most of the videos consisted of a shaking view of Luffy’s nostrils and his loud voice reporting every little thing he does at the moment, as well as teasing all of his friends 

after countless arguments, Nami settles for adding ads only at the start and the end of the video (as opposed to slapping them every 2 minutes) 

merely enjoying a random video he found is enough for Luffy to try and make a collab with the youtuber behind said video - thanks to that, his channel is filled with various topics and lots of unrelated communities

his most popular collab so far is with Kid - where they go to a haunted house together 

MPV: WE GOT KICKED OUT OF A PRIVATE ISLAND DAILY VLOG S.30 EP. 996

Roronoa Zoro (Health and Fitness)

320k subscribers

most of his videos are shot from an identical angle - he sets up his camera in the same spot every time and starts working out 

once a month he throws in a recipe for protein powders he uses (it’s actually Chopper’s recipe) 

Zoro despises one particular video on his channel that surprisingly went viral and earned him a lot of new subscribers - when Luffy made a compilation of Zoro sleeping in various spots around Sunny, not waking up even during extreme weather conditions (title: SWORDSMAN SLEEPS THROUGH A HURRICANE - FUNNY VIDEO MUST WATCH)

MPV: weekly vlog 18,000 rep squats bench workout bicep curls

Trafalgar the Bastard (Study Vlog/Conspiracy Theories)

500k subcribers

a rather diverse channel - at first his videos only consisted of him studying at his favorite study spot, but as soon as he began to be more popular, he decided to add some of his own conspiracy theories reviews, as well as vlogs from where he simply wanders around the city

more often that not, his videos involve Bepo, Shachi and Penguin - not that it’s Law’s choice to involve them. Usually they just steal his camera and zoom in on him when they’re on a camping trip in a forest; they title the video as “lonely man wanders around in the woods - he attacks us at the end!” 

at the beginning, Law asked Shachi to be his editor, but since he always cut out the parts where Law started speaking, he went to Nami instead - she agreed to be his temporary editor (not for free, of course) until Law learns editing himself 

MPV: my armageddon 2020 theory proved to be true

Eustsass Kid - (Music/Pranks and Challenges)

470k subscribers

messy videos with all kinds of challenges - no matter how ridiculous they are, Kid has to complete them 

for the Ice Bucket Challenge, the video is just a compilation of him absolutely drenching his friends with a bucket of ice water and his own evil laughter in the background 

when it came to the Cinnamon Challenge, Kid dared Killer that he won’t even budge when doing it; of course, it only resulted in a disaster

as soon as he takes a spoonful of cinnamon, his face turns redder than his hair - he starts to give Killer signals to end the video right now

“Cut. Cut!” he chokes out while spewing cinnamon powder on the table. “CUT!” 

Kid’s pranks are mostly either waking Killer up in the middle of the night with an Air Horn, or putting himself in dangerous situations just to see Killer’s reaction 

MPV: DROWNING MYSELF ON PURPOSE PRANK ON BOYFRIEND (HE FREAKS OUT)

Killer - (ASMR/Music/Cooking)

200k subscribers

he puts a lot of effort into his channel, mainly because it’s a hobby that takes his mind off of things and lets him relax 

the videos consist of him standing in the kitchen and calmly following a recipe with relaxing background music - he includes the proportions and ingredients in the bio 

his main goal is to be able to make an ASMR cooking video, but so far he hasn’t succeeded - mainly because of Kid interrupting him every second with either his yells or clanking of pots on the other side of the kitchen 

wanted to make a cooking collab with Kid and, surprisingly, that earned him a lot of subscribers - not because of his cooking skills, but thanks to Kid being awfully entertaining (as depicted in the gif above)

aside from food-related videos, Killer also makes music videos where he collabs with Kid 

since Killer is an innocent victim of Kid’s merciless pranks, sometimes he snaps and pranks Kid instead - he figures it’s only fair if there is some kind of retribution from his side

MPV: ignoring my boyfriend for 24 hours (he leaves me)

Basil Hawkins (Design/Beauty Guru/Lifestyle)

320k subscribers

just like Killer, he does his best in order to produce entertaining content, puts a lot of thought and effort into his videos 

he’s an amazing editor and an even better graphic designer; all of his shots fit into his own aesthetics - symmetrical, with a lot of pastel colors 

he mostly focuses on make-up tutorials and reviews, since that’s what produces the most views for his channel 

one time he collabed with Law, where he got to do a stunning Halloween make-up on him - the video was also made in ASMR (Hawkins secretly rewatches that particular video at least once a week, he’s so proud of it)

MPV: My daily night routine || winter 2020

The Allosaurus (Lifestyle/Science)

222k subscribers

with simple editing, his videos are filled with science terms and shots of the night sky as he gushes to the camera about the beauty of astrophysics 

most of the time, he records himself on a balcony with a telescope, pointing at the stars and planets and providing all of the known information about them 

however, the video that really blew up was the one where he made a vlog about his exotic pets - either zooming in on them through the terrarium glass, or taking them out of their reptile houses and placing them on his hands or arms as he shows them off to the camera and talks about each animal 

MPV: Real time Perseid Meteor Shower in observatory 2020

Bonney (Mukbang/Daily Vlogger)

140k subscribers

the only reason she still uploads to her channel is because it gives her money to buy more food 

most of her audience is still in awe - just how is she able to fit that much pizza into herself?

she agrees to collab with Luffy whenever he proposes such idea - and they always end up challenging each other as to who will eat more in less time (hint: she always wins) 

MPV: ULTIMATE MUKBANG | FIRE NOODLES FRIED CHICKEN PIZZA TRIPLE CHEESEBURGER

Urouge (Travel Vlogger)

108k subscribers

he made the channel mostly for himself, to document his experiences; but soon it turned out he gained quite a following due to his outgoing, peaceful nature that is just pleasing to watch 

mostly talks about his day and which places he visited - and gets a lot of questions from his subscribers about his daily life and how he handles living by himself in a rusty van 

MPV: MY VAN BROKE DOWN! (a day in my solo travel VAN life)

Capone Bege (Family/ASMR)

350k subscribers

he records his chess games with Chiffon and tries to make them ASMR, but more often than not, it fails miserably - his crying son simply doesn’t know what ASMR is all about 

Bege also takes part in a lot of tournaments where he’s considered one of the best chess players in his region 

MPV: ASMR CHESS GAME (SON CRYING IN THE BACKGROUND) RELAXING VIDEO TO HELP YOU SLEEP

Teach (Gaming/Conspiracy Theories)

2mln subscribers

gaming, gaming, and gaming, either during livestreams on twitch or on youtube

he genuinely enjoys posting his game reviews and let’s-plays where he simply tells about his first impressions with the latest video games 

because of his spot-on critique and charisma, he’s one of the most popular youtubers in the gaming community 

does lots of collabs, but never with other gaming channels - he treats them as nothing more than a competition

he’s hired a top-notch editor for his videos; thanks to that he produces high quality content 

sometimes he also throws in a video about his end-of-the-world predictions, as well as what he thinks about the popular conspiracy theories 

MPV: TOP 10 CRAZIEST 2021 PREDICTIONS || WILL ALIENS DESTROY HUMANITY?

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

The aftermath of Merlin snapping, and yelling at Arthur in the middle of the forest;

Arthur pushes for change, the gang takes bets on when Merthur will happen, and someone, somewhere, is grumpy.

Part 2 of Merlin’s Angry Outburst. 

Part 1   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5

Once Arthur has a first draft of the repeal, the first people he brings in on it (with Merlin’s approval, of course) are the 5 knights, Gwen, Gaius, and Morgana.

(Morgana, who later that evening comes back to Arthur's chamber in tears (Merlin is also there) to reveal her magic, and thank him for not being Uther.) 

All of them enthusiastically agree, after only a little conversation.

Elyan and Leon are the most... dubious, but only because of the practical factor, they don't disagree with the actual repeal.

After months of the gang working in secret, they reveal their best draft to the council. At least half the council are new members that Arthur appointed, the rest are left over from Uther’s time.

They argue back and forth for a while, half vs half. A few of the older members, who were around before the purge, slowly start changing their minds.

In the end, it takes them maybe a month to get a majority, and Arthur overrules the remaining opposition. He is King after all, technically, he doesn’t even have to have a council.

Days after the agreement is reached, Arthur goes out personally to collect a few specific Druids, who had been waiting just outside the border for the go ahead.

It takes maybe another month to go through all the laws thoroughly, changing and editing and altering what needs to be altered. With the help of Arthur's close advisors on the political aspects, and the help of the Druids, Merlin, and Gaius, on the magical aspects (what should be allowed freely, what should be monitored, and what should remain fully banned).

The city celebrates when the announcement is made, they all loved the new King anyway, and had been overjoyed with the drop in executions, and deliberate ignoring of small instances of magic.

After a feast to celebrate the new found freedom among the people, the gang gathers once more, in private, and Merlin tells a shortened version of the story he'd told Arthur all those months ago.

None of them are that surprised (Gaius, Morgana, and Lancelot already knew, of course).

If they hadn't suspected Merlin of being a sorcerer before this whole thing started (Leon, Gwaine, and Gwen definitely suspected) , then they had certainly begun to in the last few months. They cheer when Merlin finishes telling them "just how often I've saved your oblivious arses" .

They cheer even louder when Arthur announces that he would be made court sorcerer, and it would be made official in a ceremony before the week ended.

There are no cheers when Morgana stands.

Curious eyes land on her, probably due to how terrified she looks, but the small encouraging nods and little smiles she gets from her brother (her Brother), Merlin, and Gwen, give her the strength she needs to tell everyone of her magic as well.

They see she is frightened, they imagine how difficult it must have been, being at first Uther’s ward, and then his daughter. They smile gently, and she receives hugs a plenty. Once all the congratulations are out of the way, she sits back down next to Gwen, still shaky and full of adrenaline, but happy.

She spends the remainder of the group’s quiet celebrations with her hand gripped in Gwen's under the table.

(Read this how you want, I personally envision it as the start of something)

So the days draw on, Merlin is announced Court Sorcerer, Arthur hires another manservant and gives Merlin a large set of chambers in the same hallways as Arthur's, complete with all the books on magic Arthur can find, and several of the magical artefacts that had previously been kept locked away (Merlin and Arthur are the only ones who are able to gain access to the room, something magicky I guess).

(No one mentions that that corridor is supposed to be for royalty only. Leon figures they're bound to realise that they're in love with each other any day now, and then Merlin will practically be royalty anyway so... might as well cut out the middle bit of having to shuffle chambers again later on).

The kingdom is prospering, and for months after the initial announcement, and implementations of the new laws, sorcerers and nobles from all over Albion, visit Camelot, to give congratulations to the King.

They give gifts and provide knowledge.

The Druids, however, are a slightly different story.

The ones who had been helping with the paperwork, had been... odd(?) around Merlin. But they respected his wish to keep all of that under wraps, or at least until it was announced publicly.

Arthur and Gaius know the whole Emrys story. Lancelot and Morgana know bits of it... but other than that... as far as anyone is concerned, the newly promoted Court Sorcerer is just another wizard.

The new Druids entering the kingdom are paying brief respects to the Forever King (I mean... at this point, he's still only King of Camelot... which is what he was before the magic ban repeal), before staring in reverence at the Court Sorcerer stood by his side.

They respect his wishes to keep the worshipping and gift giving to a minimum, though they still come to him for requests of miracles and ask him to perform druid ceremonies (blessings and name-givings and weddings and funerals (though they prefer to call them celebrations of life, rather than commiserations of death) and such).

Merlin can only brush off so many displays of such awe before the rest of The Gang demands to know what’s up, at which point he has to come clean about the whole... “Most Powerful Warlock To Ever Walk The Earth” thing.

Much to Merlin’s chagrin (and everyone else's amusement) the Druids still insist on calling him Emrys. The stubborn ones sometimes even go for "My Lord Emrys", which gets them a scowl from Merlin (and barely concealed laughter from everyone else).

Maybe... later on... when Morgana is more comfortable with her magic, after a few months practicing with Merlin (with a supportive Gwen Always at her side) , she is announced as the Court Seer.

Merlin had never had much luck with prophetic visions, but once Morgana’s fear died down, once she learned to let it flow, and breathe through it, the visions come easier, and kinder.

She stops seeing only visions of doom, and worst case scenarios, instead she has dreams of the many paths the future may take.

She does not panic when a path seems grim and dark, for she has a King and a Warlock and Gwen, by her side. Always. And they work through the future together.

So the ban has been repealed officially for around 6 months.

Arthur is a couple months away from completing his second year as King. And he and Merlin are still beating around the bush.

The betting pool for when they’ll finally get together has been growing bigger and bigger. Practically the whole castle is in on it now, with Gwen and Morgana as the ring leaders. Whoever wins... will be very lucky.

(It's Leon in the end, he pays attention, and he know what his boys are like. But he's a noble and has no need for the money, he pays for a few rounds of drinks and donates the rest to one of children's homes in the lower town).

But the war comes first.

~

Camelot has been prospering, and has many supporters throughout Albion, but one of the kingdoms, it doesn't matter which, you decide, does NOT like this.

Scouts and small patrols have been needling Camelot’s borders for months now, and Arthur and his Council (and Inner Council) have been making quiet preparations. They know that some sort of... something, is coming soon.

Especially when Morgana begins to dream of battles and blood and lightening.

They prepare for, and expect, a full scale war, but they hope for some negotiations and a peace treaty with the opposition.

Their hopes are dashed, when a messenger is escorted into the throne room, wearing The Opposition’s colours, with a letter.

Said letter is an angry rebuttal of everything Camelot stands for, full of accusations of abandoning tradition, and spitting in the face of great leaders, of which this soft boy-king should NOT be counted as. 

At the end, there was an official declaration of war.

The messenger boy was obviously scared to death, and once Arthur read the P.S, which invited Arthur to torture and/or execute him to the whatever extent he wants, he understood why. Without any hesitation, he offers the boy a job in the stables, a new wardrobe of clothes, and a servant’s bed in the castle.

After the official council meeting on the matter, setting up war committees, laying out contingency plans, organising the distribution of emergency evacuation plans, and discussing potential aid that could be requested from allies, Arthur pulls the gang together, for their own meeting.

“We knew this was coming, and there is no need to panic yet. Our outer borders are well patrolled, and we’re still getting up to date reports. The city walls hold strong, but I want to send out patrols to warn the villages of what’s coming. Start closer to the border, and work our way in. Leon?”

“My Lord, I have teams prepared for exactly that already, I just need to give the word and they’ll go.”

“Good. Morgana, I need you to try and keep focusing your visions, if we have even a small idea of how they might try to initiate the first battle, it’ll be a huge advantage.”

“Me and Merlin have been practising some new techniques to control where and when I can see, we’ll write everything down, and ask the Druids if they’ve seen anything as well.”

Arthur holds in a smile at the confidence in her voice. He is unendingly proud of how far his sister had come, and made a mental note to tell her that when all this was over.

“Brilliant, keep me in the loop. Gwen, when we’re done here, go and let the forgery know, the Royal Household will pay them extra to push out as much long range ammunition as they can. Arrows and crossbow bolts, we need as many as they can produce.” Gwen nods, and Arthur finally looks towards Merlin:

“And Merlin, I need you to be ready. Don’t wear yourself out too much in the next few weeks, I need you in good condition, if we’re to win this with minimal casualties-”

He glances over at Morgana before he continues:

“If the two of you could also ask the Druids if they have any volunteer healers. Make sure they know they aren’t obligated to come, but any help in the infirmaries would be greatly appreciated.” Morgana nods once more, as does Merlin, before he speaks:

“There’s a camp a couple hours ride outside the city at the moment, we’ll head out at first light-” He pauses and closes his eyes for a second, tilting his head, before looking to Morgana:

“They’re expecting us.”

Arthur addresses the room again:

“Right. I think that’s all for now, anyone have anything to add?”

Gaius responds after a moment:

“My Lord, if I could make a request for a few servants to help me set up supplies for the infirmary? Extensive preparations will need to be made to ensure that I have all I’ll need. Preferably people with rough herbal knowledge, if at all possible.”

Arthur nods straight away, responding:

“Yes, of course, I’ll ask the Housekeeper and the Steward who they can spare this evening, and they’ll be ready for you in the morning. Anything else?” At the silence in the room, Arthur tells everyone to get to work.

Leon marches straight down to the training grounds (Lancelot, Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan following him) to ring the summoning bell and inform the knights of the developments, and their tasks.

Gwen heads straight to the forgery (her and Elyan still oversee work there, but they have employees (and a few trainees) to run it) to give the Kings order.

Gaius shuffles out, and makes his way back to his quarters, already making mental lists of ingredients needed, and work to be done.

Arthur, Morgana, and Merlin are left, the royal siblings thinking to themselves, and Merlin thinking to someone else. Arthur contemplates that the whole mental link thing he had going on with the Druids was extremely useful.

Both his and Morgana’s thoughts were interrupted by Merlin huffing, and clenching his fists as he opens his eyes, obviously unhappy with whatever was said:

“Merlin?” From Morgana has the Court Sorcerer looking up from scowling at the table. He replies after wiping the frown off his face:

“Oh, it’s fine. They just made a... stupid suggestion is all. Don’t worry about it.”

“Stupid? Doesn’t sound like the Druids. What was it?”

Merlin looks mildly uncomfortable at that, and replies slowly:

“It... doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you another time. It’s late, you should practice some meditation and head to sleep, no potions tonight. And remember to keep some parchment and a quill by your bed, so you can scribble down anything you see-”

Merlin stands abruptly and heads towards the door:

“-I’m going to check the wards on the outer wall, and push a little more energy into the wells. I’ll see you both bright an early.” With that, Merlin heads out the room swiftly.

Arthur looks to his sister questioningly, but she shrugs as she responds:

“Who knows. “I’ll tell you later” means he doesn’t want you to know, OR he’s hoping I’ll forget because he doesn’t want either of us to know. He’s right though, I should meditate for a while-”

Morgana stands at this:

“- hopefully I’ll see you before we head off, if not, I suppose it’ll be dinner in the evening. Good night, brother.” Morgana leaves the room gracefully, heading in the direction of her chambers.

Arthur thinks for only a moment, before rushing off, catching up with Merlin as he readied his horse, preparing for the journey to the outer walls:

“I’ll come with you. I find I quite enjoy watching you do magic, and to be perfectly honest, I could do with some fresh air to help me think.”

Arthur pretends to ignore the slight blush that dusts Merlin’s cheeks, and readies his own horse. The two of them ride out of the stables and make the journey down the cobbled roads in comfortable silence, side by side.

They take their time on the journey, and the 15 minutes of companionable silence is finally broken by Arthur, who looks at Merlin curiously, as he says:

“So what did they suggest?”

Merlin looks up sharply at that, broken from his deep train of thought as he dumbly replies “What?”

“The Druids. What was the stupid suggestion?” Merlin’s eyes widen at that, and he blushes once more as he looks determinedly forward:

“Oh. That. I told you, it doesn’t-”

“Merlin...”

“Oh fine! They suggested that I... that I forge a mental link with you. Like the one I have with them.” The sorcerer purses his lips at that, and continues to avoid Arthur’s gaze:

“You can do that? Well... would it be such a bad idea? I mean we aren’t going to be able to meet and discuss things as often as I’d like through this whole ordeal. AND you’re basically the Kingdom’s powerhouse, I’m sort of relying on your magical know-how here. Surely it wouldn’t be a bad thing? For us to be able to converse across the battle fields?” 

Arthur, in an effort to not be hurt, reminds himself that he doesn’t know all that much about magic, and it very well could be a stupid suggestion, instead of one that Merlin is just personally opposed to.

Merlin, in response, looks to Arthur in great shock, before sighing and looking down to his horses mane:

“It.... is possible. And fairly easy, technically. But it would be painful, AND permanent. I wouldn’t be able to undo it after we won. And a temporary connection takes far too much energy to maintain, even for a short time. I just figured you wouldn’t want me in your head for the rest of our lives.” He tries to inject a little humour into his words, but it falls flat, and he just seems sad.

Arthur pretends he doesn’t notice however, and responds quickly:

“How painful are we talking? I mean I’ve been hurt pretty badly before. And... how exactly does it work? Would we be able to read each other’s mind constantly, without the other knowing? Or what?”

Merlin raises his eyebrows in shock at that, and his answer comes out slowly as he looks at Arthur:

“Like... a really bad headache? Imagine the hardest you’ve ever been hit, without passing out. It would last for a few minutes after the connection is initially forged, but would fade slowly over the next day or so. And no. Once the connection is established we wouldn’t be in each other’s head all the time, we would just be able to sort of... project our voices to one another. Other thoughts would be safe, even if you were thinking about me, I wouldn’t hear it unless you were thinking to me... if that makes sense.” 

By the end of his explanation, he’s looking nervously at the King, who is deep in thought:

“Hmm. Ok. I... only if you agree but... it might not be a bad idea. Even after the war is over. There have definitely been times where I’ve needed your opinion on something but you’ve been elsewhere, or we’ve been in the presence of someone else. Of course we’ve been fine so far, if you don’t want to, but-”

Merlin interrupts him, speaking quickly:

“I’m fine with it. I agree, it would be useful. So... I can bring what we need back from the camp tomorrow?”

Arthur nods firmly:

“Yes. The sooner the better, we can do it tomorrow evening, if that’s enough time for you?” Merlin once again looks shocked at this, as Arthur stares at him:

“Oh! Yeah, Yes. That’s fine. Like I said, it’s not particularly difficult, and I can ask Gaius to prepare us something for the pain during the day. Are you... are you sure? It is Permanent.”

Arthur rolls his eyes and huffs:

“Yes, you said that already Merlin. Are you sure?”

Merlin nodded his head decidedly, and spoke confidently:

“Yes. You’re right, it’s not a bad idea. Come on, if we hurry, we’ll make it to the walls, and then to the main well, and then back to the castle, before dark.”

The pair of them hurry their horses, and after another 10 minutes of comfortable silence, they finally reach the City Gates.

The guards give a quick bow, and The King and The Court Sorcerer jump off their horses before handing the reigns to one of the Gate stablehands.

Arthur (and the guards) watch in barely concealed wonder as Merlin presses his hands against the rock of the wall, and closes his eyes.

The golden glow can still be seen from below his eyelids, and he hums slightly as he frowns in concentration, seeming to push into the wall.

Arthur sees a short of... sheen, ripple across the rock, and extend into the sky. Merlin steps back and nods, admiring his handy work:

“They’re holding strong, I’ve extended the height as well. Kilgharrah and Aithusa should be the only ones able to get over it without alerting me now, from the air at least-”

Merlin heads to retake his horse, Arthur following him, before he continues:

“Though I still want to check the tunnels again at some point in the next few days.”

“Of course. Relax Merlin, it’s barely begun, and the borders still hold strong. We’ve plenty of time before things kick off in any way.” He makes sure to speak quietly. A public announcement hasn’t been made yet, and it would be bad if rumours started spreading before The King had time to put together a proper disclosure.

Merlin nods distractedly, and urges his horse to go faster as he heads towards the main well, in the town square. It’s late, not long until sunset, so there shouldn’t be many, if any, people there. Arthur speaks again:

“Why are we visiting the well? I wasn’t aware of any problems?”

“There aren’t any, but once the announcement is made, and once the outer villages are told what’s happening, we’ll have hundreds, probably thousands, of people flock to the city for safety. I just want to make sure we’re prepared for such an influx, and boost our water levels a little.”

Arthur nods at his response, but doesn’t say anything. He chooses instead to admire the man Merlin had become. He held himself differently, more strong, confident in who he was. Just like he had back when he was still a manservant, he served Arthur, and his people, above and beyond his job description. Merlin took upon himself, not only the politics he was supposed to oversee, but the personal safety of both the King, and every Camelot citizen, and he did it all with an alarming amount of grace.

Arthur sometimes catches himself thinking that it was almost as if Merlin was built to be a king. He may not like the spotlight, but he was a protector, and leader, unlike anything Arthur had ever seen before.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you, Merlin. It feels like years ago now, that you yelled at me in a forest.” He says it with a grin, but Merlin flinches. He continues before The Sorcerer interrupts him though:

“Really Merlin. Thank you. You were right, I would’ve got there in the end, but it wasn’t fair for people to suffer in the mean time, and you took the fall in their place. You’re a hero to your people... and to me. You should be proud of your accomplishments, I know I am.” 

Arthur resists the urge to duck his head as Merlin looks at him in bewilderment, a definite flush on his cheeks as he replies:

“I... thank you, Arthur. I always had faith in you-” Merlin begins to grin before he continues:

“-and besides, someone had to knock you down a peg. Perhaps you should hire someone to take you into the forest and yell at you every once in a while.”

Arthur laughs at that, and Merlin tries to push down the blush as Arthur responds:

“Now Merlin, why on earth would I hire someone for such a job, when I already have you?”

Merlin chuckles as he answers:

“Yeah, and don’t you forget it, My Lord. Hold the horses, I’ll just be a minute.” With that, Arthur realises they’ve made it to the well, and dismounts as Merlin has, holding both of the horses reigns as he watches Merlin approach the well.

The Sorcerer crouches down, and once again closes his eyes in concentration as he presses his hands into the stone of the well. The glow is a little less bright this time, but Arthur admires it nonetheless.

Merlin finishes quickly, and gathers his horse from Arthur once more, nodding towards the castle.

Arthur follows as Merlin hurries towards the looming building. He wasn’t sure why he was in such a rush, but he only begins questions it when Merlin hurriedly hands the horses of to a stablehand, and continues to run up the castle steps.

Arthur can only just keep up with Merlin, not having the breath to ask him what’s wrong, before Merlin suddenly comes to a stop, catching his breath for a moment to go through a door leading to the highest balcony on the West of the castle:

“Merlin... what.... what are you-”

Merlin wordlessly interrupts The King as he points to the skyline, the sun only a few minutes away from touching the horizon.

There’s not a cloud in sight, and the sky is painted in oranges and pinks in front of them, bleeding into deep purples and blues behind the castle.

Merlin finally mutters, not looking away from the sunset:

“Call me a girl all you want Arthur, but nothing compares to this. It’s beautiful, I come to watch it whenever I’ve got the time.”

Arthur had only glanced briefly at the sunset before looking back at Merlin in wonder, a fond smile on his face (not that Merlin would notice).

He stares at the side of Merlin’s face, the orange sky making the gold in his eyes look even brighter, and the glare of the fading sun making his hair shine. A gentle breeze has Merlin shiver slightly, and Arthur’s smile widens as he responds, so quietly he’s not even sure if Merlin hears him:

“Hmm. Beautiful.” He doesn’t look away.

~

THIS IS COMPLETED! All 5 parts have been posted:)

If y’all want my thoughts on anything specific let me know✌️

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 6.1

Twenty-four hours, thirty minutes, ten seconds and counting.  Xiao continued to pace outside of Dawn Winery in complete silence.  He still hadn't heard a single word from you, and he had stayed awake all night.  Not really a sacrifice since he pulled all-nighters frequently, but his hopes were crushed when his long night was filled with nothing but silence.

Inside, Aether approached Diluc rather quickly with Paimon in tow.  "How would you like to kill Fatui?"

"I beg your pardon?"  Diluc set his glass of grape juice on his desk.  He had been busy with mapping the next wine delivery route when they suddenly barged through his doors.  He kind of wished they had the kindness to knock, but the desperate glints in their eyes caught him off guard.

"We said, how would you like to kill the Fatui?" Paimon crossed her arms.

"We need to infiltrate Snezhnaya.  They took her."

"'Her?'"  Diluc raised a brow, already annoyed by the vagueness of their requests.

"Ugh, the same girl from yesterday! Who earned her cryo vision!  She was taken last night at your tavern! Didn't you see us all run out?"  Paimon's brows furrowed impatiently.

"We need to infiltrate Snezhnaya," Aether repeated and took a step forward.  "We can't do it without you on our team."

"Hold on," Diluc waved a hand to silence them.  "We can't just infiltrate a foreign country.  There are laws and regulations you have to--"

"That's why we came to you!" Paimon yelled.  "If anyone can get us in there, it's you and your underground connections!"

"You hate the Fatui more than anything," Aether continued.  "Will you help us?"

Diluc thought for a moment while he traced the rim of his glass with his index finger.  "We can't recklessly barge into enemy territory.  I'll see what intel I can gather.  Wait here."

Xiao burst through the doors almost as if he had seen a ghost--actually, that would be an inaccurate metaphor since he's quite experienced with the spirits of the dead.  No matter.  He burst through the doors as pale as a sheet.  "I hear her."

..................................................

You glared at the third plate of food that sat upon the stool Childe left in your cell.  You had refused to eat the prior two meals while he was in the cell with you.  He had your cuffs unlocked so you could eat, but you refused to move from your place against the wall.  Cooked fish, some sort of vegetable, and white rice.  They were treating you well.  You were needed alive and healthy, after all, but you weren't hungry.  And since Childe had finally left you alone, well, that gave you the chance to talk to the only person you could.

Xiao.  Xiao! The thought of startling him brought a thin smile to your lips.  I wonder if I scared you...I'm safe--well, as safe as I can be at the moment.  I miss you... Your smile faded.  But I  cannot call for you.  It's too dangerous; I'm sure they already have a way to capture you.  Now that I know you're always listening, it's nice to talk like this.  Less lonely.  

Something clinked against the outer cell door, and it opened.  Childe and one of the harbingers you saw yesterday entered.  The latter held a strange white-and-gray mask that obscured everything besides part of his right cheek and lips.  His bluish-white hair almost seemed to brighten the small room from how light it was.

"It's a sign of disrespect if you refuse to eat the food provided for you," Childe commented once he saw that your plate was yet again untouched.  "We're treating you with more hospitality than our prisoners, after all."

"This is still imprisonment.  Screw off," you brought your knees to your chest as if your legs served to protect you from their stares.

"Ah, yes," the other harbinger picked the plate up and placed it at your feet.  "My test subject needs to eat.  I suggest you do it by your own will before I see to it myself."  

"You might want to listen to him."  Childe was warning you, but not out of consideration for you.

"Go to hell!" You threw the plate at the new harbinger since he was closest, and covered his tidy suit in food.  The white rice mostly clung to the fabric.  Thank the archons that your shoulder was healed and your arm could be put to good use now.

"Listen here, you little--"  The man grabbed you by the collar and lifted you like you weighed nothing until your feet dangled above the ground.  "I don't have the patience of the Tsaritsa's war dog.  I do things quite differently, and you are under my jurisdiction now.  See to it that you follow my orders to the tee, or I can make things very unpleasant here on out."  He dropped you to the floor and exited the cell.

Childe gave you a look of 'I told you so' as he followed suite.

...............................................

What day is it? Your hazy mind stared at the opposite wall.  You lazily traced figure-eights over your tattered jeans.  Approximately twenty-one meals were served--and wasted-- so maybe it was day seven?  A full week of sitting in this barren room?

A few days of no nutrition were of no consequence to you; you were a light eater anyway.  But by day five you were beginning to get dizzy from your voluntary starvation.  You slept most of the day.  The slightest of movements made the world spin around you.  Thoughts of giving in and digging into the meals crossed your mind several times.

I will not falter.  They will not get what they need from me.  I'll starve before they can have me, you gave yourself the pep talk over and over again.  The hours that were filled with zero social interaction drove you mad; you'd either talk to yourself, or to Xiao, who you only hoped could still hear you and maybe even reply in his own mind.  It was a shame the conversation couldn't go both ways.

"I miss you," you murmured a breath.  "If I get out of this, would you like to go eat almond tofu with me?"

Childe entered quietly, and knelt in front of you after giving your full plate the side-eye.  "This little hunger strike of yours needs to stop.  You need to eat."  You didn't answer, and he let out a small sigh.  "Il Dottore finished his set-up this morning.  I'm sure he'll be ready to take you from under my watch by tomorrow at the latest."  He sat down now, and examined you carefully.  

I didn't think we'd break her this quickly,  he thought.  Such a stubborn personality reduced to this pathetic heap of a woman.  A slim smile spread across his lips when he realized how much he loved watching you break under the pressure.

"Leave," you breathed.

"You're smarter than I thought, you know."  Childe placed his chin on the hand that was propped up on his leg.  "If you really thought he had a chance at defeating us, you would have called for Xiao by now.  You've isolated yourself from the only person that caught your eye."

That's what you think, you scoffed.  I've been talking to him this whole damn time.

"Or have you been praying to him?"  Childe's eyes narrowed and the grin on his lips only widened.  The small glance you sent him validated his question.  "You're telling me that this great and mighty adeptus has heard your suffering, and has yet to do a single thing about it?  Are you really sure he's reliable? Oh, ojou-chan," he clicked his tongue and shook his head at you.  "He won't neglect his duties to protect Liyue to come save you."

"You don't know him like I do," a bit of fighting spirit entered your hoarse voice, and your eyes began to glow.

"Oh, but I do.  An ancient yaksha that's at least half the age of Morax himself, falling in love with a human girl?  Is that what you're expecting from him?"  The words cut deeper than his blade had cut through your shoulder.  "You really believe such a hardened soul could learn to love in as quickly as a single human lifetime?  Ojou-chan, open your eyes.  He does not care for you, and he couldn't even if he tried.  Look around you, ojou-chan.  You're still here, in this dark cell, and he's where?  In Mondstat? Liyue?  He doesn't seem to care all too much about you."

"That's because I told him to stay away," you growled, eyes shining brighter.  You curled your fists and prepared to strike him if he had the audacity to continue spewing nonsense.  "You know, you have your entire life to be a jerk.  Why don't you take today off?"

"Even if he did save you, there's no future with him.  You will continue to chase after the illusion of love with him for the rest of your life, only to die alone with your youth wasted.  Even if you escaped, you would be on the run for your entire life, hiding away from the preying eyes of the Fatui.  Is that worth an escape, if you can no longer truly live?

"You're better off working with us, following Dottore's orders, and gaining the trust of the Tsaritsa.  You can make a life for yourself here if you decide to survive.  But out there," he pointed toward the cell door.  "Out there, you will not live."

"You know, your ass must be pretty jealous of all the shit that comes out of your mouth!"  You yelled as he exited the cell.  Your plate collided with the door right as it closed.  Hot tears stained your cheeks once you were left alone.

He's only trying to break you into submission, you soothed yourself as you hugged your legs.  They felt thinner than usual.  He's just trying to break me.  But why do his words...make me feel so upset?  You buried your face into your knees.  Maybe he's right.

......................................................

"So the guard schedules all overlap? There's no way in?"  Paimon looked over the scattered notes on Diluc's table.  Most of them held ineligible scribbles on them, and she furrowed her brows because of it.

"This was all you were able to gather in a week?"  Aether pulled at his hair and sighed heavily.

"Not many are willing to oppose the Fatui," said Diluc.  "It took all my resources to get this much.  We don't know the interior layout of the castle other than the main exits and entrances.  But I did manage to find us a caravan that leaves at dawn tomorrow."

"Finally!"  Paimon huffed.  "Something useful!"

"I am sorry I haven't been of use to you all," Zhongli bowed his head in a sincere apology.  "It has been years since I've last seen Snezhnaya and the cryo archon."  You meant a great deal to the group, and Zhongli probably took your abduction the hardest since he could not intervene with the Tsaritsa and her plans.

"At least we finally have enough of a foundation to squeeze out a plan!"

"Have you heard from her at all today, Xia--?"  Aether interrupted himself.  "Are...you okay?"

All eyes turned to antisocial yaksha that stood at the back of the room.  It was a small thing the traveler had noticed, but it was significant enough that it totally contradicted everything Xiao was.

He was crying.

First,  you asked to eat with him when this was all over.  Then an overwhelming sense of dread and helplessness flooded his mind like a tsunami.  A single tear rolled down his cheek and he hastily wiped it away.  A tear?

"Stay out of my way," he disappeared from the room and manifested outside.  What was this unfamiliar clenching in his chest?  This clenching in his throat?  The way his hands tingled and his eyes stung?  The afternoon sun seemed to worsen it.

"Xiao," a deep voice spoke behind him, and he turned to face it.  Zhongli placed a large hand on the yaksha's head and closed his eyes for a moment.  When he released his grip, he too, felt the same pain in his chest.  

"She's in pain," the yaksha murmured.  "Every day she grows weaker.  Her strength, it...diminishes."  While it was a blessing to know you were alive, it was also a curse.  He could hear the uncertainty in your voice when you prayed, and the way you hesitate to speak to him each passing day.  The centuries of hardened walls blocking the yaksha from emotion grew weaker the more you did.

"Your bond has grown," the archon explained the physical and mental phenomena Xiao was being put through.  "You feel her emotions, just as she feels yours."

"Rid me of them," Xiao ordered.  "I have no need for the emotions of a human."

"She is no longer the only one that holds human emotions.  You care for her deeply, do you not?"  No answer. Blank stare. "I'm certain you've contemplated and understood my words in Qingce Village by now."  Zhongli's eyes followed the ascending path of two cranes flying overhead.  "You wish to rescue her, even though Liyue requires your protection?  You're worried I won't grant your request?"

"...Yes."

"Worry no longer; it is granted.  But be warned, Guardian Yaksha, emotions cannot be permanently ignored.  They will rise to the forefront sooner or later,"  his gaze returned to Xiao's.  "You best be sure to share them before they fall on the ears of an early grave."