#or at least that he wouldnt recognize the man years later

[corvidcall]

"heres how mike schmidt could actually be an afton-"

"heres how mike schmidt could actually be an emily-"

[i-bring-crack]

Ah Jin Guild still needs members! AU

And it isnt just only because they need a raiding party of 10 people to enter a dungeon, bit because there has to be a specific set of hunters who have each their own work to do within the corporation.

{Ah jin guild consisting of S rank Sung Jin Woo, Radiru Esil [how?], Yoo Sooyoung, Lee Ju Hee, Song Chi Yul, Yoo Jin Ho, and Han Song Yi

Of course there is Jin Woo as Guild Leader and Jin Ho as vice-guild leader, but because hunters also act as part of team that produces its primary source of income, it means that all the paperwork has to be handle by other people who, at least have far more time in their hands than the hunters themselves. (And the goverments knew it as such, and so did other guilds, which is why you often see a lot of S ranks in vice and guild master positions instead of simply being workers to far more expirienced bussiness owners. It was also why the list to start a guild didnt only include three members but rather 7 guild members. [1:Master 2:Vice 3:Shareholder 4:Marketing 5:Administration and Finance 6:RRHH or Human Resources and 7:Production or Distribution of Production ])

So now Jin Ho and Jin Woo are outhere scavenging for people who could be able to join but wont get in Jin woo's way of collecting XP points. At this point jin Woo wont mind paying for anyone who can join because, he is freaking rich by now, he cant even count the numbers on his bank account anymore with all the raiding and the 3 billion won. And considering how well he could clear up dungeons later on, he will be even more rich, so he doesnt mind spending bucks on people to just fill in the gaps, theyve done this once they can do it for a longer time or until Jin ho manages to grow the guild with enough management workers.

So Jin Ho gets to work instantly while Jin Woo crashes down internally and realizes. He has like two friends at max.

He still calls on them though.

Ju Hee, as promised before, they went on that meal and even visited some parks in Busan. It was a fun while, he finally felt relaxed in what seemed like, no, in what had been years to him honestly. (whenever or not there is romance involved or not, its up to the imagination but for now this whole AU focus is purely on the gen side,) After a while (and Ju hee shooing away the press because Jin woo is an awkward duck no matter how strong he gets! he uses his shadows later tho) he does ask Ju Hee if he wants to come join his guild, and Ju hee despite knowing Jin Woo will be able to protect him even better than the best S ranks in Korean, still refuses. Jin Woo adds on that he just needs her to stay there and not actually go inside and raid, its to fill in basically. Well, she is a retired healer, but she wouldnt mind helping out her friend if nothing bad willl happen to her, and she will be too far away for that to happen, so Ju Hee agreesand sends her home like a good friend. They are both glad to be in talking terms again because really, they have grown so distant since the murder, and none of them really recognized the other. (The healer who felt safe within low rank dungeons and the hunter who always got hurt, to a retired high ranker that cant come close to the side of gates and a hunter who rivals the strenght of other S rankers... yeah, they were both surprised when they saw for how long they had been talking to one another during their walk.)

[Eh?! how come a low B rank healer can join but not me?? What am I lacking?!?! Does Sung even need a healer ??- a random definetly not S rank hunter out there as she looks at the news of Jin Woo's date or so all the media proclaims except the hunters themselves.]

After that trip he calls on his other "friend" or well, he should call him mentor really because it was mostly him being that. He feels a bit of pity scurring up when he realizes his only "friend" would be a 60 year old, and even then he is mostly an acquaintance with the man, either way he goes to the dojo were the he is supposed to work. Low and behold he did not expect the meeting to be even more awkward as he meets Cha hae In, who recently, like three to two days recently, just asked if she could join the guild. And now he will ask a lower rank than her to join. And she will probably be able to hear it.

(⊙_⊙;)

Jin Woo tries to act as though he just came here on accident, no he wasnt spying on Hae In and no he really really just passed by and stuff you know, just a waltz and he suddenly got interested in this dojo.

"Mr Sung" but of course, his plans are ruined as Song Chi Yul approaches him and asks what he is doing here. Cha Hae In, despite much interrogation and thousand "press X to doubt" going through her head, she lets the case go as Choi Jong In calls for her help on another dungeon.

At that point is when Jin Woo talks to Chi Yul about joining his guild and if he could please come to fill in the gap. Chi Yul feels a little please to know the boy is being honest with him, and considering he already owns dojo, it isnt as though he needs the money, so he will be fine with just helping him out, the same as Ju Hee had said.

[The next day Chi yul is confronted by a blushing know-tow Cha Hae In asking him to pretty please help her put on a good word for Jin Woo because she really wants to get into his guild please!! and Chi Yul, after teasing his student (at this point foster daughter with how much he cares for her!) he promises to try and Hae In smiles.]

When Jin Ho and jin Woo meet up again, alongside the already new member Yoo Sooyoung (whose interactions go as canon with added bits of Sooyoung and Jin Woo stuck in a photo session for two hours bc Sooyoung trains him to smile more and look less menancing as he does so!) they see they are already halfway up! good for them!

but now they really have exhausted most of their help.

But.

It is then!

Jin Ah is contacted during her small lunch break in school (how mean of you oppa!) to ask for some help in building the guild.

"Wow I knew you were bad at bussiness managment but I didn't think you would go so far as to asking me of all people. A student."

"Its not about that. Do you have your friends phone number?"

"I, unlike you, have many friends, so especify please."

"You little-- The E rank one, the girl with the hoddie who has a better fashion taste than you."

"because Song Yi wears the same edgy things as you!" Like she doesnt know about nirvana and MCR when both keep telling her they are the best things since slice bread.

"Yes her."

"Why? I dont trust you with her life oppa after what Song Yi told me about the red gate incient." She told her the WHAT now???

"Hey I saved her from an otherwise bad experience... and death."

"hmmmm... fine, but Im not letting my friend go out of sight with you, hunters can tend to be such risk takers nowadays."

So Jin Ah puts the phone on speaker as Song Yi is called over, they discuss the tradings as Jin Woo did before, and specify she wont do anything, she just has to be present. Song Yi feels a little disappointed knowing she wont be able to fight off against real monsters until.. she gets an idea, a sneaky idea! and puts the phone on mute to share Jin Ah of said idea (jin woo's brother senses are tingling and its not good.)

Unmuting the call, Song yi accepts [:D] under the condition that Jin Woo can train her [:0]. Jin Woo agrees it only on bi weekly sundays, and Song Yi and Jin Ah act all professional while ending the meeting (call) on an agreement before suddenly leaping out and squaling with joy that they get to spend more time now with the shadows and jin Woo!

Their high school classmates are so jealous right now. You bet Song Yi and Jin Ah wont miss an opportunity at inviting the shadows in for a movie night!!

Alright 6 down, 1 more to go.

[On Kakaotalk and Insta the most talked about thing currrently is this sudden Korean E rank student being able to enter one of the most anticipated guilds in the country due to Sung Jin Woo's reputation, and the people truly do wish to ask. why? who? the members so far have been S rank Jin Woo, A rank Soo young, B rank Ju hee, C rank Chi Yul, D rank Jin ho and finally E rank Song Yi. Some have started to point it out that it looks like he is trying to get one of each rank and have even celebrated about it. The assosiation is sent to keep close watch on the members since some of them most likely wont be able to deal with the press. "All except for C rank Chi Yul." One informs as he gets news that Hae In threatened the press not to spread rumors about her master or else they will have to deal with two S ranks.

Chi Yul in the back like: (´ｰ∀ｰ`) there goes my pupil making headlines again despite not liking talking to the press at all.]

As Jin Woo is reading the manual for making a guild, he suddenly has a realization, or at least managed to find a loophole in the system.

It said hunters, not just humans. Of course its not all that easy, or else he would have put his shadows as hunters and bam, case solveda milenia ago. They did specify that hunters are "Awakened people who use their powers to help in killing or kill Magic Beasts inside gates."

And now, as long as he can integrate that person into a "people" he should be able to get a seventh hunter, right?

"Alas... you came to our castle to ask us if I could give up my daughter again for her to gain this "citizentship" in your kingdom of Korea-"

"Its not a kingdom sir, but yes."

"hmmm..."

Did he even hear him? Jin Woo can see that he is shaking in his knees, especially afterh he came back with such a new strong force below him, but he didnt expect the Radiru clan leader to still act tought. Well, its kinda funny so he lets him go on. Besides, Esil and him are already happy to see each other again, since , really, he didnt expect to come here again.

"Fine, but she better come back home before dawn. "

(ㆆ_ㆆ)

Is- is dawn even real here? the sky hasnt changed even when he was here for a week. Oh well, guess he can try. Esil nudges him a little saying its fine, he is just saying she has to come back at least once in a while.

"But now to explore this new Korea kingdom!"

"Its not a kingdom..."

Esil doesnt care!

Meanwhile Jin Woo is helping Esil shift somewhat into a passable human (how to hide those ears hmmmmm... the marks in her eyes will be a simple makeup- "Jin Ah!")

Jin Ah was never more exited in her life than at this very moment as she wants (heck yeah she's rich now!) And starts her mission as fast as possible. Song Yi joins in also, surgesting that she also wear a hoddie to hide her long ears, and maybe ask some questions about who she is.

"Im a noble."

Jin Ah interprets it as being a princess. And considering the best clan now is the Radiru... she isnt technically wrong.

Eventually the girls settle on a lot of different hairstyles to cover her ears very well while Esil's unique facemarks can be hidden within deep layers of makeup that are the top noch quality for S ranks. There are also some headbands that are long enough for her ears to hide in, and even then she could always slay in a hoddie or two. Esil Radiru quickly gains alot of followers as Jin Ah posts on her social media, feeling proud of herself for her work.

Meanwhile Jin Woo and Jin Ho are forgering papers to make it seem as though Esil is an actual real person all along. Its not the first crime they commited honestly.

Esil's name was changed to Ming A-Young, 24 years old (they never got a clear answer on her age so Jin Woo just guessed), and is taken the next day to get her evaluation tested.

"Sung Jin Woo-ssi! I think I might have broken something..."

"Hm? How so?"

"They told me that my status was inmmesurable... Im really sorry I swear I didnt mean to do anything I simply touched it and—" Jin Woo just pats her head.

He can already see the headlines for three days from now.

[Korean's 11th S rank Hunter! Ming A Young who already has become the last needed member for the new Ah Jin Guild!]

Korea celebrates as Cha Hae In notices she has new waifu competition.

...But seeing that the 11th S rank is a woman, around her same age? She could probably befriend her huh...

Suddenly It doesn't feel so lonely being an S rank anymore.

[wrestlezon]

aew dynamite 9/28/22 liveblog containment zone

i fell asleep so we watched this like hours later

tay melo and anna jay came out and i couldnt tell them apart OMG the pizza guy is here too?? i thought he got cancelled for being an antivaxxer. though i guess jericho wouldnt care about that LMAO wife joke etc etc is that a real pizza dough or a prop. do they make movie prop pizza dough matt menard calling him THE PIZZA GUY is so funny actually WE WANT PIZZA (clap clap clapclapclap) oh no! he's heeling on ring of honor! hes making all the ring of honor fans mad! these guys and their shirtless blazer looks omg. a hat daniel garcia looks SO MISERABLE knocked out pizza guy ooohhhh garcia gonna quitttttt the jasssss man jericho is giving this guy SO many chances danielson is here! why is his shirt half-tucked into his briefs. hello?? theyre dadtalking so hard right now LMFAO daniel garcia leave your uncool dad and join me, your cool dad. we'll have fun training. we'll have fun fighting garcia is actin out!!!!!!!!!!!! throwing pizza!!!!! MATT MENARD!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he was your wrestleson……. no….. so mean to him… oooh danielson vs matt menard fight

matt menard vs bryan danielson

man they cleaned off the ring real quick regal gettin his excalibur flirts out bright and early (rice krispie treat..) danielson got the pepperonis (these wrestlers are out there cupping) angelo parker out here barking at danielson to stay away from his domestic life partner i was making a joke but then parker pulled menard out of the ring to cradle his head so cheating!!! claudio is here to even the odds lmao the ring corner dive from angelo oh my god hes just carrying him out of the arena. claudio is pretty funny taz calling regal "reegs" omg

whoa! yuta in the ring with a mic.

support you yuta! you gotta learn to promo by doing it! "ive been hit harder by a lot better men" yuta…….. voice crack. yuta youre so cute im sorry. keep up the good work. i like the contrast between how intrinsically cute he is but also hes out there doing toughguy shit whoa mjf in the baseball jersey? how are those ppl writing that cmjf baseball au feeling about this mjf stop calling yourself DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGH lmao yuta being scawy… mjf being like O_O ohhhh yuta vs mjf next week lmao my friends frothing about the gunn club being in mjf's pocket (we want to see a max to max interaction)

lethal's group and darby allin doing a video promo thing lethal vs darby next week or so i guesssss

juice robinson vs jon moxley

biker guy juice robinson. i do think he looks better without the dreads meanwhile, in the distance: mjf whoa, rope tumbles lmfao regal making jokes and making the whole commentary table crack up uh oh moxley back on the bloodletting aughh!!! juice dont put that in your mouth!!! blood!!!!!! lmfao live mjf reaction

crazy this man is just out here wrestling in jeans threatening the referee!! thats how you know he is a bullet club bad guy moxley wins! gasp!!!! its hangman!! hiiiiiii hangman in the dolly parton shirt love to see it. theyre out here nuzzling. literally Just Kiss oh mjf is yelling from his Luxury Box oh no mjf look out!! its yuta!!!!!!!! (lmao) VIOLENCE my friends are complaining about how a yuta vs mjf has no psychological element to it but i think mjf could use a less psychological feud after the cmjf one. you know, as a palate cleanser.

saraya in da ring with a mic

i dont know this lady. but apparently she retired because of neck stuff a few years ago? ladies night in da ring willow :)c who is this blonde lady i dont recognize her. we got athena and willow and skye blue hey at least theres a group here. who are they rivaling, its it the anti-jade or-- oh… its opposing britt baker britt baker is very good at dissing people on mic which is a good quality for a heel. i will say this the crowd is cheering jamie hayter ;_; literally so mad that jamie didnt split off from britt SO MAD HOW LONG WILL YOU KEEP ME WAITING oh a lumberjack match! thats… hmmm isnt a lumberjack match just cheat city my friends brought up a good point that britt baker would be cheating anyway so this lets the good girl team cheat back lmao taz putting tony on blast for being friends with britt baker OHHHH jamie hayter throwing hands with willow nightingale… please you two have a match toni wins!

ohhh!! backstage with the acclaimed!!

whoa. keith lee is here! lmao "swerve isnt here because is exceptionally disgruntled" i love keith lee. "you got carried" isnt this nerd language. im a huge nerd so i cant tell sometimes. i love keith lee he rules. he really speaks to me

backstage with private party and andrade lmao matt hardy with his hands in his pockets. come back to me baby i'll be good to you

ricky starks doing the mario ground pound on that guy's pelvis lmao

oh yesss!! jamie vs willow match on friday!!!!!

bandido vs jericho

wow bandido is so strong. one arm lifting jericho over his head!! lmao shoutout to the british royal navy i guess?? oh my god he is holding up a full man for over half a minute. strong. i barely know bandido but i have to defend him in the voicechat. the amount of luchador face slander going on. i will not accept this blood on da mask!! this match is pretty tense. i dont think bandido is gonna win but theyre really making me--- oh not the massssskkkkk come onnnnn ok jericho won "im going to destroy every ring of honor competitor… commentator… and even.... ring announcer"

lmaooo

[witchcraft-in-wonderland]

Little Prince (Pt.2)

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

"The mafia? Roman are you kidding me? Do you know how dangerous they are!" Remus was pacing the living room, his husband Virgil sitting on the couch with his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"They saved my life Rem! It's not like I'm hurt!" Roman pouted, he knew Remus wasnt going to take the fact that the lounge had been attacked well, but he'd at least thought he'd be happy Roman was safe.

"Roman they're the mafia! You cant trust a word they say or anything they do! They're just going to manipulate you and drag you into their messes!" Remus said, almost pleadingly.

"Just because you're a year older than me doesnt mean you know everything!" Roman said.

"I know that you cant keep putting yourself in danger for the sake of your reputation!" Remus said, there were tears in his eyes, Roman felt a twinge of guilt.

"Just. . . Stay away from them, for your own good," Remus said before walking back over to the couch and sitting next to Virgil. He held his arms out, seemingly to pull the smaller man into a hug, but Virgil seemed adamant about not changing positions. Roman sighed and walked back into his room, collapsing onto the bed and turning over to look at the ceiling. Logan's voice echoing in his head, he felt his cheeks heat up as the phrase Little Prince found it's way to the front of his thoughts. He'd never felt that way about being addressed as royalty before. It had always felt like a charade, a costume, like he wasnt really a monarch, but when Logan said it. . .

"Oh cut it out! Hes probably just like ever other man you've met, big sleazy and flirtatious, you're no prince. You're a fool." Roman glared at himself in the mirror and snarled the words, quietly enough that he hoped Remus wouldnt hear him.

He had more nightmares than ever that night, yet somehow they were never able to finish. At the last second a knight on a horse would charge at whatever Roman seemed to be afraid of, and the nightmare would end. He never saw the knight's face, but he remembered the crest on his horse's armor, a dove, with blue and red cloth in its mouth. Roman snatched his journal off of his nightstand, quickly sketching it down to save for later. He wasnt about to let a knight in shining armor slip out of his grasp, especially not now.

The real problem was waiting for him in the morning, The Butterfly Lounge had been shut down by who ever had attacked, which meant Roman had to find a new contract. He decided to meet up with his former boss to discuss the terms of his last, only to receive news that made his skin crawl.

"It says it right here in the fine print, in the event something happens to the lounge or you need to find new work, I chose your new place of employment," the grin on his ex-employer's face was akin to that of a crocodile about to take a bite out of an unsuspecting deer.

"But- that cant be legal! I mean- if I dont work for you anymore then that contract should no longer be valid!" Roman's hands were shaking, he grabbed onto the bottom of his chair in an attempt to steady them.

"Oh relax Roman, The Andromeda Quarter isnt that bad of a club, they'd love you there," the smile widened, Roman felt sick to his stomach.

"Y-yes sir," Roman said, he felt like throwing up as he walked out of the building.

The Andromeda Quarter was one of the most elite sections of the town, men in suites with women trailing behind them like lost dogs, prices so high it was a surprise that they didnt fly at this point. This was his parents favorite place before they moved, everyone there knew him, knew his talents and his family and had more expectations for him than the rest of the city. He had promised himself as a kid that he'd never live or work there as long as he could help it, but he supposed he'd have to add that to the long list of broken promise's hanging over his head like a cloud of acid rain.

Roman didnt talk to anyone when he got home, he merely changed into a pale red shirt with a crown on the top corner and a long white skirt, throwing a white jacket over the top of it before slipping on some heels. His feet ached with each move, but he tolerated it, he had to make a good impression.

As soon as he entered the building his nose was hit with the scent of all manner of alcoholic beverages, the aura of drunkenness carried throughout the whole bar.

It didnt get any better when he walked backstage. The man that greeted him had two barely dressed girls sitting on each side of his chair, his face was dressed with the same self-entitled smile ever member of the quarter wore.

"Roman, lovely to finally see you," he said, his voice dripping with feigned sweetness.

"Good afternoon," Roman said, setting himself down into a chair.

"Now, I suppose you already know who I am," said the man.

"Doyle Andromeda, great great grandson of the founder of the Andromeda Quarter," Roman said quietly.

"Good, and I of course know who you are, your voice is recognized throughout the country," Mr. Andromeda said, brushing back a lock of brown hair.

"Now, there is of course, the contract," he continued, pushing a piece of paper toward him. Roman scanned the paper, looking through every line for some chance of escape, finding nothing but paragraphs of descriptions on just how little of his voice mind and body was really going to be his. He bit back tears as he signed the paper, and swallowed the sobs rising in his throat as he left the meeting. His life was going to be over the next day, he just knew it.

A few blocks closer to home he ran into someone, instinctively throwing his hands up to block his face.

"Roman?. . ." Roman froze at the sound of Logan's voice. He felt his hands shaking as Logan took them in his own and lowered them, letting go to brush Roman's hair back and hold his face.

"I-I-" Roman was trying to will himself to run, to listen to his brother and get away before he got hurt again, but his heart was telling him to let Logan hold him, to melt into his touch until the rest of the world disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Oh my poor little prince, you look so distressed, what went wrong? Do you need something to drink perhaps?" Roman let himself go numb in Logan's arms, tears spilling out of his eyes.

"I promised I wouldnt go back, I promised and a broke it and now I'm stuck and I dont know what they're going to do to me now that they have me," Logan's jacket smelled like lavender and fresh grass, Roman committed that to memory, he was going to buy air freshener with it later if he had to.

"Go back where? Dont cry dont cry, I'll protect you, I'll keep you safe little prince I promise you," Logan ran his fingers through Roman's hair as he cried, his voice full of worry.

"Th-the Andromeda Quarter, to many people know me there, to many people that dont care, that think I'm just a pretty voice and a pretty face with not a brain or a heart in my body," Roman said with a choked cry.

"Shshshsh- it's alright, it'll be alright, I'll fix this, I'll fix it," said Logan. He held Roman in his arms all the way back to Roman's house, knocking on the door twice.

Remus' face fell almost as soon as he opened it.

"Roman!" Roman let out a slight whine as he was pulled away from Logan, grasping at his hands in a desperate attempt to stay close.

"What did you do to him!" Remus said, there was a slight hint of fear in his eyes as he looked at Roman's small form curled up in the corner of the room.

"Please I didnt mean to intrude- i found him walking home- he looked upset," Logan said, all to calmly for someone facing a man who could make an axe murderer look sane.

"Why is he upset then?" Remus said, digging his nails into the doorframe.

"Hes been transferred to the Andromeda Quarter, and I'm going to fix it for him," Logan said, still unnaturally calm.

"He what." Remus rushed over to Roman's side, allowing Logan to slip into the house and stand next to them. Within seconds Roman was latched to his side, head buried in the crook of his neck.

"Roman how did this happen?" Logan held one hand up, wrapping the other around Roman's waist.

"Let's let him adjust to it, he's clearly distressed, if you'd like I can go out and get something to help him," Logan said. Remus looked at him for a few seconds before finally nodding.

"Anything that helps my brother,"

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

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[nat-20s]

ooh can i have some reluctantly soft hcs about jon pre s1-s2? (maybe even some about pride??)

okay so we gettin REAL soft tonight babes!

-so for pride Sasha and Tim have officially formed the Taking Martin To His First Pride Team and all three of them spend like a week going back and forth on whether or not to invite Jon bc a: he’s a bit surly and b: he might?? be the Token Cishet? (he’s neither, but they don’t know that.) and while a token cishet can be supportive of his friends at pride they also don’t know if they?? qualify as his friends??

-There’s a conversation that basically goes like

Tim: im sure even as a straight guy he’d like to at least be invited. Wait. Is Jon straight? Do we know?

Sasha: I dunno. I get a Vibe from him that says otherwise

Tim: really??? but he’s not receptive to my charms???

Sasha: believe it or not Tim not being attracted to you specifically is not a conclusive indication of heterosexuality.

Tim: sources???

Martin: guys he’s..probably straight. even ignoring just, god, statistical probability, i kind of?? want to?? hold his hand???

Sasha: and that means???

Martin: i pretty much only ever get crushes on deeply unavailable men. Hence why Tim does not make me swoon.

Tim: now that just sounds like a challenge. ALSO I’m pretty sure Jon counts as deeply unavailable regardless of whether or not he’s straight. Not exactly the most open person around. 

Sasha: i say we invite him anyway! if he’s shitty about it I’ll make sure his email doesn’t work right for a month! 

Tim: Sasha you terrify me. I love you.

Sasha: 😘

So Tim casually knocks on Jon’s door and is like “hey boss we’re going to pride this weekend would you like to come with?” and Jon goes through a whole Face Journey because while, at this point, he Knows he’s trans, is pretty?? sure?? he’s bi, and is aware of being ace but not of like the word or that other people are Like That, pride is still..a lot. Especially when he’s not out to any of them. Reluctantly he ends up agreeing to come along and actually DOES and it’s good? it’s weird for him but it’s nice. It’s really nice and it feels safe and joyful in a way that he’s not used to. He’s doesn’t pick up any merch but the fact that it exists, that there’s people like him out here and living life? it’s lovely to watch. Doubly so to see his coworkers all having a blast. It’s not like any of the other three are particularly dour at work, but here? the three of them THRIVE.

non pride related

-Before he is just so stressed all the time constantly Jon used to sing to himself quite a lot! You can pry “Jon is a good singer” from my cold dead hands. before he becomes Boss Man he’s willing to keep singing even when a coworker walks in and sasha in particular is like woah! that sounds really nice! After shit goes down he kind of stop singing, which sucks because it’s something he really enjoys but it just. Doesn’t come out anymore. Until Scotland at least. Martin is extremely taken with it. 

-There’s a point where Jon walks in on Tim desperately trying not to fuck up the Other Eye when it comes to putting on eyeliner and after about 7 minutes of struggling because it’s just one of those days Jon is like “jesus christ”, grabs Tim’s face, and applies a FLAWLESS, symmetrical cat eye in like .2 seconds. Tim is DELIGHTEDLY like “Jon what the fuck??? :DDD” and Jon is like “i went to college” even though it explains NOTHING and Martin, who’s been watching this exchange the entire time, is a Touch Starved Gay Icon with the World’s Dumbest Crush who thinks nothing but “jon. Hands. Face.” before saying “I Would Also Like Eyeliner” and Jon is like GROANS you would wouldnt you and then does it anyway. Jon doesn’t realize he cataloged the feeling of martin’s face under his hands until like. two years and one soppy dream later

-Jon establishes himself as a clothing thief in season 1 while martin is staying in the archive. one day he accidentally takes Martin’s hoodie and DOESN’T even notice even though it’s a: blatantly not the cardigan of the same color he thought he was grabbing and b: oversized on him. Martin sees him and is like “is that?? my hoodie??” and that’s when jon finally looks at what he’s wearing and just replies, “Yes.” Martin asks, “Can I..have it back” and since Jon is Pissy and Sleep Deprived and generally not in his right senses and also his animal hindbrain is like hhhg hoodie smell good he flatly responds, “No.” And Martin finds it a very confusing mix of deeply annoying and deeply endearing. 

-other items jon has stolen:

one of roises big ol hair clips

a scarf of sasha’s

a pair of Tim’s pajama pants?? how did he even get those???

Like half of Georgies wardrobe at some point or another

-Before he became archivist, he had a favorite little reading nook in the institute. It was private and sunny and quiet and HIS and he spent many a lunch there without anyone knowing, back when he got to read for fun 

-for all the shit that he tries to give Martin about letting a dog into the institute, over the course of his career there he has temporarily snuck in three different stray cats and also a very sad looking hedgehog because he’s a bleeding heart with the rest of em

-he’s not the best baker but when he DOES manage to make something really well, he would almost always bring it into work to share, with a note listing ingredients and a “feel free to eat” note, but absolutely making sure no one knows it was him that dropped it off. Sasha recognizes his hand writing every time but they have a silent agreement that he always sneaks her the best of the batch and she doesn’t say anything

[iconsumeheadcanons]

hello, for the WIP game.... "fanfic in my google docs? its more likely than you :/" and "theater food" :)

bro...bro..BRO you are getting large chucks of these bc im not sure if these will be finished/posted anytime soon..<3 ive gotten a lot of love today thank u so muchhh asldkfjaslkdfj i hope u enjoy!! here is all of ‘theater food’ and half of the first one

fanfic in my google docs? its more likely than you think :/

May 30th - 16:33 - Afterschool

Ren was still in the middle of hastily reading Futaba’s texts from hours ago when he opened the door to his family home and found his mother pacing in the genkan.

“...Mom, wha-?”

“I got a call from your school,” she says instead of hello. Ren freezes. Mona shifts in his bag. There’s silence for a second too long, but his mother quickly catches his tense posture and readjusts her approach. There haven’t been any arguments in a week and she doesn’t want to make this a new one.

“The counselor said you were fighting with a first-year,” she starts in a more inviting tone, but she tenses when she sees how quickly Ren’s cautious neutral face shifts into a frown.

“I-I just want to know what happened,” she says.

Ren releases an angry huff instead of turning around and leaving because he recognizes that his mother isn’t trying to jump to conclusions--that she trying to hear his side--but he still has hours worth of bad emotions at the forefront of his mind, so he kicks off his sneakers without undoing the laces and haphazardly drops them on the shoe rack before he allows himself to say anything.

Of course, because he is an angry idiot, his first response is: “There was no fight. It was just an argument,” and he snaps his mouth closed because that is exactly what a delinquent guilty of starting a fight would say and Makoto would be so disappointed in him right now. Morgana delivers her phantom message with a disapproving really, Joker?

His mother guiltily shifts her hands, one eyebrow twitching at Morgana’s muffled meow.

“I just used the words of the counselor,” she amends, gesturing for Ren to enter the family room. 

When they enter, she sits at one side of the rickety couch and pats the other seat. She smiles with some invitation, a dash of hesitance, and a sprinkle of uncertainty as if she has no clue how to speak to her teenage son. She looks at him sort of like he’s a child, but at least she doesn’t seem afraid of him like she was before Golden Week.

Ren joins her at the couch, releases Morgana on to the space between them so he doesn’t have to think about the distance, and conjures up how he can best explain the events of the morning in the least incriminating way (shouldn’t have to, he thinks, didn’t do nothing wrong in the first place) but his mother recognizes his thinking face before he can start.

“W-whatever you say, I’ll believe you, sweetie,” she encourages honestly. He can tell she means it because she tucks her hands in between her knees and tilts her legs in the picture perfect display of humble motherliness to hide how her legs would bounce otherwise. He turns to face her a bit, legs spread out and back slouched in a show of teenage indifference, despite his nervous right leg and the rhythmic flickers of light that bounce off of his phone case as he deftly spins his smartphone in his left hand.

“You mean that?” he can’t help but ask, belying his blase posture.

His mother nods with lips pursed, proving to her son that she has no intention of speaking over him. Emboldened yet reluctant, Ren begins the recount of his day at school.

theater food

    Ren slides into his seat while Hamuko and Ryuji chatter away about beef bowl places. Their enthusiastic discussion about cheap, fast, good food is not helping Ren’s patience or hunger. Usually Ren’s been in charge of the food prep because he’s the only one who knows how to make something all of the Thieves plus Hamuko will eat, but when they left Kamoshitty City today, Theodore pleasantly requested if he could make a recipe he’s been working on, which Hamuko had endorsed immediately.

    Ren agreed because Theodore is really hot and the thought of him buzzing around the kitchen is appealing enough, but around 40 minutes later, Ren is very hungry and is cursing his inability to disagree with tall hot people. To distract himself, he tries to brainstorm ways to free Haru and Makoto from Kamoshit-man’s unproportionately buff grasp, but his brain keeps snapping back to his teammates’ loud discussions and Theodore in a heart apron and himself in a cute pinafore sharing a festival smoothie--the romantic ones with the heart shaped straw--under the setting sun. He doesn’t even like smoothies.

    From the other corner of the weird theater lunch tables Futaba sends him a blank look that implies that she can hear his raging gay thoughts. Ren sticks his tongue out at her, and to Futaba’s left, Nagi raises a thin eyebrow and points at herself as though she thought he was talking to her. Embarrassed but never one to lose, Ren sticks out his tongue again at her paired with a flirtatious wink. At the head of the table beside Ren, Akechi makes a face. Futaba gags. Unaffected, Nagi returns her attention to Yusuke’s analysis of Hamuko’s preferred color palette for her hypothetical thief costume.

    Ren’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and he fishes it out, wondering how someone managed to text him while he’s in a magical dimension theater metaphor place. He quickly gives up that train thought when he sees Futaba’s SNS username. A quick glance up shows that she’s pointedly staring at her phone, so he swipes open the message.

wat did theo say he was making?

i hungr

idk

worried u wont like it?

duh

if hes anything like those tsuntsun twins he’ll probably poison it

...i didnt think of that

prolly not though. i mean hamuko trusts him

ur only saying that cuz hes a pretty boy 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

for real though he wouldnt

The twins would without a doupt

*akechi voice* haha it was merely a jest!

DSKLFASLDKFSD STOP HES RIGHT

HES RIHGT NEXT TO ME ASSHOEL

    “Food’s ready!” Theodore announces over Ren and Futaba’s unsubtle snickers. Somehow, Theodore has acquired two shining serving platters.

    “Theo, you’re the best!” Hamuko says, standing up immediately to help him serve because she (and Haru) is the sweetest person in the universe.

    “Thanks,” Ren tacks on because he’s ‘in charge’ and he’s supposed to ‘set good examples’. He does not, however, stand up to help because he is lazy.

    The rest of the group is already chorusing thank yous and crowding around the food like hungry animals. Makoto is not around to tell them that they’re acting like children. Akechi is patiently waiting for everyone to get out of the way before he serves himself, which is probably a smarter idea than Ren who’s walking around the table so he can insert himself between Ann and Ryuji, the most destructive eaters of their current group. Yusuke, another main offender however justified, already has a bowl full of what appears to be noodles, veggies, and chicken covered in a savory sauce.

[backtobackbakubabe]

I’m Gonna Make This Place Your Home

Bakugo X Reader 

Runaway reader finds a home with Bakugo. But will trouble follow?

Warnings * This one is a little heavier than stuff I have written in the past. Kidnapping and mentions of abuse. 

Words: 3676

*****************************************************************************************************

This was the third night in a row he had woken up in a cold sweat. This had been happening periodically for months but it had been happening more frequently lately. It was the same dream over and over again. It would always start as a normal dream but before he knew it, there was a girl maybe a year or two younger than he was. She was always dressed in the same shitty dress. Her hair wild and tangled. But  nothing was more haunting than her eyes. They were so sad and scared. She was always reaching out to him, her lips moving but no noise coming out. He desperately wanted to know what she was saying, but he never got the chance. He’d always wake up panting and angry. 

It didn't matter what time it was he always got up after that and went for a run. There was no going back to sleep after that. Those eyes were burned into his brain. Every time he closed his eyes he could see that scared look, and it crushed him. 

He didn't even know this girl. At least he didn’t think he did. He read somewhere that your brain can’t invent new people so all the people in your dreams where people you had seen before. 

Was she someone he had saved in the past. No he would have remembered her, he could tell she was pretty even if she was underfed and covered in dirt. Was she someone he saw in a movie or on TV? That had to be it. The only problem was he had been so busy with hero work he hadn't had the time to relax and watch anything in months. He was in his first year as a Pro Hero and he was working relentlessly to make sure everyone knew his name. 

He poured himself a cup of coffee and took a look at the clock. 4 am. Fuck he had only been asleep for a little over two hours. He rubbed his temples. He had to report to work in six hours. Maybe he should just go in early. If he’s going to be awake he might as well get paid for it. 

He sluggishly got dressed and drained the rest of his coffee. Thank god today was supposed to be a short day anyways. He didn't know if he could make it through another 24 hour shift. 

The ding of the elevator sounded louder than usual, and in his exhausted grumpy state he took it very personally. As if the elevator knew he was tired and wanted to taunt him. 

He walked over to his desk and threw his bag that held his costume onto it before slumping into his chair. 

“Wow. dont take this wrong way. But you kind of look like shit.” He looked over to the cheery as hell red head that he usually would consider his best friend, “How the hell am I not supposed to take that the wrong way?”

Kirishima rubbed the back of his neck, “I mean you just look tired is all. Speaking of which shouldn't you be asleep right now? Your shift doesn't start until 10. I know you’re punctual and all but four hours early seems a bit extreme.” 

He leaned back in his chair attempting to rub the exhaustion from his eyes, “I’m fine. I have paperwork to catch up on before my shift starts anyways.” 

Kirishima gave him a concerned look, “You hate paperwork man. What’s really going on?”

He debated for a few seconds if he should say anything, but then decided it might help to actually to talk about it with someone. “I’ve been having these weird dreams... Theres always this girl-”

“A girl! ooooh is she pretty?” 

He gave the red head an annoyed look. 

“Oh right not important. Continue. Sorry.”

He rolled his eyes, “Yes she is pretty. Anyways. She keeps popping into my dreams. It looks like she needs help but I can never hear her. She’s dirty and way too skinny and I dont know.. Its just messing with my head.” 

Kirishima seemed to ponder on that for a bit, “Do you recognize the girl? Like is she someone you know?” 

Bakugo sighed, “No, at least I dont think I do.” 

Kirishima nodded, “What is she doing in these dreams?” 

“I dont know. I guess she’s reaching out to me. At least that’s what it looks like.” 

Kirishima brought his hand up tp his chin as if he was Sherlock Holmes solving a case, “Why dont you take her hand then? If she’s reaching out to you, it must mean she wants you to right?” 

Bakugo threw his hands up in defeat, “I dont fucking know! Even if I wanted to it’s not like I have complete control over my dreams. I’m asleep for fucks sake.” 

Kirishima rolled his eyes, “Alright grumpy gills. I think you need a nap. And this time if any girls happen to stroll through your dreams at least try to hold their hand and see where that gets you. Alright? I’ll handle your paperwork and come wake you up when it’s time for your shift.” 

He wanted to argue but even after 3 cups of coffee he was utterly exhausted. He couldn't work like this. Kirishima was right. He needed a nap. 

He curled up on one of the couches in the break room and fell asleep almost instantly. His dreams started out normal enough. Nothing odd in any way and then out of no where. There she was. Reaching out to him. Her eyes terrified, a silent scream on her lips. 

He was supposed to do something. What was it? Oh yeah. He slowly reached his hand out to hers. It seemed to go so slowly as if he was moving through molasses. His muscles hurt from the effort of forcing his arm up to meet hers. 

Finally his fingers brushed against hers... and he heard it. 

Her voice rang out loud and clear. “Help me Ground Zero! Please!” 

He gripped her hand tighter, “Who are you? What do you want?” 

The girl started to cry, “No time for that now. They’re onto me! Where are you?”

Bakugo flinched, “I’m at work at All Mights new agency.” 

She nodded her head in understanding and for the first time ever she left before he woke up.

Next thing he knew he was being shook awake, “Come on man time to get up! Tell your dream girl you’ll call her back later.” 

He shot straight up, “I did it...”

“That’s great..... what did you do?” 

Bakugo stood up his body coursing with adrenaline, “I touched her hand... and I heard her! She asked me for help and asked me where I was.” 

Kirishima looked at him like he had lost it, “Alright crazy pants enough of that. You know its a dream right? As in it’s not real. This is real, we are real, and you’re really about to be late if you dont hurry up and get changed.” 

Bakugo spent the rest of his shift on high alert. He looked around every corner to see if you were there. You were real. He doesn't now how, but he knows that to be true. He knew he couldn't say that out loud without sounding like a escaped mental patient but his heart kept telling him you needed him. 

Your voice played on an endless loop through his head. It drowned out everything else including Kirishima's annoying consistent ramble. 

The day flew by faster than usual which Bakugo was extremely grateful for. He was practically running out the door with Kirishima yelling after him about meeting up for drinks later. Yeah that wasn’t happening. 

He had taken all of three steps out of the building when he was being tackled. Well tackled wasnt exactly the right word, because that would imply that he fell, which he did not. Instead he lost his balance for a second before turning to see the source. 

It was her. It was you. 

“Shit shit shit. You’re real. I knew it! What are you doing here? Who are you?” 

You looked up at him with desperate eyes, “Get me out of here. They’re after me! I promise I’ll tell you everything just please get me somewhere safe.” 

He looked around to see if anyone was watching, but no one was around. He grabbed your hand and started walking towards his apartment, “I only live a few bocks from here. Think you can make it that far?” 

You nodded. If only he knew how far you had already come to find him. 

Soon enough you were being dragged through the door to his apartment. He lead you to the kitchen table and immediately began to pace back and forth in front of you. He suddenly stopped and looked at you, his eyes boring into yours. “Alright are you going to tell me who the fuck you are and what the fuck is going on?” 

You flinched a bit at his angry voice but quickly reminded yourself that he was good, he wouldnt hurt you. You composed yourself the best you could under the circumstances, “My name is Y/n. I was kidnapped as a child by a group of villains. They have been using my quirk to their advantage for years. I finally managed to get out and come find you.” 

He pulled a chair up so he could sit and face you, “Okay but why me? Out of all the people in the world why me? How were you in my head?” 

You looked down into your lap where your fingers were gripping the hem of your dirty dress, “My quirk allows me to enter people dreams. I'm a dream walker. But it cant be just anyone. I have to have seen their face and I have to know their name. I was a child when they took me. I didn't know any better. I thought they were my family. It wasnt until I got older that I realized how wrong what they were doing was. They would have me enter peoples dreams to get them to confess things, gain information, plant ideas... One day I fought back and tried to reach out for help. The only problem was I didn't know anyone... everyone I knew was a villain. All the people that I had visited in dreams before wouldn't listen to me. And why should they. I betrayed them. I entered their dreams, and stole their private information. Even if they wanted to help, I had no idea where I was... there was no way for them to find me.” 

He reached out and took your hand in his, “I’m so sorry that happened to you.... but you still haven't answered my question... why me?” 

He may be a bit insensitive but he still had no idea who you were and he didn't want to run the risk of this being some weird twisted trap. 

You wiped a tear from your dirt stained cheeks. “One night I snuck out of my room t- to try and get something to eat.... and the news was on, on the tv in the kitchen. It was an interview with you. I saw your face and I heard the name Ground Zero.  That’s all I got before I was being dragged back to my room and was pumped full of so many drugs so I couldnt use my quirk.” 

You were shaking now, “I dont know why and I cant explain it. But I felt a weird connection with you. Every day I repeated your name over and over again through my drugged state so I wouldn't forget it. I kept telling myself you were going to save me. Finally I was able to push through the drugged haze to reach out to you. To walk into your dream.”

Bakugo’s head was spinning, “Is that why I couldnt hear you? Because you were drugged?” 

You shook your head, “No, I have to have permission to truly be in someones head, you had to touch me, to acknowledge me before I can talk to you.” 

He took a deep breath, “Well I’m sorry I didn't do it sooner.... So how did you get here.” 

You started messing with the hem or your dress again, “They decided to move me to a different location. Said I was being too difficult and needed to be taught a lesson. I jumped out of the back of a moving van. I didn't know where I was going but I found my way to the city and asked the first person I saw for directions.” 

Bakugo was leaning towards you now, completely invested in the story, “Why didn't you go to the police?”

You sighed, “I dont know who to trust. They have moles everywhere. I cant risk showing up on a police report. They’d find me.” 

He nodded for a few moments thinking it over. “Ok.... well... I have a spare bedroom you are more than welcome to use. It looks like you need some food and it smells like you need a shower. The bathroom is down the hall, do you like spicy food?”

Your eyes widened, “Does that mean you’ll let me stay?”

He huffed, “Well I’m not going to fucking kick you out to rough it on the streets! Now do you like spicy food or not?” 

You shrugged as you tried to hold back the relieved tears that threatened to spill out, “I dont know. I’ve never had spicy food. I was only ever fed white rice. Sometimes if I did a good job they would add chicken.” 

He gave you a sad look, “Alright so I’ll go easy with the seasoning. Take your time, relax and I’ll get you some clean clothes.” 

You nodded as you walked carefully over to the bathroom he had pointed out earlier. You were almost too scared to touch anything. You didn't want to do anything that would make him change his mind. 

The shower felt so good. You couldnt remember the last time you had, had a shower. It had to have been during what you called your cooperative phase. They were so nice to you then. Before you realized they were all monsters. You had a nice soft bed, your own bathroom, and so many books to read. When you fought back everything had changed. 

You could see all the mud and dried blood swirling around before it went down the drain. You decided then and there that this was goodbye to your old life. If you could even call it a life. It was all going down the drain as well and you were never going back.

When you finally stepped out of the shower there was a warm looking hoodie as well a a pair of shorts and boxers sitting on the bathroom counter. The hoodie hung down to your knees and you had never felt so warm and fuzzy. You didn't know it was possible for an article of clothing to feel... safe. 

You walked out into the hallway and could hear hushed voices, you panicked. Had they already found you? 

“Dude I heard the shower running and you’re cooking... you definitely have a girl over! Who is it?”

“Will you shut up! She’ll hear you!”

“You DO have a girl over!” 

“Will you just fucking leave already? I promise I’ll tell you about it later. Tell the director I won't be able to make it work for the next few days. I’m uh.. sick.” 

“Sick huh?”

“Yeah I’m sick... sick of your shit, now leave!” 

You couldnt help it you giggled. It sounded so weird but it was undeniably a giggle. You felt a weight start to slowly lift from your shoulders. 

You waited until you heard the door shut before leaving the safety of the hallway and joining Ground Zero at the diner table. Your mouth started to water and you stomach rumbled, it all looked so good. You looked over to him, unsure if it would be rude to just dig in. 

He froze with a spoon midway to his mouth, “What? Are you waiting for permission or something? Fuck that just eat.” 

Your eyes lit up as you started to drain your bowl or soup first, immediately followed by mountain of noodles. It all tasted so good, “Thank you so much Ground Zero. This is delicious. You are an amazing cook.” 

You could see him blush a bit before shoving another bite into his mouth numbing a quick, “It’s Bakugo.”

You both sat in an awkward silence, eating until you were both fat and happy. When you finally decided you were done you leaned back into you seat. “That had to be the best meal I’ve ever had.”

Bakugo stood up and started collecting the dishes, “Dont take this the wrong way but it’s not like your pallet was all that expanded before.” He could see hurt flash over your features briefly before you schooled them back to neutral. He tried to salvage this conversation, “But dont worry I’ll try to stay away from cooking rice. I have a feeling you've had enough of that.”

You smiled as you stood up to help, “Here you cooked, the least I could do is clean up.” 

He took the plate that was in your hand, “Maybe next time... You’ve had a shower, you’ve been fed, now you just need to get a good nights sleep.” He gestured over to the hallway. “The bedroom at the end of the hall is mine. The one thats closest to us right now it the guest bedroom and the they're connected by the bathroom. I’ve been told I snore so I will apologize in advance for that. Go ahead and make yourself at home. There’s a tv and everything.” When you didn't move he gave you a light hearted nudge in the direction of the bedroom. “Honestly dont worry about it. I got it from here. Go get some sleep.” 

You weren't used to someone taking care of you and it made you feel suspicious. This was too good to be true. But you were also too tired to dwell too much. For the first time in a long time you were clean, full, and you actually have a bed to sleep in. Besides Ground Zero was a hero. Theres no way he’d do something to hurt you.... right? 

You tip toed over to your new room and marveled at how comfortable the bed looked. You pulled your pants off, opting for just the hoodie and boxers. Burrowing into the covers with your pile of comfy pillows beneath you, you practically hummed in comfort. You rolled over and saw Bakugo through the bathroom. He was also getting ready for bed in the dim light of his bedside lamp. He gave you a soft smile before closing his door. 

You weren't necessarily a fan of closed doors. You cant lock a door that isn't closed after all. But you felt safe none the less. You knew he was just in the other room. So you found yourself drifting off. 

You were back in your old room. Nothing but a bucket and a stained pillow so thin it may as well have just been a pillow case. You could smell the contents of the bucket in the corner and it made you want to puke. It was freezing but all you had for warmth was the thin tattered dress you wore. Your body hurt from how hard you were shivering. The pain in your stomach the worst of all. They hadn't fed you in a few days. Saying only good girls deserve food. You huddled further into yourself as you heard the deadbolt to what may as well have been your cell click. Someone was coming in. What do they want? The big guy walked in. The one with the crooked nose. “Time to take your medicine.” You thrashed around and tried to resist but he just held you down, laughing that sickly laugh that would haunt you forever. 

“NO!” 

You shot up in bed. Your face was soaked with tears. You felt a strong grip on you shoulder. You swung into the darkness and felt your fist connect with something solid. 

“Oi! relax its just me. You were having a nightmare. Thought I’d come wake you up.” 

You rubbed your eyes, “I’m so sorry I didn't mean to wake you.” 

He turned on the lamp on your nightstand, “It’s okay, it’s not like I have to work tomorrow anyways....” He was lost. He wanted to comfort you but he didn't want to crowd you. He also just met you today and shouldn't have such a strong urge to wrap his arms around you. But he does and he doesn't know how he feels about it. “So... do you want to talk about it?”

You shook your head, “I’d rather not. I just want to forget all about it...”

Bakugo nodded, “Thats fair... well if you need anything I’ll be right through there.” He pointed through the doors to his room. 

You bit your lip as you mustered up your courage, “Do you think you could... I mean you totally dont have to... but if its okay with you... could you... possibly stay with me until I fall asleep?” 

He quirked an eyebrow at you, “Uh... sure. I guess. That’s fine.”

You quickly snuggled back into your side of the bed and he got comfortable on his. He took a look at your sleeping face and felt his heart start to ache. You hadn't needed to tell him about your nightmare because you had already shown it to him. You had subconsciously pulled him into your dream and he had a front row seat to the horrors of your past. He reached out and brushed a stray hair away from your sleeping face. He’ll be damed if anyone tried to hurt you again. 

[fallout4hancockfanfiction]

My first time writing fanfiction

It was that day for Nora. The past few years, before the bombs dropped, this very day was one of the happiest days for her. But not this year.

Today was her and Nates Wedding day, at least it would have been. It was the middle of the night no later than 2am, she was sitting with Hancock in the old State house, sharing a bottle of bourbon. Nora has never been the type to talk about her feelings.

Hancock could feel that something was off today, he couldnt put his thumb on it, so he just sat next to her quietly. Both sipping from the half full bottle, sharing the golden liquid that made Noras throat burn. In the background you could hear diamond city radio play "one more tomorrow" by Frankie Carle & Marjorie Hughes. Nora let out a quiet sigh and turned to Hancock: "Lets go to the Third Rail" Hancock looked back at her, nodded, and together they left his lounge room leaving the beverage on the table next to the Jet and Mentats which were placed on it.

They stepped inside the doors when they were greeted by Ham: "A friend of mayor Hancock is a friend of the Third Rail, go on in entertainment is down the stairs."

Downstairs Hancock was immediatley greeted by some of his citinzen, "perfect" she thougt. Magnolia just finished her song. She sang train train. "thank god this song is finished, im not sure if I coud have handled listening to it right now." nora thought to herself.

She walked up to Magnolia and asked her: " Hey Mags, could you sing "I'm the one you're looking for" please? "of course gorgeous, anything for you" Magnolia replied seductively.

Nora bought some beer and walked over to one of the couches and seated herself there.

("...have you gotten history that needs erasing... did you come in just for the beer and cigarettes..")

She took a sip of her beer and looked over to hancock, he's still occupied with his citizens who involved him in a conversation.

(... "ou well im just a girl to make you forget"..)

"perfect... maybe I can sneak out of here", nora slowly gotten up, without letting hancock out of her sight and started walking towards the exit. She just made it out of the door when hancock looked over to the couch and noticed that Nora was missing. He let his gaze wander through the room, looking for hs companion but he can't find her. He turned to his interlocutor and gave them one of his smooth " I could stay here and listen to how wonderful I am till the rest of my days, but I really think I need to get going"! he turned away and rushed to the exit.

" But hancock you've just gotten here..!"

He didn't even hear them, he was too focused on finding The Soule Survivor.

Upstairs he asked Ham if he had seen Nora and he said that she had just left through th door two minutes ago.

He went back inside the old state house, and saw that her gear was still laying on the couch next to the table where they left the bourbon and the chems. "Damn it Nora?? Where are you going, unprotected and without me?" he grabbed her stuff and headed toward the exit.

Just outside Goodneighbour he heard a Group of Raiders. "Fuck Nora!, why would you do something like this?"

(A few Hours later)

Arrived at Sanctuary, nora went back into her old house.  She walked past the kitchen and straight back into her old bedroom. Its been looted empty so she sat on the floor and played "Hi Honey!" on her Pib Boy.

"...Little fingers away... *baby giggles*... Hi honey!" She started tearing up, hearing the sound of his voice. "Listen... I don't think Shaun and I need to tell you how great of a mother you are... but we're going to anyway. ... But everything we do, no matter how hard... we do it for our family. Now say goodbye, Shaun... Bye bye? Say bye bye? *baby giggles* Bye honey! We love you!

She passed out on the Floor. When she woke up, Hancock caught up to her. Nora walked out of her house, on her way to the vault. She doesnt see Hancock but he sees her. As soon as he spottet her his heart skipped a beat because of relief to see her alive. He was about to call out to her when something told him not to. Instead he followed her quietly. Arrived at the Vault, she pressed the button and let herself into the ground. Hancock watched her and did as she did after waiting a few minutes.

"Wow..." he thought to himself upon entering.

Nora was sitting infront of the opened cryopod crying, holding Nates frozen, ice cold Hand while playing "Hi Honey!" over and over again.

Slowly Hancock stepped into the room, his face pained by what he saw.

Noras eyes shot up in Horror, just to be equal parts relieved and upset to see him there. She quickly wiped her eyes and stood up, cleared her throat and asked: "Wh... what are you doing here? how .. how did you find me?"

He walked up to her and wordlessly hugged her. Her face in his chest and her arms around him she couldnt help herself but started crying again. He put his forehead on her head and they stood motionless.

Hancock was the first to speak: "hey, look, if you wanna get outta here..."

Nora looked up to Hancock, eyes swollen and nose red.

Hancock looked back at her and thought:" how can she still be so beautiful while crying? what stop, what why did I think that??" Before he could say anything nora took a long breath in and let an even longer breath out. She turned towards the cryopod and closed it back up. Then she liftet her necklace with the two weddingrings from under her shirt and looked at them.

"You know...she started.. nevermind, nothing... lets get going"

Hancock handed nora her gear and together they left the vault and headed back to santuary.

Nora fixed or rebuild every building except of her own pre-war home. She didnt want anybody else living in it.

When they gotten back to sanctuary, preston and the other settlers were awake and started their daily tasks.

When preston spottet her he approached her, smiling from ear to ear. "GENERAL! I'm so happy to see you! What brings you to sanctuary?"

"Hey Garvey, how have you been? Its been a minute, I thought I'd come see how things are going."

"Your time is impeccable! There is a settlement near by that needs our help! I'll mark it on your map."

Nora looked down and let out a slight chuckle. She turned to Hancock and asked him: "ready to help an other settlement?"

John looked back at her smiling: "Of course, lets go"

So they started wandering towards Finch Farm.

They have been on the road for three hours already when John turned to Nora and said: "look, I got there something i wanted to talk to you abou.." Before he could finish his sentence Gunfire started and they both duked behind an old car.

"Raiders, shit!" said both of them simultaneously and looked at each other and giggled. The group of raiders were on a bridge. One with Power armour and one with a Rocket launcher. The rest were regular raiders. Luckily they hadnt noticed them yet, too occupied with the ferals.

"Should we take them out or walk around them?" "Well, those three shouldn't be difficult to eliminate but the one In the Power armour and the one with launcher seem more difficult"

Nora pulled out her sniper rifle annd took out the Launcher guy with a headshot.

"Guess we fightin'" said hancock with a grin.

Hancock pulled out his shotgun and killed the two raiders running towards them with meele weapons. "nice shot!" said nora.

"easy.." replied hancock smug.

Taking out the regular Raiders wasnt a problem but the Metal man put up a tough fight. He shot nora in her stomach. She let out a loud defening scream. Hancock isnt the type to easily lose his shit but he looked over at nora with panick in his eyes.

He had to do something, and he had to do it quickly. He ran over to the Rocket launcher and aimed it at the last standing raider, pulled the trigger and he heard the loud almost unbearable sound of the explosion. With a ringing in his ears he ran over to Nora ( who was huddled on the floor in a small puddle of blood) and picked her up. Panic in his eyes, he grabbed one of the stimpaks and injected her. "You're not going to die on me! I'm sorry! this is going to hurt a little, but I cant let the stimpack fix you while the bullet is still inside you" He put his bony rough fingers into her wound and pulled out the bullet.

Nora was whimpering in agony. Hancock sat down on the floor and held Nora in his arms. "It's going to be okay! I promise!"

John carried her back to Tenpines Bluff. Once arrived the settlers looked at Nora and gasped! " OH NO!" They ran over to Hancock and helped him carry her to the next bed. Nora, still unconcious was recovering inside the shed. Although the Settlers reassured him to get some rest because they would take care of her, he wouldnt leave her side. Then, after two days Nora opened her eyes. Hancock sitting on a chair next to her bed, barely able to keep his eyes opened shot up in relief once he saw that she had opened her eyes "NORA!, oh god nora! I was so worried! How are you feeling?"

"J..John? Wh..What happened?"

"You were shot in the stomach, here this is purified water, please drink something. We were fighting the raiders when the last one shot you. I carried you back here."

"Ar..Are you okay John?" Hancock looked at her in disbelief. It took him a second to realize what she had asked. "Youre the one who almost died but youre asking me if I'm okay? I have never met a more selfless person in my life Nora!

"Can you lay next to me?" she said, in almost a whisper. John looked at her stunned. "Are...are you sure? he asked?

"Yes please."

She pulled up the blanket and motioned for him to lay next to her.

He did as she asked and she layed her head on his chest. "Thank you"

"Anything for you sunshine"

With nora on his chest, he finnally passed out from exhaustion.

The next morning she woke up before him, when she opened her eyes she didnt recognize where she was. Then she noticed that she was not laying on a pillow but indeed his chest. "SHIT...what have I done? why am I sleeping cuddled up with Hancock? Oh fuck..." she thought to herself. she looked up to him "okay good he is still asleep"

As carefully as possible she gotten out of the bed trying not to wake him. As Nora placed the first foot on the floor an audible "Ouch" left her mouth, her face grimaced.

"Are you okay?"

"Fuck" she thought.. "uh yes im fine, my stomach hurts a little. "I have some Med-Ex if you need some" he said. "oh no im sure im fine, thank you, "ouch...oh god" her face twitsted in pain.

"PLease take it". He reached out his hand to give it to her.

"Thanks hancock" she took it and immediately injected herself.

"So uhm, what are the plans for today?" she asked

He looked over to her and answered: "Well I wasnt sure on when you were going to be ready to travel again. But we still gotta talk to the settlers at Finch Farm. But first of all, lets get you something to eat."

They got dressed and left the shed together. "How about tato salad?" "Yea sounds good, actually please pack some for the road too."she said.

he looked over to her slightly surprised: "Oh you feel ready to travel again?"

"Maybe its the Med-ex speaking but I feel ready to head out after breakfast." "Alright" he said "I'll pack our bags in the meantime. Meet me when youre done eating."

[fernandoswarcrimes]

Ego Season: Rules of the Game (part 2)

(If you get the refrence at the end ⭐️ for you)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josettè had gotten up the next morning to go on her morning run after lastnight she knew she'd get along with some of the boys, but Trevor?...that was going to be a major challenge. She slipped outside and started her morning jog she made sure to have the adress in her maps just Incase she went far enough she wouldn't remeber her surroundings and how to get back still being new to the area. By the time she got back to the house and showered she made her way back downstairs she saw cole in the kitchen leaning over the island eatin a bowl of cereal "morning Jos" he mumbled in between bites she smiled grabbing a glass of orange juice leaning against the counter.

"So you ready to show all the boys up today at practice?" He asked looking over at her with a smile, he didn't see the problem with them having a girl on the team if she was as good as the scouts thought she was enough to invite her (not to mention looking at her highlights with the Silvertips) then she deserved to be there with them.

Josettè looked up confused she didn't know he knew it was supposed to be kept hush hush. "My mom told me lastnight, said I could give you a lift when I go she has to run some errands today or else she would've taken you" he said as he finished his ceral taking the bowl over to the sink and washing it out. “Gotcha I guess I'll go grab my bag then you look already to go don't want you to be late" Josettè said as she rinsed her cup out setting it on the drying rack before heading upstairs to grab her hockey bag from her room slipping her shoes on as she made her way downstairs meeting cole at the door

"So I take it the coach knows but the boys don't" She asked as they both made their way out to the car putting their bags in the trunk getting in the car "yeah they don't know, I think jack has somewhat of an idea but he hasn't said anything to anyone besides you know..me, he was the one who pointed out how good you were to some of us an then my mom told me you were coming to stay for a while. He kinda guessed something was up." Cole nodded as they drove to the arena for practice they didn't say much for a few minutes before he spoke up again "by the way how was it playing for the Silvertips? You played with uh Hart right? The Flyers new goalie?"

"Yeah, i finished school 2 years early being a foreign exchange student from France. Then got offered a spot there. I played with him for maybe a year or two before he got called up. He was really nice showed me a lot of tricks and stuff hes the only friend I really had or let get close to me since I don't have any siblings. He was so down to earth and just all around nice guy I wish some guys were that nice" Josettè rambled moving her hands about as she spoke about her time in Everett and being friends with the young Goalie. Cole glanced over at her briefly as he drove he was starting to see glimpses of the real Josettè behind the mask she put on infront of everyone he'd hoped the more they got to know eachother she'd trust him like she did Carter. "But yeah I enjoyed it in Everett didn't really want to leave but couldn't really pass this opportunity up plus with carter moving up it just felt right." She spoke as he nodded understanding what she meant.

They arrived at the arena about 10 minutes later both grabbing their respective bags from the trunk and heading inside, "so I'm supposed to meet with Coach John about everything" Josettè said as they walked down the many hallways "I'll take you too him, mom already let him know that I was bringing you in" he said with a smile stopping at a dor labeled coaches and knocked a few times.

The door soon opened and a tall man stepped out "Great! Caufield you're here and you brought Moreaux with you, I'm John Wroblewski Head Coach here. It's a pleasure to have you here I'm sure you will fit right in with the boys from some of the highlights I've seen of your playing style they could probably learn somethin from you in the long run."

Josettè nodded with a smile while he turned to Cole "alright go get changed and head on out on the ice for practice I gotta get her paperwork and stuff ready then we'll meet you boys out there." John said as Cole nodded patting Josettès shoulder before heading off to the lockeroom to get ready.

A little while later after they went over the paperwork and schedules and stuff that would go on John showed Josettè where she could change and then met him at the end of the hall when she was done making sure her braid was tight against her head and wouldnt come lose, and followed behind him as they headed out to the ice where the rest of the team was with the assistant coach.

John cleared his throat getting the boy's attention as they stopped running the drills they were doing "Boys, we usually don't do this and this is a first for us and the league, but we're bringing in a new person to the team. Guys I'd like you to meet Josettè Moreaux, I know a few of you have seen her skills and highlights from her time spent in Everett with the Silvertips. I expect all of you to treat her with the same respect you would any other teammate."

He motioned for Josettè to step onto the ice and join the boys to which she did getting a few odd looks from the ones she didn't recognize but all smiles from Cole, Alex, Spencer and Jack. Trevor on the other hand was aggravated to say the least, how could Wroblewski let this happen let alone agree to having a girl on their boys team.

They had a whole woman's team just for that reason. He huffed turning to Jack "Are we seriously letting a girl on the team? That's what womens hockeys for Jack not our development team, why aren't you objecting to this shit? She's going to ruin our whole team dynamic she's toxic and a bitch can't you see that!? Am I the only one who's seeing this?" He whisper shouted.

Jack gave Trevor an exasperated deadpanned look "Trevor we've known her not even twenty four hours. I don't think you have the resources and facts to back up those last two statements. As for the first one yes, we are letting a girl on the team. If coach didn't think this was a good idea he would've had her be on the woman's team ever think she may be too good for them and we could actually learn some things from her? Just let it go you're making an ass out of yourself. Coles parents wouldn't let her stay if she was anything like that." He pointed out as Josettè crossed her arms and looked over at Trevor

"You know, for whispering you're extremly loud, so I'm sorry? Is you're precious pride and ego scared that you'll get outshown by a girl? Because let's be honest honeybun, you don't have a lot going for you. Except that you're meh semi okay at hockey. And trust me, I've delt with guys like you back in Everett didn't end well for them obviously since I'm here and they're not. Tragic, isn't it?" She said with a smirk just as coach John started talking again

"Alright guys, were gonna start with a one v one to test and see what we need to work on, with knight in the net and then we'll go from there. First up, Caufield and Turcotte the rest take the bench." John said as Josettè and the rest made their way to take their seats on the bench to watch the two go head to head Josettè sat down on the end of the bench only to have Trevor plop down next to her without a care glancing from his two friends on the ice over to Jossettè.

"You know Josie Posie if we get paired up you're gonna lose badly. It's gonna be embarrassing and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it." He said with a smirk Josettè chuckled shaking her head keeping her eyes on the two on the ice as they went head to head "You know, I make cold calculations about difficult situations, and I do not take on anything I know I won't win. And i know I will win this. You can bet on that Sweetheart"

Trevor huffed at the mocking sweetheart nickname. "Yeah right that's like trying to use a croissant as a fucking dildo. It doesn't do the job and it makes a fucking mess. So cut the shit Posie it's not happening. You won't beat me one on one" he said rolling his eyes as John conviently called her and Trevor up next.

Josettè stood up patting his cheek "don't cry when I wipe the floor with you then, like I said...you'd eat those words Zegras." She said grabbing her stick stepping on the ice she could here him muttering behind her as they both got in position in center ice as John dropped the puck Josettè was quick to win the face off taking the puck darting around Trevor and off towards Spencer.

She could hear Trevor coming up behind her and quickly moved to the right backtracking with the puck as Trevor had turned around and was coming towards her to try and get the puck away from her, she quickly looked between him and Spencer before aiming and winding up for her signature one timer before sending the puck straight through Trevor's legs & right through Spencer's as well leading to a perfect five hole goal.

She smirked at Trevor and smiled sheepishly at Spencer "sorry had to make a point to Zegras here." Spencer waved her off he was a bit shocked himself that she was able to make that goal so easily, Trevor looked at her and over to Spencer with a questioning look as if to ask his friend if he let the goal in purposely.

Spencer who shook his head in denial making Trevor turn back to Josettè a bit shocked but quickly covering it up with an aggravated questioning tone making a bigger deal out of it than needed be "Are you kidding me? You just made that five hole goal on Spencer of all people."

"What? Like it's hard?"

Josettè said with a shrug as she heard the boys whooping and hollering as she winked at Trevor skating backwards towards the bench fist bumping a few of the guys as they all started excitedly talking about what just happened.

Trevor was puzzled to say the least. He knew he'd get her to break or so he tbought he just had to find what made her tick and hit the nail on the head with it.

[masterserris]

all things considered, i think the blue lions ending is the “true” ending and at least the happiest of endings... we’ll see when the dlcs come out tho

spoilers under cut

THE TEA IS SIPPETHED

it’s literally the only ending in which dimitri lives and becomes the “savior king” and saves the continent and creates a new democratic government to fix the broken old noble/chest system.

edelgard dies but like. she did that to herself by LITERALLY STARTING A WAR AND KILLING THOUSANDS OVER 5 YEARS. like that bitch had it coming. she may have wanted a better future by getting rid of a corrupt church but fuck that bitch honestly she coulda gone about it in a better way

idk about the golden deer route, i havent seen much on it, but eh dimitri still dies and i think so does edelgard so it isnt much better. just slightly better than the black eagle route. church route is also in the same boat.

idk man dimitri and the blue lions literally did nothing wrong. the kingdom did nothing wrong, they only ever acted out of self defense. so fuck the empire honestly afjsafnjaksfajksfjaks for as wack as dimitri gets it ONLY happens because of MASSIVE ptsd, depression, and anxiety caused BY the empire, his step mother, and edelgard. like his step mom had his whole family killed in front of him, blamed it on duscur to destroy them, then she got killed by edelgard i think or smth. his dad LITERALLY was beheaded in front of him and people/buildings were burned too. like holy fuck he’s just a KID goddamn

anyways, the empire is literally the invading imperialistic army so. yeah. no. edelgard can’t just be like: “aw ur in the wrong dimitri!1!! you are a bad person to keep fighting back and killing more people!!111!! even tho i started all this shit and killed thousands of innocent people to begin with!1! i burned a whole village mother fucker!” 

“UR A DELUSIONAL PRINCE FOR DEFENDING YOUR HOMELAND AND CHURCH ALLIES”

before killing him. like fuck. that. bitch. UGH.

like he didnt even know it was his step mom that did it until later when he finally takes the throne. it’s bullshit, all he knew is some bastards like the flame emperor were behind it, that’s all. he wanted Rightful revenge for the murder of his family, the destruction of garreg mach and the “death” of his teacher, AND the 5 year war that butchered the continent and his homeland.

dimitri is valid as FUCK for being pissed at her and the empire. wack. it’s all wack. he’s the best boy and the only route that leads to a good ending for him and the kingdom overall is the blue lions route so there. 

he gets all crazed but honestly who wouldnt. dont gaslight the man for having a super fucked up life and stressful from like age 10 and on. he deserves peace for all he’s been through and he does a fucking fantastic job once he gets his shit together.

edit: based on all the likes i’ve been getting on this i can probably just assume that I Am Right About This

sorry i dont make the rules nsfjanfjannfjnnjk

also all the shit edelgard wanted? dimitri went and did anyways. he got rid of the bullshit nobility and made things more of a democracy. like all she did was kinda pointless and made a lot of enemies.

sure, byleth still has that thing in their chest but who GIVES A FUCK. they still live their life just fine like damn. rhea retires the fuck away regardless. so she aint being a tyrant anymore. byleth is in charge. like damn all the “good shit” from the black eagle playthrough is IN THIS ONE PLUS DIMITRI LIVES AND MORE PEOPLE LIVE AND HAVE GOOD LIVES.

so yeah 

also also: empires always ALWAYS crumble as nations desire their independence. in a few decades after edelgard leaves you can BET your ass someone will wanna revolt from their control. imperialism never works forever folks. look at all of human history for that example. the other nations in fodlan should remain free.

i think by the end dimitri rules all the lands in fodlan? mainly bc the empire just got dethroned and they are destabilized (the alliance is also destabilized but i think they are mostly ok), so it makes sense he would rule/join the two (empire/kingdom) together for mutual growth. but they are still at least sorta recognized as their own territories. they aren’t just wiped from history like edelgard did ffs.

ALSO. ANOTHER THING (sorry i keep editting this bc i have so many thoughts)

THE FINAL FUCKING CUTSCENE OF BLUE LIONS

AFTER FUCKING EVERYTHING HE OFFERS EDELGARD HIS HAND. EVEN AFTER THE WAR. AFTER SHE TURNED INTO A FUCKING DEMON AND TRIED TO KILL HIM. AFTER. FUCKING. EVERYTHING. HE STILL GIVES HER ONE LAST CHANCE

HE FUCKING MEANS IT TOO, THIS AIN’T SOME BULLSHIT PLOY.

BUT NO, SHE FUCKING STABS HIM WITH THE KNIFE HE GAVE HER ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. SO HE HAS TO KILL HER WITH HIS LANCE. HE ISN’T STARTLED OR SURPRISED. JUST HURT.

STONE COLD AFTER BEING BETRAYED BY HER OVER AND OVER AGAIN. HE JUST RIPS THAT SHIT OUT AND DROPS IT ON THE FLOOR. HE’S DONE WITH HER AND NEEDS TO MOVE ON.

BUT! BUT! BYLETH LOOKS BACK AT HER AND SO DOES DIMITRI, BUT BYLETH STOPS HIM. DON’T LOOK BACK. MOVE ON. THE FUCKING HAND HOLD. LIKE DAMN. BEST BUDS FOR LIFE. THEY GOT EACH OTHER’S BACK LIKE NO ONE ELSE.

AND THEY MOVE ON INTO THE LIGHT TO THE CHEERING CROWDS BECAUSE AT LONG FUCKING LAST THE WAR IS OVER AND THEY STILL HAVE THEIR INTEGRITY.

after all the bullshit, they still have the highest moral ground and actually fix things. even after offering their enemy peace.

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

after the cutscene!! the epilogue!!

LIKE MOTHER FUCKER, THIS IS ALL THE PROOF YOU NEED THAT HE IS THE BEST BOY AND HAS THE BEST ROUTE FUCK OFF

DEMOCRACY: CHECK

HELPING THE DISADVANTAGED: CHECK

LISTENING/HELPING TO MINORITIES/FOREIGNERS/DUSCUR: CHECK

CORRUPTION FREE: CHECK

BYLETH IS FINE AND IS THE NEW ARCH BISHOP FOR A BETTER CHURCH, RHEA JUST PEACES OUT: CHECK

MOVING PAST HIS MENTAL ILLNESS AND PTSD FOR THE BETTERMENT OF HIMSELF AND OTHERS/THE KINGDOM: CHECKITY FUCKING CHECK

THE ABSOLUTE LEGEND HIMSELF, DIMITRI

edit edit: also look at the murals specifically, i’m gonna point out some shit real quick. 

first, dimitri’s:

It’s in nature. Birds and trees and leaves. Calm and harmonious.

Children are playing and smiling, food is being passed out by the soldiers to the people. they are thankful. 

byleth is addressing the people, writing out reforms and decrees, making sure things are aright.

the people of duscur are literally at the side of dimitri, the king. 

looks like people from the alliance are on the far left of the mural, they are carrying gifts but they dont seem unhappy about it. just. normal.

dimitri is lower than everyone on the canvas besides a person on their knees asking for help and literal children. he is seated down at THEIR level, smiling AT them and doesn’t mind the kid pulling at him and playing. very relaxed. he’s sitting on just a regular ol’ tree stump. no throne. no opulence. just him, bc that’s all that’s needed.

NOW, LET’S LOOK AT EDELGARD’S OOHH BOY:

she is the tallest above them all, next to her is a divine figure, she is holding a staff as well. she is power. she is above all other peoples. she is STEPPING on a national flag with impunity. she doesn’t CARE she is the one in charge and no one can stand against it.

everyone from the other nations are bowing their heads and being submissive, but they certainly dont look happy. they look anxious as hell. their kingdoms are literally being trampled by the emperor. she is in her grand castle, gold and red and opulent. power and riches and rule.

the common folk, however look up to her. they see her as a second saint seiros. a better one. hence the divine figure next to her. she is like a god to them. not ideal. they seem happy, but no. they are looking to her for guidance in a troubled time caused by HER actions.

let’s not forget the mage in the back holding a knife. things are far from peaceful. 

the two very different moods of these pictures say all. one is true peace where everyone seems to be thriving with a compassionate ruler.

the other is domineering and crushing in presence. people are anxious about the future with violence still on the horizon. 

yeah, no. blue lions >>>> black eagles.

(i’m currently playing through golden deer which is looking p good so far, def better than black eagles and then im gonna do the church route. we’ll see how THAT goes anfjanjfnnfasjns)

edelgard stans dont interact

[sovengarde]

i hate to vent in public but at this point my notes app is filling up and i have no where else to let this out

i really fucking hate being mentally ill. i fucking hate that i blow up at small things and push everyone away. i always fuck everything up, one way or another. everything is always my fault.

my mother has a friend she wants us to stay with but i hate it over there. im trying not to sound like some stoner cali dude but literally the vibe there makes me physically sick. by the time we're leaving, or fuck even before then, im just so drained of any energy it's not even funny. like i cant fall asleep to save my life but as soon as we get home im passed out, provided i didnt do that in the car.

but because the situation at home isnt great either she wanted us to stay with her. and normally i just say no i dont and it never really escalates but when the whole fight that happened last week between my mother and grandfather that denial was fought by her. i told her i didnt want to go into detail and she got upset but i figured it wouldnt be a problem like any other time.

so she leaves for a week to spend some time there and i locked myself in my room for the week. it felt nice to be by myself and not on edge all the time. because being around her is also draining. fuck she even said she had an amazing time. i've been trying to convince her to go back next week lol.

i walk on eggshells around my own mother. anytime she does anything remotely wrong i have to just sit and take it, because god forbid i bring up any concern to her. she shuts down and then a few hours later im being guilt tripped into apologizing. lather rinse repeat for the 19 years ive been alive.

honestly i wouldve rather have been raised like she was and not allowed to talk about anything at all. rather than her telling me i can talk about anything and when i actually do she throws it back into my face and blows up at me.

i have so many vivid memories of her losing her shit over things ive said. like the time i first came out and she screamed at me that i wasnt transgender bc i didnt fit the fuckin description of the 2 episodes of i am jazz she watched.

or when i told her about my suicidal thoughts and i had to coax her into the driveway bc she was standing in the street saying stuff like "well i should just let a car run me over!"

oh and then the time where she was screaming though the walls of my bedroom that "you should just get emancipated! how about you just fucking leave!" i used to have a fuckin recording of that but when my fb got closed i lost it.

just recently with my new psychiatrist i told her about the bpd diagnosis, side note i fuckin knew i had it since 10th grade, her gut reaction was "yea well i have all kinds of cancer! sorry go on" she fuckin """""""apologized"""""" after that. that literally told me her actual thoughts on my mental health, and that either she doesnt believe me or just doesnt fucking care

and then if i bring it up and she gaslights me telling me that shed never say anything like that. listen idk if you know this but traumatic events kinda stick in your brain for your entire life. i can hear her screaming at me when i think about these times, i can almost see it, it's like im actually there again.

but of course it's always my fault. shes on the phone with my aunt i think talking about "well that plans just not gonna happen." so blatantly in front of me. sitting in the bathroom of her office building damn near nauseous from the stress and then were gonna go home and shes either gonna keep being angry or try and act like itll never happen.

shit like this is why im constantly high now. because at least she'll leave me alone when im high. honestly with how things are going my racist, transphobic, and man baby grandfather starts to look less horrible compared to her. because at least he wont fuckin allow me to let my guard down and then spit in my face.

im so fucming exhausted, im quite literally at my wits end. ive only been in such a deep depression in highschool and i tried to game end myself. literally what the fuck am i supposed to do. i only have like 1 friend i can talk to and i hate putting shit on her, shes got enough on her plate as is. i dont have a therapist anymore. my psychiatrist doesnt like to talk about what's going on bc hes afraid of weed and only schedules meetings that are 30 minutes long.

worst part is i cant fuckin cry. i wanna let these emotions out but after years of pushing them down my """""""normal""""""" is unbareable numbness. i dont feel anything whatsoever. i react inappropriately in most situations. im just in a constant detached state, when i finally see through my own thick shit im terrified of who ive become, that is if i can even recognize my own face.

but from a very early age it was beaten into me that showing weakness to anyone will get me hurt so i stopped. moms even commented that i dont react in normal ways. shes told me she doesnt believe i have panic attacks as often as i do because im not outwardly freaking out. firstly theres multiple kinds of panic attacks. secondly everytime im shaking and suffocating i get yelled at. told im making too big a deal out of what's going on and that i need to stop. so i fuckin suppressed it.

but of course it's all my fault for being actually unable to regulate my fucking emotions and for being so distant and unstable all the time. it’s funny when im not making up my own problems actual issues destroy me. idk man im just. im really tired. 

[ellana-ravenwood]

Salt, Tequila, Lemon - Jason Todd x Reader

Please read this intro, thank you very much :  

So. I posted this yesterday, but after a bug on the Tumblr app on my phone it got deleted. I’m super bummed out because it had over 200 notes and quite a few feedbacks that I never got to read because it was accidentally deleted...If the people that took the time to comment things on the story could take a bit more time to write a little comment again and give me their feedbacks, and also if the people that liked and reblog could do it once more...i’d appreciate the hell out of you <3.  So reposting it (thanks god I always have back ups of all my stories now). Written in twenty minutes during my break at work. Bam. Hope you’ll like it :

Also, since Tumblr’s new guidelines and enforcement of it, I DON’T really appear in searches anymore, so the only way for this story to be seen by others than those who follow me is to reblog it. So if you wanna, you can show your support for my writing by doing just that. Thanks very much. You can find my masterlist here : @ella-ravenwood-archives

_________________________________________________

Ok. So. Grandma’s remedy against heartbreak ? Oh, right. 

Salt. Tequila. Lemon. 

Got it. Licking the back of your hand to make the salt stick to it, you pour yourself a massive shot of “To-Kill-Ya” in your coffee mug, not even caring about the fact that there is still some remnant of your cappuccino from last night in it. 

You focus on the sound the liquid makes as it fills your cup. Makes you think about something else. Good. Yup. This was totally gonna help right now. 

“Cheers”, you exclaim to yourself, your empty apartment echoing your voice. 

Salt. 

Wincing. Stingy. Salt on its own is gross. 

Tequila. 

More wincing. Oh my god, it burns. The coffee that was still at the bottom of the cup is an oddly nice touch. 

Lemon. 

The last of the Wincing. 

You spit the piece of lemon you just bit into in the trash and…miss. The yellow fruit falls with a little flat sound on the floor, and you honestly can’t bother to pick it up. Your apartment is a mess anyway, so you just stare at it angrily and pour yourself another drink. 

Salt. Tequila. Lemon. 

You gulp the last of the citrus and shiver. Miss the trash again. 

Damn. This was good. 

Well, actually, it was disgusting. 

You didn’t like strong alcohol and what the Hell ?! Why did you leave a bit of coffee in your cup ? Now that the aftertaste was kicking in, it was actually really gross. If the tequila itself didn’t make you wanna throw up, the stale coffee taste nearly did. Oh, and the salt and lemon combination was as awful as ever. 

You really didn’t like salt, tequila, or lemon. 

But it was still good. 

Because thanks to all this immediate awfulness, you could slowly feel yourself drift into “haze land”, and forget about your worries. 

Forget that your boyfriend of two years just cheated on you with some random woman you worked with. Woman that, by the way, he met at the Christmas “end of the year” party from you work you invited him to…You gave him free champagne and mise-en-bouche and all your love, and he broke your heart. 

It wasn’t your thing, to drink your sorrow away. And it wasn’t your thing either to wallow because of a man…But you genuinely thought he was “the one” (oh what a mistake you would soon realize that was). 

He was always so nice, treating you like a princess. He complimented you daily, and never forgot an important date. He was affectionate, not to an annoying point. He was the perfectamount of affectionate. He was a gentleman and seemed to love you and yet, he betrayed you. 

If a man like him, that was nothing short but sweet and passionate with you, cheated on you, then did that mean you couldn’t trust anyone ? 

Because in your eyes right now, he was perfect. Albeit said eyes were slightly clouded by a a few tequila shots. 

You were downing a fourth drink starting to slowly sob when…

There’s very few things that can get you out of a drunk state in seconds. 

An extremely cold shower could do the trick, for instance. Brings you back to your senses a bit you know ? You wouldn’t magically be sober, but you’d get a clearer mind. Or someone giving you shocking news ! Or like, an event so incredible that your body just forgets how drunk it is for a minute. 

And this event, for you, came at the perfect time. 

Right when you were entering your “sad drunk” phase, which was between the “lol alcohol does NOTHING to me” phase where you downed most of your drinks, and the “dancing on the bar’s counter” phase (a few more drinks and you would have a one woman dance party in your living room, acting as if you were on a bar’s counter and that your name was suddenly “Britney”).

Right when you were about to wallow times a thousand, and cry, and yell “whyyyyyyy ?!” to the sky, arms in the air (drama queen). 

Years later, looking back on that particular event, you’ll start to realize that Destiny HAS to exist. Because come on, it was just too perfect a timing to be a simple coincidence. 

You were about to swallow up your fifth drink, launching yourself head first into the “sad phase” when an ear shattering noise rang all around your apartment. 

Broken glass. 

It was the sound of broken glass. Heightened to the max by your drunkness. You turned on your stool, and…there he was. 

It was a guy. That you were sure of because he had no boobs and too much pecs. And that guy…well that guy just flew right through your window, destroying it. How rude. 

There was glass everywhere. 

How much did a window cost ? Probably a fortune. 

You wondered briefly if you could just use aluminium foil and tape the shit up. There was nothing of value to steal in your apartment anyway, and if aluminium foil could keep meals warm, it definitely worked with a house too right ? 

You sobered up quite a bit, but you were also very drunk when this event happened, so your mind was still in that cloudy weird phase where your priorities were…interesting. 

You worried more about the broken window at first, than about that guy who just launched through it. 

A guy. 

Not just any guy. 

You saw that guy before. 

He was one of those night vigilante your crazy hometown was filled with…RED HOOD !! 

“Thick thighs”, is the first thing you thought right after you recognized him (priorities). 

The second thing you thought was that you needed another drink, and so you downed what was your fifth one, but with that crazy thing happening ended up being on the same level as if it was a second one. You were tipsy, but not “drunk” anymore. 

The third thing that came to your mind was…Is he still alive ? 

No cause, he was like, just laying there, on your living room’s floor, not moving. 

“…Outch.” 

Oh. He spoke. 

So he ain’t dead. Good, means you can have another drink then, you don’t need a clear mind to call an ambulance or something. 

Oddly enough, in your half-drunk half-sober state, this sounded completely reasonable. Nevermind if Red Hood had some internal bleeding or something. He talked. He was probably fine. 

A minute passed, and you just sat there, sipping up your tequila in between taking a pinch of salt and biting into a piece of lemon. 

Salt, tequila, lemon. Great remedy against heartbreaks. 

Wait, were you heartbroken ? Really ? You couldn’t really recall that fact now. But, yeah…it was the reason why you were drinking right ? Because right now, all you could think about was the fact that this Red hood guy had abs for days…

This unforeseen event sobered you up quite a bit, but the two shots you just took kinda brought you back to the same state than you were before.

Well. Not quite. You were drunk as hell again, but seemed to have avoided the “sad phase”. Instead, Red Hood bursting quite literally through your window took you to another road. 

The : “Cool, I got a drinking buddy phase”. Well, taking for granted he didn’t have any internal bleeding and wouldn’t die while biting into a lemon wedge. 

“Tough day ?” 

You ask him, as he slowly sits up and shakes his head, trying to regain his senses. He looks towards you and seem surprised (or at least you think he is, because he wears a mask so…kinda hard to tell). 

************

Jason definitely thought he was alone in this place, because no sane person would just sit there, not saying anything, as someone simply jumped through their window. Nope, most people would just freak out. Scream. 

He knows, because it’s not the first time he falls through a window during a night on duty. And every single time it happened, people freaked out. Screamed. Threw stuffs at him, or hid away begging for their life to be spared. 

And yet here you were, half a bottle of tequila in front of you, surrounded by lemon wedges you bit into, and table salt all over your hand, just staring at him curiously. And did you just say : “tough day” ?  

Well, Jason guessed the empty half of the bottle was why you were so chilled about it all. He sat up, and slowly got back to his feet. 

Usually, going through a window meant the end of the night for him. He’d go back to one of his secret stash, patch himself up and get some rest. Most of the time, he fell through windows because someone pushed him or threw him there…Though today, he just embarrassingly missed a step and fell by himself. 

Of course, no one would ever now he tripped while jumping from one building to another (you lived on the last floor) and went careening into your home (and life). Nope, the official story would be that he fought a fierce enemy and was thrown into that window. Finding fake villains name was easy, given how truly ridiculous some could be. 

Tim and Damian were still after the “Illusive Blue Man” that he totally made up that one time he walked into a poll and had a huge black eye that he couldn’t quite explain…Oh man, he had to stop telling such elaborate lies and just say “I fought with a few guys last night” without more explanation. 

But he couldn’t help it. And those kids believed everything he said, it was too tempting…But for now, this wasn’t the issue. Nope. 

He did a quick check of his body and knew he wasn’t really hurt (thanks “dad” for the amazing body armor ugh ?), so he was planning on leaving that poor girl’s house and send a mystery check in the mail to pay for the damage (money stolen from a certain Bruce Wayne of course, as if he would pay himself). 

Yup. He was just gonna stand up, and go on his way and…somehow, he found himself sitting on the stool opposite side of this mysterious girl, and now she was peppering salt on his hand ? 

“Salt”, she says, and she has a cute drunk voice. Jason almost forgets he just went through a window a few minutes ago. 

“Tequila”, she continues, downing her drink and pointing at the one she poured him. He doesn’t even care the she poured it in a cereal bowl that she didn’t even seem to have clean…He drunk worst things in worst recipient. He turns away to take off his mask and so that she can’t see his face, and “bottom’s up”. 

“Lemon !” she finishes, biting into the sour fruit and spitting it in the direction of the trashcan but missing completely. The lemon wedge goes to lost itself amongst his fallen brothers…

Jason bites into his own lemons, and spits it. Right into the garbage. 

There’s a slight pause, where she just stares at the trashcan, and then at Jason, back to the trashcan, and then turns to him again and simply says : 

“Wow.” 

************

So. This was surreal. 

Here you were. In your home. Taking tequila shots. With…Red Hood. 

One of Gotham’s night vigilante. The most violent one. But the dude seemed chilled. He was holding his liquor really well. 

And now you were talking about your broken heart, telling him the story as if he’d been your friend for years. And he was listening. Intently. And reacting to what you were saying. It had been a LONG time, since you had this kind of talk with anyone, and despite the fact you were drunk, you still noticed how nice it felt to have someone to talk to. Someone that genuinely listened. 

“And then he slept with her !” you say angrily. 

“Nooooooo !?!” 

“Yes, he did ! He slept with…with…what was her name…”

“Nicole. From accounting.” 

“Right, Nicole from accounting ! That bitch ! She always just…counts and shit ! And he slept with her ! Nicole from accounting ! Whom he met thanks to me, by the way ! At a partyyyy !! At my wooooork !!” 

“What an ass.” 

“Right ?! Oh but he had such a good ass though…Quite firm. But whenever he wore jeans, it was super flat.” 

“So, not such a good ass in the end then ?” 

“I guess not. You have a good ass. Popping right out in this outfit of yours.” 

Red Hood chuckles, and the sound of his laughter makes you forget that you just said something incredibly embarrassing. His voice is…nice. Deep. Manly. You like it. You wanna make him chuckle some more, so you say, hoping : 

“And it looks very firm. Not just quite firm.” 

It works. He snorts and it’s very cute. Oh wow. He can be sexy and cute. Full package. You smile a bit dreamily. 

For a second, he’s lost in that smile of yours, and there’s a silence installing itself in the room. A comfortable one. That you break : 

“Ok. So now, he’s not that perfect anymore ! He got no ass ! Penalty points ! I never notice how un-assed he was before…” 

Jason smiles and damn. He’s hot. 

Somewhere along the way, he stopped turning his face away from you whenever he took a shot, and just ended up taking his helmet off. He was probably hoping that you’d black out or something, so you wouldn’t remember his face (or he just didn’t care). 

In any case, you were pretty sure you never saw him before. His face kinda reminded you of an old memory. Of someone you saw somewhere long ago, when you were a kid…Which wasn’t really a big help right ? 

Right. You had no idea who he was. And in your drunken state, probably couldn’t piece anything together anyway. So even if you did know who he could be, you wouldn’t know in the end anyway…Makes perfect sense right ?

What you knew was : he’s hot. 

This white streak in his hair did something to you that you couldn’t explain. And that jawline ? You would love to get cut on that bitch.  It could actually cut a bitch, you were sure of it. Those blue eyes ? You’ve never seen someone with such blue eyes. And did you mention to yourself how muscular he was ? Because man you only saw guys like this in magazines ! 

But beyond his handsome features, he seemed like a nice guy. Like he was listening to you, a total stranger. And this realization suddenly raised your guard up. 

You also thought that your ex-cheating-boyfriend was a nice guy. And come to think of it, who the hell just barge in someone’s home like that, and actually stay to drink tequila shots ?! Wait but…in your guts…it’s not like with your ex. 

You don’t think he’s a nice guy. You know he is. 

************

There’s a visible shift in your mood, after this realization. So far, you talked to him about your broken heart freely, and he listened. 

Oddly enough, no words that came out of your (perfect) mouth bored him. Jason wasn’t sure wether it was the alcohol or not, but you captivated him. 

But in a split second, and without him knowing why, your features changed. You were now frowning. Like an unhappy little kid. It was kinda cute, but he didn’t like it because…why were you frowning ? 

He tries to lighten up the mood and says : 

“Well here you go. See, you didn’t loose the perfect guy, his ass was flat in jeans. Can’t work with that, can you ? I bet we can find other flaws. Make you realize he actually was a looser.”  

Your guard is up, but you can’t help but smile a bit, plus you were frowning just now because you realized you just knew you could trust that total stranger, and it was so weird…. 

Besides, no harm in indulging this, because you’re pretty sure it’ll make you feel better to try and see the bad side of your ex-boyfriend, not just his good ones. No one was perfect. And so, still a bit careful, you say : 

“Well…He never got any of my Tv shows or movie references.” 

“Well, here’s a point to take off of his “perfectness”. Doesn’t get pop culture references. Deal breaker.” 

“Yeah…Yeah you’re right. It is. He also used to hate when I made jokes. I like puns ya know ? Terrible ones. Well, he was always embarrassed whenever I made them in public.” 

“Ashamed of his girlfriend, doesn’t sound very gentlemanly, right ?” 

“Yeah. It doesn’t. Maybe he wasn’t such a perfect gentleman…He also used to not want to go out with me if I didn’t wear any make-up and was dressed just casually.” 

“What you mean, he never just went out with you ?” 

“We only went out on dates. I had to dress up. I could be casual home though…” 

“Well goodie, the man let you be yourself when you were home. Big deal. To be honest, sounds like a douchey move.” 

“That was kinda douchey…I never cared what he looked like.” 

And it’s true. For you, physical appearance wasn’t everything. And sure you thought your ex was hot and all, but only because you liked his personality too. You liked his jokes, you were never ashamed of anything he said. 

And right now, sure that stranger that bursted through your window was hot, but the reason you felt like you could tell him things was because he just made you comfortable by his mere aura. Because he gave you such a good vibe. 

You never were fully about appearances. It was always just a bonus for you…So it never occurred to you why your ex would only hang out in public with you if you were pampered. Like he used to hate when you just wore hoodies and no make-up, even if you didn’t need make-up to be beautiful. 

Comes to think of it, he was very much about appearances…Uh. Interesting. You never realized that before. 

You turn to Red Hood, and the look on your face says it all. You’re slowly realizing maybe you didn’t just lost “the one”. The vigilante says : 

“Ok, so : no ass, no humor apparently, doesn’t get pop culture references, and was kind of a jerk when it came to going out with you…” 

“He did tell me often that I was beautiful though. Including when I just woke up from a night out, and was awful looking.”

“Yeah, but he never went out with you looking like that. He shouldn’t feel ashamed of hanging out with you looking like that. Just like he shouldn’t feel embarrassed when you joke. He can be exasperated, like if you really make bad puns, sure. And he can think it’s unfunny…But embarrassed ? No.” 

“I guess…I never thought about it.” 

“Well let me tell you, as someone who does not know neither you nor him personally, he sounds like a bit of a jerk. Let’s not forget he cheated as well. Like, that’s not something good people do. Especially not with…Nicole from accounting.” 

“Nicole from accounting…Yeah. They’re together now though.” 

“So ? He should’ve broken up with you if he realized he liked her. That’s the right thing to do. Trust me on that, I put villains behind bars for a living, I know what’s right or wrong.” 

“I heard you kill criminals.” 

“Used to. I used to kill criminals, I had issues. I’ll tell you one day if you wanna. It’s a real tear jerker story. With clowns and crowbars. And I’m telling you that because I’m drunk, right now. Also, if we want to be specific, I don’t actually make a living out of putting villains behind bars. Like, I don’t get paid or anything…” 

Jason finds himself ranting about anything that comes to his mind, and though he hears himself claim it’s because of the alcohol he’s saying all this, he realizes maybe there’s something else making him want to talk. 

You. A total stranger he walked upon. Or rather, went-through-the-window upon.  Who didn’t freak out when he went through said window. And instead, invited him over to have tequila shots. 

Because, according to your grandmother, the best remedy to…basically any problems in life, was “salt, tequila, lemon”. 

“She was a wise woman.” 

He says, and you turn to him, clearly not understanding what he was talking about. 

“Who ?” 

“Your grandma. For saying that salt, tequila and lemon was a great remedy against heartbreaks and all.” 

“Oh. Yeah. I wouldn’t know, I never met her. She died before I was born.” 

“Well what she passed on to your parents is great.” 

“What ?”

“Well, that “salt, tequila and lemon” thing, I assume she said that to your mom or dad, and then they said that to you, and then it became your grandma’s advice. Right ?” 

“…Nah. It’s an excuse I made up. Whenever I need to justify something, I just say “like my grandma said, ain’t no shame in eating an entire tub of ice cream if you want to”, and then people are just like “oh yeah, cool”, because when you say the word “grandma”, then it gives a perspective to your words ya know ?” 

Jason had no idea what you were on about, but he loved it. You seemed to be very smart. And witty. And funny. The hell did that guy cheated on you for ? And why was he ashamed of going out in public with you when you weren’t dressed up ?! 

You currently wore “Hello Kitty” pyjamas, had absolutely no make up on, and your hair was a mess, and he thought you looked gorgeous.

“Why are you so nice ?” 

Your question takes him by surprise, and for a few seconds he doesn’t register it and just says : “ugh ?” 

“To me. Why are you so nice to me ? Is it the alcohol ? Does it make you nice ? Or are you just nice to every stranger ? Every girl you destroy the windows of ? Or are you like my ex ? You seem nice, but then you go off and cheat on your girl simply because you like another girl and you’re too cowardly to break up with your current girl ?” 

Jason hiccups slightly, and says : 

“No, I’m not nice to any girl I met. I’m actually usually kind of a jerk, too “brutally honest”. But you…I don’t know. You give me good feelings. Oh and here’s to add on his flaws list. “Coward”. Can’t even break up with a girl, has to wait to get caught red-handed and break her heart. Cooooward. Bad flaw. Kind of guy who runs in the face of danger, instead of standing by you.” 

It’s probably the fact that he said “you give me good feelings” that spurs this in you. That gives you a new clearer perspective on things. 

“My heart wasn’t broken.”

It’s a shock, to you. This realization. This sudden feeling jumping in your face. You…are not heartbroken. You’re mad. You’re frustrated. You feel betrayed. You feel a crazy burning anger towards your ex for toying around with you like that. For not having the balls to just break up, after spending two years together. 

He was suppose to know you. To be your friend. Things could have turned out better. He could have just come up to you, say the truth, and…You were pretty sure you’d still be friend. Because he really was a great guy. 

He really was all the good thing you though about him. He made a mistake, an unforgivable one in your book. But he was a great guy. 

He was just…not your great guy. Not anymore at least. 

And you realized, there, quite drunk, that…It was ok.  

Your heart wasn’t broken.  

Your heart wasn’t broken. 

Your pride was. Your trust was. But your heart ? …Maybe you weren’t completely in love with him. You were best friends, yes, but love ? Maybe it wasn’t love…

Your heart wasn’t broken. 

“My heart isn’t broken.” 

You tell Red hood, looking at him right in his wonderful ocean blue eyes. And he looks right back at you, and just nods. Just like that. And then he pours you one last tequila shot. 

Because like your grandma would say : “When you make great discovery about yourself…Salt, tequila, lemon”. 

************

It took you only a few hours with him to realize that you weren’t in love with your ex, and that was kinda scary. Because this realization didn’t come from nowhere. 

Nope. 

But when he said that your ex broke your heart, you felt obligated to tell him that no. No your heart wasn’t broken. You were sad and angry, yes, but not heartbroken. For you, in that moment, it was important for this total stranger to know you weren’t actually in love. 

Hell, you didn’t even know yourself you weren’t that in love before you talked to him. It just came as a sudden, yet utterly true revelation. 

Because, and this wasn’t the alcohol speaking…You felt incredibly attracted to that guy. To Red Hood. Not just because of the white streak in his hair, and the eyes, and smile, and voice, and abs, and thick thighs. That too, sure, but not only…Nope. 

Nope. Not because of this. 

But because he had a tough day (he said so himself, explaining to you how he went through the window…he was fighting a super-villain when he got flung through your window, tough tough time ahem), and yet he sat with a crazy lady that peppered salt on his hand and practically forced him to take a tequila shot…

Because you could see in his eyes, and felt in your guts that he didn’t have an easy life…and yet he took a break from whatever he was doing to just sit with you and listen to you. He didn’t even make sense, that you trusted those feelings so fiercely. And yet, you did. Because he listened to you. 

He saw you were struggling and he stayed. And though you felt you couldn’t trust anyone at that time…You oddly felt like he was ok. 

Like he wouldn’t be the kind of guy to cheat, or run in the face of danger, leaving you all alone to fight off demons. 

In a few short hours, you fell for this guy more than you ever fell for your ex. 

What did that say about you uh ? …That was pretty pathetic…

************

Jason didn’t think that you were pathetic at all. 

On the contrary. If he went to seat with you, and drink with you, is because he was instantly mesmerized by you. 

And though he didn’t know at first why, now he was sure of it. 

It’s because you didn’t freak out. And something told him it wasn’t only because you were a bit drunk (he fell in drunk people’s home before…none reacted like you). 

Nope. It was because you were special. He just knew it. Special in every way. Funny. Beautiful. Genuinely listening to him when he was speaking. 

He peppered his own problems within your story, as you told him. And you listened. Hell, even referenced a few things he said early on, way later, while you were crazy drunk. You listened. 

You gave a total stranger that seemed to have a tough day some salt. And tequila. And lemons. 

And then you cared. You asked him a thousand times if he was ok, and he basically had to take off his armor to prove it so (to your eyes’ greatest pleasure…mm mm mm those muscles). 

Captivated. He was captivated by you. It was strange, and though he knew it was because you were special, he still was unclear as to why his feelings were that strong. 

For someone he just met. And barely knew. And only knew while drunk. 

You were just…Special. 

************

It was surreal. The all thing. 

What started as a night where you planned on wallowing your pain and drinking…ended up changing your life. 

And no one could convince you that it wasn’t Fate. Because what were the odds that Red Hood would fall through YOUR window after tripping (yeah you didn’t buy that “fighting super-villains thing” at all) ?

What were the odds of his timing being so perfect, arriving just before you started to cry ? Because there was no doubt in your mind that if he had come a few seconds later, he wouldn’t have stayed. 

He would have found a crying mess, and maybe he would have tried to confort you but…You wouldn’t have answered. In your “sad phase”, you only cry and whine. He would have eventually left. And the wonderful talk you’d just have, would never have happened. 

But instead. He came right before your lips touch that fatal shot of tequila that would have brought you into the “sad phase”. And took your drunkness down a notch. Rerouted your evening. 

You weren’t wallowing anymore, you were ranting. 

Sharing your anger and frustration. 

And he helped you realize that your ex wasn’t that perfect…That maybe it was just not meant to be…After all, he cheated on you. 

Uh. What a shame. You didn’t even know his name…”Red Hood”…

You wished you knew his name. 

************

The morning lights were rising, and the bottle of tequila was long gone. 

There were still salt and lemons though. For some reason, you decided to buy the entire grocery store’s stock of lemons. 

Red Hood stood up, and said he had to go. 

He was nice about it. Said it was a pleasure to have spend the night with you. You both laughed about the innuendos that ensued. 

You were exactly on the same page. And he understood all your joke referencing to pop culture… 

But it was time for him to go. And he apparently had no intention of telling you his real name. He didn’t hint either at ever coming back to see you again. 

And there was that. Just a nice night, spend talking to a genuine friend that you’ll never see again. 

A genuine friend that you didn’t even know a few hours before. 

Maybe it was the alcohol speaking. Maybe not. 

And even if you ended up never seeing him again, this evening truly changed your life…At least, it saved you from a heartbreak. Made you realize it wasn’t that.

Though, now, as he climbs out of the window again (he couldn’t possibly use the front door), you feel like the actual heartbreak is starting. 

Grandma’s remedy against heartbreak ? Right. 

Salt, tequila, lemon…

But the tequila is all gone. 

“I’ll send someone to fix that window…Sorry again about that. …Bye.” are his last words, and then he’s out. 

And the tequila is all gone. 

************

… 

…

…

…

Days pass by in a blur. 

Salt. Tequila. Lemon. 

Ugh. But you don’t want to this time. You don’t want to get drunk to forget. 

You don’t want to forget him. And you know it’s ridiculous to get that worked up over a guy you met one night and that will never come back. That you didn’t even know the name of. 

This entire night was weird anyway. 

Getting drunk with a dangerous night vigilante. Pouring your heart out to him, and him doing the same. The hell were you even thinking ? 

Salt. Tequila. Lemon. 

That would be a good idea to do this right now, because man…your heart hurt. More than when you discovered your ex sleeping with Nicole. From accounting. But you can’t resolve yourself to drink. To forget. Nope. Instead you…

*Knock knock knock*. 

Uh ? You take a quick look at your clock in the kitchen.10 pm. Who the hell is coming at 10 pm ?! It can only be bad news. Especially in Gotham…You peep into the eyehole and…

WHAT ?! 

You open your door quickly, and… 

“Told you I’d send someone to fix your window.” 

It’s him. It’s Red hood. But in…civilian clothes. 

His ass doesn’t look flat in jeans. 

He’s holding a window wrapped in cardboard, and there’s a toolbox at his feet. 

“Yeah, you did…come in.” 

************

Jason Todd. 

That’s his name. And connections are fast to be made in your brain. Jason Todd. Bruce Wayne’s adopted son. That supposedly died…ten years ago. 

And is Red Hood now. Oh. It makes sense. Even his little “killing criminals” thing while Batman never killed. You easily put two and two together. 

Red Hood. Jason Todd. Bruce Wayne. 

Wow. Can’t believe you never guessed that before. Of course Bruce Wayne is Batman. He’s got the motive, the means, the excuses…It’s so obvious. And yet, you never realized. And no one else in Gotham ever realized. 

Jason Todd. 

Now you know his name. 

And he’s fixing your window. Nobody ever fixed windows for you before (even those who broke it).

Um. To add to the “perfect man” list : “Handy”. 

Jason Todd.  

He quickly works the window up, and then he turns to you. While he was working you talked, as if you knew each other for years. Joking around. Like old friends. Like old extremely good and close friends. 

It fits. It clicks. It’s natural. You and him, him and you. 

Barely knowing each others, and yet knowing each others the best. 

Jason. Todd. 

He turns to you now, and with a smirk, he says : 

“Ya know, my grandma always say that when something good happens to you, you need to celebrate. And I feel like this, right now, you and I, though I have no idea what we’re doing and where it’s going…Well it’s still something to celebrate. And she always says, my grandma, that to celebrate perfectly you need…” 

You smile. 

Yeah. You don’t know where this thing between you two is going, but you do know that you never met someone who so fully understood you. 

And in such a short span of time. And you know you’re not mistaking. It’s a feeling too strong to be a mistake. 

He came back to fix your window for god’s sake. And trusted you enough to tell you his actual name. Without a second thought. Which meant everything. Especially since from all the hint he let slip through last time you saw each others, about his father, well…let’s just say telling people his real name wasn’t really something he was used to. 

But it just works. It fits. It clicks. It’s not like with your ex, because you don’t think you know it does. It just does. The fact that you say those next few words in perfect sync finishes to convince you : 

(“…And she always says, my grandma, that to celebrate perfectly you need…”) 

“Salt, tequila, and lemons.” 

______________________________________________

I’m so mad the Tumblr app crashed and I deleted the original post...Y’all were great and reblogged the hell out of it ! Which is why it got so many notes in such a short span of times. And feedbacks. I haven’t had that many feedbacks on a story in a long time. So just one last time and I won’t bother you with that again : Please, if you enjoyed this story, don’t hesitate to reblog it and share it with others. People who don’t follow me can’t really find my stories anymore so...you’re a big help by spreading them. It’s always very encouraging. 

And if you got the time, feedbacks are always hella appreciated and always make my day a little brighter <3. 

[bladekindeyewear]

Freed up some time, actually!  Gonna blog the new pages of HS^2.  Liveblogging resume...

FYI, the post I glimpsed that alerted me to the fact that new pages exist had a translucent screenshot of Brain Ghost Dirk on it, so I know that at least is in store for me.  Makes sense; a way to involve Dirk’s voice obnoxiously heavily even when he’s too far away to narrate.  And ties into this... chapter(?) name, of course.  Chapters, huh?

> CHAPTER 1. Ghostflusters

God. Damnit.

Could we NOT???  No?

Fuck you, Dirk.  I blame you for this.

So we have greenery, a can-city and Sburb-legal human house mix... some sorta cow-looking thing from far away in the front yard...

The void resounds. Space seizes and warps as the bounds of relevance erode away to nothing but the wishful nostalgia of times passed. There is a hole in the middle of the universe, and it is hungry.

All very literally true.

But the denizens of this particular iteration of Earth C don’t know it. All of this is just business as fucking usual for a planet plagued by war, continuous inclement ghost weather, and the general malaise of being absolutely severed from canon.

--oh, FUCK.  This isn’t the new planet, this is Candy timeline Earth.  I didn’t wanna come back here!  :C

I guess that explains most of the content warnings.  Except fucking ALCOHOLISM.  Gee, thanks for adding THAT to the Candy timeline, as if it wasn’t fucked over enough!!!  Bluh.

I thought the closing lines of the Epilogue were that after RoboDave, Aradia and alt!Callie dove out of the Candyverse inside the singularity, the black-hole timelines and Dirk’s presumably-still-”relevant” nonsense weren’t going to collide with each other again?  So... why are we seeing this?  Is there going to be MORE influence like that, and the ending line was just fancy-talk?  Is it just an irrelevant little follow-up to Candy to show things turning out okay or pseudo-okay, like an epilogue to the epilogue?  Or is some of this Dirk nonsense presumably within the bounds of some sort of canon going to still have some last bit of influence on this so-called non-canon timeline?

That last one would make sense, given that it echoes how Homestuck^2′s dubious canonicity would still have definite influence on fanworks outside of canon.  Right?

Let me pull that last line from the epilogues again--

...where’s the Epilogues’ log, this is getting kind of hard to find with all their reorganization... fuck, I had to guess at the URL even.  Here we go, the last page of Meat...

The hole leaves behind an absence in the sky so calm that continuing to call it a sky wouldn’t seem to do it justice. It’s a perfectly neutral expanse into which anything one can imagine might be summoned. And for a while, anything was. But not anymore. Where the hole gaped just moments ago, there now exists an imaginary line.

Above this line resides all that matters. Below exists all else. Never again the twain shall meet.

...Right.  This implies that Canon and Non-Canon shall never meet again.  BOTH ways.  Doesn’t quite gel with the fact that we’re cutting back here--

Oh.

This is about Jake and Brain Ghost Dirk isn’t it.  I noticed his name down further on the page.  THAT’S why we’re cutting back here.

So, Canon and Non-Canon aren’t exactly meeting... not for anything relevant, anyway.  But we’re using Candy Jake’s visibility of Brain Ghost Dirk to get a better idea of Dirk’s broader self and plans through a splinter of him?  While getting another glimpse into how the post-epilogue Candy timeline is going for our, er... “curiosity”?  Is that it?

Hm.  I guess that doesn’t count as the twain “meeting”... I’ll just keep reading now.

They spend their days absorbed in the petty and pointless pursuits of “having jobs” and “raising families” and “falling in love”.

Is this Dirk’s narrator voice?  This sounds like something the current megalomaniacal Dirk would say.

I’m not going to quote the rest of the text’s further reminders of how Jane has been made into an absolutely fucked-over asshole in every timeline except the one where she grew old to open a Joke shop, adopt Dad, die, get prototyped and timeline-doubled, then mysteriously disappear from any mention in the Epilogues as if the Sprites were just forgotten about completely eventually.

> (==>)

Oooh, using the less-relevance-surrounding-parens that were used on retconned ghost!Vriska back in Homestuck proper to denote our presence in the non-canon Candy timeline? How handy!

Not a far-away cow, then.

John has been an incredible pal, opening up his home to Jake and his son on such short notice, and even offering him a pair of pants, as well as a shirt that he has so far neglected to put on.

Alright, that got a chuckle from me.

John’s house doesn’t have air conditioning.

What the flying fuck.

...Ah, John’s been away patching things up with Roxy some more, I presume.

It, like the rest of his assets, is in her name. She’d seen to that as soon as they were married.

Life players and assets, huh?  Always gotta be hoggin’ em.

He hasn’t seen much of Tavros today either, but that’s not unusual. He’s probably out with his kismesis, the one he thinks Jake doesn’t know about.

Huh.  Maybe Candy’s young Vriska?  Couldn’t get the real Tavros with your main self, so your alternate nigh-clone self settled with a human by the same name?  Or one of the other kids we heard of from this ‘verse..?

> (==>)

Jake’s hot man-bod cropped out of this image to avoid titillating my readers too much.

(Tumblr keeps jumping back to the top of my post after I add images and I keep thinking the title reads “Ghostfuckers”.)

Jake washes the dirt out from under his fingernails, and his eyes fall on the bottle still sitting on the counter. John had opened it, but together they’d barely touched the stuff. Jake had promised him and Tavvy he’d dry up his act and all, but... well.

God damnit.  If this is still Dirk-voiced narration -- I’m not sure it can be, now I think about it, as he’s supposed to be “out of range” or something, unless non-canon is just malleable like that, which wouldnt be surprising (or Dirk’s splinter’s presence allows it) -- he could literally be inducing or writing in Jake’s drinking problem just to hurt him more.  You can’t really put an overstep that assholish past Prince Dirk the way he’s gotten to be.

There was another ask in my inbox insisting that Dirk wasn’t going to stay the true villain here, if only as some sort of karmic revenge for declaring his self-importance... but I still don’t think that’s the case.  For one, Dirk HASN’T declared himself the villain... he still can’t see how fucked-up and unjustified his trampling over of everyone’s wills IS.  Shadows of recognition... but not really.  He really honestly believes he has the fucking RIGHT to do what he’s doing.

(Which is, incidentally -- to answer another ask -- why there’s basically NO chance that Rose has some sort of control or recognition of her situation under the surface, and is playing Dirk, as another person hopefully surmised.  No.  She really IS being unknowingly steered away from personal growth and recognition of the thought-control she’s under... because nothing less could feel as horrible to us.)

Part of the entire POINT of Homestuck and its Riddle was to show that these crazy kids, if they put their wills to it, always had the potential to be the literal Gods of the world around them.  That when ordinary people grasp the will and drive to shape the world around them, they can turn everything back from the brink of destruction... or vice versa.  Thus, it’s only appropriate that a player from this game could become a villain more disgusting than any we’d imagined in the series so far.  What he’s been doing -- writing twisted sorrow directly into the lives and experiences of those around him, nurturing their worst, most power-hungry tendencies (Rose) and deceiving them more directly than Doc Scratch (who was PART Dirk) ever did, making a JOKE of their free will in a more terribly direct way than ANY have been shown onscreen to do?? It IS, and is MEANT to be, the worst we have EVER seen in Homestuck.  Not as clumsy and from-the-outside as Lord English, but just as blatantly direct.  Not as easy to ignore or mistake as Doc Scratch’s horrible, intentional Prince-of-Hearty worsening of the players, instead just as impossible to gloss-over as it is to bear witness to.  That very TITLE, “Prince of Heart”, can embody the very ANTITHESIS of the Ultimate Riddle itself, robbing EVERYONE of their ability to shape not just the world around them, but even so much as themselves or their very thoughts.  When used the way Dirk is using it RIGHT NOW, anyway.  And his ambition is to impose this on all of Paradox Space.

There COULD be another villain, later.  But I can’t imagine a single one more appropriate.  And Andrew’s just the type to use one of the Striders, both practically self-inserts of parts of his personality and presence, as that ultimate villain to be overcome in a story about escaping Canon, too.

Turning his ex into an alcoholic just for his own self-satisfaction?  In a side timeline where Jake didn’t even try a relationship with him again and finally had a chance to grow up happy in SOME universe?  I wouldn’t put it past him, and you shouldn’t either.

Moving on.

> (==>)

Eugh.  I just... don’t want to think about him being an alcoholic on TOP of everything else.  As if there wasn’t enough to deal with in Candy already.

> (==>)

Hm?

> (==>)

The jungle air is heavy, humid, and familiar. Twenty years on and the thick drag into his lungs settles on him in a blanket of nostalgia, reassuring in its discomfort.

Hm.  Is this his fantasy, or a view of him in another timeline?

He is deeper in the jungle than he’d ever venture in his waking hours. There were places on his island that not even his Gran would tread, and she’d been the bravest person he’d ever known.

Hmm.  So he even knows it’s a dream, but is still in control...

Jake doesn’t recognize anything. The jungle of his dreams is wild and unknown, and there are things moving in the dense undergrowth.

...Hhhuh.  Still not sure what to think of this yet.

A sudden wind thrashes the canopy. There are pine needles in his mouth. There aren’t any pine needles in the jungle.

Very Dream, then.

> (==>)

--Yup.

> (==>)

Yoink--

> (==>)

JAKE: Yes you are i know that much. I saw your body! I carried your coffin chock full of all those stupid fucking swords! DIRK: Nope. JAKE: Dont nope me mister!

They would pile all those shitty swords into his coffin, yeah.

Anyway, now to see how much Prince Dirk is in this Dirk.  And if he’s in one mind with himself or has the slightest chance of feeling rebellious.

JAKE: I know a dead dirk when i see one! DIRK: Sure you do. But that wasn’t me. Are you really surprised to find out I got a couple of spares? JAKE: So what youre saying is you arent my dirk. DIRK: ...That is a whole ‘nother conversation that we really don’t have time for, pertaining to exactly who or what ‘your dirk’ actually constitutes. DIRK: Do you mean the Dirk from your timeline? DIRK: Then yes, that Dirk is dead. DIRK: If you mean the Dirk that you fucked and then ghosted, no, I’m not your Dirk. DIRK: If you mean the Dirk that you felt closest to, that you really knew--

...well, this Dirk still knows how to be a presumptuous, pushy creep.  :(

JAKE: Ahhh! Brain ghost dirk! DIRK: In the ghosty flesh. JAKE: Crumbs bro where have you been? JAKE: I could have used someone on my side! JAKE: You just disappeared one day without even the odd toodaloo to mark your passing! DIRK: That isn’t strictly true. I did disappear, but it was in a catastrophic blaze of hope-drenched pathos. I even threw out a couple one-liners. DIRK: But you wouldn’t remember that. JAKE: Because...it was a different dirk? DIRK: No, a different Jake.

Hhhuh.  So in the claymation-reproduced Lord English stagefight -- or, maybe more likely, the pre-retcon Aranea-induced Game Over timeline -- he was too washed out by hopesplosions to manifest properly?

DIRK: Until recently there’s been a shortage of ambient narrative relevance for Dirks, since one particular motherfucker has been sucking it all up like a thirsty little twink at his first interspecies rave.

Hm!  So Prince Dirk has been making it so other splinters of himself have really limited ability to influence, huh?  Guess that’s a sort of price for the narrative-hijacking power he’s attained.  Wonder how this Dirk really feels about that.

> (==>)

--Pff.  He’s certainly not shy about letting Jake know he shouldn’t trust him, though!  That’s a good sign.

I’ll split the post here for a bit.  Seems we’re about halfway through this upd8 from the look of the log.

[afewmarvelousthoughts]

Stay Ch. 16

Master List

Pairing: Natasha X Reader (Female)

Summary: You have a gift, the ability to see other people’s innermost secrets. For years you used it to gather intel for the highest bidder when you take on The Widow. After she becomes more than a mark the two of you spend years stealing moments. Post snap you wait in your designated meeting place, look back on the sordid past you share with the woman you love and hope against everything that she’s still alive.

Warnings: Angst, and fluff, and feels oh my!

A/N:  So yeah I swear I wroth an authors note for this... but idfk what happened. 

ANYWAY! Thank you all for being so patient while I got my life together. This one is also short and sweet (guess that’s the mood I’m in). However, y’all should know me by now. This is just the calm before the storm. 

Hope you enjoy this one my pumpkins! 

Tags are open!

@mywinterwolf  @disagreetoagree  @breezy1415  @peachthatdrinkslemonade  @5aftermidnight@jeromethepsycho  @marvel-randomness  @daniellajocelyn  @katecolleen  @yanginginthere@wonderlandmind4 @piensa-bonito @for-the-love-of-the-fandom @lesbian-girls-wayhaught @siriuslycloudy2

March 2007

At some point in the last five months, you’d stopped recognizing yourself. The woman in the mirror wasn’t Y/N. Her hair was different, down to even the eyebrows. Her accent distinctly that of a life long Londoner. She worked for an independent UK couture fashion magazine, chose wine over whiskey, and was distinctly heterosexual.

When the chance to work this job requiring deep cover came up in December you jumped on it. You didn’t want to be you anymore. The you that couldn’t be with the woman you loved. The you that was heartbroken. The you who was beginning to doubt that you’d ever be happy. Fuck her.

Being Charlie Daniels was far better. She was, of course, a real person. Just one who was now living comfortably in the Bahamas courtesy of MI6. Even legit agencies had use of freelance talent every now and then.

Settling into her life had been easy. Not setting her boss on fire or blowing his brains out daily was a different task altogether. Turned out that a magazine was a great front for a crime empire. Lots of international travel, young and beautiful and desperate men and women, money exchanged in countless untraceable ways, on and on. And this fucker was happy to take advantage of every single disgusting avenue it opened up.

You almost had everything you needed to hand to MI6, get your obscenely large payout, and get on to another gig while they threw all of these bastards into cells to rot for the rest of their miserable lives. Just one more trip. After whatever horrible things they lay out in Tokyo you’ll be set.

Tokyo is one of those cities you can lose yourself in. Like New York but better for its interesting balance of vibrancy and grounded reserve. You absolutely love it.

The whole point of the trip, at least on the surface, was to focus on Fashion Week Tokyo. Honestly, there was a part of you that wished this was your world. Nothing but runway shows and after parties. Writing about the latest trends rather than delving into the inner workings of the worlds miscreants

Oh well. It was nice enough to pretend. You had to admit that you’d miss Charlie Daniels once you shed this skin in a couple of weeks.

You’re sitting two people down from your boss at an underground show. The level of security here screams that there are other things going on behind the scenes but it’s still a room filled with a who’s who of the Japanese and international fashion communities.

This was your third show of the day, and you knew there would be a party after where you’d have to schmooze all while plucking information from your unsuspecting fellow guests. You’re exhausted. So rather than pay much attention to the show you let your mind wander.

When she walks out you feel her rather than see her.  Slowly you turn your head to stare dumbstruck at the model walking onto the catwalk. Your heart begins beating against your ribs, your mouth goes dry, your hands shake.

It takes every ounce of control you have to keep your emotions in. To not scream “Natasha!” at the top of your lungs. To not grab her and run for the hills. Charlie Daniels and her easy life be damned. It’s hard but you manage.

As she turns and comes back down, passing now closer to you, her eyes don’t graze  the crowd at all. Head up, shoulders back, she walks the runway like she’d been doing it for years.

The rest of the show is maybe ten minutes but it feels like years. You know the models are all attending the party. Eye candy for the high end guests.

It’s fairly easy to ditch your coworkers in the crowd as you try to find the best vantage point in the room without being too obvious. After a solid twenty minutes, you find yourself planning an escape route. Most of the models are milling about but she’s no where to be seen. You will find her.

But you know you can’t skip out just yet. At the bar, you order a red wine and make yourself seen. Charlie would never miss the whole party after all. You spend a bit chatting with designers and a few models, feigning interest in the whole thing until you hear your boss call out to you.

“Oy, Charlie!” Carl’s voice alone makes you want to put him down. When you turn he’s waving you over to the bar. Sighing heavily you head over.

You’re about ten feet away when you see her, head back laughing at something Carl or his friend had said. Both men are far to close to her for your liking and the hungry look on Carl’s face sets your blood boiling.

He slings an arm around your shoulders and you carefully coach your face to not show disgust. “Charlie here is my best writer. Doin’ some pieces for us on this whole thing,” he waves his other hand around wildly.

“Good to meet ya, Charlie, I’m Dan,” the other man, clearly American says.

“Likewise,” Natasha doesn’t react to the accent at all.

“This here is-”

“Natalie,” Natasha cuts him off, extending a hand to you. Holding her eyes with yours you take it. It’s like touching a live wire.

“Natalie is an American model working here in Japan. May be a good topic for a piece.” He ribs you leaning closer, “And a good piece for the office eh?” Suddenly that MI6 money seems far less appealing.

“I’d love that,” Natasha beams. “Why don’t you guys go mingle and Charlie and I can chat!” The men exchange a glance, but there’s plenty of fresh meat around to sink their teeth into.

Carl flashes you a greasy smile and a wink as he walks away. Thinking clearly that you’re going to snare this woman for him. You, unfortunately, had a few others. Not something you were proud of. Demands of the job you told yourself.

“She’ll take a vodka neat,” you tell the bartender.

“Yes,” Natasha smiles at him, “Whiskey for her. Makers if you have it.” He thinks nothing of it and makes your drinks.

“So, how’s modeling in Japan?”

“Probably about as good as writing for a sleazy jackal.”

You laugh, “That bad? What’s the goal.”

“Getting a cover,” you commend the clever word play.

“That’s a good goal. Long term?”

“Something like that.” She takes a sip of her vodka, “How long are you here?”

“End of the week.” Your skin itches to touch her. The men are rounding back. You hold her gaze and shift your eyes back to them. She catches on.

“Perfect! It’s so hard to have a good interview here, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely. Why don’t you come by my hotel?” You whip out your spare key card. “I’d love to get your story for the mag, maybe do a full feature.”

“A feature would be excellent exposure!”

“Wouldn’t it?” Carl slides up next to her. “We can get you all the exposure you could want Ms. Natalie.”

“Charlie was telling me all about it.” She flashes him a coy smile. “Thank you so much Charlie! I forgot I have a late fitting tonight for another show so I’ve got to run. But we’ll chat soon yeah?”

“Absolutely! It was so good to meet you Natalie.”

“Same! Bye!” She hurries through the crowded room and disappears.

“Busy girl.” Carl quips. “Whiskey?” You look down at the glass by your hand.

“Some guy sent them over,” you gesture to Natasha’s lipstick stained glass. “Seemed rude to refuse. Can’t stand the stuff though.”

“That’s a mans drink,” Carl laughs at his own perceived joke and you force a smile.

Somehow you make it through the rest of the evening. You’d refused to allow yourself to hope that she’d be here, too obvious to come the same night, better to wait. Kicking off your shoes you head straight to the mini bar and crack open a whiskey, downing it in one gulp.

“You really need to be more careful,” Natasha’s voice comes from the bathroom. “I mean not even checking around. Sloppy.”

“Charlie Daniels doesn’t have to check for Russian assassins in her bathroom,” a smile pulls your face so tight it hurts.

“Well, Natalie Rushman isn’t a Russian spy. So…”

You let your real accent resurface as you pull her into your arms, “Natalie Rushman, I don’t know if that’s clever or lazy.” She kisses you hard, tongue sliding over your lips hands gripping your ass.

“Mmm,” she hums. “Kinda like the accent.”

“Oh?” You revert to the clipped posh Londoner sound. “Would you rather be with Charlie? I hate to break it to you, she’s strictly into dick so you may need to get a bit creative.”

Natasha’s head falls back with laughter, “I’m always into a challenge but,” she cups your face in her hands, “I’d much rather Y/N, she’s got a cute accent too.” Your kiss is soft this time, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, honey.” Gently you push a strand of hair out of her face. “Is this smart? Are you gonna get-”

“I’m good. I wouldn’t be here if I thought there was risk.” She pulls away and tugs you toward the bed. “There’s no surveillance on me here, I check in every week, that’s it. This is strictly to build a cover.”

“Cover for what?” She gives you a sideways glance. “Right. National security.”

“Do you really want to talk about work?”

Smirking at her you push her back on the bed. “Maybe later.”

You lean down to her but she stops you by planting a strappy heel in the center of your chest. Trailing your fingers down her leg you snag a knife from her thigh holster. Carefully you slide the blade under the straps, the incredibly sharp edge cuts through the thin suede like it’s nothing.

“Those were very expensive you know,” eyes sparkling with desire.

You slip the shoe off and toss it aside. “I’ll buy you a new pair.” Your lips press against her ankle.  

Everything in your life until her was so fleeting. Even your own name, the sound of your own voice, who you were… But with her, you were grounded. You weren’t anything but her’s, you were Y/N.

Suddenly you’re overwhelmed. Caressing her muscular calf you just stare at her eyes. Emerald green, dark liner, lids heavy with lust and exhaustion.

“Natasha…” Your voice cracks and you fight for composure.

“Y/N? What is it?” She shoots up, cradling your face in her hands.

You shake your head, unable to really find the words and unwilling to send this storm of emotions to her. “I just…” You cover her hands with your own. It’s not that you don’t want her, you do. But…

“Can we just… I just wanna hold you…” Her expression immediately softens, eyes sparkling a touch with tears. “Sorry… I… I just…”

“I’d love that, baby.” Tenderly her lips brush yours, then your cheeks, your forehead, your eyelids as they flutter closed.

You shed your clothes and crawl into the plush bed. Holding tight to one another you spend hours drifting in and out of sleep, covering the other with soft kisses. Before the sun rises your hands wander southward.

This time you don’t fuck one another senseless. It feels like you’re trying to memorize every curve, every sound, every subtle thing that marks being together. You both know you many not get to do this for some time. The knowledge aches but it doesn’t make having her any less sweet.

Post Snap

You lean your head back on the wall behind the booth. The crying man from last night is gone, you find yourself hoping that he’s resting peacefully somewhere… even though you know it’s pointless to hope for such things.

There are more people filling the bar than there was before. The TVs are off, radios turned up, reporters frantically trying to determine what happened. It was global, that was clear. All planes grounded, trains stopped, communications spotty due to damaged cell towers.

A man speaks frantically to someone who seems to be a friend that he was heading to Nuremberg from Budapest, how the roads are almost not navigable. He doesn’t know if his family is even still there but he has to find out.

Despite his distress, your lips curl a bit at the mention of Budapest.

[dirt-cup-draco]

Ardeth x Reader

•Pretty please could you do one with Ardeth where it’s set in the first Mummy and during the fiasco with the Medjai trying to stop them from waking Imhotep, read gets shot in the thigh by one of the Medjai on accident and Ardeth helps her get better and Evie and Rick tease her about it?•

Jonathon immediately started sipping at the twelve year old scotch whisky hed found in the satchel from the warden. You took the bottle from him a second later and took a swig of your own, being careful to avoid the broken part of the bottle.

The fire light danced over everyone's features and you couldnt help but notice that Rick seemed tense. He stared into the flame and exhaled heavily.

"Turns out the others had some misfortune of their own, three of their men were melted," he grimaced at the last part and Evy's eyebrows drew to the middle of her forehead.

"Maybe this place really is cursed," Jonathon supplied, taking the bottle back from your grip to help nurse his sudden anxiety. You stuck your tongue out at him.

You'd come along with the Carnahan siblings in their wild journey, Jonathon being one of your most difficult but treasured friends. You loved the both of them but now you felt some small kernel of regret and found yourself wishing at every sign of danger that youd stayed in the comfort of the library.

You realized your mind had gone elsewhere and your gaze set on the flickering flames because when you zoned back in everyone was gone. Your heart restricted with nervous energy and you quickly rose to your feet. You looked over the ruins and believed you heard shouting.

You paced in the sand for a few seconds but knew if something was happening you couldnt stay at your little camp in good conscious. What if your friends were in trouble? You walked down the path quickly but the closer you got to the violence the more you slowed.

You wouldnt be any use to anyone dead you told yourself but you knew you were scared, flinching at every gunshot and shout. The Medjai galloped around cutting down men just as fast as your people shot them off their horses.

With a quick scan of your eyes you found Jonathon ducked behind a slab of stone, gun in hand. You came to sit next to him and he whipped around suddenly, startled by your presence. In his excitement he squeezed the trigger, his shaky hands and loose grip setting the bullet into your shoulder.

It took you a minute to register what was going on. There was a loud noise and some tight pull in your skin and then you were on the ground. You blinked slowly and shook your head but then Jonathon was touching your face and squishing your cheeks and begging you to be alright.

You began to sit up but a sharp ache in that same shoulder stopped you. "I um... sort of shot you, Y/N, sorry about that," with Jonathon's lame apology you finally thought to look at your arm. Blood had seeped into your nice top and you meant to berate Jonathon but instead your eyes rolled back and you were gone.

You woke up some odd hours later, an ache in your limbs and temple. Evy's hand was clasping onto yours and she beamed when you looked her way. "Oh thank god you're awake!" She then got up, asking you to stay put.

You looked around to see you were propped against your bags and blankets with one across your lap. You were in a man's shirt and you assumed it was one of your friends'. A second later she Evy was back with the two men and another you didnt recognize.

He was the first to go to your side, his face was calculating and he sat next to you his fingers going straight to the buttons on your shirt. "H-hey!" You said, smacking his hand away.

His dark eyes rolled and he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "I'm checking your wound," his voice was steady and warm, grounding. You pouted because now you'd embarrassed yourself in front of him.

"What in gods name happened?" Jonathon looked to the ground in shame and rubbed the back of his neck but it was Rick who spoke up. "You got shot, Jonathon came to use for help. The Medjai had made their warning clear so they started to leave but Ardeth, with some convincing, agreed to help us out and treat your wound,"

Had Jonathon told them he was the one to do it? Most troublesome friend indeed.

"This does not mean our warning is any less. O'Connell." Ardeth growled and you shivered. "If Imhotep rises you will all be at fault for the destruction and death that follows.

The room went silent with the weight of his words but you cleared your throat. Your cheeks heated as you looked him in his eyes and you were sure you could get lost in them but he went back to prodding at your shoulder. "Thank you," he simply nodded.

Your friends went off but Ardeth got you knew bandages and you talked to him as he made sure you were going to be okay. He rarely spoke back and you felt disheartened.

"Soon enough it will only be a scar. Your friend may have been careless but it went straight through and missed any bone or arteries. Quite lucky Miss Y/N."

You nodded in response and now he looked a little upset. "Dont fret, you are not in any danger from this at least," was he trying to comfort you?

You blushed and sighed "Thank you Ardeth, your words are comforting. I'm more afraid of what is to come though. My friends are stubborn... I dont think your warning will work.

His jaw tensed but he rested his warm palm against your cheek. "You are probably correct. I too have worries over what hell Imhotep will bring with him if he truly does rise," his statement surprised you almost as much as his sign of affection.

You leaned into his warm hand and he brushed his thumb across your cheek. "I think I like you more than your friends, I wish you well. Stay safe miss Y/N and please try not to get shot again.

"I hope I see you again," you admitted.

His lips quirked up. "Hopefully under different circumstances," and then he was gone.

Rick and Evy were the first up. "He feels really bad Y/N, he probably wont come back for a little bit" she said when you asked why her bother wasnt with her. You supposed he had to get over his guilt, youd forgiven him already, it would make a funny story at least.

The two talked amongst themselves and their flirting masked by bickering nearly killed you so you stared at the miles of sand and you wondered where Ardeth might be at this moment. Nearby of course, or at least you hoped.

"She looks like a love sick puppy," Rick commented to Evy but you didnt seem to notice.

[magioftheseas]

Day 1 - Reserve

Written for @the-hinata-project 

Prompt: Reserve Course Student Hinata

Rating: G

Warnings: Lowkey manipulation and insecurity, but other than that, not much.

Notes: Alright, so I’m still in the middle of these, but like... Here’s the first one! They’re all going to be pretty short, around 2K but I’m gonna do my best to finish all of them so wish me luck...! And this first fic is gen. No ships. Next ones won’t be so gen. It’s also pre-HPA. Kind of.

***Alternate Ao3 Link***

Commission? Donate?

The last wish he made on New Year’s was a simple one.

I want to get into Hope’s Peak.

But of course that  would never happen.

“Can’t you dream more realistically, Hajime? Do you have any idea how expensive Hope’s Peak actually is? We can’t afford that.”

“I... I know that, but...”

“If you know then why are you burdening us with this? Please. Just think about other people besides yourself for once.”

“...sorry.”

His mother sighs, but ruffles his hair in a show of affection.

“You current high school isn’t so bad, right? You can make good friends here, and it’s a fine school.”

“I guess it’s...decent,” he mumbles.

“Just don’t even worry about Hope’s Peak anymore,” she tells him. “It’s impossible, and it can’t be helped. Keep your chin up. Okay?”

“...fine...”

Because he knew, after all, that she had a point. They couldn’t afford it. And he wasn’t talented. It was a pipe dream to attend. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Still...

--

For his birthday, he was given a new laptop to replace the old. It was a fairly recent model. Pretty expensive. Likely compensation. He can’t say he didn’t like it.

He wasn’t ungrateful. He doesn’t think so.

It’s just that I admire Hope’s Peak more than anything.

So much so that he finds himself on the forums first thing.

>Does anyone have any idea who’s going to be in the upcoming batch?

>They haven’t finished scouting, right? Oh, but I just saw on the news that an actual princess was accepted! Hope’s Peak really can get in anyone!

>Wow, actual royalty?!

>There’s this photographer I follow. She’s getting in, too, I’m pretty sure.

>I just saw Saionji Hiyoko-san’s performance last week. I’m positive she’s getting in.

>I’m more interested in the princess. Can you imagine how lucky it would be to meet an actual princess?

>>They’ll be running the lottery in a month or so. What I would give to have more of a chance...

>Wow, they’re doing that again?

>With how much getting into the reserve course costs, you probably have a better chance with the lottery...

>But if you win the lottery, you’re actually considered talented. Reserves are just...y’know, reserves.

>But you’ll get to meet the princess, potentially. I think the money’s worth it, even if all I can do is steal a glance!

>Still... Seems so lame that you can just pay your way in...

>But brand name recognition is pretty powerful...

>>I heard you can actually get into the main course from the reserve course if you do well enough.

>No way! That’s a pipe dream! Maybe if you paid like, twice as much!

>Must be nice to be rich, huh...

Hinata stares, wondering what to type, but also letting the thoughts swirl around in his head.

>>I would do anything to get into Hope’s Peak. But my family just can’t afford that.

>Yeah, mine neither. Who actually can?

>You’d be surprised... They’re getting a lot of enrollments.

>You can’t like...get a scholarship or anything? It’s not like you need to go to college after attending Hope’s Peak.

>Well the golden gates can’t open that wide, I suppose...

>It’s for the best. If just about anyone could get in, it wouldn’t be that special.

Hinata bites his lip, picking at the peeling skin with his teeth.

>>Still. I want to get in more than anything.

>If you aren’t talented, it can’t be helped.

>>I would give anything.

>Pffft. No kidding. I’d give an arm and a leg, probably.

>>I would give anything.

>A lot of people would.

>You’re like a super fan, huh. Well, I am, too, but still...

>>Getting into Hope’s Peak has always been my dream.

>Everyone wants to be special, man.

>But if everyone was special then no one would be special.

>It can’t be helped. You’re either born talented or you aren’t.

>Right?! I must have spent hours drawing but there was always that one person I could just never compare to. It’s hopeless!

>You shouldn’t say hopeless on the Hope’s Peak forums!

>Haha, sorry!

>>I’ve never been talented. There’s not one thing I’m particularly good at.

>Normie...

>>But I want to get into Hope’s Peak Academy... More than anything.

>Give it up. For your own good. Wishing for the impossible isn’t healthy.

>Hey, don’t tell him that! What if he ends up winning the lottery?

>Yeah, right!

>>I’m not particularly lucky, either.

>Luck’s not a talent anyway.

>Are you sure? I’ve known people who get ridiculously lucky while gambling...

>If they gamble too much, that luck’s bound to run out. And I bet they’re not that lucky, they just brag a lot.

>That might be true... Still it would be nice just to get into Hope’s Peak by chance...

>Whoever wins that lottery probably is ridiculously lucky considering how many people are participating. We’re talking like, every high school student in their first year in the country.

>Sucks to be other countries, huh.

>Maybe someday but for now, I like not having that much competition.

>Still a ridiculous amount competing...

>I bet it’ll be someone who can afford the reserve course if they haven’t already enrolled.

>No fair! That kind of thing should disqualify you immediately!

>>I just...want to get in...

>Yeah we all do. But it’s impossible.

>Impossible.

>Totally impossible.

>Pigs will fly first.

>I heard some Ultimates actually can make some crazy shit. We might see flying pigs pretty soon.

>That’s terrifying.

>>I just want to get in.

>You should get offline.

He should. He really, really should.

Is it really impossible?

“Of course it is,” he can practically hear them murmur. “Not only are you untalented, you can’t afford it! And you’re going to win the lottery, either!”

Hinata buries his face into his hands, shuddering.

I just... I just...

--

To his surprise, he later receives a DM. Shivering, he clicks it open.

>Would you really do anything for Hope’s Peak?

He doesn’t recognize the name of the sender but...it looks official.

>>Yes. Of course. Why?

>There actually is a program you can sign up for that will get you in without having to pay a coin.

Hinata blinked once. Twice.

It’s way too good to be true.

But he’s desperate. Beyond desperate.

>>What is this program? How can I sign up?

>Here’s the information.

--

What he’s about to do is how people get themselves abducted, he’s pretty sure. But right now, he’s desperate and... If it really was someone associated with Hope’s Peak, how bad can it be? What’s the worse than can happen?

I already have no chance getting in. I know that... But...

His heart was pounding as he took the train. He stared out the window, at HPA’s towering buildings in the distance, getting closer and closer, and he sucks in his breath.

It’s so shining that it hurts to look at.

Shining like a dream...

--

“Ah, Hinata-kun, you made it after all. So you have the necessary information?”

“Uh... Yes...” Truth be told, he didn’t understand most of it. There were a lot of words that were hard to read and pretty...advanced. “I just...well you said you couldn’t explain everything in just files, so...”

The other looked pretty professional. Sharply dressed and smiling in a way that at least seemed pretty welcoming. But...still pretty intimidating, considering the circumstances. Hinata ducked his head, feeling rather flustered.

“Yes, it’s meant to be kept very tightly under wraps, you see,” they laugh. “I need to assure confidentiality before explaining, Hinata-kun. Surely you understand.”

That’s...weird.

But it made his blood thrum with excitement to be a part of.

“I... Y-Yes, of course. Absolutely... Of course...”

“Sign this form, then, promising that.”

“O-Of course...!”

He scribbles down his signature without a second thought. The other smiled more, pleased. Hinata squirmed in his seat, and tried to keep his posture straight.

With that, the other sat across from him, polite and yet...expectant.

Ah... Hah...

“So you’re willing to do anything for this school,” they say, voice almost light but also dense with significance. “Might I ask why?”

“It’s...as I said on the forums,” Hinata mumbles, fiddling with his tie. Even dressed professionally for this would-be interview, he feels underdressed. “I’ve always admired this school. Always. It’s always been my dream to...to go there...”

The other nods, expression unchanged.

“And why do you wish so badly to go there, despite not having a talent that can be cultivated?”

Hinata flinched.

“T-That’s...! I...” He hesitates, but he soon finds the words just spilling out. “I just want to be someone I can be proud of. Someone who can stand tall. Be confident. Be significant. Isn’t that what I deserve?”

“Isn’t that what everyone deserves?”

Hinata’s nails dig into his palms.

“I admire Hope’s Peak...more than anyone. I will give whatever I can...and then more than that...if I have to.” His teeth grit. “Whatever it takes... W-Whatever it takes...!”

Even though I know it’s selfish and impossible, I just...!

He just wanted to be someone. Someone other than...this.

Unimportant. Unremarkable. A faceless, meaningless part of the mass. The idea of being consumed by mediocrity and insignificance for the rest of his life, never to matter, never to even be remembered, just to disappear, just like he never even existed—

“I’ll do...w-whatever...it takes...” He’s shaking, eyes wide and crazed. “Whatever it takes... Whatever I can...and then more than that...if I have to.”

“Ah. I see.” An easy smile. And yet, the atmosphere felt so heavy that it was near suffocating. “Very well then, Hinata-kun. That’s exactly the kind of attitude we’re looking for.”

Hinata lit up.

“R-Really?” He dares to let hope slip into his tone. “D-Do you really mean it?”

A nod.

“Hinata-kun... If you could be reborn from the faceless body of a miserable nobody into the world’s hope... Would you?”

“That...sounds too good to be true...” His heart really was racing, but he was flushed with excitement. “But... Y-Yeah... I... Of course...”

“Then, allow me to tell you about how that can be possible. If you agree, you’ll be accepted into the school, free of charge, no talent necessary. In fact, it’s even essential that you be talentless.”

I...don’t understand.

He doesn’t understand but it just sounds so incredible that he can’t help but be swayed.

“...tell me.”

“Very well.”

A folder of files is placed before him. They look too important to grasp. And the stamped out letters of CONFIDENTIAL stare back into his wide-eyed, shimmering gaze.

Fingers trembling, Hinata actually slices his finger open as he flips it open.

He doesn’t even feel the sting, as engrossed as he is in the text.

“I...”

The words swirl around in his head, over and over until he drowns in them.

“Do you need time to think about it?” the other asks him kindly. So kindly that Hinata is struck cold. “Tell you what... You can still get into the reserve course. You don’t have to say yes right away, and the deadline will be in a few months from now. You can attend classes here until then...and then make your decision on whether or not you’re willing to stay. Okay?”

“I... O-Okay.” Hinata swallows. “That’s... I’m okay with that.”

I said I’d do anything. And I do...want to do anything. But...

His hands are shaking while still gripping the files.

I can’t...let this chance slip by...even if it’s something like this. This is everything I ever wanted. Why am I even hesitating?

“It’s alright,” the other says reassuringly, taking the files away with ease. “Hinata-kun, I know you’ll make the best decision for yourself.”

For...myself. Myself...

“I...yes.”

“I’ll have them send in your acceptance letter and uniform.” His hand is shook, the grip warm and calloused. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Hinata-kun.”

“A-A pleasure... Yeah.”

Just like that, Hinata was stumbling out of Hope’s Peak, trembling and falling to pieces with every shaky step.

I have to do it, he can’t help but think. I have to do it, for...for myself...

This was going to be the year his life changed irreparably. He was sure of it.