#yes i chose the dash for reading purposes

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

I am blocking on sight anyone that puts any fucking discourse over "moral" fiction or whatever the fuck on my dash. I have blocked 5 people in the last month. I don't care if I've been a mutual with you for years, if you engage in this kinda shit, especially on the side of believing that certain fiction shouldn't be allowed, then you are someone I have no respect for.

Unless someone is actually straight up committing a crime (I.E., posting *actual* photographs or videos of REAL LIFE PEOPLE, not fictional/drawn people, REAL PEOPLE, being harmed/sexually abused) I Do Not Care what other people read or write or watch or make. I Do Not Care. I do not trust anyone else's, especially on the piss on the poor website, to be able to determine if a text is "glorifying" something or if they are just uncomfortable with the subject as a whole. You people all suck at media comprehension and I am just flatly not interested. I keep seeing posts of people making good points and then people ripping them apart in the most bad faith possible. "Someone else's media consumption doesn't hurt you" "yes except for when abuse is portrayed as love, or-" no. shut the fuck up. You Missed The Point. You DO NOT KNOW, and you CAN NOT KNOW, why someone else wrote or created something nor can you know why anyone chose to engage with it. Also, sometimes the fucking point of a story is to portray something bad as good, to serve a narrative purpose. that doesn't mean the author thinks it IS.

I Do Not Care about icky feelings. If you can't tell fiction from reality, that's a you problem. Leave us writers/artists the fuck out of it. And if your knee-jerk reaction to this is "oh, you're just making excuses For The Freaks" you are part of the problem and I also have no respect for you.

FWIW, I am an abuse survivor and I find everyone's moral panic over shitty fanfiction stupid at best and upsetting at worst. You people freak out over fictional bad things happening to fictional people, to the point you waste the resources and time of people that actually hunt down predators by sending them loli fanart? You make me feel like you care about fictional people more than you care about the victims. Also, you'll be fucking fine if you hear about weird art or fic happening. Just don't fucking read it yourself. But knowing it exists won't fucking hurt you. You know what does hurt you? ACTUAL ABUSE. Like the kind so many of the creators you demonize go through, bc like I said before, you can't know why people make the art they make and you certainly can't know whether someone's a victim or not. And people shouldn't HAVE to disclose their victim status for you to make sure you're only attacking the "acceptable" people.

Maybe just don't fucking attack people over some fucking fanfiction or fanart. period. go the fuck outside.

You crave ruthless, vindictive justice more than you crave to help people. You are after the high of feeling good about putting people down, the "right" people.

And I Have No Respect For You.

[unrealwasteland]

Roosmav fic recs: Omegaverse favorites!

Omegaverse is a very popular trope in Roosmav fandom - currently about 15% of Roosmav works on AO3 are tagged with it. Since this is a list of my favorites, all fics here are about alpha!Rooster and omega!Mav, with fairly typical omegaverse dynamics. There may be mentions of breeding and/or mpreg, but no on-page pregnancy is included.

The majority of these fics have explicit vaginal sex, and I'm not tagging every fic for it, so I recommend looking at the full tags and author's note before deciding what to read. If you're not comfortable with some terminology, I suggest ctrl+F searching for it before reading. Some of these fics come with warnings, so I'm putting the non-explicit fic first, and filth under the cut. :D

No prize for second place by Lacerta 6k, M, no archive warnings apply omega chase, getting together

Maverick dashes behind a tree, not as much for the measly cover it provides as for the support. He leans against the bark, fingers digging into the rough ridges. It only marginally helps to ground him, but fighting against odds this uneven, even as much is a blessing. He knows the game; he knows how to play it. What he didn’t take into account, though, was Bradley. * The old tradition in the US military has alphas chasing after omegas in heat. Maverick, still unmated, is a recurring champion of the Chase, but there's a first time for everything, isn't there?

I really love the worldbuilding and Mav's characterization in this fic. Very well written.

Needs Must by EmilyNorth 8k, E, no archive warnings apply bonding, not actually unrequited love

“I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now,” Admiral Simpson said. To his credit, he sounded mostly sincere. But then, he’d always been clear about admiring Iceman. It was Maverick who he couldn’t stand. “Take some time, whatever you need.” “I appreciate that, sir,” Maverick said, “but there’s no time. The mission—” “No, I’ll be taking over the training from here.” Maverick froze. “…Sir?” “We both know you can’t stay on active duty, captain. An omega is only allowed to serve if they’re bonded.”

This is absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoyed how the omegaverse worldbuilding is weaved into the canon divergent setting.

Cream Top by anonymous 7k, E, creator chose not to use archive warnings (underage) medical examination, male lactation, pseudo-incest, sex toys

“Don’t worry, I’ve seen cases like this before.” The medical officer turned and made another note on her laptop. Several notes. “I’m assuming, Captain, that there’s a young alpha at home? It looks like you have a dependent on your file.” Maverick closed his eyes. “Yes.” “How old are they?” Mav didn’t want to answer. “Captain?” she prompted. “Bradley’s—Seventeen.”

Dare I say this one is a fandom classic already? The first chapter is a work of art, but the whole fic is amazing.

the whole purpose of want and desire by punk_rock_yuppie 3k, E, no archive warnings apply established relationship, edging, trans!maverick

This early-morning fuck shouldn’t be happening. Bradley knows that. But he can’t help himself. He woke up hard and was still aching when Maverick slipped back into their room for a goodbye kiss. If Maverick really didn’t want to, he’d say so. The only caveat is— “I’m serious Bradley, you can’t knot me.” Maverick looks over his shoulder, expression unimpressed.

This is super hot. It's not a tag on this, but this hit me right in the "just the tip" kink.

show me the way home by MilesbyMicah 8k, E, creator chose not to use archive warnings (underage) male lactation, breeding kink

Maverick knows that Bradley's too old for this. Too old to come seeking the warmth of Maverick's tits in the middle of the night. But he's never been able to say no to his boy.

This is very hot, and I'm a big fan of how messed up and codependent their relationship is. I recommend reading both this and the follow up!

let the love light guide me home by MilesbyMicah 17k, E, creator chose not to use archive warnings male lactation, voyeurism, semi-public sex, reconciliation sex

Maverick and Bradley haven’t spoken in years. Circumstances beyond their control have forced them into proximity, and it’s a race to see what will spark up first; the years of hostility or the half-formed mating claim that still lingers between them. The sequel to 'show me the way home', please read that one first!

Hot and emotional, I absolutely loved this. This is set during TGM, but there's a flashback to them having sex when Bradley is 18.

As we dance with the devil tonight, don't you dare look at him in the eye by Fuddlewuddle 2.5k, E, no archive warnings apply background goose/mav, cuckolding, male lactation, mommy kink, mentions of breeding/mpreg

He’s not sure why he does it. One second he’s laying there with Bradley wrapped around him—comforted by the presence of his big strong boy sleeping at his back, while Goose was away with work—and the next he’s moving Bradley’s large paw; thick fingers so much bigger than his own even though he’s barely eighteen years of age. He runs his own fingers under Bradley’s, pushing them upwards one by one, like the tick of a clock, before sweeping his palm over the back of Bradley’s hand—where the veins will get more pronounced as he grows further into his Alpha body—and moving it to between his legs; Bradley’s paw now offering his pussy a comforting embrace.

This is hot and a little fucked up, just how I like my Roosmav.

in between what's already done by crawsley 5k, E, creator chose not to use archive warnings extremely dubious consent, daddy kink

“We aren’t doing this,” Maverick says, firmly, and he’s tensing like he’s about to move, about to shove Rooster off of him, push him away like he pushed him away before, when all Rooster had wanted was some guidance, some help, some love and kindness and— Rooster bears him to the ground, right there on the rug in the entryway.

I know I've already recced this one in a previous post, but a Roosmav omegaverse rec list just wouldn't be complete without this. A deserved fandom favorite.

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Mornings and Evenings with Jesus by William Jay

Eventide, July 5th

This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. - Psalms 119:50

Observe the season here referred to-days of affliction. Who is free from affliction? “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward,” and Christians experience trials in common with others. Moses chose to “suffer affliction with the people of God.” One is saying, “My purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart;” another is bereaved of his connections, and is saying, “Lovers and friends hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.” The eye of another rests upon the shadow of death, and under the influence of a noxious disease is saying, “I shall behold men no more with the inhabitants of the earth.”

Observe, then, a source of comfort, “This is my comfort,” “Thy word hath quickened me.” In the season of affliction what is so precious to the suffering Christian as the word of God? “Unless,” says David, an old and a great sufferer, “unless thy law had been my delight, I should have perished in my affliction.” The Scripture is never so precious as it is in the hour of trouble, and many have been there, and many are still there. This blessed book says, as its Author did, “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall have peace.” Its “exceeding great and precious promises” minister to our consolation and support. They bid us to be of good courage, and not yield to fear, assuring us that “as our day so shall our strength be.” The “word” assures us that nothing occurs by chance, that all are the acts of heavenly arrangement-the arrangement of our Father and our Friend-that all will be well, for that all is well now, and that all our woes and all our mercies tend to promote our real, Spiritual, and eternal welfare-“that all things work together for good to them that love God.” “O,” said Bolingbroke, under his affliction, “my philosophy forsakes me in my affliction.” But did Sir Philip Sidney’s philosophy forsake him, when, after a battle, he, having to undergo a dreadful operation, said to the surgeon, “Sir, you are come to a poor timid creature in himself, but to one who by the grace of God is raised above his own weakness, and therefore do not dishonour your art in sparing the patient.” Nor did the philosophy of the church forsake her when she said, “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stall, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

There are persons that the Scriptures must comfort, or nothing can do; and yet, such is the cruelty of infidels, that they would rob these sufferers of their only comfort. The afflicted man goes to the house of God, and there finds God in his afflictions to be a refuge; and these wretches would pull down that refuge and leave him without an asylum, and his poor head bare to the pitiless storm. The widow begins to hope when she reads, “Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them; and let thy widows trust in me.” The wretched infidel comes and dashes away this only cup of consolation from her parched lips. We should never give countenance to them, but rather consider them as robbers and murderers of the worst kind.

“Should all the forms which men devise Assault my faith with treacherous art, I’d call them vanity and lies, And bind the gospel to my heart.”

[owlofthenight117]

A Day at the Beach- The Misfit Mellows- Part I

They pile into the van, somehow carrying the weight of all the Spartans, luckily it doesn’t take them long to get to the beach, they all unload as Danica stands in front of the doors to the van, still in her armor, “I’m not sure about this. I’ve never been one to want to take off my armor.” Catherine is already stripping down into her swimsuit, bouncing on her feet like a giddy child, “Well you might sink pretty quickly in that tin can” she says and offers a large bottle of sunscreen to John, “you’re gonna need this, pale as you all are” Samriah nudged Danica.

“Come on, it will be fun. If it's not, I'll buy you a Moa burger.” Samriah bargains, they both look over as Linda yells at Kelly as the faster Spartan grabbed her and threw her over her shoulder, making a dash for the ocean. Danica looks at her armored hands, then at Samriah, “Fine, but I’m not going into the water. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be back.” She walked back inside and sure enough ten minutes later she was back wearing darkly tinted sunglasses, her blonde hair in a tight braid, dawning a dark green two piece with violet bows, and a beach bag as she tried not to smudge the newly applied makeup on her skin. John reluctantly takes the sunscreen from Catherine, when he is done putting it on, he is somehow even paler than before, not having rubbed the sunscreen in well enough. Samriah laughs and shows John how to put it on. Samriah smiles brightly at Danica, “Let’s go!” With that the group made their way down to the ocean.

“Yes!” Catherine skips her way to the shore and begins picking up seashells, collecting even the broken ones to decorate her sand castle. Linda had already been thrown in and was currently wrestling Kelly into the water, Fred saw the chaos and laid out a beach towel under the umbrella. Danica silently says next to Fred wanting to avoid the chaos for once, which was unlike her. Unfortunately for her, Catherine quickly drags Danica over to help her construct a monstrous sand castle, “Come on you guys! We’re building Fort Spartan!” Catherine calls and beckons Samirah over to help. Sam quickly waded into the water and picked both Linda and Kelly up, giving them a scolding glare and jutting his chin towards the other children in the water who were watching the ordeal with wide eyes. Samriah laughed and ran over to Cathrine, filling a bucket with sand and starting the great Fort Spartan. Danica looked down at her arm and reapplied makeup to it, hoping no one noticed the smudged tone. Little did she know, both Cathrine and Samriah did, but chose to leave it be, it was Danica’s story to share.

“One sec!” Danica calls, she begins picking up seashells and brings them over, “Will these do?” Samriah, noticing Sam, Linda, and Kelly in the water quickly ran back under the umbrella where their stuff was stored, accidentally spraying Fred with sand. Grabbing a floatie she ran over to Sam who was trudging out of the water with Linda and Kelly in tow, they quickly joined building the castle, as Samriah stuck the floatie on Sam’s head like a hat.

“Poor Fred.” Danica said, noticing the spray of sand that kept hitting Fred.

Fred looked up from where he was reading a book.

“Indeed. Samriah, stop with the sand.” Samriah laughed and shook her head, purposely kicking over some sand at Fred. Danica shook her head and threw a patch of seaweed at Samriah.

“Come on, I thought we were building a sand castle? Be nice to Fred!” She scolded.

“Not the seaweed!” Samriah shrieked and scrambled away, falling into the “moat” John and Sam were digging. It easily was deeper than Cathrine’s height, and when asked why it was so deep they shrugged, and kept digging. A group of young children approach the giant sand creation and curiously peer and the strange group of people. Danica waves to the small children and laughs at Samriah.

“You okay over there Fred?” She calls.

Fred was fast asleep and Samaria, having jumped up and down repeatedly, had a wicked grin. Looking towards Cathrine she whispers, “Let's make him into a Mer-Fred.” Danica just shakes her head and upon looking around sees a quiet space under some shade and slips away to set up her towel and umbrella and relax. Samriah used John as a ladder to get out of the moat. It was really just now a pit, and nearing the Spartans height. Samriah bounced over to the ocean and started to collect sand to make the Mer-Fred. Catherine eagerly grabs buckets of sand and approaches the sleeping Fred with Samriah and begins gently packing sand around his legs.

“Let me see some of that seaweed, yeah?” She whispered and Samriah passed the seaweed to her and noticed the children’s numbers growing, so she beckoned them over.

“We’re turning him into a merman, but we’ve got to be quiet so he doesn’t wake up okay?” She told them quietly, the children nodded and started grabbing sand. Danica, now feeling a little anxious, sinks a little farther into the shadows and starts chatting with Athena, her AI. The children help Catherine turn Fred into a very pretty mermaid, decorating his tail with shells while Catherine gently lays the seaweed on his head as hair. As they finish, Samriah notices Danica’s silence, as ever the responsible one she leaves Cathrine with the children. Wandering over as she picks up a pretty violet shell, offering it to Danica as a sort of peace offering. “Everything okay?” She asks, and Danica jumps slightly as Athena disappears, yet she smiles up at Samriah and gently takes the shell.

Yeah, I’m just not really in my element. I’m not used to being out of armor for so long. I’m used to long drawn out battles, not quiet beach days…” Samriah can tell she’s not saying everything.

“We all have scars, some visible, some not. I lost my squad on my first drop, I tried covering it up for a long time, it only made it worse.” Samriah pauses before looking more closely at Danica “Say hi to your AI for me.”

Danica just nods sadly at Samriah’s first comment, “I lost my first team in a fire fight. The enemy got the upper hand, knocked me out, tied me up and I woke up to seeing my entire team without a single glint to their eyes. After that I just went on a spree and took out any enemy I came across. I got a lot of scars that way… when evac finally came I was the only one there… Pilot asked what happened and all I could manage was holding up all of their dog tags after I brought them onto the ship. I wasn’t going to leave them behind… not after everything they did for me. They watched my back day in and day out… I failed to protect them…”

“It’s not your fault. And I know many people have told you that, but I won’t lie to you, it still hurts. It takes a long time to get better, but opening up, and telling someone. Thats the key.” Samriah gives Danica a smile. “You should come try the water, it’s nice. I promise. If your makeup wears off, they won’t mention it. If they do, I'll whack them.”

Danica fidgets nervously, “I-I don’t know… I haven’t had a true team in a while and I just don’t want people staring…”

“JOHN!!” Fred yells as he wakes. Both Samriah and Dancia jump at Fred’s shout. The children scatter and Catherine bursts into a fit of giggles as she takes a picture, before scurrying to hide next to John where she is safe. Fred grumbles as he tries to brush the sand off his body.

“This is why I can never relax.” He muttered.

“This is why we love messing with you!” Catherine calls to Fred, only for John to pick her up and toss her into the moat, which is too deep for her to escape, “Hey!” She protested, John snickers at her.

“You’re in timeout for picking on poor Fred” he says. Sam looks at Catherine for a moment, and promptly jumps out of the moat, leaving her no room for escape.

“You get back here! I will not be caged!” Catherine flails her arms trying to find a way out of the sand pit. There is no escape for her. Her best bet is for someone to take pity on her. However, for Miss Pyro, it is not likely. Catherine grumbles about mean Spartans and begins digging a tunnel through the sand.

“You a Zir now Cathrine??” Dove calls, having recently warped in to watch the growing chaos. Catherine tunnels her way out of prison and runs to Dove, wrapping her arms around her.

“Dove, look at the injustice they’ve done to me! And it was Samriah’s idea!” Catherine exclaims dramatically and sticks her tongue out at John and Sam, before joining Samirah and Danica in the shade. For the moment they relax, with Dove chatting with Sam and John, Fred going back to reading his book and with Kelly and Linda still in the water. Finally, Samriah sands, and offers her hand to Danica, pointing to a rocky outcropping a little ways down the beach. “There, that will be secluded. And if anyone is there and has a problem with it…. Well a shark might just appear in the water to scare them off.”

“Alright, I’ll tag along” Danica says, and snickers.

“Sounds like we’re going exploring!” Catherine grins broadly.

“Miss pyro here can also singe their eyebrows off.” Samriah ads, snickering. Danica just laughs a little harder.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure where to keep my sunglasses” Danica says, before being cut off by Cathrine.

“Chief! I’ve been given permission to light people on fire!” At this, John quickly joins the group.

“Absolutely not.” He says and pats her on the head. Danica goes silent as soon as the Chief had shown up

“Just put your sunglasses by our stuff, no one will steal it. That's what our dear Spartan body guards are for!” Samriah says, jabbing John in the side. He shakes his head, and looks towards Danica.

“Everything alright?” John asks. Danica stiffens at the mention of just leaving the sunglasses behind.

“You know I’m a Spartan too right?” She jests, trying to cover it up, “Never better Chief!” An obvious lie. John puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes, offering silent support in the way that he does. Samriah notices Danica’s tense form.

“You know what? This should be a girls trip! No John, Sam, or Fred!” She says, and links her arms with Cathrine and Danica. John sees the makeup on his hand and the scars on Danica’s shoulder and she internally panics. Samriah notices this reaction and quickly hustles the girls away. “Let’s go! Bye boys!” John shakes his head as the group leaves.

“Don’t burn anything to the ground,” he calls after them.

“We will!” Samriah shouts back, passing Danica a towel to cover her shoulders. “I’ve got some semi-waterproof makeup, I can give it to you later.” She murmurs to Danica. Danica keeps up with the group as her arms are linked with theirs.

“Thanks…” she says and she drapes it over her shoulder. “So to the water I guess?” Still sounding slightly uneasy but more relaxed than the moments prior.

“Yep!” Samriah said brightly, and they walked along the beach. When they arrived at the spot it was secluded. Cathrine frowned. No one to set on fire. She told the trio such.

Danica chuckles slightly, “That’s good for them I suppose.” Athena appears on Danica’s left shoulder.

“Hi…” Athena says Danica is stunned that Athena is being this bold. “I’m Athena, Danica’s AI.” Catherine smiles softly, remembering her long lost AI Felicity.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Catherine says, she cups her hands in the water and splashes it onto her body. There are faint scars that start at her wrists and end at her elbows, the water makes them shimmer in the sunlight. Catherine does not think of them often. Danica sighs as she drags water up her arm to the exposed part of her shoulder. There are two long scars running parallel to each other going down from her shoulder to the tips of each of her fingers. Tons of small and medium length scars littering the rest of her arm, some looking deeper than others. It’s obvious that they bother Danica a great deal. “Combat or training? Or both?” Catherine asks Danica carefully.

“Both… and augmentation.” Danica replies solemnly. Samriah joins them in the water a moment later, hopping into the water with a splash, metal leg left on the beach it just rusted to easily in saltwater. She hopped/swam over to the duo and kneeled on the seafloor, the water only came up to her shoulder and she smiled up at the duo. Catherine nodded in understanding.

“I was kidnapped by insurrectionists when project Pyro was leaked. I’d still be their lab rat if John hadn’t come for me. Although I wasn’t exactly in one piece by then…”

“Funny story-“ Danica starts, but is cut off by Athena.

“John had come for her too. She was a child at the time at a lab facility. An experiment of their own using his DNA. He still doesn’t know she’s technically his kid. Even when she went through the Spartan program, Halsey put it under lock and key.”

Danica looked panicked.

“Athena! We talked about this! No one can know!” Catherine blinks in surprise, before nodding as she processes the information. She concludes that it is now her solemn duty to unofficially adopt Danica. Danica just sighs, “I am biologically his. However the original died when she couldn’t handle the testing so they stored her memories in me. So I’m her but built to better withstand testing…” Samriah ducks under the water and comes back up a moment later, effectively clearing her thoughts. Then she Looks up at the duo.

“You're not her.” She addresses Danica, “You’re you. You may have a few added memories. But you’re still you”

“I am… I’m an altered copy is what I’m saying…” Danica says, butt Cathrine cuts in.

“Nothing wrong with a few extra memories, I don’t have any about where I came from or who my family was. Halsey rescued me from the streets when I was a teen, and I’m still not sure if it was for better or worse, but I have a good life now” Catherine plays with the sand between her toes and smiles.

“I just don’t want Chief to find out. I didn’t want anyone really finding out.” She steps closer to the water as it washes the makeup off of her feet exposing more scars, Catherine smiles softly.

“If I know John he’d be ecstatic, but it’s your decision” she says, and Samirah nods.

Danica smiles back, “Maybe after we hit the water?” As she wades farther in so the sea meets her waist.

“We’ve got your back,” Catherine winks at her and dives into the waves. Danica smiles and takes a deep breath, takes her sunglasses off exposing her freckles and her two mismatched eyes, and throws her glasses onto the sand diving down. Catherine splashes Samriah and Danica as she resurfaces, “I challenge thee to a wave battle!” Danica splashes back, not caring for the scars now exposed on her face as well as the rest of her body.

“Thou shall regret challenging me to a battle!” She calls as Catherine engages in the splashing, causing little bubble heat explosions under the water in order to send more force with her waves. Danica smirks as there’s a mischievous glint to her eyes as she dives and sets small, pocket sized, pressurized air canisters on the sand below and taps one as it sets off a chain creating a slightly bigger wave. Samriah dives into the shallows, careful to stay where she could touch the ground if needed. She splashes Cathrine with a laugh, and then gets drenched by Danica's waves. Danica resurfaces and laughs as she comes closer to shore to accommodate for the distance and to make sure Samriah was included. Catherine warms the water around her, making it more like a hot tub as the battle dies down a bit. As the sun starts to set the trio relaxes in the water, their worries at rest for a moment and silent as the waves lap at the shore. Samirah breaks the silence, “if you had the choice to change how your life has been, would you?”

Danica looks at Samirah stunned at the question, “Before meeting everyone here my answer would’ve been yes, but after all of this? Not a chance. You guys are my team. More to the family if you will. There’s not a chance I’m missing out on meeting you all.”

“Awww I knew you’d open up, just had to get you out of the old tin can,” Catherine sends a wink in her direction, and Danica smiles.

“Maybe I spend too much time in my armor. Thanks again, this has been pretty fun!” She says as she winks back. Samriah nodded, looking towards Danica and Cathrine.

“We’re a bunch of misfits, broken but healing. Each weird and unique in our own way. Our own little family.” She comments.

“We’re not misfits if we’re a family. Not any more” Danica says, and smiles softly. Samriah nods, and they walk and rejoin the group with Danica and Cathrine, as Cathrine pulls out a package of hotdogs to roast over the fire. “Who’s hungry?”

Part II

Master list

@embarrassedauthornerd @alpha-wo1f2 @117s-girl @starchaser-the-prophet @lialacleaf

[youredreamingofroo]

I'm finally doing it. 100 OC questions with Roo.

-> 100 OC questions by the-moon-dust-writings

under the cut to save yall from a lengthy dash - also spaced it all out so its easier to read mainly cuz im dyslexic and its impossible to read tumblr text half the time 💀

also if there's anything that's unfinished or illegible, im really sorry, its 1 AM and my eyes are starting to go cross-eyed 😭😭😭

1. How do they present themselves to others? ▷ Roo tends to completely shut off any form of his real self when initially meeting people, he fears coming off as weird to others, however as he gets to know people more and gets closer, his mask slowly fades. In general, he presents himself as tight and sometimes stingy and/or jumpy (to lesser known people), or he'll present himself as silly, loose and able to laugh, and better at communicating (to more well known people).

2. Do they like animals?

▷ He absolutely LOVES animals, he loves just being in proximity of them and literally wishes he could take any and all animals he sees home (the lovely cuddly ones anyways LMAOOO).

3. How do they dress? ▷ He dresses like he just fucking got out of bed most of the time. 4. How many languages do they know?

▷ 2- technically, He's fluent in english and knows very little swedish (he's trying).

5. How big is their family? ▷ Just to avoid me going off on an INCREDIBLY draining journey, I'm going to list off only immediate family: He has two parents, Reese and Virginia He has one immediate sister, Jordynn He has three half siblings, Devan, Deliahna and Juniper Devan and Deliahna's Father (Sort of Roo's Step/Half-Dad???) is named Noah and Juniper's Father (also sort of Roo's Step/Half-Dad?????) is named Mateo Roo has a nephew named Evan and a Niece named Josey (Both Jordynns) and he has a Brother in Law named Sean (Jordynn's husband). 6. What is their purpose in the story? ▷ Roo has no purpose, he's intended to just be a character, he's intended to be a character that I do my best to develop as almost real, he will never be real, of course, but I like to treat as though he is, additionally he's meant to show growth, and just letting characters grow and develop flaws, if you read/saw his Roo-seum post, you'd have seen just how different he was 10 years ago RT (Roo's timeline). I mean, 10 years ago RT, he was literally homophobic, and now hes VERY gay. I never intended to make roo grow as much as he has and at the end of the day, hes just a persona who was lucky enough and interesting enough to become his own character. 7. Do they know how to fight? ▷ LMFAO No. 8. What is their back story? ▷ Not typing all that, you can find his backstory (Roo-seum) on the Roo page of my blog. 9. Why is their name, their name? ▷ From a literal sense (why I chose his name), I initially chose Roo as his name, why is that his name? I dont remember. I remember I wanted to also give him a real name, and funnily enough, I REALLY like/d Harvey from SDV, and I LOVE the name Harvey its really cute, so I gave it to Roo. From a lore sense (why Virginia chose his name), when Virginia had Roo, she didn't really GAF what she named him, she was still mourning Reese's death, and she just needed a name to give Roo, and was reminded of when Reese and Her were thinking of boy and girl names, Heather? No, it's a boy. Heath? ...Uhh.. No. Melody? Still a boy. Arthur? That's a silly name (no offense to any Arthurs out there).... Harvey... It was a name that had Reese grinning from ear to ear, She'd never seen him smile that big for a name... besides her own, it was the perfect remnant of Reese. 10. Do they have any nick names? ▷ Yes. Roo. In canon, his siblings call him Harv or Rooey (like kangaroo and joey???.... LMAO), his mom used to call him Havvy as a kid/baby, but now he hates that nickname and sometimes Virginia tries to use it to get him to forgive her for the way she treated him, although he never budges. Some joke nicknames I have given him, is Rookie pookie and if I'm ever making a genderbent Roo I call him "Roo-ella", all of which are not canon names in HIS universe, but are canon names in other universe.

11. Do they have a romantic interest? ▷ uhhhh yes and no, it's complicated, he's only now realizing his feelings for a certain someone. 12. How do they cope with struggles? ▷ he cries, and he vents, he doesnt really know how to cope (in a healthy manner, like seeking therapy or doing stuff to calm him down). 13. Do they have anyone they can lean on? ▷ Yessirrr, He's got Rylan, a friend of his that I STILL need to introduce............ He also has his siblings. 14. How do they react to someone dying? ▷ ???? In sheer horror?? I'd assume he probably would be 1000x more devastated than the average human though cuz he hasn't properly experienced a loss of a loved one (like actual death loss, not like a family member leaving thats a WHOLE different story). 15. Can you name 5 personality traits they have? ▷ Introverted extrovert ("thats just an ambivert!" hes INCREDIBLY introverted, until/unless he gets to know someone who really clicks with him, at which point he becomes super extroverted, and they HAVE to click with him, otherwise he remains relatively introverted, and I do not see that fitting into the ambivert definition) Insecure (in a sense that he doubts a lot of his decisions) Overthinker Very oblivious A daydreamer. 16. How did they become a character? ▷ I don't want to keep explaining this, but in short, he's a persona that is also separately an OC. 17. Do they get along with others? ▷ He's often called charismatic cause hes such an enjoyable person to talk to, he often thinks people dont like talking to him, but thats only because he never fucking talks to people and usually only talks to someone when they initiate conversation. But yes, he does get along with others, even if he denies it. 18. What flaws do they have? ▷ Can't cope in a healthy manner, bad at initiating conversation, mega procrastinator, not super good at emotional control and often isolates himself without letting anybody know, making everybody worried, especially considering his isolation track record. 19. How do they influence the story? ▷ N/A idk cuz his life is the story and i mean like, what he does influences the story LMFAO. 20. What do they look like? ▷ We all know by now but:

21. What are their hobbies? ▷ He likes to game, and as introverted as he can be, he likes to go out to places even if he's not gonna buy something, he likes to take walks, and he likes to just laze around, and ponder. 22. What are their ticks? ▷ Idk he doesn't really have any out of the ordinary ticks, yk, like, he hates homophobic people? and transphobic ppl? So... yea. 23. Do they like children? ▷ No. 24. How do they react to being around wild animals? ▷ He gets super SUPER nervous, but at the same time bubbles with joy cause he loves animals and wants to touch the animal, except hes fucking terrified of getting killed and ends up, of course, not touching said animal. 25. If they were given the task to prank someone, who would it be, what would they do, and would the prank work? ▷ He just wouldn't do the prank to begin with tbh, he's a little bitch like 😭😭 26. Do they have any survival skills? ▷ HAH Nope. 27. Are they more book smart or street smart? ▷ Idk, He's self-taught most of the things he knows, but I guess book smart? 28. How do they get out of a difficult situation? ▷ Roo doesn't even know how to cope in a difficult situation, he's just gonna panic and run around like that one spongebob gif of all the little spongebobs running around with fire everywhere iykyk. 29. Do they use their body, mind, personality or force to get what they want? ▷ No- hello?? LMFAO. 30. What music do they enjoy? ▷ Honest to God, he enjoys whatever music I enjoy, not saying this out of laziness, I mean like he, as a character, would genuinely just enjoy the music I enjoy. Although I will say, he'd definitely prefer more somber-esque songs.

31. How do they overcome obstacles? ▷ He just... idk, overcomes them, eventually tho cuz he's a procrastinator (as someone who doesnt know how I overcome my own obstacles, I dont know how to describe overcoming obstacles so this is a difficult question). 32. When faced with a difficult decision do they get stronger or break? ▷ When Roo is faced with a difficult decision, he freezes, or I guess in this case "breaks," he can't really handle the pressure of having to make big decisions and may even just subconsciously/stupidly answer (which is prominent during the Reo sub-plot). 33. Do they have any special powers? ▷ Nope. 34. How do they change throughout the story? ▷ Another situation where I point you towards the Roo-seum and also say that his story IS the story. 35. Do they have any friends? If so, are they close knit? ▷ Yes. Him and Rylan are VERY close, they met when Roo was attending College 36. How is their family life? ▷ Pretty fucking messy, you can find pretty much most of your answers in the respective posts of his siblings introduction posts. He fucking hates his Mom for leaving him, however there's two sides to this as Virginia was initially expecting to be caring for Roo with Reese, and didnt expect Reese to die so suddenly and so soon before the birth, depression sucked the life out of her and she progressively became less and less willing to live (she's doing better now, but yeesh), So it wasn't her fault, however Roo still holds a bit of a vendetta just cause she left Jordynn to care for him when she [Jordynn] was 7 He LOVESSS his siblings, except for Juniper. Jordynn raised Roo, Roo has been an off and on translator for Devan (because he cant speak fluent english), and Deli treated Roo as... basically a father since Roo showed much more love and care to her than Noah [her father] or Virginia, and he also got rid of her bullies (not in THAT way, i mean like just got them to stop bullying her) He's a hit or miss with Juniper, as he hasn't heard incredible things about her, but is warming up to her as he learned that she was recovering from her bad habits. 37. Are they likable? ▷ I mean, yea. 38. Are they the hero, or anti-hero? ▷ neither, his story does not involve that kinda stuff LMFAO and even if it did, he'd be neither cuz he'd suck at BEING BOTH 😭. 39. Do they make questionable choices? ▷ All the damn time man, as I reveal certain tidbits of his life (especially with him and leo), you'll really see his questionable decisions come to fruition. 40. How do they become who they are? ▷ Explained in his Roo-seum post 😭😭

41. How was their childhood? ▷ Pretty shitty, because of his Mom, but got better as he was "properly" taken care of by Jordynn. 42. Are they close with anyone who is going to screw them over? ▷ He used to be close to Hayden and He did something a little worse than screwed with him/screwed him over. 43.How do they adapt to different situations? Do they adapt at all? ▷ He's kind of like a sponge... I guess? While he may be uncomfortable in different or new situations/environments, he can adapt pretty well, although adapt doesn't necessarily mean comfortable for him, that just means he puts on a silly little autism mask and pretends to be comfortable. 44. How do they speak? Examples - Are they soft spoken, hot heated, vulgar ▷ I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to share my sort of voice claim for Roo, which isn't even that clear cuz I haven't found someone with the perfect voice claim yet but: His voice is a mix of Danny Gonzalez (25%) and Kryoz (75%), with Mr. Click's accent (all of these are youtubers just as a heads up ahdbsj) In general tho, I'd say he's more soft-spoken, he does swear and does get vulgar, but its funny when he does it cuz his voice does not fit the shit that comes outta his mouth sometimes. 45. Are they opposed to violence? �� ...Yea?? 46. When is their birthday? ▷ 10/05/95. 47. Are they quick to judge? ▷ Yes, but he usually keeps it to himself, and his judgements are often proven right, but he still prefers not to say it aloud because he feels bad. 48. Do they have anything they are trying to hide from others? ▷ His condition, otherwise called Piametia (check the linked page if your confused), although its not prominent anymore, he does find it a bit embarrassing, even though people usually find it cool, he doesn't share that bit of his life since it reminds of him when he was bullied. 49. Do they act different around different people? ▷ Every person is another personality for him. 50. Do they enjoy the arts? ▷ Yes. He LOVES art, he wishes he could draw, but as much as he tries, he always ends up getting burnt out and not drawing for several months if not entire years (art [roo] imitates life [me]).

51. Do they like science? ▷ YES. He is SOOOOO obsessed with Science, had he been successful in college and continued his course, he, looking back on it, would've gone with a major in Science (he's flexible and literally would take any area of science except for maybe Entomology). 52. Are they more emotional or logical? ▷ Emotional for sure. 53. How do they deal with their emotions? ▷ He just lets it overcome him and honestly just waits for it to go away or until he forgets he was even feeling that emotion (in regards to negative emotions, for positive emotions, he tends to repress it a bit to not come off as overbearing, but sometimes his bucket of silliness overflows). 54. How do they cope with sadness? ▷ He doesn't. He just gets really sad, lets it consume him and waits for it to go away or until he gets distracted and forgets he was even sad to begin with. 55. What is something they care about? ▷ Probably his apartment, the placement of everything and all his stuff is literally sacred to him, and he hates it when people touches his stuff. 56. Would they die for anyone/anything? ▷ He'd die for his siblings (mayyyyybeee..... not Juniper tho), any day and any hour of the week. 57. What do they do when they are happy? ▷ Listens to music and/or goes out and does stuff/gets stuff done. 58. How would they come across to other characters? Examples- messy, lazy, childish, caring ect ▷ Depends on the character and their personality, but typically charismatic, childish, carefree and maybe even a little bit annoying, but also easy to get along with. 59. Do they have a phrase they use over and over? ▷ "your mom" 👏👏👏👏 60. In a crowded room are they in the corners, sides, or in the middle? ▷ Probably wherever his friends are, but if he doesn't have any friends with him, he's probably in the corners or on the side.

61. Are they comfortable being in a crowded room? ▷ God no. Maybe if he has a friend with him, but the flat answer is just absolutely not. 62. How do they relax? ▷ He likes to walk and just appreciate his surroundings, it's very quiet and somber(?) where he lives, and he views it as cozy where some people would say overgrown, taking in nature is, while cliche, very relaxing for him, otherwise he'll just listen to music or lay on his bed and just do nothing. 63. Have they ever harmed anyone and regretted it? Verbally or physically? ▷ He left marks on Hayden physically and has never fucking regretted it and if anything wishes he left deeper marks. 64. Do they like to dance? ▷ Dancing makes Roo unbelievably uncomfortable, he tries to dance and always gets embarrassed with himself, so dancing is a NO. GO. Unless it's slow dancing and someone guides him. 65. How do they get around their environment? Examples - horses, bike, vehicle ▷ Bus, or just public transportation, he can't fucking drive. 66. What is their pet peeve(s)? ▷ Just your standard pet peeves idk. 67. Do they have a disability? ▷ No. 68. How do they react to getting flowers? ▷ He literally weeps, sobs, cries, and probably would fall to his knees and ball up. 69. Would they ever wear a flower crown? ▷ ABSOLUTELY (his ACNH AU version of himself used to wear a flower crown) 70. Do they like themselves? ▷ So-So, some days he does, some days he doesn't, it really depends on how depressed he is idk.

71. Who do they dislike? ▷ Hayden. 72. What is their motto? ▷ "Different doesn't mean wrong." Considering he literally grew up different from others and always being seen as "wrong," He's began living by that motto after his major depressive episode, and it's been slowly but surely working for him. 73. Do they have any markings on their body? ▷ No?? I mean, freckles I guess? 74. Have they ever been abused? ▷ Yes. Sexually. I will not elaborate further, that's for another post on another day. 75. What is their biggest fear? ▷ Having what happened to him (referring to the previous question) before, happen again. 76. What are their goals? ▷ Just be a cool little guy idk LMFAO. 77. How do they go about achieving their goals? ▷ By being a cool little guy (i dont know how to set goals if you couldnt tell). 78. Do they have a fight or flight response? ▷ He has flight and then immediately freeze. 79. Is there someone in their life that they care about more than themselves? ▷ Probably Deliahna, he loves her like no other. 80. How would they fair in zombie apocalypse? ▷ He would not fair in an apocalypse, he would be frozen in fear and balled up, and would never be able to un-ball himself (this is not counting AU versions of Roo, this is only applicable to CANON Roo).

81. Do they have any tattoos? If so, are they significant? ▷ Nope. 82. Are they good at mental math? ▷ Uhhhhh No. Not at all. Despite the fact that he's doing a lot better now, he's still bad at managing his own mental health, he tends to forget about self-care, like eating meals at proper times, and getting laundry done. 83. Do they get along with others? ▷ I feel like I answered this already, but yes he does, although he doesn't feel like it, thats mainly cuz he overthinks and assumes they just hate him. 84 Are they lazy? ▷ No, he's pretty active (surprising.) and is pretty stingy on the cleanliness of his apartment, especially after his MASSIVE strike of depression. 85. Are they self motivated? ▷ I'd say yes and no, it's hard to explain, but he's often motivated by himself, but being motivated by others will get himself to motivate himself even more if that makes sense. 86. How do they cope with anger? ▷ He physically releases the anger, usually by punching something, but if he can't punch something, he'll just let the rage boil inside of him til he blows over, he has poor anger control. 87. Have they ever been in a situation where they were helpless? ▷ He has been in one situation where he's felt helpless, which was he was sexually assaulted. 88. Are they organized or messy? ▷ An interesting mix of both, his apartment is VERY cluttered but in a almost in a nice organized way? 89. Can they remember a lot of information at once? ▷ Not really, He'd get to pre-occupied trying to remember whats currently being said to him to remember what was initially said to him 90. What is their occupation? ▷ Whatever fucking job he can find LMFAO

91. Do other characters respect your OC, if so, is it out of fear? Or do they respect your OC because they like them? ▷ The latter. He doesn't like it when people are scared of him, it actually makes him really sad. 92. If they were given minutes to live, what would they do? Who would they want to see and say? ▷ He would text Leo about how he truly feels about him. 93. How do they deal with stress? ▷ He doesn't. Stress often consumes him, and the only thing he really does to deal with stress is just... ignore it... or in some cases actually do the thing he needs to do to alleviate the stress (like turning something in) 94. Do they have a more submissive or dominate personality type? ▷ I don't know, look at this and tell me what you think.

95. Do they have a pet? ▷ His ass cannot afford to keep a pet, nor does his apartment complex allow him to own a pet (a big one anyways like a cat or dog) 96. Do they have a stash of weapons? ▷ wtf no 😭 97. Where do they live? Who do they live with? ▷ He lives in a small town with a couple of apartment complexes (idk the actual location, but Washington ig idk), and he lives in said apartment complexes, he does not live with anyone. 98. How do they calm themselves down? ▷ He cries and cries (or does whatever hes doing) until he gets distracted and forgets he was even upset to begin with. 99. Are they co-dependent? ▷ He relies on himself mostly and doesn't really find himself needing someone (at least in a co-dependent way?), mainly cuz he's always been single and hasn't had a partner (or friend) close enough to become co-dependent of them. 100. Are they a day, or night person? ▷ Night person for sure.

If you made it this far and would like to do this, feel free to tag me i LOVEEEE reading this of people's sims/ocs!!

[badmusejail]

Muse Statuses

If you ever find yourself wondering, “will you write {muse} with me?” the answer is YES!  I wouldn’t have muses on this blog if I didn’t want to write them.  However, like with anyone, my interest in each character varies, so please read ahead to learn what Active/Uninspired/Fickle and Primary/Secondary actually means to me.  

Active

Gaster, Octopus, Giothornéc, Ozai, Mysterio, Major

These muses respond quickly and generally without much fuss.  Threads and questions usually get quick responses unless something else is catching me up on the thread. If I’m active on the dash and you haven’t seen a reply in over 24 hours, you’re more than welcome to send me a message to see what’s going on.

Uninspired

Gemuse, Iroh, Giovanni

I can write these muses and the responses usually come pretty quickly, but I can’t help but feel like their writing is lacking the spark that makes it truly special.  Therefore, if you leave me to pick a muse, it probably won’t be one of these guys, and as much as I can write them, the first group generally gets priority.  If its been a few days without a reply, you’re more than welcome to ask me what’s going on.

Fickle

Surge, Oak

These muses are very demanding to write and require a lot of effort in order to find a reply that I’m happy with.  I can promise you that I’m not ignoring threads / requests for them, it’s simply a lot more difficult for me to work with them. You’re always more than welcome to ask what’s going on with a thread, but replies from these guys may take days or even weeks to come through.  

Primary

These muses have the majority of my focus on development and writing.  I would prefer to write with these characters if given the choice, and they will be picked if the choice is left to me.  Usually, these are the muses that previously had their own blog.

Secondary

These muses have not been developed much and I don’t really have much interest in developing them.  Most usually, they’re developed in tandem with a Primary muse (Oak to Giovanni, Iroh to Ozai) and I prefer using them in relation to the primary muse.  I will write them on their own, but I’m usually not happy with those threads and they usually take much longer.  I’m also less likely to answer headcanon asks for these characters.  

NPC

Gemüse’s coworkers, Team Rocket members, family members, etc.

These muses will only be written in association with one of the muses above.  They’re not well-developed and aren’t meant to be; only serving to advance a plot for another character.  For example, I’ll write Archer if it serves a purpose with Giovanni, but not as a standalone character.

Hidden / Retired

Sofia, Alan, Asgore, Winston, Charon, Cyril, Simon, Sasakibe, GOTC, the Spirit King, Tristan, Matthew, Tao, Selvig, Rezon, Meri, Futsuku, Geoferd, John

Characters that for all intents and purposes don’t exist on the blog.  Either I wrote them in the past or on Discord, but for whatever reason, chose not to include them on the blog.  That being said, you can still shoot an ask to them or ask to plot with them, but...results may vary.   You’re also more than welcome to plot with them and are more likely to get an interaction that way!

Simply put, I hate going onto a multimuse and having to scroll through 300+ muses.  So the vast majority I just put off to the side and let them be used as they come.  

[horrorwebs]

i chose midnight-cornflakes as my url when joining then a couple months later i realized im asexual i love foreshadowing!

[beigehearts]

Multiple requests are fine! Requests are unlimited. 

This is a cool idea so hell yeah

Yandere Adult Trio finding you after a few years after escape CW: physical abuse, mentions of kidnapping, blood, needles

Hisoka

This is rather nice actually. A quiet life in the middle of nowhere where no one questions you. It’s somewhat of a farming community you live in. You work at a farmers market, selling fresh fruits and vegetables to the same people every day. Everyone here recognizes you under your fake identity, and treats you as part of the community. As if you didn’t randomly appear one day. As if you aren’t in hiding. 

It’s been about three years you would say. Three years since you escaped... him. You dyed your hair, wore colored contacts and completely changed your clothing look. You moved countries, learned a new language, and completely dropped your entire identity and life. It was the only way you could escape him. How you escaped him remains a mystery to you too. He was always attentive but- you escaped that last time. Slipped through his fingers. 

Mr. Grady, the oldest farmer in town hobbles over to your stand and smiles with his big loose mouth. He only has a few teeth but you don’t need many when you blend all of your food anyway.

“Oh hello Charlie. How are you today?” He asks with his frail old man voice.

You smile back and begin bagging up the usual for him. “Very good Mr. Grady. How are you?” 

Your conversations are never short but it’s almost become a highlight of your day to hear the old man ramble. “Oh you know. The sheep dog are sick, so I tried rounding those cows up with my cat. He practically got trampled!” He throws his arms up as if it’s unbelievable. You somewhat listen as he continues. “... moral of the story is, cats are unreliable and only have two lives.” 

As you hand the paper bag over the counter the old man stops to think for a moment. “I saw someone new up by the shops today, he was a real character. Quite tall too.” 

You nod and get the change for the money he hands you, “Oh really? Did you talk to him?”

“He wasn’t much interested in me. Though he didn’t seem like a normal traveler. He was much too eccentric for that.” He offers one last toothless smile, “Don’t work too late. It’s time for the foxbears to come out of hibernation soon.” 

Before you can further question him, he hobbles off pretty quickly for an old man. Of course you’re overreacting but someone eccentric and tall randomly coming to town? No it couldn’t be. It’s been over three years since then. And he wouldn’t go this far for you would he? 

After closing up the shop you grab the keys to your car and head for the ‘parking lot’. It’s a field with white lines spray painted on the grass with a single light to illuminate the whole place. You hop into your car and are just glad to finally go home after a long day. It was rather slow but that’s because it was a tuesday. It is very busy on friday-monday. You start your car, and turn on the air, you plug your phone in and relax some into your seat.

You adjust your rear view mirror and scream when you do. You just barely catch the reflection of someone in the back of your car. He’s sitting in the back seat watching you closely. You decide against turning around to face him.

“Hello y/n. Or is it Charlie?” He asks calmly, as if it were a casual conversation.

You clear your throat and try to control your shaking. “What are you doing here Hisoka?” 

He ignores your question completely. “You really know how to choose a nice town. Quiet, friendly, off the grid.”

“I suppose.” Your hands grip on the steering wheel tightens. “How did you find me?”

“Oh, well, it was quite hard really. You did a good job. But once I found the first person who helped you change your identity, it was just a matter of going down the chain.”

You’d rather not think about what happened to those people. “And what are you doing here?” You repeat your question.

“Well there’s only one thing I’m here for of course.” He leans back in the seat, just barely having enough room for his legs. “I’ve come to bring you home.” 

“I don’t want to. It’s nice here.” You state as if you have an option. 

He leans forward this time, and cranes his head around the drivers seat to whisper in your ear, “It’s really not up to you pet.”

Before you can even react, there’s a rope around your neck, and he’s pulling you hard against your seat. You claw at the rope and gasp for air. You try to turn some but the rope burn hurts too much. You manage to get your fingers under the rope around your neck, and throw yourself forward.

His head smacks the back of your seat but your head smacks the wheel, honking the horn. There’s no doubt that you’re bleeding. You throw the rope over your head and jump out of the car, and run. But he’s much faster.

He jumps out of the car and before you know it, he grabs the back of your shirt, pulling you to him. He holds you against himself with his arms, leaving no room for escape. But you have one more trick up your sleeve. You throw your head back as hard you can and headbutt his face. There’s a loud crack that you can only assume is his nose. 

He groans and his nails dig into your skin through your clothes. “You really got feisty while I was away.” His nails begin to pierce your skin, ripping through the cloth of your shirt. “But it’s no matter, it only turns me on more.”

Illumi

To say you’re on the run is an understatement. You’re practically sprinting away even all these years later. You know that if you stop for even a few days that he would find you. You spend no more than three days at a time in the same place. You’ve travelled half of the world by now- and quite honestly it has been somewhat nice. Not just the freedom from the suffocating grasp of your captor Illumi, but being able to see the world. You would never have done this if not for the situation you were in. Maybe things happen for a reason.

It feels like forever since you’ve been travelling. But the reality is that it’s only been two years. Two long years of not stopping. You have a new name and often go days without eating. It’s not easy getting money when you aren’t in the same area for long. 

It was late night when you escaped from him. He never let his guard down so you just had to go for it. He wasn’t expecting you to make a mad dash out of the manor, and hide out in the woods for a few days. Slowly but surely you managed to get out of the mountain prison, leaving through the small door next to the office. The man working at the entrance was sipping tea and reading the newspaper when you left much too busy to pay attention to you. You’re more than sure he was punished for missing you leaving. But sometimes you wonder if he chose to ignore you on purpose, and let you escape. 

It’s a beautiful morning. You slept on a few blankets and a sweatshirt as a pillow on the ground of a cave. It was hard to get any sleep at first but you managed to get used to the back pain. The sun is shining through the canopy, streams of light illuminating the cave. The grass outside of the cave is wet with dew droplets. It’s only slightly humid but the breeze with the warm weather is heavenly. It’s not every day you get good weather like this. 

You sit up and stretch your arms in the air, yawning tiredly. Your usual morning routine was to get a fire started, and put the tiny kettle above it. In your small backpack you have a few essential items. Coffee being one of them. You get out your tin can after jimmying a fire and filling the kettle with water from a nearby stream. You drop some instant coffee grounds in the kettle and bask in the aroma of coffee. 

You pour yourself a cup and put some powdered milk packets and splenda in the cup, stirring it with a stick that looked relatively... clean. But you had a feeling that today was the day. You weren’t sure why this morning you knew he would find you. But you did. Almost on cue, you hear footsteps approach behind you.

You bring the tin cup to your lips, taking a long sip of the hot coffee. 

“So this is where you’ve been.” You don’t even flinch at his words. You knew this was inevitable. 

The coffee burns your tongue. “Yes, I must have stayed here for a day too long. Don’t you agree Illumi?”

“Yes. It was quite stupid.” There’s a silence between the two of you. You continue sitting on the ground with your back facing him. “Are you ready to leave?” He asks as if he’s picking you up from and elementary sleep over. 

“May I finish my coffee first?” 

“I suppose.” Though he doesn’t move from his spot, his gaze staying firm on your back.

Luckily you haven’t spent all this time just running, but training. In self defense to be specific.

Quickly you jump up and turn around, you move your arm to throw the coffee on him in hopes of burning him. He grabs your wrist, but the coffee does land on his forearm. You bring your leg up to kick him in the side but he grabs it right as you make contact. The only hit you actually manage to land is when you throw a punch with your free hand at his throat. If it were anyone else they would be stunned for at least a few seconds. But this wasn’t anyone. He shows no sign of flinching. 

“Are you ready now?” He asks.

You allow your body to relax and he lets go of your limbs. “Go ahead, put a needle in me.”

He doesn’t argue with your point, pressing a needle to your chest and the last thing you hear is “Don’t fight it.”

Chrollo

The very thought that all of these people by his side had no qualms about you being kidnapped makes you sick. All of them had many chances to set you free and yet they stayed loyal to your captor, as if this were normal and okay. So many people witnessing this unhealthy obsession and not even muttering a word about it. Honestly you find it more ridiculous than you do sad. How did he have all these people under his thumb? Was he really just that powerful? 

Wherever he went, you went. One day he had what they called, ‘a mission.” You had caught a cargo train out west and jumped on, as stowaways. It’s not as if anyone checked each boxcar. All of you had fallen asleep in the small space of the boxcar. The train was at full speed, with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Cargo trains were much faster than you anticipated. Once you were sure everyone was asleep, you stood up casually as if you were just stretching. In case someone woke up. Which they did. Nobunaga peeled his eyes open and examined you. But he was too slow, you leaped out of the car before anyone could grab you. You went tumbling through a field after hitting your head very hard against the ground. It wasn’t the perfect escape but it was an escape.

After that you found a nearby farm, and while it was still night you stole a horse from a barn. You rode for many miles, until days later you found a very busy city. Somehow you managed to make a life for yourself, becoming a low grade secretary. 

Today was a slow day, your employer did not have many clients today. You checked in on your boss to see if she needed anything but she waved you away. You decided to play solitaire on the computer, a perfectly valid way to waste time. 

The phone rings and you pick it up while still keeping one hand on the mouse to play solitaire. 

“Hello this is the Seedling Lawyer’s Office. How may I help you?” You stick the phone between your ear and shoulder, playing solitaire. 

There’s a chuckle from the other side of the phone. “So it is you.”

Your blood runs cold, and the only thing that your head is telling you is ‘run’. “I’m not sure who this is, could you please state your name and purpose for calling?” Playing dumb seems like the only decision right now. 

“My darling, there’s no need for the semantics. I’m coming to pick you up right now.” Perfectly on cue, the sliding doors of the building open and you drop the phone, standing up abruptly. 

His eyes show affection and kindness, but there’s a glimmer of... rage. You look around but no one is in the waiting room and you know the cameras are fake for security. This is a cheap layer’s business after all. 

“There’s no need for the semantics Chrollo.” You try to say mockingly but it comes out more as fearful and unsure.

His smile drops and he begins walking towards your desk. “Do you understand the consequences of your actions y/n?” He scoffs kicks the heavy desk to the side as if it weighed nothing. “I missed you of course.” 

“Ah well, maybe I needed a break.” It comes out as a question. 

He corners you against the wall and places a rough hand on your cheek. “Oh darling, oh my sweet darling.” His smile reappears, as sweet as it always has been. “I’m going to kill your entire family.” His hand grips the side of your face roughly and he tilts your head back. 

“You really are something. I would never hurt you, you know.” He places a gentle kiss against your cheek despite his tight grip on the side of your head. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for what you’ve done.” 

You swallow the lump in your throat and grab his wrist. “Well you’re hurting me right now.” 

Immediately he drops his hand and sighs. “I would never hurt you intentionally, or if not necessary.” He grabs your throat, holding it so tightly you wonder if you’ll ever be able to talk again. He’s crushing your air ways and vocal cords. You claw at his wrist but its useless. “Disciplining you does not count as hurting you.” He leans forward, and if you could yelp you would.

He bites your cheek, definitely leaving a mark. After drawing blood, he licks it up. Your vision is going dark but you’re simply not strong enough to fight back. “Do you understand darling?”

[nanasparadise]

Hiya! Can i have either (aged up) Narancia or Abbacchio [you choose!] and with prompt [28, 25, 24, 19, and/or16*] Thx so much luv <3 {*if you wanna really impress us all... us them all ;3}

Hiya love! Sorry for the wait, I’m still quite busy with school, but that should be over soon (hopefully). Please enjoy! <3

“Shadow” Yan! Abbacchio x gender-neutral reader

16. I will protect you from everything.

25. You shouldn’t have tested my limits.

28. You have no idea how much I have been holding myself back for you.

Summary: Abbacchio has been following around for a while. After a rather unfortunate incident, he finally gets closer to you.

TW: toxic relationship, homicide, slight gore, stalking, mentions of retching, angst, intoxication, MATURE AUDIENCE ONLY/MINORS DNI

I do not condone any yandere behaviour in real life.

Word count: 4467

Beta-read by the lovely @dear-yandere

Abbacchio loved watching you from afar. The smile painted across your face gave him purpose, a meaning, in his quite miserable life. Even if it was directed towards your date.

The Italian mobster tried to tell himself he didn’t mind. The intimate chatter as the two of you leaned over the table, the staring into each other’s eyes, his hand brushing over your forearm, his lips dangerously close to yours- Abbacchio suddenly averted his gaze from the window he had been watching you. No, he did care. As much as he wanted to see you happy, he couldn’t help but feel jealousy rising up inside of him, infesting his mind like a parasite. “You have no right to be jealous, Leone,” he reprimanded himself, “they don’t even know your name.” This thought alone put the white-haired man into a state of sulking, making him wish he had a bottle of wine with him to dwell on and drink away the pain.

In the end, Abbacchio could only blame himself. After all, he chose to not approach you, seeing himself unworthy of your presence and affection. Besides, who could truly love him after what he’d done? What he still had been doing? Accepting briberies, being unable to protect his police partner, becoming the very thing he’d sworn he would save the city from, it all took a toll on the young man and his self-esteem. He couldn’t drag you down in his world of crime and bitterness, not wanting to tarnish the very happiness you radiated and he cherished so much.

But seeing you all flustered and bashful because of someone who wasn’t him made Abbacchio reconsider his initial avoidance. The mafioso couldn’t handle the scene unfolding in front of him anymore, resentment boiling inside him. Would it really satisfy him remaining your unknown shadow? On the other hand, could he be so selfish and worm his way into your life, risking your safety and maybe even your happiness? Yes, he loved to observe you from afar, but he would so much more prefer for you to see him, recognise him, touch him. Just like you did with your date. With all these bitter feelings still clinging onto him, Abbacchio turned around to leave this area of the city. But not before stopping by a store to buy a bottle or two of red wine…

Meanwhile, you were blissfully unaware of your shadow’s internal struggle. Instead, you enjoyed the mild evening breeze of Naples hitting gently your face as the sun was slowly setting, giggling like a love-struck teenager with your date while you exited the restaurant. The rendezvous you had spent with the man by your side had passed so fast, his funny stories and dashing charm having made you lose track of the time. The two of you chuckled some more at one of his jokes as you eventually bid farewell. Though before you truly could depart, you took heart and pressed a sweet goodbye kiss onto your date’s mouth. Pleasantly surprised by your action, he leaned into your touch. When you both eventually let go of each other, he offered you a sincere and dazzling smile. “Let’s do this again, alright?”

Despite his better judgment, Abbacchio couldn’t bring himself to walk immediately home after having bought the booze. Instead, he had finished three quarters of the first wine bottle while strolling through Naples. He could feel the slight fuzziness of his intoxication manifesting in his body and mind. Sluggishly, the Italian continued his walk, his steps weighing just as heavy as the thoughts occupying his head. After a while, without noticing, he had stopped in front of your flat. “Are you home by now, Y/N?”, he wondered quietly. He couldn’t see any lights turned on in your apartment (of course he knew where to locate your exact housing after having… observed you for a while), meaning you already slept or you hadn’t returned yet. You couldn’t have possibly gone back to this guy’s place, could you? Bile rose up his oesophagus and his face turned into a dark scowl as Abbacchio dwelled on that thought. His grip around the wine bottle tightened, threatening to break it into pieces. Though before that could happen, the mobster guided the bottle to his lips and let the tart crimson liquid travel down his throat in an attempt to drown his dark musing. How could he let this happen? How could you have already gone this far with that man? Why hadn’t he just reached out to you? If you were to end up with that guy, he wouldn’t be able to look at you again, not without thinking of himself as a failure. Abbacchio harshly squinted his eyes while downing the remaining wine, trying to chase his thoughts away. Maybe, if he was lucky enough, his hangover would be so big the next morning, he would have forgotten about this whole situation.

From a few metres distance, you carefully watched the tall man in front of your apartment complex clinging to his bottle. “Great,” you mumbled exasperatedly, “I definitely needed a drunkard now.” Not only did he seem to be intoxicated, but also potentially dangerous, as you could make out all the muscles under his tight and partially revealing outfit. “Deep breaths, Y/N,” you reminded yourself, attempting to stay calm, “you’re just going to pass him and then rush straight to your flat.” As you tried to make your plan reality, you felt the stare of the stranger glued onto your form. Nervously, you swallowed the gulp of saliva building in your mouth. You nearly reached the front door of the complex as you heard a voice utter your name. No one was around you, except for that man, so it must had been him. But how would he know your name? Deciding that your anxious mind just made that up, you fumbled for your keys. But again, you heard the same voice repeating your name. With a flabbergasted expression, you turned around to meet the stranger’s face. His sharp features were highlighted beautifully under the neon lights of the street you must admit, and his long white hair with a lavender hue almost appeared to glow. Only the bloodshot golden eyes indicated his current pitiful condition.

“Excuse me Sir, do we know each other?”, you eventually asked tentatively. Multiple emotions crossed over his face in a matter of seconds, as if he wasn’t sure he could reply to such a simple question. Little did you know about how hard it actually was for him.

“No,” the stranger managed to spit out an answer, “but we will soon enough.” Incredulous, you tightly knitted your eyebrows together.

“What do you mean?,” you countered, “And how do you- HEY!” Before you managed to say more, the man turned around to leave you on your own. Deciding it was best not following him, you just let him vanish into the darkness of a near alley. “What a creep,” you whispered to yourself, “I just hope he won’t come back.” At last, you entered the complex and made your way to your home, leaving this weird encounter a concern you had to face tomorrow.

Abbacchio couldn’t believe seeing you walk past him as he finally pulled the bottle away from his mouth, previously closed eyes now wide open and fixated on you. Having been so convinced that you were by now in your date’s bed, he didn’t trust his slightly drunk mind to not play tricks on him. But undoubtedly, it was you who tensely rushed to the front door of the building. It pained the gangster to see you stressed out because of his presence, but what else should you think about him? He was just a complete stranger to you and drunk on top of that, a potential threat. A sudden realisation dawned then on Abbacchio. If you weren’t with that guy now, it meant he still had a chance with you, right? He could still become a part of your life and make you forget about that pest’s existence, no? Then, you surely wouldn’t perceive him as a stranger. Maybe as an acquaintance, maybe as a friend, maybe – hopefully – even as a lover. The excitement of a possible future with you made the Italian instinctively whisper out your name, enjoying how it rolled off his tongue. Though he wasn’t the only one who had heard the sound of his voice as you stopped in your tracks for a moment and then proceeded to nervously look for your keys. Offended by your ignorance the man repeated your name, this time louder and with more force. Would you still ignore him? Was he doomed to be your quiet observer, a mere shadow? Not if he could change it. “There’s still a chance.” Finally, you were looking at him, a surprised expression scampering over your face as you truly saw him for the first time. With your lips slightly parted, you stared at his form, interest and wary dancing in your eyes. Did you think he looked attractive? Abbacchio internally smiled at that thought, his heartbeat increasing ever so slightly, hoping it to be true. When you eventually talked to him and asked, if you two knew each other, the Italian felt as if his brain completely stopped working. Of course you knew each other! Well, maybe not you, but he for sure knew you better than anyone else. Though he couldn’t exactly tell you this… “No,” the mobster opted to say instead, “but we will soon enough.” Abbacchio failed to realise that this too sounded creepy... Despite your questions, he promptly made his way into the narrow dark streets of Naples until he disappeared from your view.

And while wandering through these gloomy alleys, Abbacchio noticed the tears gently rolling down his cheeks. Why was he crying? After all, the two of you had finally met. “But under which conditions?”, he lamented. He was so eager to contact you again, to really connect with you. Would you give him that chance? Or would you only remember him as a drunk brute? His tears grew bigger as he continued pondering. “You have no idea how much I have been holding myself back for you, Y/N,” he whispered, voice cracking due to his intense emotions, “I’ve always contended myself with seeing you happy, but I can’t do it anymore. I just want to feel your warmth, want to know that I do deserve you, that I’m not scum…”

Eventually, Abbacchio managed to arrive home, feeling drained out of any energy to continue crying. Instead, he made his way to his bed, not even bothering to change out of his clothes, and closed his eyes until sweet darkness surrounded him, welcoming the young man into a numbing sleep.

•

The next couple days, Abbacchio distanced himself from you. He knew better to pester you after your first encounter, so despite his obsessive need to see you, he left you alone for about two weeks. In the meantime, he made a plan as to how he could approach you again.

You went on with your life. Keeping up with work, entertaining yourself with your hobbies and above all, seeing your date more regularly with whom things worked out more than great. All things considered, you were truly happy, enjoying most moments in your life. The long-haired stranger with the wine bottles had been long forgotten, only an obscure memory in the back of your mind. Call it ignorance or naiveté, but you really wanted to believe he was just some confused drunkard who would leave you alone after having slept off his intoxication.

That was why it hit you double hard when you saw him this Saturday morning in front of your favourite bakery.

Undoubtedly, it was him. He wore the same attire and kept his hair in the same style. Only did he appear to be sober now, his golden eyes radiating in the soft Neapolitan sunlight. No trace of drunkenness was clouding his features this time. “Thank God”, you thought.

Upon noticing your form, Abbacchio slowly approached you. He’d been waiting for half an hour now, hoping you’d get your favourite pastries like you did most weekends, so that he could catch you. An uncharacteristic nervousness spread inside his stomach. He had seen you countless times, but never had he experienced such an intense uneasiness. There you were again, just a couple of steps away from him and yet completely out of his reach, as the wary expression on your face revealed. But the Italian would change your attitude, he was sure of it.

“It seems you remember me from last time”, Abbacchio eventually said, hoping to not come across as shady. He carefully scanned you: the way your eyebrows furrowed together in disbelief, your lips pressed into a thin line, your body slightly leaned away from him. Under different circumstances, he would have deemed your cautious behaviour as adorable, even praised it. But not when it involved him.

“Yes, I remember,” you replied, still wary about the stranger, “and I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” The man was now close to you, too close for your liking. You could see all the details in his face, such as the dark long eyelashes contrasting his light hair and the tint of purple in his irises. Hastily, you moved back a few steps from him.

“I think I owe you an explanation,” the man uttered upon perceiving your reaction, “and an apology as well.”

“I agree”, you answered, trying to not sound too brazen.

Abbacchio sighed deeply, gathering his thoughts. “Quite obviously, I was drunk and landed by your apartment complex by accident.” Well, that wasn’t too much of a lie. “I’ve seen you several times here in this bakery grabbing your pastries, that’s why I know you. During some conversations you had with the baker, I heard your name as well. I’ve never had the courage to approach you. I hope you can forgive my inappropriate behaviour.” The nervousness inside his guts only intensified. Would you believe his explanation? Or would you see right through the lie?

For a couple of moments, you just stood there, eyebrows still knitted together, and pondered on his words. “I don’t remember ever seeing you in the bakery”, you muttered, trying to think of an occasion where you saw the stranger before that incident. Abbacchio slightly gulped at hearing your answer.

“I tend to stick in the shadows,” he replied, wanting to save his cover-up, “I’m not that social, you see.” Oh God, would you really buy that? Did he now ruin his only chance with you?

“Hm,” you hummed absent-mindedly, still mulling over his dubious explanation. Would a guy like him not stick out like a sore thumb in the small bakery? Or had you never properly checked out your surroundings? As strange as his reasoning sounded, it was the only one you had. “To be honest with you, I don’t know if I should completely believe you”, you said. Before he could interject, you continued. “But I’m inclined to give you another chance. Under the conditions that you don’t behave creepily anymore and don’t show up randomly and drunk at my place.”

Abbacchio’s eyes widened at your words. You truly gave him another chance! This was finally his opportunity to be with you, proving his worthiness. “Of course”, he quickly answered, nodding slightly along his words.

“But, I just want to make clear that I’m currently seeing someone, just in case you expected more from me.” Those words coming from you did sour his mood a little and dropped him from his high. Of course you were still dating that guy, why wouldn’t you? But maybe, he could turn the tables, now that you gave him permission, even encouraged him, to enter in your life. So the mafioso swallowed his feelings of bitterness and tried to keep up with the politeness.

“I think I should introduce myself properly to you. My name is Leone Abbacchio and it’s nice to formally meet you.”

“Well, since we’re already here at the bakery, why don’t we have breakfast together?”

•

To your surprise, you became quite close with Abbacchio. The two of you had met numerous times and by now, you felt at ease around him. Under his harsh appearance and demeanour was actually a very caring and understanding man, who was always there for you. Though he kept some secrets from you, he never failed to let you confide in him, a steady presence during rough times. Your friends and date – who was now your partner – didn’t trust the Italian as much as you did. Every time you mentioned him in a conversation, they never ceased to point out his cryptic attitude and your weird encounter. Some of them even suggested he might be part of the mafia, but you always brushed these accusations off with a laugh. Just because he had one bad night the time you met and was a bit gloomy didn’t imply he was a mafioso! Plus, he had told you he used to be a police officer, surely he wouldn’t have turned into a criminal then, right? You couldn’t imagine him hurting, much less killing, someone when he acted so tender around you. Constantly checking up on you through calls when you couldn’t meet, buying your favourite food when you felt down, making sure you felt comfortable.

So the pain you felt when you had found out your loved ones were right about Abbacchio was intolerable.

It was a normal day, like most times. After work, you met with Abbacchio to catch up with him before going on a dinner date with your significant other. The pair consisting of you currently sat on a terrace of a bistro, sipping on a drink. You stared with interest at the people passing the narrow streets of Naples, a mosaic of faces and feelings. From your peripheral vision, you noticed Abbacchio gaze at you, an unusual soft expression marking his stoic face. Despite having repeated multiple times that you were happy with your current relationship, it seemed that the Italian’s promise to not pursue you didn’t always align with his true feelings. Uncomfortable, you cleared your throat before looking back at the man seated in front of you. Immediately, Abbacchio schooled his expression into one of impassivity again.

“So, you have anything planned this evening?”, Abbacchio inquired seemingly nonchalant.

“Actually yes,” you replied, your lips turning into a smile at the thought of seeing your partner, “we’re gonna go out for dinner. I can’t wait to meet him again, you know how his work kept him busy all week.”

“Oh yeah, must be great to hear him talking shit about me again”, your friend barked back, sarcasm dripping from his voice. You rolled your eyes at his snarky comment.

“I’d really appreciate if you two could behave like adults for once and leave this childish distrust behind. And no, he actually intends on telling me ‘big news’ and not bad-mouthing you.”

Abbacchio perked up his ears at your words? ‘Big news’? What was that bastard planning? “He can shove those news up his ass”, he thought gloomily. The young man had finally gained your full trust, he couldn’t let that guy ruin it. Even though you might not admit to yourself, Abbacchio knew you felt the same affection he harboured for you. He saw it in the way you radiated this warmth he had longed for so long when you two were together. Finally, he knew he had worth and a purpose aside his work at Passione, and it was to be with you. So, why would he let that little boyfriend of yours destroy that with his stupid news? He wasn’t going to propose to you, was he? Not that early in the relationship, right?

“What do you think he plans on telling you?”, the Italian asked you, genuine worry now coating his voice, though you remained oblivious to his concerns. You brooded for a moment over his question.

“Well,” you replied eventually, “I think he’s got a promotion at work and might suggest to me to move in with him soon. But I’m not sure though, that’s only a speculation.”

“And would you do that? Move in with him, I mean,” Abbacchio pressed on, nervousness spreading through his body.

“I think so? I guess it would be nice to live with him”, you answered truthfully. You looked away from your friend’s intense gaze, instead opting to stare at the people surrounding you again.

When you glanced back at Abbacchio, you didn’t expect his face to be adorned with such darkness. He was practically scowling at you, his usually shining golden eyes now oddly sombre. You gasped slightly at his reaction, his trusting atmosphere now completely gone.

But how couldn’t he react like that? Your confession felt like a hard slap in his face, more painful than any attack he had witnessed. You couldn’t move in with that man. He knew it would mean the end of all his plans. Once you’d live with him, you two would see each other less and less (especially since your lovely partner seemed to despise Abbacchio as much as he despised him) and eventually you’d break contact. The mafioso had been your quiet observer before and he couldn’t go back to that role, that was sure. So he needed to craft another plan, one where your significant other wasn’t an obstacle anymore…

“Leone?”, you hesitantly tried to break Abbacchio’s eerie silence. As if awoken from a state of trance, he snapped back into reality. The sight offered in front of him truly broke his heart: your eyes were wide, your lips slightly parted, short breaths escaping them. You were scared and he was the cause of it. Just like during your first encounter. Abruptly, Abbacchio stood up from his chair.

“I’m sorry Y/N,” he murmured softly, “I just need to go now.” Throwing some money on the table and already distancing himself from you, he turned around one more time at your surprised form and managed to say while smiling through gritted teeth: “I hope you’re going to be happy living with him.” Of course he didn’t mean any single word.

•

You were patiently waiting for your boyfriend to pick you up. Meanwhile, Abbacchio’s behaviour from the afternoon still haunted you. Did you do something to anger him? No, you just told him your honest opinion. But still, he had been so enraged, as if you had done him wrong. Maybe he did feel even more towards you than had initially assumed and unintentionally hurt his feelings. But still, that wouldn’t justify him abandoning you like that since you had never lead him on. Sighing, you took a look at your watch again. Your partner still hadn’t arrived, even though he should have been there thirty minutes ago. Deciding that your patience had been sufficiently tested, you gave him a call. After the sixth ringing, he still hadn’t picked up. Slowly, anxiety made itself visible in your body as your phone began trembling in your hand. Your boyfriend was a punctual person, he wouldn’t show up this late without a good reason. And not notifying you? That also seemed very atypical for him. Suddenly, pictures of him being involved in a horrible motorbike accident flashed in front of your eyes, spurring your fear of an ominous evil taking hold of him. That was it. You were going to his place right now.

After twenty minutes, which had been dragged into painful length for you, you had finally arrived at your partner’s flat. Wanting to be polite, you first rang the bell. “Are you there?”, you called anxiously, “It’s me, Y/N!” When no one opened the door or answered you, you hastily fumbled for the spare key he gave you in case of an emergency. Practically yanking the door open, you rapidly entered the apartment. Though the unexpected sight in front of you made you quickly want to run away.

There he was, your boyfriend, laying on the floor, all covered in blood that had dripped from the big cut on the throat. The slightly brown discolouration of the liquid indicated that he had been dead for a while. Your hand found its way to your mouth, trying to repress your retching caused by smell of the decomposition process. Tears pricked in your eyes as you realised your partner was truly dead, murdered even. “Who could do such a horrible thing?”, you mumbled in shock.

As if the killer had heard you, he walked from your significant other’s door to the living room. Familiar long white hair and golden eyes appeared close to your form. Your eyes widened impossibly further as you immediately recognised the murderer. The suppressed sobs finally escaped your mouth, not being able to handle this nightmarish scene.

“I wondered how long it would take you to arrive”, Abbacchio said with his usual nonchalance.

“Why?”, you managed to croak in between your hiccups, “Why would you do that to him? To me?”

“You shouldn’t have tested my limits, Y/N”, he replied as he moved closer to you. You retreated more and more, scared of what he would do to you, until your back hit a wall. Trepidation overtook your senses as he now towered in front of you, your breath coming out shallow and your whole body trembling like a leaf. “I’ve tried to hold back, tried to let you see on your own that you should be with me instead. But the minute you told me you would move in with him if given the chance, I didn’t wanna take a risk anymore.” Suddenly, tears rolled from his eyes as well. With a mixture of disgust and despair, you kept staring at him, too scared to actually react. “You’re all I have left. You’re the only reason worth living for. I couldn’t let him take you away from me, I’m sorry.” A pair of arms encircled your middle, pulling you in an inescapable embrace, as Abbacchio continued crying into your shoulder, a train of endless ‘I’m sorry’s' following along. The hug, which you once had considered as reassuring and comforting, petrified you now, your skin seemingly burning from his touch. “I’m really sorry,” the man repeated for the millionth time, “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I’ll build a nice life for us, I’ll protect you from everything, just please don’t leave me.”

You continued standing there while looking at the rotting corpse of your partner. “You’ll protect me from everything, huh?”, you whispered so quietly, you doubted Abbacchio actually heard you under his sobs. “But who will protect me from you?”

[amphxtrite]

remus lupin x fem!reader

warning: Swearing, spelling/ grammar mistakes

summary: You and Remus have had a rivalry since the day you met, what happens when the two of you start to feel more?

word count: 3.1k

enjoy<3

__________________________________________

You and Remus Lupin had a… Complicated history, It wasn’t anything really bad, just a childhood nemesis, someone to always be better than. That was all it was for a couple years, a strange rivalry between two children. It all began back during first year, in your very first Defense Against the Dark Art class. You were ecstatic to begin your very first lesson. You sat right at the very front of the room and quickly brought out and organized all your parchment, quills and textbooks, patiently folding your hands onto your desk and waiting with a smile on your face for class to begin. You heard a snicker behind you, and turned to see four boys enter the class, all laughing and whispering behind their hands, you turn back around as the professor walks into the room to begin the lesson.

“Hey would you mind if I sat next to you?” you heard a small voice call from beside you as the professor scribbles something on the board. You look over to see one of the loud students who’d entered the class, a sandy-haired boy with scars littering his face. “Of course,” you say with a smile, thinking this was a chance to make a new friend, but you were proven wrong when the boy simply nodded, put his stuff down and turned to the table beside theirs, to talk to the boys from before. You hid your disappointment by turning back to the teacher.

“Welcome to your first Defense Against the Dark Arts class students!” Professor Sterling, as you learned his name was, called out, “In this class I will be teaching you about defensive spells and possible beasts you could face, to protect yourselves from the dangers of the dark arts, now!” He clapped his hands together. “Who can give me three examples of creatures that will be talked about in this class, hm?” He questions. Two hands shoot up. “Yes Miss L/n?” He points to your hand. “Boggarts, Vampires, and Werewolves.” You state confidently, “Good, 5 points to y/h. Now, what about three spells that will be used in this class?” He questions again. The same two hands shoot up. “Mr. Lupin?” He points to the boy next to you. “Flipendendo, Expelliarmus, and Verdimillious.” He replies, you drop your hand defeated. “Splendid! 5 points to gryffindor.” The boy smiles shyly. The class continues like this, the professor asking a question and the two of you racing to answer before the other. It was an unconscious thing, the two of you hadn’t realized you were competing until you felt your heart race, as a question was asked, and the feeling of anger replacing disappointment when your hand wasn’t picked. It was frustrating to say the least, you were so excited to show off your knowledge in this class and now here was this boy stealing your thunder. You could tell he felt the same though, the frustration in his face when Professor Sterling chose you gave it away.

By the end of the class you were almost seething, the only thing keeping you from hexing the boy was your common sense, and even that was running thin. You tried to keep your composure as you walked out of the class, but you were very obviously muttering curses under your breath. The only thing that got you to stop was the professor telling you on the way out of the class that you were a bright young witch, unfortunately followed by Lupin being complimented as well. You huffed.

That was how the rivalry between you and Remus began, you’d learned his name through Lily Evans, your first friend. She found it funny how competitive you were, not thinking you’d go this far on it. She spent a good chunk of her time prying books out of your hands or hearing you complain about Remus, and that happened a lot.

“I’m seriously starting to believe you fancy him, you speak about him so much!” She huffed out after a bad rant in your third year. “Me? And Lupin?” You scoffed and rolled your eyes. “I have no idea what you’re going on about.” But Lily could swear she saw a pink blush coming about on your cheeks and she knew for a fact that the warm fall air wasn’t the cause, she smiled and decided to let this play out.

For four years, four fucking years, you’d been at it with Lupin and both of you showed no sign of stopping. At any time both you and Remus could be seen reading DADA textbooks, books, and journals of famous wizards, With one goal in your mind, to beat one another. The two of you both started strong in this competition, but you had to admit you were tired of this petty rivalry and really had no problem with Remus, but for some reason you just wouldn’t let up, your competitive demeanor taking over every time you tried to resolve something with him. You decided it would be best just to slowly ease out of your tense situation with the gryffindor and try to focus on your studies instead of just beating Remus. You didn’t raise your hand at every question, spent more time socializing over studying, and didn’t make any sarcastic comments when he got an answer right, just simply continued on with the class. At first Remus thought he was victorious, that he’d finally beaten the y/h witch, deemed one of the brightest students at Hogwarts, and he was happy about it, but he felt he didn’t really care. In fact he missed the constant banter with you. He didn’t like the rivalry between you two either, but he still enjoyed playfully arguing with you over small things and seeing the competitive look in your eyes.

“L/n’s been pretty quiet recently,” James remarks, “I think you did it mate, I think you finally outsmarted her!” He laughs, clapping Remus on the back. The rest of the group looked unsure, especially Remus. Peter pipes up quietly, “I don’t know James, I saw her notebook just yesterday and she already had everything about today's lesson written down, there’s no way she could’ve been stumped.” Sirius rolls his eyes, “You guys can’t be that confused right?, y/n probably just got tired of this petty battle, they’ve been at it almost, what? Four years now? You can’t say you’re not tired, can you Moony?” Sirius rolls his eyes. Remus remains quiet, thinking it over. “I guess not, but for some reason I almost miss it, at least she talked to me then.” Remus sighs leaning back onto the couch in the common room. It was no secret to the Marauders that the shy brunette had accumulated feelings for his little rival over the years, secretly looking forward to DADA classes for the soul purpose of seeing you.

“Well you could try talking to her, y’know, normally?” James suggests with a shrug. Remus sighs “I guess, but you guys know I couldn’t, I could possibly put her in danger, or, what if I lose control and hurt her or worse-”

Sirius scoffs, “Oh sod off Moony, if this is about your, furry little problem, the last person you’d need to worry about is y/n, she’s a master in Defense Against the Dark Arts, not only would she be fine with it, but she she probably knows all about werewolves! Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she already knew.” Sirius finishes, avoiding his friend’s shocked eyes at his small outburst, but someone had to say it. “Well- you have to admit he has a point.” Peter says turning back to Remus. “I’ve worked with y/n before for a project on werewolves bites, and she actually finds werewolves are misunderstood.” He continues.

Remus looks between his friends, and sighs, “I don’t have a choice but to give this a go, do I?” James grins, “c’mon Moony, you know, you two are practically made for each other!” He nudges his best friend, wiggling his eyebrows knowingly. “James!” Remus shoves his head into hands, a red blush coating his cheeks. “W-what should I even talk about? What if she doesn’t want to talk? Maybe she still hates me and I’d mess this all up if I talk to her!” Remus begins to ramble.

“What are you twats going on about?” A voice calls out, Lily emerges from the portrait door, oh no. “Moony’s got a crush!” James calls out. Remus shoots James a death glare, cursing the fact he was head over heels for y/n’s best friend. “Oh really? Who’s the lucky girl?” Lily laughs, walking over to the other gryffindors. Remus speaks before James can say anything else. “It doesn’t matter! Haha, how are you Lily?” He tries to steer the conversation away from his love life, but is unsuccessful. “Good..? Remus, what’s got you so nervous? I won’t tell, you know that.”

Oh, I don’t know, she's your best friend that probably hates me, that I pretended to hate for 4 years, you know, just things I talk about on the daily. Remus thinks to himself sarcastically. Lily’s mouth drops open. Oh shit he said that out loud.

“You fancy y/n?” Lily’s mouth remains agape. Remus winces, “Maybe? Is that a bad thing?” He questions, crossing his fingers for a good answer. “Well bloody hell Lupin, I did not see this coming that’s for sure!” The red-head lets out a laugh. “y/n almost never talks about her love life though so I can’t say much, just know that she’s never hated you, just got caught up y’know.” She plops down on the sofa across from the boys, Remus nods. “So, when did this happen?” Lily questions fixing her eyes on the shy boy. “W-well it’s hard to say really,” Remus furrows his brows, in thought, one memory stands out.

“One day, while I was studying, in second year I think, I noticed y/n sitting at another table scanning a textbook, and well, I felt different, she didn’t seem like the annoying girl in Defence Against The Dark Arts anymore, she was beautiful, and from there it only got worse.” Remus feels himself think back to that day, how your hair cascaded perfectly down your face, and how your lips were slightly parted while you read. He remembered his heart speeding up before he dashed out of the library, very confused. “Aw, that’s so sweet Moony.” Sirius teases making kissy faces at his friend. Remus feels his face heat up again. “Sirius quit teasing him, it’s cute!” Lily scolds the dark-haired Marauder, when suddenly her face lights up. “You know, y/n’s in the library, right now, you should go down and talk to her!” Lily suggests. James stands up and tugs on Remus’s arm to pull him to his feet. “Excellent idea my Lily flower, let’s go now!” Sirius and Peter stand and follow behind, ignoring Remus’s small attempts at objection. Lily catches up to Remus and James as they make their way out of the portrait door.

“Just be casual Remus, everything will be okay.” She reassures. It didn’t help Remus’s racing heart.

The group steps into the library and spots you at a table by a window, slowly scratching a quill against parchment. They walk closer to you and poke their heads around to look at you. You glance up at the Marauders, “Um, hi guys?” you greet awkwardly. “Good to see you y/n, hate to interrupt, but Remus wanted to talk to you.” James pushes the adorable brunette forwards before rushing off followed by Sirius, Peter and… Lily, you narrowed your eyes, what was going on? Brushing it off you look up at the gryffindor boy. “You can take a seat if you want Lupin.” You offer, picking your quill up again. “Oh, thanks y/n.” He sits in the chair right beside you. “Now how can I help you? If you need help with anything you can just ask.” You state scribbling down some notes in your notebook. “A-actually, um, I’d just like to talk to you y/n, about… You.” Remus begins to panic, did that sound right? Oh Merlin he was an idiot. You turn to him with a shocked expression.

“Me? Um- sure Lupin, ask away I guess?” You give him a small smile, “as long as we can talk about you too.” You add, feeling bold. Remus lights up, “Yeah, yeah. That sounds great! Alright, where did your love for Defense Against the Dark Arts come from?” He asks, genuinely interested. “Oh,” Your eyes light up. “My father is an Auror and throughout my childhood he’d tell me all about his adventures, and his victories fighting dark wizards and all that sort. I thought it was amazing, so I started to read all about it, wanting to be just like him once I grew up.” You grin broadly.

Your conversation continues, you talk about your childhoods, dreams, goals, ambitions and your favourite books. You learn a lot about the shy brunette boy you never really gave a chance too. You learn he has a love for chocolate, every single kind. He also loves books, enjoying muggle literature in particular, and that he also wants to become an Auror, to protect people and to help the world from dark magic. You found this very admirable and saw that little boy from your first DADA class in a different light. He wasn’t the annoying boy who stole all your thunder anymore, he was the boy that was also just trying to follow his dreams and help the people he loved. You smiled as you listened to him go on about a book he was currently reading, watching his eyes sparkle and his smile widen, it was strange thinking of Remus this way, sure you’d thought the brunette gryffindor was cute, but you’d always tried to shut yourself down when you thought of anything more, so when you found yourself hanging onto his every word and glancing down to his soft pink lips every now and again, you knew something was up. Your past self would’ve kicked you for this, but you found yourself giving into those inevitable feelings for Remus Lupin, and it just felt… Right. This change of heart left no doubt in your mind, and a light flush made its way onto your cheeks.

Remus could’ve sworn he was on cloud nine when he saw the beautiful pink blush come onto your cheeks, was he right? Did you feel the same? He was so happy to be talking to you about anything and everything that he didn’t even realize the Saturday sun turned into night and soon Madam Pince was pushing them out the door. The two of you laughed, taking a walk around the castle, neither of you wanting the conversation to end. You decided to stay in the Clocktower Courtyard for a bit, sitting next to each other on a bench. Remus watches you stare into the night sky, he sees your face relax and he smiles when he sees you close your eyes and take a deep breath of the night air. He thanked his lucky stars there wasn’t a full moon soon, or he would’ve missed this magical day with you. He lets a couple words slip out of his mouth he didn’t intend to say today. “You’re so beautiful y/n.” He sees your eyes widen and your face go pink. “Thanks Remus.” You say smiling back. Godric, his heart swelled when he heard you say his name. Not Lupin anymore, Remus. He felt himself lean in, years of yearning getting the better of him, and felt his forehead touch yours. “I’ve fancied you since second year you know?” He confessed suddenly, “that day you saw me run out of the library was the day I knew.” He saw a smile spread across your face. “Oh Remus that’s so sweet.” suddenly your eyebrows furrow. “Listen, I’m sorry about my arrogance. I was annoyed that you were just as smart as I was and I let a kid’s jealousy get in the way of really getting to know you and I want to apologize for that-” Remus cuts you off. “Darling, it’s alright, we were children, what matters is how you feel now.” Remus cups your hand in one of his, searching your eyes for any sign he should stop, “I- like you too Remus, I think I have for a while, just been to dumb to notice it.” You giggle, looking down at your interlocked hand. Remus places his fingers on your chin and lifts your face so you’re eye to eye again. He pauses, silently asking if this is alright. You nod and he grins, pressing his lips to yours, a rush of heat flows through your body and you're overwhelmed with happiness. Remus can feel he’s practically beaming into the kiss, he can’t believe it, he’s kissing you, he’s actually kissing you! The kiss is chaste at first, but you soon cup his face and pull him closer to you, reaching behind his head to run a hand through his soft curls. Remus sighs at the feeling and you take the opportunity to explore his mouth with your tongue, taking in the taste of chocolate and minty toothpaste. You pull back after a couple seconds, taking steady breaths. “Wow.” You murmur smiling at the boy in front of you. “Can we do it again?” Remus asks, still in a daze with a stupid grin on his face. You lean in again and can feel his lips brush yours before you hear whispers.

“Move over Pads, I can’t see!”

“Shove off James.”

“Ow, Peter that’s my foot!”

“Oh My Godric they kissed!”

There’s a loud crash. You look over to see Sirius, James, Peter and Lily in a pile on the ground, all sporting guilty looks on their faces. “Um- Congrats you two! We were just heading back to the common rooms!” Lily stutters out, removing herself from the pile and quickly walking off with the rest of the group hot on her tail.

You and Remus look at one another before bursting into a fit of laughter, unable to get the look on the group’s faces when they were caught out of your heads. Remus slowly stands up, offering a hand to you, “We should probably get going, love. It’s getting real dark.” You nod and take his hand. Remus pulls you close to him and you stand there for a couple more seconds, “You know, I still don’t believe this is happening, that this isn’t a dream, you’re really here in my arms.” Remus confesses nuzzling his nose to yours. You smile gently and press a kiss to his lips. “Well, you better get used to it, cuz I’m not going anywhere.” You quip gently, wrapping your arms slightly tighter around the handsome gryffindor. You can feel him tighten his arms around you as well. “There’s nothing I’d love more.” he whispers into your ear.

[itacats]

Summary: You were lying in the sun, on your journey to feel the world again, a certain ace and captain wants to help.

Character(s): Ushijima; GN!Reader

Word Count: 2.15k

Warnings: mentions of feeling numb and not feeling emotionally connected to the world, like one (1) or two (2) curses.

A/N: I decided to read some of my old writing from high school and realized how much I was emotionally disconnected from the world, so I wrote up this little piece if not as a way to comfort past me.

The sun. You’d been sitting in it for god knows how long for the soul purpose of trying to feel again. Sitting in the rays of heat that had traveled an extraordinarily long way to reach you. It was something that your therapist had recommended you try after you had coldly told her how tired you were of not feeling anything. Not happy or sad, not even angry about the ordeal- just numb. Now here you were effortlessly balancing on a thick cement wall on a lesser used walkway near your house. Elevated just high enough to not be a nuisance to others and vice versa, but also not too high to where if you happened to fall off the edge the most you’d get would be a bruise here and there.

Repositioning yourself to lie comfortably on the wall, you popped in one of your earbuds and closed your eyes. The comforting melodies and notes of the music that had gotten you through darker times wrapping you in a sense of calm. “This better work.” you mumbled as you let your mind begin to drift along with the music that now filled your head, and the rays of sun that warmed your skin.

The only cause for you to open your eyes should have been to change your playlist. Emphasis on ‘should have.’ No, instead a large, looming shadow had taken away the one thing you were trying so desperately to have once more at such a basic level. Peaking through one half lidded eye, heavy from lying in the sun for who knows how long, you’re met with a man you’d only seen a few times while walking through the halls and in some of your classes. The six foot something tall captain of Shiratorizawa, Ushijima Wakatoshi. 

“You’ll get a sunburn if you aren’t careful.” wow, okay- way to be blunt. The rumors that made their ways through the halls about Ushijima’s blunt and cold demeanor weren’t falling short from what you could tell. You understood that he was just trying to be considerate and inform you of what could happen, but you really weren’t in the mood to talk to him. Taking out your earbud and sitting up to excuse yourself, you noticed he was wearing the school’s exercise uniform. Of course he was. What you didn’t notice however, was the blur of red-hair dashing up behind him. “Thanks, but I-” you began, only to be cut off by a loud “Ushiwaka! Wait up!” The captain who was currently towering over you turned his head, acting as though this was an everyday occurance. “Yes, what is it Tendou?”  God, did this guy show any emotion? you thought to yourself as you jumped the small distance it was to the ground. “Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation guys, but the coach wanted me to let you know practice is cancelled tomorrow- something about a birthday I think?” Tendou huffed, sweat dripping from his forehead. 

Did he run all the way here from the school?? Almost as if Ushijima had read your thoughts, he asked the red-head the same question. A smug smile overtook Tendou’s face. “Of course! Semi bet that I wouldn’t be able to reach you within the 3 mile mark, but joke’s on him- he owes me lunch!” Pulling out his phone to snap a quick picture to send to Semi as proof he actually caught up to their captain. “Why didn’t you just text him this information if you had a phone this entire time?” You pipe up. “Well there’s no fun in that, duh. And I wouldn’t have gotten a free lunch out of it either if I did that.” Tendou stated, crossing his arms. “Wait a second, haven’t I seen you before?” The red-head questions. Great, now you had to give the entire spill of how, yes he had seen you before, you share the same mathematics and language classes with the two prized volleyball players. “Tendou,” Ushijima began, “L/N shares mathematics and language with us. I thought you knew this?” Your typical spill had been- what- stolen? No, that didn’t seem right. You weren’t sure what you were feeling, you didn’t know why you felt the way you did when you realized someone as popular and “untouchable” as Ushijima knew these details that others seemed to toss away without a second thought. And you didn’t blame them, you were too caught up in trying to keep your grades steady while not feeling anything. You weren’t concerned with whether or not people remembered you. Hell- you were starting to think you were forgetting who you were besides numb.

The sudden inhale of Tendou’s realization shook you out of your spiralling thoughts. “Ah, yes! You’re rather quiet aren’t you?” No, I’m tired, exhausted from not feeling anything. “Yeah, just not much to say I guess.” Ushijima’s phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling it out and reading what appeared to be a text. “Tendou, Semi needs you back at the gym, he needs help putting things away, and the others have either left or are busy assisting with other things. Thank you for informing me about practice tomorrow.” He states, in the same semi-serious tone, causing the red-head to turn and make his way back, but not before waving goodbye to you and Ushijima.

You begin to walk away, regretting even saying anything like that to someone like Ushijima. “Y/N, why is wanting to feel, dumb?” You couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not with how his entire demeanor was. Embarrassed steps slowly halting, you turn to face him once more. “I don’t know, I-” finding the words to express your current inability to feel anything and wanting it to stop was harder when it came to people you didn’t pay to keep their mouths shut. “It’s just something I want to do again.” You were mentally pleading with the man in front of you not to press further on the matter. Ushijima opened his mouth as if to start speaking, but chose to quitely nod his head instead, accepting your simple explanation. “I’m gonna go home now, have fun with your volleyball stuff.” Giving a curt wave of your hand before making your way back home.

“May I ask you a question L/N?” Ushijima says, turning back to you, expression unchanging. “Please just call me Y/N, I’m not much a fan with honorifics and my name, but sure go ahead.” a silent sigh leaving you at the end of your sentence. You were back to feeling tired and the numbness was seeping back into your bones. “My apologies Y/N, but why are you sitting in the sun on a ledge nonetheless? You could fall and hurt yourself.” Was that concern in his voice? No, couldn’t be. That was never the case. “Do you really want to know that?” The captain and powerhouse ace of Shiratorizawa was questioning you on why you decided to lay about in the sun like a cat? “Yes. I would like to know if that’s okay with you.”  “I was-” you stop yourself, why? It wasn’t a secret to want to feel again? And what was Ushijima going to do about it? Nothing, there wasn’t anything he could do- right? Taking another breath, you start again “I was trying to feel again.” Your tone almost mimicking his- borderline monotone. You were met with silence. Normally, you’d be okay with it, but this time it was almost unbearable. Quickly starting back up again “Don’t worry about it though, it’s dumb.”

This seemed to happen more and more often. You would go lie in the sun after school, Ushijima would walk home and see you, and you two would chat. Sometimes he would bring a small gift, hoping it would ‘help you feel again,’ and everytime they would. You enjoyed the feelings you had started to experience whenever you two, and sometimes even Tendou, would hang out on the cement wall in the sun.  “Ushi?” you called out the nickname you’d given him after about a month and a half of your wall hang outs. “Yes Y/N?” “Why’d you stay?” Ushijima was quiet. Your question hung heavy in the air as your body leaned against his. “Because I wanted to help you feel.” He stated, but he was holding something back- you could tell. Even if you had an awful time expressing your emotions, it didn’t mean you couldn’t read when others weren’t showing theirs. “Is that the only reason?” Looking up at him with sleepy eyes, heavy from lounging in the sun after walking with him from the gym. A few more moments of silence followed only to be broken by an unexpectedly soft “No.” Waiting for him to continue, you sit up and face him directly. “I stayed because...because I wanted you to feel how you make me feel.” 

The next day you gave the sunshine another chance, given that your last attempt abruptly ended. You found your same spot right after school, and this time you brought sunblock just in case a certain captain decided to question you later in one of your shared classes. You dig through your bag, and realize your earbuds are nowhere to be seen amongst the loose school papers, books, and pencils. Not that you minded that sounds of the little suburban area you were at, but your music would have been preferred. You took the time to empty your head of the thoughts that raced back and forth in it. The internal commotion slowly calming down. About 30 minutes passed by before the shadow from yesterday loomed over you once again. “Y/N” Really? Again? “Ushijima, do you walk this way every day?” You say, looking up yet again at the stoic ace. “Yes, my house is just a bit further from here. Why do you ask?” Resisting the urge to smack your palm against your face, you notice the bag in his hands he didn’t have earlier in the school halls. “What’s that?” you point to the bag questioningly. “It’s for you. I asked Tendou what he thought would help with your feelings, and he suggested this-” He hands you the bag. Looking inside you notice the small fuzzy keychain of a cartoon bird. A small smile begins to replace the emotionless thin line on your lips. “I hope this helped.” He says. The keychain itself was childish, you wouldn’t buy it if you saw it in a shop, but somehow the gesture of the serious and stoic man standing before you, giving it to you- showing that he still thought of you even after you’d left. This was something you liked feeling. “It did. Thank you Ushijima.” Looking up from the keychain in your hands you could have sworn you saw a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked, a hint of uncertainty lacing his words. “I couldn’t stop you if I tried.” you jokingly laugh, patting the space next to you.

You were unmoving, still trying to process what he was saying. “Y/N, you make me feel things like when I’m in the middle of a game.” was Ushijima trying to make a metaphor? you thought, still processing his words. “My heart races when I think about you, it feels like electricity shoots through my body when we exchange even a simple hug, and I don’t like the way a sense of longing comes over me when I see you walk away, even if I know I’ll see you tomorrow. I asked Tendou if I should go to a doctor at first because of how much I felt…” he paused recollecting the memory, “he laughed and told me I was in love.” He finished, looking to you for any sign that he should leave, any sign showing that he misread the situation you two were in. “Ushijima, I- is that what this is?” one of your hands reaching for your chest, your heart felt as if it could burst. The once stoic face of Ushijima Wakatoshi was now replaced with that of astonishment and adoration. “Y/N if you would, would you like to go on a date with me?” Emotions over took you, voice momentarily gone as you nodded your head. “Yes, yes I would love to.” Tears welled up in your eyes, you were finally feeling again, and not only that, you were feeling the one thing you had longed for, for so long, love.

Ushijima would continue to bring you little gifts, checking in with you and your feelings. Keychains could be found on any bag or key you owned. And despite his cold, emotionless aura he gave off to the world, he was the one who helped you feel the world again.

[mieohmy]

𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗋 | 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 (𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅)

part one | part two

PAIRING: CEO boss! jeon wonwoo x secretary! reader

GENRE: fluff, ANGST but i swear its a happy ending ;;;;

WC: 3.4k

NOTES: mentions of death, angstyy ?

❋

Oh my god.

You’re screwed.

You panic, swiping past to see pictures of you and him on the balcony from last night. You kissing him. Someone must’ve seen you two and taken pictures...

‘Y/N!!’ 

‘U awake????’

‘Someone saw you guys last night and took photos!!’

‘Leaked them and now I’m pretty sure everyone at work knows now’

‘What are u gonna do?? Maybe u shouldn’t go to work..’

‘You better respond !”

You sigh, scrolling past all of seungkwan’s messages and throwing your phone somewhere. Great, now everyone at your workplace knew. There was nothing from wonwoo.

Was going to the office a good idea? You contemplated for like 10 minutes. Maybe pretending like nothing happened would be professional. You are a professional, you are a professional..... you repeated that several hundred times before finally getting out of bed.  

And so, you got ready like a regular day of work but took the bus instead of normally being driven to wonwoo’s house. (You couldn’t bear to face the driver or wonwoo either)

Arriving at the entrance, you steeled yourself. Immediately after you entered, there were whispers and stares from everyone around, almost as if they were waiting for you to come in.

You bite your lip, continuing to the elevator. When the doors open, there are already two other people inside. They quickly shuffle away from you, moving to the other side in the small space, and you can obviously feel their eyes on you. 

Arriving at your floor, you can hear the whispers of the others. “It’s them...” “they’re the one that’s dating Mr. jeon?” Ignoring them, you slump down at your desk, burying your head in your arms. You knew you should probably talk to wonwoo, but what would you say? The secret was out already. 

You feel something soft touch your head. You groan softly. “It’s me.” Glancing up wearily, you see dokyeom looking down at you with concern. “So... I guess everyone knows now?” 

Your head falls back onto the desk. “Dokyeom, what am I gonna do?” you moan. “Nothing. I mean, so what if you two are dating? It’s your personal life, not other people’s.” 

“You’re right. It doesn’t bother me. Who cares, right?” You say absentmindedly. 

That was a lie. You cared. And it did bother you. For weeks, people would stare and whisper behind your back. All the gossip was getting to you. To the point where you would purposely hide in the restroom until the coast was clear. 

There were a lot of people who did stand up for you, all your close work friends that overheard others gossiping. You were extremely grateful for them, but it didn’t make much of a difference.

You’re staring at yourself in the restroom mirror when you hear the door open. Panicking, you quickly hide in a stall, closing the door. 

Two voices grow louder and louder. “-you hear CEO Jeon is dating his secretary?” “Of course, the whole building knows now.” “I can’t believe it, still. His secretary of all people?” “I heard that they don’t have a father, no one to support their family.” A gasp echoed in the restroom. “That explains why they’re using him. It’s always money...” 

You can’t move. Even after the others come and go, you can’t seem to budge an inch. 

❋

You kept your distance from wonwoo after that. It didn’t help that wonwoo was getting increasingly busy with work. No matter how much you wanted to see him, the words replayed in your head. 

“He’s rejected so many people but chose them?“ 

“You just want his money.” 

“How can someone like them be dating someone like him?” 

“You’re nobody.” 

The worst part is, you agreed. You were no one, just a lame secretary working to support their family. You didn’t even have passions, interests, you were always too busy trying to make money. And you didn’t even have a family to go home to. Yes, you had your friends, but you felt like such a baby for complaining to them.

The only person who truly knew you was your father. And he was gone. Maybe you deserved to be alone... Maybe they were right, wonwoo didn’t deserve you. 

❋

You tried to limit your contact with him as much as possible, strictly talking for work purposes only. Every time wonwoo would ask you out (on the rare occasions he could), you would make an excuse. you were tired or had something else to do.

Wonwoo tried, so hard, to talk to you but every time you did, the hurtful words resurfaced. You wondered if he had heard what other workers would say- probably not since they were too scared to even speak in front of him. And you didn’t tell him because you knew he would make a big deal out of it, and that was the exact opposite of what you wanted. 

Also.... maybe because you were ashamed. Ashamed at the fact that you let those words hurt you. That they cut deep into your heart and sunk into your skin. Others would probably ignore it all, but you were different. It’s like all those people knew your weakness, how to sneak into your brain and make all your insecurities stronger.

It was horrible, affecting your mind, your life. Sleep barely came. You were a living zombie. With feelings. Feelings that were beaten down and crushed, ones that couldn’t even get back up.

Seungkwan noticed, but luckily he didn’t pry too much- probably because he knew the reason behind you shutting wonwoo out-everyone out. You were so grateful for him and the others for attempting to cheer you up.

One day, you drop off wonwoo’s schedule at his desk, immediately spinning around to leave when he grabs your wrist. You can’t move, his grip tight. “Y/n, please.. tell me what’s wrong? Is it something I did? Is it because people know now? Just tell me, I can fix it. I-I just need to know..” your boss pleads.

You hated hearing him like that. And still, you remove his hand from yours. “Mr. Jeon, don’t. Let’s stop...maybe this is for the best.” 

You walk out without looking back, biting the inside of your cheek hard so you can’t feel the pain in your heart.

You can’t focus the rest of the day, moping around. You don’t even realize the time, Dokyeom comes by (knowing you were still here) and forces you to go home. You were secretly extremely grateful he didn’t try to ask anything. You didn’t want to have to say anything, telling others about all the insults and remarks would just cause more of a problem. 

❋

Opening the door, you drop all your stuff on the ground of your apartment, instantly going to change into comfortable clothes. And sulk some more. 

Your past self would be laughing at you now. Or extremely shocked. To find out that you are? were? dating the one person that you hated. Some time ago, you were crying over losing your job because of your boss, and now here you are, moping over the same person. 

Crashing into bed, you fall into a weird sleep-state, flowing in and out of sleep. A bunch of notifications at once finally awakens you fully. It usually wouldn’t bother you, but there were so many at once you had to check.

Huffing, you wearily look at the screen. Right away, you jump up. An article post was sent to you by Seungkwan.

“Jeon Wonwoo’s-CEO of one of the largest printing companies in Korea-Mother has passed away this evening.”

Horrified, you quickly scroll down, skimming through it all. The only words echoing in your mind are ‘funeral held in an hour’ and ‘son is nowhere to be found.’

Immediately, you dial Seungkwan. He picks up almost instantly. “Y/n?? Did you see what I sent?” You nod as though he can see you. “What... what’s going on?” 

You can feel seungkwan’s frustration pouring out from his side of the phone. “Didn’t you read it? Mr. Jeon’s been missing for hours. He just disappeared after finding out. No one knows where he is. Except you.”

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “What? Me?” You hear a sigh come from the phone. “Yes. You, y/n. No one knows him better.  You have to find him.” 

You hesitate, knowing you weren’t in the best conditions with him at the moment. “But....” Seungkwan cuts you off. “No, y/n. There are no buts. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but our boss is literally missing. You’re the only one who knows where he could be. “ 

It finally hits you. “You’re right, oh my god, Seungkwan. what if he’s dead? His family was always a touchy subject, and I don’t know what’s happening and-“ 

“Trust yourself y/n. You can find him. Go.” The call abruptly ends with a beep. You stare at the screen for a second, brain loading until you crash out of bed, scrambling out to quickly put on any pair of shoes. 

Even in your ratty old pajamas and dirty sneakers, you dash outside, going to every single place you can think of. It’s tiring, getting on and off buses, running around and searching each place. After about an hour and a half is when you stop. Panting, you slump down next to a bench, head in your hands. 

Wonwoo, where are you?

After a couple minutes of rest (and maybe an internal crisis), you finally get up, resolve burning. 

You’re not sure why, but your feet bring you to the mart- yes, the one where your view of jeon wonwoo completely changed.

Dragging your drained body to the entrance, you open the door, the familiar ding to signal your entrance sounding above.  

Quickly, you glance around. It wasn’t a huge place, you could almost see the whole store from the front. 

He’s not here either? For some reason, you feel disappointed. Like he was gonna be here. Deflating, you turn towards the exit, hand reaching for the door handle when you stop. 

“Wonwoo?”

He was outside, standing by the railing over the river- the one by the bridge right next to the store. You could only see his silhouette, it was dark, but his body seemed small, familiar but small.

You burst out, exhaustion dissolved. You stop a few feet away, breathing heavily even though it wasn’t far.

“Wonwoo.”

The figure shifts, slowly turning to you and his face comes into the light. You first notice his red, pained eyes, barely holding back so much emotion. His handsome face showing nothing but everything at the same time.

You stare at each other for a split second before you rush to him, throwing your arms around him. It’s only the sound of both of your breathing until his arms slowly wrap around your waist, head burying into your shoulder. 

You hold him. Until you hear the quiet sobs. And then feel the wet spots on your shirt.

Rubbing his back comfortingly, you let him grip you tighter, allowing all the emotions and feelings to flow out.

After who knows how long, he quiets down. You wait for a little before softly speaking. “Do... do you want to talk?” 

He gradually loosens his grip, moving back to look at you. Your heart pangs at the sight. His red, swollen eyes. Darker eye circles than you recognized. His lips were chapped, probably because you weren’t there to nag him about wearing it. 

Slowly, your hand comes up to wipe his tear-stained cheeks. When you drop your hand, he finally speaks, his voice quiet and raspy. 

“I wasn’t close with anyone growing up. I told you that. Except for my mother. She loved me the most. Stayed by my side and supported me always. I.... I just..” 

You hug him again, squeezing your eyes shut. “You don’t have to say more. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

You know there’s tension between the two of you, but decide to bury it. Now’s not the time to bring it up. 

“How are you feeling now?”

He rubs his eyes. “Better. It was just a lot... at once. But I’d rather not go back now. I don’t want to.” 

You nod. “Okay.”

You bring him to your place, no questions asked. Knowing he didn’t need to be alone, and your place was close. 

It was a little awkward, but wonwoo was stubborn even when he was upset and slept on the couch. You’re pretty sure he passed out in three minutes. To be honest, you did too, the day’s events taking over. 

❋

Awakening with a start, your eyes focus on the ceiling. You stretch for a good couple of minutes before tottering outside. 

Your feet come to a halt. Right, wonwoo. 

His body slowly rising up and down signaling he was still sleeping. 

For no reason, you move to sit in front of him, on the ground, to just look at him.

Wonwoo looked so peaceful, reminiscent of a little child- it was shocking how different he seemed in his sleep. 

You admire his face for who knows how long, starting when his eyes suddenly flutter up at you. You give him a tiny smile. “Good morning?”

You prepare breakfast. It isn’t much, but you didn’t think the two of you were that hungry anyways. There were other things to discuss.

It’s silent until you finally speak. “Wonwoo. where were you? Why did you leave for so long? Everyone was so worried you know, it was all over the news..” 

He clears his throat as you wait patiently. “Everywhere. I just needed to leave, get out. So I drove around, not necessarily going to one place. Then... you found me.”

You bite your lip, “wonwoo. I think you need to go back. Everyone’s worried, waiting. I-I think you need to talk to your family.” 

There’s a pause. He says your name softly and you look down, not able to look him in the eyes... 

“Y/n.... we’re the ones who need to talk.” You cut him off. “I know. I know we do. But I can wait. You need to go back first. Then I promise we can meet up and explain.”

You can tell he’s reluctant to leave, but eventually, he’s at your door, about to go. 

He faces you once more. 

“Y/n, promise me. You’ll meet me today at seven? After I sort everything out?”

You nod, squeezing his hand. “I promise. After you sort everything out.” 

And after he leaves, you sort everything in your head too. All your feelings that had been stuck for weeks. Wonwoo deserved to know everything. 

❋

It feels like an eternity until seven comes. You feel anxious, a queasy feeling in your stomach. When the familiar knock on the door sounds, you flinch. Quickly opening it, you see him. 

“Hi,” you say nervously. Wonwoo gestures out, and you follow him to his car. It’s a silent ride. You’re not sure where he’s taking you, but you let him lead on through the night. 

 “Did... did everything go okay?” 

“Yes. I... I explained myself. It was shocking, seeing my father show so much emotion towards me. It was just nice to talk, about the old days. Thank you, y/n. For making me go back.” 

You smile sadly, deciding to focus outside at the passing lights. It’s a surprisingly peaceful drive. You turn to him when he stops the car. 

“The park?” He only nods. 

You follow him along the path, sitting down at a bench. Wonwoo follows you, sitting next to you.

Gazing at the scenery, you lick your suddenly dry lips. “Wonwoo, I want to apologize first. You did nothing, and I never told you why I was acting like that... I wasn’t acting truthfully in our relationship, and I’m sorry.” 

He shifts, gesturing for you to continue. Inhaling, you resume. “It started after everyone found out the news, but you probably figured that already. People started saying things, about our relationship. I know it’s dumb, most people probably don’t even care, but I did. And I got self-conscious. Like I wasn’t good enough for you. I believed everything the others were saying. That you didn’t deserve someone like me.” 

You pause, voice suddenly shaky. “I-I didn’t want to tell you, so you wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. I didn’t want to seem affected by all those words. But I really was.” 

You laugh, quickly wiping away your tears so wonwoo wouldn’t see. But of course, he did. He always saw you. “That’s all. It’s a horrible reason for me acting that way, so I understand if you want to break up. I can find a new job too.” You hated how your voice cracked at the end.

You didn’t want to look at him, see his expression probably filled with disdain. But he speaks up instead. “Do you know why I hired you?”

You whip your head towards him, confused. Wonwoo’s doesn’t face you, looking off into the distance, but he proceeds.

“Because you’re strong. Compassionate. Kind. I saw you on the day of your audition, and you helped some person even though they were extremely rude and didn’t want a low person like you to help them,” he chuckles. 

“I kept you by my side for so long because you’re hardworking, stubborn, and like me.” You open your mouth to speak, slightly offended, but his eyes flick to yours, and your breath hitches. 

“And I asked you out because I love you. I understand why you felt and acted that way. But it’s okay to complain about your problems. It’s okay to feel upset and tell me. You don’t always have to be the strong one.”

You stare at him with wide eyes, wiping away tears you didn’t even notice falling.

“I’ll always be by your side. You don’t ever have to feel being alone, because I’ll be next to you. You can talk to me, I’ll listen. You can whine, I’ll deal with it. Because it’s you. And I’ll be there. ” 

You process all his words, feeling yourself about to cry harder as you continue to look into his eyes. Hesitating, you fidget with your hands, freezing when you feel his warm arms wrap around you. You close your eyes and just enjoy his warmth. 

He breaks the hug, standing up. You watch him, bewildered. Wonwoo suddenly falls to his knee, and you only watch him, furrowing your eyebrows.

When his hands move to inside his jacket, your breath hitches, hand flying to cover your mouth.

His gaze is so tender, soft, you never felt so loved.

“Y/n, I promise you that I’ll love you, forever until the end of the earth if it’s possible. So, will you accept this?” 

Wonwoo pulls out a box, opening it. You’re greeted by a sparkling ring, the gem on it your favorite color. You’re frozen in shock. 

He scratches his head. “I- uh, got it a while ago. Never had to time to really give it until now. It’s a promise ring..D-do you like it?” 

It takes a second before you can move again. You smack him. several times. Wonwoo splutters, trying to avoid your painful hits.

“Are you serious?!?! How much did this cost??? If it’s more than a hundred and fifty then I’m not taking it!! Scratch that, a hundred!!” 

Wonwoo stops, looking up at you with a dumbfounded expression. “Are you serious? I thought you were about to reject me!! And why are you worrying about the price? I’m literally the CEO of a huge company!?” 

You cough. “Right. Well then, I like it.” You reach for it, but he holds the box up high above you. Whining, you stand on your tippy-toes, trying to grab it. 

“Wonwoooo, I thought you bought this for me!” “Maybe I don’t wanna give it to you anymore,” he teases. 

You pout, flashing a cute face. “Please??” Wonwoo pretends to think, tapping his foot. “If you give me a kiss. It has to be a real one. On the lips, too.”

“Ugghh, fine,” you fake scowl. And of course, he can see right through you. “Stop acting. I know you want to kiss me.” 

“And so what if I want really to, Mr. CEO? Like I said before, you're stuck with me forever.”

❋

“Oh my god y/n is that a ring? Does that mean there’s gonna be a wedding?!?” 

“Yes, seungkwan. A promise ring. And no! We’re not getting married.... Yet.”

 -fin-

   author’s note: ngl I cringed writing the ending scenes anlkfjenfdn anyways thank you to anyone who actually read all three parts from start to end :)! I’m sorry if this is not what you were expecting- this story changed so much I struggled honestly but I’m just glad it’s done before I ruin it more  uhu 

[jilljoycearts]

About the situation with the previously mentioned reposter, reposts in general, and the fandom. This is mostly about the russian part of the internet, the dark and fearsome place.

This post is very long, so I’m hiding it under the cut.

To sum it all up:

If you see drawings (fanarts) for the game Enderal and for the rest of the SureAI games on the russian social VK, published not by the authors of the drawings or not by their art groups, pages and communities, then they are placed against the will of these very authors.

About the rhetorics (mostly for the Russians that stumble upon this post): what people on VK call repost (share button) is an actual reblogging or retweet. In fact, a repost is re-uploading something not by its owner. Now let's start. The retelling is quite detailed. Also, a warning: although I can retell this whole thing in english from scratch, the post is translated from russian with the help of almighty google. I don't want to bother much with this and spend my energy on it. Most of the mistakes I still fix, but the sentence structure and phrasing might seem weird.

The man (hereinafter "character T"; we do not mention his name because he is only interested in your attention to his person) took under his wing a long-abandoned community (Enderal themed), asking to be a moderator. For several months he was posting stolen drawings (without permission and credits), until his vanity drove him into a trap: with a request of "reblog for reblog" (wanted to promote his own fan-creation) he messaged a small russian community of artists interested in the SureAI games. Naturally, seeing his reposting activities, everyone was utterly indignant. He was incredibly lucky that my drawing was the last one published on the dash of his community. Again, no credit. I left a comment urging him to remove the stolen things and explaining the common truths. To which no one answered, but suddenly a link to my tumblr appeared. I wrote another comment telling to delete again, and again no one answered me. When he had to start talking to me, Character T decided that it was a good idea to load a girl (who was so lucky to know both of us a bit) with the work of a negotiator. I leave it to you to judge the "honor and dignity" of this character and his decision. I scroll forward: he agrees to delete my work, while rolling out a post consisting of articles of the civil code, in which he puts the meaning “I reposted, am reposting and will continue that, because the law allows me”. At the same time, the negotiator girl gets tired of working as his secretary. I already intend to contact him personally, but I find myself in his blacklist. It would seem, "Well, calm down, hedeleted yours." But his intention to repost further stunned everyone. Naturally, the time has come to inform the foreign authors about this chronic stealing.

A new location was unlocked in our amusing adventure: a server of the game developers SureAI on Discord. There, one of the artists from whom he stole called him out, without mentioning the names (yes, the character T was active there, whilst annoying the local inhabitants). He responded after a while, again rolling out his cart of articles on the legality of reposts. He also managed to threaten me personally with something. In general, he was kicked from the server of the developers for lack of culture and propaganda of copyright infringement. Further, another foreign author tried to contact him personally, but in the same way received a cart of laws. In the meantime, the English-speaking part of the fandom artists decided to write an official letter of complaint, attaching all links to posts to be deleted, and listing the authors with whose content the character T is strictly prohibited from interacting in the future. This letter was tried to be sent by a German artist, who specially registered there, but she stumbled upon some tech difficulties. Firstly, she was blocked by the owner of the stealing community, where the character T was appointed as the moderator. Her page was empty, the name was not Russian - he thought it was a bot, I can understand that. She then dropped the complaint letter to the support of VK social itself. Even tried to message the stealing community specifically but another lag made it impossible. (and this was required according to the new "rules" of the character T, according to which it was decided to play. "So that your complaint was considered ..." and so on.)...

Sensing something is wrong, character T made an attempt to contact some Russian-speaking authors himself in the meantime. And they told him the same -- that he steals, and not “shares” for some “purpose”. And here comes an interesting thing: the phrases "well, something needs to be posted to fill the community" and "but I am not on their Facebooks, I found it on Yandex"(that's russian google). That is, our drawings turned out to be just a filler, because something needs to be posted. Searching by image is difficult, but he still has to post! Something. Anything. What for? I have an explanation and an answer to this, but since this is the purpose of the character T - to draw attention to his fan-creation, I will not mention it 👌🏻 Another of his phrases was that due to the increased attention to his community now he HAS to credit the authors 🤦🏻‍♀. In general, he banned the Russian-speaking artist, whom he contacted and received a well-scented bucket’s content on his head (and well-deserved of course).

Now let's return to the official letter of complaint from foreign artists, which never reached the stealing community, and after all it was sent by the Russian-speaking author L. This time the character T was able to read it, but as expected, he refused to remove reposts, said that the artists were arrogant, accused of gatekeeping and again expressed his intention to repost not only without permission, but also against the will of all these fandom authors (38 people). After all, he has a great goal - to popularize games and the universe in the ru-segment.

The same or the next day the owner of the stealing community contacted me (who had previously lost interest, abandoned it, and a year later gave it to the character T). The owner asked what was happening, I explained, and passed on the letter of complaint from foreign artists, which the German artist could not send because he blocked her. That I explained to him too and he unblocked her. No reaction to my explanations abot the character T followed, but we’ll come back to that later.

And now we decided it’s time for our last resort -- we contacted Nicolas (the main screenwriter, the owner of the rights to this universe and the main figure of the fandom as a whole). Here I will digress from the main line and note that interested people have dug out both the provisions of the Berne Convention and the laws of the Russian Federation, which the character T chose to ignore in his activities, hiding behind only those that are convenient for him. Now let's return to Nicolas, who had to take a break from vacation because of this circus. As it turned out, character T, sensing the smoke, came running to him first. But alas, Nicolas was on the side of the authors (who would have thought). As a result, we almost decided that hurray, it helped, because posts with pictures disappeared from the wall of the stealing community, and character T even disappeared from the list of moderators (I will return to the stage with the owner of the community: I assume it was his work). But it was clear that it was too early to celebrate the victory.

Change of location: again the server of the developers on Discord. After the kick of the character T, three days later, a brand-new account appears, which broadcasts about the character T in the third person using Google translate “ if he had not been pressed upon, he would repost peacefully in his community of a thousand subscribers. And now he will attract some audience of a dozen more groups and will repost there too”. Naturally, without direct evidence of the second coming, no one have kicked him yet.

On the same day, the VK support told me that the most effective weapon in our case is the DMCA form. This is inconvenient, but it works. Moreover, the stolen has already been removed from the stealing community.

Then people came across the news - the stealing community advertised a new community of the character T, which was shaped exclusively for reposting other people's drawings (and there were already several works, including mine). The adv post called to support the character T “and his work”. Naturally, in the comments, I and other people urged not to support this. We even managed to explain the situation to some random person. After that the post was deleted. We don't know who deleted the post (still the character T or the community owner).

At this point, I ask Nicolas to message the tharacter T again using the simplest words that reposts cannot be allowed without permission. At all. Even with links attached. Doesn't help because the main now-not-stealing community shares a new post of the new one stealing community again. That is, even the main copyright holder and owner of the entire thing is not a figure of authority for the character T. Summing up -- “I will “popularize” your fandom against your wishes. The laws allow me. "

But after a while, the reblog from the new community is removed from the main one.

And again, the change of location: to the discord of the developers, where the character T himself comes back and writes something (under the new name ofc as his old account is banned). He declares that he will now repost to some huge audience of 300k people (before that there were 200, and even before that 100, yeah), he is outraged by the complaint letter from the authors with the ban on reposting, he will deliberately not credit, and also he wants to reupload my fanfiction somewhere. After that, he was kicked again 🥾.

Naturally, the entire audience is shocked, the character T literally became famous and crowned himself with a clown wig in just a few days, and now the entire fandom and the informed ru-segment hates him. The retelling is over.

Almost. Now I thank google translate for the help above and I'm gonna retell even more without it as this information is rather new. He wrote his own “explanation post”, where he somehow found relevant addressing the sexuality of one of the authors who called him out, called Nico indifferent and passive regarding this situation, insulted literally everyone but him, the white knight, whom we all should be grateful to for his will of promoting our content. I facepalm very hard. And he reposts art to some small communities but no one gives a shit (surprisingly so, huh?). He adds the links to the authors. Now I don’t want to give him any attention anymore, I have some work to get done.

Here comes the part about the and for community itself (google translate helps me again):

For the artists:

For the people registered in VK there is a "Nemesis" algorithm (dropdown - report - copied content). It will want a link to the previously published content on the VK as a primary source. Its effectiveness is still in question, but if someone tried it, then share your experience. For the rest, there is a dmca form that wants passport data (the only one I know of that asks for it), which I personally do not want to share, but in general... It's up to you to decide. Advice: Include readable text with @ of your page, community or yourself in your watermarks. Thus, an adequate person will always see where to go for the primary source.

For the readers/viewers:

Fandom existence is based on respect for other people's work. This work is the reason fandoms exist. If you like the drawing, then praise the author, support them in accessible ways (like - comment - subscribe - send a link to a friend(reblog the thing) - give some moneyz). People will be pleased, honestly. And if you disagree with something or you go "Ew" for other reasons, then just walk by. This is, in fact, all that you can do. If you have ambitions, ideas and “I need to fill my dead community with something” (you are considering taking the author's drawing and placing it somewhere yourself), then you ask for permission and accept any answer. There is no other way. Otherwise it's a violation of the law. 

Why reposts (= re-uploads) are harmful I think there's no need to mention, but still:

First of all, it drives away traffic from the authors. It doesn't matter if fanart can be monetized or not (spoiler alert: it can). Example: If a figurative reposter hadn't taken away figurative content, then a potential viewer interested in this content would go to search for it himself. And would have found it posted by the author. And then it is already possible to take a closer look at the other work as a whole, and even give the author money so that they draw something personalized for this viewer personally. That’s an example. It seems to be clear. Artists on the Internet care about their traffic, which is responsible for audience growth and all subsequent opportunities. This is the basics.

About monetizing fan content.

It depends solely on the developers / authors of games and books (original owners of all rights). Sometimes the ban on monetization hangs for some time after the release of the game (as was the case with Hades), sometimes you can sell keychains / posters / whatever with fanarts on them right away. And sometimes you can't, everything is individual here. Again, I think it is clear that if a viewer finds the original image posted by the author themselves, then this viewer has more chances to buy merch with this image. After all, the author will definitely add that the drawing is available as a merch. Reposter -- never. He does not know that, he found it on Yandex/Google.

Specifically about me and my community:

You know that my main audience are not russians. I have already abandoned my russian community once. Would I want to disappear from there again? So far, there is no such desire. People I have there are nice and friendly, despite the small number. How much do I really care about reposts of drawings on an objectively dying or already dead fandom? I'll leave it to you to decide. I have been here since the 2016-17, with me the fan activity started, and with me it will end. Everyone who is interested in SureAI games knows me. And although I have the permission from the devs to monetize fanart and fan content in general, it is obvious that $20 from posters and magnets every few months is not my motivation. I am here because I love the game universe and its characters. I make my own thing, quietly rejoicing, and I don't look around much. Reposts are evil on a different level, and not on this one. Does T's intention of re-uploading my fanfiction or even rewriting it somehow thrills me? I don’t care at all. Let him read a well edited and thought-through text for once. But I doubt it will help a little.

In general:

My subscribers / readers / followers know where to look for my updates. A thinking person that sees a repost will go and find the author themselves. Be it pictures that they see, text or something else. Those people who don't think are obviously not interesting for me as an audience. Other authors share this position.

Finally, end of this text. It has taken me 4 hours to write this all in russian, maybe another one to edit the google output and add more things AND almost one week of my time to deal with this all (and don’t forget other authors involved, they spent a shitload of time on it too). From now on my position is “time is money” and if the character T resurfaces he’ll have to pay me for the attention he seeks, lol 

[clevercorvidae]

BNHA Common Misconceptions

I’ve been seeing wayyy too much bs on my dash lately. So I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on some Controversy™

***Spoilers For The Manga***

1. “What the HPSC did to Hawks wasn’t bad”

A government organization putting a young child through rigorous training so that he can be used as a tool is bad. I don’t know why I have to spell that out

Hawks had to abandon his real name at a very young age. That’s damaging for a kid’s sense of identity. His identity as a person no longer has any separation from his work as a hero. Being a hero is all he is now. I wouldn’t be surprised if (provided Hawks’s wings are gone for good) he has an identity crisis after this arc because he can’t be “Hawks” anymore.

Hawks is based on Lionel Messi, a soccer player recruited at a young age in return for paying for his medical procedures. I’ve seen people say that Hawks chose to be a hero. One, he was a child, young children shouldn’t be making decisions like that. Two, we know based on context clues that Keigo was more than likely living in poverty, possibly with alcoholic parents, and we literally are told that the HPSC payed for his family’s living expenses. Do you really think Keigo had much of a choice here?

I’ve seen people say “it’s just like what UA is doing”. First of all, UA is called out for being irresponsible and endangering their students IN UNIVERSE. Second, Keigo was a young child, the UA kids are 15+. There’s a huge difference.

2. “Mitsuki isn’t abusive”

Honestly when it comes to her smacking Katsuki, I could excuse it as a joke done in poor taste and not hold it over her as a character.

Hitting him WASNT just discipline tho. You should never, ever, under any circumstances hit your kid. Fuck that noise.

What I really have an issue with is what she SAYS to Katsuki. Her guilt tripping him isn’t a throwaway line either. He repeats the sentiment that he is responsible for Kamino during Deku v Kacchan 2. It’s one of the main reasons he fights Deku.

Horikoshi says that Katsuki has a good relationship with his mother. In that case, he did a horrible job at presenting that. What is written in the canon is what should be used as the basis for how we interpret her character.

3. “Shigaraki chose to kill his family/was born evil”

No...just...no. He was FIVE for crying out loud.

He wanted to be a hero, and took extra care to play with kids that had no friends. He definitely wasn’t born evil lmao.

His quirk manifested while he was having an emotional crisis. Decay is controlled by emotion so of course it went haywire.

He didn’t even know it was him doing it at first.

“But Shigaraki said he WANTED it to happen” Shigaraki is an unreliable narrator. What we actually SEE tells a very different story. He reaches out to Hana and his Mother for help. His grandparents are just caught in the shockwave. The ONLY person he killed on purpose was his father.

Now when it comes to his father, he had just beat him and locked him outside. He’s FIVE, and he has no healthy outlet for his anger and frustration. Hell, we see that in his “itchiness”, he only feels like this in the house, because his father makes him suppress his love for heroes and his dream to become one. He takes joy in killing his father because it’s the only release he’s ever experienced.

The fact that you guys forget that this is an abused child with no real control over his quirk that just got beaten and locked outside... Nope, no reading comprehension here.

4. “The League of Villains are justified/are a revolutionary group”

...Shigaraki has stated over and over again that he just wants to destroy everything. He doesn’t care about reform or improving anything. That one panel in Ch. 222, where he says he wants to destroy everything I think sums it up perfectly.

He wants to destroy EVERYTHING good or bad or neither or both. There’s a newborn baby, a field of flowers , Nine, various heroes, the UA kids, etc all varying in innocence.

The rest of the league have very different goals and reasons why they continue to support Shigaraki. Twice wants to protect the only people that accepted him. Spinner just wants to have purpose for his life. Toga wants to live the way she wishes with no consequences. Compress is also here.

The only “revolutionary” is Dabi. But his views are not universal throughout the league.

Even if they were trying to improve things. They have killed countless innocent people, they’ve tried to kill the UA kids too. That’s not ok. And it’s not erased by the fact that they’ve done good. (I do appreciate them for killing the MHA version of the KKK, truly epic of you)

5. “Hawks is abusive”

It’s not abuse to manipulate someone for info when you’re a double agent. It’s kinda shitty, and you could argue that it was unnecessary for Hawks to do so in context. But it’s not abuse.

Y’all need to stop using the word abuse/abusive tendencies to describe all immoral actions

I’ve also seen people say that Hawks has abusive tendencies (as in he’s abusive in all his relationships with other characters) and...do I really need to explain why that makes no sense at all?

6. “Twice deserved to die/it was necessary to kill him”

Feel like I need to remind people that we’ve only ever actually seen Twice kill one guy and that was one of the KKK guys.

Twice isn’t evil, even Hawks admits that he is a genuinely good person. Good people don’t deserve to die.

It wasn’t necessary, and here’s why: Hawks could’ve just knocked him out or even just severely injured him. (Or the HPSC could’ve just grown a brain cell and sent more people to back him up, making it easier to hold back his quirk and arrest him)

Hawks shouldn’t have killed Twice, he only killed him because he’s been raised as a child soldier and I wouldn’t be surprised if what he told Twice about taking out villains was a direct quote from the HPSC

Also, Hawks would’ve killed Twice with or without Dabi’s intervention

Something I do have to say though is that Hawks was right not to just let Twice go. It’s tragic because Twice WAS leaving to help his friends, but the other side of that tragedy it that his friends are terrorists. If he was allowed to leave a shit ton of people would have died (again that doesn’t mean he deserved to die either, don’t get it twisted)

The WHOLE POINT of Hawks v Twice is to make you question who the bad guy is. Both characters are morally gray and the only reason they even have to fight is because of the outside forces controlling their fates. It’s supposed to be tragic it’s supposed to be unclear who is in the right, so stop arguing about it.

7. “Bakugou is abusive/irredeemable” (I know it’s been talked to death but I still see it everywhere)

People are, in fact, allowed to grow past the person they were in middle school.

Most people get hung up on the “throw yourself off a building” line. Which is fair, but again, he was in middle school.

People also say “he hasn’t apologized yet”. Yeah? And? The story isn’t over yet. Horikoshi has already acknowledged that too. I don’t know what you want? People who like him know that his arc isn’t over yet.

I’ve seen a lot of people denying his character development. In the beginning of the series he was a bully and let his ego control him. I don’t think he’s bullied...anyone since Deku v Kacchan 2. He insults people but they obviously don’t take it seriously.

He’s also gone from preferring to fail a final exam to avoid working with Deku, to following him into battle against Shigaraki.

Also, when he actually likes and respects someone he doesn’t mistreat them. This is the same thing with Hawks where y’all NEED to stop misusing the word abuse. He was an abusive friend to Deku when they were kids, that’s it.

8. “Rei was abusive too!”

I’m BEGGING YOU to learn what the term “abuse” means istg

She had a psychotic break. She genuinely thought it was her abusive husband coming through the door, and she acted out of fear.

“Well that’s not an excuse” yes it fucking is. Not to mention that as soon as she realized what happened, she sobs hysterically because she hurt Shouto and tries to use her quirk to help him.

I genuinely don’t understand why people think this

9. “Dabi actually does care about the league”

Listen, I know it sounds harsh, but y’all need to get your heads out of your piles of headcanons.

We know next to nothing about how Dabi feels about just about anything. But we do see that he’s aloof and distant with the league, he doesn’t put in more than he needs to. The rest of the league think of each other as family. Dabi straight up says he doesn’t give a shit about them.

“What if he was just putting up a front for Hawks” Why? Why would he do that? When asked who he was he answered him. He tells him how he feels about hero society and Stain. Not to mention that he was getting ready to kill him. If he was hiding his true feelings about the league I doubt he would’ve so easily said that he didn’t care about them but rather how useful they were.

At this point it’s just wishful thinking. Based on everything we’ve seen in the series so far and everything we know about Dabi, I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t care about them all that much. If he secretly does care about them, I’d say it’s likely that he doesn’t even know he does.

Idk why all of a sudden villain stans and hero stans are feuding over things that shouldn’t even be up for debate in the first place. Sorry if this came off as super aggressive, I’m just sick of seeing this stuff all over the place. If anyone has anything to add go ahead

[jojoboisimagines]

Josuke x Reader :: Promposal :: Ch. 3

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summary: A strange new transfer student has enrolled in Budogaoka High School. Josuke falls head over heels for her, but has a limited time to win her over before the school prom.

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Josuke didn’t even bother going after you after you had dashed into the classroom. Okuyasu had mentioned something about it being ‘his chance to bag you’, but he didn’t care. The only emotions he could process right now were embarrassment and a slight bit of sorrow. For both you and him.

Based on how you reacted, he could tell you were utterly uninterested or promptly humiliated by being seen with the letters. Either way, it was practically over, he thought. There’s no way you would go through all of those letters. The probability of them being trashed by the end of the day was high. 

Jojo couldn’t help but to feel at least a twinge of disappointment. This was the first girl he had been interested in since..well since he entered high school. He tried to think of a positive, that being able to at least see you every day. Yet that became more and more creepy sounding the more he replayed it in his head

First period started without him even noticing. Now his mind was fixated on remembering what he actually wrote in the letter. 

Something about... beautiful, piercing (e/c) eyes...how he wants a chance to get you to smile for once... pretty (h/c) hair (which was especially a compliment from him given his standards), and he couldn't forget adding that he liked how you were 'badass" for wearing heels multiple times. That was perhaps the only thing in the letter that wasn't cliche.

He definitely remembered at the end of the letter where he asked you to meet up with him on the rooftop after school if you were interested.

Contemplating if it was even worth it to go there anymore, he reckoned to pay attention in class for the moment, only a little.

His mechanical pencil clicked against the desk, the annoyance was still there in the back of his mind.

.::.

You had only skimmed over most of the letters. Some weren't even love letters, they were just presumably shy students complimenting you on your work in recent classes. One even offered to be a study buddy. Letting out a sigh, it would at least be fair to appreciate the penwork and thoughtfulness put in these letters. It had been an hour already, and you had gone through the majority of them. 

Picking up another, you took it out of the envelope. It had a rather nice smell to it, as if a hint of cologne was spritzed onto it before it was sealed in. Nice touch, you had to admit. 

Opening it, you started to read. This letter was more than two sentences like some, but still less than some others. The writing came off as surprisingly honest, almost even bringing a smile to your face for a brief moment. As you needed the end, you couldn't help but wonder who wrote it. Your (e/c) eyes were led to the bottom of the letter where their name was written.

...Josuke Higashikata?

Your mind went back to when you declined his offer to walk you home. Perhaps you had come off as a little too harsh, but you would've preferred to walk home yourself that day. Truth be told, your shyness had got the better of you in that moment. You weren't here to make friends, you were here for a learning experience.

Though your mom had told you to at least try and make some friends. The idea didn't appeal to you in the slightest, but you guessed this was an opportunity to do so, if any. He even bothered to put a place and time to meet him if you wanted. After school on the rooftop..

Carefully placing the letter in your binder (unlike the others, that you had shoved in your backpack) you silently agreed to it. Hopefully you wouldn't get cold feet like last time when talking to him. Considering his status in school, that'd be a little more than just 'embarrassing'.

.::.

It took a bit of convincing for Okuyasu and Koichi to let Josuke wait on the rooftop all by himself. 

"We can wait behind the stairs!" Nope.

"We can hide beside the door!" Not a chance.

If there was any possibility of you coming up there, seeing his friends peeping in is on the list of last things he'd want to happen.

Hands in his pockets, he stared out into the distance. The top of the school really did give an ethereal view. Morioh's vivid yellow sky blending into a purple hue as the afternoon comes to an end. Students traveling in small groups on their way home. The trees blowing along with the gentle breeze, it was all such a sight to take in. He wondered if you chose Morioh to study on purpose. If you didn't like the school, he hoped you could at least enjoy the atmosphere.

Pulling back his sleeve, he caught a glance of his watch. It had been five minutes since he got here.

He let out a quick sigh, he hadn't given up all hope yet but if you were gonna come you could've at least showed up on time. Taking his favorite red comb out of his pocket, he straightened his pompadour. 

A sudden creak and slam from the door behind him nearly made him trip out of shock and the comb would've fallen into the abyss that was the school's courtyard if he wasn't careful. A scowl on his face, he turned expecting Koichi and Okuyasu that had gone against his wishes and peeped in.

But it wasn't them. It was you. Nearly out of breath, looking like you'd topple over if you ran any further.

Muttering an 'oh shit' he quickly put his comb away and corrected his posture. What was that uncomfortable feeling on his features? Sweat maybe? The teenager rushed over to where you were.

"H-hey, are you alright?" He asked.

"I…am so sorry." You breathed out. "I didn't forget, I swear. I had to clean the classroom today and came up here hoping you hadn't left yet."

The way you looked into his eyes sent him over the moon on it's own. He hadn't got such a good look at your eyes before, but now he was sure they were beautiful. The two of you stood still for a moment, before he awkwardly cleared his throat. If the stare went on for any longer it would've killed him.

"S-so, uh..you got my letter?"

"Yes." Was all you answered. You had never been confessed to a day in your life, and you had no idea how to even approach a situation like this. Hell, it's not like anyone back home was interested in you.

"That's great!" He smiled. Something was charming about the way he pronounced that word. A smile etched its way into your face as well.

"Hey, I think that's the first time I've seen you smile!"

You felt your skin flush at that comment. It was something you heard often, but this time evoked a different feeling knowing it came from someone who potentially liked you. It was also something you didn't know how to react to. Were you supposed to say 'thanks"? Instead you only nodded.

"Wow, you're a lot more...shy than how I first pegged you as." Josuke acknowledged. You were a far cry from the 'cool girl' everyone knew you as from the first day of school. It was frankly sort of embarrassing. What if he didn't like you anymore? Why'd you even care if he did?

"Sorry." Was all you could think to say. Josuke's eyes widened, putting his hands up to reassure you that he meant no harm.

"What? There's nothing wrong with that! I'm actually kinda glad. You wouldn't believe how many asshole snooty chicks think they'd have a shot at dating me. Let alone trying to be friends." 

"You thought I was an asshole?"

"N-no! You know what I mean! I mean not that I thought you were because of the other day but-" He stopped before he made it worse.

He took a breath. At least you weren't the only one nervous.

"Listen, I was just thinking we could..hang out sometime..as friends."

"...friends?"

"Yeah! Oh, and I could use some tutoring with my math homework." He came up with that one on the spot, but it wasn't untrue. The boy felt it was less likely you'd agree to that particular offer, but it was worth a shot.

The silence thickened between the two of you for a moment. It wasn't as tense as the first time, he could tell you were just thinking it over. His fingers were crossed behind his back just in case.

"Sure. I'm free tomorrow afternoon and Sunday." You simply responded.

"YES!" He chanted.

Out loud.

'..shit.' he thought.

"I mean---uh…" He snickered, breaking out into chuckles. Jojo really couldn't think of anything to cover that up. A smile found its way into your face as well as he laughed, shaking your head.

"Thank you so much for considering me! (L/n)-san!

"You can call me (y/n)-chan. I don’t mind."

Calling you by your first name. Something to brag about to the boys afterward.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow!" He swung his bag over his shoulder and began to walk past you.

"Wait, Josuke!" You called after him before he opened the door. He stopped, not turning around.

"Did you mean everything you said in that letter? My eyes, hair, and everything?" It sounded kind of desperate, but you needed to know. You could see a smile at the corner of his face. 

"Yeah, every word of it." Josuke left out the door to head home for the day. 

You could sleep happy tonight feeling more confident about yourself. Wouldn't hurt to keep wearing heels to school either..

[behindheremeraldeyes]

title: Empty Nest

summary: It’s been a peaceful week for the Titans, as nothing bad has happened in Jump City. And although she knew she should be enjoying that while she could, Raven just couldn’t rest until her little Robin returned to his nest.

a/n: okay... This is my very first DamiRae fic and I’m really really excited-slash-nervous about this! To be honest, it was very hard to work with their own particularities and I guess that was why I had such a great time writing this fic! It’s a fluff, not very complicated (but definitely longer than I had originally planned), and I do hope you guys can enjoy it! Constructive criticism is VERY MUCH appreciated, please! It’s a new experience for me, English is not my main language and I would love it if you could tell me your honest opinion (especially since I’m not really familiar with the comics yet). Have fun!

Also, I would like to thank @ravenfan1242 for being so sweet and for always making my dash so beautiful! Thank you so so much for making me feel so welcomed!

Pairing: Damian x Raven

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The clock was striking 3:07 am, but her amethyst eyes were still wide open as she flipped yet another page of her newest, mystery book. The tower was quiet, as most of its inhabitants were asleep, and from her large window, she could see the dim lights of Jump city flickering across the distant shore. For an entire week, there had been no reports on villainous acts, and apparently, that night would be no different.

Life seemed to be oddly peaceful, and for she knew better than to believe that would last forever, Raven was determined to enjoy every second of that temporary peace. It had been ages since she had last stayed up late reading, hence, the empath figured that would be the perfect opportunity to share such a delightful night with a hard-covered book.

Yes, that was definitely the reason why she was awake at such late hours of the dawn. Or at least that was the lie she had been telling herself for the past 6 hours.

Though it wasn’t really unusual for her to get lost in the pages of a good novel, Raven was just too stubborn to buy her own excuse. She knew the book was but a mere consequence of her insomnia— the sole whiteness of what has become of her nights whenever her little bird was summoned by the bat.

Yes, as embarrassing as it could be, Damian Wayne was the reason why she was up at such late hours. Though she knew better than to doubt her boyfriend’s impeccable combat skills, it was inevitable for her not to lose sleep whenever he had to go to Gotham in order to aid his father in yet another dangerous mission. Even with Bruce and Dick constantly patrolling the streets, she has never liked that cursed city, and knowing he was there fighting against A-class criminals such as the Joker and Bane was more than enough to leave her worried.

Her heart was beating incredibly loud in her chest, the air in her lungs felt heavier and even if she had technically read over 50 pages of her book, her eyes were constantly glancing towards her phone, waiting for the only notification that could make her feel less like a ticking bomb. Raven needed to know he was safe, and that would only happen when he had time to answer the message she had strategically sent him a couple of hours after he left for his mission. She would always choose her words carefully, making sure he wouldn’t notice her real intentions, and eventually, he would end up saying he was on his way back home to the Wayne mansion or anything that would imply it.

Most of the times, Raven would just ask him to send a pic from something she knew he could only find in the mansion, such as Titus, Alfred or even a picture of himself after a warm shower. Even if she could just ask him directly about his whereabouts, the empath didn’t want him to know she was actually worried about his safety, or else his ego would certainly explode.

He is a Wayne, after all.

That night, though, instead of a not-so-random pic, she had asked him to bring her a pack of chocolate chip cookies she has only ever found in Gotham. It’s a special recipe from an old man that lives a couple of blocks away from the police department, and even if he has once shared his secrets with Raven, that delicate taste of cinnamon is still a mystery to the empath. Those cookies are probably the only good thing about that forsaken city, and if they could help her keep track on him, then they were really the best cookies she could’ve ever asked for.

An annoyed sigh escaped her lips as she could now feel her stomach growling inside her belly. If just that stupid anxiety wasn’t already enough, now Raven was also growing hungry at the thought of her cookies. At that moment, she also realized her reading wasn’t taking her anywhere, therefore she chose to shut the book and let it rest over her chest. She closed her heavy eyes for a moment, then, taking a deep breath before picking up her phone from her nightstand. It had been hardly 16 minutes since she had last checked it, and she could feel anger running through her veins.

How much longer was he gonna take with those bandits? Had Batman never heard of curfew?

Apparently, not even all of those years of meditating seemed to have prepared her for dating a Robin. She was growing impatient with every passing minute, and as she held her phone in her hands, a new, desperate idea crossed her mind.

Raven was going to call him.

Even if she rarely ever used that phone for such purposes, and even if she knew he might be busy, the purple-haired girl had made up her mind. She was going to risk inflating his ego so she could check on him, and if by Azarath she discovered he had ignored her message and was already fast asleep back home, chances were that she was going to teleport to Gotham just to scold him— even if theoretically she knew he didn’t really deserve to be scolded.

Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do. She was going to call him, and he would better have her damn cooki—

Her cellphone buzzed. A new message was displayed on the screen, and as soon as she saw his name there, her amethyst eyes widened. Quickly, the girl sat up on her bed, the book sliding from her body, and it took her less than a second to unlock her phone so she could read the words her boyfriend had sent her.

‘Long night. I’ll ask Alfred to get it for you tomorrow. On my way home now.’

Her eyes read that message at least three times so she could make sure she didn’t misunderstand his words. Once they entered her head, though, it was as if a wave of relief rushed through her system. Her heart settled, a soft smile took over her lips and it was as if she could breath normally again.

He was going home. Finally.

At last, Damian was out of the dirty streets of Gotham and on his way to the safety of the Wayne mansion. She didn’t need to worry anymore— at least not for the rest of that night— and now, she could finally allow herself to fall asleep.

But not before a warm mug of tea.

A satisfied sigh escaped her lungs and in one, swift move; Raven was standing on her feet, stretching her arms above her head. Her short, purple hair framed her small face, slowly brushing her cheeks as she walked out of her room and towards the kitchen. For everyone was already asleep, she made sure not to make any unnecessary noise as she boiled the water in the electric kettle. She opened the cabinet to get her black mug, and soon, poured the water with the tea-bag already waiting inside.

The relaxing scent of chamomile invaded her nostrils, and maybe it was because she was still trapped in that rare, blissful moment of pure peace; but that lazy smile refused to leave her lips, as she carefully made her way back to her room with her tea in hands. At last, the empath was ready to sit back, relax and even read a couple more pages while the tea lasted. Perhaps, she could even go back and try to understand what she had supposedly read in the past couple of hours so she wouldn’t waste a good book.

Yes, that seemed like a nice idea, indeed. She nodded to herself, accepting her newest decision, and expertly, she used her elbow to activate the sensor so the automatic door could slide open. Her semi-dark room quickly came into view, a soft breeze blowing her locks away, and once her amethyst eyes landed on her bed, her heart skipped a beat.

Lips parted, eyes widened and knees slightly shaken. Though the sight of that green mask on his face was far from unpleasant, Raven would be lying if she said his presence didn’t startle her.

Damian has that effect on her. Always had and always will, she knows.

“You really have to stop sleeping with your window unlocked, Rae.”

His voice filled her ears and unconsciously, her chest grew warmer at how casual that short version of her name escaped his lips. Her eyes were set on him, watching as he took off his heavy boots. His eyes weren’t looking at her, but if they were, the raven haired boy would’ve noticed the way her shoulders tensed at his presence and the way her hands had turned slightly paler around the mug. The ceramic was still hot, but at that moment, she didn’t seem to care about that, no.

Unexpectedly, her boyfriend was back. And though that was far from an emergency, nothing else seemed to matter anymore.

“Damian...” His name rolled out of her tongue almost as a whisper. What was he doing there? Why didn’t he return to the mansion where he could get some proper rest after the night patrol? Did something happen?

Slowly, the empath realized her thoughts were leading her to think about bad scenarios that could explain the whole thing, and even if she was trying not to overthink, she knew better than to believe that was even an option at such hours.

Her eyes were now clinically scanning him, and physically, he seemed to be okay. There were no signs of major bleeding and all of his limbs were where they were meant to be. Could it be that something had happened to Bruce, then? Did they have a fight and that was why he didn’t go back home? Maybe Alfred—

The sound of her room’s automatic door closing suddenly brought her back to earth, and she could finally get a hold on her thoughts. She swallowed dry, releasing a sigh she didn’t know she was holding, as she took a couple of slow steps towards him. He had finally freed his feet from those boots, and judging by the way his lips curled up, it was easy to deduce that freedom felt nice after hours of kicking bad guys.

“You—” She spoke, his face now lifting so their eyes could meet behind his mask. Perhaps she really could just ask him why he was back so soon. “What are you—“

“Even if I doubt bad guys would even consider using your window to invade the tower, I’m pretty sure Kori wouldn’t like to wake up in the middle of the night with the intruder alarm.”

“What?” She asked, confusedly, as she had clearly not payed any attention to what he had been talking about before. “The window? No, that’s not important. I—“

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m probably the only one who uses it to enter your room anyway.” He chuckled, a smirk now playing on his lips. His elbows were now resting on his knees as he moved his neck to relieve some of the tension. “And besides, we can always blame Gar for the—”

“Damian!” She started, her voice an octave louder, cutting his train of thought. Once he noticed how serious her face looked, his smirk suddenly disappeared. He was definitely listening now. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes squinted under his mask, a wrinkle forming on the bridge of his nose, and Raven realized he looked genuinely confused at her question. For a couple of seconds, the room grew silent around them, and slowly, she felt her patience dying inside of her. The clock was about to strike 4a.m and she just didn’t feel like playing games anymore.

“... I live here, remember? The Robin of the team... The future leader of the titans. Are you okay, Rae?”

“No, that was not— Tch.” She scoffed, using a hand to massage her temples. That was really not her night. “I know you live here. I just meant to ask why you’re here and not in Gotham. You usually spend the night there after patrolling with Bruce. Did something happen?”

“Oh, that.” He started, his voice now holding a calmer tone. His lips were now slightly curled up, and judging by the way he stood up and tilted his head to the right, she could tell he was trying to read her as if she was an open book. Even if he refused to admit so, Damian was very much like his father, and that certainly included Bruce’s impeccably annoying, detective skills. “Nothing happened. I told you I was coming home.”

“I-I know you did, but...” She asked, taking another step closer and pointing an accusing finger at him. Her brows were knitted, as she was clearly not in the mood for jokes. “You better not be hiding anything from me, Damian.”

A smirk crossed his lips at the sight of his girlfriend all fired up, and if anything, he didn’t back off a single inch from her. Even if she could still not see his green eyes, she knew they would be holding that sly gleam that is so characteristic of him. “Don’t worry, okay? Nothing bad happened, I swear. The patrol was quite boring tonight so I just decided to get the jet and come back a bit earlier.”

“Really? Simple as that?”

“Yes, simple as that. I give you my word.” He lifted his right hand as to illustrate his seriousness, and at that moment, after analyzing his body language, Raven thought she could believe him this time. His voice sounded calm and she couldn’t feel any turbulence in his emotions, so, perhaps, she could accept the simple answer this time. Unconsciously, then, her expression softened, and she decided she could just be happy to have him back and they could finally get some sleep together.

Simple as that, she thought.

But maybe, Raven had made up her mind too soon.

“Why are you so surprised, though?”

“What?” Her eyes widened, a confused expression taking over her face.

“Well, you seem quite surprised that I actually chose to come back. Is there any particular reason for such reaction, Raven?”

Shit.

Though she had first believed to be the one in charge of their little argument, only now Raven could see how he had so smoothly turned the tables. At his words, she could feel her throat growing dry and she knew he was coming too close to the truth she was trying to hide.

She hated whenever he did that. Whenever he started to press her into voicing something they both already knew — because he knew, she was sure of that. He knew she was overthinking and that she was worrying over nothing. He knew she was trying to understand his reasons so she could accept her own answers.

He knew she was hiding something stupid. And he wanted to know what.

“Tch, don’t be ridiculous, Damian.” She tried to dismiss him, which was clearly to no avail. Raven crossed her arms across her chest, looking away from him, but she could still feel his eyes on her, as if they were stripping her from her own facade. “I’m glad you’re here. Just curious on why you didn’t use the door like the rest of us.”

“Well, it is 4am, Rae. Kory and the others are still asleep and I didn’t want to wake them up.”

“Oh, but waking me up was fine, then?”

“But you weren’t really asleep, were you?” He grinned. “Judging by how wide your eyes are and by the fact that you’re drinking tea instead of water; I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that you’re still up.”

The teasing tone of his voice made her want to punch him in the face at that moment. She had fallen right into his trap, and she knew she didn’t have much time to come up with a plausible answer if she didn’t want him to grow even more suspicious than he already was.

Raven had to say something. Anything would be better than to give him that chance to tease her into admitting the truth that she was, indeed, awake and waiting for him to get home safely. Even if that wasn’t really an interrogatory, she knew her boyfriend was using his elevated IQ to get the answers he wanted so he could use that against her in the near future. She couldn’t give him the taste of victory, no.

He would be insufferable if she did.

“I lost track of time while reading a book, that’s all. Most days you would find me asleep by now.”

“A book, sure...” He started, clearly not buying her excuse. “Are you sure you weren’t awake because you were worried about me?”

“You wish.” She said, turning to face him once again, as their eyes stubbornly battled for dominance.

Neither of them gave any signs of backing down anytime soon, and even if that could be slightly frustrating, both Damian and Raven enjoyed that little game of push and pull. It was exciting, the thrill of their little competition, as it showed just how intense their love could be. They flirted with very narrow limits and took advantage of slight changes on each other’s body language; and if anything, that only showed how deeply they cared for one another.

How deeply they loved.

“If you say so...” He started, the words slowly leaving his lips. He was smiling softly now, his tall body towering over hers as he took her left hand in his gloved ones. “Either way, I’m glad you’re up. It’s like you’re welcoming me home and it feels really nice. Thank you, Raven”

At his pure words, Raven couldn’t help but feel her knees shaking under her weight. Her heart skipped a beat and her chest got so warm that something inside her melted.

That little bastard.

Now he had really done it.

Even if the empath knew better than to simply believe those words held no deeper meaning, she knew he had carefully chosen them just to mess with her feelings. After giving up on teasing her with his standard strategy, Damian chose to use his secret weapon that would only work against her. It wasn’t meant to cause her pain or anything of the sort, but it sure was a powerful enough to take her down.

Damian was being soft, to the point where she couldn’t really resist. He was being sincere and true to his feelings, and perhaps, that was the main reason why she couldn’t find it in herself to even fight back. She knew about his past and his deepest struggles regarding his future. She knew about all the things he had to go through in order to be where he is now, and it’s impossible for her not to feel touched whenever he voices his true emotions.

For years, he had to walk his own, merciless path alone, not knowing for sure he had a place to call home. The expectations he had upon himself were too heavy for him to carry alone, yet, he never stumbled or complained about them. He has always been so hard on himself, never accepting anything but perfection— he was raised as the perfect child, after all.

He was never accepted. Never loved or even welcomed for most of his life.

But now—well...

Now his life was so much different than before. He has a father, a brother, friends and a place where he can be himself and make as many mistakes as he wants.

He has a place to call home and a person waiting solely for him. And the best part in all that is that he knows.

He truly knows.

As realizations stroke her, the empath released an exasperated sigh. It was really late—not that she was even planning on sleeping anymore— and there was no way she could beat him anymore. Her heart was moved by his low move, and the only thing left for her was to silently admit defeat and properly welcome him home.

Her mug of tea— now colder than Dr. Freeze’s ice beams—was soon enveloped by her magic as it floated around the room until she placed it on her nightstand. She freed her hand, then, and slowly, she reached for his face, her fingertips touching the edges of his mask. He didn’t flinch, she noticed. He never really does whenever she touches him. His silence was the only permission she needed, and soon, Raven removed his mask, finally being able to look deep into his emerald eyes.

They stared at each other for a little too long, examining every change and every flicker hidden behind those orbs. Her amethyst eyes were looking at him softly, and she watched as all that bold malice disappeared from his lips. Damian was offering her a delicate smile, and before she knew it, her lips were also curling up. A soft blush tinged her cheeks, and at that moment, she could sense their emotions mixing together.

They were the same. Perfectly connected by one feeling called love.

“I’m glad you’re home, Damian.” She spoke, simply. “It made me happy, too.”

“TT” He scoffed, bitting his lower lip in order to suppress a smile. “And you still wonder why I chose to come back.”

A chuckle escaped her lips, and before she could even answer his statement, Raven felt his hand on her lower back, carefully pulling her closer to his body. It was a soft and slow move, but soon, she found herself on the tips of her toes and their lips were pressed firmly against each other. In one hand, she was still holding his mask, and with the other, the empath reached for his cheek, caressing his skin and holding their faces together in a chaste and puerile kiss.

It wasn’t needy, sloppy or rushed; for they knew there was no need for that. They had all the time in the world to enjoy their shared kisses, and thankfully, they knew exactly how to enjoy that time.

“You know...” He started, pulling back just a few inches from her lips, his hand now resting on her hip. “I could get used to this. Maybe I should start giving you a new book every time I have to go to Gotham.”

“Though I would love the new books, I also need to sleep. I can’t keep doing this every time you have to go to Gotham or else I won’t be able to keep up with morning practice, and we both know Kory is going to get really pissed.”

“Yeah, you’re right...” He nodded, a new smirk taking over his lips. “I really need to hurry and become the leader of this team.”

“Keep dreaming, Wonder Boy.” She chuckled, playfully patting his cheek before walking away and towards her desk, where she carefully placed his mask. After that, she reached for a big drawer near her dresser, picking a white towel and tossing it at him. “Now go clean yourself already, Damian. A true leader can’t smell like Gotham.”

“Heh, well, we did go check the sewers tonight.”

“Ugh, gross.”

“Perks of being a super-hero.” He nodded, folding the tower in his hands. “Do you wanna take off your pajamas and join me?”

“It’s 4am, Damian. The only people showering now are the ones who really need it.”

“You have a fair point.” He stated, detaching his cape from his shoulders and unbuckling his upper armor.

“Of course I do.” She said, watching as he turned his back to her and walked towards the bathroom. He turned on the lights and placed the towel on the cabinet, as he was now focusing on removing his gauntlets. Though it seemed to be a simple uniform, removing the accessories was a real pain in the ass. “Do you need help with the zippers?”

“Nah, don’t worry. I got this. Get to bed and I’ll meet you there soon.”

“Okay.” She nodded, pulling the sheets so she could get under them. She looked at him one more time, his shirt now removed and exposing his defined muscles and battle scars. Damian has grown into a handsome man, for sure, both inside and out. Looking at him like that, in such a casual condition such as taking a shower in her bathroom made her heart flutter with joy, and though she could now feel the lack of sleep taking its toll on her, Raven couldn’t wait until he was finally sleeping safely by her side.

They both deserved a good night of sleep. And even if they would have just a couple of hours to enjoy it, it would still be enough. It had to be.

“Damian...” She spoke, making him turn to face her one more time before closing the bathroom door so the steam wouldn’t invade the room.

“What?” He asked, curiosity spread across his face.

“Don’t take too long... I’m waiting for you.”

Slowly, a genuine smile took over his lips and he nodded before closing the door behind him. She turned off the lights, then, and soon, her head was resting on her pillow and her eyelids closed over her eyes. Raven took a deep and relieved breath, then, and slowly, felt her muscles relaxing against the mattress.

Now that he was back, she could finally rest.

Now that he was back, she could finally sleep.

As her ears captured the sound of water running down, a genuine smile took over her lips, and if anything, she knew it would be there by the time she woke up again.

fin.