#she was in a horrible situation I'd like to see you do better

[flower-boi16]

Apology Tour Made Blitz Do The Right Thing for The Wrong Reason

There's a common critique of Apology Tour I've seen regarding Verosika is that the fact that she went out of her way to create an entire annual party dedicated to shitting on her past ex makes her look overly obsessive. While at first glance I can see where this argument is coming from I'd like to disagree.

Blitzo has been frequently established as a fairly destructive person who thanks to his own self-hatred ends up hurting others and pushing them away, the fact that there's this many people in the party shows how destructive of a person Blitzo is, and we see that it's not just limited to his exes, but people in general who he hurt (like Dennis, for instance).

And Verosika is one of Blitz's later victims who Blitz bailed on after she told him she loved him, a very vulnerable moment for someone to be in, and that's the point where Blitz broke her heart. And so she created this party both out of spite for Blitz seeing how much of a horrible person he is and out of sympathy for his many victims who were just as heartbroken by him as she was. She created this party so she could help the people Blitz has hurt cope with what happened and heal from it, creating a sense of community amongst victims.

Apology Tour shows how much Blitzo damages people, how his self-destructive tendencies always end badly for both him AND his victim, leaving his victim broken and making him more broken, the fact there's a whole party made for the sole purpose of helping his victims cope shows that. And Blitz is forced to see how damaging of a person he truly is because of this...or at least, that's the route the episode should have taken.

Apology Tour is an episode with an absolutely fantastic set up with Blitz going to a party where he sees how many people he's damaged and chooses to start becoming a better person, but the problem is HOW the show gets him to see that. The show gets him to start to change himself...through Stolitz.

Blitzo realizes how he hurts others through seeing how he hurt Stolas, who Blitz previously just believed was some classist dick and nothing else only for Stolas to pour his heart out in a musical number, making Blitz realize that Stolas' feelings were genuine all this time and what he was saying to Stolas did, in fact, hurt him...

...at least that's how the writers want you to look at this scene. However, thanks to the general problems with Stolitz writing this development ends up falling flat on its face. The reason for why this development fails despite the perfect set up is because the show is holding Blitz accountable for something he isn't even in the wrong for in the first place. I've ranted about Stolitz many times before but I'll just repeat the same points because it's relevant for my argument here; Blitzo had no reason to ever think that Stolas' love for him was genuine.

Throughout the whole first season, Stolas consistently looked down upon and belittled Blitz, calling him demeaning pet names and always invading his boundaries even when Blitz says no, yet Stolas continues it anyway. YET, the show tries to paint Blitz as biased here because "oh he only hates Stolas for being a royal and is repressing his feelings for Stolas due to self-hatred" or some bullshit.

However, once you factor in the outside context, Blitz never comes across as biased here whenever he rants about Stolas, because he doesn't have a reason to believe Stolas has any genuine affection for him beyond some small, off-screen "nice things" he did for him, and even then, you can still look down upon someone while caring for them. The show wants to present Blitz as in the wrong here for "hurting Stolas' feelings" and being consumed in his bias, but that doesn't work because Blitz had no reason to believe that Stolas didn't look down on him when he literally did.

But despite Blitz not being in the wrong in the situation, he's portrayed as the abuser here and he's the one who apologizes to his abuser, and HE says that Stolas "deserves better than HIM", making Stolas out as the victim here in this situation when the context and framing say otherwise.

Speaking of Stolas, many people have torn him apart this episode already so I won't go that in-depth here, however, it's still relevant to my point. The episode portrays Stolas as sympathetic here when he isn't - in fact, Stolas comes across as extremely unsympathetic in this episode due to claiming that he "never looked down" upon Blitz despite doing that throughout all of season 1.

He THEN gets angry at Blitz for not saving him when Striker captured him even though 1. Blitz was busy and 2. HE LITERALLY SENT HIS CO-WORKERS TO SAVE YOU WHY TF ARE YOU MAD???

Stolas doesn't have a legitimate reason to be angry at Blitz due to the outside context - instead, all of his interactions with Blitzo in this episode come across as him playing the victim and gaslighting him. And All 2 U is the pure culmination of this. A song that is supposed to be the moment where Blitz realizes his mistakes instead comes across as Blitz being repeatedly gaslighted and guilt-tripped into apologizing to his abuser.

HE is treated as the problem, HE is treated as the one who is meant to apologize to Stolas, even though he is NOT IN THE WRONG FOR THIS IN THE SLIGHTEST. Yet, the show ignores past interactions for this to work. It doesn't address anything Stolas did beyond just making the deal - it acts as if that was the only bad thing he ever did even when Stolas did more than just that to Blitz.

Yet, that's never called out by anyone. Stolas doesn't have a good or sympathetic reason to be mad at Blitz - yet the show treats him as another one of Blitz's victims anyway. So, Blitz was essentially gaslit into becoming a better person, which isn't really great writing. Apology Tour had all the ingredients of a fantastic episode but it's severely held back by this specific aspect, Stolas drags the episode down so much and it sucks that the Stolas crap in the episode has to be tied to Blitz's development. Blitzo should have seen his mistakes through someone who actually had valid and sympathetic reasons to dislike him, someone who does actually come across as a person deeply hurt by Blitz's actions.

In other words....Verosika. Verosika should have been the character they used here, not Stolas. Verosika has an actually good reason to dislike Blitz and one the audience could actually sympathize for, SHE should have been the character to get Blitz to realize his mistakes and decide to change and grow as a person. Have All 2 U be sung by her instead of Stolas, with the song detailing how Blitz met and Blitz broke her heart.

Seriously, the concept of the begining scene and All 2 U can work, but they'll work better if you replace Stolas with Verosika in them instead, because Verosika has a good reason to dislike Blitz that could easily be expanded upon and developed, and Blitz would've had better reasoning to become a better person rather than being gaslit and guilt tripped into it. Apology Tour had all of the ingredients for a fantastic episode but the Stolass trash drags it down HARD.

[the-n3w3st-g1rl-g1rl]

I don't trust people who shit on Alphys

[levenlike11]

a little lovesick satoru drabble after that horrible suna one, i really hope this is better.

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"oh god, here he comes." shoko sighs as gojo is nearing you, geto following close behind. you look over your shoulder and quickly turn back when you see the white haired, extremely annoying male.

"y/n-channn!!" gojo sings and throws himself on you, giving you not an inch of space to breathe with how he pushes his head and hair on your nose.

"hello satoru," you push him but fail to make him move so you pull his hair.

"OUCH! why would you do that to meee!?" gojo whines and stands up, turning around to look at geto who's grinning, amused by the situation.

"don't laugh at me! i'm suffering here." he pouts and shoko lets out the laugh she had been holding in.

"it couldn't have possibly hurt that much. stop overreacting." you say which only seems to make him sadder.

"now you announce me a drama queen, how will my heart ever recover?" he raises his hand to cover his face dramatically, contradicting himself. he never misses to give you an oscar worthy acting, so talented they would hire him to play in a shakespeare theater if he applied.

"you'll be fine." you mutter and open your book again, mumbling a curse under your breath when you realise you lost the page you were on.

"see, now i have to go through all the book to find my page." you sigh but gojo doesn't seem to care, still busy whining about how rude you are towards him.

"you never act this way with shoko, or geto. he's much less handsome than me- no offense bro." he turns at geto, who doesn't seem to mind the comment enough to argue back. it's just gojo and his usual dramatic-ness after all.

"because shoko is my best friend and geto is a really nice guy, who is definitely more handsome than you by the way." satoru quite literally throws himself on the ground after hearing those words come out of your mouth.

"i'd rather die than hear those words again coming from the love of my life." he closes his eyes. he looks like the people playing dead to fool a bear.

"i told you to stop calling me that, and it's the truth, he's much much more handsome, and cool, and strong.." you start counting but gojo cuts you off.

"i'm gojo satoru, mind you! the one with six eyes and stuff you know. i'm literally the coolest and the strongest."

"this is why they don't like you back." shoko chuckles and you sigh, putting your book down again. he doesn't look like he'll let you read at all.

"gojo-" "satoru, please. i want my love to call me by my name." "i am not your love, satoru, please leave me alone. i already told you i don't like you." he has called you a sadist multiple times. even 'the cruelest person on earth'.

"you do, actually." he smirks, "you looooove me. how could you not?"

"i currently do not feel anything positive towards you. i might start hating you if you don't get up soon." you'd be surprised how quickly he gets up after that.

"no, please don't! we still have to marry and buy a house with pets and raise kids together-" he gets on his knees and hugs your legs in front of him.

"slow down satoru, we don't even date yet." you laugh at this antics. he's the most stubborn person you've ever met, dedicated to get you to like him romantically. it's not like you really hate him, you sometimes even think you might like him back. just a little bit. but it's fun seeing him like this, so desperate for you. (it makes you feel nice.)

"yet?!" he springs up, grinning from ear to ear. "so we might date in the future?"

"not if you keep doing this."

"what if i take you out to dinner?" you act like you're thinking about it.

"maybe if you also take me to the bookstore later and buy me ice cream."

"GETO, DID YOU HEAR Y/N? we might go on a date!" he jumps on geto, hugging him tight. shoko and you are practically dying of laughter at this point.

"get off of me." geto pushes him away but also smiling, seeing how excited satoru is and happy since two of his close friends are finally about to get together. he's also glad he doesn't have to suffer while watching these moments on first row with shoko. (they don't know it'll be much worse and annoying after you start dating though.)

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☆ hope you enjoyed reading! please feel more than free to leave feedback and have a great day/night!🫶🏻

[threepandas]

Bad End: Eve

You know how most Otome games are vaguely historical? Usually some non-specific mishmash of European countries? But fluffier and with more bows? It had once "gotten" to me, I think. I remember looking for outliers. Non-joke ones. Something that wasn't just "but this time with hats!"

I found one.

And now? Now I'm not sure if I curse that day or thank whatever force of nature lead me there. I guess... I guess it depends. Would I still have ended up HERE? If I had not found it? If so, then I genuinely and actually fucking rue it. Like... like actual "you'll rue the day! Bwahaha!" Type rue it. That's me. Ruing.

But? If it was always going to happen?

Then I guess...

I guess I'm weirdly glad. Because at least I have some fucking idea of what's going ON. Terrible, as it all is. Fucked, as the situation is. At least I'm not... not confused. Blind and at the mercy of those around me. Ignorance truely isn't bliss. All it does is leave you to try an fill in the blanks yourself. Usually with something far worse.

Not that the situation could GET much worse, by much.

I was in an Otome game. NOT a flower, high society, and dragons kind either. No. I? Was in a Dark Sci-Fi otome game. "Fate of man" was thrown around a lot. Power of luuuuv~ and such. Also, you know, HORRIFIC ethical violations. Human experimentation. Cataclysmic events and humanity "starting over".

All the high drama sci-fi concepts you could expect. It was a romp. Had good art. I'd had fun! Which is why I remember it so clearly.

Less fun when you're IN IT.

When you AREN'T one of the characters you KNOW will survive.

In fact, are one of the characters you know WON'T fucking survive. And will probably die MESSY. Horribly. Cause see, our BELOVED Harem collecting Protagonist? She? Was AN Eve. "AN".

Take a wild fucking guess what THAT project is about.

Did you say "breeding a better race of humans"? Ding ding ding! With humanity currently fucked, they want to FIX the problem by FIXING humanity. And of course, fuck ethics! Volunteers? Why use those?! Let's horrifically mad scientist our way to atrocity-ville! Make it all the more "God rightfully punishing us for our unforgivable sins" when we get wiped out!

Fffffffuck YOU, plot! I have to live here too!

You may, in fact, be picking up a slight note of stir crazy. A "wow, this lady rambles like a mother fucker" vibe. You would TOO, if you were stuck in a FUCKING TUBE. All I can do, day in and day out? Is wake, think, observe, then go right back to sleep. I can't even eat! I got a TUBE for that!

I... I miss showers.

Everything is GOO.

I'm an Eve. And if it weren't for the air tube controlng my breathing? I'd laughing hysterically until I died. And no, not in the "oh how funny" way. God. Oh... oh god. What a way to die. NONE of the Eves survive "the program".

Those IDIOTS are so OBSESSED with making bigger and bigger, better and better, FUCKING JUGGERNAUTS? That the Adams? Have long since reached the point of "mindless killing machine". UNSTABLE is putting it lightly. There is sexual dimorphism and then there's literal incompatibility.

But GOD FORBID the scientists admit that THEY are the ones with the inferior product.

It... it was even part of the game's plot. The scientist who made "Eve" HID her while HE made an Adam. I do not have that luxury. Somewhere, there is an unstable BESERKER being told I'm his "wife". That we're going to be HAPPY together. That he'll get to put his bruising, blood soaked hands anywhere he WANTS... just after he WINS me from the other Adam's.

Got to prove HE'S the best specimen, after all.

It makes my skin crawl. All I can hope, is that I can either provoke the bastard enough to kill me before they have a chance to stop him, or? I use my own enhanced strength to snap my neck. Maybe bite my tounge. Like HELL am I letting an Adam get near me.

The hiss of laboratory doors.

"Perfection at last..." Comes a relieved sigh. "All those HIDEOUS specimens. Why they make me suffer them, I'll never understand. We should have terminated them months ago. My poor project, they really think they're WORTHY of you..."

There's a derisive laugh. The scientist strolling into the lab I've been developing in, familiar. I watch him casually shrug off his lab coat and dump is bag. Hang his coat over the back of his chair. Turn, as he does each day, to STARE up at me. His eyes are a pale, pale purple the likes of which I've never seen before.

They're HAUNTING.

There is almost a red tint to them, though maybe that's the lights. The goo. I can never tell. He always looks ENTRANCED by me. Floating, visored, connected to far too many tubes an' wires. I'd think it was the fact that I was naked if it weren't for the way his gaze doesn't seem to drift lower then my shoulders. Seems more entranced by the way my hair moves, as though under water.

I've never once heard him talk about me lustfully.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't SCARE me.

"Let's begin, shall we? Time for your daily doses, mmm?" He says, voice dangerously affectionate. As though i had CHOSEN to do this to myself. As though he were merely reminding me of my morning medicine and not the hell ahout to come. "Going to be good for me? I know you shall, you always are."

He turned back to his desk, his computer. A few keystrokes... and I could feel the pod above me begin to hum, as it awoke. Oh god. Oh god it never got easier. From the corner of my eyes, bright chemicals slide down thind lines and into my veins. Like lines of lava. Bolts of electricity and pain. It was... AGONY.

My muscles seized. Brain screeched, first to the screaming I wish I could make... then static. With the long practice of daily pain, it took me far away. The click, click, click of keys. The sound of his voice, so terribly PLEASED, as I hung there and just TOOK it. No restraints, no strugging, no damaging myself. Just unbearable fire in my veins and a brain far, far away.

"Good girl~"

Distantly a phone rang. He made an annoyed sound, but picked up regardless.

"What. I'm in the middle of- ...Excuse me? I'm quite sure I did not hear you correctly. I said 'NO'. She's not-....I will NOT BE-...What. Are you out of your god damned MIND? That pile of scraps you call a project is coming NOWHERE near my-! ....you think you're clever, don't you?"

"Fine. You want to TALK? Let's TALK, Anderson. I'll be there in five."

From far away, past the pain, I watched him chance down at something at the screen. Back up to me. He hung up the phone but did not pause the program. Instead, calmly rising from his desk. Shrugging on his lab coat. Rounding the desk and striding towards my bio-tube.

"Hmmm, honestly, it should have been spaced out over a few more days... but you can take it. Endure a bit longer for me, would you, darling? Daddy's going to go deal with something for just a moment, he'll be right back, my perfect girl. Be good."

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to my tank. One hand splayed next to it like he badly wished he could touch. Could stroke skin. Hold his creation close. It was not the first time he had done this. Small, covetous, little actions like he wanted to crawl inside my skin and STAY there. Like he cursed the glass that separated us.

He pulled back. Shifted to the side and kneeled. He... had hidden something behind my bio-pod? When? Apparently before I had become aware. Because I had not known about it. A black shoe box. I watched him open i-GUN. Thaaaat was a gun! Fuck. Well at least? By the time anyone thinks to look in on me? The overdose will probably have killed me?

There is a cold, terrible smile on his face as he rolls to his face. Tucking the gun into an inner pocket. It has a silencer. He leans forward one last time. Lightly kissing the glass of my pod, as though heading off to work and not to very obviously kill somebody. The pain continues. Builds. I watch him leave.

With nothing to anchor myself on... time blurs.

I think? There are alarms? Red lights flash. Then they stop. There is shouting at one point. But then silence. An explosion? Or am I hallucinating? Pain. My nerves are on fire. I don't want to have SKIN. Please... please make it STOP! Calm foot steps? Come to kill me? Please come to kill me. Make it STOP.

The lights died a... time? Ago? Emergency lights on now. Generators in the room are loud. Why can I still hear the feet? Footses? Words. H..hurts. please.

Click.

The pain eases to a stop. Aching but nothing new. Over? Oh, thank god. I can sleep now, right? But... sound? New. At my feet. Gurgling. Wha-? The very top of my head feels cold. Then my forehead. Then my temple's and ears, cheeks, jaw... wait. Is? Is the tube...DRAINING? I open my eyes.

When did I close them?

He's back.

Standing right in front of the tube. Blood staining the hem of his coat, lingering marks of his massacre cleaned but not quite scrubbed from his body. There are little off red stains on his cheek, from what must be blood splatter. They look like tiny freckles.

I'm... I can't...

I reach as the tube down my throat is pulled almost carelessly away by the machine. Choke, suffocate, as the same is done for my air tube. But then it's done... and I can BREATHE under my own power. Gasp and splutter, as the goo sloshes around my knees. Then it's gone. And the tube I've been leaning my weight against is roughly pulled away.

I collapse forward, my muscles having never actually supported me in this life.

Arms catch me. Wrapping me in a possessive hug. A hand immediately burying itself in long uncut hair, even as the other wraps itself around my torso to lean me against his body in a cradle. My face is pressed to his neck by the hand in my hair, cradling my head and neck. I can feel breath against the goo wet crown of my head.

"Finally~" he breaths out, whispering it against me like a sigh. "My beautiful, perfect girl. My darling creation. It took so LONG. Those retrobates interfering at every turn, lusting after you like ANIMALS, trying to keep you from me. Then, worst of all, trying to toss you to some pack of savages? Oh, darling~ Daddy's been so worried for you."

"But we'll be okay now, won't we? I finally have you. All fresh and finally finished. My perfect Eve. You can pick any name you want, of course. You and I will be leaving this ugly little place. Daddy has PLANS. A fresh new world, just for you, sweetheart."

He laughed, his hug tightening in a way that would have left bruises had I been a normal human. Kisses were pressed to my temple. A cheek, rubbed against my hair. He seemed... seemed GIDDY with it. That nothing could stop him now. There was no glass in his way. I could not move yet. My muscles twitched when I tried, but that was it. I wasn't even sure I could talk yet, if I tried.

"Aaah~♡ Welcome to the World, Darling. My Perfection. My Eve. This time no snakes or Adams to tarnish you. To get in your way. Just you and your Father~"

"FOREVER~♡"

Next: ->

[sunny44]

All these years (Part 1)

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Ex girlfriend! Reader

Warnings: anxiety attack, fights, brake ups and maybe other things.

Summary: Separated by a disagreement, Charles and Y/n meet again after years apart and all the feelings they had repressed come flooding back.

Next Chapter

Having to go back to Monaco was certainly not in my plans.

I had sworn to myself the day I left that I would never go back, but I had never actually kept that promise.

His family lives there and I've never been able to stop seeing them. Of course, I made them promise never tell him that I was still visiting them and they kept their promise.

I know this because I never received a call or an angry message.

Charles Marc Harvé Perceval Leclerc.

My first everything.

And I mean that in the literal sense of the word.

My first friend, my first kiss, my first boyfriend, the guy I had my first time with.

But most importantly.

My first and only true love.

When I moved to the house next to them, we connected as soon as we were introduced to each other.

We never had many friends because we knew we had everything we needed in each other.

He was the best boyfriend a girl could ask for.

But one thing about him was wrong.

His lack of understanding at times.

Charles was always a calm, fun guy who could make my shitty day 100% better.

But in March 10th, 2018.

That was the day everything we had went down the drain.

Charles was focused on getting his first year in Formula 1 off to a good start and I was focused on getting a job since I had just graduated from architecture school.

And I received the best offer a recent graduate could get.

It was an internship at an architecture firm.

The problem was that it was in Milan and Charles and I lived in Monaco and because of Formula 1 he wasn't going to leave.

I remember exactly the day I went to tell him excitedly that I'd got one of the best jobs I could ever want.

But Charles, contrary to what I thought, didn't have the best reaction, in fact he was very upset that the job wasn't in Monaco.

That's when our fights started, me because he didn't understand how important he was to me and an offer I couldn't refuse.

And him for saying that I'd ruined all our plans.

That day we'd had a bad fight, but the next day when I went to talk to him to try and sort it out, we fought again.

He said that I was the worst person he had ever met, that I would be a horrible wife and that our children would be ashamed to have a mother like me.

That day I cried so much that I had a horrible anxiety attack and had to go to hospital because of shortness of breath.

And he never showed up.

From that day on we never saw each other again, five years passed and here I was returning to Monaco for the wedding of Arthur, Charles' younger brother.

He and Carla were getting married after a year of being engaged and I remember how happy I was when he called to tell me that she had accepted and thanked me for helping him choose the ring.

I knew I would meet him there, I just didn't know if I was ready to see him.

Even more so in a situation like this.

"So, are you ready to see Charles?" Kika sits on the bed while I pack the last of my clothes.

"Certainly not, but what choice do I have?"

"You could have chosen not to go."

"I couldn't do that to Arthur, he was the only one who always supported me in everything, unlike his brother." I sighed, remembering him. "And I want to go, I want to see him marry the love of his life."

"I understand, and I know he'll love that you're going."

"But one day it would happen, we have so many things and people that keep us connected, so it took a while to happen."

"But you'll be fine."

"I know."

"Why are you getting so many clothes?"

"Because I don't know how long I'll have to stay there."

"What do you mean?" she asks confused.

"Because my father always convinces me to stay longer than I want to."

"I see."

"Well, I have to go soon, it's a long drive to get there."

We said goodbye and I got straight into the car and started driving there.

It was going to be a long trip.

Bonus scene!

Yourusername Instagram stories

“Road tripping to Monaco”

Who wants to be on the tag list of these new story? I've already got it all written so I plan to post a chapter a day until it's finished.

[kcrabb88]

I think one of the things I've found most frustrating about sections of Star Wars fandom since being more active in it (rather than just being a Star Wars appreciator) is that some folks are constantly looking for a reason that the Jedi "caused" or worse "deserved" what was coming to them with Order 66. It's hard and horrible to watch the Jedi get slaughtered in Revenge of the Sith, so people search for a reason that it was, in some sense, justified. But that's not what genocide is. No group can "bring a genocide on themselves." It doesn't matter WHAT mistakes they may make. The whole point of the Clone Wars all the way down to destroying Jedha City in Rogue One was to wipe out not only the Jedi themselves, but the memory of them, so that the empire can fully take root.

And this is why the end of the Acolyte finale felt so so so bad to me. It was meant to be, or so I believed, a show about how the Sith were getting closer to their goal of getting rid of the Jedi as we close in on the century before The Phantom Menace. I sat there, I waited for the narrative intention to set in, and that narrative intention surprised me by saying "ah yes, well, some Jedi made mistakes and it was fine for one to be murdered HORRIBLY as a result, and the subsequent cover up of all of it is just the Jedi wanting to avoid senate knowledge of what really happened because the Jedi are too powerful." It's like, nevermind that the SENATE is the power here, and the Jedi long-ago agreed to help them out but are being shouldered with more and more and more and they may have the Force but they are still only people (which the High Republic books show REALLY well). It's like, nevermind that Star Wars is about redemption and always trying to be a better person and learning from our mistakes! It wasn't a situation, when Osha kills Sol in a nasty and cruel way, where you see a person going corrupt and know the narrative behind it is like "oh shit, this is a bad turn for them!" It felt like the narrative was saying she was justified (at least to me) and that's just. Sad? Bleak? The end of the finale felt to me like "hey, some Jedi made some mistakes while trying their best once, and that's why these Sith get to do whatever and that's why the Jedi walked right into their own demise."

When the scene with the senator happened, I thought, oh, interesting, we're going to see the prejudice against Force-sensitives here that leads to the senate clapping in the face of genocide. That leads to the safehouse in Kenobi where we see Force-sensitives carving messages of hope into the wall while they're being hunted down and killed. But that's ... not what happened. In the end, it felt like the narrative said, "yep that guy is right, the Jedi are a power-grabbing cult." It just felt bad, man. I thought this was going to be a story about the lineage leading up to Plagueis and Palpatine and I thought, interesting, I'd love to see that, but it just ended up being this messy thing with clunky writing and a bunch of loose ends that teased me with Jedi characters and then said "eh, these guys deserved it."

We got to see a kyber crystal bleeding for the first time in live action, and I can't even be excited about it! Did we ever really find out how Osha and Mae were created and what weird stuff the witches were up to? Nope! Just woah disappointing as far as even learning new stuff about how the dark side corrupts the Force, and that was one thing I was interested in as the show started to go downhill for me in later episodes.

(RIP Sol, Jecki, and Yord. You deserved better than that, and Vernestra, so did you)

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts

CH.30 (Good Medicine)

I kind of assumed that things would get worse from here...

...yeah, there's no 'but' to that. Getting Falin back so quick was too good to be true.

Aren't those the ghosts Falin talked to? They could be friendly.

"ee gads! a hairless little man!" I'd be frightened too if Chillchuck was suddenly behind a door I'd just opened.

Chillchuck, buddy, less than 24 hours ago you threw a knife directly into a dragon's eye. You can take care of some worgs, right?

Senshi's a card carrying member of the smells-okay-to-me-chief club.

Orcs be like 'oh, dragon's gone? Hm. Curious' and then just carry on. Wouldn't you be worried that something took out the dragon? Could be even more dangerous than the dragon itself.

I feel like at this point Falin might be just that.

MOUTH TO MOUTH RESUSCITATION!

Marcille, I don't think you have a lot of options.

......just realized those moose antlers are holding up her rack. Talk about a pushup bra. Damn. Respect.

Wait go back to that "create monsters to do their bidding" thing again. Was that the little mini dragons or does that include larger monsters like the dragon itself?!

OR something that was IN the dragon, controlling its actions and make it act irrationally? Is that why the Sorcerer wasn't surprised to see Falin as a separate thing outside the dragon? Was the assumption that whatever THING it was had escaped and become Falin?

And for all we know... it kinda had. It had merged with her spirit....

Or maybe I'm way off.

Congrats on the larger story plot! :D You're now in even more danger! Hoorah!

Chillchuck, a normal person would just go 'I'm leaving, pay me'. You're giving yourself away, worrying for them.

I can't hate him for the reasoning here. The deeper you go, the less likely you are to be found. The only person who cares enough about Marcille and Laios and Chillchuck to find their bodies are.... each other. So if they're dead here, they're likely dead-dead.

I want to nestle into her bosom and live there as a little creature.

Moreso than when she was literally in the gullet of a red dragon?! Come on, be reasonable. At least she's alive now. And remembers who she is.

Ooooh friendly ghosts. Makes sense why Falin was so chill about them.

All the more reason to believe there's something to be done!

Love the doggo yawning behind Chillchuck.

He's a coward, but being afraid isn't necessarily a sign of weakness. It's a sign that you realize how dangerous a situation is. Cowardice isn't stupidity, no more than ignorance of danger is bravery.. I think the orc leader is maybe realizing he's not doing it for completely selfish reasons. Mad respect to her though.

It WAS Falin, wasn't it? It wasn't as if it was a thing pretending to be her. She was there, and she was revived successfully, and then the soul confusion thing happened.

......damn. What a small holiday they got, before the next horrible thing happened...

hey, Marcille is not dumb! She's got loads of braincells! they're just all focused on doing evil stuff and being gay.

🎯

That's right! It's just like you, Chillchuck!

Was that... there before?

Oh, okay, no, it was. Hm.......

This stupid man is about to full a Falin and jump out a window to go look for her, isn't he.

Gods, this sucks for him so much. For all of them. Because they.... they WERE successful! They rescued Falin! They brought her back from the head! They DID that!

But now, instead of getting the reward of it, she's just gone. Is it better, because she's alive?

Or worse, because the threat is even more nebulous?

If they all died, would it be worth it?

who's the coward...? he's ready to go back.

For Falin, they went down there. They risked themselves.

For them, after talking to him only a bit, the orc leader went from 'hey, nice snack for my dog' to 'we're helping you get that girl back'.

It's about the CONNECTION!!! IT'S ABOUT HELPING EACH OTHER AFTER LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER!!!

[evilminji]

My WIP fairy hates me. But like... in that homoerotic Nemesis sorta way, I swear.

Cease an desist, woman! (I scream into the void, knowing damn well she, being my own brain, SHAN'T.)

Cause NOW? Now I CAN NOT stop Pondering, with a Capitol P, the life of a Sentient Quirk. The trials and tribulations. The indignities and sufferings. Countless micro-aggression and out right dismissal of sentience. The reduction to the EXTENSION of another.

You are not a person.

You are JUST a Quirk.

An organ that "thinks" itself separate, in the way knees spasm when struck just so. The child you are attached to just needs to get better CONTROL of you. Your words and actions are actually THEIRS. You are simultaneously an unruly animal and strange adult, not allowed near other peoples children.

Why are you trying to follow this four year old into their school? Why are you SITTING out side a pre-school? Are you stalking that child?

You are a grown adult. Connected to a random Japanese child.

The child is expected to "control" you.

Punished if they do not.

No one is listen to EITHER of you, as you try to explain the situation. The child is upset, scared, and does not have the emotional maturity to understand why you are not to blame. All they can understand is that you appeared and everything became stressful and "bad". They started getting punished. Have to share their room now.

Do you even have rights? If you get hurt, get MAIMED, what will happen to you? Can you hold a job? Own land? Open a bank account? Fuck it! Can you have a RELATIONSHIP?

If you went out RIGHT NOW and punched a purse thief, would the FOUR YEAR OLD be arrested?

If the kid grows up, becomes a hero, and you do secretarial work... does his license cover you? If YOU wanted to become a Hero, would he be your hero partner? Could he technically sit in a corner and let you work?

If no one could TELL, over an internet connection, then surely that should prove SOMETHING? Right?

And! The question NO ONE ever seems to ask!

Could..... could you LEAVE? Do people have the right to force you back? If you don't WANT to be some kid's Quirk? You're sentient. If, unlike Dark Shadow, you are not PHYSICALLY connected, but tethered by distance?

Could. You. Leave?

Just "Allright, I'm out. The way you're all treating me is unacceptable. See ya never." And walk out the door? You'd be able to gain distance as the kid grew older. As long as you hid? You be homeless, without papers, but free.

A sentient Quirk means free will. Means you don't HAVE to do shit. It's like being born with a twin, not a slave. And that Twin does NOT have to put up with your bullshit. YOU are the one asking THEM to work with you, after all.

This? Of course, ALSO just ABSOLUTELY BEGS the question? What if that four year old grew up to be a BASTARD? Just... NO self reflection or empathy. Everything is everyone else's fault, always. And they want a NEW Quirk. One that won't question them.

So they sell theirs, buy a new one. Probably die off screen trying to throw it around.

What happens to you THEN? Pain, obviously. Like... massive, massive amounts of pain. You ARE a Quirk. You're being ripped out by your metaphorical roots. By the NERVE ENDINGS. But? Do you... for lack of a better word, "reset"?

Are you back infront of "your" person? Or do you stay, safely, where you are? Both would be fascinating, honestly. Because I imagine All for One? Does NOT get sentient quirks often. If at all.

They'd sooner kill themselves.

After all, if your choice is "kill yourself and your beloved twin" or "be ripped apart and watch them die horribly, then be used to go against everything you both stood for"? You weep and promise to make it fast.

Then you make it fast.

It's... really annoying, I'd imagine, for All for One. It's not necessarily that he WANTS a sentient Quirk. But they are INTERESTING. And he likes interesting.

He also likes owning things that can't leave. Ever.

So of course he'll poke and prod at the Quirk. It will inevitably be a nightmare, either way. Because EVERY Sentient Quirk has some degree of communication aspect to it. Just because the original holder never figured it out, doesn't mean HE can't.

And while your range may now be much, MUCH bigger? Because the fucker is strong as hell? How useful is that... if he can talk to you when ever HE feels like it? Day or night. 24/7.

And that's assuming you don't reset. God help you if you reset. Because THEN your STANDING infront of, most likely, pre-face-smash All for One. Who's looking at you like he just won a Mildly Interesting Prize and you would PREFER HE NOT. But what are you gonna do?

Walk out again?

You think THAT'S an option here?!

I mean... you can and do TRY. But, obviously not. So like? Fuck ™.

THEN the question becomes? Would YOU go to Tarturaus. Are you a hostage? Or an accomplice? You have the same level of power and authority as a cat, deliberately knocking pages of tables and cups to the floor, but... like? Oooooh~ oh yeah! THATS gonna slow him down! His empire crumbles beneath the sheer MIGHT of your petty inconveniences!

*trips the doctor again*

Fffffuck you.

[lilacmingi]

POLYJUICE POTION

My works are 14+ ONLY. If you’re under 14 DO NOT interact with me or any of my works

Pairing: Ravenclaw!Hongjoong x Ravenclaw!fem reader

Word count: 2,800

Note: These Hogwarts imagines are from my Wattpad from 2022, so keep in mind that there will not be any continuations or extra parts. Imagines for the other members will be posted in the following weeks!

"Man, I didn't study." San dropped his head onto the dining hall table with a soft thump.

"Again." Hongjoong added, causing the Slytherin to pout in response.

You chuckled, watching the two.

"You never study, San." Hongjoong pointed out.

"He's right." You added.

"I do sometimes." San argued.

"Not this time."

San frowned. "What am I gonna do? I have a herbology test in fifteen minutes and my grades are horrible."

"Cram, I guess." Hongjoong shrugged.

"You know, some people do better when they cram last minute." You supplied, trying to cheer your close friend up a little.

"I'm doomed either way." The Slytherin dropped his head in defeat.

"Don't be like that." Hongjoong told him.

"Hongjoong is right. If you think about it, a little studying is better than no studying at all."

"She has a point." Your fellow Ravenclaw agreed.

"Well, I'd love to stay here and see where this goes, but I have a transfiguration class to get to. Good luck, San."

"Yeah." He grumbled discouragingly.

"See you after potions, Hongjoong." You waved, walking off to class.

You were actually hoping to talk to San without Hongjoong around, but seeing as your poor Slytherin friend was in a predicament, and not alone, you chose to wait and chat later.

Once you left the dining hall, San continued to mope, muttering to himself about how he was going to totally fail.

"Wait. I got it!" San lifted his head, his eyes brightening as an idea popped into his mind. "You have a free period, right Hongjoong?"

"Yes."

"Could you do me a favor?"

"That depends."

"Can you use a Polyjuice potion and take my herbology test for me?"

Hongjoong's eyes widened at the absurd idea.

"You want me to pretend to be you?"

San nodded vigorously with hopeful eyes.

"No way." The Ravenclaw shook his head.

"Please?"

"No. Do you know how hard it'll be to get it done in time?"

"I have everything." He quickly supplied.

Hongjoong narrowed his eyes in speculation.

San clasped his hands together, his bottom lip stuck out in a pout as he begged the older wizard. "Hongjoong, please. Just this once and I'll never ever ask again."

"What do I get in return?" He quirked a brow, his arms crossed expectantly over his chest.

"I'll buy you whatever you want from Honeydukes."

"Whatever I want?"

"Whatever you want."

"Alright. Deal."

San and Hongjoong left the dining hall and made their way down the long corridors of the school, the younger Hogwarts student practically vibrating with excitement. He—Hongjoong was totally going to ace this test for him. He swears he'll study next time, promising himself to make an attempt to do better with his academic work.

"Just let me go into my dormitory and get the stuff. I'll be out before you can say Honeydukes."

Hongjoong hated how chipper San was about this situation. He just gets to hide out while Hongjoong does the dirty work. It hardly seems fair. At least he would be getting sweets out of this deal. Hongjoong smiled at the thought, practically tasting the Cauldron Cake and Fizzing Whizbees.

San returned with a small burlap bag clutched in his hand and a small cauldron hidden under his robes, gesturing for the two to make their way to the bathrooms. Maneuvering around the many students lingering in the hallway, San and Hongjoong snuck off to the boys restrooms to prepare the potion.

"You know once finals roll around you can't cheat, right? They charm the writing quills and parchment." Hongjoong mentioned as he dropped in a small cluster of knotgrass, watching it melt into the thick liquid inside the cauldron.

"I know, I know." San muttered, playing with a loose string on his robes.

The oldest stirred the substance that began to slowly bubble and thicken, tossing in the last few ingredients.

"Ugh. That smells awful." San commented as he pinched his nose.

"You're not the one that has to drink it." Hongjoong pointed out bitterly. "Now come here."

San moved closer to the Ravenclaw who grabbed a strand of his hair, yanking it from his head.

"Ouch!" He whimpered, rubbing his scalp.

"Payback." Hongjoong commented, dropping the wisp into the roiling substance.

Plucking one measly hair from San's head wasn't nearly the amount of payback he deserved for putting Hongjoong in this situation, but it was enough for the moment. Hongjoong would decide if his younger friend needed further punishment after this situation plays out. If all goes well, then all San lost was a strand of hair.

"You're doing me a huge favor." San told his friend, noticing the bitter expression etched on his face. "I promise I'll study more."

"You'd better." Muttered Hongjoong as he stared at the icky substance in the ladle, his stomach churning in response. "Remember, you owe me." He reminded the Slytherin.

"Of course." San nodded.

And with that, Hongjoong downed the mixture, cringing immediately at the taste. He then started coughing, feeling the potion take effect.

After a few agonizing moments, he stumbled over to the bathroom mirror to see if the concoction worked the way it was supposed to. Polyjuice potions can sometimes go awry if you don't pay attention to what you're putting in it.

"Heyyy, you look handsome." San grinned at Hongjoong's reflection, which now showed an exact replica of the dark-haired and dimpled wizard.

Hongjoong glared at San through the mirror, clearly unamused by his antics. His cheeky grin fell from his face. It was only then that he realized how much time was left for Hongjoong to get to class.

"You have to hurry. You've got less than five minutes." He shoved a small satchel into the Ravenclaw's chest. "Here's all my stuff."

"Yeah, yeah." Hongjoong waved San off, hurrying out of the bathroom.

The Ravenclaw disguised as a Slytherin grumbled to himself, suddenly regretting doing this "favor" for his friend.

It's completely foolish.

Why did he let himself be swayed by sweets?

Stepping into San's herbology class, Hongjoong moved towards a seat near the back of the room. This wasn't his first time using a Polyjuice potion. He had done so for practice in potions class a year prior, but he had never used it for real life circumstances such as this one. What if someone tried to talk to him? He would have to pretend to be San. What would San even say? Probably something stupid.

Please don't let anyone try and talk to me.

He wished you were there. You'd help calm him down and tell him everything would be okay. No. You would have turned the whole idea down in an instant. If San had brought up this half-baked idea moments earlier while you were still in the dining hall, you would have shut him down.

"No way is Hongjoong going to do that. San, you're my friend, but you've gotta tough this one out. Plus, it's just one test."

That's what he imagined you would say.

"Alright class, get your quills and parchment ready. The quiz is about to start."

Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, Hongjoong retrieved the items from San's satchel and began the test.

An hour and a half later, class had ended, the rather stressed Ravenclaw feeling like he could breathe a sigh of relief. The test wasn't all that difficult. He was a year above San, so he remembered some of the material from when he had taken herbology his sixth year. At the very least, he got San a high B, which was probably much better than the forgetful Slytherin could have done.

Hongjoong stepped out of the classroom, planning to make a beeline for the bathrooms before the potion wore off. He zipped past students, weaving his way through the flurry of witches and wizards. When the sign for the boys' bathroom was in his line of sight, he picked up his pace, wanting to get there quickly. Until...

"San!"

You had just gotten out of your potions class that let out a little early for the day. Spotting a familiar head of dark hair hurrying down the hall, you called out to him, finally having found the opportunity to speak to San alone.

"There you are." You ran over to him.

"Hey, Y/n." He greeted with a smile, seeming a little off.

"How'd your test go?"

"I think I did alright." He responded.

"That's good to hear. Cramming works sometimes." You gave him a light slap on the back. "Listen, I really wanted to talk to you earlier, but Hongjoong was around so I couldn't. Do you have time?"

This caught his attention.

Something you couldn't say around him? Was there something you and San knew that he didn't?

"Of course. What is it?"

He could see you were a bit nervous, maybe even a little hesitant, but waited for you to speak.

"I'm finally gonna confess to him."

"San's" eyes widened upon hearing that as it clicked into place instantly.

"To Hongjoong?" He questioned, just to make things a bit clearer.

"Yes, to Hongjoong. Why do you seem so surprised? You know I've been crushing on him for two years."

"Two—" He paused, clearing his throat in an attempt to gather himself. "Y-Yeah. Of course."

Your face fell a bit in realization.

"Oh. You're not surprised... you think it's a bad idea. Don't you?"

"No!" He spoke up abruptly, being a bit louder than he intended. "I mean... I think you should go for it."

"Really?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

You chuckled. "You're a bit enthusiastic about it. It's almost like you know he'll say yes or something." Your expression was then replaced with horror. "You didn't say anything to him, did you?"

"No. I didn't. I just have a feeling that he probably feels the same as you. I'm a guy. We know these things about each other."

He cringed internally at that last part, but it seemed like something San would say, so he went with it.

"Ah." You nodded, taking in deep breath. "Okay. Well, if you see Hongjoong, could you tell him to meet me at the Marble Staircase Tower on the top floor, you know, the one that overlooks the Quad?"

"Yes! I'll be sure to tell him."

"Thank you. I'm so nervous."

"You'll do f—" Hongjoong had reached a hand out to place on you shoulder, pausing when he saw his polished pinkie.

The potion was beginning to wear off. He needed to get out of there fast.

Noticing the expression on "San's" face, you spoke up, asking if he was alright.

"I'm fine! Good luck with Hongjoong. I have to go."

You didn't have time to reply as San hurried off, bumping into people as he headed down the corridor.

"Choi San!" Hongjoong shouted, storming into the bathroom.

The wizard in question jumped in response to his name being called so loudly. Stepping out from a stall, he was met with Hongjoong, who seemed to have already returned to normal.

"Ah. You're done. How did it—" He couldn't even finish his sentence for Hongjoong blowing up.

"Y/n has had a crush on me for two years and you didn't say anything?" He exploded.

San's eyes became wide before he tilted his head in confusion.

"How did you know?"

"She stopped me in the hallway to tell me she was finally going to confess. She thought I was you."

San's mouth formed an O shape as he realized the cat had been let out of the bag.

"I can't believe you didn't say anything." Hongjoong went on.

"I promised her I wouldn't. How would you feel if someone told your crush you liked them and they didn't feel the same?"

"San, that's the issue. I like her."

The Slytherin's eyes widened in surprise.

"How was I supposed to know?"

Hongjoong sighed, realizing he had no reason to be upset. "You weren't, because I never said anything."

"Well, she said she was going to confess to you. Did she tell you anything else?" San asked.

"She wants me to meet her at the Marble Staircase Tower."

The Slytherin's jaw dropped.

"Then, what are you doing standing here? You have to go meet her." He rushed.

"But... what would I say?"

"Just act casual. Think about it as if you don't know why she wants to meet with you."

"But I do know why she wants to meet with me."

"Pretend you don't." With one, final shove, San pushed Hongjoong out of the bathroom. "Now, go get your girl, loverboy!"

"San!" He whisper yelled.

"Go! Go!"

Hongjoong sighed and started down the corridor, heading in the direction of the Marble Staircase Tower, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest.

By the time he arrived at the bottom of the tower steps, he was out of breath, but his determination overpowered his exhaustion as he continued on. He hurried up the stairs, sometimes skipping one in an attempt to reach the top faster.

The opening for the highest floor came into view and as Hongjoong reached the top, he spotted you waiting for him, fiddling anxiously with the sleeves of your robe. His heart fluttered nervously as he approached you.

"Y/n?"

You turned, your face lighting up at the sight of him. He wouldn't have noticed this had he not known your feelings for him.

"Hongjoong. You made it."

"Of course I did. What did you want to see me for?"

He could see the way your shoulders raised as you took in a deep breath in preparation for what you were about to say.

"There's something important I want to say to you before I chicken out." Your eyes met his, as if to get confirmation to continue.

"Yes. Anything. Tell me anything." He nodded, his round eyes watching you with anticipation, waiting to hear your confession fall from your pretty lips.

"Hongjoong, I've had a crush on you for two years. I know this is abrupt and you probably don't feel th—"

"I like you too." He cut you off.

"Wh-" You paused. "What?"

"I have a confession too. It wasn't San you talked to in the hallway."

Your expression dropped immediately.

"San asked me to take his test for him and I agreed."

"Polyjuice potion." You muttered under your breath as everything clicked into place.

"Right."

"So, I practically confessed to you right there." It was a question, but it came out as more of a statement.

Hongjoong nodded wordlessly, confirming your fears. But wait... he said he liked you too, did he not? You were too busy being surprised that Hongjoong used a Polyjuice potion to pose as San that you completely glossed over his confession.

"You said you liked me too?" You asked.

"I do. A lot."

He bravely took a step forward, his eyes briefly flicking down to your lips. The feeling of his palm brushing against your cheek as he cupped it made you realize what was about to happen, and you most certainly weren't against it. You watched with bated breath as Hongjoong inched closer to you, the space between your faces diminishing until you could feel his lips ghost against your own. You didn't wait for him to initiate the kiss, instead you leaned forward, being the one to close the sliver of space that was between your mouths.

Hongjoong's eyes fluttered closed at the contact, his hand that cupped your cheek moved to the back of your neck to pull you in closer, needing more of you.

Your body felt like it was on fire, as if someone had cast an incendio spell on you. Your fellow Ravenclaw was feeling very similar, his body rushing with warmth as he held your bodies flush against each other. Your fingers clung to the collar of his robe, tugging in an almost desperate manner as you pressed your mouth closer to his, a blissful sigh escaping you. It didn't take long for things to get heated, the both of you kissing each other with such ferocity that you wondered if anyone could hear you.

As much as he didn't want to, Hongjoong pulled away, both of you huffing breathlessly. You glanced up at him with half-lidded eyes, your brain still foggy from such an intense kiss.

"I hate to put a stop to this, but we've got a transfiguration class in seven minutes." He mentioned hoarsely.

You groaned in disappointment, dropping your head onto his shoulder. "I totally forgot."

"We can always continue in the Ravenclaw common room after classes are over."

You lifted your head at that and Hongjoong could see a glam in your eye that made him chuckle.

"We should go." He mentioned, smoothing your hair out. "Don't want to be late."

Seonghwa ⟡ Yunho ⟡ Yeosang ⟡ San ⟡ Mingi ⟡ Wooyoung ⟡ Jongho

Masterlist ᝰ — enjoyed this imagine? reblogs & comments are very much appreciated!

DO NOT steal, plagiarize, copy, repost, alter, or translate my works in any way

🏷 @h3arteyes4mingi @weird-bookworm @poppy2007 @parkjennykim @evidive @mxlly143 @lizzymizzy-blogg @minhanbyeol @dinossaurz

[cyn-write]

Prompt: The Heartsyble Boys walking in on yuu’s baking catastroph-Education!

Pairings: GN!Yuu (reader) x Riddle, Trey, Carter, Ace, and Deuce (Separately)

Warnings: None other than tooth-rotting fluff!!

Notes: This is a request! I have a few in my log that I’m working through as I get them! Thank you anonymous for the request and I hope you enjoy it! If you would like to read more, check out my Masterlist!

Sweetheart’s Sweet Tooth

Riddle was on his was at Ramshackle's gate when he heard the explosion. He saw smoke come out of the open windows, and the worst ran through his head. Riddle ran into Ramshackle with little concern for proper house rules or his life as the most horrible situations ran through his head.

He ran into the kitchen, smoke fading out, post-its and notebooks spewed across the counter, flour all over the floor, chocolate dripped across the counter, and Yuu covered in batter and looking sadly at a pan of... something?

"YUU! WHAT IN THE SEVENS' SAKE HAPPENED?" Riddle's face was growing red with a mix of anger and worry, "I CAME IN AND-AND SMOKE AND BOOM AND-AND ITS A MESS AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING??"

Yuu looked up at Riddle with puppy dog eyes and sad face, "my cake blew up..."

"Y-your what?" Riddle asked calming down.

"I wanted to make you a cake... for winning your club tournament..." Yuu looked at the bowl on the counter, "I finally got the frosting right but the cake blew up in the oven..."

Riddle was embarrassed and touched at the same time. He kneeled next to Yuu, took out his handkerchief, and started to wipe off their face. "Well... at least you're alright," Riddle said, "and the frosting is okay... how about this? We clean up the kitchen, make some tea, and try again... together?"

Yuu smiled and nodded, "We can be baking study buddies!"

Riddle chuckled at the suggestion, "I am lacking in home ec, let's do it."

Later that evening, Trey got a call from a distressed Yuu... they needed his assistance on the third try.

Trey left the Heartsyble kitchen for an hour to attend to the Flamingo's and returned to a mess. Brownie batter was everywhere, papers all over the ground, the oven beeping, and Yuu battling the hand blender.

Trey ran over, turned off the oven, and unplugged the blender. Yuu was covered in white frosting, and so was the counter.

Yuu looked at him in relief, "Thanks, I couldn't stop it."

"Yuu, what happened?" Trey asked, voice filled with concern.

Yuu put the bowl of frosting down and wiped off her notebook, "I wanted to suprise you," they said, blush rising to their cheeks, "I've been trying to learn how to bake so I could make you something instead of the other way around... I had it, but the stupid blender overpowered me and the Oven was yelling at me and- THE BROWNIES!"

Yuu ran over to the oven and frowned, "No... they burnt." She was about to grab the pan bare handed but Trey stopped her.

"If you wanted to learn, why didn't you ask me? I'd love to teach you," He said as he grabbed an oven mitt and took out the burnt brownies.

"I didn't want to bother you," they said, defeated. "You're so busy already, and I wanted to do something nice for you..."

Trey smiled and shook his head, "You could never bother me. Especially when it comes to this" He picked up the recipe and smiled, "I can teach you a better recipie, one i know by heart," he swipped some frosting off of Yuu's cheek and tasted it, "The frosting is good, a little over-whipped but good, so we have a bit of a base to work with. Put it in the fridge while we clean and make some coffee. You have most of the ingredients out already, we just need-"

"Wait," Yuu said and held up their hands, "You mean it? You'll teach me?"

Trey kissed the Yuu's forhead and said, "My mother always said, food tastes better when you make it with someone you love~"

Cater has been seeing a lot of baking hacks on his magicam feed and decided to try one, except Yuu got to it first. He walked to the kitchen with his equipment in hand, ready to film, but when he got there, Yuu was putting the finishing touches on their donuts.

"Cater!" Yuu was very excited as they picked up their plate of freshly made donuts, "I saw this donut recipe on Magicam and thought you would like it!"

Cater smiled at his S/o and ruffled their hair with his free hand, "You read my mind! I was on my way to make them!"

He looked down at the slightly mishappend donuts and picked on up, "You know what? We can do a live reaction vid on my magicam! This is perfect!!" Cater started to set up his phone stand when he saw Yuu's notes and mess on the table, as well as a pile of burnt and underdone donuts. There were piles of flour and powdered sugar all over the notes.

Yuu's smile had fallen, and they looked nervous, "c-could we not? I-i'm still learning a-and am not sure about the flavor or the texture s-so can we not film this live?"

Cater could see how nervous their partner was and nodded, "I bet they taste amazing, but we don't have to film if you don't want to." He reached out and picked up one of the donuts on top. He tried it, and it was a little overcooked, but overall, it tasted pretty good! It wasn't too sweet, had a cakey flavor, and wasn't too dense. Cater smiled and popped the rest in his mouth. "This is really good!" He said, licking the powdered sugar off his fingers, "How long did it take you to make them?"

Yuu couldn't hold back their smile, "Really!? You like them?!" They put the plate down and dusted off their hands, "5th time is the charm!"

"5 times?" Cater was shocked, he didn't think the hack was that difficult.

"Well, yeah," Yuu rubbed the back of their neck and looked down at the donuts, "I wanted them to be perfect for you, so I found a recipe that wasn't too sweet. But because of that, the baking time was different, so I had to experiment to get the right recipe."

Cater felt his heart warm. "You did this all for me?"

"Of course," Yuu said and grabbed their notebook, wiping off some powdered sugar from the page, "I know you're not a fan of sweets, so I have been trying to learn some more... Cater-friendly treats that you could substitute at unbirthday parties and events." They flipped through the notebook and scanned the recipies, "I have successfully made 5 so far counting the donuts, but I didn't want to show you till they were perfect."

"You did this all... for me?" Cater looked at the notebook, and his expression changed from his usual "happy" face to a genuine smile. He leaned down and kissed Yuu's forehead before turning to a pudding recipe that caught his eye, "Ya know what... can you teach me to make this? Not for magicam, just for us?"

Yuu smiled and nodded, "I-I would love to!"

Deuce just wanted a glass of water, but he was face with a batter filled kitchen and a trey full of cookies. Yuu was grinning from ear to ear as they held out the trey. They had been working on them while Deuce finished his homework. They wanted to reward him for getting an "A-" on his recent Professor Trien assignment with a sleepover and some cookies.

"Suprise!" Yuu said as they held out the try, "I've been working on them all day! They finally didn't burn!"

Deuce smiled at his partner and ruffed their hair, “They smell delicious, Yuu.”

He picked up one of the cookies and it started to go limp in his hand. It felt weird in his hands, but Yuu worked really hard on these so he forced a smile and took a bite of the cookie. To say it was underdone was an understatement. The cookie turned to mush in his mouth and tasted more like sugar than anything else. The overwhelming taste of sugar made him want to gag, but he held it back to the best of his ability for the sake of Yuu. They watched him with anticipation as they held out the cookies.

Deuce forced a smile through the taste and gave them a thumbs up, “Delicious… mmmm.”

Yuu’s expression fell, they saw past it, “Don’t lie… what’s wrong? Are they undercooked? did I manage to overcook them again?” They were listing off reason after reason and Deuce felt awful.

“Nonono! I love them! They taste amazing! See!” Deuce shoved the rest of the cookie in his mouth and proceeded to shove the rest of the sugar-rotten, mushy cookies into his mouth. His stomach was revolting, and his tastebuds were throwing a hissy fit, but he wasn’t going to let any of Yuu's hard work go to waste.

"Deuce!! What are you doing!?" Yuu exclaimed and pulled the trey away from him. "You're going to make yourself sick!!"

Deuce shoved the last of the cookies into his mouth, and he felt like he was going to puke. But he smiled through the pain. "See... told you.. they were... good..."

He swallowed down the nausea and held onto the counter. He saw their notes on the counter and felt worse. They have been working so hard to do this for him.

"Deuce..." Yuu rubbed his back and said, "You idiot, sit down. I'll get some water and meds."

They turned to grab the stuff, but before they did, Yuu kissed Deuce's cheek and said, "Thank you, Deuce."

Deuce smiled for real now and turned to his partner, "You worked so hard on them, it's the least I can do," then a rare stroke of brilliance hit Duece like a freight train, "I-If you want to learn to bake, wanna call my Mom and Grams? They make really good cookies and would be happy to help, plus we can do it together!!"

A bright smile graced Yuu's face, and they nodded vigorously, "I would love to! We can learn together!"

The next weekend, Duece and Yuu made cookies with the help of his family on call. Ms. Sade and Nana Spade also made some remarks that left the couple red and speechless!

Ace smelled something off-putting when he entered Ramshackle. At first, he thought it was him that smelled seeing as he just got out of basketball, but he showered and stole some of Jamil's deodorant, so he actually smelled decent. He walked further into the dilapidated dorm and realized it was coming from the kitchen.

He entered and saw chaos. It gave Ace flashbacks to when Trey went on strike and didn't bake for an unbirthday party. There were ingredients everywhere, notes everywhere, and in the center of the chaos was Yuu, pulling a cake out of the oven.

“Ace! You’re just in time!” Yuu exclaimed when they spotted him.

“Just in time for what exactly?” Ace asked as scents assaulted his nose and his stomach churned at the sight.

“To taste test!” Yuu placed the cake on the one clean spot on the counter. Next to them was a bowl of frosting and a bowl of strawberries. They pulled out two plates, a knife, a spoon, and two forks. “Trey gave me this lemon cake recipe to start with, and a simple strawberry-compote and frosting recipes to go with it. He said once I mastered this he would give me something more complicated-“

“Woah, woah, woah, hold up for a sec. Trey gave you a recipe?” Ace asked, “For what?”

“Just to learn,” Yuu said cutting the cake, “I’ve always wanted to learn how to bake and Trey said that if I helped out with unbirthday parties, he would be happy to tutor.” They placed a piece of cake in front of Ace with a smile, they then grabbed their notebook and a pen “So, taste test 01, Lemon Cake with whipped frosting and strawberry compote. Taste testers Ace and Yuu.”

Yuu put the pen down, used the spoon to scoop frosting and compote on to each plate then handed Ace a fork. Ace smiled and took the fork, “Best kind of test I’ve had in weeks!” He took a big bite of the cake, frosting, and compote. It tasted good at first, the smooth frosting and strawberries went well with the lemony cake. Then he tasted something salty, really salty. Like… soy sauce?

Yuu must’ve also tasted the soy sauce as their face also skewed. “Is it suppose to be salty?”

Yuu shook their head and looked at the recipe. “I-I did everything to a T! What hap…. They soy sauce was the dud.”

Ace looked at them confused, “the what?”

“The dud! Remember! Trey always puts a dud ingredient in so no one can steal his recipes.” Yuu put their hands on their heads in anguish. They were really upset, “I’m such an idiot! Why would soy sauce be in a LEMON cake, Ugggh its ruined!”

Ace put the fork down and awkwardly placed his hand on their back in comfort, “Hey, it doesn’t taste that bad. If ya lather on the strawberries and the frosting, you can hardly taste it.”

Yuu looked up at Ace with an exasperated look, “hardly taste it. Really. No snarky comments on how it taste more like take out than desserts?”

Ace winced. His reputation proceeded him. But he wanted to be better for his partner, “Look Yuu, the cake doesn’t taste great, but it ain’t awful. And the strawberries and frosting are good. So we grab some gram crackers. Eat them with strawberries and frosting. Save the cake for Deuce, Jack, Epel, Trey, and the others. Then this weekend, we send Grim out with Deucy so you and I can try making this again? Sound Good?”

Yuu looked at Ace with the hint of a smile, then hugged him, “You’re the best Ace.”

“I know, I’m a genius,” Ace said, “If only you listened to me more often~”

“Don’t push it Ace,” Yuu said and was about to put the cake in the oven when Deuce, Jack, Epel, Sebek, and Grim entered Ramshackle.

“Ah! Our first victims!”

The rest of the Week, Ace and Yuu enjoyed pranking their friends with the lemon-soy sauce cake, until the weekend when they had a fun and messy baking-date.

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

Note: Please Like, Reblog, and Follow for more! If you are interested in seeing more characters in this scenario or these characters in different scenarios, please let me know! (Do not Steal)

[gunilslaugh]

Hello! I'm sure you get this a lot but I really love and enjoy your writing and I'd love to see how you'd write a reaction with 0t6 betraying the reader. Like a member leaving the reader over a friend or another member during an important event for the reader. Can the reader be a bit stubborn and not easy to win over but a fluff ending overall? I hope this makes sense I'm willing to explain more if needed.☺️ Hope you're having a great day.

All members << * ~ * >>

Summary:The aftermath of Xdinary Heroes leaving you during an important event. (idol/non-idol au)

WC:~2.3k

Warning: angst I guess

I'm aware the endings aren't that fluffy, but they do show that their relation is gonna be ok, so I hope that's enough.

photo not mine credits to owner.

Gunil

You searched around for Gunil in the crowd, but you couldn’t find him. Pulling out your phone you went to text him only to discover that he already sent you a text. “Sorry Jooyeon called from the hospital he’s fine but I had to go.” “I’m sure you did great though!” His first text felt like a stab to the gut and the second was a twist of the knife. Gunil left you. When he knew how important today was for you, he still left you.

“Hey darling, I'm back.” Gunil approached you trying to kiss your cheek, but you moved away. “What’s wrong?” he asked. You scoffed and rolled your eyes, walking away from him. “Ok look I’m sorry I left I know-”

“You knew how important today was for me and you still left,” you cut him off harshly. 

“It’s not like I wanted to. Believe me, but Jooyeon called me in a panic about how he had to go to the hospital and asked me to meet him there so-” 

“You couldn’t have told someone else to go meet him? Jungsu, Seungmin, Hyeongjun? Why did it have to be you?” Gunil sighs at your sharp words. He tried to approach you, again you kept your distance. 

“Ok, you’re right. I should have asked if someone else could go meet him, but he sounded like he was pretty hurt and I was worried. What would you do if your friend called you all panicked about needing to go to the hospital?” Gunil flipped his situation on you. You sighed, you do understand why he left, but it still hurt. 

“I understand Gunil, but it still hurts that you weren’t there for me,” you told him. Gunil tries to approach you again and this time you let him. 

“I am truly deeply sorry y/n. Trust me I felt horrible for leaving you. I’ll do whatever you want to make it up to you ok?” he said. 

“Ok…I’m still mad though.” Gunil smiled and kissed your cheek, feeling relieved that you didn’t shy away this time.

Jungsu

This wasn’t good. You were furious. Jungsu had left you alone at a family event that you specifically told him how much you needed him to be there. To make matters worse he left you to go help her. His friend that he always told you to not worry about, yet you just couldn’t help it. Today certainly didn’t help with that.

“I’m sorry y/n, but she called me crying and all upset. What was I supposed to do?” Jungsu says.

“I was crying and upset after you left! Plus you know how I feel about her and I told you how much I needed you!” you yelled back.

“Y/n I am really sorry. You really don’t have to worry about her.”

“Don’t I? You literally picked her over me. How am I supposed to not worry about that?” Tears filled your eyes. 

“I swear you're the one I love y/n,” he pleaded with you. 

“I’m not sure about that. I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” The tears slid from your eyes. 

“Don’t say that.” Tears welled up in Jungsu’s eyes. 

“I need someone who can be there for me when I need them. Someone who would pick me. I’m not sure if that’s you.” You looked down at your feet.

“It’s me. It’s me alright. I’ll never contact her again if that’s what you need me to do. I promise you’re the only one I want.”

“That would make me look like a villain,” you sighed. 

“No it wouldn’t. I shouldn’t have gone to her today. It was a mistake and I regret it. I didn’t think it would upset you this much, but I should’ve known better.”

“You won’t pick her over me ever again?” You had to be sure before you thought about forgiving him. 

“Swear on my life,” he stated. 

“Ok, I think I still need some time though,” you say. 

“That’s fine, but can I hug you at least?” he asks. You thought for a moment before nodding. He holds you like you're made of glass. 

Gaon/Jiseok

“You promised you would come.” You sounded so dejected as the words fell from your mouth. Jiseok promised that he would come to support you at an important event, but he never showed. It made you feel like you weren’t important to him. Not important enough at least. 

“I know. I’m sorry, but the guys needed me,” he tried to explain. 

“And what they wouldn’t have understood that I needed you?” you scoffed. 

“Y/n please I know I made you upset, but-”

“But what? Now I know that you’ll pick your friends over me? You showed me where I stand with you?” Your voice grew louder. 

“Y/n I love you so much.” You scoff again. 

“You think saying you love me is gonna magically make me forgive you? Not this time Kwak Jiseok. I’m really pissed at you.” You stood up to walk away, but Jiseok desperately grabbed your arm. 

“Y/n please don’t leave. I know I messed up bad, but please don’t leave me.” You could hear the desperation in his voice. 

“I need some space, Jiseok. I don’t want to be around you right now.” You tried to pull your arm free, but Jiseok held it tighter. Not too tight though. He didn’t want to hurt you anymore than he already has. 

“I’ll give you all the space you want, but can you please promise that you won’t break up with me because of this? I really can’t lose you y/n. I love you with my whole heart and I’m not saying that to try and gain your sympathy. I just want you to know that I do.” You took a breath, taking the time to process his words. 

“I’m not gonna break up with you. I love you too, but I really need space right now, so can you please?” You looked at where his hand was wrapped around your arm. Jiseok slowly let go, like he was still scared of losing you, but he had to trust you. It was his only option. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready to talk.” Jiseok nodded. All he could do now was wait.

O.de/Seungmin

“I really needed you today, you know?” Seungmin left you right in the middle of an event. One that you really needed him at for moral support. You needed someone to lean on. He knew that, yet he still left you alone.

“I know. Jungsu really needed me too he-”

“More than me? He didn’t have anyone else that could help him?” you cut Seungmin off. 

“It was something only I could help him with,” Seungmin explained. 

“I really needed you too though. I guess it really is bros before hoes huh?” You were very clearly upset. 

“Y/n please don’t be like that. I understand that you're angry with me. You have the right to be, but you know I wouldn’t have left if I didn’t need to.” Yes, you did know that. Logically you did know that Seungmin wouldn’t have left if he didn’t need to. That since he left, Jungsu evidently did need him more than you did, but still sucks that you weren’t the one he chose. It still hurts. 

“I know, I know, but it still really hurts me that you left,” you tell him.

“I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t fix what happened, but for the record it wasn’t easy for me to leave you. I felt guilty about it- I still do. I wanna make it up to you whatever way I can.”

“I don’t know how you can,” you expressed. 

“Whatever you think about I’ll do it ok? Whether you figure it out now for five years from now I’ll do it,” he promises. You nodded. 

“Is Jungsu alright?” You could finally ask now that you were feeling more calmed down. 

“He will be. He feels bad for making me leave you too. He wants to apologize, but he figured you would be upset and need some time,” he tells you. 

“Why is Jungsu so sweet? Can’t even stay mad at him,” you grumbled. 

“I’m sorry again,” Seungmon conveys one last time.

“I get it.” Your head fell to rest on his shoulder.

Junhan/Hyeongjun

You knew Hyeongjun wasn’t the type of person to just not show up. Especially when you talked about how important today was, so your initial reaction to him not showing up was that something must have happened to him. When you found out that something did happen only it wasn’t to him, it was a friend of his. You felt relieved that Hyeongjun was ok, but then anger quickly set in over that fact he picked them over you. You couldn’t keep the thoughts away that this person meant more to him than you did. That he would pick this person over you again.

“Am I not important to you Hyeongjun?” You couldn’t help but ask. 

“What? Y/n you are so important to me. What are you talking about?” Hyeongjun responded. 

“Not important enough for you to pick me that’s why,” you mumbled. 

“Y/n I’m deeply sorry about that, but I thought that you were strong enough to handle it on your own and-”

“Your friend wasn’t. Yeah I get it, but if I wasn’t strong enough. What if I felt like I was having an anxiety attack the entire time? I kept looking for you because if I saw you I knew that I would be ok, but you never showed,” you tell him. Hyeongjun feels bad, horrible, but he can’t take back what he did. If he had a time machine he doesn’t know what he would do. He was in a really tight spot today and he’s fully aware that whatever he chose would be wrong for someone. However now maybe he thinks he should’ve wronged his friend instead of you. 

“I wronged you and I’m sorry, but whatever I did I would have wronged someone. Can you try to understand that at least? Not saying that it should’ve been you. It was a lose-lose situation for me and I had to try and pick which one would be a bigger loss.”

“So your friend is a bigger loss than losing me?” Your anger flared. 

“No! No! Y/n that’s not what I meant. I thought you would be more understanding about the situation or I don’t know. I did a really bad job at explaining. I would much rather lose my friend than you. You’re the most important person to me please trust me on that. I-I-I really messed things up for us didn’t I?” Hyeongjun began to anxiously ramble.

“I am really mad at you, but I’ll be able to forgive you with time. It's just what you did today. Made me feel like I wasn’t important to you.” 

“You are so important to me, I promise. I’ll never pick someone else over you again alright? I was stupid today,” he says

“You were in a hard situation. I understand, but you also understand that what you did hurt me right?” 

“I do and I’m deeply, truly, sorry.” He looked you in the eyes and you can tell he meant it.

Jooyeon

 “Jooyeon, how could you leave me alone today! I told you how serious this event was!” Jooyeon flinched at your words. He knew that you would be upset with him for leaving, but he didn’t anticipate you being this upset. 

“I’m sorry y/n, but she really needed me. You know I wouldn’t have left if she didn’t.”

“Did she need you more than me? I really needed you!” You didn’t even want to hear about her. You know that she was just Jooyeon’s friend. You didn’t have any worries about her being more than that, but the fact that you now had confirmation that he would pick her over you hurt like a slap to the face, multiple slaps.

“Y/n please don’t do this to me. It was a hard, impossible even, decision to make,” he tried to plead. 

“Yet, you still picked her in the end and if you picked her once you’ll probably pick her again. She comes before me,” you stated. 

“No she doesn-” he began. 

“She did this time, so why not other times?” you cut him off. 

“She didn’t have anybody else,” he tired to explain. 

“And I did?” you said sarcastically. Feeling like your anger was at a max. If you were a cartoon you’d have smoke coming out of your ears. Jooyeon sighs. 

“No, you didn’t. Look, all I can do is apologize. In that moment I felt like-”

“She needed you more than I did. Yeah I get that,” you rolled your eyes.

“I may have made a mistake-”

“May?” You arched your brow. 

“I did make a mistake,” he restates his words. “Friends are supposed to be there for one another, but I get that I should've explained to her that you really needed me and I shouldn’t have gone. Looking back at the situation I see that now. I can only hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me,” he says. 

“I don’t want to feel like I’m in a competition with her,” you express. 

“You’re not. I promise you’re not. I’ll set more clear boundaries,” Jooyeon declares. 

“You can’t leave me again. I really did need you today,” you say. 

“I won’t, I won’t. I promise. I’m sorry for today.” He hugs you, rubbing your back to try and soothe your tension.

Taglist: @purplelady85 @odesonnets @gingerjunhan @chewednails @ezlynkisses @mon2sunjinsuver

[captainsophiestark]

Ragtag

Grant Ward x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2023!

Fandom: Marvel

Day 1 Prompt: "It's not too late, let's go."

Summary: The scene with FitzSimmons and Garrett on the Bus at the end of Season 1 if, instead of FitzSimmons, Grant had found and captured his long-time best friend, partner, and girlfriend.

Word Count: 4,158

Category: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: Mentions of abuse. No depictions of it, but the mention/realization that a character has been abused in the past, while staring at/standing in the same hallway as the abuser.

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

This had to be a nightmare.

With each step I took, one foot in front of the other, I willed myself to wake up, to realize everything had just been a bad dream. And with each step, I was forced closer to the realization that my situation was heartbreakingly, terrifyingly real.

The past week, I'd had a line of similar thoughts, hoping and praying that the fall of SHIELD and the betrayal of my best friend and boyfriend, Grant Ward, had been some insane fever dream. That I'd wake up in the med pod on the Bus, the team happy to see me awake, and that I'd realize everything had been some horrible concoction of my imagination instead. But just like now, I'd been forced to come to terms with the fact that I was wide awake.

First, I thought the nightmare was Hydra's infiltration. Then it became Garrett, Grant's mentor and basically surrogate father, being a traitor. Then it was discovering Grant was a traitor. Now, it had reached a whole new level, as Grant frog-marched me toward the Bus that he and Garrett had taken over, my hands tied behind my back and his gun forcing me to keep moving forward.

"Grant... what are you doing?" I breathed, trying to keep the tears out of my voice as we neared the ramp of the plane. Garrett had taken things over in the name of Hydra, and he clearly had some hold over my boyfriend. Every step towards that ramp lowered my odds of making it through this.

"We can't have SHIELD following us, that's all," he said. He kept his voice level, trying to convince me he was being reasonable, like I'd heard him do with our enemies on missions countless times before. I shook my head.

"You are SHIELD, Grant," I said. "Please, please remember that."

His grip tightened slightly on my forearm as he led me to the base of the ramp, a comforting squeeze more than anything threatening. A week ago, it would've put me at ease.

"I'm not the man you think I am," he muttered. I sighed heavily through my nose, a little bit of irritation finally flaring up.

"I know you better than anybody else on earth, apparently including you," I huffed. Grant didn't respond.

As soon as we entered the garage bay, where Lola used to sit, Grant and I were flanked by three other agents, who followed us up the stairs. Grant moved ahead, leading me through the physically wrecked and shattered hallways of the plane we'd spent a few, blissful months calling home, and my heart squeezed tight in my chest. How had everything gone so wrong?

"Here she is, sir," he said, and a second later I saw John Garrett's stupid, shitty face staring back at me. I narrowed my eyes and scowled, unable to contain my hate and anger enough to keep a neutral expression.

"What's the matter?" he asked, his tone light and teasing in a way that made my blood boil. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Maybe I've just got nothing to say to you," I replied. He had the nerve to laugh.

"Well, that's fine then. I don't know that I have much to say to you either, especially now that you're here. Thanks to Ward, you won't be much of a problem for me anymore."

Over Garrett's shoulder, I saw Grant's expression flicker and shutter. Like a kicked dog, caught between someone he loved and someone who scared him. An anger I'd only ever felt when our enemies threatened Grant welled up in my chest.

In my entire, almost fifteen-year career at SHIELD, I had managed to get through it without killing anyone. Ever. Even before I had the Icer to knock enemies out instead of shooting them the old-fashioned way, I'd made a point of using non-lethal force. It mattered to me; it felt important to find a way to do my job without killing people in the process.

Grant had never had the same reservations. It didn't bother me, and although we'd talked about it once or twice, I'd never expected him to take up my same system when we'd been partnered on missions, when we'd become good friends, or when we'd started dating. Time and again, he'd gone to the mat for me, tearing apart anyone that existed as a threat to me with a force I'd never have imagined using.

For the first time in our lives, in our decade and a half of friendship, the tables had turned.

Thanks to the rest of Coulson's team, I knew John Garrett had significant organ failure. A Cybertek device in his chest was the only thing still keeping him alive. He'd abused Grant for longer than I'd known him, and for the first time, I could see clearly how it affected Grant, in real time. For both our sakes, I couldn't let this go on any longer. I didn't know if it would kill him, and I still hoped it wouldn't, but for the first time I didn't care enough to make sure it wouldn't. I needed to get away from Garrett, and more importantly, I needed to get Grant away from Garrett. Even if it was for just a few minutes.

The Bus's engines whirled outside, and I felt us lift off the ground. An added complication, for sure, but not enough to change the plan I'd just formed in my head. I took a deep breath in and out, steadying my heartbeat and readying myself for the action ahead, like Grant had taught me years and years ago. Then, I jumped as high as I could, bringing my handcuffed hands under my feet and around to the front of my body as I did. Before anybody could register my movement, I darted forward and struck Garrett in the chest as hard as I could, putting all my weight and momentum behind both of my hands.

Garrett went down like a sack of bricks. He doubled over, gripping his middle as he groaned. I brought my knee up and hit him again before anybody could stop me, and then I took off running through the familiar passages of the jet that I used to call home.

"Garrett!" I heard Grant cry, distress in his voice that sent a pang running through my chest. I ducked around a corner at the sound of thundering footsteps behind me, and soon the agents that'd followed Grant and I from the minute we set foot on the Bus came rushing into the small common area in front of all our bunks, one room over from Garrett and Grant.

I heard shouting from the other room, and Grant's voice faded as he told Garrett to wait just a second. I tried to keep a piece of my attention focused on that while I engaged the three agents who'd decided to chase me. Even with my hands tied, they weren't much of a match for me.

I wrapped my arms around the neck of the one who'd come in last, using him as a human shield against his friends as I held him in the sleeper hold.

One by one, I worked through my three assailants, until they were each unconscious on the ground. As soon as the last one was down, I paused to tune back in to the goings-on in the other room, and heard Grant's voice as he assured Garrett that he would live. Apparently Cybertek was preparing to treat him in Miami.

I made the quick decision that I had enough time to make sure these three wouldn't continue to be a problem, so I dragged them into my old bunk (right next to Grant's) and then wedged a loose piece of the dining table's structure into the door so it couldn't open again. It likely wouldn't hold them for very long, but it was better than nothing. I took a few extra seconds to wrestle out of my handcuffs, my mind working as I did.

With Garrett and his three goons incapacitated, I had decent hope of getting Grant alone. I heard Raina, an inhuman we'd been struggling with, promising to stay in the room with Garrett and keep him safe. And then, I heard Garrett's voice hissing at Grant, barely above an ugly whisper.

"I need you to put her down."

I straightened, hands on my hips as my handcuffs finally dropped from my wrists, and frowned. There was no mistaking what he meant, but I couldn't imagine he actually thought he'd get very far ordering Grant to kill me.

"What?" Grant's voice, barely louder than Garrett's. I shifted a little closer to the doorway to hear better. "No. There's plenty of time. I won't leave you."

"And I'm telling you to cross her off for me. It's not a weakness, is it?"

The silence seemed to stretch for years. Then, finally, Grant's voice:

"No."

I turned on my heel and ran.

The nightmare continued, apparently, as the man who'd saved my life more times than I could count anymore had apparently just agreed to be my murderer. I couldn't believe he'd actually go through with it, but I also couldn't believe he'd entertain Garrett to this point. I couldn't take any risks, not now.

I slid down the ladder between the sleeping compartment and the cockpit, landing in the maze of pods in the hull just as I heard heavy footsteps overhead. My heart started racing in my chest, a fear like I'd never felt in all my near-death experiences at SHIELD gripping my chest.

Grant wouldn't actually kill me, would he?

I darted between the pods, and just like in a horror movie, I heard Grant's voice call out my name from behind me. I sped up, finally ducking into one of the pods and locking it behind me as I heard his footsteps closing in. My hand slammed on the locking device and it turned from green to red just in time. A second later, Grant appeared before me, his hand on the glass separating us.

"Open the door," he said, his eyes locked on mine. I could only see one of his hands, and my heart raced in my chest as I realized the other was likely level with his hip. I took an involuntary step backward.

"Grant... you're scaring me," I breathed, tears at last rising to the surface and threatening to fall. I'd fought them back once, but this time, I didn't think I'd be able to.

"Y/N, just open the door."

"No. I heard what you said, I heard what Garrett said. You... you wouldn't actually kill me. Would you?"

He grimaced, his jaw setting in the expression I recognized as him dealing with something he DID NOT want to deal with. My heart broke a little more in my chest.

"Just open the door."

"No! Grant, are you kidding me?" The tears were coming now, streaming down my cheeks, and I stepped towards Grant again, pressing up against the glass to get as close to him as possible. "I love you! You're my best friend, you're my partner! You're supposed to have my back through anything! I... I'd started daydreaming about marrying you! About the two of us, having the SHIELD careers recruits would be hearing about for the rest of time, before finally retiring somewhere nice together. Every time I thought about my future, Grant, you were in it... and now I might not have a future because of you? Are you kidding me?"

His expression flickered, and he couldn't keep some sadness and regret off his face when he looked at me through the glass this time. The tiniest spark of hope fluttered in my chest. If he felt bad, maybe I could still talk him off the ledge. Maybe I didn't have to lose the love of my life.

"I'm sorry. I tried to tell you... I'm a bad man. I'm not the man you thought you fell in love with."

"Bullshit!" I cried, slamming my fist into the glass in front of me. Grant jumped a little, surprise registering on his face. "You are exactly who I think you are. I know you, Grant, I've spent the last fifteen years of my life with you. Garrett may think he knows you, but he's wrong. He knows who he wants you to be. But I know who you actually are."

"You don't-"

"The sugary, caramely coffee drinks you secretly love but refuse to let anybody else but me know you drink?" I said, interrupting him with a hand on my hip, my eyes locked on his. "How invested you got in The Circle when I made you watch it on Netflix? All the time we spent planning what our strategy would be if we ever went on the show together?"

He grimaced, but I didn't give him a second to respond.

"The face mask you did with me that you loved, and all the stupid pictures we took together with the masks on? Your aggressive hatred of the Patriots even though you're from Massachusetts? The fact that you sleep best with a sleep mask, and that you have to take your socks off right before you get under the covers? Not a moment before, and definitely not after? All of that shared history, all of those things we've shared and that I've gotten to see, and you think I don't know you?"

Grant just stared at me, looking at a loss for words. I let mine hang in the air for a minute, then continued.

"I highly doubt John Garrett could list even one of those things. And those little things that you do every day, that you can't fake? That's you Grant. I know you. I know you've saved me more times than I can even count, from the demons in the real world and the ones inside my own head. So I get that Garrett's got you believing you're some kind of secret evil supervillain, but I know enough to know how ridiculous that is. You're the best man I've ever met, Grant. Please, believe me over that piece of shit upstairs that never cared enough to know the real you."

Grant still didn't speak for a few long moments, but this time, I just let the silence hang. I held his gaze, the tears having finally stopped. I didn't wipe away the remnants as they slowly dried on my face. Finally, Grant sighed, breaking eye contact to look down at the ground before returning his stare to me.

"And how exactly do you see this going?" he asked, his voice low. He'd leaned in a little, like we were co-conspirators, and I swear I felt a weight lift off my chest. The glimmer of hope had turned into a full light. "What do you expect to happen next, after all this? Don't tell me you still see a happy ending, with us retiring after full careers at SHIELD."

I sighed through my nose and rolled my eyes up to the ceiling, before fixing Grant with a look. He raised his eyebrows, and I had to fight back a laugh, mostly at the relief for that small moment of our relationship back to normal.

"Well, no, I don't think that's in the cards anymore," I deadpanned. "But the only important part of my vision of the future has been you, Grant. I don't care if we get mentioned in SHIELD classes years from now or if we're labeled as failures, examples of what not to do. All that matters to me is you."

He stared at me for a few more long, silent moments. For most people, he would've been unreadable, but I recognized the slightly-wider eyes, the deer-in-headlights look he got whenever I admitted big feelings that he didn't expect me to share. It was a good sign, and when he swallowed and cleared his throat, his expression had all of the grim defeat gone, replaced instead by a shaky hope.

"So what are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting we run," I said simply. "It's not too late, let's go. Let's ditch it all, and go somewhere we can start a new life together. Screw Garrett, screw SHIELD, screw Hydra. All that matters is you and me."

Grant stared at me like he didn't believe I was real. Slowly, swallowing heavy again, he nodded. I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he finally managed, nodding again, more sure this time. "Yeah, let's do that. You're... you're all that matters to me, too."

My small smile broke into a full-on grin, and at last, I hit the lock on the door. I slid it open the moment the lock flashed green, darting forward to close the space between me and Grant and wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. I buried my face in his chest, and after a moment, he wrapped his arms around me in return.

"Well. I guess she was a weakness."

Grant and I's heads snapped up in unison to find John Garrett standing just down the hallway from us. I narrowed my eyes. Of course he'd picked this moment to show up.

Grant stiffened under my arms, and I could feel the stress radiating off of him. Garrett took a small step towards us, but I didn't dare move, lest Grant feel anymore trapped than he already did. Besides, holding him tight in a hug we'd shared during and after a thousand traumatic experiences felt like the best leg up on Garrett I could get.

"Agent Ward, I didn't train you to be a pushover. I trained you to be a man who could go in and do the job that needed to be done," said Garrett. "It's not too late. You don't want to disappoint me, son."

At the same time Garrett's words washed over Grant, he took another step closer, and his hand flexed at his side. Grant flinched under me, and I saw red.

In almost fifteen years, Grant had never flinched. Not like this. When something came flying at his face? Sure. When an especially good jump scare happened in a horror movie and he tried to hide how badly it had scared him? Always. But when someone stood apart from us, subtly threatening him? Never. Not once.

Garrett had clearly manipulated him, badly. I knew that. Throughout the course of this interaction, I'd assumed Garrett had crossed the line into mental abuse, too. But now, I realized it had gone even further. To mental and physical abuse. Garrett had hit Grant enough after Grant "failed" him, that my boyfriend, who'd stared down some of the scariest people in the world without fear, stood next to me trembling, caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Think things through here, Ward," said Garrett, continuing his slow walk towards us. "Either you kill her, or I do. Weaknesses are unacceptable, especially now that we've come out of the shadows. A happy ending doesn't exist to this love story that came from your lies at SHIELD. So don't be stupid, son. Don't make this worse on yourself than it has to be-"

My hand moved before my brain actually registered what I was doing. I grabbed the gun out of the holster at Grant's waist, the one I thought he might've decided to use on me only about ten minutes ago, and I levelled it at Garrett. I was aware enough to realize this wasn't an Icer; this had the ability to do lethal damage. And for the first time ever, I decided I didn't care. I shot John Garrett in the chest, twice. He dropped to his knees, the life quickly fading out of him, leaving a crumpled heap on the floor.

The gun fell out of my hand and clattered to the ground, my hands were shaking so bad. I dropped to my knees, a wave roaring in my ears as I stared at Garrett's dead body. Vaguely, I registered tears streaming down my face. What had I just done?

A second later, Grant dropped next to me. His arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me to him. Not only had I just killed someone, I'd killed someone important to Grant. In front of him. His abuser, yes, but that wouldn't make it much easier to watch the man he thought saved him die before his eyes.

"Grant... I'm so sorry," I breathed, the words coming out broken around sobs and gulps for air. I shook my head and buried it into his shoulder, the reality of everything washing over me again and again, like waves pounding into the shore. "I can't believe... I just killed someone. I'm so sorry, I... I've always found another way. Always. All life is precious and important, but he was just so rotten- And he was hurting you- I'm so sorry."

I broke, words failing me as I shook, sobbing, head buried in Grant's chest. He wrapped his other arm around me and held me tight, which only made me feel worse. We stayed like that for a few moments, until I finally got a hold of myself enough to look at him. His eyes remained on Garrett's broken form, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

"Grant... how can you be comforting me right now? After what I did to someone you care about, I-"

I broke off again, the words turning into choked sobs as I ducked my head back into his chest. I squeezed my eyes tight, waiting for Grant to come to his senses enough to pull away. Instead, he sighed, and pulled me closer.

"Come on, is that even a real question?" he asked, his words as shaky as both of us combined. "The same way you forgave me for everything I did. I love you. And... if you, of all people, decided the right decision was to shoot John Garrett? ...Well, I don't know. Maybe he was having a worse impact on me than I realized."

I cried harder at that, relief and sadness and a thousand other emotions that had been warring in my chest all day coming together to be processed as one. After a few moments, I felt Grant's shaky breathing and a few drops of wetness on the top of my head as he cried silently with me. Grief for a lot of things gripped us both, but at least we could cling to each other.

A few long minutes later, we finally pulled apart and helped each other to stand. We were both still shaking, and I did my best to stand between Grant and Garrett's body. It felt wrong to keep my back to Garrett, to let myself avoid facing what I'd done, but I just couldn't make myself do it.

Wordlessly, we wandered back up to the main level of the Bus. Raina still waited here somewhere, but we didn't see her, and we didn't seek her out as we headed for the cockpit. With a few looks, we both knew exactly what we wanted and needed to do. I held Grant's hand tight in my own as we had the Quinjet set down immediately, in the middle of a field in Oklahoma. Neither of us wanted to be on board a second longer.

We walked out of the cockpit and towards the ramp in the back, avoiding any of the cargo bay where so much had happened. We found Raina in the living room, but she didn't try to stop us. Hand in hand, Grant and I walked off the ramp and out into the field. A moment later, the plane took off again, continuing on its original course and leaving us behind.

Grant tugged me closer to him and wrapped an arm around me, and we leaned on each other as the plane disappeared into the sky. Both of us still shook a little, and we were each the only thing keeping the other standing. After a minute, once the plane completely disappeared from sight, Grant spoke in a quiet voice.

"So... what do we do now?"

"...I guess we just start walking."

I looked up at him and our eyes connected for a few moments, holding each other's stares and trying to promise the other that everything would be okay. With Garrett gone, now more than ever, there was nothing stopping us from leaving all the hurt and bad memories behind, and starting over somewhere new. With any luck, Raina would tell people we were dead along with John Garrett, and that would be the end of our involvement with SHIELD and Hydra.

For now, though, none of that mattered. All that mattered was the man standing beside me as we turned, our backs to the plane and its path, and started walking towards our new future, hand in hand and one foot in front of the other.

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

Marvel Taglist: @valkyriepirate @luv-ghostie

[lorebeth]

When you aren't looking

Disclaimer: Hello! This is my first ever piece on this website so I hope it reaches the right audience! I'm still a little new to this so if you have any tips for how to get better accustomed to the app I'd be happy to learn!

I've recently had a hyperfixation on Dan Heng so hopefully this expresses my love for him psfjdhfjsj HELP THERE'S A FEW SPELLING MISTAKES

TW: Might be a little sad, Dan Heng ignores reader due to his feelings, Dan Heng hopelessly in love with you and terrified of his feelings towards you. Readers birthday, mwah!

Dan Heng couldn't comprehend it. His feelings for you have skyrocketed and he can't help but get a feeling at the bottom of his stomach whenever he sees you.

He doesn't like what you've done to him these past few months since you first joined him and the others. He couldn't find it in his heart to trust you after the effect you had on him so drastically but he also couldn't help not let you into his heart through your caring actions towards the others. How you communicate with March 7th, it makes his heart flutter and the way you make coffee for Himeko before her waking up.

He wonderered what you haven't done to make everyone's life just that inch more easier. Even Pom Pom adored you in their own little way.

What really hit the nail on the coffin for Dan Heng was when you found him awake in the dead of night when even Welt himself was asleep. You carefully approached him with a careful hand on his shoulder, making him shiver whenever he remembers the event.

"Would you like a cup of coffee? Tea, perhaps?" he knew you could see the bags under his eyes and the messy nest ontop of his head, yet all you did was offer him a hot beverage. You could have told him to go to sleep but he knew you knew that would have done nothing. And for that, he slowly started opening up to you. From a distance that is.

You had in fact won him over but his crippling fear of rejection stopped him. He couldn't face you again after he came to the conclusion he doesn't feel the same way he does with you with Himeko or March for example. How would you react if you saw him smile ever so gently whenever you help someone or whenever you explain to March why Welt has his phone brightness too high and can't change it due to his lack of expertise in mobile phones, causing March to giggle and try take Welt's phone.

So, he began to ignore you. And it did hurt him to see March come in his room without you because he simply couldn't see you. You had caught on quite quickly after the 3rd or 4th time he kept making excuses to not being able to spend time with you.

As time passed, your birthday was finally here and of course you felt horrible because this amazing boy was ignoring you, and of course you told March who felt the need to scold him personally and escort, as she frased it the, "Sorry Looking Emo Potato Salad" to the meeting held in place for your birthday. He of course had said previously that he was busy sorting out the files of the new monsters you had stumbled across and it would take the whole day. You felt your eyes tear up when he came in startled and with a face full of shame and desire to run away from the situation.

"March.. It's okay, he said he was busy. Honestly, Dan Heng it's okay, go do what you have to do." it angered you that the one you most wanted to spend your birthday with couldn't be bothered but your interest rised when he pulled out a little dark green envelope and a blue bag with a Happy Birthday plastered on it. It looked like his handwriting so perhaps it almost made up for him ignoring you all this time. Almost.

"Oh..? Thank you Dan Heng! I know you've been really busy these few weeks. So I appreciate it!" you were still upset but alot less now that you've seen the boy and you had a beautifully wrapped gift inside from him, there was shredded navy blue tissue paper covering the top.

"Happy Birthday Y/N. I'm sorry I haven't seen you much. I have to go now. If you don't like it or it isn't right, come to my room later tonight. I want you to open the envelope and my present last, please."

With that, the boy was off again. And instead of the feeling of sadness and hurt wash over you, you felt quite happy and curious for what he could have gotten you.

"Well that was weird.. Oh Y/N, Y/N!! Look at my gift!" you went on and started opening the rest of your presents, almost forgetting about the raven haired boy and his mysterious envelope and present.

After the little party, you found yourself ecstatic. You were going to have a sleepover with March after you got dressed and changed your out of your beautiful birthday outfit. Himeko wouldn't stop complimenting you and your colour combinations. It made you feel special.

Just as you were about to leave, from the corner of your eye, you see the little bag. You had put the envelope inside and from there you took it upstairs, having a quick chat with Welt and then changing.

You picked it up and saw a rectangular box, as you carefully tear off the paper, you see a stunning pair of earrings, they matched your everyday work outfit and still stood out, in the light shining your favourite shade of (F/C). You felt so full and empty at the same time, these must have cost a fortune but they were so fricking pretty. They made you laugh softly.

You had only discovered your feelings for him a week before he started disappearing on you. You made him that hot beverage and took him to his room, helping him put the last of his data he had collected and took his mug when he was finished. That moment was so domestic and made you strangely happy. You couldn't see yourself doing that for anyone other than March and you loved her like a sister.

The envelope caught your attention, as you begin to open it you hear a knock at your door, "Y/N! Are you coming?" March did have a habit of being impatient.

"Yes! One second, I'll be right there March." as she walked away, you opened the envelope, noticing the little pattern engraved onto the paper inside and on the envelope itself. It had a scent to it, as if Dan Heng himself hugged the letter and it caught his perfume.

Dear Y/N,

I'm sorry I've been so distant lately. I've grown to like you more than a friend would, and it hurts me every time I ignore you and you hurt. I've been afraid of rejection almost my entire life and I could not stand to lose another person I have grown to love. If you do not feel the same way, please ignore this letter. I just felt the need to explain myself because you deserve it. I've been selfish.

Yours, Dan Heng.

You've never sped walked to his room faster.

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

Haruka and Michiru as Aylin and Isobel. Y/N? I've never actually played BG3 but I'd love to know your thoughts.

I loved getting this ask right after seeing fanart of that very concept (but the other way around). And I love pondering stuff like this!

Certainly I've rolled this around in my brain as soon as people started calling Aylin and Isobel "the moon lesbians". I absolutely see the vision if it's a kind of more surface-level "cast the BG3 characters as senshi/the senshi as BG3 characters" or writing an AU/crossover in which case that's absolutely and without question the roles they'd get. But I think that going much deeper it starts to break down.

There's neat parallels, absolutely. That iconic romance! That all-consuming devotion! Beyond even death! And the whole dying-and-resurrecting thing, too! And a literal magical girl transformation that will forever be the best scene in the game. We sadly never get to see Aylin and Isobel in combat together the way we do Haruka and Michiru, but they'd make a really neat battle couple, I'm sure. Though their "I fight better when I know my beloved is safe" stuff might get in the way - a fun thing to explore.

And yes, one of them is loud and boisterous and tall and strong and sword-y and loves putting up a front and brushing her own feelings off as irrelevant even when she is suffering horribly. Also has the whole extreme dedication to duty thing going on, good ol' Being A Sword, while being brash and reckless and having a concerning disregard for personal safety. (You can't tell me Haruka wouldn't jump into 500 godawful fights a day, just plain facetanking everything, if she knew she couldn't die.) The other, meanwhile, is a way more subtle fancy princess lady type who seems to be calling a lot of the shots in the relationship.

My darling Isobel says we will stay allied at your side. I am pleased to hear it.

(Never fails to get me - Aylin, you already swore your sword and fealty to me 5 minutes ago, were you just going to dip if Isobel said so?)

She is also very insightful, is "the mage" and is capable of some excellent and on-point snark and verbal cuts, though I can't really see Isobel as being very ~ara (she's also a laughably horrible liar). Selûne actually has a lot of divination-related stuff in her portfolio and Isobel (who already uses mirrors in her iconic ritual we see in the game, and I love love love the setup she has there) doing some augury, scrying, and future-sensing via mirror-gazing would be super on brand.

(The moon, the tides, the sea... I could go places with this. But of course, now I've thought of Umberlee Cleric Michiru and The Seas Are Stormy, and that is a true delight.)

But the one place where it really breaks down for me is probably my very favourite thing to chew on with regards to Michiru, and that is that one iconic line, no matter how seriously you decide to take her words:

A world without Haruka isn't worth saving.

I cannot see Isobel saying anything like this, even as a joke, even as a taunt aimed at a defeated enemy.

Because we see Isobel go through exactly this: she wakes up in a world without Aylin. Against all odds, she is in the exact opposite of the situation they two with their mortal/immortal disparity have discussed and prepared for. She is told her unkillable demigod beloved is somehow dead and she believes this lie fully - we have no indication she ever doubted this. And what does Isobel do?

She makes a stand against the shadows, makes herself a beacon and protector, adamantly refuses to abandon any bit of her faith and her lifelong service to her goddess (even while expressing her dissatisfaction with Selûne's apparent laissez-faire approach there, if pressed), gives her all to set up a shelter and support the people mounting a resistance against her own father. "At any cost," she says, and it all clearly does cost her quite a bit - she is so very visibly exhausted and at the end of her tether when we meet her, but also chooses to be patient and to stay back and support and heal and all that. I feel like Michiru, in this situation, would rather march up to Moonrise and take on the entire army herself in a doomed last stand. Unless, I don't know, maybe a Jaheira-Setsuna situation could help?

All this actually makes me think Isobel has a lot of Hotaru vibes! The goth girl whose antagonist dad is part of leading an entire elaborate evil operation (she's the only thing he has left, she is an obsession, he will keep resurrecting her no matter the cost), being brought back from the dead by him in a weird way and suffering the various consequences of this. She even has an Ominous Cough going on, and her most prominent magical power is shielding and healing. Then, a tadpoled Isobel as a parallel to Mistress 9? You could go places with that.

Looking at the other halves of the couples, Haruka, when she thinks Michiru is dead:

You’re so unfair, Michiru, to leave for a world of your own. Don’t leave me here.

Aylin, in turn, seems to have dealt with Isobel's first death fairly... healthily. I mean, it's hard to say, when the one point of coping comparison we have is Ketheric. Certainly her grief is immense and when she says "I have mourned her these hundred years" it is the most believable thing. If Isobel dies again before they get reunited, we see a more subdued version of Aylin who is extremely duty-focused and determined to soldier on (her epilogue letter guts me) and who gives me that very I Will Never Love Again impression of kind of cutting herself off from the more mortal/human parts of her that Isobel seems very much a tether to (and you could go neat places with this being a parallel to the senshi dealing with having human identities, i.e. Haruka vs Uranus). But we do get some truly chilling stuff from Aylin if Isobel dies after their reunion (as well as a serving of some absolutely heartbreaking "I don't care what happens to me as long as Isobel is safe" right before that).

When I am free, I will destroy you! I will murder you, and your children, and their children beside! I will rip this world apart, plank and beam, until every iota of your being is scalded by my light.

So she is going to make very sure that a world without Isobel is also a world without you, traitor. And after that most thorough vengeance is done? I can't think of anything that bodes well, I'm afraid. But the senshi I could most easily see going down this particular dark route is, well, Michiru, and not Haruka.

Continuing this extremely self-indulgent thought exercise, it reminds me a bit of "every yuri couple is Utena and Anthy if you try hard and believe in yourself" and I'd say let's go for a twist: while they are absolutely nothing alike, Aylin sure makes an interesting Anthy because she's magically imprisoned for an unimaginably long time, has a thousand swords stuck in her over and over again, and she suffers because men objectify her and covet her for her power and what she represents and want to use her, and it seems to be a cycle she is doomed to repeat forever purely because of who she is. Meanwhile, Isobel is, uh, a car? I don't know how far I can stretch this, hahah.

In any case, thank you for this excuse to blather on! Always appreciated. Again, this is peak self-indulgence, and I love it.

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

007

Pairing : Miguel O' Hara X Reader

Genre : Angst, violence

Summary : The people who broke into your apartment take you. Miguel sure as hell won't let them keep you. 

Wordcount: 1.4k

Trigger warning¿: Violence, Miguel tears through skin like it's paper, Reader is injured

- Previously; Someone had broken into Miguel his best friend's apartment, yours. He doesn't understand why, or who, but he's pretty content with the current situation. You living with him. Now things have changed, he's finally owned up to his feelings, and the two of you have moved into a beautiful penthouse. Or see 004, 005 & 006-

[ A/N: Special thanks to @dammittjanet for helping me out with this chapter < 3.]

Miguel O'Hara Masterlist

It happens when he least expects it.

You're returning from hanging out with your friends when you're taken. Miguel has no time to guess who had been targeting you anymore. Time is expensive now.

He's a complete and utter mess, uncharistic chaos following his every move. HQ has become a bit of a mess. Most have been told to remain focused on the multiversal anomalies, but Miguel has kept Peter B and Jessica aside to help him find you.

So far, there has been no luck in finding you. And Miguel's anger is increasing by the second. He's barking orders left and right to Layla. He's surprisingly not barking orders at Jessica and Peter,  grateful for their help, though he doesn't voice it.

He just hopes he gets to you soon before anything horrible happens.

-

When you wake, you're not where you're supposed to be. You had been on your way home. And this isn't the still relatively new penthouse you had moved into recently with your boyfriend.

" Y/N L/N." A taunting voice calls out.

You turn your head to face the sound, and come face to face with a stranger you have no knowledge of.

" Who are you?" Your voice is strong.

You're scared out of your mind, but you'll be damned to show that.

The man stood a few steps across from u laughs. A little too loudly for your comfort. 

" My, girl. It's not important who I am. But tell me. Who are you? And what is your relationship with Miguel? " 

You glare at him. He doesn't like that. With a few steps, he walks up to you, roughly grabbing your cheeks and squeezing them together with one hand. 

" You better start talking, woman. You won't like what I'll do to you if you do not. " He tells you. 

You can't help the shiver that goes down your spine, but nonetheless, you try to stay strong. 

" Yeah, well, you won't like what he'll do to you if you as much as touch me. " You glare. 

The man scoffs. 

" Bold assumption to assume that he'll actually find you." The man sneers. 

Your glare only deepens. 

Suddenly, the door to your right opens, and a vaguely familiar man steps through. 

" Tyler Stone? " Your mouth falls open slightly, your lips parted in surprise. 

The man has the audacity to laugh. Waving off the stranger, Tyler takes his place in front of you. You never liked Miguel's father for what he had put him through. 

" Y/N. Thank you for remaining as friends with Miguel. Thanks to you we're finally going to get what we want. " He grins. 

You furrow your brows. 

" Haven't you bothered Miguel enough? I'd advise you to let me go. He's not going to spare you again. " 

Your fear lessens by the sight of this man. Literally everyone else you'd be afraid of, but you know that Miguel would make this man and his goons pay the ultimate price for messing with the two of you. 

Tyler chuckles. 

" Yeah well, let's just hope he'll find you alive first. Now, tell me. I know that he has access to the multiverse. Tell me how. "

You swallow. 

-

Time passes by quicker than Miguel likes it to go. Before he knows it, two days have passed. Whoever is holding you captive must be very intelligent or close to the society. 

" Miguel I found something. " Layla suddenly pops up beside him. 

She's been keeping her eyes on the security cameras in the city, keeping an eye out for anything that could've been related to you. 

" Show me. " He tells her. 

His posture is tense, he's stood in front if the screens as he always is, with his arms crossed over one another and a finger tapping away at his chin. 

Sure enough, Lyla pulls up a few security cams of two days ago, late in the afternoon. It follows a black car that flies through until it eventually stops in front of a building. Just like the other buildings of his world, it's sleek, and modern. But he doubts the inside will be pretty. 

With a sigh, Miguel straightens up. 

" Call Jess and Ben. "

" You don't want me to call Peter as well? "

" No. "

-

Your body hurts. Your face is bruised, you're pretty sure you've broken a rib by now, and you're as hungry as you are thirsty. Your stay here has been anything but pleasant so far. And you can't wait for it to end. 

You can't wait for Miguel to come and save you. Although you're in a lot of pain, you're not hopeless. You still believe that he'll come to save you. And on top of that, you believe he'll make these people pay. 

Much to Tyler and his goons displeasure, you haven't spoken a word about how to acquire multiversal travel. 

" Listen up, useless excuse for a woman. I am done with you and your shitassery. Tell us how-"

He's interrupted by a loud slam of the door. 

" Boss! He's here. And he's not alone. "

" What do you mean he's not alone? "

With an angry groan, Tyler follows the man out the door, and through the hallway. 

You try to move, to escape, to be useful, anything. Every movement makes you hiss as it passes through your ribs. You had managed to loosen the restraints on your first day, and now was the moment to loosen it all the way. 

As expected, your restraints fall to the ground. With a groan, you untie your feet as well, before getting up. 

You're feeling extremely weak. The pain and lack of water and food in your system setting you up to faint. You push the feeling down. Now is the time to escape. 

To your luck, the door is unlocked, and right outside lies a baton. Why? You don't know. But you're very grateful for whoever left their mess lingering around. 

Following the noise, you find yourself in a room with Tyler, his goons, Miguel, Jessica and Ben. The fight between them is already raging as you arrive. Miguel looks downright feral, using his claws for something other than climbing (and ruining) walls. He's merciless, ripping through the goons like they're worth nothing. Ben is talking nonsense while wrapping up people left and right, while Jessica is doing the same, without talking nonsense. 

For a moment, you just stand there. Breathing heavily, not knowing what to do. 

" The girl! " One of the goons suddenly calls out, noticing you. 

Your eyes widen, before they fill up with rage. They've had their turn hurting you. Now you'll return the feeling. You do feel a sweat break out as three dudes turn to you instead of one. 

Thankfully, Jessica appears to have beard him as well, as she turns to your aid quickly. Alongside her, you beat one of them (with a great amount of effort and the last bits of energy you have left,) while she takes down the other two. 

From the corner of your eye, you see Miguel tear through Tyler, speaking words to him you can't seem to process anymore. 

Once the three men are taken down, you collapse. Your lack of nutrients and water not allowing you to do more. 

You vaguely process Jess catching you, and the sound of Miguel calling your name. 

[ A/N: It took a while, but it's finally here! 1 or 2 more chapters/shots for these two and we're through. ]

008

000-009¿ - Taglist

@adamsloverboy @ihateuguys @alchemist421 @julesclues @bxrbiewrites @dammittjanet @lady-necromancer @gaspyghosttt @scarletsloveletter @okkotszn @zayxcc @scoliobean @spiritndrain @narmothewraith

[tgrailwar-zero]

... leaving aside the fact that some Servants have categorically, measurably better luck than others... do we even have enough cash to blow on gambling?

... is there a signup fee for the Flaming Bout or can we just put out hat in the ring?

.... Caster, Caster, dear beloved empress, why did you make me think about gambling- now I wanna test my luck... the slot machines are calling to me... the poker tables are calling to me... the roulette wheels- well maybe not the roulette wheels, but...

Rider, please be a voice of reason on this...

NERO: "I cannot relate to those urges that you and Saber seem to have. I only like games of chance if I win. Who wishes to lose money? Money is to be spent, not wasted."

CONSTANTINE: "I get the feeling there's no stopping you all. I'll watch the little one and wait in the lobby, maybe ask around. Don't spend too much in one place, like you said we don't know if there's an entrance fee yet. Just… be careful."

CONSTANTINE: "Not a bad idea. I'll see what I can find related to our Pharaoh, and keep the little one with me. I'd rather the child not get caught up in the gambling."

MUSASHI: "I'll keep them safe, okay?"

CONSTANTINE: "Oh, like it's just them I'm worried about? You stay out of trouble too, Saber."

With that, he stepped off on his own, taking the little guy by the hands.

(CONSTANTINE has temporarily left the party!)

She feigned a deep gasp, as if gravely offended.

MUSASHI: "I don't cheat, I strategize. And I'm better at swordfighting. Playing cards would be fun, but I probably couldn't pull a ton off without a plan first. Or... what's it they say in modern movies? 'Casing the joint'?"

That was about right. The voice matched up.

Your Assassin, OKADA IZOU...

ASSASSIN... he was surly, loyal to a fault, and had horrible gambling luck. Far from the most heroic of individuals, but he wasn't an unpleasant person to be around-- when he was in a good mood at least.

He was also notoriously bad at gambling, and yet notoriously obsessed with it, if your memory served you right.

Outside of the 'black box' prison, he had also died at the hands of KARNA after killing ASCLEPIUS, but considering those memories were much less clear, it was best to remember the good times like 'Grail Force'.

IZOU was a blade, coated with blood and grime, but as effective as even the most luxurious of swords.

Approaching the table, you could see that he wasn't in the best of moods or situations.

IZOU: "Hey… mind loaning me a few bucks? Not a lot, just enough so I can afford this blind..."

GAUDY MAN: "Wahahaha! Why? What's the fun in winning my own cash back?"

GAUDY MAN: "However, if you really think you can pay me back… I'll loan it, with interest."

IZOU: "You're downright criminal, you know that?"

GAUDY MAN: "Come on, what if you win this time? And win big too, so that you actually turn a profit."

IZOU: "Bastard…"

Despite his cursing, you could already see him rummaging around in his wallet.

GAUDY MAN: "Attaboy. You need to spend money to make money, my friend. And see? Your goodwill has been rewarded by a couple of beautiful women and their pet ominous shadow gracing our presence."

They seemed to have noticed your arrival, looking up from the table as you, NERO, and MUSASHI approached.

OKADA IZOU, abruptly stood up, pointing in your direction. Or, more specifically, in MUSASHI's direction.

IZOU: "Saber? Saber, if that ain't you! Long time no see! I could never forget a pretty face like yours!"

It seems like he didn't pay much attention to you at the moment. You weren't exactly sure what you looked like previously, so there was a solid chance he just didn't recognize you.

MUSASHI: "I didn't think you'd be here, Assassin. How are things?"

IZOU: "Ah, the summonin' is a new deal. But... Say, do you and your rich-looking friend have some PPT you can loan an old pal? I swear I'm good for it."

MUSASHI: "Straight to asking for money? Assassin… take the war out of the picture and you're just sort of a slimeball, huh?"

IZOU: "C'mon, you're breakin' my heart here."

NERO: "As far as men go, I'd opt to call them both unsavory in very different ways."

GAUDY MAN: "Well, 'Assassin', don't just start up a conversation without introducing me. Especially in the company of such lovely ladies and their... well, dark and looming bodyguard, I presume?"

The man by IZOU spoke up, lightly clapping the Assassin on the back. He had a roguishly charismatic air about him, and seemed as slick as he was strong. He had the eyes of a schemer, similarly to CASTER.

DURYODHANA: "My name is Duryodhana, a pleasure. Though, when I grace the battlefield, the crowds have taken to calling me 'Jishnu'. It means 'Triumphant', where I hail from. I know, I know, it's a lot, but what can I say? The people call it as they see it."

MUSASHI: "Nice to meet you. You can just call me 'Saber', for now."

NERO: "I am Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Though Emperor Nero will suffice."

DURYODHANA: "An Emperor? Well, how about that? I'm royalty myself! How about some drinks for our new friends? I've come into quite a windfall recently thanks to my swordsman friend here, you see. Hahahahaha!"

DURYODHANA flagged down some of the waitstaff as he cackled heartily, as IZOU placed a hand on his blade, smiling wickedly.

IZOU: "Oh, fuck off… I'll kill you, you know? Stab you right through that exposed gut."

DURYODHANA: "I'd love to see you try."

The two men, the former with the eyes of a killer and the latter with the glare of a demon, stared at one another.

There was a moment of tension where you really thought they actually would slaughter each other in the middle of this casino, before they both laughed and clinked their drinks together.