#unless both teams gets eliminated at the same time then one team will have an advantage over the other

[loveephia]

if i continue on with my bittersweet plot of usahime and tsukishima breaking up, usahime would be ending up with osamu :0!

loredrop ahead that includes manga spoilers!

usahime met osamu in the same business university in europe. they were both happy to see another person of the same ethnicity there. when the two got to talking, they were equally fascinated by their shared interest in the kitchen.

usahime then begins to recognize him as someone she's seen before, so she asks if she knows him from somewhere. he shyly admits that he used to play volleyball with his twin brother in high school, the two known for being the best set of twins there was back in the day. she realizes that she's seen him and his team play against karasuno in the spring nationals because tsukki had privately asked her to come watch. sadly, inarizaki was eliminated quite early on.

the two sat next to each other often, promptly listening to lectures and helping each other write up their business proposal drafts. eventually, usahime fell first, osamu later fell fACE-FLAT ON THE HARD CONCRETE ROAD FOR HER. after about two years (usahime now broken up with tsukishima) of getting to know each other more, they ended up confessing at the same time in the cutest way possible: osamu made her a pouch of freshly baked cookies while usahime made him a neatly arranged bento.

they dated for a few years onward, worked hard during both their internships, graduated together, moved back to japan, and so on! atsumu was so sure he'd marry the girl sooner or later seeing as how lovestruck his younger twin was.

when osamu realised that they were both financially stable enough, he finally proposed!

so although kei tsukishima was ichika usahime's, rather, ichika miya's first love, osamu miya is her greatest love. <3

(oh, btw, usahime was also tsukishima's first love. she was one of the very few girls to catch his eye and heart. there's a theory in psychology where males have the first love theory while females have the greatest love theory.

males will have a hard time getting over the one he had his firsts with: first time holding hands with, first date with, first everything. females, on the other hand, won't see their first love as someone to miss unless they made her feel like there could've been a future: that would be their greatest love. so as tsukishima is hung up on who he wanted to be with for his future, usahime instead lives in the future he wanted to have, just that it was with another.)

[pine-niidles]

2024 July Monthly Update - Artfight

Another July gone by, another Artfight draws to a close. This month's update post will be primary looking at what I've made for Artfight, but first some personal updates:

I mentioned in my last post I was dealing with wrist pain but it was getting better. It got worse. The last few weeks of July I spent not moving my hands as much as I possibly could because both hands were feeling so bad. Luckily I managed to figure out the cause (I bought myself a wheeled bag to take stain off my back when grocery shopping, turns out wheeled bag + cobblestone streets = wrist destroying vibrations) and once I eliminated it my wrists started actually healing. They're feeling much better now, not fully healed but well on the way :) I'm just glad art wasn't the cause. With any luck this'll be the last monthly update this year with a 'personal circumstances' blurb at the start and I can get fully back to just making and talking about art ✨

Artfight

This year was my 8th year participating, which is kind of wild to think about. My first year was Sun vs Moon, on team moon and I drew 34 total art pieces. I don't think I've ever beat the number but I certainly got close this year having drawn 30 attacks!

I didn't have a specific plan going into artfight this year, I usually don't other than maybe a list of people I'd like to draw for. I treat artfight as a super low pressure way to experiment and draw fun designs. Not every piece comes out exactly how I want it but that's part of the fun and every year at least one artfight drawing makes it's way to my fav art that year. 

At the end of June I'd just made a template for doing these chibi icons and I was having so much fun with them I started off artfight doing a bunch of them for attacks:

I think they turned out super cute but they look a little awkward side by side due to the different dimensions of each one. I've yet to find a good way to display batches of them 😔

The first bigger drawing I did was of a character I found in my bookmarks and I love how it turned out:

It was the perfect piece to break the last shackles of my artblock away and drawing it felt smooth as butter. I didn't really do anything similar the rest of the month but there's several points on how I lined and colored this one that I'm keeping in mind to experiment more with in the future. 

After the first piece I was feeling in a more environmental mood and freehanded these two attacks featuring characters in funky landscapes.

My wrists were still feeling pretty iffy at this point so the lines for both of these were a very loose first pass over a rough sketch but to be honest I don't think anyone would notice unless I pointed it out. 

I really thought I'd do more in this style but 🤷‍♂️ it ended up not happening. Maybe I'll do something with some ocs soon

The last three attacks I got out before my wrists got too bad to draw I did all in the same day

These two characters were exactly my type & I love to draw chibis on some kind of environmental base or prop so I wanted to do something with that this artfight as well. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Another one with a base, this time more like a character standee that I love to give dnd characters. Physical character models moving around on a map is one of my favorite tactile experiences of tabletop games.

The last one I did before I had to take a couple week pause - I wanted to experiment around with linework specifically and while there's a lot I like about this drawing there's several things I had to rush or simplify because of my wrists and overall it didn't end up being the strongest piece. Ah well, that's how it sometimes.

The day after I did these I went grochery shopping again and then my wrists really gave out. I didn't draw anything for artfight from the 12th until the 29th when my hands were finally starting to feel good enough to try and do just a few last drawings before the end.

I started off simple with some blocky chibis with saturated lineart. I'd played with colorful lines in the past but I never ended up liking because having all the lineart be one bright color always felt too much and too distracting. However, earlier this month I saw this gorgeous attack by ebelcities which made my realize the extremely pointless arbitrary restriction I'd been putting on myself: you don't need to have ALL the lineart be a bright saturated color, of course you don't! How trivial! And yet this was a huge breakthrough. I have to thank ebelcities for having such beautiful art 🥰 Seeing her work is always sooo inspiring. 

I still didn't want to push my hands too much so my next attack was done mostly using the lasso tool, with a few textures added on top. This attack received the least attention on social media out of all of them but personally I'm pretty proud of it 🤍

In the last two days my hands were feeling MUCH better and I took advantage of that to try and reach my initial goal I had at the start of the month - 30 attacks to fill up a whole page on my all attacks section with attacks from this year. 

​I had 7 left to do - and I did it!

I wanted to keep them simple both of the sake of my hands (drinking game for this post - take a shot anytime I mentioned my wrists) and to actually finish 7 drawings in 2 days. But I also didn't want to just give people rough sketches, especially since most of these were revenges for some really lovely art I'd gotten. So I came up with the idea of A) a border template and B) using tones!

I've been really into dot tones recently but I've not really been using them as is the traditional method - it was a bit of a challenge doing them in these! Picking tones, getting a range of values, matching textures, getting the size of the dots right... so many decisions to make. I'll have to keep experimenting with them, maybe for some actual comics in the future :)

And that's it for this year's artfight. We'll be hearing the results soon but even before hearing them I think seafoam has probably lost haha, we've been lagging behind all month and I had a feeling this would happen when I saw the team numbers but I still love seafoam regardless <3 I'm looking forward to seeing what the teams will be next year!

[fluentmoviequoter]

Okay so in 7x08 Hondo finds out from Nichelle (who was told by Annie lol) that Deac is retiring and there are a couple of scenes with the photo of OG team and Hondo's being all "Street just left, Luca retired, I can't lose Deac too" and this genuinely seems perminent.

Looking through the lens of final season I thought hum, whatever, okay, who cares, it's ending anyways. But now that obviously isn't true and I just cannot wrap my mind around the fact that writers have dug themselves a pretty weird hole. I guess it could've been worse and someone could've been killed off but still, all the heartfell goodbyes now make no sense if they are just going to reverse it and bring those characters back (which I will forgive them in that case because I don't care, I just want my men back) or, in my very biased opinion, if they don't bring them back you have... two main characters and a bunch of new kids which is literally now just a new show. And unfortunately, they didn't do their new characters justice at development either. I love them, but their stories just feel empty and fall flat in comparison to the OG team we knew.

I'm seriously curious how they managed to get yet another season when all the perception I saw about this season has been negative 🤷🏿‍♀️ And digging themselves out of this hole will be so hard for them, especially if they don't bring some/all the OGs for at least third or half of a season. They have 22 episodes so for their sake I hope they do the smart decision but looking at this dumpsterfire of a season, I'm not really holding my breath.

(Sorry for the lengthy message, I just had to vent a little)

~🧡

Annie Kay, mind your own business.😭

Don't apologize for the lengthy message! Thank you for sharing!

I actually watched a YouTube clip of the scene where Deacon says, "I wanted to be the one to tell you" but I didn't know Annie told Nichelle! One thing I did appreciate about that scene is the Hondo seemed genuinely upset that 20-David was breaking apart and wasn't the squad he had grown to love and trust anymore. That said, thank you for putting it in context and sharing all these great thoughts with me!!

I agree that the writers have put themselves and the characters in a very strange position going into season 8! Part of what makes it so weird to me is that from the very beginning of this season (even the announcement that the cancellation had been revoked), the writers claimed that everything would be tied together and ended nicely. And then with the s8 news, they've now added "but it also sets up another season." Because, like, you can't do both at the same time in my opinion. You can end it, or you can keep opportunities open for the next season. As you said, they've taken away those opportunities by ending story lines and eliminating character roles from the team and the show.

Your opinion on the flat characters and how the original cast was written out doesn't sound biased to me! It really does feel like a new show with every cast replacement they do, and unless they bring back the fan favorites who were there from day 1, I honestly don't see the point in watching or keeping the show on. You're 100% correct in saying it's a new show now, and it's not as good as it was.

"Looking at this dumpsterfire of a season" made me laugh!🤣 I was actually just talking to someone about how it got renewed. CBS claims that it's still one of their most-watched shows and averages 8.8 million or something viewers per episode (plus all the Netflix streams). HOWEVER, a bunch of people watching it doesn't mean it is good or needs to stay on! If they read any of the reviews or feedback, they'd know this! They're looking at numbers and not feedback, I think, which is the only reason they decided to keep it on. Personally, I'll be very surprised if s8 has many viewers as it airs.

Again, I wholly agree that the hole that they dug themselves into is a tricky one. If they continue without Luca, Street, and Deacon, they're going to lose a good number of viewers, but if they bring them back they run a risk of just making s7 pointless. In which case, people may assume s8 will be just as futile and inconsequential as s7. In the end, either way, they kinda screwed themselves. It seems like a lose/lose situation, and after a season of bad reviews and people begging for their favorite characters back, the future of S.W.A.T. seems pretty dismal.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and if there's any other spoilers or anything you want to discuss or share with me, I'd love that! (I've heard that the whole Luca getting shot story line was poorly done, so if you have an opinion on that, I'm all ears👀)

[sleepyblr-heart]

now that my girl's poll is up on @original-character-championship (btw, go vote for her) now is a WONDERFUL time to talk about her and her... well it is a life, that's for sure.

let's start from the beginning! (well.. not very beginning, i'll save that for another day.)

Present's girlfriend, Baton (any pronouns), is a show host, and is going to be recording in a special studio which is out of the country, so they walk to the airport together (neither of them can drive) and Present wishes Baton good luck on the show.

Unfortunately on her way home she's kidnapped. To compete on a different show. Called Battle For Penis (BFP for short.) Which is hosted by BFP host (he/him) on T Island. In fact all of the contestants were kidnapped for this. Including one person, Named Fog (he/they).

Present and Fog are placed on the same team, and get along great! They become friends, which Present doesn't typically have a lot of. Luckily nothing ever happens between those two!! And wowie, BFP has set up some popularity polls for the contestants!!!

Present turns out to be the fan favorite, so like any normal person BFP get Fog to put a spell (which he did not fully read) on Present. Just so she has purple eyes. Which was to keep track of her.

As a surprise to no-one The Spell Which Was Not Fully Read has Other Effects. Mainly, Present is now cursed with future vision. She isn't exactly aware of this for a while, just kind of assuming she'd having weird dreams and stuff. Until, you know, she foresees the death of one of the debuting contestants. You know. Normal things. Let's talk abt those contestants btw.

3 people debut instead of the intended 1 thanks to BFP losing his job and not having the funding to run another round of polls but this ain't about him so let's not worry about that! The 2 people that join Present and Fog on their team are Candy heart (he/they), who is Present's childhood bestie, and Snowglobe (she/they), a person who had been dead for 6 years thanks to a recovery machine malfunction.

They team up, they get along well, a challenge happens, someone almost gets crushed to death by a chandelier, someone else DOES get crushed to death by a chandelier while no one's around, all things that normally happen. Everyone besides Snowglobe is gathered round for elimination, and Present puts together that if Snow isn't here, then she's probably dead.

She leaves the group as soon as possible looking for Snowglobe, instead finding... A black ooze full of eyes, and a VERY dead body crushed under the chandelier. This is Snowglobe, and after some explanations from them about how she's a body snatcher and that she Will die unless she can find a host (Which she does NOT want to do because that means taking over someone's life) Present insists on letting her use her body. Eventually, Snowglobe agrees, her body disintegrates, and she takes over Present's body.

They work together for a bit to try to get Snowglobe a new body that is Not already a person, until they both realize that Snowglobe separating would kill Present in the same way that it destroyed her own body. Luckily, Baton is brought on as a replacement for Snowglobe (since she was also featured on the debut-er polls) and is able to get help from someone off the island, meaning that Present and Snowglobe are guaranteed to be revived when they separate.

They do separate, and are revived soon after at different recover centers, but they meet back up and are soon taken back to the island BFP is hosted on to continue competing.

After another challenge Fog decides that putting a bunch of people in a pocket dimension is a Good Idea, and puts the other team of competitors (including Baton and a few of her friends). Present and Snow realize something is wrong, and find the Big Fucking Fire which leads to the pocket dimension. Snow goes into investigate and hopefully find the others, leaving Present alone on the island.

Ok so this is the part where gods get involved. Mainly just to tell Present she's part of a prophecy, and that there's (apparently) a person who wants to end the world and She has to go deal with that. As you can guess she is very not on board and tries very hard to deny the possibility of her saving the world, but ultimately agrees to try.

Then a bunch of shenanigans happen Snowglobe accidentally get petrified by a god, Present is dragged in Fog's pocket dimension along with a god, she spends like. A month pushing around the statue of her Very Good Pal hoping to find an exit from what would be the closest thing to hell if hell did not exist... Se can jump over most of that. What's important is that They find a way out, and are brought to Present's house thanks to some divine help.

Speaking of divine, Another god (Yellow) Drops the news that he Accidently Made Present A Demi-God like Right After She Had a VERY REALISTIC vision of Baton coming home (he's still very much in the pocket dimension at that time btw.) So y'know. Wonderful timing!

anyways I'm leaving that on a cliff hanger. I can only be so insane at one time. (however any questions you may have i am Very happy to answer) Remember!! Go vote for Present!! Or Don't!! Honestly, whether she wins or not, either outcome is very funny to me!

[barclaysangel]

What if Jake, Junior, Devon, Lexy and Nadine were gamemasters?

And if so, what game would they make?

Junior would be a King of Clubs or Spades. And either way, he would make a game like this:

This game is called Target. Difficulty: King of Clubs.

Each player will choose one partner, and they will each be in a zone, exactly six meters wide and 14 meter in length. They will be given six glowing balls, and stealing other team members balls are allowed but you’re not allowed to go into another members zone unless you have knocked both players completely out their zone or have hit both players at least 3 times.

Objective: Beat the remaining players + The King of Clubs and his partner to clear the game.

If you step out of your zone, you’re eliminated.

If you step into another members zone, you are eliminated.

If you refuse to play, that will be seen as cheating, and you will be eliminated.

Time limit: 6 hours.

Now, what if he was a King of Spades?

Game: Finish Line. Difficulty: King of Spades.

Each player will form a team of two, and those two people who will have to race eachother in a 50 kilometer race in 2 hours. (Compared to what Logan used to make Junior do, that’s easy.) During each round, the person who gets to the finish line first will win a point while the other will loose. Every player starts out with 10 points.

Rules:

-Obvious: If you loose all your points; you will be eliminated.

- If one player decides not to race, both players will be eliminated.

-You can’t have more than 17 points, or you will be eliminated.

-If two players arrive at the finish line at the same time, none of them will win or loose a point. However, if this happens more than 5 times, both players will loose 3 points.

Time limit: 7 hours.

If the Found Family played this game, who do you think would win?

Oooh that’s interesting! And idk tbh

[thetoxicgamer]

Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris Map and Rewards This Week

Bungie's weekend PvP event, Trials of Osiris, draws the most devoted players to the game and offers some of the greatest gear around. The most accomplished players can even get Adept weapons, which offer an extra perk slot and better stats when masterworked. There is a catch, though: in order to enter the Lighthouse and get that wealth, you must go seven games without losing. But, if you’re up to the challenge, then it’s time to equip your best Destiny 2 Warlock build, best Destiny 2 Titan build, or best Destiny 2 Hunter build for a chance at glory in the arena. If you’re new to Trials or just want a refresher on what’s new in the game mode, our Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris guide has everything you need to know. What time does Trials of Osiris start? Trials of Osiris starts every Friday at 9am PST / 12pm EST / 5pm UTC and will stick around until Tuesday at the same time. What are the Trials of Osiris Adept weapon and map this weekend? The Trials of Osiris Adept weapon for the weekend of December 30 to January 3 is Unwavering Duty, a legendary machine gun. It is one of only a few weapons that can roll with Subsistence and Killing Tally, which amounts to buffs to both reloading and weapon damage. To earn the Adept version of this weapon, players must go Flawless on this weekend’s map, Eternity. When masterworked, Adept weapons get +3 to every stat (except impact), plus the usual +10 stat, and are the only guns that can equip powerful Adept mods. After achieving Flawless, every additional win has a chance to drop bonus Trials Engrams, adept weapons, prisms, and Ascendant Shards. This is true even if you lose your Flawless status. The Trials of Osiris Adept weapon pool for the season includes the following: - Burden of Guilt legendary fusion rifle - Forgiveness legendary sidearm - The Inquisitor legendary shotgun - Whistler’s Whim legendary bow - Exalted Trush legendary hand cannon - Unwavering Duty legendary machine gun Trials of Osiris rewards However, even if you don’t manage to go Flawless in Trials of Osiris, you can still earn some great rewards. Simply playing Trials grants players Trials engrams, which, when not focused, will grant a Trials item not already in the player’s collection. Additionally, you’ll have a chance to earn Pinnacle rewards for participating in matches. Players can also earn the following based on reputation ranks: - Reputation Rank 4: Upgrade Module (2) - Reputation Rank 7: Enhancement Prism (3) - Reputation Rank 10: Trials Weapon (Changes for each rank reset) - Reputation Rank 13: Upgrade Module (2) - Reputation Rank 16: Trials Weapon (Changes for each rank reset) Trials of Osiris also drops a special unique armour set as well. How to start Trials of Osiris You can start Trials of Osiris in Destiny 2 by visiting Saint-14 in the tower and picking up a Trials passage. Once you have that, simply assemble a team and head to the Crucible playlist and it’ll be there waiting for you – just like how Iron Banner works. If you don’t have a team, we’d recommend checking out the Destiny 2 PC LFG Discord. You can find players there who will be doing normal Crucible, Iron Banner, and PvE activities such as any of the raids, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gooi0jKJ7GY What are Trials passages?Trials passages track your progress through Trials of Osiris, but they each come with a unique perk. The four Trials passages are: - Mercy – forgives one loss every new run - Ferocity – grants a bonus win if you can get to three without losing - Confidence – gives you a bonus reward from the Flawless chest - Wealth – increases the Trials tokens you get for winning matches How does Trials of Osiris work? Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris is a three-on-three elimination-style PvP mode. That means when the other team bests you in a fight you won’t be able to respawn unless someone on your team resurrects you. To do that, they have to get to your ghost and hold down the resurrect button for a short amount of time. If you take out every member on the opposite team, you win the round. Each game is done to the best of five, so you’ll need to win three rounds to take the game. Rounds are timed, however, to encourage players to engage in combat. If time runs out, a flag will spawn in the middle of the map, and the first team to take it wins the round. If that fails to happen, the round is a draw. Destiny 2 players in the lighthouse And there you have it, everything you need to know to get you started with Destiny 2 Trials of Osiris. If you’re unsure of what weapons to take in, then you should check out our Destiny 2 best PvP weapons guide. The rest, of course, is up to you – good luck! Read the full article

[pretendfan]

{Kiss Me Deadly}

{Part One}

WARNING 18+ ONLY {minors DNI}

(A/N Im not sure what happened here one minute I was writing a sex pollen story and then all this story happened, here is part one…smut is in part two…thanks for checking out this fic🖤)

(Pairing)

Vigilante/ Adrian Chase x Reader

(Summary)

Whilst on a mission looking for the remaining butterflies in the Evergreen area, you and Vigilante get trapped in a room with suspicious looking flowers.

With no means of escape or understanding of what the fuck is happening you both are exposed to the pink pollen….

Yeah it’s a sex pollen fic, sorry.

(Words)

5k+

(Warnings)

Flirty Vigilante, teasing of Adrian, team back and forth, utter cheesiness, loosely based on season one, on mission so fighting mentioned, smut in part two, reader finds out who Vigilante is, Adrian chase is a babe

(Part One)

The absolutely, very last thing you wanted was to be paired up with Vigilante again on this mission.

Especially seeing that the last time you had joined forces, a stupid argument had broken out, causing you to get attacked by the very creeps you had been following that night.

Sure you both had completed the mission regardless , tailing a van which had been seen in the very location you were heading to right now.

In the middle of fucking nowhere with a task force team you hadn’t been expecting to be involved with but here you were, living the dream.

The previous endeavour was still heavy on your mind, remembering that the van you’d been following  had just suddenly stopped with three men pouring themselves out of the dark  blue vehicle.

Ugly looking henchmen types who all stood by the side of the empty road in a line, staring up at the sky like they were waiting for something or even worse somebody to appear.

After the discovery and hopeful extinction of the alien butterflies, who wanted to be our new overlords, you were fully prepared for the next attack from whoever the hell that could be.

Having stumbled into Evergreen right in the middle of the chaos, joining forces with a bunch of people, you sometimes wondered how they were even still alive.

Of course not counting Harcourt or Peacemaker in that assumption but the others were all varying degrees of useless, or so you had thought.

Parking a little way down from the creeps the previous night you decided it had been a good idea to head into the wooded area off the road with Vigilante following you closely, you both exit the car and dipped between the trees.

“We will see what they do, but if they don’t move in five I’m going to go kill them.” Vigilante tells you matter-of-factly which instantly annoys the hell out of you.

“What part of this is just a recon job do you not understand?” You tell him with a deep hiss in your throat making him scoff back at you.

“This is a little suspect behaviour here right? I think we need to just eliminate them-“

“We don’t even know if they are butterflies or if the intel from Waller is correct, this is why we are out here together.” You explain in your best teacher voice successfully annoying Vigilante in the process.

“Ok, Captain Obvious but I have a gut feeling right now-“

“Wait, you actually listen to your gut? Even when your killing innocent people-“

“Look, when did this become about me?” Begins Vigilante with a suddenly playful lilt in his voice as he adds “Unless this is you flirting with me again and if so it’s absolutely working because your smoking hot Y/N”

“Why would you think I was flirting with you?” You snap hearing your voice raise at the same time as your blood levels do because this guy was driving you insane.

“Peacemaker says that we always argue because we want to have sex with each other, which again, if that is on the table I’m game.” Vigilante chuckles confidently whilst you just shake your head at him slowly.

It was always unnerving when you heard the familiar voice of Vigilante go from shy and defensive to top tier flirty and smug within seconds it was like a switch suddenly being flipped right before your eyes.

You could only imagine Vigilante’s face and what he actually looked like behind the mask because you had yet to see him.

You still hadn’t earned his trust enough to reveal his identity which he was super secret about despite all the other members of the team knowing him in real life.

But the guy would have sex with you in seconds if you ever said yes to him, which you wouldn’t because you never got close to people, team members or otherwise it just wasn’t your thing.

Waller had been trying to get you out of Gotham for months so here you were stuck in DC in a town called Evergreen, which you were definitely looking forward to leaving behind once the butterflies were truly out of the picture.

“Earth to Y/N!” You hear Vigilante call to you in a sing-song voice knocking you from your thoughts.

“What?” You snap once again a little louder than necessary making Vigilante shush you.

“Do you want to blow our cover?!” Vigilante cried in sudden frustration like you were the problem and not him, well, being himself.

“You are so fucking annoying! Like I would never have sex with you even if you were the last guy on earth!” You inform Vigilante seriously, adding a firm nod just in case he assumed he had a hope in hell with you.

“Where did that come from?” Vigilante holds his hand up in front of you then perching them above his hips adds” Either way you can’t deny this chemistry between us, we’ve got some great back and forth going it’s such a turn on.”

“I can deny it.” You scoff then regret that comment immediately when you see Vigilante’s masked face shoot up.

“So you do deny it!” Vigilante shouts happily then adds as an afterthought “Wait, I’m confused?”

“Please just shut the fuck up!” You groan at him unsure when the stupid conversation got so out of control maybe you shouldn’t have started speaking to him at all.

“I know it’s wrong to say but you telling me to shut the fuck up is making me-“

“Don’t say it!” You cut him off in a loud attempt at a whisper pleading with him to “Just stop talking for one fucking minute!”

Hearing a screeching noise you turn to look at the three men two of which who were pointing at you with their mouths as wide as they would physically go.

For a few moments you had forgotten about their existence lost in a conversation you wish you could also as easily forget.

“Now can I kill them?” Vigilante asks grabbing a gun from one of his holsters at the same time you nod back seconds before you hear the screeching from right beside you.

Getting knocked off your feet by one of the creeps, you struggle for purchase, as they screech into your face, the noise combined with the foul breath making you close your eyes and gag as you fight to push the fucker off you.

Moments later you hear three gunshots In quick succession, all meeting their targets because the creep on top of you suddenly stops moving and the night is silent once more.

The screeching clearly confirmed what Vigilante had already assumed, there were still butterflies here in Evergreen, shit you weren’t leaving the team or this town anytime soon.

Having already been here for at least eight weeks since the incident at Coverdale farm,  that alone felt like you’d already outstayed your time here but if you left your post early Waller would easily come after you.

So you have stayed, working with the team who called themselves the “ 11th Street Kids” as they welcomed you into their fold but even that was too much you liked to keep your distance and be ready to flee at a moments notice.

There was nothing more you craved than spending time alone with your thoughts so you usually opted out at joining the team for meals at a place called Fennel Fields , also avoiding any meet ups unless they were for missions or meetings at the run down HQ.

Opening your eyes you push the dead body off from on top of you feeling that your face was wet with deep red blood spatters, as you sit up on the ground wiping your face across the sleeve of your black leather jacket.

“I guess our mission was a success then? There are still bugs here and we need to go kill them again!” Vigilante sounded pleased with this ending as he folds his arms across his chest making his thick armour rustle loudly.

“Why do you sound so pleased?” You ask him looking up at his mask once again seeing no defining features which sometimes made you feel nervous but you dismiss that thought like you did all the other times.

“Because we get to save the world, again, take that motherfuckers!” Vigilante cheers raising his arms above his head excitedly.

“More fucking paperwork.” You deadpan which Vigilante doesn’t pick up on because he’s too busy talking to himself to hear you, holding out a gloved hand helping  you up in one swift movement, you let go of his  hand  immediately the second you are back on your feet.

“Don’t think you letting me kill them guys went unnoticed Y/N.” Vigilante points a finger at you wiggling it directly in your face as you slap it away then hear him add “It clearly means that you must like me!” He states with glee oblivious to the glare you reward the guy with in return.

“Like isn’t the word I’m thinking of right now.” You tell him with a tug of a smile appearing on your face, regardless of what had happened almost getting killed by one of those fucking butterflies.

“You have the cutest smile Y/N” Vigilante tells you with a chuckle as the smile is now long gone from your face but your partner doesn’t see this.

You watch as Vigilante makes his way back to the car talking to himself as he walks away, impulsively you pull out your hand gun from the holster aiming it at the back of his head imagining shooting the guy dead, but of course you don’t , replacing your gun instead with a sigh.

Fast forward to now and the team had finally reached their location, which you were thankful for because you needed some air.

The van got overheated easily and it didn’t help matters that Chris was blasting out some Swedish metal music, whilst Vigilante sat next to you fist pumping the air making you definitely need some space.

For the whole ride here you have suffered Vigilante’s armoured shoulder nudging yours as he couldn’t sit still for more than ten seconds, using his right foot to bounce his leg making the seats vibrate with the constant movements.

Yelling at Chris whilst they attempted conversations over the deafening music, which you had liked, but sudden nerves had outweighed the need to rock.

Finally outside of the van you walk a few steps away from everyone else just so you could breathe and ready yourself for what was going to happen next.

The calm before the storm in a mission, the jittery  excitement closely followed by the overwhelming fear of something going wrong but now wasn’t the time to overthink.

Scanning the area you take in the small lot the van had been parked on, right next to a wooded area, opposite a small factory building, half brick half rusting metal, looking like it hadn’t seen any sign of life or even use in many years.

There was no other landmarks nearby just the long stretch of road which had sent us here in the middle of nowhere, something didn’t feel right but it was too early to distinguish what exactly.

“Hey! Now it’s my time to shine!” Vigilante announces loudly and moments later you hear the loud reviving of a chainsaw coming to life, the clunking metallic noise startling some birds from the trees.

Not willing to look back, you hear Peacemaker shouting something at Vigilante whilst laughing maniacally in return until finally the chainsaw stops and all you can hear is him whining in the background.

“I just want to kill someone with a fucking chainsaw is that too much to ask? Apparently so, you guys used to be fun.” Vigilante laments with a defeated sigh, making you shake your head, trying to suppress a smile, this guy was such an idiot.

“How did you get the chainsaw back in the van?” Adebayo asks in annoyance adding “I thought I had hid it from the lunatic-“

“My names A-, er Vigilante please don’t refer to me as a lunatic at this moment in  time, thank you.” Vigilante states making Adebayo groan back muttering to herself all the while, the guy kind of did that to you.

“So like we’ve already discussed on the way up here.” Begins Harcourt loudly making you turn round on the spot and walk back towards the group she continues “We will head off in pairs together-“

“Vigilante and Y/N back together again!” Cheers Vigilante excitedly cutting off Harcourt from her speech which obviously puts a sour look on her face.

You catch Vigilante glancing back at you with a look that pretty much matches Harcourt’s making him backtrack as he points at Peacemaker saying he will join with him instead.

“You can’t just switch partners, this isn’t fucking kindergarten!” Harcourt snaps at Vigilante who shoots finger guns at Peacemaker.

“No fucking way dude, I’m with Harcourt why the hell do you and Y/N have to argue about this every single time.” Chris shakes his head at Vigilante then looks at you with an annoyed look on his face.

“Fine I’m-“

“It is fine!” Peacemaker yells again then looks at Harcourt who gives him the tiniest of nods which was her way of saying thanks to someone.

“You know all we need to do is check out this location, and if there are any butterflies we kill them, even though this place looks like it hasn’t been used for years.” Harcourt explains with an arched eyebrow.

You look ahead towards the small factory which looked like it was bordered up, falling down in places even with several burned out cars to finish off the overall abandoned look of the place.

The building was made to look sinister by the woods behind it, cracked pavement leading towards the inside of a place that would fit in perfectly in any eighties horror film.

“If the butterflies are using this place to manufacture the amber goo somehow then we need to put a stop to it!” Adebayo states grabbing a gun from her back pocket as she twirls it around her finger like she was trying to pull off a cool move and not accidentally shoot someone.

“I fucking hope the safety is on that thing.” John admonishes Adebayo stepping away from her just incase.

“It’s fine-“

“Ok, so John and Adebayo will follow us inside but stay near the front of the building incase we get any surprises.” Cuts in Harcourt firmly then glancing at you she adds “Y/N and Vigilante will head round the back of the property, hopefully there is an entrance and we can meet you guys halfway.”

“We all have comms so can keep in contact and if you see anything suspicious let me know, just no insistent arguing over the walkie talkies ok.” Chris states glancing over at you and Vigilante, giving you a look that made you feel like a small child about to be told off.

“Ok, let’s go!” Harcourt nods heading nearer to the building, noticing a roller door half open it was jammed and looked rusty, signalling that was their entry point you watch as John tries and fails to slide through the gap needing the help of Peacemaker from the sounds of the swearing.

“None of this seems right.” Vigilante informs you now it was just the two of you, as he adds “This building looks like it’s been abandoned for years I don’t know what the fuck we are going to find inside it.”

“Well let’s go find out!” You tell Vigilante feeling restless all of a sudden, you just wanted to get this done before the sun set, this place was giving you the creeps quite frankly, even though you had done some heinous shit in your line of work, this right here, was the breaking point for you.

“Ladies first then…” Vigilante states as you head off in front of him, down the side of old the brick building that had holes in the wall, where you could see a faint light inside.

Something really didn’t feel right you were already  getting that twisted feeling in your stomach, maybe it had something to do with the bad luck streak you were currently encountering.

You blamed Vigilante for these thoughts seeing how he was trouble, Peacemaker called him the wildcard but whenever you had teamed up with this guy something had always gone wrong.

It had nothing to go with how the guy in the mask behind you made you feel nervous, amongst other things but you would rather take those thoughts to the grave than admit them out loud.

You shake out of your thoughts when you find a large window sans glass near the back of the building, the lights were brighter here which meant that somehow this place was still getting electricity.

“You’re quiet.” You state noticing  the lack of words coming from Vigilante’s mouth as you turn round to see his head dart back up from looking down, hands held up in front of him.

“Was you just checking me out?!” You snap at him feeling your face flush in a mixture of annoyance and  embarrassment.

“I-wasn’t, how dare you I-“

“Look-“

“Ok, I was perhaps checking you out as you walked in front of me you have this sexy little wiggle that I will now shut up about.” Vigilante concludes after cutting you off when he spots the angry  look on your face.

“We need to get inside this building, through this window and be on guard, the place actually has electricity so maybe we are not alone.” You tell Vigilante who nods as you step inside via the window to what looked like the factory floor.

Large equipment broken apart on the floor, mixed with glass and general mess, there was nothing that looked workable, the machines ripped apart for parts, all of it looking old and rusting away.

“Surely this place hasn’t been used for years?” You ask Vigilante who nods in agreement.

“Are we sure this is even the right location?” Vigilante questions, using one of his gloved fingers to scratch his chin as he wonders.

“This is near where those creeps were the other night and intel stated there was known movement here, Waller wouldn’t send us shit information.” You state matter of factly.

“Well I’m gonna check in with everyone else .” Vigilante signals as he pulls out his walkie talkie attached to his utility belt and presses the button causing loud static to vibrate round the open floor.

“Will you-“

“How is everyone? Nothing to write home about here, place looks abandoned but it’s got electricity, is anyone else getting spooked by this.” Vigilante cuts you off as he launches into a monologue on the walkie talkie.

Static breaks the silence followed by Adebayo’s voice “ Nothing out here either  but John is freaking me out which he does most days-“

“Fuck you, this place is creepy, it has the hills have eyes kind of vibe going on!” John retorts bitterly.

“But no hills dude that’s a bad reference to make-“

“Ok, well what film would you choose!” Snaps John cutting off Vigilante before he went off shooting his mouth for half an hour over pop culture references.

“I would lean towards a classic such as killer clowns from outer space because-“

“No clowns!!” You hear Adebayo screech and John laughs at her response until static cuts then off.

“Shut the fuck up guys!” You hear Harcourt yell then she adds “We keep hearing noises but can’t pin point it are you guys picking up anything or are you all just fucking around?”

“No noise here!” Adebayo sing songs then mutters “Unless you mean listening to Vigilante then all we can hear is his pretentious whining .”

“Hey, you asked a valid question-“

“Radio silence now until someone actually finds something, fuck!“ Harcourt snaps in frustration as you look up at Vigilante who shrugs back.

Heading further inside you pass a corridor with another open plan floor on the other side with pretty much the same shitty equipment, broken generators and tanks with a consistent flickering light that starts to give you a headache.

“I would much prefer fighting killer clowns instead of this shit, I’m so bored!” Whines Vigilante from beside you, dropping his gun from its position in his gloved hand.

“Weren’t the killer clowns aliens, kind of like the butterflies we’re looking for?” You ask him turning round to face him as he stands back up with a small stretch.

“You’ve seen the film?” Vigilante asks you gleefully the sound of his voice calms you for a few moments having felt on edge ever since you climbed into this building.

“Don’t act surprised dude-“

“I’m not it’s just cool is all.” Vigilante shrugs like it isn’t a big deal despite him sounding happy you had something in common, a film from the eighties that you watched often enough to add it to your top ten favourite movies.

Nodding with a small smile on your face you turn back round and head left at the corridor stopping suddenly when you hear the walkie talkie go and feel Vigilante walk straight into your back.

“Sorry I-“

“Fuck! We’re being attacked where did they come from?!” You both hear John shouting through the radio followed by gunshots and that patented screech that you knew all too well.

“Shit! We’re on our way guys Vij and Y/N continue looking around, we'll report back!” You hear Peacemaker yell back then the radio goes silent again.

“Fuck this! I want to be in on the action!” Vigilante announces bouncing on his feet next to you whilst you nod back in agreement.

“Did you hear that screeching-“

“Mother-fucking butterflies again, I knew it.” Vigilante curses at the same time you look up when you hear a scratching noise which makes you jump.

You freeze when you feel Vigilante’s hand on your shoulder as he asks if your are ok but you just nod, hastily moving your body away from him.

“We should just keep going.” You tell vigilante in a rehearsed voice, ignoring how his hand had felt on your shoulder, you wasn’t that secretly desperate for attention that you were starting to crave his touch.

No, definitely not…

“This is killing me Y/N!” Begins Vigilante with with a deep groan as he adds “I need some fun this mission is bullshit, where is everyone, shouldn’t we go help the others?”

“You need to stay focused here-“

“Can you feel that?”Vigilante asks whilst leaning into your personal space “ The crazy chemistry between us it is insane!”

“Get out of my space dude!” You try to push him away but he continues to talk about how much he enjoys your company and how hot you are, which you try to zone out.

Through the incessant noise that was Vigilante’s voice you hear that scratching again but then it’s quickly followed by loud foot fall, making  you scan the empty room you were in with confusion.

Looking back down the corridor you had just exited you spot a horde of people, most probably hosts as they start running when they spot you both.

“Get back!” You yell at Vigilante heading further into the completely empty room as the butterflies are ready to attack but so are you.

Pulling out your gun you hear Vigilante unsheathe his large sword from behind his back, as you step forward to shoot the nearest body who screeches at you, making you smell their rotten breath

It was a familiar dance, just like at Coverdale Farm, the butterflies in their hosts attacking you from all angles but you were one step ahead ready to fight back.

You were also thankful to have Vigilante by your side because despite all your complaints about him the two of you worked well together.

As soon as they had arrived you are both left standing in a room again only this time it was now full of dead bodies and their corresponding body parts.

You glance back at Vigilante who gives you a thumbs up as you smile back, trying to catch your breath.

“So this is a dead end let’s head back to the other side of the factory.” You tell Vigilante with a nod trying to get hold of someone on your walkie talkie but all you hear is static which isn’t comforting.

“Should we split up Y/N?” Vigilante asks and you shake your head in the negative looking away so you don’t see him cock his head sideways at you.

 “I knew you liked pairing up with me.” Vigilante tells you with a grin in his voice that makes you roll your eye back in his direction.

“Get over yourself dude, I don’t even know what you look like!” You remind him with a wide smirk on your face.

“Well forget about that,  just enjoy the hot guy in the suit, the mystery-“

“Fuck, you love the sound of your own voice.” You cut him off with a groan as he tuts back.

“ This is merely foreplay-“

“Hey, where would that door lead to?” You ask fully prepared to change the subject back to the matter in hand.

There was a thin door right in the furthest corner of the room making you glance back from Vigilante, it could only go outside from where it was located,  why was it even there?

Stepping over bodies to reach the door you push it open holding your gun up just in case there was another horde ready to attack.

You lower your gun when you notice the large room which just opened up before your eyes, shiny bright prism light, making you shield your eyes with your right hand.

The room looked huge from your vantage point, like twice the size of the whole factory which makes you turn round and give your partner a confused look.

“What the hell just happened?” You ask him.

“I’ve seen a room like this before.” Vigilante begins calling it an inter-dimensional pocket in time adding “Peacemaker's Dad had one back at his house.”  

Clocking the expression on your face you hear Vigilante tell you “ I will explain later.” Stepping ahead of you he walks into the space and you grudgingly follow despite not having a clue what was going on.

The large room was filled with brand new equipment, none of it actually working but you could hazard a guess as to what was being made here.

“Have we stumbled on their real hideout because this is a factory inside of a factory with much better equipment, sitting inside its own reality?” Vigilante questions with awe in his voice as you can only nod back yourself.

This was it you decide, noticing the jars at the end of a short conveyor belt, filled with that shiny luminescent amber coloured goo that you knew was the main food source for the butterflies.

Walking past Vigilante you grab one of the jars confirming what you already knew, that this looked exactly like the amber goo that was found in that factory where Economos chainsawed that Gorilla.

Putting the jar back down quickly you grab your radio from your jacket pocket to inform the rest of the team.

“We’ve found a working part of the factory. Where are you guys? Can anyone hear me?” You talk into the radio but you get no reply, still just static, as you repeat yourself but again, no one answers.

“Dude, I’m getting worried-“

You stop talking when you hear a deep rumbling, starting low at first then increasing when you notice the jars in front of your start to clatter and shake.

“What the fuck is that?” You look around the large room and see Vigilante holding onto his sword ready to fight whatever that noise was, which was coming closer by the second.

“Over here, quick!” Vigilante shouts at you to follow him, away from the factory floor towards a closed off gate.

But you both stop when you hear a deep growl and you look at Vigilante who is pointing his finger in front of you.

“Holy fuck!”

Quickly turning around you mutter the words  “Oh shit” because there stood someone who could be related to that asshole Bane. Super tall and wide with muscles on top of muscles, bulging out over his suit, making you feel a little nauseous whilst you stared in horror at him.

“What the fuck!” You exclaim glancing back at Vigilante who gives you a shrug back.

“Looks like the dude you fight before you got to the boss level in a video game.” Vigilante states helpfully.

“How will that help us?” You snap back.

“I was just saying-“

“We need to kill it!” You announce making Vigilante nod back at you, understanding that reference easily.

The dude was standing eerily still watching us with black lifeless eyes as they glared down, almost as if waiting for us to make a move first. How the fuck were we going to eliminate this problem? Baring its pointy teeth it looked like a monster but it was when it suddenly starts to run towards you both, that you panicked.

Before you can plan an attack a large meaty fist punches you in the side, which sends you flying across the factory floor, straight into a wall which makes you shout “Fuck!” as you struggle to get up from the ground.

Vigilante you notice, whilst trying to get up, actually gets some good hits in with his sword, until the muscled super freak picks him up and throws him on the floor, like an angry toddler annoyed with one of his toys.

“Fuck!” You hear Vigilante shout as he lands with a dull thud on the floor, making you shout out his name, but he doesn’t move.

Suddenly some ceiling comes loose and drops down onto your head, knocking you out as everything slowly fades to black.

Read (Part Two)

[linkspooky]

Yuji, Alone. 

I have been saying in my past few meta that Yuji has a really unhealthy way of viewing both himself, and his relationships with others. Yuji is excellent at reading the feelings of others and empathizing with them, and at the same time terrible at processing his own emotions, a trait he shares with Geto who he is once again paralleling this chapter by choosing to stew in isolation rather than reach out for support. 

Chapter 138 does an excellent job of showing how deep these issues run, which I will explain under the cut. 

1. Yuji and Geto

If I were to explain the unhealthy mindset Yuji has by simplifying it down to one sentenence, simply stated it would be “I want to help others, but I don’t want to accept help from other people.” 

Both Yuji and Geto are so motivated by empathy they feel like they are responsible for solving other people’s problems, and they often use other people rather than themselves as a reason to move. They’re actually selfless to a fault. In that, it’s a problem in their behavior. They do everything they do for other peope, so they have no idea what they themselves want. If Gojo is someone who has a strong self image, a strong set of beliefs, an idea of what he wants to do to the world, Geto and Yuji are people who try not to think about themselves at all. 

Not only does Yuji almost never critically exam his own motivations, but he also doesn’t think of his relationships with other people. 

This is something Yaga pointed out as a danger with Yuji’s way of going about things, all the way at the beginning of his arc. If you’re doing it because your grandpa told you so, then is it really something you want to do? When you die, is it going to be your grandpa’s fault too?

Yuji is someone who seems selfless on the surface, and to an extent he is, but just like Geto that’s not all there is to him. It’s something Gojo called out early on, Geto presented himself as someone selfless, motivated entirely by using his powers to protect others, but he was also doing so self righteously. 

To clarify what I mean by self righteous, Geto believed that he was doing something because it was the objective right thing to do, but actually it was just his own personal feelings. That’s why after Riko’s death forced him to critically examine himself, he realized he didn’t want to follow the rules of Jujutsu Society. 

Both Yuji and Geto pay attention to others, but also have the blinders on in regards to themselves, and that’s the parallel right there. Yuji says he is doing these things for other people, that his number one priority is to save them but that motivation is even deconstructed in the third chapter.

Yuji’s not actually doing this for purely altruistic reasons, but for selfish ones. He wanted to do something that nobody else could do. Yuji’s life was like a vaccuum before this point. He didn’t have any real friends, or anything he wanted to do. Suddenly he had a purpose basically gift wrapped and handed to him on his lap. 

Basically, Yuji and Geto both have this schewed way of seeing other people. They thing other people exist to validate their own existences. 

To put it simply. If Hidden Inventory Geto helps weak people than he’s valid. If Yuji helps people, then he’s valid. 

Not only is the way they view themselves built around how they help other people, but at the same time all of their relationships are built up on this as well. Relationships that are built upon shaky foundations will crumble apart easily when tested. 

Geto’s most important relationship was with Gojo, they had an intense chemistry and interaction with one another like they were made for each other. They were both good at naturally balancing each other out, Geto was the one who stood up to Gojo and acted like a tether, and Gojo ackonwledged Geto as his one and only. 

However, the relationship was also built on the idea that Gojo needed Geto. Geto was only able to view his relationships with other people in that way. Geto, wants to take care of people, wants to help people. However, eventually, he was left behind by Gojo who no longer needed him as a partner in combat. On top of that, Geto awoke to a higher purpose in ridding the world of cursed energy. Geto wants to be needed by somebody in the same sense that Yuji does, so for Geto at least being needed to save the whole world in his eyes, was just more important than maintaining his relationship with Gojo. 

Which is why both Geto and Yuji’s relationships fall apart. They are great at making relationshisps, but not at maintaining them. Attention is drawn to the fact that the trio has great chemistry with each other and get along well, but they’re also terrible at communicating with each other. 

"The seats... in my life... How should I put this? I don't want my heart to be affected by people who don't have a place there. Does that sound cold? Well, I guess there are also guys like you who brings their own chair and takes a seat." Translation by Miho.

Almost literally, I don’t want anyone who’s not a part of my life to try to talk to me or tell me what to do. Also the reference that Yuji is kind of different because Yuji just kind of walked into her life unannounced and invited himself there (this is how Yuji forms relationships with everyone.)

All three of them go behind each other’s backs and keep secrets from one another. All three of them avoid direct confrontation, Nobara even says she doesn’t really want anyone else even trying to tell her how to live her life. The Origin of Obedience arc shows that Nobara, Yuji and Megumi are all good at fighting together as a team, but also questioning if they have a healthy friendship outside of that?

Any relationship takes work, confrontation, arguments and even just plain old talking about things. However, someone who is primarily insecure in their relationships will not be able to do things.  Couples shouldn’t only argue, but couples who never argue is just as unhealthy. If you are so afraid that one argument is going to end a relationship, then your relationship was fragile to begin with. 

Yuji and Geto experience conditional relatinoships. In the sense that, they are only allowed to have friends, if they are helpful to those friends. They themselves are never allowed to ask for help. It’s true that Gojo was kind of blind to Geto’s faults, but also Geto would have never asked for help. Gojo could not see, and Geto deliberately hid things from them. 

Geto always makes his relationships on the condition that he is needed. When Gojo grew more independent, Geto took that as a sign that Gojo didn’t need him anymore and deliberately started to pull away.

Because, Geto isn’t ever allowed to be the one who needs someone else. 

2. Avoidant Attachment

This is just a personal theory of mine, but I think Yuji’s issues might even center around the psychological idea of attachment theory. Especially it’s since deliberately mentioned to Junpei, that Yuji never met his mother. 

Attachment theory is a complex idea, but basically it states that attachment to other people, that is the idea to form healthy relationships with family members, friends, romantic partners is learned instead of naturally present in us. It’s a skill people develop in their formative years. 

Those who show patterns of problematic attachment in childhood will continue the behavior into adulthood unless it’s corrected, because attachment is a skill that’s developed the same as anything else. Of the four categories, Yuji and Geto most resemble this one. 

Avoidant attachment: Children with an avoidant attachment tend to avoid parents or caregivers, showing no preference between a caregiver and a complete stranger. This attachment style might be a result of abusive or neglectful caregivers. Children who are punished for relying on a caregiver will learn to avoid seeking help in the future.

Which goes further to explain how they can be so empathic towards other people, and yet the same time completely unable to maintain close relationships with them. It’s because, they avoid people at the same time. They don’t seek out help when they need it, because, deep down they view themselves as unworthy of the help. 

Geto did not immediately break after the trauma of losing Riko, it was the year of isolation after that where he slowly was consumed by his regrets. Geto got worse and worse over a period of time because he couldn’t handle his trauma in any healthy way, until he just completely snapped. 

During that time he asked himself the same questions over and over again, but Geto wasn’t able to find any kind of healthy answer to his questions because, he didn’t reach out for anybody. It wasn’t just the trauma, it was the behavior after the trauma, the decision to isolate himself for over a year. No one does well in isolation. You need other people to grow or develop. If anything Geto stagnated. Geto’s central flaw was his self-righteousness. Rather than realizing he was wrong and trying to change this flaw of his, he just doubles down and becomes even more self righteous. He goes from believing he’s responsible for protecting all the weak people, to believing he’s a superior being tasked with eliminating all the weak people in the world. So, it’s not really that Geto changed, moreso that he stagnated because he cut off all his relationships with other people. 

And isn’t Yuji doing the exact same thing right now? Yaga even points out this similaritiy between Geto and Yuji, that they try to carry every regret and burden they have on their own. 

It’s not out of selflessness that they do this though, but rather insecurity. Geto didn’t come to Gojo with his problems, because he wanted to be the strongest alongside Gojo he didn’t want to be weak. He was deliberately avoiding Gojo. 

I think it’s important to establish that Yuji wasn’t abandoned by his friends this chapter. Yuji is alone, because he chose to be alone. He’s alone because he’s avoiding both of his friends, because he’s so, so afraid the friendship will end because it’s based entirely on the condition that he be a helpful, good person.

It’s true that Yuji is genuinely worried about his friends getting hurt because of him, but look at his choices. He’s not really tackling the problem in a healthy way. He’s doing everything he can to avoid the problem, isolating himself, and just trying not to think about things. He could try to talk with Megumi and find a solution, but he’s not doing that because he’s insecure in his attachment to others. 

I think his reaction to Choso pretty clearly illustrates this too. Yuji isn’t around his friends because he doesn’t want to be around them. Which is tragic, because Yuji is holding himself responsible for the mass murder which isn’t really his fault. However, Yuji saw his relationship with both Nobara and Megumi as conditional to begin with. He can only be friends with people he can help, and he can never receive help from them. It’s unhealthy to start with because relationships go both ways. Yuji is also, completely unresponsive to Choso.

Yes. Choso suddenly walking to him and delcaring them brothers is really weird.  I don’t expect Yuji to just suddenly start getting along with him right away.

At the same time, Choso explains what the unconditional love between family is between Yuji, and Yuji just doesn’t get it, because he either hasn’t experienced enough of it, or his grandpa the only person that ever unconditionally loved him is gone. Yuji can’t understand Megumi’s love for him is unconditional,. because from the beginning he sees all relationships as conditional. 

Yuji and Choso are facing opposite direcitons because they’re opposites. Choso is willing to hurt complete strangers too, but his love for his family is unconditional and he will do anything for them. Yuji will help complete strangers, but, he doesn’t really understand unconditional love, and even his love with his closest friends has a few conditions. 

Which is why someone who appears on the surface as such a friendly guy who makes friends everywhere he goes, can call himself “a loner” because in Yuji’s mind he is. He doesn’t have friends, he has people who need him. 

Which is just incredibly sad because Yuji doesn’t understand this. Yuji isolates himself thinking he’s doing it for the sake of his friends, but neither Megumi nor Nobara would want him to be alone. 

[cynettic]

Laser Tag ( genshin x reader )

Summary - Lazer Tag Au / I’m gonna make this romantic ;)

Pairings - Reader x Xiao/Diluc/Kaeya/Venti/Zhongli

Warnings - Mention of guns and shooting, no death tho it’s just laser tag

A/N - Drinking 5 Monsters ain’t a good idea- just saying. Even tho it gives you the best inspiration, trust me, it isn’t worth it lol

Laser Tag

Xiao

Can I just start by saying that playing Lazer Tag with Xiao is a very bad idea.

I mean, if you want to win.

This boy is a speedy legend, zipping around. He doesn’t even need to have good aim, he’ll just pop up in front of you and then ‘BOOM.’

But let’s say you and Xiao were on the same team for the game of Lazer Tag :)

He’d stick by you, and trust me when I say he’d take the game seriously- especially if people like Zhongli are playing.

He’d drag you around, and he’d probably find a place for you to hide. Or at least a sneaky place so that you could play sniper to satisfy yourself.

Don’t worry about anyone spotting you.

By the time they do, Xiao will have taken them down :)

He would definitely stick around the area and just go full on attack mode to anyone in his way. And while you start sniping someone from the distance, he’d finish them off before they notice you.

When the game finishes (your team winning ofc-) he’d come pick you up from where you were hiding, scanning for injuries (even tho it was just laser tag- this boi worries too much).

Making sure you’re okay, he’d hold your hand as you walk back to your base. He’s not big on pda, so don’t feel bad when he lets go of your hand when you approach everyone else.

He’d feel so satisfied after if his team won, especially if you were content as well.

Diluc

Diluc… would be a sneaky little ninja.

And not like ‘Climbing trees’ kind of ninja, even with his big tall form, he’d be able to hide behind trees or buildings with ease.

Perks of being the Darknight Hero.

He definitely doesn’t want to get too close to anyone in case he accidentally gives them a little smack by accident. He’s a physical fighter in general, And it’s different with Lazer Tag, so he’d keep his distance.

If you were playing on the opposite side of him… well, as much as I’d hate to admit it, Diluc would lowkey help you.

He’s definitely one that likes to play by the rules, but what can he say? He’s definitely rooting for you even on the opposing team, and how is it his fault if he accidentally shoved one of his teammates?

‘Accidentally.’

Might personally stalk Kaeya if he’s on the same team as him just to make sure he doesn’t shoot you down.

This man would ‘rage’ if Kaeya was the one to get you eliminated in the game.

Just internally ofc.

And maybe serve the blue haired boy Grape Juice for the rest of the week ;)

If his team won, he’d still comfort you and tell you that you did a good job.

If you won, he’d congratulate you and let you brag all you wanted. He’s so sweet 🥺

Kaeya

You don’t want to be against Kaeya.

This man will intentionally target you. The entire time. Every time you get sent back into the game, he will track you down and eliminate you.

Of course, this is to some extent, as much as Kaeya would continuously shoot you down, he’d let you run around and have a go at him and his teammates too. But of course in the end, he’d still shoot you down. Every time.

Kaeya would get killed off a lot too, since this is just a game, he will take it as such. (Not like Xiao who takes it very seriously). So he kinda just wanders around and has his fun.

Of course this pisses you off.

Please make sure to kill him off a couple times too, revenge is necessary for this when he’s targeting you- and personally, he might begin to feel guilty if it’s only him eliminating you all the time.

At one point it starts feeling like it’s just him against you.

Until Diluc shoots you down and you realize it’s still a group thing.

If Diluc were to shoot you down, well… Kaeya would not be pleased. He’d intentionally lead you away from him, and if Diluc did manage to shoot you, he’d make sure to be extra salty at the tavern.

After the game, if you won, make sure to brag about it in his face. After shooting you so many times his esteem will be flaring.

And if he won… he will rub it in your face. Unless it really bothers you, and then he might just talk about the times that you shot him just to make you feel better.

Venti

Sorry anemo archon- but I can’t see him wielding a gun.

At the most, he’ll be running around and shooting at people directly in front of them, but otherwise, Venti wouldn’t be one to sit around and snipe.

So if you are on the same team with him, make sure to agree that both of you are gonna sprint around and take down as many players before the two of you are shot down.

It will make him very happy :)

He will definitely make a battle cry for the two of you when you jump out of the bushes to attack the opponents frontlines. And even though you know it’s stupid (cause it legit tells everyone that you’re there-) the two of you are just doing it for fun.

Venti will treat the game like a ‘game’. He won’t get serious about it or competitive unless there’s a bet involved, specifically with the wine from the tavern.

He will still suck, even when trying, but you’d be surprised how fast he can sprint around. Ducking and dodging bullets- all for the wine ofc.

After the game, he wouldn’t really care who won. As long as the two of you had fun, he will be happy. Especially if you treat him to some wine after ;) Or just congratulate him on how well he played. That will make him happyyy

Zhongli

Oh Zhongli…

He probably wouldn’t understand the run down of the rules, no matter how many times you explained it to him. And him with a gun? Not good, not good at all.

I could totally see Zhongli as the patient sniper type.

But like… missing all his targets.

You’ll have to guide him through the game while you’re on the same team as him, so the two of you will stick together the entire time.

Trying to get him accustomed to the game, you shoot at others and urge him to do the same.

Ofc he sucks at accuracy with a gun.

But overall, he has quick reaction times.

So if someone were to shoot at you, he’d jump in front of you, maybe pull you into his chest to protect you from the ‘gunshots.’

Very cute.

But also like… this is a game Zhongli? He probably has too many abandonment issues, being an archon is difficult :/

So… guide him, and he will protect you.

After the game, Zhongli doesn’t really care enough to find out who won. He might tell you a few stories that the little game reminded him of on his way back though.

[sturchling]

I've read your stories where the Justice League is banned from Paris, and I love them! What if the League and the Avengers were in the same world, but the Avengers didn't ignore them while the Justice League did? I imagine that Steve would convince Tony to help because these are KIDS, like Peter. So, the Avengers help, but since the League and Avengers are at odds, the Avengers don't tell the League. Team Miraculous is perfectly fine with that. (Big Team Miraculous and more users if possible!!)

Team Miraculous had practically begged the Justice League for help when Hawkmoth was still active. But they received no response. But the Justice League weren’t the only ones they reached out to. They also sent the same video asking for help to Tony Stark, who everyone knew was Iron Man, hoping the Avengers might help them. They sent the video with little hope for a response. After all, the Justice League had ignored all their requests for help. Why would the Avengers be any different?

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

Tony Stark received hundreds of emails a day. Emails from people at Stark Industries, SHIELD, and the avengers. But he didn’t often get emails from an unknown address from Paris. That is what initially caught his attention. The message was simple. The subject simply said Avengers, please help us. When Tony opened the email, there was no text to it. Just a video attachment. Tony called the team into the meeting room and played the video. 

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

They watched the video as two kids in animal themed costumes explained what was happening in Paris. These kids couldn’t be more than 14. When the video was over, the group sat in silence for a moment before Steve spoke up. “We need to help them.” Tony sighed, turning to face Steve. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but we can’t just go to Paris and help. Not when they are still discussing the accords. We can’t go unless France’s government asks for our help.” Steve stands up from his seat, angry. “So what? We just ignore this? You heard what they said, France wants to keep this under wraps so they don’t lose the tourists that come to Paris. They aren’t going to ask for our help, then they would have to publicly admit there is a problem!” Tony stands up too, walking towards Steve. “I know that! But our hands are tied. With the UN still discussing the accords, we can’t go making the situation worse then it already is!” Steve rolls his eyes and starts to walk away in frustration. “Oh come on Tony! Those are kids! Those are KIDS who are having to fight against a terrorist all on their own with no training! They need help! If it were Peter in Paris, would you leave him to face this alone?” That made Tony pause. In the quiet, Thor decided to make his opinion known. “I also feel that we should help them. I am familiar with these miraculous. The power they grant users is great. A terrorist powered by one is a sobering thought. I am especially familiar with the Black Cat miraculous, as is Loki. And I do not believe either of us wants to be on Plagg’s bad side again. We should help these children immediately.” Tony just sighs, shaking his head. “I feel like I am going to regret this. Fine, lets go to Paris.”  The Avengers quickly made preparations to go to Paris. Before they left they sent an email back to the kids who sent the video to let them know that help was on the way.

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

Marinette and Adrien could hardly believe the email in their inbox. They hadn’t expected to hear back from the Avengers so soon, or hear that they were taking this seriously. This is incredible! By now, team Miraculous had revealed their identities to each other to make it easier to communicate to each other. Marinette sent out a message in their group chat. Group project meeting. Meet in the usual place, 30 minutes. Half an hour later, team Miraculous was meeting in their secluded area of Chloe’s hotel suite, which had been sound proofed so no one would hear them. Marinette and Adrien filled them all in on what had happened involving the Avengers and everyone was excited. They would finally get some help with Hawkmoth after all these years. It wasn’t long before they received another email saying that the Avengers had landed and asking where to meet. Marinette sent them the location of a secluded warehouse to meet in and Team Miraculous transformed, leaving to meet the Avengers.

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

The Avengers weren’t sure what to expect when they arrived at the abandoned warehouse the kids asked them to meet at. But they certainly weren’t expecting a small army of kids in costume, in addition to the two that sent the video. In addition to the original two dressed as a ladybug and cat, there appeared to be a fox, turtle, bee, horse, snake, monkey, dragon, and bunny. And they were all children. The girl in the ladybug outfit and boy in the cat outfit stepped forward. “I am Ladybug and this is Chat Noir. We lead the miraculous team. Thank you for your help.” Steve stepped forward, being the first to recover from the shock of seeing this army of children. “We are glad to help. We have the basic idea of what is happening from your video, but could you explain in some more detail what the situation is?” Ladybug spent the next few hours going over everything with the Avengers, giving a more detailed picture of the ongoing battle with Hawkmoth and Mayura for the last few years. 

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

At the end of the explanation, the Avengers are horrified. The situation is worse than they thought. And the Justice League had been ignoring these kids? That just made it worse. Tony, his head still reeling from all the information, said “I am glad we got your message when we did, seems things are pretty bad here. We can help you track down this Hawkmoth and end this. But we need to keep our involvement in this quiet. With the UN still discussing the accords, we aren’t technically supposed to be here.” Ladybug looks visibly confused, asking, “Accords? What are the accords?” The Avengers fill them in on the accords and what all it means for them. 

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

Ladybug was shocked that they would even consider agreeing to this. “You all agreed to this? To be monitored by the UN and restricted in what you can do. And anyone that they view as a threat could be imprisoned just because of that, regardless of if they had done anything wrong. That is insane! The Avengers I know wouldn’t agree to that. I remember watching you Agent Romanoff, testify before congress and challenge them to put you in prison. The world needs the Avengers and other heroes to be able to act in a crisis without worrying about if a panel will let them.” Tony tried to argue his point, and Marinette continued to say it was wrong. The two argued for a while, which was concerning for both team Miraculous and the Avengers to watch. But by the end of it, Marinette being Marinette, had managed to convince Tony that he was wrong and that they wouldn’t agree to the accords. The Avengers were a little shocked that this young girl had changed Tony’s mind, but you wouldn’t hear them complaining. With all the discussions out of the way, they got to work.

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

Tony got Jarvis to start running analyses to see who in Paris was likely to be Hawkmoth. It had to be someone with a lot of time on their hands, a large amount of resources, and had to have a supply of these butterflies he was using. He also compared these results with the typical behavioral profile of a terrorist like this. Then the Avengers went over the list with Team Miraculous and started eliminating suspects. Anyone that didn’t already have an alibi was tailed by either Hawkeye or Black Widow until they were cleared. Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers helped train the kids in combat and how to work as a team in the field so that they were better able to face akumas. It took weeks, but soon, they were down to only one subject. Gabriel Agreste. Adrien didn’t want to believe it, but as the weeks went by and neither Hawkeye or Black Widow were able to clear him, it became clear to Adrien that his father was likely Hawkmoth.

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

 By now, the Avengers knew of the kids identities. All the Avengers felt bad for Adrien, and also didn’t want him to stay in that house a minute longer. Besides how his father treated him, having another miraculous user in that house, especially the Black Cat that Hawkmoth craved was a recipe for disaster. So Tony had his lawyers help Adrien file for emancipation. That made Gabriel frantic. He didn’t want to lose his control over Adrien. He was so close to getting the miraculous and his wish. He could have his family back again. But that can’t happen if Adrien is emancipated and leaves. Gabriel became more desperate with his akumas and became sloppy. That was his downfall.

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

By the end of the week, the Avengers and team Miraculous were facing down Hawkmoth. By this point, Hawkmoth was so frantic, that they fight was easily won. When he revealed why he did all this and what happened to Emilie, Master Fu, who had come to collect the missing miraculous, was able to reverse the damage done by the peacock miraculous on both Emilie and Nathalie. Gabriel was arrested, as was Nathalie, and Adrien was ecstatic to be with his mother again. 

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

Once Hawkmoth was defeated, news of what had been happening in Paris spread like wildfire. It wasn’t long before the Justice League swooped in to do damage control. They landed in the middle of the city, already starting their spiel about how they were here to help with any damage and chaos from the final battle. But they were shocked to see the city in perfect condition, and the police surrounding them, telling them to leave. Over the heads of the police, they see the members of the Avengers standing with some kids in animal costumes. Two of the kids are familiar, from the videos asking for help all those years ago. Batman fumed at seeing the other group of heroes allowed to be in the city while they were being forced out. “Why are we not allowed here, but they are!? They aren’t local heroes.” The girl in a Ladybug themed costume stepped forward through the crowd, “They get to be here because they actually answered our call for help and were instrumental in the defeat of Hawkmoth. They arrived before the ban, followed my team’s lead, and respected the wishes of my team as well as the city. They proved to be good allies. You and your group on the other hand, ignored and denied our requests and now want to come in and do damage control. Now you leave, or we will make you.” While some of the members of the Justice League have the good sense to look embarrassed and back down, Batman got right in Ladybug’s face. “And how are you going to make us little girl?” Ladybug turned around and walked back to her team, not sparing Batman another glance. Batman looked smug, thinking he had made her back down. But when she got back to her team, she turned to the horse themed hero. “Pegasus.” Without another word, the horse sprang into action. All the Justice League heard was him call out “Voyage” before they were back in the watchtower, wondering what had just happened.

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

Finally, it was time for the UN meeting on the accords. When asked if they would sign, the Avengers officially declined to sign the accords so they could actually help in Paris. Team Miraculous watched the live coverage as all of the Avengers said they wouldn’t sign the accords. The head of the UN panel stood up, angry at their defiance. “Maybe we should just go ahead and toss you all in a cell. Clearly you are a threat to the world. While we were discussing these very accords, you went into France without permission and acted as the Avengers. You cause untold damage in each fight, do nothing to fix the damage, and won’t allow for a little over sight to make sure you don’t destroy everything.  Seems pretty dangerous to me.” There were mummers of agreement through out the room. Tony was the last one to speak. “You won’t put us in a prison cell. Here’s why. As Agent Romanoff once said, you all need us. Yes, we have made the world a more vulnerable place. But, we are the ones most qualified and able to defend it. So, if you want to arrest us, do it. You know where to find us. But then you will be even more vulnerable to even bigger threats than us.” Angry voices sounded from around the room, but the Avengers just turned and left. Most other heroes followed suit, officially stating that they would not be signing the accords. Eventually, the UN realized that if they arrested every hero that didn’t sign the accords, they would have no one left to defend the Earth and they dropped the issue. 

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

Things quickly returned to normal, for both team Miraculous and the Avengers. Team Miraculous was happy to have defeated Hawkmoth and not have to constantly guard their emotions. The emotional toll on the citizens of Paris was huge, but the Avengers weren’t done helping. Tony Stark brought in several therapists and took care of all the bills, so all of Paris could have access to mental help as needed, after enduring the trauma of living under Hawkmoth’s threats for years. And the Avengers kept on being heroes and helping everyone they could all over the world. And team Miraculous would often give them a hand with missions as needed. The Avengers and team Miraculous remained close allies after everything and were happy to have helped each other.

[mayo-advance]

“We come as a pair”

Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Eijiro Kirishima

🥦Izuku Midoriya🥦

-Today the class was playing capture the flag

-With quirks

-Mr Aizawa claims that it will help with teamwork

-But basically everyone (minus Iida) knows that hes just tired of constant injuries during class

-Nothing bad can happen during capture the flag (ehe unless yalls have read Percy Jackson)

-Anyways Deku was on your team and he came up with the master plan pairing up people based on quirks

-To eliminate weaknesses in pairs and stuff

-Anyways he ends up places himself with you

-He knows that he can rush into things without a first thought and so he thought that you would be a good match for him

-he takes the whole game way to seriously lol

-Anyways you two end up kicking ass and winning along with your team

-Which was strange because you two hadn’t rlly been super close before

-And Uraraka comes up and shes like “wow you two work so good together! Who would have guessed you two were such a good pair?”

-Baby boy gets flustered and turns red

-And you just sling your arm around his shoulder and are like “Yeah I suppose we are a pretty good team.”

-He looked like he was gonna explode

-After that you two were assigned together more often to work on partner strategies

-Bc yknow whats stronger than one hero?

-Two heros

-And from that moment on you were joined at the hip

-Even when he did stupid stuff like break the rules

💥Katsuki Bakugo💥

-You wanted to go shopping and stuff

-But everyone was busy

-Except Bakugo

-But you didn’t expect him to come with

-As you were about to walk out of the dorms you heard a gruff “where are you going?”

-He didn’t like you going alone so he begrudgingly came with

-Complained basically the whole time because hed never admit that it was actually nice hanging out just the two of you

-“This is boring”

-“When are we leaving???”

-“Are you really getting that? Idiot” *proceeds to put it back and grab something better*

-You just smile at his childish antics

-He sticks near you like hes tied to you or something

-You guys get back and everyone was like “you guys were gone longer than we thought youd be”

-And Bakugos just like “this dumbass couldnt decide what to get.”

-And someones like “well if you had such a bad time why did you go?”

-Hes kinda offended by that ngl

-Gets all defensive

-“We come as a pair and if you got an issue with it-“

-Says a lot of very violent things

-Tbh you don’t notice because you’re still hung up on the “we come as a pair”

-You try to ask him about it later in private

-You swear he was blushing

-He didn’t give you a straightforward answer

-But since that day you two were practically inseperable

❤️Kirishima Eijiro❤️

-Ok I think about this constantly

-But like yalls need volunteer hours for class or something

-And you need to find an agency to do hours with

-And you and Kiri find yourselves on the way to the same agency

-And so when you get there the boss guy is just like “oh you can do your application stuff together”

-And so you both go into the office for an interview or something

-And it goes fairly well until it doesnt

-The guy asks about your quirks and you have a mental quirk so you get embarassed

-all like “I know its not SUPER useful but i can also do other stuff”

-And Kiri is like “???” bc 1 he knows how well you can use your quirk and 2 you never came off as a self concious persion

-And then the guys just nodding with a bored stare

-In your eyes if either of you were going to be able to volunteer here, it was gonna be Kiri

-But then you feel his arm wrap around you shoulder

-And your brain stops as you hear “We make a pretty good team!”

-And both you and the employer guy are like “???”

-And Kiri is smiling like he always his “we come as a packaged deal sir!”

-And you turn bright red as you just nod

-Anyways you guys both got hired for your volunteer work

-And as you two walked home Kiri told you that you could talk to him about your insecurities

-You two were an iconic duo from that point on

[mindmeltonabun-blog]

Tale of the Nine Tailed: Explanation of Lee Rang’s Death and Lee Yeon’s Ending Scene

Well folks...here we are once again. I did say that I would not write another TOTNT post unless there was anything worth discussing in the finale. I know many of you may feel utterly devastated or somewhat confused by how TOTNT ended, but I hope my post will be able to comfort you somehow. Anyways, let’s put on our thinking caps one last time for TOTNT!

Lee Rang’s Death

One of the biggest complaints many have had is the death of Lee Rang. Many said that the writer did him dirty while others wished that Lee Yeon and Ji Ah would’ve died instead. However, when we looked at his character arc’s as a whole, his death was justified. We mustn’t forget that he murdered hundreds possibly thousands in wake of his anger. 

Yes, he did do some good towards the end of his life such as taking in Yuri and Kim Soo, but that shouldn’t discredit all the atrocious acts he had committed in the past. Saving the life of two people doesn’t make up for all of the lives he had taken. Additionally, it is noted that Lee Rang did also assist the Imoogi’s group to bring the Imoogi back to life which caused for a slew of horrible events to occur in the first place. 

In the end, it was Lee Rang’s turn to sacrifice for the one he loved. Everything in TOTNT is cyclic if you think about it. First Ah Eum died to save Lee Yeon then Lee Yeon died to save Ji Ah. Therefore, it was only logical that it was Lee Rang’s turn to die for the one he loved which was Lee Yeon. 

Everything in life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine, what matters is what you do despite being dealt a bad fate. Both Lee Yeon and Ah Eum/Ji Ah weren’t dealt with a particularly good fate, but yet they still remained good people. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Lee Rang. Yes, he was dealt with a bad fate with having been born with a mother who didn’t want him, but he was also lucky because he had been taken in by a brother who greatly cherished him. Instead of appreciating the time he shared with Lee Yeon and remaining a good person even after the events of Lee Yeon leaving for the Samcheon River, Lee Rang still decided to take a turn for the worst. 

Over and over again, Lee Rang had escaped the punishment he so rightly deserved. For example, even after killing those villagers, Lee Yeon spared his life. Lee Rang had been basically living off on borrowed time. In a way, Lee Rang was lucky that during that borrowed time he was able to resolve the misunderstanding he had with Lee Yeon as well as have a small family of his own. Finally, if there’s anything TOTNT has taught us, it’s that if something is the will of the afterlife judges, it will be carried out eventually. One can’t escape their punishment.

In my opinion, things could have gone a lot worse for Lee Rang in the end. Meaning he could have been reborn as a shrimp. Instead, the afterlife judges granted him reincarnation as a boy who had a mother who cared for him and granted him his last wish which was to meet his brother again. He got all of wishes fulfilled. Thus, it was a satisfying ending for Lee Rang. 

Update 12/07/2020: Does Lee Yeon Meeting Reincarnated Lee Rang Indicate Many Years Have Passed?

No, it doesn’t. The team probably wanted to use the same child actor (Joo Won Lee; DOB: 05/03/2011) as to imply that Lee Rang had been successfully reincarnated. Sure, they could’ve used someone who was a few months old, but how then would Lee Yeon recognize Lee Rang ? Remember that Lee Yeon only met Lee Rang when he was around 9 years old. There would be no way for Lee Yeon to recognize what a few months old Lee Rang could’ve looked like. Get it ? Again, Lee Yeon meeting reincarnated Lee Rang happened in 2021!

Why Does Lee Yeon Still Have His Gumiho Powers?           

Initially, when I first watched this I was beyond shocked, left confused, and was rethinking my opinion of Lee Yeon as a good person. However, once I watched it with subs and then did a little research into how Gumihos can become human, the ending scene made sense. Again, everyone should’ve taken Jo Bo Ah’s advice of looking up myths and see to how they pertain to whatever happened in TOTNT.

Anyways, in legends, Gumihos can become human in the following ways:

1)    Refrain from killing and eating humans for 1000 days

2)    The human who found out a Gumiho’s true nature, must tell no one of its secret for 10 years

3)    Over a period of 100 days (other versions say 1000 days or ~3 years), Kumiho must not be detected by the human they are married to.  If the Gumiho fails on this quest, they will lose any chance of becoming human and will be a Gumiho for 1000 years

4)    Gumiho must consume the livers of 1000 humans over 1000 years. If they do not do this by the end of 1000 years, the Gumiho will dissolve in foam/bubbles

In particular, the ending scenes was in reference to #3. When Lee Yeon had came back to life, he was still technically a Gumiho hence why he could enter the Office of the Afterlife. I know you might ask well why didn’t Taluipa or Shin Ju sense he was still a fox? Because at the same time Lee Yeon was human, but only during the day or nights when there wasn’t a full moon (read further below for an explanation). Additionally, Lee Yeon probably didn’t tell Shin Ju because he didn’t want there to be any possibility that information would get leaked to Ji Ah. Better safe than sorry was Lee Yeon’s personal philosophy!  

Although, Lee Yeon did come pretty close to being discovered as a Gumiho when he let it slip that he knew that their child would be a daughter. This all goes back to the intro in Ep 1 where it is said that Gumihos have the “ability to see miles ahead”. Luckily for Lee Yeon, he convincingly tricked Ji Ah and played it off as he was just saying weird things.

Until his 100 days were up, Lee Yeon had to keep his Gumiho nature hidden from the only person who mattered which was Ji Ah. Let’s be honest here, it’s really hard to trick Ji Ah so Lee Yeon had to be super careful around her. Usually in legends, Gumihos fall short of reaching the 100 days because they are discovered by their betrothed. During Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional phase of becoming human, a situation arose that could’ve have caused Ji Ah to discover that Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho aka Mr Samjae entering into Ji Ah’s life. 

This caused a problem because whatever misfortune befell on Ji Ah it would also inadvertently affect Lee Yeon too. Meaning that if Lee Yeon didn’t get rid of the Samjae, it could cause Ji Ah the misfortune of finding out Lee Yeon still was a Gumiho, thus ruining his plan of ever becoming human. 

The only way anyone could tell Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho was to have seen him during a full moon. This was in reference to how in legends, werewolves (also in the same canine family as a fox) can only undergo transformation into a wolf when there was a full moon (symbolistic of metamorphosis). So while in the transitional state of Gumiho and human, Lee Yeon was able to take advantage of there being a full moon to be able to transform into a Gumiho. Subsequently, Lee Yeon then used his Gumiho abilities to rid of Mr. Samjae Spirit. Thus, Lee Yeon eliminated a potential threat that could have caused Ji Ah to find out his Gumiho nature before the 3 months of remaining undetected was completed.

Flash forward approximately 3-4 years later after Lee Yeon’s face off with the Samjae, Lee Yeon is now seen as having been successful at becoming a full human as well as having daughter with Ji Ah as seen here in the following pictures (family picnic). My only complaint is that the production/editing team ended up deciding to not include the following scene. I do not know whether it was their decision or the writer’s to not include this. There could be numerous reasons why such as they had wanted to leave the possibility of there being a season 2 or there was limited time allotted for the length of ep 16 or the writer had wanted to leave an open ending. Whatever the reason, I do hope we will eventually show this to us. In doing so, they would give so many of us the proper closure we needed for TOTNT!

Side note, it looks like Lee Yeon and Ji Ah did end up introducing their daughter to her adoptive grandparents. Awww!

Updated 12/07/2020: Timeline of Samjae + Lee Yeon’s Transitional Period

There were also a bunch of questions concerning when exactly the whole scenes with Ji Ah and Lee Yeon had occurred. This occurred in 2021.

Samjae is believed to occur over a three-year period, and follows calculations based on the twelve zodiac signs. The first of the three years is known as deulsamjae (Kor. 들삼재, lit. entering the three calamities), the second, nuulsamjae (Kor. 누울삼재, lit. middle of calamities), and the third, nalsamjae (Kor. 날삼재, exiting the three calamities). The first year in this three-year cycle is supposed to be the most unfortunate. 

Source: https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/4151

So doing a little math, one will be able to see what years the Samjae entered (deulsamjae), remained (nuulsamjae), and then exited (nalsamjae). So the Samjae entered into Ji Ah’s life in 1994, 2003, 2012, and 2021. The cycle of every 9 years refers to the time period from one Deulsamjae year to the next (not every 9 years from her year of birth). For example, 1994 + 9 = 2003, 2003 + 9 = 2012, and 2012 + 9 = 2021.

What the show was trying to convey is that when Mr. Samjae came into Ji Ah’s life, it also coincided at the same time as Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional period. Additionally, there were some who asked, “Aren't we to assume that many years have passed because Lee Yeon did say first root canal, first picnic, first snowfall, etc ?”. No, I took that scene as him mentioning things he either already did or will eventually experience.

Anyways, I really didn’t think I needed to point all of this out because I had assumed you all would’ve put on your thinking caps by now!

Last Remarks.

I hope that this post was able to resolve any confusion many of you may have had about the last episode. The writer did truly keep us on our toes until the very end. But with a little research into myths as well as analyzing everything as a whole, one should’ve been able to understand where the writer was coming from. Again, I want to give a big thanks to the cast, crew, and writer for all their hard work to give us TOTNT!

[holykillercake]

Piña Coladas 

pairing: Marco x Reader

word count: 2k

summary:  You are loyal to your captain and your team, so you would do everything to win. Even shoot your boyfriend. 

highlight: ¨I don´t like when your tattoo is covered.¨

warning: implied smut

notes: Guys, I really want to thank each and every one of you for the love and support <3 Also, picture this as a crossover between laser tag and paintball!

𝕷𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘, 𝖗𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊!

¨Ok, assholes, listen up!¨ your freckled captain uttered loudly due to the music blasting outside of your headquarter. ¨They have Haruta and Speed Jiru, those sneaky bastards, so we´re gonna have to be careful here, ok? They also have an extra person compared to us! So focus the fuck up!¨

The Whitebeard Pirates made a strategic stop at the Sabaody Archipelago for provisions, which meant that it was time for the Division Commanders and Whitebeard´s left-hand and only daughter, you, to engage in your periodic Bubble Laser Tag battle. 

The teams were sorted out, and one would always have an extra member. The team captains were for the first time, Ace and Marco. And despite loving the First Division Commander, you were obliged to take a vow to serve and honor your team and your captain as long as the game ran. 

¨Y/N you´re the faster one here and the smallest, so I´m counting on you.¨ you saluted him ¨Izo, you´re the best sniper we have, so place your freckled butt in a strategic place and shoot the fuck out of those motherf-¨

¨OI, OI, OI, OI!¨ all of you shouted at Ace.

¨Calm down, cowboy! Don´t you think you´re taking this far too seriously?¨ 

¨No! Do you know when was the last time I was captain?! And do you know how many losses in a row I have?! This is my pride, Y/N! You´re with me or against me?!¨

You couldn´t face him without laughing, he was just so stupid sometimes. But you made sure to let him know that you were on his side - not that you had a choice, though. 

The teams were called The Bird Brains and The Freckled Butts. Yes, the captains chose each other´s team's name, and naturally, nothing good could come out of it. The worst part was having to run around with a tag that said ¨Freckled Butt¨ on your gear. 

In Ace´s team, you had, well, you, Thatch, Izo, Fossa, Namur, Blamenco, and Kingdew, and in Marco´s team were Vista, Haruta, Speed Jiru, Atmos, Curiel, Jozu, Blenheim, and Rakuyo. 

¨They will definitely use Jozu and Atmos as sacrificial lambs to get to us.¨ Thatch pointed out. 

¨Ok, so we´re leaving them to you, Izo.¨ Ace spoke.

¨I´m guessing Haruta and Jiru will be doing the same as Izo, hiding somewhere and making surprise attacks.¨

The rules were pretty simple:

1) No Devil Fruit ability could be used. Not after Ace almost burned the entire place to the ground once. 

2) You didn´t have to stay on the ground. You could use whatever you had at your disposal to climb the walls or even the ceiling. 

3) If the captain is out, the team is out. 

¨Ok. So, Thatch, you´ll cover for me; Namur will cover for Blamenco, and Kingdew will cover for Fossa. Izo and Y/N will go solo.¨ you furrowed your eyebrows.

¨Wait, I´m not covering Izo?¨

¨No, Y/N. You are our special pawn.¨ he said in a devilish and malicious tone. ¨I said I want a glorious victory this time. Your job will be to end this game as soon as possible.¨

¨Still not following, Fire-Fist.¨

¨We´ll make sure no one gets to you while you go find your birdie and end him!¨ he burst in a maniac laugh. 

¨You really think Marco is that stupid?!¨

¨No, but he´s a man, Y/N.¨ you gasped, outraged. 

You faced your crewmates, all of them smirking at you.

¨What are you now, a pimp?! Izo, say something, defend my honor!¨ 

¨I would Y/N, but not only he´s my captain today... he´s kinda right.¨

¨Besides, we´re all very familiar with you guys getting business done.¨ Thatch rested his arm on your shoulders. At this point, internal bleeding caused by severe embarrassment was killing you not so softly.

¨You know what? I think I´ll kill you all first!¨ you threatened the commanders.

The entire arena turned red, and a loud 10 seconds countdown began. You put your goggles down and tightened your grip on the gun, comrades doing the same.

¨We´re counting on you, Y/N. Put your freckled butt to work!¨ Ace said and stormed out before you could beat him. 

Still analyzing his request and your options available, you decided to stay hidden in the shadows. Head down, and powder dry - or paint wet. 

The music was so intense you could feel your lungs vibrating with every beat, sometimes knocking the oxygen out. The whole place was dark with colorful light beams flashing in every direction. 

After 5 minutes of resting in the shadows, you opted for what you thought would be the best thing to do, plus you had the benefit of being smaller than those brutes, so you fit in places they didn´t. 

And you just had found yourself the perfect spot right behind the stage lights at the top of the arena. Getting up there was a little tricky, the light rays almost blinded you - plus the risk of you being caught - and you were not sure you could hide there. Technically it was not against the rules.

¨If I were a hot birdie piña colada, where would I be?¨ you tried to channel into your lover´s brain.

That was actually a good hideout, you spot many of the commanders running around the field. You loved how they took it seriously as if their lives depended on it.  

A loud buzz played every time someone was eliminated, although they didn´t say from which team unless it was the captain. You´ve heard zero buzzes so far, showing how inspired and determined they were. 

You finally decided to follow your captain´s order when 10 minutes passed, and no one had gotten eliminated. Your stomach craved for food and you were really bored. 

You´d always choose the biggest arena since guys like Kingdew and Jozu wouldn´t fit in the normal one. So this one was larger, taller, and had more obstacles. Bubbles in all shapes and sizes, picturesque barricades, and tricky mirrors. Finding Marco was going to be tough... if you didn´t have a card in your sleeve. 

Again, it was not against the rules, and you wanted to eat something. Besides, this victory was more meaningful to Ace than to Marco. So you took your lover´s vivre card from your pocket and placed it on your palm, waiting for it to guide you. 

¨Bingo!¨ you spot a fluffy pineapple crown not so far from you. The problem was to reach him before he moved again. 

Your plan was not to shoot him from the distance, you knew better than that. You were going to approach, engage naturally and eliminate the target. Based on the field, the track he took so far, and his usual train of thought, you had a good guess of what he was planning to do.

The path he was taking led you to believe that he was advancing towards a barricade, a good place to hide, but that would offer him no visibility of his opponents. Was he planning to lay low while the rest of you killed each other? That didn´t sound like him. 

 The job that had been entrusted to you within the Whitebeard Pirates was to analyze each mission´s goal, come up with several different plans of approach - or attack - and predict the possible failures or setbacks. And you did all of that alongside Whitebeard himself, and all sixteen commanders. So, to guess the strategy Marco was going for would be easier than steal a child's candy.

Well, actually, you were able to guess his final destination, not his strategy. 

Without losing any more time, you ran and hid behind the barricade, waiting for your boyfriend to arrive. 

¨Whatever.¨ you thought.

¨Don´t shoot!¨ you squealed and threw both hands in the air.

¨Really, Y/N? This is how you play?¨ Marco asked, putting his gun down.

¨When I am hungry, yes!¨ you bent slightly, faking an exhausted state. 

¨What are you doing here, yoi?¨

¨Looking for Izo, I was supposed to cover for him.¨ you struggled with the weird sensation of lying to Marco. 

He hummed and leaned against the wall, wiping a bit of sweat off his forehead. The lightning was awful, but it was enough for you to see his messy hair and those lazy eyes that made you almost forget the mission. 

¨Why are you staring, yoi?¨ he gave you a smirk and a quick nod. 

¨Nothing. Uhm...¨ you bit your lip as the butterflies started to go insane inside of you ¨...it´s so rare to see you carrying a gun...¨

The first commander watched you with a raised eyebrow and a playful grin ¨Yeah, so?¨

The two of you entered a parallel universe, the lights changed according to the muffled beat of the music. And it was hot. Flaming hot, burning hot.

 Your breath was slow but heavy, and your mouth ran dry with adrenaline on your veins. Not because of a stupid plan or stupid game but because he made you lose whatever control you had over your body and mind. 

You let go of the gun and raised your hand until your fingers touched the skin of his face, tracing a slow path to his parted lips. He watched you like you were a rare creature, an angel forgiving his sins or a siren taking his life. His large hand held yours, and he placed kisses on your fingers, the same fingers that would pull the trigger by the end of this. You wondered if he already knew. 

Marco hooked his finger on the belt holders of your jeans and turned you, making you hit the wall, and oxygen left your lungs in a puff. Didn´t take long until he attacked your neck, tasting your salty skin. Your fingers pulled his hair as your body arched involuntarily, cold shivers reaching every part of you. 

His eyes were soaked in lust when he stopped marking your neck and stared at you like a hungry predator. Your teary eyes traveled to his chest looking for his tattoo, but it was covered by the stupid gear. 

¨I don´t like when your tattoo is covered.¨ you spoke. 

He leaned to your ears and said in a whisper ¨Then uncover it.¨

He was teasing you, he knew what you were supposed to do and was torturing you. 

¨I-I can´t...¨ your voice came out weak ¨I... I have to-¨

¨What, yoi?¨ his grin was malicious.

¨I have to shoot you.¨ 

Marco leaned again, getting really close to your lips but never touching them. Instead, he took your paint gun and put it in your hand. You laughed, asking yourself if you truly believed you would be able to fool him. He gave a quick kiss before stepping back so you could end your mission. 

¨You really don´t mind letting Ace win?¨ 

¨Ace can have the victory.¨  he shrugged ¨I have something better, yoi¨

You blushed with his comment, and fireworks exploded in your chest.

¨I love you, bird brain.¨

¨I love you... freckled butt.¨ he laughed, probably embarrassed for the name he chose.

¨This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.¨ you raised the gun to his gear. 

¨I hope so, yoi.¨

¨Ready?¨

¨You know I´ll make you pay for this later, right, yoi?¨

¨I´d be disappointed if you weren´t planning to.¨

[marjansmarwani]

trust that there will be light always waiting behind

8.4k || ao3

TK has gone out of his way to prove to Carlos that being a paramedic is every bit as dangerous as being a firefighter, it seems.

But Carlos will do whatever it takes to find him and bring him home safe, and he always will. Even if it means he needs to face some personal demons on the way. But it's worth it - he refuses to lose TK for anything. ------ A 2x08 speculative fic

All the kudos and thanks to @officereyes for not only convincing me to actually write this but for also brainstorming with me, a lot. 

Will it happen like this? Probably not. But we can dream. All I can ask for is some quality Carlos and his dad content, and maybe Owen not being as shitty as he has been lately. But because I don't trust Fox to give us that, I wrote it.

Title from "Six" by Sleeping at Last

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

TK wasn’t sure how things had gone from normal to total nightmare in a matter of seconds, but here they were. 

In this case “here” meant that the pregnant woman they were meant to be helping was not in fact, pregnant and that he and his team were now being held at gunpoint in an empty parking garage. 

So yeah, total nightmare. And the day had started off so well. 

He stood quietly, body tense with his hands up wishing he had been paying more attention; that he had noticed them coming from behind before they had gotten the drop on them. That he had noticed before he and his team were in danger. But he hadn’t and here they were: at gunpoint looking at a critically injured patient they were expected to save with only the gear in their medpacks. Which was especially bad, considering it seemed pretty clear that their survival depended on his. 

He exchanged a glance with Nancy as he pulled open the bag to start grabbing gear, doing his best to shoot her a reassuring smile. All the while he couldn’t help but think about something Carlos had said when he had discussed becoming a paramedic with him. One of the pros, he had noted wryly as he planted a kiss on the top of TK’s head, was that at least his boyfriend being a paramedic instead of a firefighter would mean he would have to worry less. TK had rolled his eyes at the time but now he could say quite firmly that Carlos was wrong. 

After all, he had never been held at gunpoint as a firefighter. 

----------

A surprise party worked best when the person who is supposed to be surprised shows up, Carlos figured. 

If it were anyone else, he might have been amused. But it was TK, who was supposed to be at his parent’s house for his surprise party 40 minutes ago. Tommy and Nancy were going to bring him by after shift but instead, none of them had shown up and Carlos couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. 

He could see the unease growing in the eyes of some of the others too as they made the transition from amused to concerned as the time ticked by. Carlos had tried calling TK almost a dozen times now, only to get his voicemail each time. He knew that Tommy and Nancy had gotten calls too, from Judd and Marjan respectively, with the same result. Now, 40 minutes later it had moved from a feeling to a fact: something was wrong. He could see Owen off to the side of the yard now, speaking lowly into his phone as he tried to get an update from dispatch. His expression was grim and when he ended the call Carlos crossed the yard towards him. 

“Well?” he asked when he drew close enough, “what did they say?” 

Owen shook his head, “They can’t reach the unit, and it hasn’t been in contact for over an hour.” 

Carlos could feel the fear solidifying within him even as he asked the next question, “Were they able to tell you where?” 

“I’m waiting on that info now.” 

Even as he said it his phone dinged with an incoming text and Carlos craned his neck to read the address over Owen’s shoulder. 

“That’s not too far,” he said, “if we leave now we should be there within the hour.” At Owen’s surprised look he raised an eyebrow, “What? You thought I was just going to stay here while you go look for them? Not likely.” 

Owen nodded and managed a small smile, “Let’s go then. We have a paramedic team to find.” 

--------

It took some negotiating but Tommy had managed to ultimately convince the people with guns that their friend would be better off receiving treatment in the ambulance rather than in the back of a van. As they packed up their supplies and got the patient ready to move to the ambulance TK’s mind was racing through all the implications. This move meant that they were planning on relocating, which meant that they would be leaving their last known location. Once they left this parking garage unless they were somehow able to check-in, dispatch would have no way of knowing where they were and they would be officially labeled as MIA. 

Which was less than ideal, but did at least mean that someone would be looking for them. TK pushed the used gauze into a pile, taking care to make sure that his back was turned to their kidnappers as he reached for his neck and pulled at his necklace until the chain came undone. He slid it under the edge of the pile, where it would hopefully be spotted by anyone looking for clues. He looked up to see Nancy and Tommy both giving him curious looks. He met their eyes and mouthed, “Carlos.” 

Once they were reported missing there was a zero percent chance that his boyfriend would not be involved in the search, he knew that without a doubt. It was subtle enough that it would hopefully pass their captors’ notice, but Carlos would recognize it instantly. It was something that would tell him that they had been here, and that they were in danger. Carlos would know that TK wouldn’t have parted with the pendant otherwise. 

Nancy raised an eyebrow and Tommy shot him a quick smile as they finished their prep and got ready to move the patient. When they entered the ambulance and got the patient settled TK crossed to the cab and pulled himself into the driver’s seat, only to look down and get a sinking feeling. While traveling by ambulance would be ultimately better for the patient (and by extension, them) TK had also been banking on the fact that once in the ambulance there would be more opportunities to call for help. 

Which was a hope quickly dashed when he saw that their radio had been ripped out, effectively eliminating the possibility of getting help that way. TK bit his lip and turned his eyes to the road in front of him as the armed man climbed into the cab beside him. “Drive,” he instructed plainly and TK complied, switching on the engine and shifting the vehicle into gear, acutely aware of the gun leveled at his chest the entire time. Getting shot was not an experience he had been looking forward to relieving ever again if he could help it. 

“Where to?” he asked.

“Just drive and I direct you.” 

TK nodded and slowly pulled forward, keeping his eyes trained on the road. 

Maybe, just maybe these people were more reasonable than they seemed and maybe this wouldn’t end in disaster, TK thought to himself as he pulled out of the parking garage and headed to the right as instructed. They just need to keep everything calm until help arrived. Because it would, TK was sure of it. 

--------

The ride there was filled with tense silence, their combined anxiety filling the car to capacity and leaving no room for words. Carlos kept an eye on the phone in his hand, the small blue dot tracing their location and showing their progress as they grew closer and closer to the destination flag. They were almost there. They would have answers soon, one way or another. 

He spared a glance at Owen. The fire captain’s eyes were glued to the road and his hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles shining white against the black upholstery. His jaw was set and his expression was full of a panic Carlos was sure was reflected in his own face. He wondered if Owen was thinking the same thing: things had been going so well. Possibly too well, and now the universe was looking to even the score. Carlos hated the thought — TK deserved all the good things the world had to offer, in his opinion — but it was one he couldn’t help but wonder. He just hoped that no matter what, TK would be okay. No matter what the universe was trying to throw at them as long as he was safe at the end, Carlos could take it. 

Reaching the parking garage had been the easy part, it turned out. He and Owen drove the levels in tense silence, each scanning for any clues, any signs of the missing paramedics. It wasn’t until he saw a black panel van parked haphazardly that Carlos broke the tense silence: “Stop the car!” 

Owen did and Carlos was out his door before the car had even lurched to a complete stop. He ran to the van, heart sinking as he noticed the back doors hanging open. He approached with increased trepidation, not sure what he was hoping to find. When he reached the back and got his first look inside the van, he was pretty sure this wasn’t it. 

Bloody gauze and other medical scraps littered the ground, along with three broken cell phones, all of which seemed to have been smashed. Carlos could feel dread building in his gut as he surveyed the destruction. He sensed Owen come up behind him, heard the low curse he let out at the scene. 

“There’s no saying any of the blood is theirs,” he reminded Carlos as if he could read the frantic thoughts racing through his mind, each possibility worse than the last. 

Carlos bit back a retort — there was no good in reminding Owen that there was no saying it wasn’t either — and was about to ask another question when he noticed something silver poking out from under one of the gauze scraps. He leaned forward to grab it, heart sinking when he pulled it out to reveal a very familiar necklace. 

“Maybe,” he told Owen as he turned, holding up the necklace while the FDNY pendant glinting in the low light of the parking garage, “but they were definitely here.”

Carlos hadn’t been sure it was possible but he was certain he saw the fear in Owen’s eyes grow as he took the necklace from Carlos, running his thumb over the numbers engraved in the pendant. “He left this as a clue,” he said quietly, and Carlos nodded. 

“Which probably means they were taken somewhere else and TK wanted us to know they were here.” 

Owen nodded, pulling his gaze up from the necklace to meet Carlos’s eyes, “We need to find them.”

His voice was tinged in desperation, a feeling Carlos knew well. He nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone as he took another look at the mess in the back of the van. “We will,” he told Owen, “and I think I know someone that can help.” 

------

Their destination had turned out to be an abandoned restaurant, shuttered by the pandemic. As workspaces went it wasn’t a bad one, if a little dusty, and they got their patient set up on a prep table in no time, falling into their usual rhythm as they returned to this relative familiarity. TK was currently retrieving supplies from one of their cases and running through the situation in his head, separating it into pros and cons. 

Pro: they had come here in an ambulance with their house number clearly painted on it in broad daylight. Once people started looking it shouldn’t be too hard to spot. 

Con: they were deep into a neighborhood known for being an entertainment district. While traffic had decreased significantly overall since the start of the pandemic it was nearly non-existent this early in the day. The odds of a casual observer being in the neighborhood were slim to none, which was not a thought that brought much comfort. 

The man shouted at him to hurry up and TK quickly added another con to his list as he grabbed the last thing and crossed back to the table: their kidnappers were not reasonable people and every moment that passed seemed to push them just that much closer to the edge. Even as he thought it the woman edged closer to Nancy, causing her to tense as the cold metal of the gun was pressed against her side. 

“Hey,” he said firmly, “if you want us to save your friend, you need to let us work. That means you and your guns should be at least 6 feet away. It’s a little hard to focus otherwise.” 

The woman glanced at the man, who was studying TK. TK met his gaze steadily, not looking away until the man nodded and turned to his companion, “Go wait by the door, just in case. They’re not going anywhere.” 

She nodded and TK could breathe easier as she stepped away from Nancy, who visibly relaxed and shot TK a grateful look. Tommy eyed him quickly before returning her focus to the patient. “I appreciate what you’re doing, Strand, but in the future maybe let’s try to not antagonize the criminals with guns, yeah?” 

TK nodded as he worked, “Sorry Cap, I just really don’t like guns. Chalk it up to bad personal experience.” 

Nancy grimaced at the reminder and Tommy nodded, “Then let's keep this calm, no one needs to get shot today. I’m not losing another member of my crew, you both got that?” 

“Yes Cap,” TK and Nancy chorused, lapsing into silence as they worked. Unfortunately, with their supplies, there was only so much they could do. They had had a busy morning before this call had come in and no time to restock in between. They were running low on pretty much everything, and everything they had would have hardly been enough to repair the damage before them on a good day. But, despite everything, he was still a patient and he was still in need of treatment so they did what they always did: everything they could. 

Even as they worked TK made sure to keep one eye on their kidnappers. With each passing minute, they seemed to get more and more restless, and increasingly desperate. The woman even seemed twitchy and TK vaguely wondered if she was going through withdrawal. All the signs were there and if she was that made their situation even worse. TK knew how that felt first hand and knew what it could do to a person’s mental state. The idea that she might be coming down from a high and was currently pointing a gun at them was less than ideal and he mentally added it to his con list. 

Surprisingly, she wasn’t the one to crack first. TK was helping Captain Vega to do what they could to clean and secure the entry wound when the man stepped closer, waving the gun around as he shouted, “What is taking so long? We’ve been here too long, we need to get moving!”  

“Do you want it done right or do you want it done fast?” Tommy asked evenly, her voice calm and level. 

The man scowled at that, but stepped away, “Just, go as fast as you can.”

TK watched him walk away, glancing at the clock above the door and cursing before running his free hand across his face, the hand holding the gun tapping against his leg. 

“He’s spiraling Cap,” TK noted softly, “we might need a plan if you want to avoid that whole one of us getting shot thing.” 

“And we’ll find one,” Tommy agreed, “but for now we stick with the original one: do our jobs and keep calm.” 

TK nodded tersely and continued with the task at hand. It was only a few more moments before his Captain gave a soft curse and he looked over to see her scowling at the bag next to her. “We’re out of saline,” she said in answer to his questioning look, “can you go see if there is any more in that bag by the door?” 

TK nodded and crossed the bag laying on the ground next to the door they had entered. As he grew closer he noticed that the bag wasn’t the only thing by the door: a fire alarm, bright red against the white of the walls and shining like a beacon of hope as he drew closer, was situated on the wall just past the bag. If he could reach it and pull it, dispatch would be notified. A fire company and at least one APD unit would be called and the alarm might be enough of a distraction for them to get out of here and get somewhere safe until help arrived. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder to see that the two armed assailants were not watching him and made up his mind. He was going to pull it, and hope for the best. If it doesn’t work it’ll have been his idea and his idea alone — the rest of his team doesn't need to be involved in this. This was a stupid choice he could make for himself and by himself. 

He stepped forward, hardly daring to breathe as he drew closer. He was just about to reach out his hand when he heard footsteps behind him, loud and fast. He turned in time to see a hand reaching for him, aiming to strike him with the side of the gun. He ducked, the hand missing his target as he dodged the blow. The man came for him again and TK managed to dodge the next blow as well, and the one after that. 

They moved away from the wall and TK had the frantic thought that maybe he could get the gun away from him, maybe he could actually get the upper hand. He reached for it, throwing himself into the man’s space and reaching around for his arm. He leaned closer, so intent on his goal that he didn’t notice the man rummaging on the nearby shelf with his free hand. He didn’t notice his other hand at all until a sharp pain ripped through his side, causing him to release his grip on the other man involuntarily. He stumbled back, hands reaching blindly to the source of the pain coursing through his body. He felt a warm and sticky wetness and was about to lift his hand to examine it when he felt another sharp pain which caused his vision to go white before everything went black and he knew no more. 

-----

Carlos hadn’t had to say too much before his dad had agreed to help out. One of the perks of being a Ranger, Gabriel reminded his son, was getting to choose the cases he focused on from time to time. He wasn’t sure if it was the words he had said or the tone of his voice that had done the convincing but within two minutes his dad had taken down the address and was on his way. He had said he was likely 10 minutes out but each one of those minutes seemed to stretch on endlessly. 

He and Owen waited in tense silence, neither saying a word since Carlos had hung up the phone with the news that a Texas Ranger was on the case. Owen had raised an eyebrow but after Carlos clarified that it was his dad his expression had shifted to something unreadable and Carlos wondered how much Owen knew about his parental situation in regards to TK. 

He didn’t have to wait long to find out, as it happened. About 4 minutes into their wait, after Owen had made a phone call to Gwyn and Carlos had sent out some updates to the team, Owen cleared his throat, turning to Carlos before he spoke. 

“I don’t want to pry, Carlos, but TK mentioned something about you and your parents a few months ago and I just want to know where that stands. I don’t want to make things weird for you, but I also don’t want to accidentally reveal any information you’re not okay with.”

Carlos nodded, feeling a rush of appreciation for the older man’s tact as he responded, “They know I’m gay,” he told Owen plainly, “but they don’t know I’m in a relationship. They’ve never known about any of my relationships, we just don’t talk about it. When TK and I ran into them at the farmer’s market I introduced him as a friend and as far as they know that’s the truth.” Carlos turned to see Owen’s reaction, not sure what to expect. Anger maybe? Frustration or upset? 

When he did turn he didn’t see any of those. Instead, the older man’s face was neutral as he nodded. “They won’t find out otherwise from me,” Owen promised him, and Carlos nodded his thanks, letting out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. He was surprised, however, when Owen continued talking. 

“I know it’s not my place to tell you how to interact with your parents,” he began, “but for what it’s worth, I would never want TK to keep something that was important to him from me because he was worried it might make me upset or uncomfortable. From everything you and TK have said about your parents, I wouldn’t be surprised if they felt the same way.” 

Carlos could feel Owen’s gaze on him, steady and reassuring despite everything, and he nodded. He could feel Owen’s words rattling inside his head, but there was no way to process them right now, not when the fear of possibly losing TK and the worry that his danger-prone boyfriend was missing was so soundly occupying the forefront of his thoughts. 

He was still trying to parse through it all when he heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. He stood as he recognized his dad’s truck, crossing to meet him as he pulled to a stop. “Thank you,” he told his dad as he stepped out, “I really appreciate this.” 

“Anything for you, mijo,” his dad assured him with a smile, “all you have to do is ask. Which you rarely do, which tells me this is pretty important.”

There’s something else there, in his dad’s words and his expression, that tells Carlos that his dad knows there is something Carlos isn’t telling him, but he ignores it. It didn’t matter right now — nothing mattered except for finding TK. “Still,” he says instead before turning to Owen who has been hovering at the back of the van. “This is TK’s dad, Captain Owen Strand of the 126.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain,” Gabriel says with a nod, “I wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Likewise,” Owen replies quickly before diving right in. “Were you able to find out anything yet?”

“Actually yes,” Gabriel admitted and Carlos tensed at the expression on his dad’s face. It was the one he used when he tried to break bad news gently. “We think we may have identified the suspects. There was a bank robbery this morning and the suspects fled in a van matching the description Carlos gave me. There were three suspects — two who entered the bank and one getaway driver — and bank security thinks that they hit one of them while exchanging fire as they fled.” 

There was so much information trying to squeeze into Carlos’s head now. None of it was good but one fact jumped out amongst the others. The suspects had exchanged fire with the security guards which meant…

“They’re armed,” he said tersely, the dread he had already been feeling threatening to overtake him now, “the suspects are armed.” 

“And they needed the paramedics to treat their partner,” his dad agreed grimly.

“Do we know anything about what kind of shape the injured suspect was in?” Owen asked and Carlos could tell that his mind had gone to the same place his own had: if the paramedics were not able to save the injured bank robber, things didn’t look great for them. Their best hope was for a minor injury but judging by the amount of bloody gauze in the back of the van and the fact that it was a gunshot wound the chances for that were slim to non-existent. 

Gabriel shook his head, “No, and the security cams in this parking garage are just for show, I already had someone check.” 

So TK and his team were being held at gunpoint, being asked to provide medical care that should be done in a trauma room, and there was no way of saying where they had been taken or if they were okay. Carlos could feel his chest tighten in panic as the hopelessness of the situation set in. 

“Are there any leads?” he asked, not even bothering to hide the desperation in his voice. 

“Well, they did leave in an ambulance, and that’s not exactly subtle,” his dad reminded him bracingly. “We’ve put out a bulletin — every cop, sheriff, and ranger will be looking for it. We’ll find them, mjio.” 

Carlos nodded because he didn’t trust himself to speak and because he desperately needed it to be true. They needed to find them, and TK needed to be okay. Nothing short of that would be enough. 

----------

TK knew he was somewhere he shouldn’t be, but he couldn’t seem to do anything about it.

There were voices nearby, but TK couldn’t process any of them. Some of them sounded familiar but others were foreign; unknown with a hostile edge. He tried to open his eyes, to try and take stock of his surroundings but all he could see were vague and blurry shapes. He thought that someone called his name but he couldn’t bring himself to answer. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was in pain, and he was in danger. 

The pull of the darkness was stronger than any fear or curiosity, however, and it washed back over him without hesitation, pulling him back under.

---------

Riding in his dad’s truck with his dad and Owen Strand would have been awkward on a good day but today, with his mind full of fear for TK and the tension of the secret between them all, it was unbearable. Carlos couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing anxiously against the floor — the exact same nervous tick he teased TK about on an almost daily basis. The irony wasn’t lost on him, or Owen it seemed as the man leaned forward from the back seat to put a steadying hand on his shoulder, empathetic eyes meeting his own in the rearview. Gabriel kept up a steady stream of one-sided chatter, undaunted by the lack of response from his traveling companions. Every once in a while his radio would crackle to life and Carlos could swear that he could feel his heart seize each and every time. 

But every time it was the same: no news, no one had spotted the ambulance yet. Crime scene techs had scoured the van and surrounding area, pulling fingerprints and looking for anything else that could give them a lead on who these people were and where they may have gone. Carlos knew all too well that criminals, especially ones involved in crimes that took as much planning as a bank robbery did, were creatures of habit. If they had somewhere they felt was safe and secluded enough, they would go there. It was up to them to find it.  

Carlos knew that his anxiety had not gone unnoticed by his father. He sent him surreptitious glances from time to time, in between radio updates and idle chatter. Finally, he asked a question: “You really care about this TK, don’t you?” 

The opening was there, Carlos could see it. A part of his mind told him his dad must too, to open the door so plainly. But the fear of what could happen, of what he has convinced himself he stands to lose is too much. There was already so much fear in his heart from this nightmare he was trapped in, he can’t stand any more. So he nodded and simply answered, “Yeah, I do.” 

He tried not to notice the disappointment and pity he could feel from all sides as Owen met his eyes again in the mirror. But his boyfriend’s father stayed silent as promised and Carlos looked away, turning his attention to the window instead. He knew he needed to tell them, he had been coming closer to making that decision on his own with each passing day. Now he just had to hope that they both survived this one and that there would still be something to tell at the end of it all. 

His pessimistic spiral was interrupted by the familiar crackle of the radio. He listened absently as his dad grabbed it and at the words that came in response. At least he was only listening absently until some of the words processed in his mind: “Ambulance 126 has been spotted in an alley off W. Fourth St.” 

His heart was working on beating its way out of his chest now. He sat upright, looking around frantically to get their bearings. They were only a few blocks east of West Fourth, they could be there in minutes. He relayed this to his dad who nodded before flipping on his lightbar and heading in the direction of the address provided. As they drove Carlos sent his desperate hopes out to the universe. Let them all be okay, let them actually be in or at least nearby the ambulance. Above all, let TK be safe. 

As they sped through the city that was the thought that Carlos played on a loop in his head. Let TK be safe, and everything else would be fine 

----------

TK came to awareness slowly and at first, the only thing he was truly aware of was the feeling of someone repeatedly tapping his cheek. 

“Cut it out,” he whined and heard a relieved sigh in response. 

“He’s awake,” a voice — Nancy? — declared and TK tried to open his eyes. It took several tries but he managed, painstakingly blinking them open to reveal the worried faces of his Captain and his partner staring down at him. 

“Hey guys,” he said as he tried to pull himself into a sitting position, “why the long faces?” 

Captain Vega looked unimpressed with his efforts and pushed him back down onto the ground. “Don’t try to play nice with me Strand after you did that. Of all the reckless, foolhardy things. I really thought you had more sense than that.” 

TK frowned at her, trying to piece together all the uncategorized shapes and sensations floating through his hazy mind, “What do you…” he began, but broke off when a sharp pain ripped through his side and Nancy pressed gauze down onto his side, “oh.” 

It was coming back now. 

“Yeah, ‘oh,’” his Captain scoffed, “what were you thinking TK?” 

“I was thinking that they were getting more and more unhinged the longer we were here and that if I had been able to pull the fire alarm dispatch would be notified and it would have given us enough of a distraction we could have maybe saved ourselves,” he said defensively, trying hard to sound assertive when even just the dim lights of the kitchen were causing explosions of pain in his head. 

“And how did that go for you?” 

“Not great,” he admitted. “How long was I out?” 

“Not too long,” Nancy told him as she lifted up the gauze to check on his stab wound, “and I’ve got the bleeding slowed but this wound is pretty deep. Not to mention the knife did not look particularly sterile so this needs treatment, soon.” She nodded towards the abandoned blood-covered chef’s knife on the ground that the man must have grabbed during their scuffle, and TK groaned. 

“So probable infection,” he muttered, “great.” 

“Not to mention with the width of that knife likely some significant damage,” Tomy reminded him, her unimpressed look holding firm.

“It’s not like I had any way of knowing he was going to find a knife, to be fair.” 

“To be fair, I would think the guns should have been enough of a deterrent,” Tommy countered. “Wasn’t getting shot once enough for you?” 

TK shifted uncomfortably under his Captain’s gaze and was about to fire back a retort when Nancy interrupted, “Can you both knock it off? Yes, that was incredibly stupid TK and if you weren’t already hurt I probably would have hit you myself. But it was also pretty brave, Cap, and he meant well. Either way, arguing about it is not going to change the fact that we’re still being held hostage and TK is still hurt so maybe it would be best if you both stopped, for my sanity if nothing else.” 

She gave them both a hard look and TK did his best approximation of a nod with his throbbing head, not eager to be on his partner’s bad side. Tommy nodded as well, though the look she gave TK promised that they would be revisiting this later, assuming there was a later. He cleared his throat and glanced towards the table where their patient was still laid out, “How is he?” 

“Stable, for now,” Tommy answered, following his gaze. “He’s going to need more blood than we can give him though: his friends don’t know his blood type and we only have so much O neg on hand.” 

TK nodded, reading in between the lines of what his Captain wasn’t saying: he didn’t have much longer and if he didn’t, neither did they. “What are the others up to?” 

“Arguing,” Nancy said softly, “about what to do with us.” 

TK turned his gaze to them and though he couldn’t hear their words, he had a feeling he knew what they were saying and it wasn’t good. His suspicions were confirmed a few moments later when they approached. 

“That’s enough of that,” the man informed them, gesturing roughly to where Nancy was tending to TK’s stab wound, “get away from him.” 

“He needs—” Nancy tried to argue, but TK put a hand on her arm and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile before holding out a hand for the supplies.

“It’s okay,” he told her, “I can handle it from here.” 

She didn’t look impressed or convinced, but a wave of the gun prompted her to hand them over and pull herself up from the floor, stepping in the direction indicated by the woman. The man looked down at TK with disdain, “You’re done causing trouble,” he announced, “Because if you do it again, I will start shooting, but I won’t be aiming at you. Got it?” 

TK swallowed and nodded. What else could he really say to that? He wasn’t about to risk his team’s safety for anything. 

“Good,” the man declared with a nod, “glad we’re on the same page.” He turned to Nancy and Tommy now, “Is he stable enough to be moved right now?” 

“He’s as stable as we can make him with what we have on hand,” Tommy told him calmly. 

“Then we’re moving,” he declared, “we have another van stashed nearby. We’re going to move out,” he gestured towards himself and his companion, “and we’re taking our friend and this one with us.” 

When all eyes turned to him TK realized “this one” meant him with a start. Which was...less than ideal, but at least he would know that the other two were out of danger and could probably get help. 

“Absolutely not,” Tommy said in her firmest tone, “he’s injured, he needs treatment.” 

“Which is why I know he’ll be no trouble,” the man countered, “plus he’s a paramedic, isn’t he? He can treat himself. I’ll let you give him some supplies, I’m not unreasonable.” 

TK could practically see Tommy’s anger rising from his position on the floor and he spoke up before his Captain could say anymore, “It’s okay Cap,” he said, hoping his voice sounded more sure out loud than it did to his own ears, “I’ll be fine.” 

Tommy turned her gaze to him and was more likely than not going to tell him how many ways that was not happening, but any arguments she may have made were abruptly cut off by the sound of the door banging open and a barrage of police officers entering the scene, guns raised. 

TK let himself sag against the wall in relief as he saw their two assailants surrounded and even more when he spotted a familiar gaze in the crowd, filled with fear and worry as it grew closer to him. 

“Carlos,” he said quietly, managing to pull a small smile to his face. 

“Hey Ty,” Carlos said roughly, reaching out to run a hand through his hair even as he surveyed him for damage. His eyes widened and his jaw clenched as he spotted the bloody gauze poking out from underneath his hand just above his hip. 

He reached for it, but TK called his name softly before shaking his head ever so slightly, “leave it be, I’ll be fine. I’m just so happy to see you.”  

Carlos looked like he wanted to argue but he bit his lip, turning instead to the crowd behind them. TK followed his gaze and froze when he spotted Gabriel Reyes amongst the officers. He pulled away from Carlos ever so slightly, “Your dad…” he began, but Carlos shook his head, gripping TK hands tighter, not letting him pull away. 

“That doesn’t matter right now,” he told him, “all that matters is that you’re safe.” 

TK had so many questions, but his head was swimming. He wasn’t sure if it was the blood loss or the head injury, but it was getting harder and harder to follow a fluid thought. He opened his mouth to try and ask any of them but was saved from the trouble of doing that by his dad appearing at his side, expression anxious as he kneeled down. He looked him over before calling over his shoulder for a medic and TK tried really hard to follow what was happening but it was becoming so much harder with each passing moment. 

He was so disoriented he almost missed the commotion that erupted around them. All he knew was that Carlos’s hand was suddenly gone from his and he blinked several times, forcing himself to focus on what was happening around them. The woman had somehow managed to free herself of the officer cuffing her and had managed to grab her gun again. She was waving it frantically and shouting, but her words were a blur to TK. All he could focus on now was the fact that Carlos was closest to her, and that he was stepping closer to her. 

That he was standing firmly between her and TK. 

The rest of the world might be a blur of noise and light but this was clear as day. Carlos was stepping towards the woman, hands raised as he tried to speak calmly to her. But TK knew in his heart that he had been right about her state and knew that there would be no reasoning with her. But he also knew that Carlos would try, because that’s what Carlos did. He helped people, no matter what. 

The next moment happened in a blink of an eye but TK saw it as if in slow motion. Carlos took a step forward, his soothing voice still speaking to her, still vibrating its way through the air as another sound erupted between them, eclipsing Carlos’s voice. 

It was the sound of a gun firing and TK could do nothing but watch in horror as Carlos’s stride faltered before he stumbled. He could do nothing but try to call out his name with whatever breath he still had in his lungs as Carlos went down, and he could do nothing but feel his heart shatter when he didn’t get up. 

TK tried to go to him, tried to push himself off the ground. He needed to help, he needed to save Carlos. But his body wouldn’t listen. The pain in his side sliced through him again with a vengeance and the last thing TK saw was Carlos’s unmoving body before his vision faded to black and he knew no more; left with the worst sight he had ever seen in his life as company as he fell into the darkness.  

-------

Carlos woke slowly, bits and pieces of his surroundings making themselves known to him and helping to fill in the blanks in his mind: he was in the hospital, he had been hurt, he had been searching for TK…

And that was the thought that brought him back to consciousness. He opened his eyes with a gasp, feeling hands on him instantly. “TK,” he tried to ask, “is he…”

“Relax, mijo,” his dad told him soothingly, “TK is safe. He just woke up from his own surgery a short while ago. His dad assures me that he’s fine, and asking about you.” 

Carlos took a deep breath and willed his heartbeat to slow. TK was alive, they had found him. He was hurt, but he was doing okay and Owen was with him. That did answer a lot of his questions, but there were still so many left. Starting with, “What happened?” he asked his dad. 

Gabriel settled into the chair at the side of the bed, leaving a hand on Carlos’s arm as he studied him, “What do you remember, Carlos?”

“I remember TK and his team going missing, calling you, and finding them. After that, not much.” 

Gabriel nodded and his hand on Carlos’s arm tightened, “One of the kidnappers, the woman, went a little crazy when your colleagues tried to bring her in. She freed herself from the officer’s trying to cuff her and you were closest. Well,” he amended, “you and TK. But you put yourself between them and tried to talk her down. It…” his dad broke off, clearing his throat and continuing with a thick voice, “it didn’t go well. You were shot, Carlos, right in front of me. I was so scared I was going to lose you, mijo. You cannot scare me like that, I am an old man.” 

Despite it all, Carlos chuckled, “Please, you are not old dad. There are 20-year-olds older than you.” 

His teasing didn’t put a dent into his father’s upset, and Carlos sobered, “I’m sorry,” he said instead, “that can’t have been easy. I know what it’s like to see someone you care about hurt like that. I’m sorry you had to see that, dad.”

Gabriel shook his head, leaning forward again, “You have nothing to apologize for Carlos,” he said firmly, “you only did what you thought was best, what you needed to do to protect the man you love.” 

Carlos’s breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened, but his dad held his gaze, a small smile playing on his lips, “You are not subtle, mijo. I had a feeling since this all started, but the moment I saw you with him, I knew.” 

“I’m sorry I kept this from you and mom,” Carlos apologized softly, “that I lied to you when we met at the Farmer’s Market.” 

“Stop apologizing Carlos,” Gabriel instructed, his tone matching his son’s, “you have nothing to apologize for. If anyone should be apologizing I think it should be me. Clearly, I did something or said something that made you feel like you couldn’t share this and for that I am so, so sorry. I never wanted you to feel like you had to hide anything from us, especially not this. I’m...” he trailed off and Carlos was surprised to see tears in his dad’s eyes, “I’m just sorry,” Gabriel finished, “I need you to know that. That and the fact that both your mother and I love you so much, no matter what.”  

“I do know that,” Carlos assured him, “I never doubted that for a second.” 

His father smiled at him and Carlos could feel a weight that had been subtly resting on him for nearly 10 years lifted. He met his father’s eyes and returned the smile. 

“Dad,” he said clearly, with a confidence that had been so many years coming, “I have a boyfriend. His name is TK Strand, and I love him. He means everything to me.” 

“I’m happy for you Carlos,” his father told him, a soft smile covering his face, “you deserve nothing but the most wonderful love the world has to offer, and I hope this boy can give you that.” 

“He can,” Carlos assured him, “he does.” 

----------

TK was staring moodily at the dark ceiling of his hospital room. Yes, he was beyond grateful to have been rescued and that his teammates were safe. They had just been by actually — both women very clear that they would stab him themselves next time if he ever tried to do something so reckless again — and he had been happy to see them. Just as he had his parents and his friends, all who had stopped by before the doctor informed them all that he needed rest. 

That was all wonderful and he was grateful, but the one person he wanted to see more than anyone else — that he needed to see — was in a room of his own on the other side of the hospital. He had been assured by multiple reliable sources that he was fine: awake and alert and recovering nicely from his gsw (fuck, Carlos had been shot. That was a thought and a memory that was going to haunt him for a while, he knew it). But he had been denied any and all requests of seeing him with his own eyes due to his concussion — hence the dark room as light still wreaked havoc on his head — and the antibiotics slowly dripping their way into his system in an effort to cut off any possible infection from the dirty knife blade before it had a chance to take root. Which, as a paramedic, he recognized was reasonable. If it were anyone else he would have recommended the same. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was him and it was Carlos, and TK needed to see him with his own eyes before he could believe that he was really alright. 

Since that was beyond his control, that left him with pouting about it in the dark, which is what he intended to do about it for the foreseeable future.  

A soft knock at his door interrupted his plans and when he turned his head in the direction of the door, his breath caught in his throat. 

“Carlos,” he breathed, his name emerging from his lips like a prayer as the other man gave him a small, tired smile from his wheelchair in the door. Behind him stood his father, looking at TK with a smile that told him everything he needed to know. 

He waited as Gabriel pushed the wheelchair into the room, reaching out for Carlos, taking his hand in his own as soon as they were close enough to touch. He moved to the side of the bed, leaning over and meeting Carlos in a soft, tender kiss that he hoped did something to relay even a portion of the emotions he was feeling. They pulled apart and he met Carlos’s eyes, studying them and him for any signs that he wasn’t okay, but his study was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. He looked up, startled, to see Carlos’s father watching them with a bemused expression. 

“I will leave you both alone,” he promised, “but first I just wanted to take a moment to meet you properly, TK. I am very glad you are okay.” 

“Thank you, sir,” TK said warmly, still clutching Carlos’s hand. 

Gabriel shook his head, “None of that ‘sir’ business now,” he told him, “as far as I’m concerned we’re family now. Call me Gabriel, please.” 

“Well Gabriel, TK said lightly, “I am happy to meet you, officially.” 

He grinned at Carlos, he matched his expression without a second thought. Gabriel watched the pair of them, smile growing. 

“I would love to talk more with you TK, take some time to get to know you, but I know when I’m not wanted so we’ll take care of that later. Just remember Carlos,” he told his son, voice suddenly firm, “you’re injured too. Don’t overdo it.” 

“Yes dad, thanks.” 

Gabriel gave them both a smile and with an affectionate squeeze of Carlos’s shoulder, he was gone. 

“So,” TK said as he watched the older man walk away, “you told him.” 

Carlos scoffed, “I didn’t have to. He spent all day with me, looking for you. He figured it out pretty quickly.” He paused here, swallowing thickly as he looked back at TK, “God Ty, I was so scared. I don’t know what I would have done…” 

TK cut him off, pressing a hand against his face, “Hey, none of that. We’re both okay, and that’s what matters.” 

But even as he said it, he could feel his voice waver. The last memory he had before blacking out of Carlos collapsing after being shot would be forever ingrained in his memories, a vision he was sure would come back to haunt him for many nights to come. Carlos leaned forward now, placing a hand on top of TK’s and pulling it away from his face so he could twist their fingers together. 

“Same goes for you,” he said firmly, as if he knew where TK’s mind had gone. Because of course he did. It was Carlos, and TK knew there was no part of him that was a mystery to the other man.   

“Hey, remember when you said being a Paramedic would be less dangerous than being a firefighter?” TK quipped in an attempt to lighten the mood and Carlos rolled his eyes. 

“Only you could manage to prove that wrong,” Carlos fired back, his voice a blend of fondness and exasperation. “Maybe you can try not to keep proving that wrong though, for my sake?”

“I guess I could try,” TK said softly, “if only for you. I love you an awful lot, you know.” 

Carlos leaned forward and pulled him into a kiss with more heat than before. It was warm and bright and so full of everything TK had been so afraid of losing for good. When they pulled apart, both breathing heavier and both leaning in, resting their foreheads on each other, Carlos responded, “I love you so much, Tyler Kennedy. Don’t you ever get kidnapped on me again.” 

“I’ll do my best,” TK promised, “but I know that if I do, you’d come find me.” 

“And I always will,” Carlos assured him, squeezing their linked hands, “no matter what.” 

[depizan]

SWTOR canon confusion

Part Bounty Hunter:

Here it’s mostly a matter of rules uncertainty regarding the Great Hunt and a little bit around Tarro Blood and Mandalorians.

I don’t, in all honesty, know why Braden needs the Bounty Hunter. Maybe he’s supposed to be too old to do the rough stuff, maybe they figured we’d just headcanon away and smooth that question over.

Setting that aside, Tarro Blood is running around eliminating possible competitors by killing their crew or buying them off (depending on whether they’re Mandalorians). I will never understand how that’s not against the Great Hunt rules. Why is there an assumption that only one member of a team is the competitor? Also, Blood admits to what he’s doing on tape.

(It seems like it would be less fucky if the competition rules only applied after you got sponsorship, leaving Blood free to act. Of course that would make the Hunt more tilted toward Mandalorians, since he could try to kill you until you got sponsership, but you couldn’t try to kill him as he’s already - by virtue of being Mandalorian - a competitor.)

It’s also weird that Blood isn’t being targeted by his fellow Mandalorians this time around. I kinda doubt he’s any less of an ass.

Also, though I have suspicions that the Empire uses the Great Hunt to target people who they can’t openly target, I still find everything on Dromund Kaas rather...too much. Especially as the Bounty Hunter is far from the only bounty hunter running about Dromund Kaas wrecking havoc. The Empire’s hat is order (well, one of their hats anyway). How does this fit?

And then there’s the bit with (supposed) Imperial Intelligence. Never mind that nothing about that fits with how ImpInt works in the Agent story. Maybe Captain Medle is just borrowing an empty office in the Ministry and is military? Though why Intelligence would let him get away with that is another question. (Then again, he proves a self-disposing problem, so...)

Overall, it just feels like there’s a desire for the Hunt to be both anything goes and have rules, making the rules confusing. And then it gets weirder every time the Hunt intersects with the Empire (unless of course, it’s about plausible deniability). Never mind the whole mess with the final target, which seems so obviously a bad, bad idea and guaranteed to get the Bounty Hunter in trouble that it’s baffling that’s just... the plot.

I don’t know. Mandalorians weird. SWTOR Mandalorians extra weird. Great Hunt rules vague. Imperial involvement almost certain but still weird.

*sigh*

(And bounty hunting shouldn’t be paid assassinating. They’re not the same thing, damn it.)