#Let me tell you a secret Jade: You are NOT important. We only had enough of your behavior online since it does not change. At all.

[throwawayaccount3482348873289]

Response

Thank you to Jade/Lolthia @/edens-gemstone for replying to the previous post. I will make an exception in replying as yes, there was a part I forgot to add, which is additional evidence to prove that all your accusations in the comments below are completely false. Allow me to address them one by one.

At the end, I will include some follow-up questions to add additional context for other users.

THE ACCUSATIONS

“Also you literally stalked my tumblr after this, rb posts about Adam that I wasn’t comfy being rb and possibly sent me harassing anons (idk for sure)”

I do not have a Tumblr. This account is made by someone else, posting on my behalf. But if you really are confident that it’s me reblogging these posts and sending harassing anons, post the blog and the anons. If you don’t know for sure, why did you post this? 

“You literally just… didn’t want me included because I wouldn't let you ship your OC with Ibara.”

As seen here, this claim is completely false. I explicitly mentioned that I had no problems with the pairing, but asked them to let me know prior next time to ensure the RP is consistent. I may have vaguely talked about an original story I was writing with my OC and Ibara outside of RP, but within the context of the RP, I have clearly stated that I was fine with the direction Lolthia wanted. 

None of what they had mentioned was communicated to me at all before the start of the RP. They didn’t even acknowledge what I said, just responding with ‘well I figured it would be obvious’.

Lolthia’s behaviour here is consistent with their stated intention in the previous post: to RP not because they want to collaborate, but because they want other writers to expend time and effort to fulfil their self-ship fantasies, without giving as much in return. Therefore, they didn’t bother giving context, let alone asking if their RP partners were okay with it.

“You even stopped our RP after getting mad about me dating Ibara.”

Lolthia stopped the RP themselves after I confronted them for ranting on their public blog about a communication issue they were unhappy with in this server.

Someone alerted me that they were talking about their RP server on their blog. I was concerned about those in the server who were on Tumblr. As their RP partner, I requested that they delete it and talk to us first in the future. We then had the following conversation.

The conversation ended with this rude remark and Lolthia proceeded to be inactive for a long time before starting the argument in the previous post.

“I got tired of constant pings asking me for stuff”/ “I… asked to stop being pinged because I was going through enough”

I need you to understand that you are the admin of the server. We needed your help to create threads to hold our RPs in. Instead of not saying anything when we pinged you only to throw a tantrum about it, why didn’t you pass the permissions or moderator roles to someone else, or at least notify us that you’d be inactive for a certain amount of time?

In the post where we were planning an RP and pinged you - If your interpretation of ‘maybe they can come in later to keep the narrative consistent’ is us excluding you, that’s honestly a you problem, mate.

TO LOLTHIA/JADE

Only one of the claims you have made against me is correct. Yes - presently, I do not like you. But it’s not because you are whatever you identify as, or that you ship with a specific character.

I do not like you because you vagued your own server members, including myself, on your public blog. When I found out and asked you to edit out the mention of our server at minimum, you still had the gall to try to convince me it didn’t affect anyone but yourself.

I do not like you for insulting my friends and I as writers by saying we were ‘just an alternative to character.AI’ all along. And as people, by comparing us to the hate anons who had sent you death threats when we did nothing of the sort. Then, twisting the above into these accusations, without a shred of proof to go with them. 

I am a ROLEPLAYER. Ibara to me is no more than a character and piece of intellectual property.

You: 

Explicitly conveyed that your position was to use us to help you get validation for your alleged ‘relationships’ in a similar way to Character.AI.

Took out your jealousy towards other fandom members onto us, even getting emotional when we merely talked about and shared screenshots of characters you liked. 

When we didn’t give you attention to your liking, accused us of ostracising you and wanting you dead.

Threw a tantrum at us for pinging you for basic admin duties as the server owner, because it wasn’t attention or praise.

The only irrational one here is not myself, but you, and the hard evidence in these two posts is overwhelming.

I won’t be entertaining any further responses. Please be reminded that any attempt to post my personal information publicly will be met with action by me.

TO OTHER USERS

Q: Did you make both these posts and the document? 

No, these posts are follow-ups to the document containing evidence, made by a different person. 

Q: Why did you feel the need to engage them rather than leave the server?

We had already talked only amongst ourselves, ignored any vents they had and began our own server long before these events.

Engaging them was at first a personal choice to defend my friends, who had done nothing wrong. At the time, I was not aware that this was common behaviour for them.

The comparison between us and the death threat anons, which could affect my friends’ reputations, was the most compelling reason for me to attempt straightening this out.

Q: Why has this post been made almost a year later?

Yes, I do agree that from the looks of it, Lolthia’s actions are old news. After I was informed, I personally did not want anything to do with them, and decided to let it go.

However, recently, my friends in the same fandom spaces have not had the luxury of curating their own online experiences because according to them, they are constantly remaking blogs. Furthermore, it was not easy for them to work up the courage to make this post, as being wrongfully accused of wanting someone’s death is not easy for anyone. So, I decided to back them up with the hard evidence they lacked.

Thank you for reading. 

#ok to reblog #ok to rb #I may as well also say something in the tags (I am the one posting on someone else's behalf): #I myself hope this is the last post made on here as well. There is nothing more to add honestly. #This is honestly getting tiring. I know you will read this Jade one way or another. You will come across it. #If you have evidence for the contrary and can prove that you are in the right please do so (I already know you can't). #You will claim to be 'harrassed' but that is not our intention (anyone sending you harrassment or threats is not behavior we tolerate). #(Also no we are sending no one after you nor 'stalk your blog'. Don't act as if we don't have anything better to do... Because we do) #Let me tell you a secret Jade: You are NOT important. We only had enough of your behavior online since it does not change. At all. #It affects others - It affected us and it is affecting the communities you are in as well as a good portion of their members. #Please let it go already. But you can't. Because... As you said yourself 'Any attention is good attention'. #And some of your current mutuals will try to say 'it adds fuel to the fire'. This is not the intention in any way. #The only intention is to document Jade's online behavior and warn others. Because they have already gone too far. #This is to document and prove that they are no different no matter where they go. We only want to spread awareness. #It is not just me and the other person who are sick of it. Many others are sick of it as well. We want it to stop. #Their actions affect others nowadays as well. Only last month there was yet another incident heavily affecting another person. #Why? Because Jade thought it was necessary to make a 'callout post'. Even though the situation was long over. #This should have been long over and everyone involved is trying to move on. But you Jade make it impossible. This has gone on far enough. #Not to mention having been exposed to your drama and graphic vents (which at least sound suicide baity) have also stressed me out. #I kept out of the drama but it was affecting my mental state as well. All because you manage to land yourself into so many controversies. #I moved blogs because I had enough of your shit. Seeing it day in and out does a lot to a person. #'But no one cares about me' - We do not wish you ill (that is the truth) but this has to stop somehow. You are not the victim here. #It's always others but honestly... Given how much shit you got yourself into maybe you are to blame. This isn't normal after all. #Maybe ask yourself what you are doing wrong. But you won't. You never will. You will paint us as 'the bad ones' here. #That's the only thing you know how to do. You cannot owe up to anything and you are proving it time and time again. Even now. #Why do you get defensive now and not when the document dropped? Because there is solid evidence for your bullshit. That's why. You know it. #Deleting because you will throw a temper tantrum? No. Forget it. But again if you have proof for your claims come forward. #To me personally if you wish. But beware: This is not the first time I have dealt with this bullshit. I know this behavior all too well. #You are pulling bullshit I have already seen. My advice is to just log off already and sort your problems out. #This is not the first time I dealt with your type. You show the pattern I honestly expect and you will react as I expect.

[sunny6677]

Pizza Lovers

A Michael Afton x OC

Chapter 1: A (Seemingly) Harmless Start

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This story that I am about to tell you is of great importance, as I am aware you have never heard of my name before. I may not have been completely relevant, but oh-- I can tell you a lot more than all that you had heard from those news reporters and those sorry sad sacks who continously and hopelessly theorize about the events of Freddy Fazbears.

Disastrous as it was, it was a delight for one reason only. Though the sticky, yellow cheese of leftover pizza was stuck on random places and the sound of screaming children prevented me from relaxing at all-- I had a good friend whom was connected in blood to the man who had created this shit-show of a company.

It's time i tell you the delightful and magical and catastrophic circumstances of being friends with the one and only Michael Afton. Funnily enough, maybe becoming friends with him was the source of my death after all.

But alas, I cannot blame his for his fathers faults. Now come, sit down or relax, or do whatever you are able at the moment. Let me tell you the story of Michael Afton and myself.

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

It was around the year 1983 when this had all began(The events leading up to his family's demise anyway). Around this time, I was of the age of 15, and alas, my dear friend was the same age as I. And as were our other friends as well. I had never hung out with the others much, only showing up when Michael wanted me to, but we were still on good terms.

You see, I myself, for my appearance looked like this; I had a peculiarly round face, yet it wasn't like I was chubby or anything. In fact, I was as skinny as a branch on a tree. It almost looked like I had a trunk for a torso and four sticks for arms and legs. My eyes were big, and half-lidded most of the time.

They were a dark, chocolately brown that would glitter and twinkle in the sunlight as if I were some fresh young baby. My eyes almost looked sort of similar to a dog's, I would say. My hair was fluffy, the darkest of browns and humongous. Who is to say you couldn't fit a secret or two in there?

Anytime I would walk, the hair would bounce naturally as if it were a ball being tossed around. It was naturally cozy and fuzzy on its own, and i doubt it would change anytime soon since it only ever seemed to get longer sometimes.

I was african-american, so my skin was brown obviously. It was a brown that would glitter utmost beautifully in the sun, like the sun held on tightly to it no matter where I would go. As for my attire, here is what it looked like.

Often times, I would be wearing a black crop-top no matter the weird looks I had gotten from people with toxic masculinity. I didn't exactly care for the looks they gave me, since I knew very well that they probably wore the exact same things anyway. The black crop-top had a white heart for a symbol on the front, which I very much loved.

I wore two black bracelets on my wrists to go with my aesthetic, and a belt to hold up my blue jeans. My shoes were plain and simple, dark brown and heavy as can be. Truthfully, they were a hand-me-down from my grandfather.

Compared to the rest of my friends, I am the tallest among them all. Michael is 5'2, and I am about 5'9. Jade(The one who wore the Chica mask) was 5'0, Charlie(The one whom wore the Bonnie mask) was 5'4 and Simon(the one whom wore the Freddy mask) was 5'6. It was like i was a tower in the midst of a few smaller buildings.

Now for the record, if you must know, I go by the name of Andy Smith.

But I must continue on, shouldn't I? My name may not exactly be relevant to the story after all.

It was upon one summer day that I had been walking to Michael's house, with my hands digged deep into my pockets. It was getting dark, yet the yelps and cries of joy from children still echoed endlessly from the park and from the Freddy Fazbears place.

The streetlights glowed down upon me as multiple mosquitoes began to swarm the area. I only remained unbothered, not making a single tremor of movement on my expression. The annoying buzzing was only one step away from making me smash all of them in two though.

It was upon when the sky began to die into a bright pink that I had reached his house. From what I had known, his father was at work, so I didn't need to worry a single thing about making too much noise. As for his mother, I never asked why she wasn't ever there, so I didn't know where she was.

His little siblings were present though, so I would have to listen to the shrieks of Michael telling them to leave out of his room so they would leave him and me be.

Elizabeth was his youngest sibling. Compared to Michael, she had bright orange hair that reached down to her back. She was in kindergarten, so she was very small compared to me and him.

She would often wear a hot pink shirt, with a little blue skirt to go with it and cute white socks. She would wear tiny shiny black shoes. With how dark the things she wore were, they made her eyes of emeralds shine in an outstanding glow.

Evan was his brother, and was about 9 or so. He had dark, fluffy neat hair, and very pale skin in comparison to his brother. His eyes were big and round, and for whatever reason, he had endless dark holes of eyebags under his eyes of sky blue.

His voice sounded very shaky for whatever reason as well. As for his clothes, he'd often wear a black and gray striped shirt-- with blue shorts, and brown shoes.

I would be hearing them soon enough, for as I walked up to the door, I rapped and tapped my knuckles gently at the big door.

I stood in the humid air, with a hand on my hip and a grin of a thousand stupid 5 year olds on my face. I looked like I was some stupid kid waiting for their parent most likely at the time.

Finally, the door opened, and it revealed he; my dear friend, Michael, whom I so truly loved.

His eyes stood out compared to the rest of him, for they were an endless sea of yearning ocean blue that would wash over any beach beautifully.

They were average size, yet they stood out out much. His skin was very tan in comparison to his other siblings, and he had very messy brown hair. He looked like a twig sort of, and had endless bandaids covering certain bruises and what not.

For whatever reason, he always wore a Foxy mask to the side of his head. It was funny, how that mask which he always wore so much, would become the very thing he'd hate to wear at all.

He had a sleeveless, grey shirt on that would reveal his teenage muscles. It was impressive, considering I had never seen him work out in my life before.

His shorts would be a dark brown, and his legs compared to the rest of his limbs would have endless tidal waves of bandaids. I couldn't tell if he was just clumsy, or if it was for the aesthetic. Like me, he had brown shoes.

"Hey, your finally here, man! I was gettin' sick and tired of hearing that brats whining." Michael grumbled, looking back at most likely Evan, whom I couldn't see.

"Hey man, it's no trouble. Be a little easy on the guy, ain't his fault I took forever. Youuuu can blame that on my whiny little sister, heheh." Said I, with a smile.

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting your sibling is an annoying crybaby too."

"Well-- you hardly ever come to mine, so it's easy to forget. Now come on, stop talkin' to me about your brother-- you know exactly why I'm here."

He smirked, "Pfff, the pizza?"

"Yep. And not gonna lie, if ya don't stop complainin', I might make some pizza outta you." Said I, playfully punching him on the arm. He only laughed, "Oh really? Well, if that's want you want.."

He then turned around.

"Last one to the fridge owes the other 5 dollars!"

He then ran off, and I smirked while facing my head down. As I darted in and slammed the door shut, I scrambled over to where he was heading; the kitchen.

While this event may not exactly seem relevant, this was only the beginning of his family's downfall. And I hate to admit it, but see.. the first death in the afton family-- he was the reason it had even happened.

#fnaf #michael afton #fnaf x oc

[spidersfanfics]

In Space No One Can Make You Choose

Y/N / The Captain x Mark Iplier / Head Engineer (In Space With Markiplier) | Meta Jokes About CYOA Stories | Fourth Wall is Broken

Too much meta, or is it just too meta? Maybe leaving video format and hopping into some fics is the secret to being happy with Mark Iplier.

I wrote this based on some memes I saw about interacting w/ Engineer!Mark and it's kinda weird? Like the vibes definitely show that I wrote this at 3AM. But hey, it's fun, even if it is a little bleak. And it was important that this come out before Part 2 gets released. So if you're reading it after May 2nd then keep that in mind I guess? Unless it turns out to not affect things at all. In which case disregard.

It’s hard to say what exactly propelled you forward in this darkness of space. Making choice after choice despite the futility, and indeed fatality, of the whole endeavor. Naive optimism? Not yet jaded by the ending of it all. Morbid curiosity? Wanting to know what else could have been, and now is. A drive for completion no matter the cost? Even if that price was far steeper than you could ever hope to pay. Or worst of all, maybe it was just a sick, twisted, glee in seeing other people suffer at your hands. Or at the very least, hands that claimed to be yours.

But no matter the reason, this time, you just can’t bring yourself to do it. Can’t stare Mark in his beaming smile and make the silent call. Not after you had, or perhaps had not, heard the way he thought about you in one timeline or another.

A date? That certainly wouldn’t go well. But he’d still thought it, and it’s the thought that counts. Speaking of thoughts…

“Captain? You’re sort of staring off into space there,” Mark comments in a lighthearted tone as he waves a hand next to your face. “Earth to the captain. Does that joke even land out here in space?”

Very slowly, you turn your head to face him. How much you’ve put him through and yet he still trusts you blindly every single time. You know it’s just the effect you have on people but he accepted it so much easier than most. The knowledge stings just a little. But how do you even begin to convey how sorry you are without saying a word? How do you tell him that you can never be sorry enough for how much he’s had to suffer?

You hug him.

“Captain…” Mark trails off and accepts it, nearly collapsing onto you. Good thing you’re more than strong enough to fling him around with just one hand. You know that from experience. Probably. Mark’s arms find their way around you in response and you hear him take a deep breath in what sounds like an attempt to hold back tears.

When you pull apart, he clears his throat stiffly and nods with only a slight sniffle. “Thanks, Captain. I’m uhh, not really sure why you did that? But I appreciate it.” You just nod.

The wormhole will not let you leave, you realize. Not yet, not until the time is right. And it doesn’t matter how many times you jump in the outcome will not change. There. But maybe, a change of medium will let you take a breather, just for a little while. So as the setting around you fades away into the white noise of the background, you realize something.

“This isn’t our ship.”

Mark fixes you with a startled and somewhat puzzled look. “Captain,” he says slowly, “This is going to sound weird but… it feels like that’s the first time I’ve ever heard your voice. Which makes no sense of course given your famous heartfelt and inspiring speeches but still. Well, I guess maybe heard isn’t quite right, but I do see what you mean. About this ship I mean, I feel it too!” His face breaks out in a wide grin as he grabs you by the arms, “Does this mean we did it? Did we escape the wormhole?”

You start to shake your head a little solemnly but then pause. Why bother burdening him with the knowledge of what is and isn’t? None of that matters here so who cares? There are far more pressing matters at hand. “Mark.”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Do you like me?”

That seems to catch him off guard and it takes him a second to answer. “Of course I do,” he says earnestly, “You’re my captain, I would do anything for you. I’d follow you to the ends of the universe.”

You sigh a little bit and reach out to rest your hand against his face, “But do you like me?”

He tenses up instantly, “Oh uhh, Captain. What’s this about suddenly?”

“I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do,” you reassure him. Sure he’d go along with whatever it is you tried because that’s the kind of person you are but right now you don’t want things to be that way.

“Are you…” he hesitates, just in case he’s still wrong about your intentions. Which he isn’t, you know this. But will he accept it? “You’re not going to kiss me, are you?”

You shrug, “Do you want me to?”

He smiles just a little at that, “Are you offering me a choice? That’s not usually how we do things, is it, Captain?”

You can’t help but laugh too. Somehow, it makes the whole thing a little less insane when someone else acknowledges it. “No,” you agree, “But I think we’re a little past unconventional at this point. So what do you pick?”

“I pick yes, of course,” and so you do. You kiss him, and it’s nice. And even if you’re fated to relive the same fate over and over again, dying countless times for who knows what reason, at least you can die together. More importantly though, at least you can live together. Truly the epitome of what do we have to lose?

If all of your choices just serve to hurtle you towards the same end anyway, then you might as well make that journey an enjoyable one. Right?

Your story is not over yet, you are not done making choices. Things will move forward whether you want them to or not and soon. In about a month or so to be precise, but not in his time. None of that matters here and now though because in this little pocket of pseudo-reality, the two of you can at the very least stay linear. Looping only of your own volition and only ever down a set path. Here, in space. No one can make you choose.

#In Space With Markiplier #Markiplier #Head Engineer Mark #Y/N the Captain #Reader #xReader #Markiplier x Reader #ISWM #Meta #Fourth Wall Breaking #This was so hard to tag on AO3 #Wrote this at 3AM #No beta we die like Markiplier

[kusagrasskusa]

Can i ask for a request? prompt 23 but it's Kitana reacting to reader getting flirted with, please ❣ (if u don't write for her or FxF just ignore it, no problem)

I'm so fucking sorry for being late!! I was so busy recently and overwhelmed that I had to spend time to myself. But here you are! This takes place before they were a couple. I'm sorry this isn't too good :/

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Kitana's S/O being flirted with

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The first time in years that a trip like this would possible- Jade, Kitana, Y/N, Lui Kang, and Kung Lao all going to China during a New Year's celebration.

They were just patrolling and watching the fireworks and eating little New Year's cakes, and had to have Lui Kang and Kung Lao order all food for them.

As we all know, Kade and Kitana are Edenian. Y/N was [specy] but didn't know Chinese aside from a few words she picked up when working for Shang Tsung.

As the group passed a patch of peonies, Kung Lao pulled one out. Sneaking up behind her, he snuck a flower into Y/N's hair. "Hmm?" She hummed as she spun look up and saw Lao looking down at her. She smiled brightly and giggled, "Laooo-"

Kitana giggled as the rest if the group did. I suppose nothing was funny but the high energy in the air was enough to make it happen. But Kitana felt a little confused as well. Why did Kung Lao do that, she asked herself. The two are very close but he doesn't normally act so romantic with her.

"You would look great with a flower crown on, Y/N," Kitana commented. Y/N thanked her, messing with the flower in her hair.

Let's skip like 10 minutes when they pass a stand that Y/N seems to have a lot of interest in. Kitana smiled sweetly when she noticed that Y/N couldn't stop looking at the food. "I would love to buy you some," Kitana spoke up, earning a sweet gasp from Y/N. And just minutes later, here Y/N was stuffing her face with these sweet rice cakes.

"You know," Y/N spoke as she held another New Year's treat to her mouth. "During this time of year, Shang Tsung would have a private celebration he hoped no one would find out about. Only the chefs and I caught on but never said a word. We knew he was missing home."

While Lui Kang hummed and commented, Kitana felt a shiver travel down her spin. A small frown found its way onto her mouth and a slight pain in her chest erupted. She always forgets by how carefree and lovable Y/N is that she once worked for a terrible man.

"These are so good, and sweet!" Y/N commented as she finished the cake. Kung Lao chuckled, leaning a little closer to her.

"Doubt it can match your sweetness. It might be a little envious." Cliche Earthrealm pickup lines are so strong against this lady. But too bad she doesn't even realize he's flirting smh.

Y/N smiled and thanked him while Kitana frowned underneath her mask. Does she realize what he's doing? A little pit was formed in her stomach as she grew saddened. Kung Lao clearly likes her.

Despite always being secret about her feelings for Y/N, she couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. But she told herself that she couldn't be mad because two females together is wrong according to so many. The only thing making her feel comfortable with her orientation is how Raiden told her that no fighter cares who her heart desires, but what her heart desires.

Kitana dwelled on this for a few minutes. Maybe this is what she gets for rejected Lui Kang?

Speaking of Lui Kang, he was able to catch on to Kitana's sadness easily.

The group made their way to a table and sat down right in front of a Yi Mein stand. Yi Mein, or long-life noodles, is an traditional food around this time of year.

"Hmm, have any of you ever tried those?" Lui Kang asked, referring to the food. Kung Lao smirked as Y/N shook her head with a smile on her face.

"No, but I always wanted to try it! It smells so good!" Jade snickered at Y/N behavior while Kitana rolled her eyes playfully.

"Well, I'd love to buy you some," Kung Lao offered to Y/N. A glare from Kitana came towards Kung Lao. Yet, just before she could say anything, Lui Kang spoke.

"Actually, I have a little more money to spare. Y/N, Jade, can you two join me please? I will need help picking up the bowls?"

Jade stood up and followed Lui Kang to the stand. Y/N had this stupid smile on her face as she walked with then. And this leaves Kung Lao and Kitana by themselves.

...

It was painfully silent between the two. Kitana stared sadly at her lap as Kung Lao stared dreamingly at the table. Kitana knew why Lui Kang wanted to leave the two alone. It was pretty obvious.

Then suddenly, the princess just sighed and looked up with desperate eyes.

"I know you love her, Kung Lao. I know you do. But please, I have something to ask of you."

Kung Lao felt his face heat up. "What it is?"

Kitana took a deep breath and just let it out. "Y/N is...very important to me. In fact, she- she's made me feel things I've never felt before and..."

Kitana paused, fumbling with her fingers. This was so out of character for her, and Kung Lao caught on to her anxiety.

"Do you think that you can confess to her later? With your romantic gestures and how special tonight is, it would be the perfect time to tell her how you feel. But I ask that were to please, please tell her much later."

Kung Lao furrowed his eyebrows before his widened a bit. A shiver went down his spine as he registered how soft and pleading the princesses voice and words really were. It was so out of character that it scared him.

"Princess Kitana," Kung Lao spoke softly. "Do you love her as well?"

...

Kitana didn't answer as she felt heat rise to her face and tears wanting to form.

"Hmm. I see. You know, I have a younger cousin who also feels that way. Please, have no worries of judgement. I don't care who you love as long as it's healthy," he confided in her as he pat her shoulder.

A smile on her face formed underneath her mask as she nodded.

"I promise I'll tell her long times later. In the meantime, feel free to engage in activities with her. She may fall in love you as well."

And soon after that, the three came with five bowls in their hands.

The food was amazing and crippling anxiety within Kitana's stomach disappeared as they continued their journey throughout China.

If course, with a few exceptions. Y/N going overboard on buying food that is, and her excitement getting to her as she saw fireworks. And when Y/N grabbed Kitana's hand and pointed at a firework, the princess could have sworn she was gonna pass out.

#mk x reader #mk mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #mortal kombat #mortal kombat 9 #mk 11 #mortal kombat 11 #mk 9 #kitana x reader #kitana x you #kitana #mk kitana #mortal kombat kitana #mk kitana x reader #bi reader

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 1- She Ran With Wolves

Bucky Barnes x powered (f)reader Series Re-write (Civil War, Infinity War/Endgame, TFATWS)

Summary: You’re a survivor, always have been and always will be. After narrowly escaping the clutches of Hydra years ago, you’ve been keeping to the shadows for as long as time allows. With Hydra suddenly exposed and your secrets in the open, you’re on the hunt for the last part of your past, but is he ready to see you again?

Warning: angst, talk of violence, some fluff mixed in (a little); way more to come

Masterlist

Side note- This is a TFATWS Series Re-write!!! Obviously lol, anyways. Readers powers are heavily inspired by a certain Marvel badass and I just thought her powers would work so well for this. Also they’re cool as fuck.

September, 15th 2013

Location: S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters, Washington D.C.

This recent project Fury had sent her on was beginning to make itself quit the annoyance for Natasha this past of couple weeks, granted he always gave her the toughest assignments, understanding that no one else can dig up as much dirt as the Black Widow can.

But this? This was different, the target in question was practically a ghost, a legend among the ones lucky, or possibly unlucky enough to have been made aware of this dangerous individual. But no matter how much she asked around from her various secretive resources on the problem in question, this mystery person was simply just rumor to them. Or perhaps too much of a sour subject to seek into any further. Although one thing was always prevalent, people were scared.

But why?

The assassin leans back in her chair, a thoughtful expression crossing over her features as she stares bitterly down at the top secret file gifted to her by Fury himself. Suddenly a door closes, she shuts the file in an instant, only to be greeted with the apologetic face of Steve as he walks past her.

“Sorry. Fury told me you would be in here.” Begins Steve as he takes the nearby couch, something small and metal in his right hand, “Said you were assigned some impossible case. How’s it going so far?”

Letting out a jaded sigh, she shifts her gaze over to the window, “The absolute vagueness of this person is....frustrating to say the least. All I’ve been able to gather is that they’ve been part of some top secret experimentation on pregnant women. Somehow they’re involved with it....I just, gotta figure out how.” She adds with a conflicted expression dancing across her features.

Steve hums in thought, “Sounds complicated.”

“You have no idea.” Mutters Natasha unenthusiastically as her green irises shift back down to the annoying little file.

Steve palms the object in his hand before gaining his friends attention once again, “Here. Fury told me to give this to you.” Her brows furrow in thought as she reaches over and quickly accepts the strange hard drive looking object, “I think this will help. It has the location of the target and who they are. That’s it.....Well, the last reported location.”

“How did he?” She wonders aloud, face suddenly breaking out into an irked grin, “Fury you son of a bitch, about time I found a legitimate lead.”

——

Sitting on her comfortable apartment couch, Natasha sifts through the various encrypted files from the hard drive that’s currently plugged into her laptop. So far she’s spent about two hours breaking through the various encrypted file blockers and now at long last has finally made some real progress.

Studying the brightly glowing screen, she moves her finger, clicking another coded link that reads -V13X11- she’s immediately greeted with a black screen and the slightly blurred picture of a woman’s face who’s looking rather stoic and fearless against the camera flash. Her eyes are set and hard as stone, dark and almost angry behind lips that show the ghost of a forced smile. She’s noticeably an overall attractive woman, in kind of a terrifying and intimidating sort of way, like looking at a fierce lioness standing valiantly against a foe; nonetheless she stares defiantly at the person behind the camera. 

Her eye color, weight, date of birth, and presumably patient number, that's printed in big bold letters 00X13 on the glowing screen, right below her squared portrait. Furrowing her brows, Natasha scrolls down to see about a paragraph long of personal information given about the woman. Including, to the red heads tremendous surprise, a birth name, Y/N Valerious.

Oddly enough, the name indeed sounds a tad bit familiar, though she can’t quit place from where.

The file states that she was raised in a facility on the outskirts of Surinda, Russia; someplace in Siberia, close to the heart of the mammoth country. Trained by the organization Hydra and summitted into inhuman experimentation by the specific facility that held her, however the rest is all encrypted and impossible to translate into something comprehensible much to Natasha’s utter disappointment. 

Huffing in frustration, she slips out the hard drive before shutting down her laptop and slamming it shut. The room is darker by now with the sun gone, and tomorrow it appears that Natasha will be off to Sweden to confront this woman, Y/N, in hopes of gathering valuable intel into the people who created her, and any important information regarding her troubled past. 

If she’s willing to comply.

——

Closing your laptop, you stand and wander over to the opened window to stretch before taking a deep breath of freshly brisk winter air. The land here in Uppsala, Sweden is more beautiful and peaceful then you could have ever imagined since renting an apartment two months ago. In fact, this is probably the longest you’ve ever stayed in one spot since abandoning the life of an assassin many years ago.

Though you know it won’t be much longer until you leave again, but you can’t just yet, there happens to be a certain agent on her way to find you. Fury unknowingly received your encrypted hard drive with opened arms, foolishly under the impression it was sent from an old friend when he reached out for answers into your complicated history. Then when the Black Widow eventually clicked open your link, bam, you could see everything she was nosily sifting through. Everything you wanted her to see. You honestly wouldn’t be surprised if something dramatic happened to the people over in D.C. at this point, idiots, all of them.

For the past couple years S.H.I.E.L.D has become sort of a troubling snooping nuisance for you, constantly delving their way into your relatively uneventful lifestyle every couple of months, meddling around to figure out if you’re still currently active for Hydra and if not, are you willing to pay for your crimes or to join them like she did. Definitely not on your to do list any time soon.

Watching as a small black bird zips by, you quickly shut your window and close the dark colored curtains to block yourself from the rest of the chaotic world. Hastily making your usual rounds about the apartment to be absolutely certain all the possible openings are locked. Soon after you head for bed, ready to face the ex-assassin whenever she arrives in the following days ahead.

-

Seated at your kitchen table, you casually sip at your steaming hot tea while watching security footage from downstairs from when you hacked into their system, the same night you began renting the place. As expected, the notorious red head slips her way into the building and up the four flights of stairs until finally a light knock is heard at your old wooden door.

So she wants to do this cleanly.

Switching off the device, you stuff it in a nearby drawer before calmly walking down the tiny hallway over to the frontdoor and opening it, lock off and all. Her green eyes blink in curious surprise as you show her no indications of aggression; she’s about your height if not maybe slightly smaller, thick scarf and a winters coat about her person as she holds a normal sized black bag in her right hand. No doubt a gun concealed somewhere close, a light precaution in case things go south from here.

Trailing your wary gaze from her travel bag to her pale face, you raise an intrigued brow, “I assume you’re here for me?” You ask with the tinge of a confident Eastern European accent as she slowly nods, eyes calculated and calm as she studies your mellow yet slightly defensive stance.

Pursing plush lips together, she casually shrugs with a light hearted smile, “I only realized you must have sent that hard drive when I arrived in London...”

“Well I’ve gotten rather bored running away from your persistent bastards over in America.” You interrupt before opening up your door even wider, gifting her an open invitation instead of a fight, “Come in. I assume we have much to discuss.”

Following you to the table, she sets her bag on the closest chair as you take another sip from your tea. Cautious eyes trained on her every move as she shifts a bit uncomfortably in her chair, “So, I assume you’re not here to sell me that pretty bag of yours. Not that I’d want it.”

She smirks at your blunt sarcasm, pleased to know you’ve at least got a sense of humor after all you’ve endured, “No. I’m here to learn about who created you and if there are any more. Y/N, I’m well aware of how dangerous you truly are...but given the fact that you’ve had time to adjust, and let me into your home willingly. I came seeking answers. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Folding your hands together, you tilt your head at her thoughtfully, “Well that’s good. I didn’t really want killing the Black Widow on my conscience, though I’d speculate a few would be relieved.” You quip with a playful smirk before your face turns serious again, “I’ll tell you about the fuckers who made me. Then you leave and never bother me again. Understood?” You add in almost a growl.

Handing you a polite smile, she nods in agreement, “Of course. You have my word.” You take another sip of your tea as she reaches into her bag, a beige file suddenly plants itself atop your kitchen table. “This is the only surviving file on you. It’s enough, but there’s too many cracks that need to be filled. I need to know how they conducted the experiments and who else survived them. This is important for the safety of S.H.I.E.L.D and the rest of the world. Y/N, we’re trying to make sure something like this can never happen again. And well, any secrets on Hydra always helps.”

Setting your cup down, you smirk, “This should be filled with liquor if I’m going to be spilling some top secret Hydra business of this velocity.” You muse, setting aside your mug, your face quickly shifts to a more serious expression. “For starters this isn’t a very heartwarming story.”

“Neither is mine.” Begrudgingly admits the ex-assassin.

“Well, at least we have something in common then, Black Widow.” You assert with a pointed look before leaning back against the barred wood of your chair, thinking of where to start first. Your eyes trail over to the window as you begin your story, “This place, where they kept us. The scientists working for Hydra wanted to test out special DNA altering serums on the embryos of willing participants. Well, we weren’t willing....but they targeted the poor, feigning a program that would pay these mothers-to-be thousands if they participated. Plus a comfortable place to stay for awhile.” You reveal before taking another sip of your tea, “You see, I’m not originally from Russia, my home was some nameless village in Eastern Europe that I’ve forgotten the name of by now, it was so long ago. But anyways, I guess fate has a funny way of administering it’s business to the ones seeking safety in times of struggle. So my mother...” You take another sip of your tea to help clear your throat and head a little bit, God you hate talking about this.

Setting it down again, you continue, “Mine accepted. They took her and twenty-two others to this facility deep in the woods. This place was practically a paradise for them...” You chuckle miserably, “soon enough the scientists pumped them full of drugs and began their altering of the embryos DNA, genetic codes, and whatever else they saw fit to mess with. Nine months later we came into this world kicking and screaming.”

“Shit.” Mutters Natasha in astonishment, fully engrossed in your story as she starts to realize maybe her upbringing wasn’t as fucked as yours.

“They monitored us for the first few months, waiting to see if anyone acted strange....nothing, to their utter disappointment. Soon they drew blood samples and as it turned out, we all had altered DNA from the serum. Just as they’d planned.”

Her brows furrow in puzzlement before she asks, “How’d you get your powers then? I don’t think I missed anything.” Insists your guest questionably as you shake your head.

“You didn’t. But you have to understand that as we grew older, all of us basically became tiny super soldiers as fucked as that is, not only did they change our genetic code for meddling with later on when we got older. But this serum was so well developed that it completely fused with the fetuses genetic code, only causing us to grow stronger as we aged from toddlers to three-year-old's and up. Testing even revealed that it slowed down our ageing process just like with Captain America. But it wouldn’t be effective till we reached our mid to late twenties.”

Natasha takes a moment to process your words before she nods in acknowledgment, “Y/N. It’s my understanding that this is a buried secret from the organization for good reason, it’s just....what year did this all take place? It’s not in any of the records I was able to dig up, not even in yours, nothing except for your date of birth.” States Natasha curiously, stopping you before you speak of anything else.

Nodding you lean your arms against the wooden table, leaning in a bit closer now, “1953, after World War ll when people where still recovering from the heavy aftermath while the Cold War was still raging on when well, you know.” Giving her a lopsided shrug, you glance from an old faded picture on the wall then back to her, “Lets just say Russia wasn’t exactly having a stellar time, nor was my mother for that matter.” You Conclude before aimlessly pursuing your lips together, “Which yes, makes me at around 60 years old. Don’t I look pretty.” You add, voice dripping in sarcasm.

Natasha’s eyes concede silent astonishment as she blinks back surprise, “Even after all these years doing what I do, meeting the people that I have. I’m still left speechless every once in awhile. Y/N I can’t even imagine what you’ve seen.” Reveals the red head honestly as her green irises flicker from your file then back up to you, a conflicted expression dancing across her features, “How did they...how did you gain your powers, aside from what the serum gave you in the process?”

An apprehensive sigh escapes freely from your lips while you lean back into the creaky old chair, a troubled look darkening your features as you avoid her intrigued gaze, “They waited until we were twelve before testing us....in the meantime we lived as normal children; learning, playing, and training to survive. You know, the typical stuff.” You add with a small breathy laugh, though no humor finds your eyes, “We had our mothers until a year before they began the experiments. But it wasn’t that terrible of a loss since they trained us to adapt to our environment and never fully depend on anyone but ourselves.....it’s sick. And I’m not even sure what they did to them, I guess I never will.”

She nods as you make a disgusted face, an acidic hatred rising in your chest at the thought of your childhood, “I’m sorry, I can’t even imagine how traumatic that must have been.”

“Oh believe me, it gets better.” You joke bitterly, “In pairs of two they tested us, putting us into rooms where two doctors would strap us down and stick a needle into our skin. After that, they waited until something dramatic happened. Oh, and it sure as fuck did.” You conclude with a sneer.

Biting her lip anxiously, Natasha asks anyway, “How many survivors?”

Scoffing, you shake your head in revulsion for what those doctors did to everyone, an angry expression soon crossing your features, “One.” You sourly mutter, “All my other friends died of the new serum they gave us, either right then and there on the table, or in the following days. You see, it was supposed to blend with our altered DNA to create something powerful out of it, something beyond humans normal capabilities. It just ended up horribly mutating everyone except for me.” You whisper, clear sadness and hatred coating your very words.

Your eyes stare sharply at the peeling table top paint, a frown on your lips as you take in a deep breath before continuing, “What they did to me....no one should have to go through something so goddamn agonizing, I was only a child, just a little girl in a terrible place whether I knew it or not....and you know how it affected me?” She slowly shakes her head no as you smile miserably, your brows furrowed in pain, “I was gifted with bone claws that retracted out of my knuckles and one from each of my feet.” You confirm, eyes suddenly darkening in fury, “And you know what those goddamn bastards did to me afterwards? Like I hadn’t suffered enough from the pain of it all, they pumped me full of liquid Adamantium. Turning my claws to solid metal, the fucking strongest material on earth. Right in the body of an eleven year old child!” You shout furiously as she flinches back at your outburst, blinking hard, you let out a heavy breath before leaning back into your chair in defeat.

Calm down, Y/N. It’s just a memory now.

Strong brows dent her clear skin in thought as you await a response, after a few long moments does she soon gather her racing mind, lacing her fingers together she raises a brow at you, “That doesn’t explain how you’ve survived so long. The years working for Hydra, they turned you into a weapon....yet you’ve escaped and haven’t been killed yet. Not even a scratch to be found.....well, at least that I can see.”

Turning to face the puzzled assassin, you give her a lopsided grin, your chill composure coming back to you quickly enough, “I didn’t just get claws from the enhanced serum that fucked with my genetic make-up, it completely heightened my humanly abilities. Suddenly I was stronger, faster, and all my senses felt like they were on overload. Best of it all, I came to realize I had accelerated healing capabilities. Who would have thought that their shitty inhuman experiments would have gone so horrendously, yet with the one miracle of an exception. Me.”

“I had figured that branch of Hydra was meddling on dangerous ground, I hadn’t realized the extent of what they were doing. Did they try making any more like you?” She wonders.

“I was the last. Since I was the only compatible vessel, they didn’t want to waste anymore time or money on others who could possibly fail.” You explain with a shrug, “I became one of their most treasured assets.”

Pursing her lips together, she gives a slight nod before revealing a different file from her bag, you watch as she pauses for a moment before opening it up, you quickly take notice of the many white papers pinned together. Some with encrypted symbols and words while others are in plain English. Your brows furrow as she flips the first page to reveal...

“I know I came asking for answers about classified information, but this won’t be a complete mission if I don’t ask you about your time with Hydra.” Proposes the red head cautiously while she studies your face for any hostile reactions, not getting anything but skepticism, she continues, “I understand you were very important to them. It’s recorded you’ve completed about three dozen kills over an active period of about thirty-seven years.”

You scoff before muttering, “So it would seem. They gave me my first mission in 1971...when I was 17.”

“Right, but that’s not exactly what I’m seeking.” Her eyes immediately trail down to the files, “I assume you must have seen this man at least once...” She flips another page over and pulls out a playing card sized photograph, she turns it around and slides it closer to you. Instantly you recognize who he is, but how did she?..

“I haven’t seen him in years, nor heard of him for that matter.” You mutter, though your tone shifts to a more aggravated one.

Noticing this difference, Natasha continues, “That’s the look of someone who has met him for less then friendly reasons. What happened to the Winter Soldier?” You take a long moment to study his stoic face of icy blue and white, and black; its when he was in the Cryostacis chamber, the place where they would freeze him to keep their Winter Soldier locked away until he was needed for a new mission. All that you can fully witness is his sleeping face, though you know exactly what he looks like up close and with no ice crystals in his dark hair.

Letting out a heavy sigh, you slide the photograph back over to her folder, “I met him when I was 25 in 1979, Hydra needed us for a duel mission somewhere in South Africa, they needed their best. We were tasked with locating and stealing some precious metal which we later learned was Vibranium, because apparently they had used the last of the Adamantium on me.” You reveal with a casual shrug, “It went relatively well as expected...and well, we worked with each other many times after that, until I escaped and he was sent to kill me in 2009.”

“You knew him for almost twenty-nine years. Do you know where he might be now?”

Scoffing, you almost laugh, “Even if I did, you’d never get him. But if I’d have to assume, he’s probably frozen in some cryo tank somewhere in the middle of Russia. Waiting to be let loose again so he can take out a new enemy of the state.”

“Right.” Nods the Black Widow as she closes up her files, her green irises quickly on you again, “Thank you for your time, and for the heavy material you spoke of.”

“It was a long time ago, someone else should remember what those fuckers did to innocent mothers and their children. No one in this entire world knows except for me, you, and the doctors I haven’t killed yet.” You growl with venom lacing your every word.

Soon you watch as she swiftly rises to her feet, as you do the same, “I wish you well then.” Affirms the Black Widow as you follow her lead to the door, she stands on the other side for a moment before asking, “Is there any way I could find you again?”

Leaning against the door frame, you break out into a knowing smirk as she stands waiting expectantly, “If you’re lucky, you’ll never see me again. Goodbye agent Romanoff.” And with that do you gently close the door, leaving her in the hallway with a plethora of useful information, but still nothing significantly useful on the Winter Soldier, now only time will tell if he ever happens to show up on her radar again. Hopefully not, she thinks doubtfully before turning on her heels and sauntering off down the hallway.

——

Almost two whole years had passed since last you’ve spoken to the assassin, in that time you’ve watched her speak on live television when Hydra had finally been exposed to the world and all their secrets let loose for the prying hungry eyes of the public.

Even some of your own information had been leaked, the world knew who you were now, what atrocities you’ve committed for the organization during your time with them and that you’ve been M.I.A since 2009. Now you’re on an international watchlist. Fantastic. Apparently some very important leaders of the world and other prestige family members alike aren’t very fond of yourself for murdering their adversaries or filthy rich husbands. 

But it’s not like you had a choice, Hydra would always alter your memories when they shocked you into forgetting who you even were; thus you’d complete a mission and a couple days or so later would your mind stitch itself back together again the best it could from the electrical trauma. Only the killing part would be a dark and fuzzy memory, thus revealing itself to you in bits and pieces at a time. Soon everything blurred together and you just complied or face getting electrocuted multiple times a session, until your eyes remained empty and dangerous.

Considering you’ve been on the run since that information was released, in this time, you’ve tracked down past agents and doctors alike who had wronged you, considering you now had full access to their recent history. Hence increasing your body count as you went from one country to the next, making the world a tad bit lighter with their darkness whipped from existence.

Although soon enough you became unsettled with the loads of information expunged from Hydra, your mind inevitably making a one eighty back to a certain broody super soldier from your complicated past. He must be in the world somewhere, living as a secret civilian or whatnot. He has to be. And you’ve decided to find him before someone else does.

Maybe it was curiosity, or the fact that he was like you and shared a bloody history with Hydra, but your instinctual drive to find the Winter Soldier eventually drew you the beautiful city of Bucharest, Romania. Although he didn’t make finding him effortless in the slightest, after endless days hacking into network databases looking for even a snippet of information. You found a lead.

Turns out airport security footage is very useful, even more so, footage from around the city’s grant center; and from there you were able to track him to Romania. Eventually after a couple of days in the city, you were able to catch a glimpse of him at the local market place and thus followed him to his little shitty apartment without him as so much as noticing.

Once he left again, you slipped inside and began your wait for his eventual return. But will he even want to speak with you? Does he even remember you? Your memories hadn’t been continuously whipped like his were, granted you were forced into cryo more then once and electroshocked into forgetting your memories. It eventfully stopped once they realized your mind would just heal itself into remembering again, so instead they threatened you with a tracking device deep into your skin tissue that would blow up if you tried to run.

Clearly you eventually found a way around this, as terrible of a memory it gave you.

——

Looking out the window, your ears suddenly pick up the sound of boots stealthily walking down the hallway, they’re incredibly light against the tiles outside, perhaps he somehow knows you’ve been following him. A moment later the scent of a man fills your nostrils and you know he’s inside the apartment. You could barely hear the door.

He’s silent as a mouse, nothing indicating he’s even there except for his rapidly thudding heartbeat that pounds anxiously against his strong chest; you slowly turn to face him. His hat from earlier is gone, dark blue eyes stare warily on you while soft breaths emit from his slightly parted lips. He’s not afraid, but he is nervous.

Folding your arms over your chest, you take a glance around the room, “Nice place.” You confirm casually, eyes back on the Winter Soldier in a second as the corner of your lips pull into a humored half grin, “I’m not here to complete some personal Vendetta against you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then why are you here?” His voice is more curious then cold, maybe he can be reasoned with after all.

Taking a step forward, you shrug, “Wanted to make sure you aren’t still on their side.”

He keeps silent for a moment as you watch him watch you, “I’m done with them.” Mutters Bucky, disgust dripping off his words. That’s exactly what you wanted to hear. Progress.

“Good.” You add with the tiniest of smiles before motioning towards his little kitchen table, “Mind if we sit and talk? As, well...I guess civilians now.”

Studying your face for any indication of falseness and hostility, he’s pleasantly surprised when he finds none. Bucky takes off both of his gloves and sits, metal hand shinning in the low lighting. A threat or a precaution? Maybe he just wants it off?

You follow his example, and soon the two of you sit not even three feet away from each other. Both yourself and Bucky hold an awkward silence for a long moment as the tension in the room rises, shifting your gaze from the counter behind him, you don’t really notice as he trails his eyes over your face, “I remember you.” Reveals Bucky to your great surprise, your eyes falling onto him in an instant, “They sent us on missions together, until you left and they woke me up to kill you for it.”

Smiling, you let out a humored breath of air, “Turns out you didn’t miss me after all. I gave you a nice scar for your troubles though, you still have it?”

Bucky purses his lips into the tiniest of shadowy grins, although no real joy is shown, “It’s a thin little line across my left rib cage. Just barely reached my bone.” Yeah, and I would have if you didn’t punch me in the eye socket first, you think to yourself from when the Winter Soldier had tracked you down. But that’s a long story.

“Glad it’s healed and they didn’t have you come after me a second time. I don’t think I would have let you live again.”

He thinks hard for a second as he processes your words, “You let me live? The first time?”

“Well,” You serenely admit, “I couldn’t exactly kill you...I guess, well....I don’t really know why I didn’t kill you when I had the chance. Guess I’m not as ruthless as Hydra wanted.” You mumble with a conflicted frown, the two of you keep silent before you break the odd tension, “Doesn’t matter now. I heard about what happened in D.C. just like the rest of the world. Gotta say, I was wondering what everyone over there had been getting themselves into.”

“They leaked everything.” Mumbles Bucky with a knowing flash of insight within his dark restless eyes.

“I know.” You add with a slow nod, “I’ve been traveling more cautiously for the past year and a half now. You’d think they’d let us live in peace, of course not. But I guess it means the world knows what a piece of shit organization Hydra is. So that’s something.”

“Yes.” Agrees Bucky, eyes trailing from your fingerless gloves to your face, of course he remembers what hides beneath, “What happened to you since you left?

Fumbling with your fingers as they lay against his table, you turn you head to the window, the ghost of a smile dancing across your lips, “Surviving. You?”

He shifts his gaze back down to his metal hand as you turn to face him, “About the same I’d say.”

Leaning back against your creaky wooden chair, you hand him a small yet friendly smile, “Well then. What of us now? Two ex-assassins alone in the world. With nothing but our wit and fists to keep us afloat.” You add with a low chuckle, he doesn’t crack.

Losing your smile, the two of you keep silent as ghosts for a long moment before Bucky shifts uncomfortably in his seat, “I got some tea.” Replies the admittedly handsome man now since you have a moment to really look; the briefest hint of a grin revealing itself against his lips for only but a flash of a second. But you still see it.

Fumbling with your fingers you give him a pursed lip grin, “I like tea.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier #marvel imagine #marvel x you #marvel x reader #marvel x y/n #series rewrite #bucky barnes #tfatws

[spiderling-space]

This idea is inspired by @zozobegone ‘s this post 

Setting: Grim goes platonic yandere mode when he realizes MC is going to go back to their world

It is written from Grimm's perspective

Italics indicate thoughts

🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱

The Great Grimm

Warning: Unhealthy dependency and friendship

"Henchperson, give me those candies!" Grimm ordered (Y/N) after trying so many times to reach the top shelf.

"Aw, you couldn't reach yourself?" (Y/N) had seen Grimm jumping and trying to climb to take the candies. They didn't do anything but watch him fail for the last 10 minutes, they couldn't help themselves as he was being so cute. "What's the magic word?"

After grumbling a little, Grimm spoke coercively, "Please..."

"That's a good boy!" They patted him on the head before grabbing the candies and giving them to him. 

He started devouring them the moment he got his hand on the candies. He thanked them quickly before focusing entirely on his food. They were just so delicious, he couldn't resist it!

"Honestly Grimm, what will you do once I'm gone?" They sighed as they took a seat in the kitchen.

The words didn't register for Grimm at first. "Eh?" He stopped eating for a moment and looked at them. "What nonsense are you babbling about?"

"Hmm? Oh! Well, you know, it's been months and lots of progress have been done. Crowley finding a way for me to return home is right around the corner." They spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That birdman doesn't do anything but whine and pin all the tasks on us."

"I convinced him to do the actual work and he made a progress on finding a way for me to go home." (Y/N) stood up, walking toward him and kneeling to his height. "I'll give you a secret, I haven't told anyone this." They gulped before smiling, "Crowley found the way for me to go back. We just need ingredients and get some tests done then I'll be able to go back. I haven't told others about it yet because I wanted to have something concrete but since you are like my second family, I wanted you to know first."

Huh, he thought.

Grimm continued eating, ignoring what (Y/N) had said who got up and left the kitchen after sharing their secret. At that moment, it didn't bug him at all since he thought they were joking.

🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱

It didn't even pass a week that (Y/N) started to tell the others that they would be leaving soon and ask their help to get the ingredients and spend their last days together. Meanwhile, Grimm became more and more irritable as the days passed by.

Grimm didn't have a family nor a friend. When he opened his eyes to the world, he was in a back alley by just himself. He fended for himself and decided to become the greatest magician when he heard people talking about Night Raven Collage. He didn't have anyone who supported his dream nor he needed one. He would accomplish it on his own and show everyone how great he was. Of course, things didn't go as planned and he got thrown off the moment he revealed his true self at the entrance ceremony and was even threatened to get eaten. What's worse was that when he returned to NRC, showing the persistence of an NRC student, he was about to be thrown again. That would be the case if it weren't for (Y/N) sticking up for him. He wasn't a sentimental monster and he hated to be called cat by (Y/N) despite his catly activities as they called it. However, deep down he knew it was because of (Y/N) that he became a student in the NRC, getting one step closer to achieving his dream. Heck, he and (Y/N) were considered one student together.

It wasn't just (Y/N) creating him an opportunity that made him care about them, it was everything. They studied together; they slept on the same bed, shared meals and snacks, played games, did homework, complained about the school and students together. Not to mention, how much he enjoyed getting petted, belly rubbed and washed by them. They had each other when no one was around and always stood against overblot student together. In Grimm's eyes, they were an inseparable and astonishing duo; even a family he never had, not that he would say it out loud.

Maybe that was why he was miffed by everything that was going on... What would happen to me if (Y/N) were to go back? Become alone again? Get kicked out of NRC? Have no friends and family? No, that's not going to happen!

As the days passed, the attention he got from (Y/N) diminished gradually, came to a point that he only saw them in classes and when they got back. They were out with another person every day, not sparing enough time for the Great Grimm. 

How dare they, he thought while heatedly huffing and puffing on the couch.

Grimm dearly missed the old times when (Y/N) wasn't obsessed with going back. He didn't even receive enough petting last few days nor they studied together. His mind wandered to their time spent together when he noticed something. (Y/N) would leave everything behind regardless of how important it was when he got into serious trouble or got hurt. They would sweep in to save his neck. It just clicked at that moment. 

He would get into trouble or injured to get their attention on him. However, then the other minions would gather around them too and their attention would be divided. It was not something he wanted. An idea struck in his head after a few minutes of thinking. As expected out of the Great Grimm, it was a brilliant plan.

🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱

"Oh my goodness, Grimm! What happened to your paw-paw?!" (Y/N) rushed to his side, kneeling and examining his paw.

Grimm grumbled acting as if he didn't want to tell them. "Nothing, Great Grimm is fine!"

"Don't be ridiculous! It looks broken!" The worry on (Y/N)'s face was gratifying since he got their attention back.

"Ask your best friends," He answered with faux melancholy, withdrawing his paw near his chest and turning back as if he would leave.

"What does that supposed to mean?" They asked, confussion evident on their face just like Grimm wanted.

"Azul tricked them into doing his work and asked them to collect all the feathers on the roof. Ace and Deuce took me with them then we got into a fight and I fell off the roof." He lowered his head for extra effect.

"And they didn't even take you to the infirmary?!" He managed to get them riled up.

"It was my fault th-"

"That's not an excuse! For fuck's sake! C'mon, we are going to the infirmary." (Y/N) wrapped their arms around Grimm and lifted him en route to the hospital wing.

"Hey (Y/N)! Do you -"

"I can't believe what you two did!"

"What we did?" Deuce mumbled, fearing their wrath.

"Don't talk to me for some time and at least take responsibility and apologize!" (Y/N) stormed off before Ace could finish his sentence. Both Ace and Deuce look perplexed as (Y/N) marched away. Grimm was looking at them over (Y/N)'s shoulder, taking in their puzzled looks and flashing a grin as (Y/N) walked away.

🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱

For the next two weeks, Grimm continues with his plan.

"I swallowed a lot of soapy water." Grimm said as he was rubbing his belly, it genuinely hurt. Swallowing soapy water was more awful than hurting his paw.

"Azul! You promised to not do this and shame on you Jade, Floyd!"

3 more down, plenty to go...

"Leona, have you seen Grimm? He is way smaller than you! How couldn't you realize what your claws would do on Grimm?"

"Ruggie, Grimm got food poisoning because of you! You could have just stolen his food instead of replacing them with expired ones."

"Jack, I've never expected this from you. I'm very disappointed."

"What? What are you talking about?" Jack asked hastily but it fell on deaf ears as (Y/N) didn't even listen to him, grabbing Grimm and leaving them standing.

Woo hoo! My plan is working fantastically! 

"He could have died Kalim if it were higher!"

"Jamil, I thought you would stop making people poison taste. Grimm has been puking all day long because of you!"

Grimm grinned wickedly as he was once again carried by (Y/N).

Wait until I'm done with all of you! HAHA, You cannot defeat me!

Grimm was thinking of new original ways to distance (Y/N) from the rest of Heartslabyul, Pomefiore, Ignihyde and Diasomnia. The last one would be the hardest as he had a powerful competitor who also sought (Y/N)'s attention but it didn't matter, Grim would be the only one!

That was what he thought until Birdman came bearing the news...

"(Y/N)! Good news! All the tests we did on the mirror worked! You can go back now!"

Everything stopped right there and then. 

Grimm was so focused on getting (Y/N)'s affection and attention that he forgot about the tests they were doing on the mirror.

Now I am too late...

"My goodness! Thank you! I missed my home so much! I'll start saying my goodbyes!" (Y/N) spoke rapidly, they truly were happy to hear the news.

Happy to leave me all alone!

"No worries, they all gather around the magic mirror, waiting for you." Birdman informed, "Are you coming now?"

"Yes!" (Y/N) said before turning to him, taking him in arms and carrying him outside.

That is not how it was supposed to go...

As they were walking outside before leaving the Ramshackle perimeter, Grimm jumped on the ground.

"What's wrong?" (Y/N) stopped to ask.

"What's wrong?!" Grimm couldn't contain it anymore. everything was too much.

"(Y/N), do you need a moment to say goodbye to the dorm?" Birdman questioned, getting closer to where they were standing.

"Uhm... yes... I mean I spent months here so I should say goodbye to it. You can go, we will catch up in a moment."

With that Birdman walked away, leaving (Y/N) and Grimm alone.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" They asked idiotically. 

Are they too dumb to understand?

As Grimm was about to tell them what was on his mind, unfiltered, he felt a power within himself. A power that wanted to surge out of him and he let it since he had nothing to lose anymore.

"You will leave me all alone!"

"But you already knew that, Grimm. This place isn't my home and if I took you with me, you would be discovered and people would do experiments on you." Their voice was so soft as they tried to reason with him but none of them mattered.

"We are one student together, you can't leave until I graduate!" The power inside of him grew even more.

"Well, Crowley said he-"

"We fought the monsters together. We are a team, you called me your son!" He could feel that power getting closer

"I-" He wasn't going to let them speak anymore!

"So you see me as a family but you abandon me!" He felt the power leak outside and he didn't even care about it.

"GRIMM!" (Y/N) yelled, taking a few steps back. "I, I, I changed my mind, we will be together!"

"You want me to have no one again!" Grim screamed, not even noticing how his voice changed. "AAAAAHHH!"

Everything went black for a moment and the second he reopened his eyes, everything was different. He was no longer looking up to (Y/N); he now was looking down on them. They were so tiny.

"YOU CANNOT LEAVE!" Grimm screeched when he saw (Y/N) backing and running away. He jumped, landing right in front of them who fell on the ground from the shock and still trying to crawl away.

"G-Gr-Gr-Grim, i-i-it's me! We are friends, remember? I know you wouldn't hurt me because we are family, innit?"

"It is too late for everything but you are right. We are family..." Grimm said, his voice echoing, giving it more menacing feelings. 

Grimm was no longer waiting for (Y/N) to understand that they couldn't leave him. He had no intention of waiting anymore. He leaned towards them slowly, biting their clothing and lifting them.

It was always (Y/N) who carried Grimm around relentlessly now it was Grimm's turn. Once he was sure that they wouldn't fall, he took off, running away from the Ramshackle, leaving NRC behind.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst grim #twisted wonderland grim #twst mc #twisted wonderland mc #mc/yuu #yandere twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland yandere #yandere twst #twst yandere #yandere #yandere grim

[bakujho]

Another rant about some Shady Eels

So, back again to talk about the shady eels though this time focusing on how with the information we’ve been given we can pretty well confirm the Leech family are mafia. We’ve gotten a few solid gems of information the last little while, pretty well confirming what we always figured. Octavinelle has got that mafia theme, so everyone expected some shadiness, but the info we’ve been fed about the Leech parents really brings home that it’s not just the dorm theme, and that the twins and Azul aren’t just “cosplaying as mafia baddies for aesthetic”. 

So what exactly do we KNOW? 

The twins were taught self defense by their parents from a young age. (Jade voice lines)

When they were children their parents ‘associates’ would buy them luxury or rare  birthday gifts...then were made to sign waivers saying that the gift had no ulterior motives and wouldn’t constitute a favour in return.  (Jade birthday)

Their father has told them that appearances on land are important, and to pay close attention to the little details. (When Idia asks for further clarification, he cuts Floyd off before he goes further saying that any further and he feels like he’d be “ensnared by darkness”) (Floyd dance and wishes wish)

There were many parties back in the Leech household, but they were more formal in nature. (floyd birthday)

Eels have a “tough guy” image in the sea, and them being carnivores doesn’t help. (floyd birthday)

Mama leech worries about her babies and contacts them often (jade birthday)

That they have a family run business, that has contacts with a LOT of kinds of different people. Jade tells us it’s VERY normal. (jade birthday)

Leech parents have spoiled their kids before, so they’re likely fairly well off. (floyd birthday)

Floyd seems to have a bit of a sore spot regarding humans (floyd robes) 

So obviously, without 100% confirmation, it’s impossible to say MAFIA LEECH ARE CANON, but with everything we’ve been given I’m pretty confident in saying it’s damn likely. That’s not even the fun part, cause it’s so surface level obvious considering Octavinelles theme, I decided to jump into it more. @chillableu​ had posted a comment in a shared discord that really got my brain whirring about WHY the mafia fam is maybe a bigger thing than just aesthetic, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Headcanon accepted, chilla. I thank you. (I took out your name in case you didn’t want anyone on discord to find you by it)

  I’ll put the rest of this under a cut since it’s really just me theorizing and head canoning a whole ton of shit about the Leech fam based on humans treating fish as lesser beings incapable of the same level of emotions and intelligence as themselves, adding in bits from other media that has mermaids, mythology, and a touch of the history of the mafia.

Not even really sure where to start with this, but here we go. So, What if the Leech fam (be it great grandpa/grandma leech or current Leeches) started the mafia as a way to protect themselves due to the mistreatment of merfolk that were more “monster” like than the regular human kind mermaids we’ve only seen up until now. Its reported that the original Sicilian mafia started as a way for certain families that were facing persecution from the rest of the towns that eventually spiraled into the crime syndicates we all know from various media today. Outside of the twins and Azul, all the other merfolk that have been shown in game have been the “fully human on top, fish bottom” type, and with Azul being bullied because we was a rare 8 legged mermaid, and the magicamonsters from the Halloween event seeing merfloyd and remarking how RARE it was to see one, so I’m thinking that maybe the Leech fam started as a way to protect themselves, since if carnivorous merfolk are seen as more brutish, they may have seen a lot of discrimination from other merfolk and humans alike. 

It’s no secret that Toboso has been covering a lot of heavy topics dressed up in Disney clothes, and has already addressed discrimination and fetishization with the scarabia, savanaclaw, and more recently Diasomnia boys (well, mostly Malleus in the halloween event being treated like an object). So what I’m thinking is that there’s an underlying problem in the twstverse, where non-humans are treated badly, and non-humans with monster features even more so. So the leech fam bands together with whatever other monster like merfolk families there are and create their own little area in the coral sea, and eventually expand out into other types of business until they’re in a comfortable enough position to not really worry about any backlash anymore. Floyd has shown some distaste before about being ordered around by humans, which could be an ingrained quality from his parents, or he himself may have experienced some form of mistreatment at the hands of humans before. If the leech fam has a lot of ‘associates’ I think it’s safe to say that they weren’t the only ones feeling abandoned by the normal merfolk and humans .

In Japanese folklore there are creatures called Ningyo (basically human fish), which were both feared as creatures that would bring calamity and misfortune, and prized as their flesh was supposed to be sweet tasting and grant near immortality if eaten. Mermaids in a lot of more modern media are also more nuanced than the “beautiful fish that sailors fall in love with”. Even in One Piece, there’s the mermaids that are captured and sold off to the rich as prize objects to collect and display, and the Fishmen, which are the strong brutes that are ostracised by nearly everyone in series for them simply being fish. If Toboso wanted to touch on the mythology in TWST it would make sense that the more monster-like mermaids have created their own sub-society separate from the regular merfolk. During the Halloween event, the children seem to be pretty scared by Floyd because he’s huge, so what if that’s nothing new for him and why he’s so good with kids? Cause as a mermaid they’re used to people being openly scared of them without any good reason outside of their appearance. I also suspect that Floyd and Jade have a few more siblings, since in one of Floyds home screen lines he says that he’s not the youngest nor the oldest, and tbh, eels lay thousands of eggs, so it wouldn’t be surprising that he knew how to deal with the kid without any struggle. 

What if, when the eels are first hatched they’re a lot smaller than they were and like in the original article that started all of this, humans were needlessly cruel to them and many of them died out of sheer neglect, or that humans just didn’t think merfolk as capable as having acute emotions and saw them as lowly fish rather than sentient beings. We saw with the Magicamonsters that there’s a complete disregard for the feelings of Malleus when they made it a challenge to touch his horns and get a picture, so I imagine that has to extend to merfolk as well when they’re actually seen. That same mindset could have extended to the regular mermaids as well, which is why mermaids like Azul were so tormented for being different, even though they’re all fucking mermaids at the end of the day. So bringing this back to the Leech fam, they decided that they weren’t going to stand for the same level of discrimination from humans and other merfolk alike and began building their own empire. They have contacts in the sea that extend to those on land (otherwise how would the twins get the rare land items for their birthdays), and have an extensive network of associates, with the added bonus of brilliant mermaid twins, one of which is incredibly cunning, the other quick to violence and both of them raised to defend themselves should the need arise. 

So basically, I’m fully on the “Mafia Leech Fam is canon for real” train and at this point it’s going to be very hard to change my mind. I feel like there were a few more things I wanted to touch on with this but they’ve poofed themselves into the depths of my mind somewhere, so I may have to come back to them later. If you have anything to add, please let me know cause brain rotting about the Leech fam is honestly one of my favourite past times right now.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst analysis #floyd leech #jade leech #twisute #twisted wonderland analysis #octavinelle #leech family #azul ashengrotto

[shai-manahan]

no. 43 for Owen, please? thank you!! 💜

I think this one actually hit over 1k words lmao. Anyway, the prompt's written in Owen's perspective this time, mainly so I could tell y'all more about him. Enjoy!

Owen - 43. raising the other’s hand to their lips to kiss it softly

Owen has always been a simple man.

He liked it that way. He liked walking his dog to the park, basking under the warmth of the sun; he liked talking to his patients, their stories and grievances fueling the determination that pushed him to become a doctor in the first place; and he liked the mundanity of his everyday life—his petty problems and little sources of happiness making up for the most of them.

He never had any need for secrets, for deceptions, for trying to hide who he really is.

Those were the good times.

Sometimes there's a tug in his chest telling him to run away from the city and return to who he was, perhaps preserve what's left. It'll be quite simple, really. His family would support his decision—nothing to be ashamed of; they always do. He could just… leave. Leave and never come back. Abandon everything with the people around him none the wiser. But every time the thought passes through his mind, every time the temptation to give in starts to build up, the very same image he sees right now pushes them all away.

It's always like this every day. He sees them waiting outside the hospital, leaning on the guardrails to look over the city with determined eyes, like a protector fending for their own people—ready to raise the shields whenever needed. The first few times he's seen them like this, he was filled with admiration. This was a person who slowly fell from grace, who slowly lost the things they treasured, only to be betrayed repeatedly. This was a person who was hated by the city they're giving their whole life for. Yet they never faltered. They never gave up.

Owen walks beside them as he mulls over the past, taking in the cold breeze of the night and the dim lights that line the deserted streets.

"You done for tonight?"

He hums in response.

"So…" They clear their throat. "We should probably go."

"We should."

Neither of them makes a move and a discernible silence lies heavily in the air, distant chattering and rustling of leaves the only sounds that are reaching Owen's ears within the moment. Something's happened again, he can tell. Their eyes remain fixed on the sight in front of them, albeit a little hesitant, seemingly waiting for him to make the next move. Is it about the marshal? Or Alonzo? Jade?

Wesley?

It's hard to tell. Owen never liked taking the lead on conversations. Doing so makes him feel a wave of vulnerability wash over him, an uneasy feeling of being exposed to the world. Listening, on the other hand, is his forte; he likes to think, to study the tone of someone's voice, to observe their facial expressions. But what should he do when the person beside him doesn't want to talk about it?

"Why do you still put up with me?"

Owen's brows furrow in confusion at the sudden shift. "I'm sorry, what?"

"How many hours do you get to sleep? Two, maybe three?" They turn to him, bandaged hand gripping the rails tightly. "You know you could stop helping anytime, right? You could focus on your job, spend more time with your family, get some decent rest. You can stay away."

Stay away.

Owen repositions the bag on his shoulders as a tightness takes over his chest and a newfound frustration buds inside him. He likes to listen. He knows how to listen. That's always been him. That's how he gets recognition from his superiors; that's how he gets respect from his patients.

That's not him right now.

"What about you?" Owen asks harshly, flinching a little at his own tone, but he continues nonetheless. "When do you sleep?"

"That's not important."

"It's not? You mean it's not important how you're forcing yourself to stay awake? How you're forcing yourself to move even when you can't? You think that's not important?" His voice cracks, and he swallows to relieve the tension, to regain his calm. Breathe in. Breathe out. Push it away.

He places his hand on the railing, close to theirs, but he resists making another move. He briefly wonders how it would feel to hold that hand now. Would they appreciate it? Would they loathe it? "I want to help you. And I need you to let me."

Their jaw clenches. "What if I don't want to?"

"Why not? I made this choice. You know I made this choice. Isn't that enough?"

"That's the thing, isn't it? You chose to be here, but you could still leave. Unlike everyone else, you have the chance to live a normal life, with a normal job, in a normal place, and you just—you just keep throwing it away." They look at him with pensive eyes. "Why do you keep throwing it away?"

"Why, indeed?" Owen offers them an unyielding stare, and they do the same—eyes cool and trained on him like they're two predators sizing each other up.

"You can't be serious," they mumble. "You've seen how fucked up this place is. This is where I grew up. This—" they gesture around them, "—this is who I am."

"Is that what you think?"

"It's not just what I think. It's what everybody thinks. I'm not…" they trail off, words coming out as a whisper. And after a few seconds of another bout of silence, with a somber expression lining their face and trembling lips, they add, "I'm not worth it."

"Well, you're wrong."

They scoff. "Listen—"

"You're wrong."

Owen's hand hovers over theirs, not quite touching yet—he wants to be certain it will be a welcome gesture, a comforting one. A harmless one. So he waits for an affirmation as he stares deep into their eyes, and he says once again, "You're wrong."

They say nothing in response, eyes widening at the words; instead, they opt to turn their palm up, welcoming the warmth he can offer, welcoming the kindness they don't think they deserve. Always resisting. Always refusing help. Always bearing it all by themself. Owen takes the opportunity to grasp their hand, entwining his fingers with their own while gently caressing what he could.

"You're worth it."

Yes, he really did admire them before. He admired their strength, their determination, their selflessness.

"It doesn't matter what other people do, or say."

He admired the way they barged into his life, how they considered his safety even with all that's happening.

"I just want you to know. You're worth it."

But now?

Owen raises their hand against his lips, kissing it softly. He doesn't need to see beyond the bandages to know what's in it. The scars, the callouses, the marks of sacrifices they made.

"You don't deserve to feel alone."

Now, there's no admiration. No reverence.

Now, he just wants them to stop. Stop for a minute and take care of themself. Because all the things about them that used to bewilder him, all the things that used to motivate him, they do nothing now but hurt both of them. He doesn't want to see them like that anymore. They shouldn't have to give their life for this city anymore.

They shouldn't have to be betrayed anymore.

He kisses their hand again, closing his eyes as he does, hoping that his words would be clearly heard. "I won't ever leave you alone."

He knows he never will.

#hand holding prompt #hollowed minds series #hollowed minds book one #hollowed minds #hollowed minds prompts #owen russell #interactive fiction #wip #hosted games #choicescript #dashingdon #csgame #if game #game development #shai manahan #writing

[ibijau]

Concubine nhs pt4 / on AO3

Because there is a war to organise, because the emperor is a busy man, it is a full two weeks before Nie Huaisang gets formally summoned to the imperial palace to play weiqi with the emperor. But there can be no doubt that such an invitation is still planned, because Nie Huaisang receives two different notes stating that the emperor hasn’t forgotten about it. Those notes are carefully put away in a small box, alongside a few pieces of jewellery that belonged to his mother, and a jade hairpin that Nie Mingjue gave him.

While waiting for his next encounter with the emperor, Nie Huaisang keeps busy. He doesn’t have an official position in the house, and his cousin refuses to give him one for the time being, stating he’s waiting to see how things will go. Without any clear instructions, Nie Huaisang either helps Meng Yao with his duties, or reads up about the Wens, or plays weiqi against himself so he won’t disappoint the emperor when they play together.

Then, at last, the much awaited invitation arrives, requesting Nie Huaisang’s presence at the imperial palace a few days later.

Nie Funyu intercepts the letter and reads it before giving it to his cousin. He immediately sets out to ruin any joy Nie Huaisang might have felt with a list of strict instructions regarding the way he should behave. Considering the things Nie Huaisang admitted to saying on that very first meeting with the emperor in Qinghe, he supposed his cousin can’t be blamed for being worried. He tries to explain that he’d just been surprised that day, that he hadn’t realised who he was talking to, but Nie Funyu won’t hear it and orders him to be on his best behaviour.

What he wants, in short, is for Nie Huaisang to pretend he isn’t himself, that his personality is so mild as to be nonexistent, that he doesn’t have any humour. He is allowed to be good at weiqi if he must, but not too good.

When he helps him prepare to go meet the emperor, Meng Yao has some very different advice to offer.

“Master has many qualities, but he doesn’t understand the heart of young men,” he says, neatly tying into place the last layer of Nie Huaisang’s outfit. 

It is a gorgeous robe in a soft green that makes Nie Huaisang look nobler than he is, in a cut that gives the impression he’s not as short as he is. Meng Yao selected the fabric, chose the sash to go with it, decided the way it ought to be worn, and turned Nie Huaisang from a country boy into the perfect picture of a fashionable young man.

“If His Highness took notice of you that day, then it must mean your behaviour pleased him,” Meng Yao adds, motioning for Nie Huaisang to go sit so his hair can be dealt with. “So don’t change your manners too much, and don’t be too serious.”

Nie Huaisang promptly obeys, and abandons himself to the clever hands of Meng Yao. 

“I don’t know why my cousin worries anyway,” Nie Huaisang says, closing his eyes to enjoy the pleasant sensation of hands on his hair. “The emperor probably only wants to make sure I’m comfortable so he can tell Mingjue that he’s a good friend.”

Meng Yao’s hands slow down to the point of stillness, then start working again.

“Maybe it is so,” Meng Yao cautiously says. “But there are many people who have sent their relatives to the capital because of the war, and this humble servant doubts the emperor is making time for them, or apologising when he doesn’t have that time. Young Master Nie must have pleased him.”

“Don’t say that, I’ll get ideas,” Nie Huaisang mumbles, his cheeks burning.

“This humble one will keep quiet if Young Master Nie orders it,” Meng Yao retorts with a smile. “But this one won’t stop thinking that he’s right.”

If Nie Huaisang were a real noble, he’d scold Meng Yao for speaking so insolently. But of course it is because they both know what they are and where they stand that Meng Yao allows himself to chat so freely.

Still, it’s a little unkind to encourage him in his delusions, and he wishes Meng Yao wouldn’t do that.

-

That afternoon with the emperor goes well. It wasn’t supposed to be a whole afternoon, but one game of weiqi turns into three, until some ministers come knocking at the door, insisting that the emperor really must attend to certain business now. Only then do they separate, and with great reluctance. Nie Huaisang is brought back to the gate of the imperial palace, where his cousin waits for him. 

Strangely enough, Nie Funyu doesn’t seem in a bad mood, in spite of being made to wait longer than was planned. He does however insist that they head home directly, even though Nie Huaisang is now starving and would have liked to stop somewhere to grab some food. But a letter from Father has arrived, Nie Funyu explains, and it contains some instructions for Nie Huaisang that must be discussed in private.

In spite of his growling stomach, Nie Huaisang doesn’t protest and lets his cousin take him home. Perhaps there are news from Nie Mingjue in that letter. It would be nice. Nie Huaisang wishes he could talk to his brother, because they’d have more to say to each other than ever before.

But when they get home, Nie Funyu doesn’t share the contents of Father’s letter. Instead he takes Nie Huaisang to his private room, orders every servant to keep away, and locks the door.

“Tell me everything that happened,” Nie Funyu orders. “You were there for over a shichen, surely something must have happened. Tell me.”

Nie Huaisang, startled by the demand, the tone in which it is made, the locked door, hesitates.

It feels wrong to share what happened, especially with his cousin for whom he has little affection and only as much trust as is required toward a relative. What happened isn’t to be shared with just anyone. The emperor opened up to him over the afternoon and spoke, not as a son of heavens, but as a young man almost his age, lonely and in need of a friend, of a companion, in need of affection. 

Nie Huaisang isn't stupid, he can tell the emperor was flirting. 

The most powerful man in the world, flirting with him. It should be something to boast about, and instead Nie Huaisang wants to keep it secret. The knowledge that out of everyone in this world, out of every scholar, every beautiful man and woman, he’s the one whom the emperor might want at his side feels like a treasure. It is something to be kept away from prying eyes and enjoyed in private. He wants to take that realisation and put it away in his little box, alongside memories of his mother and brother, to be kept safe forever.

It is not something Nie Funyu deserves to hear about.

So Nie Huaisang tries to hide what he can. He describes the three games they played, praising the emperor for his skill, mentions that he tried to lose but was scolded and forced to play seriously, proving that the emperor is a wise man who values honesty. 

Nie Funyu isn’t satisfied with that. He asks question after question, demands details for every answer he gets, slowly forcing his young cousin to reveal everything, how the emperor smiled at him, how he laughed even as he scolded Nie Huaisang into playing well enough to beat him, his excitement as they spoke of poetry. Nie Huaisang can’t keep anything to himself, not even the way the emperor took his hand and squeezed it with such tenderness after making him promise he would visit again. 

When everything has been laid out, Nie Funyu is satisfied while Nie Huaisang feels ashamed. He wasn’t asked to keep any secrets, but this still has the aftertaste of a betrayal.

"It's as I thought then," his cousin says when he’s decided that he’s heard everything there is to say. "I'm glad I immediately wrote to your father. He's already answered that he also sees the advantage to be gained in this."

"I'm not sure I understand?" Nie Huaisang replies, too tired to keep his tone polite. He’s starving, and feels a headache pressing behind his eyes… or it might be that he just wants to cry.

"Your duty is to obey, not to understand," Nie Funyu snaps. "You will continue seducing the emperor, and ensure he doesn't turn on our family. Everyone knows his uncle is against this war, we can't have that young idiot change his mind. But what the brain can't achieve, the heart will do. So do your duty, and serve your family in the way you can."

“Seducing?”

Nie Funyu glares at him, and hands him Father’s letter at last.

Most of it regards ordinary business, a few requests regarding the war, some news from Nie Mingjue. The most interesting part comes last, when Father states that he sees no objection to letting the emperor have Nie Huaisang in whatever way pleases him. It is important, Father says, that Nie Huaisang doesn’t balk at his duty, whatever the personal cost. Everything must be sacrificed for the good of the empire… and what’s good for the empire is to make sure the emperor listens to the Nie family.

Nie Huaisang doesn’t cry. It would make his cousin angry, he thinks, and he’d rather not deal with that on top of the rest.

He doesn’t cry but he desperately wants to.

That afternoon with the emperor was so good, he had so much fun. Aside from Nie Mingjue, he doesn’t think anyone has ever been so warm and kind to him, so eager to get his good opinion. Nie Huaisang was so happy, and now it’s all been ruined, because he’s not allowed to just enjoy the fact that this gorgeous, powerful young man likes him.

He’ll do what Father asks, of course. He has to. It’s for the good of the empire, Father says, and it’s to make sure that Nie Mingjue gets all the support he needs while fighting the Wens. Nie Huaisang can’t take part in that war, but if he can help like this… He has to be a good son, a good brother.

It’s fine to be doing this. He’s not lying to anyone. Nie Huaisang wants to continue meeting the emperor, wants to see if they can be friends, if they can be more.

It’s fine to be doing what everyone wants if he also wants it, right?

#xisang #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #concubine au #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #I'll probably have at least one more chapter for that AU for sure #and then it's anyone's guess if it still holds my attention

[mobagehelllocal]

"huling sayaw"

twst oc week - day seven: free day or alternate universe

*arknights au

“hold my hand, before we have to give each other up everything, I will give to you. everything.”

She had been on the run for days.

Raina gritted her teeth as she tugged her hood lower across her face to shield herself from the heat of the sun. She turned around, her eyes squinted as she glanced at her fellow travellers. Most of them (just like her) bore the mark of the Infection—Oripathy. Dark, crystal shapes that emerge from the skin.

“... We shouldn’t be too far away now.” She kept her voice calm and in control—even if she wanted to scream and cry about how unfair their situation was.

“Where exactly are we going, Raina-nee?” Her eyes met that of a child, clutching onto her older sister. Both had contracted Oripathy the most common way: being exposed to a dead body with the disease. Her heart broke—their futures, stolen from them. Not by the disease, but by the treatment they received from their homeland—Laterano.

It was the Laterano decree, that those who became Infected were forbidden from staying or entering Laterano territory.

“... We’re going to Rhodes Island.” Her smile trembled—and she was sure it was more of a grimace. “I am friends with the Doctor there—we exchanged research quite a bit before...” her voice trailed off. “... If there is a place who will accept us... I’m sure Rhodes Island will.” She looked up, and hoped that there was nothing but determination on her face. “So just a bit more everyone..! We can do this.” She helped guide everyone across the sandy terrains they were crossing before—

She raised her head again and peered into the distance. The sun had just begun to set, dragging its brilliant colours of red and yellow past the horizons. In its wake, the sky began to darken purple and blue--like a bruise.

“We’ll need to set up camp soon...” Her hand reached up, and clamped tight on a small, diamond shape charm that hung around her neck. She felt her heart twist as she traced the shape with a finger—her eyes watered, and the smile she had been desperately holding up—immediately curled downward.

‘I miss them, gods I miss them. I don’t know how to live without them.’

After all, It was the first time, since she was born, that she was separated from them.

--

“Sankta Raina. You are accused of harbouring Infected when it was clearly against Laterano Law. Do you deny it?”

“I do not—but do you not have any humanity in you? These people are still Laterano citizens and are owed help by our government, on our lands—”

“Silence, Sankta Raina. You were not asked to speak.”

“That’s—”

“Sankta Raina. You are also accused of being Infected yourself… and hiding it from Laterano Authorities. Do you deny it?”

“… I do not.”

“Then you and your harboured Infected will be banished and stripped of your Laterano Citizenship and Privileges…”

“Are you serious? Now of all times, we should be united in understanding Oripathy and healing it…! Banishing me—us—it will not cure or help anything—You are just delaying something inevitable—!”

“Out there, you are no longer our concern or our problem. You are on your own, Sankta Raina. You will be stripped of your firearms on your way out of Laterano. Do you have any last-minute requests to make of us?”

“Oh, so now you ask!?”

“Speak it. And perhaps we will permit it.”

“… You won’t tell the twins.”

“Naturally. The two of them are core members of Laterano’s Apostolic Gun-Knights. Their very reputation… their future would be tarnished by your actions… No, the two of them will be kept far away from the trouble you have caused, Sankta Raina.”

“… I’m glad we can agree on one thing.”

--

‘Jade, Floyd... I hope you two are okay. I hope you are not kicking up too much of a ruckus...’ she couldn’t help but desperately pray to any god or higher being that could be listening.

The twins were well loved in Laterano due to their effectiveness as Apostolic Gun-Knights and enforcers of the Laterano law. Their future in Laterano was brilliant—and not one she wanted to mar with her selfish actions.

“Perhaps… I can meet them again one day…” she raised a hand to trace the scars of Oripathy on her cheek. ‘But who am I kidding…’ It would be impossible to cross paths with them again—knowing that Laterano was likely going to send them as far away from her as possible.

‘So until I discover a cure… I can’t see them… and even then, with what I’ve done… Laterano will not make it easy.’ She gritted her teeth, the tears started to gather at the edge of her lashes and she started breathing heavily in an attempt to not let the tears fall.

‘I can’t cry..! If they were here—! They would tell me not to cry—!’

Her thoughts are cut off by a sharp scream behind her. She turned immediately, and what she saw made her eyes widen.

‘Laterano’s Apostolic Gun-Knights!?’

She rushed over to her group as she rubbed fiercely at her eyes to ensure there were no tears before she confronted the Gun-Knights. She slid to a stop and spread her arms out in a protective stance over her group.

“We were peacefully allowed to leave Laterano territory.” Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth. “So why are you here? Threatening my companions?”

The Gun-Knight peered at her.

“Are you Sankta Raina?”

“Y—yes. Why do you need to know—!?” Before she could finish her sentence, the Head Gun-Knight gestured with his fingers and two of his accomplices quickly manoeuvred themselves to hold her down on either side. “What are you—?”

“We have reasons to believe that the criminals we are chasing down are looking to meet up with you.” The Head Gun-Knight said. “So we are using you as bait.”

“Criminals?” She questioned, stunned. “What—who would—? I’ve never—!” The Knight looked almost bored as he stared at her.

“Who else but—”

‘No they wouldn’t—’

“J—”

BANG BANG.

The Knight slumped down, dead—and her companions all shrieked in surprise. Raina flinched as she felt blood splatter across her cheeks before she craned her neck to see—

The Twins.

Just as she remembered them. Aquamarine halos and diamond shaped wings shimmered under the light of the daybreak sky. They were beautiful—so beautiful. Raina’s heart skipped a beat at how handsome they were—standing before her, protecting her, as they always did since they were children.

Except...

“Awww, we wanted to keep it a secret a little longer~ Ne, Jade?” Floyd had a tail. Diamond tipped—like his wings. It twisted and flicked around, as if expressing his excitement.

“Ee, Floyd. Oh well, we can’t deny that this slight hiccup in our plans isn’t fun at all.” Jade had horns. Tall and curved wickedly—beautiful and grotesque on an angel...

“Ehehe. You’re right~! Let’s… have some fun…!” Floyd’s horns were identical to Jade’s—if not somehow pointed outward.

“Fufufu….” While Jade’s tail was identical to his brother in appearance, he moved his lazily by swinging it from side to side.

‘The Law is absolute. From the moment a Sankta aimed their gun at another of their kind, their fates were decided.’

Raina could only stare in horror as she watched the twins decimate the entire squadron of Apostolic Gun-Knights—with eyes glowing gleefully and mouths spread into wide, sharp grins. The other Gun-Knights stood no chance—the twins were considered their best agents in decades. Once they had finished, they turned back around, their eyes immediately fixated onto her. Floyd moved toward her eagerly before Jade raised his hand and stopped his brother. Floyd frowned and opened his mouth to protest but he was interrupted by Raina.

“... Why…?” She felt her throat dry. She was caught between sheer happiness at being able to see them, sorrow upon knowing what must’ve happened and—anger. Anger because she did not want this future for them. “Why!? Why are you here—I made sure—!”

“As if they could hide something so important from us.” Jade cut in, calmly. His gold and olive eyes peered down at her, before it flickered off to the terrified group behind her. His smile turned cordial. “Well, it’s quite late in the day. We should set up camp. Don’t you agree d—Raina?”

She turned around at that, to see that her group was staring at the twins in pure fear… as they would any Sankta who had fallen from grace. “Yes… Do… do not worry.” She stood up shakily, “They’re my friends… They’ll keep us safe.”

She smiled—and she wondered again, how reassuring could it even look—when she herself was terrified.

‘What have you two done…?’

--

The whole group skittered around when the twins had rejoined them after disposing of… the bodies. She had only approached them once—to offer them dinner, before she slipped away from their grasp to look after her companions. She could feel the heavy weight of their gaze on her shoulders—down the black crystals that formed on her arms… But she ignored them for as long as she could as she dressed or reworked any of her companions’ injuries.

She did this—going around the hot fire at the center of their camp, until there was no one left to distract herself with and—

“You’ve kept us waiting long enough!” Floyd pouted as he yanked her down to sit in between him and Jade. The other twin stared at her, as collected as ever, as he poked a stick into the fire.

“I have to take care of everyone.” She bit out. “They’re my responsibility now.” Floyd only huffed in response before he nuzzled into the curve of her neck, lips dangerously close to—

“Don’t—!” She flinched back, briefly hitting Jade as her hand went up to cover the crystals that had formed across her skin.

“Haah? You’ve never resisted squeezes before!” His expression twisted. “Is it because of these?” He gestured to his newly acquired demon horns and tail.

“No--of course not—it’s… I’m… an Infected now… I just thought...” The twins snorted in unison.

“You must be a unique kind of stupid, doll. If you think your infection will make us stay away from you.” Jade said dryly, as his hand snaked around her waist and pulled her tight against his side. Before she could protest, Floyd moved, and pressed up against her—which squeezed her in between them both.

“You…” She felt her eyes water and she blinked rapidly—in an attempt to not let her tears fall. “Nothing’s changed…?” her voice cracked.

“Absolutely nothing.” They said vehemently, once more in unison.

“Your future…” She raised a shaky hand to trace her fingers up the length of their dark horns. Both twins bent down, their eyes fluttered shut at the sensation of her hand against their new appendages. “... You shouldn’t have fallen… not for me.”

“On the contrary.” Jade purred as he nuzzled against her shoulder, lips pressed against the crystals there. “How could we picture a future without you?”

“Besides, it was getting boring in Laterano!” Floyd smiled, goofily as he nuzzled his nose against the curve of her shoulder. “It’s more fun with you!” She gritted her teeth, her hands fell away from their horns—and cupped her own face. She started to cry. She had thought she had lost everything but…

'But she hadn’t lost anything. Not anything of value anyways.

“T—thank you… I’m sorry…!” She began to sob, “I’m sorry I kept it a secret…! I should’ve… told you guys… I…” her whole body began to shake, and the twins only drew closer.

They had been together every day and knew they would see each other every tomorrow. It had simply become impossible to imagine a future without each other.

“That’s right! Say your sorry! To think you were going to have fun without us!” Floyd pouted.

“Cry for now, dear doll. Let it all out.” Jade said smoothly. “And don’t forget, from here on out. We have already fallen… it doesn’t matter how much farther we fall.”

--

“let’s say goodbye after our last dance who knew we could fall from the heavens? so together, let’s give each other up— after we dance one more time”

--

*huling sayaw - 'last dance'

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #jade leech #twst jade #floyd leech #twst floyd #twstocweek #ai tries twstocweek #aiwrites #a/n: im glad... i finished... sob!

[gusu-emilu]

Whumptober 2021 Day 1: “You have to let go”

Fandom: MDZS/CQL Ship: Mo Xuanyu / Nie Huaisang Rating: T, Major Character Death Wordcount: 1166 Tags: Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Grief/Mourning, Canonical Character Death

He and Mo Xuanyu have always been meant to part ways in the end.

"You have to let go," Huaisang tells the trembling figure in front of him.

The young man hangs his head, disheveled hair draping over his face. He leans forward as if to bury himself in Huaisang's chest, but not close enough for his face to touch Huaisang’s robes.

A lacquered wooden makeup case rattles in the young man’s hands as his fingers abuse its lid. The makeup case is empty, save for a trace of crimson dust. Several other empty cases litter the ground like bodies cut open after an ambush. They surround the name Mo Xuanyu and a collection of obscene words written in stark red and white on the ground. The sneering voices of Jin cultivators, long since gone, still slither through the air around them, as if crawling out of the crude letters they smeared into the ground.

So this is Jin Guangyao’s newly-discovered brother.

Huaisang feels a sharp pang of sympathy for Mo Xuanyu. To have his passions strewn to the floor, to be looked down upon and mocked, to feel alone in his own sect...

"It's alright," Huaisang says gently, not for the first time. "They're gone now."

But despite his coaxing, Mo Xuanyu still refuses to uncurl his fingers from the case in his hands, still refuses to speak or look him in the eye. Maybe Huaisang should leave.

"How about I give you some of my cosmetics?" he tries.

Mo Xuanyu grips the case harder. "Why...why would you do that?"

Well, that's progress.

Huaisang rests the edge of his fan on the makeup case. Mo Xuanyu flinches and looks up. Rage flashes through his eyes before mellowing to puppy-like sadness and confusion.

Even in this state of disarray, the white powder on his face wet, red streaks smearing down over his cheekbones, Mo Xuanyu is beautiful.

But Huaisang doesn't miss the startling forcefulness of that flash of anger, steely and concentrated like the tension of a wrought bow. He wouldn't have expected such rage from someone who seems to want to make himself as small as possible.

Mo Xuanyu is miserable.

Luckily for both of them, misery loves company.

"Consider it a gift of initiation," Huaisang finally answers.

"Initiation of...what?"

Huaisang slips a jade powder case from his sleeve and holds it out. Opening his fan with a spirited snap, he smiles and cocks an eyebrow. "Initiation of our friendship, of course."

Mo Xuanyu stares wide-eyed at the powder case and its intricate design of swirling patterns and twin magpies. He blinks, and the faintest smile appears on his lips.

He reaches for the case.

* * *

"A-Yu!" Huaisang says through laughter. "You have to let go!"

Giggling, Mo Xuanyu hugs the bundle of Huaisang's robes against his bare body and dodges out of Huaisang's reach. His grin becomes sharper when he's mischievous like this, his movements more resolute than his usual delicacy. He is something totally other when he is smiling and cheerful, transforming like a tattered sheet of paper folded into the shape of a crane.

Huaisang can't hold back his grin. "Give me my robes back!"

"Not unless we stay here a little longer."

"You do realize that it must be for something important if it's me, of all people, who wants to get out of bed."

"It's that important?" Mo Xuanyu asks, caught off guard.

Huaisang shrugs. "Maybe not. I don't know." He relents and lies back down, letting Mo Xuanyu happily join him once more.

Breathes in the giddiness that masks the truth of their relationship, lets the comfort drown out his thoughts.

Huaisang knows their joyful moments together are fleeting. Mo Xuanyu will return to his place of scorn in Jinlintai and resume his secret studies of demonic cultivation. Huaisang will return to Qinghe and do his best to keep Da-ge’s mind from splitting along the lines that Baxia has carved into him.

Even without their separateness of their lives, Huaisang’s relationship with Mo Xuanyu will never be appropriate to make public. And, Huaisang tells himself, it is not that significant of a relationship anyway. Just a fling. Just some fun.

He tries not to let himself feel too much, tries not to become too attached. He knows it’s selfish to toy with someone whose life is so precarious, someone so fundamentally alone.

But he and Mo Xuanyu have always been meant to part ways in the end.

* * *

"You have to let it go," Jin Guangyao says, hand on Huaisang's shoulder.

Huaisang wants to cut off that hand. Cut off the fingers that plucked deceit on guqin strings. Cut off his whole arm.

For that, Huaisang would pick up a saber. Would touch one of those cursed blades that poisoned Da-ge.

But he won't.

Not like that.

Huaisang clenches his teeth and swallows the bile, lets Jin Guangyao's palm sink into his shoulder, smiles and nods and plays nice and plays dumb for "San-ge."

For now, he lets it go.

* * *

Huaisang is in bed with Mo Xuanyu, drowning out his grief, when he has the idea to let his lover go.

His mind makes the connections in a flash as his heart sinks, the last piece of his plan fitting into place like a missing bone from a skeleton, like the final word of a curse.

Mo Xuanyu’s kiss seems to burn his lips that night.

Huaisang would call himself a selfish man, but he and Mo Xuanyu have always been meant to part ways in the end.

* * *

You have to let go, he tells himself when he finds Mo Xuanyu slumped over in a shack, clothes in tatters, blood weeping from his wrists.

This time, Mo Xuanyu hangs his head, but not against Huaisang's chest. This time, hideous crimson writing is scrawled on the ground around him, written not in Mo Xuanyu's cosmetic powder, but in his own blood, by his own hand.

This time, Mo Xuanyu offered the gift.

Why did you do it? Huaisang wants to ask, but knows the answer like it's written into his skin with the blood of the soul he helped kill.

* * *

As Huaisang sits alone in his room, he holds Mo Xuanyu’s jade powder case—the same powder case he had gifted to him when they first met—and thinks.

Mo Xuanyu had been consumed by revenge. Had let it take his body like a fire devours through a forest, stripping it dry, leaving only black, brittle remains of what had once been.

Had burned out in a flash and left the ashes for Huaisang to hold onto.

Huaisang can easily take things for granted, can easily throw away a vessel for happiness—he had always been selfish and only grown more callous each time something had slipped through his fingers and left cuts behind—

But they are invisible cuts, of course.

It is with smooth, unblemished skin that Huaisang caresses the carvings of Mo Xuanyu's powder case. Cradles the relic with clean hands.

Yet those hands are shaking.

Shaking, they refuse to let go...

#mdzsnet #theuntameddaily #nie huaisang #mo xuanyu #the untamed #mdzs #cql #whumptober2021 #emilu creations #emilu fics

[hopelesshawks]

History of Us Part 11- Qualifiers

Summary: Once upon a time Todoroki and (y/n) were best friends. Now they haven’t spoken in years. When (y/n) is forced to transfer to UA, will she and Shoto reconnect or will their troubled past keep them apart? A childhood friends to enemies to lovers hybrid fic.

If you don’t want to see History of Us content blacklist #hopelesshou

Masterlist Kofi

The moment right before the start of the sports festival is shockingly nerve-wracking. Each step through the tunnels, closer to the main field of the arena, fills you with more dread and excitement and anticipation. You keep your head raised high, wearing your UA gym uniform proudly as the roaring of the crowd starts to meet your ears. With Bakugo on your right and Kirishima on your left, you almost feel invincible. This is your chance, your opportunity, to show everyone what you’re capable of and show all of Japan that you refuse to be defined by your father’s tainted legacy. Present Mic’s voice booms over the speakers, his grinning face plastered across the monitors as you finally step out onto the field, astroturf crunching beneath your feet as he sings the praises of hero course class 3A. The crowd’s enthusiastic cheering is addictive. You make a point to soak it in while you can. Right now each and every one of them see you as a hero. While some of the students lamented not being able to wear their costumes for the event, you were secretly glad for it. The uniform made you a generic UA student; for now, unburdened by the past.

“This never gets old,” Kirishima grins next to you as you all step into the central area and the other classes begin to filter out into the coliseum as well. A few of them grumble, giving the hero classes jaded looks, but even their ire cannot dampen the overall atmosphere. You instinctively find yourself seeking out a familiar pair of heterochromatic eyes, eventually finding them next to Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka. You can’t help the way your heart trips over itself when you lock eyes with Shoto. Memories of the night before and of waking up in his arms float to the forefront of your mind and you scowl before shaking your head to physically dispel the image from your mind. You turn away from him, missing the hurt that flashes across his eyes. He redirects his attention back to Principal Nezu, chief umpire as usual for the third years. “Now Shoto Todoroki will give the class pledge,” Nezu announces before ceding the floor.

The school had made the executive decision not to let Bakugo give the pledge after that first year. Midoriya had nearly passed out when it was his turn second year (as much as he has grown, public speaking still isn’t quite his forte). This made Todoroki the obvious choice for this year’s class pledge. As he approaches the mic he can’t help but think of Bakugo’s first speech. He remembers Midoriya telling him later the apparent narcissistic declaration that Bakugo had made to be number one had actually been to box himself into a corner to make sure he followed through. The more he thinks on it the more Shoto relates to that desire. His eyes scan the crowd until he spots his father amongst the rest. He makes sure to make direct eye contact, his eyes boring into his father’s as he leans down to speak into the mic. “I pledge... that we will create a new legacy of our own and destroy legacies of old,” he says confidently. He thinks he sees a flash of hurt and disappointment in Endeavor’s eyes even from the great distance between them. He turns to stride down the stairs of the stage and he can’t help but seek you out amongst the crowd of fellow students, hoping you got the message.

You tense a bit as your heart skips another beat. That boy is going to give you heart palpitations. Bakugo nudges you harshly in the side, causing you to jerk your head to scowl at him. “You good, nerd?” he asks, concern softening his usual bite a fraction. “I’m great. Ready to start kicking ass,” you reply, pushing down all your Shoto-related feelings for examination later. “Good,” is all Bakugo replies before his attention returns to Nezu. You can’t help but smile a little at Bakugo’s concern. He’s a surprisingly good friend and you’re grateful Kirishima introduced the two of you. When the direct elimination round comes around you’ll be merciless, but you have full confidence the two of you will make it through the qualifiers and you know the two of you and Kirishima will make for a great team for whatever the second round will be. “Don’t forget loser. I better see you on the fucking podium,” you remind him with a smirk. “You ain’t gotta worry about me idiot. Worry about yourself,” he replies although there’s no heat behind the words and he’s smirking just as much as you.

As the first game is announced you resolve yourself to staying middle of the pack for now. You don’t want to draw too much attention and let everyone discover your identity too quickly. You’re keenly aware that the second round is almost always a team event and without knowing how many people will be on a team, you can’t rely on Bakugo and Kirishima. Furthermore, any team you’re on would only become a target. Bakugo would kill you if he knew you have no intentions of trying your all in the qualifying round of course but you have to be strategic. No one pays much attention to the lower ranks from round 1, it’ll be easier to slip under the radar. Then, in round 2, you’ll kick it up a notch to prove your worth. At that point winning will become the only important matter. Creating a new legacy while destroying the old, as Shoto put it.

So that’s exactly what you do. The first game is a so called “Tower of Terror” that had been constructed in the preceding weeks. The task is simple enough in theory: scale the tower, cross from there to the ramp connected to the stadium, and return to the field. Only rule is that falling off the tower entirely is an immediate elimination. The amount of people being promoted out of the qualifying round is, as usual, a secret but you do the math to get a good idea of how many would optimally be removed and think you have a good estimate to ensure you’ll remain relatively anonymous. Your strategy pays off and you finish in the 30s out of the approximately 50 who qualify. As you finish your slide down the ramp, glowing faintly as you heal the minor injuries you’ve collected, a fuming Bakugo is storming up to you and you roll your eyes.

“The fuck you doing half and half?” he demands as you dust yourself off. “None of your goddamn business Pomeranian,” you fire back. “What happened to trying to be the best huh? Didn’t think you were one for dirty tricks,” he accuses. You feel your temper starting to genuinely flare at that comment. “I’m not pulling dirty tricks I’m trying to survive asshole. Not all of us can afford to be showy right out the gate,” you seethe. “I didn’t take you for a coward.” “I didn’t take you for an idiot.” “Say that shit again and I’ll blast you out the fucking stadium.” “I’d like to see you fucking try.” Both of you grip hold of the front of each other’s shirts, your right hand raised as your quirk makes shadows pool in it and one of his hands raised already popping off explosions. Before either of you can draw more attention to yourselves or actually act on your anger, you’re frozen in place. Literally. “All that work you did to keep your identity under wraps will be for nothing if Present Mic or Nezu comment about you and Bakugo fighting between games. Especially if they decide to disqualify you over it,” Shoto says as he approaches the both of you before melting the ice keeping you and Bakugo from pummeling each other. “I don’t recall fucking asking you,” you spit back, whirring to face your former friend. “I’m only trying to help,” Shoto responds placatingly but it’s too late to quell your anger. “Well fucking stop trying to,” you tell him before storming off. You need to focus on the next event anyway and not stupid Shoto with his stupid face and his stupid need to stick his nose in your fucking business.

The second event is...

Rough.

To say the least.

You and Bakugo were still too pissed at each other to make a proper team so you’d ended up with Yaoyorozu, Denki, and Sero. You admired their quirks and objectively they were strong, but it wasn’t exactly a perfectly complementary combination of skills. Each member of the team was given a target they were required to protect, almost exactly like the provisional licensing exam held during your first year, except with one major twist. Every member of your team was linked together by a short leash attached to their wrists. Last four teams standing would advance to the finals. Without his costume or support items to help direct his lightning Denki’s quirk was difficult to utilize without risking stunning the entire team. Sero’s quirk was more useful but the placement of the leash made it difficult for him to use it without tugging around the hands of the teammates on either side of him. You and Yaoyorozu, the only two whose quirks weren’t actively impeded, struggled to compensate for the other two and coordinate your actions. In the end, the four of you had barely qualified, leaving you frustrated.

So much for crafting a new legacy.

As Present Mic gleefully announces that the teams of Midoriya, Bakugo, Monoma, and Yaoyorozu will be moving on, a picture of all those advancing flashing on the monitors, you can’t help but sink deeper and deeper into regret and frustration. The others head to the cafeteria as the lunch break is announced but you storm off in the opposite direction in hopes of getting an opportunity to cool off and clear your head before the break ends and the next game begins. The universe, however, seems to have other plans because instead you crash into another, much larger body. As you look up your apology shrivels up and dies on your tongue as you find yourself staring into the eyes of the only man who inspires similar ire in you as your father does.

Enji Todoroki aka Endeavor aka the (second) largest tool in the entirety of Japan.

“Where are you sneaking off to?” he asks, making no attempt to mask his suspicion of you. “None of your fucking business,” you retort. You move to step around him but he quickly steps back in front of you. “The cafeteria is the opposite direction,” Endeavor informs you. “Gee thanks, I had no idea even though I literally go to this fucking school,” you reply, each word dripping with sarcasm. “Then what could possibly have you traveling this direction instead?” “Like I said. None of your fucking business.” “Your suspicious behavior is my business. I made a mistake with a (y/l/n) before, I won’t make one again,” Endeavor swears and you reel back almost as if struck. “I am not my father,” you spit out. Your quirk activates unbidden in response to your anger, black shadows curling out of your clenched right hand and forearm. “Sure looks like it to me,” Endeavor scoffs, looking pointedly at the shadowy tendrils rising out of the right side of your body. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” a familiar voice asks from behind you and you wish the earth would swallow you up. Shoto steps around and in front of you, taking up an almost protective stance between you and his father. “Shoto step aside and-“ “No,” Shoto insists, staring down his father in challenge. He and Endeavor’s gazes stay locked in a silent argument, neither willing to back down, so you take the opportunity while they’re both distracted to slip away. You make it to about halfway down the hallway when a hand catches your shoulder. You whirl around knocking it away to find Shoto there looking genuinely stunned at your hostility. “Jesus christ will you fuck off!” you snap at him and maybe it isn’t fair but you’re frustrated and angry and you fought with one of your best friends and you’ve barely squeaked through each round so far and the last thing you are mentally or emotionally prepared to do is confront your increasingly complex thoughts on Shoto fucking Todoroki whose father just all but accused you of attempting to sabotage the competition.

“Hey I just wanted to check on you,” he says and for some reason, the show of compassion only pisses you off even more. “Why can’t you just leave me the fuck alone?” you demand. “Please (y/n) I-“ he tries to say, clearly confused by your rage. You know most of your anger is actually directed inwards and not at him but you don’t care. “I get that you are trying to grow as a person or whatever and pity me because you were a complete and utter dickhead a decade ago but I don’t want your fucking pity friendship so leave me the fuck alone Icyhot,” you spit with all the venom you can muster before promptly spinning around and continuing your path down the hallway, leaving a stunned Shoto behind.

No one needs to know that you’ve already started crying before you’ve even turned the corner away from him.

A/N: Oh you thought the good feelings from last chapter would last? Nah, have some angst 🙃

Taglist: @sorrythatspussynal @miss-bakugo-writes @pixelwisp @larkspyrr @sokkaandzukosimp @akkaso @sunaispretty @mindofess @todoplusultra @oliviasslut

#hopelesshou #shoto smau #shoto x fem!reader #shoto x reader #shoto x y/n #todoroki smau #todoroki x fem!reader #todoroki x reader #todoroki x y/n #shoto todoroki

[honorable-wanderings]

Word of Honor - Episode 3 Part 2 - We’re getting INN to it now!

Meanwhile back with Scooby  and the Gang. B-characters realize that the Goldilocks is missing and it was only the 3 bears that were killed.

And we can hear them surprisingly well from this far away. Their voices must carry exceptionally well.

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

The spiderwebs of DEATH

Seriously though it’s been hours. How has no one either taken these wires down or run into them accidentally? You cannot tell me they have checked every bit of this place for ChengLing’s body if these are still up.

Someone has lied to you Mr. White ‘n’ Blue.

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

No you fucking did not. If you were cleaning them up roughly you’d at least get the ones on the main doorways! goddamn.

-----------

Old ppl vs the Ghosts!

COME ON DOWN FOR THE FIGHT OF YOUR LIFE THE ALL DEAD VS THE MOSTLY DEAD THIS SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY BE THERE BE THERE BE THERE.

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

The Ghost Valley is a menace! It’s high time someone went in there and eradicated them all!

Huh... never thought of that before...

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

Eh. Old people chanting the children’s rhymes doesn’t have the same tension. It’s just not the right feel. It’s a no from me.

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

Yes. This is perfectly far enough away. No one could possibly overhear us from this distance! I am a genius!

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

We are all very worried about ChengLing’s well being. Yes. That is all. Only his well being. Nothing else. No ulterior motives here. Nope. Purely just good will and worry. :DDDD

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

Ah yes! Back to my boys! :D

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

You big softie.

Seriously though. He is so considerate of not only Best Boy’s physical well being but really his emotional state and autonomy as well. He doesn’t expect ChengLing to act like a full grown adult but he doesn’t treat him like a little kid either. It’s great and I’m here for it.

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

It’s not stalking if we got here first, right? Now you’re stalking me! :D :D :D :D :D

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

Some day soon I’ll get you to admit you like me ;)

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

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

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat you’re here to? At this random river?????? OMG what are the chancesssssss?!?!?

At this point I just wanna know fuckin how????

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

A-Xiang deserves a fucking medal for putting up with this BS. For real.

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

A-Xu you make-a him sad D:

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

Zhou ZiShu! Look out! They’re stealing your boat!!

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

-Hey if the ghost valley peeps come up to wreck shit it’s gonna be our shit that gets wrecked too you know? -I don’t give a farting fly’s left ass cheek! I’m one foot in the grave already.

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

Glazed armor this glazed armor that give me a glazed donut and let’s call it a day. I don’t careeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

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

Are you inn or out?

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

Sorry we’re out of space because for some reason we let ourselves rent out the entire establishment to a single person. Like I get he paid for the rooms but it’d still be bad for business?? Like no one wants to go to an inn if they won’t let you stay even though there are empty rooms. Like the fuck

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

Look elsewhere? Shit you know this is the only inn in town (apparently)!! Where we supposed to go???

Um... why don’t you try looking at I don’t give a FUCK

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

Well well well. Who could have seen this coming?

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

Zhou ZiShu is about read to add a few more nails

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

This old ragged beggar man is hot as fuck. Set him up in my room at once!

Just end my suffering. I beg you

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

ChengLing just gonna keep his mouth shut and stay out of it

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

-I gave you my own room! -My room now. Kindly GTFO -But I bought you clothes too! -Yeah no one asked you. GTFO!!

-How have my seduction techniques continued to fail??????????

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

Love me pls D:

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

If Oedipus invented a wire tap he’s gonna have to work harder to get past me!!

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

But he doesn’t look like he’s a bad person

Bad people rarely do.

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

Take the bed? I couldn’t possibly!! No! You’re taking care of me and protecting me and you’re old! You take the bed! I’ll sleep on the chair! I’m the best boy!!!

Bitch did I fucking stutter?

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

You owe me no explanations. I’m sure you have your reasons and that they’re good ones. But don’t suffer needlessly. Treat your wounds and I won’t ask any more about it.

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

MY BOY DOESN’T DESERVE THIS. ALL THIS OVER A PIECE OF FUCKIN SEA GLASS??????????

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

Ain’t nobody dope as me I’m just so fresh, so clean (So fresh and so clean clean)

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

Daaate niiiiiight

----------

So I get that you’re like persistently stalking me and all that but like Why??

Because I know you cute as fuck. Why you hiding? Show me what your true face and I’ll tell you what I want. What I really really want.

You first bitch

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

Local man tries to pry secrets out of only human in a 10 mile radius who has no ulterior motives and is confused when it doesn’t work.

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

Das gay

HDU

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

Clink Clink bitch

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

Master can you please keep it in your pants for 5 minutes? It’s all I ask. Just 5 minutes of peace! Please!

---------

Pop Quiz! Who is the second cutest person in the world?

I will settle for anyone who feeds me

Naw. Tsundere is where it’s at.

*Is unimpressed in tsundere*

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

Then who is the mostest cutest?

A tsundere with long legs, slim waist, fat ass.

Heavens strike me down now. Please end my misery. Why did I sit here? Didn’t I know better?

Anyone have any more torture nails? Anyone? Please?

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

*Insert Mii channel theme*

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

We are the unwashed masses. Let’s go fuck some shit up

---------

Hey guys. Does this look like anime style to you? Someone said it looks like anime but I don’t see it.

I think it looks great! I can’t even draw a stick figure! hahahaha

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

Sleepy boi <3

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

How the fuck did I become the third wheel?

-----------

*mii channel theme continues*

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

Your honored uncle here wouldn’t let us eat anything until you woke up even though he sat at my table. D:

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

-Stop acting like a little brat and start acting polite and demure like the other girls

-Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh gross

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

We’re doing found family and we’re doing it now!

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

Why aren’t you eating?

Yeah! We had to wait all this time for you to get here and you’re not even eating anyway!!!!!!

Well my home and my entire family died, and so did that random boat man who protected me. And also there’s a hole in my stomach. So I don’t have much of an appetite atm.

Oh My God. can you not???

But that’s how I show affection!!!!!!!! D:<

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

Shoving food in your face to hide your tears. A time honored tradition.

Also D: Best boy is sad </3

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

Oh no. More people I’m supposed to remember.

JESUS FUCK REALLY???

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW MANY? You cannot tell me they are all important. Please tell me I’m not supposed to remember this many people. I can’t handle this.

aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG

THAT’S 11 PEOPLE AT ONCE! WHAT THE FUCK

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

Whenever this guy speaks it sounds like he’s trying really hard not to cough in front of the board meeting.

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

Okay so what I got from this is

There was a treaty between these peeps and the ghost peeps to say they’ll leave each other the fuck alone

The ghost peeps broke that promise by fucking with the mirror lake sect and so these peeps decided to retaliate

and they’re gonna retaliate by throwing a party? Like I guess they’re just gathering forces? But like it’s a weird way to do it.

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

Oh for the love of god.

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

Pffffffffffffffff welcome to the circus

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

*sigh*

Okay y’all I can remember like 6 people. 7 Max. Y’all gonna have to be picky about who’s important here.

How many of these people do I actually have to know?

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

Now what the fuck happened here and why are the twin jades here?

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

You two have a piece of the glazed ham. And even though no one is using it it’s really important that we keep it that way. No one must hold all pieces of the glazed ham. Or..... bad things?

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

Oh my. Pain o’clock already?

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

SOMEONE GET THEIR ASS IN THERE AND GIVE MY BOY A HUG!

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

Hey! What do you see? Is he in there? I can’t see a goddamn thing.

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

So I know that he’s like what, 15? And like grew up with a dad. But like you know they made him scream “A-Die” and then wake up to Zhou ZiShu’s comforting touch on purpose. You know that was planned.

Maybe not a father, but certainly a father figure.

(Also thanks, A-Xu for answering my request from earlier for someone to comfort the poor boy.)

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

What’s this? The sounds of a scuffle???

Whelp. Not anymore.

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

Couldn’t he have just ordered them to leave instead?

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

The Ghost Valley seems to be following me rather closely.

Oh you have no idea. ;)

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

Alcohol detected

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

Let me call you a cute pet name and I’ll let you drink from my bottle of nectar. ;)

Oh my god this shit again?

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

You know what?

Two can play at this game.

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

You wanna see what lies underneath? Rip it off yourself.

Don’t worry! I’m patient! Sleep well! Dream of me! I know I’ll be dreaming of you! ;)

#word of honor #Shanhe Ling #wen kexing #zhou zishu #zhang chengling #Gu Xiang #Writing WoH #spoilers #episode 3 #long post

[caskit2]

Radiohusk week

Prompt 2 ‘Forbidden love (human AU) 

(WARNING: this fic made me cry while writing it. And to time period standards this fic discusses heavy topics like homosexuality, relationship secrecy and so on if I continue this fic)

Enjoy reading it here until I get it on AO3 

Also this is a prequel to my comic that i did for a previous radiohusk week xD 

Husk took a few deep breaths. 

Just breath in,

Breath out 

Take this one step at a time and hope for the best

Except, he really didn’t want to have this conversation. He would rather avoid it thanks!

But he knew it would come up eventually. 

If this proposal worked like Jade said it would, then she would eventually find a way to get them both a marriage license. She knew him from his childhood town, even supported him through his struggles with hiding his relationship, including the one he was currently in. 

She was really the only person who knew the whole story between him and Alastor, and willing to help him. 

This proposal being the solution. 

Husk had finally brought it up to Alastor that night, which started so casually after a long day of exhaustion. And after sharing in the relief did he dare show Alastor the papers. 

“…Are these the papers for the proposal?” Alastor had changed into one of his more comfortable shirts (stolen from his lover’s clothing trunk by their bedside) and was wearing a blank stare. He was running his fingers, tracing the fine text printed.  

The man in response to Al’s question gave a straight ‘Yes’, but keeping his eyes focused on his fingers, fumbling with his trousers. Alastor turned to look at Husk, his expression still unreadable. “And remind me again, as to why your friend can not just put my name into the certification herself?”

Shit, This guy will not stop looking for loopholes! But husk brought it out, so he was willing to ride through this figurative hurricane if it meant giving his lover some peace and comfort. That this decision was the right one. “Jade is only an assistant to the folks who work the marriage desk, plus it’s straight up forgery.” Husk was now looking at Alastor and he could tell, the darker skinned man was contemplating his next response, but Husk just hoped it would be the one that could give himself some form of comfort.

That what he was doing, was something that he hoped Al would find acceptable….

“Faking a marriage is just as miss-leading is it not?” Alastor raised a brow at Husk. Clearly, this conversation would not be going in the direction Husk wished it to go….

Fuck his life, or fuck himself in particular! “That isn't the point. Jade said she would be willing to sign her name on it to make the proposal real enough as it is on the paper. An odd ‘humph’ coming from the red head was the only indication to finish his statement. But rebutted with, “And what of the decision on the rings? I would have to admit, picking out a wedding band in the men’s department would be a curious sight if you were to do it. However, a woman doing so, is just so peculiar..almost funny to me in a way.” He chuckled a bit at his own statement.

“There is no ring...we can’t have it when we know what it implies…” 

Okay, he could have worded that a bit better, FUCK!

Alastor’s humorous expression quickly turned to a questionable gaze in his lover's direction, he dared him to continue. 

“..it would mean that such an attempt would make people start rumors.”

“Oh, don't be so ridiculous Husk!” Alastor went on, “you’re only signing a piece of paper that lets the church know that you are ready to get hitched. But a ring is just a ring. Getting one extra ring does not make a difference!” Alastor had now tossed the paper to the side table, his full attention now on Husk. “And besides, it is not like we will have anything to hide anymore, if what she says is true.” 

He waited for Husk to agree with him, but the Man had yet to announce it, in fact he looked as if he was thinking of something that didn't imply the ring to be the hidden secret…”Oh”

Oh so HE was something to hide, was he? Alastor scrunched his nose and scoffed at the thought. At the sight of his displeasure Husk quickly added, “ Think about this, the marriage is only necessary because it is one that can be officiated without having problems for the both of us”

Husk wasn't wrong, Alastor knew that, he knew better! A love between two men, unheard of but not uncommon to either party. In fact Husk’s proposal brought up an important factor that was missing; A marriage between 2 men would never get an approval, know matter who the officiator was, because the very thing was not accepted,even seen as Sinful! He even recalled that Husk did have a previous flame. One that his home town eventually discovered. 

Alastor never asked Husk what happened to the man...the poor chap!

Even then, the relationship between him and Husk was not an easy one at the start. Considering that friendship was a hard kind of devotion Alastor did not give away lightly, nor throw caution to the wind for. Because of this, Husk took precautions with their relationship until he felt confident enough to lay all his cards out on the table. 

Eventually Alastor had given this flame of his, a chance. They kept it all to themselves, only when they were alone did they feel comfortable enough to have a way with relief. And after years of looking over their shoulder, Alastor had decided that it was time to discuss their future. “We could always move, go someplace else”

Husk had to rest his arm on the wall and gave an exasperated sigh. “ And go where exactly? we are in no financial position to travel anywhere else and we can't just leave our jobs behind now can we?” his opposite hand now resting on his hip and a hint of annoyance in his voice. 

“you still have your degree in linguistics, we could get you a job as a professor in a university, And I can still work on my broadcasting. we could go to someplace in Ohio.” Now he was sounding desperate, and maybe a bit childish. Only, Alastor couldn't bring himself to care! And sure maybe he didn't actually know what he wanted, but he definitely knew what he did not want!

He did not want their town to find out about their relationship. He did not want harm to come on to him or his lover. He didn't want his future to depend on a woman. He straight up refused the possibility of sharing Husk with someone else!

The recollection suddenly brought back the sour feeling in him that burned something FIERCE! The very thing that the two men were discussing. Jade was her name, Al had met her once or twice on his get together lunches with husk. Talked a few times about school, childhoods, favorite food, small talk. But these conversations were of no interest to Alastor. And the fact that Husk was considering a proposal with her, made him want to shut the door in her face! 

And now, here they were, just the two of them. Husk with a proposition, Alastor with a readied refusal.

Husk knew fear when he saw it. But he had to take the initiative and stand by his offer, for Alastor’s sake, whether he wanted it or not! He leaned in to take Alastor’s hand into his own, but his lover quickly withdrew and took a step back. 

The hurt in Al’s eyes made Husk’s heart crumble. 

BREAK

for know this is the final chapter, at least until i decide that i want to continue with it, there was definitely more stuff I wanted to add. 

Until next time chiwdren! 

#hazbinhotel #hazbin hotel husk #alastor #radiohusk #radiohuskweek

[lordmartiya]

lord Martiya’s Lilanette Week 2021, part 3: Science Fiction

@lilanette-week

@lilanette

One thing she had been grateful to Lila for was her talking Chloe out of her mother’s toxic influence. She hadn’t succeeded in time to prevent the whole Miracle Queen debacle, but now she was back trying to become a good person, and even taking therapy (something Lila also sorely needed, but even if she could be talked into it there was the problem of how it would reflect on her mother’s image in the weird diplomatic circles). As an addendum, now Sabrina was in their friends group, something Marinette was usually happy for… But not right now.

“How did Sabrina guess I’m Multimouse?!” Marinette complained to Lila after they were alone.

“Her father is a police officer, one trusted with commanding groups during important operations – she’s grown around secrets just like me, she was bound to get suspicious. That, or she saw the Mirage you used to divert Chat Noir’s suspicions, and kept the secret because, well, she’s a cop’s daughter. Still, I would have expected her not to tell the others when Juleka asked about your break-up…”

That was when the Ladyblog signaled that a perfectly normal-looking punk biker had been caught trying to find the heroic Volpina and then sent flying the police officer that had confronted him about it.

“Didn’t think Alya would hesitate calling him an Akuma.” Lila said.

“After that monster in London?” Marinette asked.

“Well, let’s see what we have.”

___________________

“Let’s see… He followed the Mirage me in the Bièvre and swam back to the surface, then shrugged off impact from five rakes, a brick to the head, and even an anvil… What can we say?” Volpina asked the two other heroes as she put away the piano at their insistence.

“That you carry the weirdest things in your Miraculous?” Ladybug asked back.

“That Rena Rouge could have done a lot more had she known about what you put in there?” Chat Noir deadpanned.

“I liked the Loony Toons, so what? But aside for that?”

“It’s most likely an Akuma.” Ladybug admitted. “Though we need to talk about what else you may have in there…”

Then Mr. Pigeon arrived on a swarm of pigeons and started carrying away the not-Akuma, ranting of how he had squashed a pigeon when throwing away the anvil, while the surprisingly resilient biker tried to fight back.

“I stand corrected. Now what-Volpina?”

Volpina had pulled out a binocular and started cussing like only a Roman of Rome and few others could. Then she pulled out another thing.

“What the-an RPG-7?!” Chat Noir shouted.

“Of course not, it’s an AirTronic PSRL-1, it’s made of better steel and has better optics, though it can use the same ammunition.” came Volpina’s reply as she removed the rocket and replaced it with a larger one.

“Put that thing down!” was Ladybug’s demand.

“You’re right, Mr. Pigeon and his flying rats don’t deserve this, and I need to interrogate that overgrown mushroom before killing it. Though I really wanted to finally use the thermobaric rocket…”

With that Volpina put the weapon back in her flute and cast the illusion of a tower of peregrine falcons, scattering the pigeons and making both Mr. Pigeon and his would-be victim fall down – the latter making a metallic noise when hitting the ground. Then, as Paris’ heroes dealt with the Akumatized villain, she grabbed the biker’s weird medallion and punched through his chest, revealing him as a metallic exoskeleton for a much slimmer individual, that looked perfectly human aside for the green skin and hot pink hands.

“You’re not an Evree!” Volpina accused the green man.

“Am I really that ugly?” he replied.

“No, but I couldn’t see your face – only the Evree tracker medallion and that you just wouldn’t give up.”

“Had the owner in my escape pod, before I could eject him in space.”

“Did you finish it off?”

“I fired my thrusters in his face.

“What are you talking about?”

Volpina and the green man looked at the two other heroes and the now free Mr Ramier, the latter of which had made the question while the former two were appalled at just how the Vixen and the green man were talking of killing someone, that and the apparent overkill.

“Nothing you should worry about, Mr Ramier.” Volpina replied. “Though my colleagues may be interested.”

_______________________________________

The talk had been moved at Gustave Eiffel’s apartment over the Tower, of which Ladybug and Chat Noir had the keys. And there they learned that the Evrees that had been fought by the United Heroez and Volpina weren’t just some alien pirates but a full alien invasion of planet-looting emotion-eating fungal lifeforms that moved around the cosmo with a mothership the size of a small moon. The ones that had repeatedly raided New York had been vanguards, trying to establish a beachhead and sabotage US defenses to allow a full-scale invasion without facing the US nuclear arsenal – that they could have weathered had they not decided to try and avoid the losses that would have caused, and that they had been stopped right as their emperor had been about to deploy their full force.

“And that is why I came here to talk with you, the broadcast I intercepted spoke of your role in defeating the invaders.” the alien – whose world had been conquered by the Evrees – explained. “My world fell, we lowered our orbital defenses for a few minutes as a sign of peace after signing the commercial treaty, and before we could reactivate them they had already overran the capital.”

“My role was small.” Volpina admitted. “Yes, I beat up a few of them, and was in the strike team, but I was the distraction, Doorman got us in and out, Feniks and the Russian soldiers were the ones that deployed the hundred megaton bomb – didn’t think the Russians were crazy enough to rebuild that monstrosity, or generous enough to provide it free of charge – and Jade Turtle saved everyone more times I can count with his shields, and wrecked his back doing so.”

“Master Fu did what?!” Chat Noir shouted.

“Considering the situation, I’m more surprised he didn’t Cataclysm everything.” Ladybug stated.

“He did that, and before he could leave my uncle decided to retire me and gave him my Miraculous.” Volpina confirmed. “Found out he was the Guardian only then…”

“I don’t know what happened, but from what I found out it was you to talk the surviving commanders into turning on each other.” the alien pointed out.

“Honestly, I just helped preserving our nukes, they were weakened enough humanity’s combined missiles would have done the job. Anyway, happy to have given justice to your people.”

“They conquered my world 36 of your days ago.”

“Cosa?”

“They had another planet spaceship and emperor, and it was them who invaded my world. We had an evacuation plan in place just in case, three colony ships – the Xabra they got in orbit, the Xenia escaped but I don’t know where, and my ship, the Antra… We were coming here to warn you and give you our technology, we knew you were better warriors than us, but they had an infiltrator on board and got us near Saturn. I’m the only one who escaped, with a full database… And-”

“And I can get you in contact with those who can actually make use of it.”

____________________

It had been quick – a call to the Italian embassy in Paris, and they had been able to bring the alien (who, when someone finally asked his name, had identified himself as doctor Xarion, First Counselor for Energy for the planet Xerba) to the Élysée directly to the French president. Even after his stunt in New York, Papillon didn’t rate that high. Then the three heroes had gone back to what they had been doing before Xarion’s arrival… Or at least tried, as Lila was on the verge of a panic attack.

“Lila, what is it?”

“The Evrees!”

“What about them? You and the United Heroez already beat them once, and-”

“And next time they won’t toy with us! They’ll get serious from the start! And then they’ll-”

“A time traveler told me we’re going to win.”

There. She had said it. Marinette hadn’t wanted to reveal Bunnyx’ existence, but she just couldn’t bear to see Lila in that state. Also, she totally had to snap her out of it before she got Akumatized. And that was the most important part. Seriously.

“It… Is it true?” Lila asked.

“The Rabbit Miraculous has the power of time travel, and the Holder, Bunnyx, arrived chasing a villain created by a future Papillon and told us a few things. Including that we’re going to defeat an alien invasion.”

Lila looked Marinette for a few moments, processing what she had just been told. Then, surprising both of them, she grabbed Marinette jacked and pulled her so she could stamp a kiss on her lips.

“Oh…” the Italian said as what she had done dawned on her. “See you tomorrow, OK?”

With that, Lila bolted, leaving Marinette to stand for about half a minute before she realized what had just happened.

#lilanette #lilabug #ladypina #volpinette #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculousladybug #miraculous lb #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #lila rossi

[mizuritamanami]

What Goes Unseen

Linked Universe Time Warriors and Legend angst to sort of fluff?

They all have secrets. That much is a given, and sort of hard to miss, given the way Four clams up when asked about his moods, how often Wild has to just... stop and leave and come back to himself when they pass ruins sometimes, or the way Twilight vanishes without a trace to go off doing Hylia only knew what. 

And that wasn't even touching on the walking enigmas Time and Legend could be, so sure. They all have their secrets. Even bubbly Wind and soft spoken Sky. Secrets, secrets everywhere, in plain view or otherwise. 

But something about Wild’s Hyrule has been eating away at Warriors for weeks. Enough that Legend has even noticed his change in mood, his disinterest in most of the things he normally jumped at. 

Enough that the veteran adventurer surprises him by pulling him aside to talk in the guise of a patrol, enough that he wears Warriors down with enough pointless questions that the knight just explodes to ask him what the hell it is he wants.

"Somethings been on your mind for almost a month. You're starting to scare the old man," Legend says bluntly, "I didn't think you could top that "launch tree into bokoblin camp and rain fire from above" heart attack you gave him, but here we are. What gives?" 

For a moment, Warriors just stares at him, because firstly, how dare he insinuate that that plan hadn't worked perfectly outside of the landing, and secondly, since when did you pay that much attention to me?

He huffs. 

"I'm fine."

"Uh. No." 

Worth a try, anyway, Warriors thinks, turning away from the scrutinizing eyes of the young man across from him. 

Legend notes the way his fingers dig into the blue cloth around his neck, and sighs, gesturing to a fallen log. 

"Sit," he says, "tell me whats bothering you. If its got you like this, it warrants a serious talk, without pretense."

"Didn't know you knew such fancy words."

"Don't make me take it back and kick you in the shins."

Warriors has to laugh at that at least a little, so he sits, as instructed, and watches Legend plop unceremoniously into the mix of leaflitter, pine nettles, and flower petals on the forest floor. 

He's still fidgeting with the scarf, and the words come slowly at first, then frantic and almost angry. 

"My mother used to tell me, you know.... that there are stories, in the absences. In what we don't see. And- the more I look around, the more I see you- all of you- in Wild's Hyrule. Goddess, you're all everywhere.... but-.... out of the nine of us, there are only eight call backs. Even Wild's got his own legends already. So I can't help but wonder--..."

"Where you are."

"Where I went! What happened? Did- did I fail, somehow? Did I do something wrong? There's nothing left that says I ever even existed!"

"You existed to us. To Wild, to me, and Time, and Twi and the others. Between all of us, there's no denying that you were here."

Legend realizes belatedly that he's only just barely fended off a fit of sobs from the knight, and counts himself lucky and also gives himself a brownie point or three for the save, just before he recognizes the familiar thwacking and tramping of bronze armor against offending tree branches and leather boots on forest floor somewhere behind him.

He feels the heat come through his voice before he can stop the words from coming out of his mouth. 

"Besides, you didn't completely fuck a timeline, then leave another to Ganon for seven whole years, now did you? Too busy cleaning up other people's messes."

Time froze as his foot settled on the line of the clearing they were in, and the pregnant silence in the moment it took him to school his voice into something normal made Warrior's skin crawl it was so uncomfortable. 

"..... T-There you boys are.... Twilight was--.... he was getting worried. I'll tell him you just .... stopped for a break."

He turned on his heel in a perfect about face that made Warriors knight-side a little jealous, but the rest of him looked to Legend, who was avoiding the direction Time had gone entirely. Realization dawned a moment after.

"......... that was cruel, Legend..... I didn't want you to make me feel better if you were just going to tear him down. Or tell his secrets."

"...... if I'm honest Wars? That last jab was more for my sake than yours."

"What?"

"Whose timeline do you think his failure ruined?"

The sharp intake of breath on Warriors part told Legend he'd picked up on all the appropriate cues. 

".... that's one of my secrets, for spilling his to you, I guess. I don't know if I'm ever gonna be able to forgive him. But hey, since when has Hylia ever cared what we thought? Probably hasn't since Sky...... the point is, you aren't a failure for having to pick up after everyone else, and then not getting thanked for it. You're like that with all of us, too. Constantly doing things hoping someone will at the least notice. I noticed. All of us have. You're a goddamn hero, same as the rest of us, and the only reason your scarf isn't locked up in a chest out here somewhere is probably because you wouldn't part with that thing if it cost you your freaking soul or something. Duh."

Its quiet for a moment, and Warriors takes the time to look down at the blue around his neck a moment before smiling.  

"..... you should apologize to Old Father Time.... but you're right.  I guess its still all in the things you don't see at first glance- I never would have thought you a confidant. You might find out some interesting things about him if you sat like you did with me."

"Id rather eat one of Wild's disgusting potions made out of butterflies and lizalfos."

"Don't jinx yourself, Vet." 

"Shut up."

~~~~~

Legend was going to murder Warriors.

Don't jinx yourself my ass, you set this up, you sorry-- he cut his own thoughts off to hiss under his breath.

Not only was Legend laid up with Time looking out for him as first watch, but he'd had to drain four of those nasty freaking potions. 

"I hate. Lightning. So much."

Normally, that would have earned him a chuckle, or at least a sympathetic hum.

But Time just turned his head towards a darker section of the underbrush that Legend knew for sure he absolutely could not see anything in. 

Was it the being ignored or the uncertainty and hurt in Time's expression that made his stomach twist? 

"I said--" 

"I heard you, Legend. I'm sorry, I didn't think you wanted to speak to me." 

"...... oh..." 

The simple acceptance of Legend's earlier ire pulled all of the heat right out from under him, and he deflated some into his bedroll. 

"........ I am sorry.... I know it doesn't mean much to you, but... I am. Even the sword didn't think I was good enough, and judging by your reaction, it was probably right."

Legend winced. 

"What kind of bullshit cop-out is that? The sword doesn't make you a damn hero, it just points and grabs like a stupid claw game."

"Success, does, then. And that is a baton I clearly didn't pass to you, that I missed out on passing down peace..... it eats at me, some nights when I can't sleep, that I still managed to grasp at straws and hold so tight to so much good that I got to keep it. And I doomed you. I have everything and you were left wanting." 

Legend stared at his back, the way he bent around the biggoron sword leaning into his right shoulder to be drawn if need be by his left hand. 

"Im afraid I'm going to lose it all one day because I failed you so badly."

"I'm not that pitiful."

"Legend-"

"Look, I'm fine--"

"What was her name, Legend?" 

The air left Legends lungs in a sudden, sharp breath. 

"..... That's what I thought..."

"...... you were ten, if that..... yes, it sucks, and time travel is a pain, but you were fucking ten. Hylia sent a ten year old, let his tree mentor die right in front of him, and then continued to traumatize- REPEATEDLY traumatize- a child. Yes, I'm angry. Bitter and jaded, even. But don't you dare get so self important that you start thinking the blame fits on your shoulders. You're an old fucking man, not a god."

"Interesting choice of words...."

"No. No, because you're just gonna start unloading more trauma. If this is about that creepy mask, then no. That doesn't count either!"

"You're awfully concerned about this particular issue.... alright, I'll let it drop--"

"No, you ten year old little brat in a mentally fifty year olds achy jointed body, you're gonna go the fuck to sleep and stop moping. Its my turn to take watch and I'll be damned if I have to sit up watching you get all weepy into your pillow and trying to snitch Wild's slate to call your wife at two in the goddamn morning. Go to bed!"

Time stared at him in surprise, (the ten year old in him in question seriously debating biting the finger wagging in front of his nose) before Legends phrasing hit him. 

"Oh, I’m going to absolutely kill Warriors for telling you about how I was when we met."

"Brat! Bed! Bounce to it, bunny hat kid!"

"You are the last person--"

"Bed!"

"Alright! Alright! Fine! You're lucky I don't fit those masks anymore," Time muttered, picking himself up off the stump to go peel off his armor and crawl into his bedroll. He was silent as Legend pulled himself into the space he'd emptied, then sighed and smiled. 

"..... thank you, Vet." 

"Yeah yeah yeah. Go to sleep before you wake up Twilight. He has ears like a fucking wolfhou---....... oh my goddess you're kidding me."

"Shhh."

"Goddess I hate you sometimes." 

Warriors, apparently woken by the hissing through Legends teeth, chuckled to himself. 

Its all in the things you don't see, I guess, he thinks.

Secrets secrets, everywhere, but.... together, we're all still here for each other. I can live with that. 

"Good night bratty bunny and feral bunny."

Two furious choruses of "HEY!" were the perfect lullaby for Warriors to drop right back off to sleep. 

Yeah...

He could definitely live with that.

#linked universe #linked universe time #linked universe legend #linked universe warriors #warriors and legend have a talk about what's missing from wilds hyrule #with a dash of time angst