Tumgik
#all of that is never treated as a gag.. sure those parts of the story have lots of jokes but that itself isnt treated as one.. cuz it isnt
oceanwithouthermoon · 2 months
Text
tbh i hate when people are like "idk how anyone makes angst or gets serious topics out of saiki k when its literally just a gag manga🤓" when the akechi arc, the cattank arc, the volcano arc, and literally every episode where he feels guilty about hiding his powers all exist????
80 notes · View notes
rashomonss · 1 year
Text
A HUMANS WRATH
Prologue
A/N: So this is my first story thing on here so please be nice, I’m sensitive lmao. Anyway this idea came to me one night as i was trying to fall asleep. I was wondering what it would be like if there was an MC who hated the brothers after lesson 16 and ended up treating them like crap. But if they got switched with the regular timeline MC (which is y’all). Anyways hope you enjoy! <3
Warnings: Lesson 16 spoilers, death, choking, angst?
The start of something disheartening
Tumblr media
There are numerous different timelines in this world however most of them aren’t as great as others make them out to be, you of all people should know. You have lived through almost being killed in cold blood and hell you even watched yourself take your very last breath with your own eyes.
It was a weird feeling to describe, in front of you was yourself however not you at the same time.
You had quietly watched from the staircase as you were being held up by your neck slowly losing oxygen and struggling to free yourself from the demon's grasp.
Belphegor held you up with a single hand and watched mockingly as you had met your demise. You were connected. Everything they felt while dying you felt it too. I mean that is you. The firm grasp on your throat, the burning sensation in your lungs as you try your best to gasp for any sort of air available.
The tears prickling the corners of your eyes as your head feels like it’s about to explode. And lastly the hurt you felt in your chest, not from your lungs or even the lack of oxygen, but from the betrayal. You weren’t stupid, he was a demon after all, a very cunning one at that. You knew he could kill you, however just as you did for his brothers, you had also given him a chance, it’s only fair right?
Well if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions. Lucifer did warn you after all, but no matter what he did your curiosity continued to fuel your persistence. All of the brothers admired that about you, but could that quality be so admirable at this instant?
Bringing you back to the present you stood there watching your face contort and struggle as you clawed at the demon holding you. Why couldn’t you look away? Was this something out of a nightmare? What did you even do to deserve this? All those thoughts swirled around in your head but came to a halt. After everything that happened, at the end of the day that is you dying right there is it not?
You had finally taken your last breath. The body in front of you went limp. Your body went limp. Screaming and shouting were then followed after your body hit the floor. Whose voice was that? Mammon’s? It didn’t matter at that second, nothing mattered. Everything was spinning, the demons were spiraling, what was going on…
But before the situation could get worse low and behold the demon prince was there to save the day with his charming butler at his side. Explaining to the seven demons that you were a distant descendent of their most beloved sister. After that knowledge their demeanors changed in an instant and a part of you hoped that it wasn’t because of your lineage. However with each passing day they assured you that they had loved you for being you, not just because of your ties to their beloved sister.
In the end the incident was never brought up again and you continued your journey with your companions through your stay at the Devildom. However, did anyone ever apologize to you? Or did you just forget about the whole ordeal as a response to the trauma they had caused.
Well maybe you did, but another version of you didn’t.
As Barbatos said, there are many different outcomes to a situation in many different timelines. Yours just happened to be a favorable outcome for everyone. However another version of you in a different timeline despised the brothers.
You felt completely sick knowingly you were a descendent of their sister. To be related to such creatures was enough to make you gag. Sure you tried to enjoy your time with them previously but all that was thrown out the window the second Belphegor had killed you. You weren’t about to forgive them, not a chance. No matter how hard they tried to get close to you all of them had been pushed away and kept at an arm's length.
You weren’t about to let them deceive you again. They were demons after all so you could never be too careful. However they just didn’t know when to quit. It honestly annoyed you at how much they cared after Diavolo revealed that little secret about your history. You never believed they cared half as much as they did before that was revealed so why are they bothering now.
The demon brothers however approached the situation differently. Sure they felt great guilt for watching as Belphie killed you but there you stood a second after your last breath, completely fine, not even a single scratch on your head. And that’s when they realized they were given a second chance, a chance to make it up to you, to make things better, to ask for forgiveness. It was only a bonus to them that Diavolo had revealed that you were a descendent of Lilith.
They however were in for a rude awakening when you wanted nothing to do with any of them. That can’t be right? You should have been able to forgive them so this incident could be swept under the rug and be completely forgotten about. But no you were stubborn and they knew it, it was a quality they had also admired in you, now however it’s soon to be one they despise.
Next part
498 notes · View notes
fallenstarzz · 6 months
Text
The Kayleigh Lives AU - Part Two
And now for our check in with the World's Most Normalest Exy teams
Do you know who is 100% no exception capital T Thriving in this AU? Danielle Wilds.
I mean, she's still the first female captain in the NCAA, but in this universe she has actual support from inside the ERC board due to Kayleigh's insistance through the years
It has to do something for your ego when the creator of your sport namedrops you in multiple international interviews and also sends you a gift basket when you get nominated captain.
So yeah, even though the Foxes are still a mess and didn't pass the fourth game, Dan's having the time of her life. Good for her, honestly.
Kayleigh always attends the NCAA banquets because it's an easy excuse to be close to Kevin. Also the team spirit award isn't named after her, but she is the one to announce the winner every year. The Trojans have a running gag of the captain always making the exact same silly pose so they have a wall filled with basically the same picture a dozen times with minor differences – the main one being the five stages of grief on Kayleigh's face as she realises what's going on
Kayleigh's been avoiding Wymack at these things for ages because, look, when you decide you're gonna keep your baby a secret from your ex it's not a general expectation the two of you are going to meet face-to face regurlaly and be expected to make stilted small talk where he's very likely to ask about your son. And she doesn't need any rumors about them rising up again after all her efforts to kill the Baby Daddy speculation stories. If they come back, eventually someone is going to do the math right.
Also Kayleigh's pretty sure that after enough glasses of wine she'd hit on him again and even she's self aware enough to know that would be kind of a dick move
But she has always kept an eye on the Foxes, not only because she still has a little soft spot for Wymack, but also because his ideals of giving troubled kids a second chance trough Exy aligns itself a lot more with her ideals than wathever the hell the Ravens are doing now
(she would however like them a lot more if they were actually good at the sport)
So on these things she usually alternates between schmoozing with the ERC and being plastered by Kevin's side. She never wears red or black just to mess with the color scheme but claims it's not to show favoritism. She takes blatant advantage of the fact that Kevin never had an "embaressed of your mom" phase and frequently sits herself between Kevin and Riko.
Most of the Ravens don't complain because they are taught not to question authority but most importantly because Kevin's mom is hot. So she can disturbe the vibes a little, as a treat
Kayleigh is a frequent point of tension between Riko and Tetsuji, because she is of an almost equal standing to him in hierarchy (in that weird grey area where they both are important assets to the side branch with some autonomy but, ultimately, their leash is only as slack as Tetsuji decides to allow), so he's supposed to owe her some respect, but she is also his only competition for Tetsuji's affection and Kevin's obedience. The only reason he hasn't acted out against her yet is that Riko's waiting for Kayleigh and Tetsuji to fight so he can be sure his is the side his uncle will pick.
Jean is also not her greatest fan. Mostly because he sees Kayleigh as someone who willingly put herself and her son in a position Jean would do anything to get out of, but also because she's the safest person for him to hate. Jean learned the hard way not get in the Master or Riko's bad side, and Kevin is his only support inside the Nest. But she has very little direct impact on his life besides protecting him by proxy when she watches over Kevin, just because Riko's generally not allowed to hurt ANYONE during those times. It always gets a bit worse when she leaves, however, and Riko has pent-up frustation to take off. Jean hates her a little bit for that, too.
Neither of them could get Kevin to think badly of his mother, though. His faith in Kayleigh is one of the only things the Nest never managres to beat out of him.
At the Winter Banquet, the only time she leaves the Raven table is to approach Dan. She wants to congratulate her personally on the efforts this season and maybe offer some words of encouragement and advice.
Despite her many efforts to avoid the coaches' table like the plague, however, she ends up going up to the Foxes' table right when Wymack was coming to check that they hadn't set anything on fire.
It's an extremely awkward interaction. She calls him by his first name but looks like she's swallowed a lemon the entire time. He feels like there is no safe place on her person to look and so stares slightly over her shoulder into the distance. They can't decide wether to hug or politely shake hands and end up with stilted nods. They HAVE talked before, but it always feels like it's the first time they are seeing each other since the break up. It's been twenty years and at this point both of them have given up expecting things to get lighter. It's just that it's kind of hard to get over the multiple elephants in the room.
The Foxes eat it the FUCK up.
Allison could smell the divorce like a bloodhound. Seth however doesn't believe Coach could actually pull Kayleigh Day.
The SECOND Kayleigh and Wymack awkardly turn away and flee in opposite directions, the betting pool starts
The score is as follows: Coach hit on her when they were younger and got rejected (Seth, Fifth Year Seniors) / They had a one night stand a long time ago and it was Very Bad (Nicky) / They had a one night stand a long time ago and it was Very Good (Renée, Matt) / They dated but Kayleigh ended it (Allison) / They dated but Wymack ended it (Dan)
Andrew refuses to bet. When Nicky presses the twins a bit too much, Aaron gets annoyed and decides to bet that Wymack is actually Kevin Day's biological father. No one takes him seriously.
The team sat across them tries to pretend nothing happened
Some time between the reunion and her 100th check up on Kevin, Kayleigh ends up missing a very important discussion between the ERC and Tetsuji
21 notes · View notes
cancerian-woman · 2 years
Text
Fanfic Teasers.
dear little witch.
“Is there somewhere else you have to be?” Bonnie asked, rotating her cocktail in her hand. “At home with your wife and kid possibly? Anywhere that isn’t here.” Klaus was the last person Bonnie expected to see on her travels. “I pictured the Mikaelson’s treat holidays like some festival.”
Klaus roamed his eyes up and down at the witch. Since their paths have crossed it’s hard to watch over her. Bonnie Bennett certainly isn't little anymore. Long gone of those awkward teen years and before him a woman. Height still wasn't her friend but those hips and thighs suited the witch perfectly. The man in him was hoping she leans a bit closer for a better view of her breast.
“Klaus,” Bonnie snapped, waving her hands in front of his face. “I asked you a question. Why are you still here? More specifically next to me?”
“I thought we had rules, Witch.” Klaus replied, turning to compel himself another glass of scotch. “That is what you desire. Unless your feelings changed.”
Bonnie wouldn’t dare admit it. Especially not to Klaus Mikaelson of all people. But, maybe, deep down a familiar person around was making her enjoy the holidays. Even when that person was Klaus Mikaelson.
Blame it on being stuck with Damon for four months and then six months later in complete solitude.
Holidays were for festive people who had love to provide for everyone. Safe homes to return too. Warmth and love in every crevice of that home. Bonnie didn’t have that and that’s part of the reason she wasn’t in Mystic Falls now. No, sense in depressing herself wishing she had something, or someone to bring her some of that joy back in her life.
“No, I just wanted to be clear that if you cause any of these people harm. I don’t care and I won’t stop you from doing it.”
“That isn’t very Bonnie Bennett of you. Where's the little witch that saves the day?” Klaus says, smirking after the fact. “You wouldn’t want this dinning hall ruined.”
Bonnie envied every family and smile in the dining hall. She even envied the pianist singing Christmas Carols. The workers who despite would rather be at home even have smiles on their faces in their Christmas hats. She wouldn’t give Klaus the satisfaction of an answer. If he reacted and attacked anyone she’d kick his ass for ruining these families special night.
“That’s it, I’m leaving and going back to my room.” Bonnie exclaims, shuffling through her purse to place a tip under her glass. “Merry Christmas, asshole.”
Klaus reaches his arm out pulling Bonnie back to her seat. “My family and I had to part ways. So, you aren’t the only one alone on Christmas. I’ve never been too big on holidays seeing as I’ve been-“
“Alive since the birth of Christ?” Bonnie motioned the bartender for another drink. “Another Manhattan please? Thank you.”
Klaus narrowed his eyes at her. “I’ve never been married. I’m not sure who told you that but it wouldn’t have been to Hayley. I rather dagger myself first then to marry my former one night stand.”
“I’m just repeating what I heard from-“
“Tyler, Caroline, or Stefan,” Klaus continued for her. “Who clearly don’t know the story themselves.” He pauses tapping his fingers on the bar. “My daughter died. Her name was Hope if you didn’t know.”
It’s a lie. But, this would probably be the last time he sees little Bonnie Bennett and if it keeps Hope safe then so be it. Most of the supernatural world does think Hope died after the Hollow possessed her it wasn’t a complete lie in his eyes.
Bonnie eyes bulge as she gags on her drink. “I didn’t know.” She wipes her mouth. “No one deserves that not even you. I’m going to call it a night. You probably won’t see me tomorrow but I’m sorry again.”
“What are you running from little witch? Shouldn’t you be back at home?”
64 notes · View notes
the-world-annealing · 9 months
Text
A spoiler-free review of Barbie (2023)
This is like the third post about Barbie I've started writing and then abandoned but y'know, let's just bang this thing out and be done with it.
After its trippy opening, Barbie (2023) starts us off in Barbieland: a fantasy world inhabited by an endless parade of well-dressed attractive working women, who are all Barbie, because Barbie can be anything and do anything. Our protagonist, 'stereotypical Barbie', one day wakes to the terror of Things Not Being Perfect All the Time, and is told she must travel to the real world in order to stop her life being ruined.
Traveling along her is Ken, who is by far the best character in the entire movie. Core to his arc is the fact that he's an accessory, an 'and Ken', without traits or competences of his own, and that his identity does not extend beyond being Barbie's boyfriend. As one character puts it: "Nobody cares about Ken", and in fact you could argue that Ken's main goal is learning to care about himself. There's some genuinely solid character work here, Ryan Gosling is obviously an amazing actor, and he's got by far the best musical number in the entire movie (you'll know it when you see it).
But enough about the barebones plot details: let's talk about the movie on a more abstract level.
Barbie as a comedy The movie rarely hesitates when presented with the opportunity for a gag; its metaphysics rarely remain consistent, reasonable questions get dismissed with a quip, and in one egregious example Ken betrays his final chance to explain his core arc so he can instead set up a gag about horses. That is, in itself, not something bad; movies are allowed to prioritize humor over story, comedies especially.
And credit where credit is due, Barbie is a good comedy. The jokes are funny, the pacing is slightly rushed but never uncomfortably so, the soundtrack is amazing, the Barbieland sets explode with color. There's a lot of references to Barbie products in here, but I never felt like I was watching a two-hour ad. The movie is by far at its best when it embraces its own zaniness, and for the most part it does just that.
But Barbie wants to be more than the Summer Blockbuster (pink edition) of 2023, it wants to... well, actually, let's take a brief digression to analyze some of the themes you could reasonably want to say Barbie is trying to explore.
Barbie as things that aren't a comedy There's a strain of discourse, long preceding this movie but invigorated by its announcement, where one side will say "Barbie is sexist and the face of patriarchal standards" and the other side will say "Actually Barbie is canonically an astronaut and a senator and a racecar driver, which is breaking gender roles, and thus feminist, because women can do anything".
The movie multi-track drifts these opinions for its entire length, and ends up concluding something like "Barbie represents a sort of idealized female figure, and having such a figure to project your hopes and dreams and fears on can be legitimately useful. At the same time, nobody can actually live up to those standards, so just be yourself and voice your frustrations with patriarchal standards when you encounter them". We'll get back to this in a second.
Another reading of the movie is as a sort of opposite-world mirror, one that assigns typically-female roles to the male characters and in doing so, invites its viewers to think about the way women in movies get typically treated. I'm not sure how I feel about this: I think a common failure mode for Subversive movies is to end up preaching to the choir, and I'm unsure how much of Barbie's target audience needs to hear 'when directors add a two-dimensional female love interest to a movie, this is bad'. Someone I discussed it with half-jokingly suggested that those messages are aimed at 'boyfriends who got dragged into the movie'; perhaps they are.
Now, note that Barbie, both in marketing and in the movie itself, is making a big deal out of saying something about Women and Sexism and Social Standards: its ability to credibly say something about those issues thus depends on its ability to represent these subjects accurately. And unfortunately, that's where it goes wrong.
Patriarchy Without spoiling too much, suffice to say that the real world is far from the benevolent female-centric utopia that is Barbieland. The second act explores the contrast between Barbieland and the real world; the third ends with Barbie defeating the patriarchy.
Or, rather, some weird alien mind virus that everyone constantly calls 'the patriarchy'. Barbie's patriarchy (supposedly the same one we ourselves have) is utterly individualistic: sexist ideas are introduced, men and women both instantly adopt sexist attitudes, and boom, patriarchal society where former confident career women are now submissive housewives in miniskirts. It's impressive in how utterly dismissive it is of the idea that an issue could be structural.
For instance, under patriarchy, a man will put on The Godfather and mansplain it to you. Or your male employees will judge you both for being 'too soft' and 'a hardass'. Or a man will say 'you look prettier without glasses'. Or a man may see you struggling with photoshop and mansplain it to you. As you might've guessed by now, Barbie's portrayal of crushing patriarchal norms is limited to a very particular subset; the sort of interpersonal frustrations likely to get encountered by a thirty-something managerial-class woman and her social circle. Which to be clear isn't something you shouldn't get bothered by, but it speaks to the sort of myopia that is regrettably common in certain feminist schools of thought.
A very recurrent shape that the movie's patriarchy takes is when men receive undeserved power and attention, and it's unsurprising to see the movie's own solution come down to 'elevating female voices, maybe getting a few more female CEOs'. It's just a disappointingly basic take on sexism and how to address it, and it sours everything that the movie has to say about its chosen subject matter.
How it could have been better In a way that ironically mirrors the movie's central moral, Barbie (2023) suffers from needing to be everything at once: feminist parable, zany comedy, and surrealist art film. So it might be surprising that my proposed fix is to accentuate yet another genre: horror.
In all the movie's talk of Barbie being a sexist ideal or a tool for self-actualization or a symbol of female omnicompetence, it (deliberately?) forgets that she is a product first and foremost, and her identity and skillset is defined by a marketing department as much as it is defined by innocently hopeful six-year-olds. The idea is raised once, subtly, during a speech that isn't sure whether it wants to be a serious argument or a long-winded joke.
So to fix the movie, play up the dissonance between being a person with thoughts and hopes and fears and being an utterly artificial construct! Emphasize the contrast between "Barbie can be anything and do anything" and "Barbie can only do those things that a board of designers approved", and the terror of being Barbie in that scenario, of believing the first but discovering the second!
And there's a lot of directions you can go from there; you can have Barbie meet women who aren't marketable professionals, and learn something meaningful about the broad definition of womanhood from them, you can involve Barbieland's barbies as enthusiastic participants in the system who are more than willing to expel protagonist-Barbie once she stops fitting their mold (something loosely hinted at in the actual movie), you can introduce all sorts of human villains who want to manipulate the concept of womanhood for their own gain, whatever you want, as long as you somehow, somewhere, acknowledge that barbie's wardrobe is 90% pink (that barbie has a sizeable wardrobe) for reasons other than the Innate Feminine Need to wear that particular color.
You still get to keep the feminist angle, but instead of centering the frustrations of middle class female professionals it now focuses on the fundamentally artificial nature of gender roles: I shouldn't have to say why that makes for a more compelling core theme!
(and if your response is something like "Okay, I get where you're coming from but mainstream femininity catches so much undeserved flak that we need a movie bold enough to come to its defense." I will simply note that we seem to have different priorities on that matter)
The movie could have been this: it got so close around the midpoint! But it backs off, because it wants to tell a story about women controlled by men, not people controlled by systems. Unfortunately in doing so it becomes a much less interesting movie, and one hampered in its ability to make meaningful points in favor of feminism.
6 notes · View notes
dystopianhellscape · 1 year
Text
Let Me In, Part 1
Back with a continuation of my first Stranger Things x Reader fanfic. I decided I'd post Part 1 as well since it has a little more substance than the Prologue and gives a better idea of the direction the story might go in. I'm open to suggestions and feedback so feel free to leave comments! Thanks for reading!
Tumblr media
Warnings ⚠️: 18+, swearing, alcohol and tobacco consumption, mention of nightmares, horror movies and what may be considered disturbing imagery to some.
A/N: I apologize for errors or inconsistencies. I only had time for a quick edit but wanted to get it posted.
------------------------------------
This wasn't the first time you'd been to Steve's for a movie night and you were certain there would be many more. Movies were one of the first things the three of you bonded over during shifts at Scoops and since then, it's been kind of an unspoken deal that you would spend most of your free time together. "I'll get the first movie going if you two wanna grab the snacks!" Robin called as she walked toward the living room. You and Steve smiled and nodded at one another before you both entered the kitchen.
You walked over to Harrington's designated snack cabinet without a second thought as he raided the fridge for drinks. You could practically navigate at least his kitchen with your eyes closed at this point, no problem. Your eyes scanned over the rows of possible options displayed on the shelves as he called over to you without peeling his eyes from the inside of the fridge. "I've got water, tea, Coke annnnd" he pulls a bottle of beer out for himself and turns to face you, holding it up as if he's toasting. "Beer. Pick your poison." A smirk creeps up on his face as he waits for your answer. You allow your eyes to abandon the snacks in the cabinet for the beer he's holding. You smile and nod. "Actually, a beer sounds great. I'll take one of those, please." His smile grows and he nods as he lifts a finger to point at you playfully. "Good choice. Coming right up. HEY, BUCKLEY, YOU WANT A BEER?" He leaned his head in the direction of the living room, making sure his voice carried through to where Robin had already found her spot on the couch. You both patiently waited for her response. She yelled back "EW! NO THANKS. BRING ME A COKE!" You and Steve looked at one another and snickered after barely hearing her mutter to herself. "Who actually drinks that shit and ENJOYS it?" She stuck her tongue out in disgust, making a gagging noise.
Grabbing the drinks, a bag of pretzels and a packet of Oreos, the two of you make your way over to join her in the living room. Robin grabbed the treats you handed her and positioned them so all of you would be able to reach them during the movie. Steve set the drinks down on the table in front of the couch and grabbed the large blanket draped over the back of a nearby chair. And you tasked yourself with hitting play on the VCR, flicking the lights off and finally plopping down on the couch next to Robin once you checked everything off the mental list you made. As you got comfortable, kicking your shoes off under the table, Steve covered all three of you with the blanket when he sat down on the other side of you. Robin had already started in on the pretzels and you grabbed a few from her hand, each of you sitting quietly with eyes glued to the screen while the previews played through. "So what are we even watching? You guys never told me what you rented..." Steve took a swig of his drink and leaned into you as he answered, his eyes still fixed on the screen. "I lost a bet so Robin got to pick the movies this time." You smirked and glanced at Robin, nudging her leg with yours. "SO what did you pick, Robin?" You were going to ask them what the bet was, but you figured it probably wasn't anything too important, as it never really was. This wasn't the first bet between them and you knew for certain it wouldn't be the last.
Robin responded, still chewing on a mouthful of pretzels. "I put in Chopping Mall first." When she didn't get a response, she turned to see you and Steve staring at her, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. "WHAT?!" She shrugged innocently as she swallowed the pretzels down. You snickered and Steve reached around your shoulders to smack Robin's arm lightly. "We all work at Starcourt and THIS IS YOUR PICK? Jesus, Buckley, where's your brain?" You watched as Robin jokingly rubbed her arm where Steve had grazed it, theatrically faking being injured. Unable to hold back, you laughed as they shot half-hearted insults back and forth. The previews finally ended and you shushed them loudly as the movie started. It really was quite the pick. The three of you made comments here and there throughout the movie, watching as a bunch of teenagers ran through a mall after hours of being hunted down by robots. The movie ended almost as soon as it started. At least that's how it seemed to you. Time always seemed to fly by when you got to hang out with them though.
As Steve and Robin recounted what happened in the movie and how they felt about it, you finished your beer and pushed yourself out from between them to grab another. You turned to look at them both, the small amount of alcohol now in your system allowing your fatigue to become more obvious to everyone in the room. "Do either of you need anything while I'm in the kitchen?" Steve grabbed his empty bottle and stood up, offering a free hand to grab your bottle from you. "No worries, Y/N. I'll get it. Go ahead and sit back down. Relax." He gestured back to your spot and then glanced at Robin. She threw her head back to finish her drink before handing the empty can over to him. "Could I have a water this time? Pretty please?" She blinked her eyes at him until Steve groaned and grabbed the can from her hand, walking toward the kitchen with an eye roll. "Sure thing. Don't start the next movie without me." Robin smiles mischievously at his back as he walks out of the room. "Can't make any promises," she called back after him.
She turned her gaze toward you, smile still spread to her eyes and you smiled back as she hopped off the couch to pull the first movie out of the VCR. "I knew you would be glad you came. I hope you're ready for this next one though. Chopping Mall doesn't even come close in comparison." You eyed her suspiciously as she put the first one back in it's case and reached to open the second one. "You mean choice number two is actually a good one?" You both laughed at your sarcasm and she raised her brows as she popped the next movie in. "You joke now, but you'll see." Your eyes followed her as she rocked back on her heels. "Alright, Robin...if you say so! I'm trusting you..." you giggle at the mock look of offense on her face as she backs up toward the couch. Her eyebrows twisted into something exaggerated to match her fake pout. "I'm disappointed in your lack of faith in my movie picks!"
The drink suddenly hit your bladder and you realized you hadn't used the bathroom since this afternoon. Just as you turned to head down the hall to the restroom, you heard the sound of glass breaking from the kitchen. A loud shout from Harrington followed right behind. "DAMN IT! Hey, uh.....could I get some help in here?" As if on cue, you and Robin glanced at one another and laughed. "I gotta go to the bathroom. You think you can handle this one, Robin?" You stuck out your thumb and motioned it in the direction of the kitchen. You could hear what sounded like the tinkling of glass across the linoleum and Steve cursing under his breath. Robin groaned playfully, followed by a laugh. "Fine, but the next one is yours. Split custody, remember?" Your laugh matched hers as you watched her disappear into the kitchen, making some sarcastic comment to Steve about how coordinated he is.
The smile stuck to your face as you turned, finding your way down the hallway to the restroom. Tonight was actually fun. You really needed it and part of you thinks Steve and Robin knew that too...but if they did, they made sure not to call attention to it. As you entered the bathroom, you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and it stopped you in your tracks. They definitely had to have noticed. You could see it on yourself. Your once shining eyes now dull and sunken in, the usually captivating green color now looking muddy. Almost brown. Your brows furrowed and you reached up to your face, running a finger around the dark circles that took up residence under those now unrecognizable orbs. Even your cheekbones looked more pronounced than they should and your skin just as dull as your eyes had become. You tried to clear the image from your mind, running the sink and cupping your hands under the faucet to collect some cold water. You leaned down and closed your eyes, holding your breath and dipping your face into the puddle without hesitation. Running your hands across your cheeks, your eyes fluttered back open and you stared into the sink, watching the droplets fall from your face. A sharp exhale followed.
Without looking, you reached for the hand towel you knew was hanging next to the mirror. Your hand found it easily and you closed your eyes, dabbing your face dry with it. You found it funny that you knew without a doubt it would be there like it always was but that hardly mattered right now. You straightened back up to take another look at yourself. It wasn't much but you hoped that maybe, somehow, the water had washed away the lifeless mask that now took over your usually glowing features. As you pulled the towel down from your face, your eyes shot open. The gasp you let out hurt your chest. The familiar bathroom was no longer there. The blood red sky and the pitch black vines replaced them. And they were more familiar than you wanted them to be. The vines wrapped slowly around your ankles, gripping you in place as they had in your dream the night before. Only this time, you froze. Your grip on the towel tightened and your eyes grew wide. "N-no....not again.....God, please...." your plea came out a broken whisper that even you could barely hear. The tightness in your chest became unbearable and you felt tears welling up in your eyes as they pushed themselves out involuntarily. A deep growl you wished you didn't recognize responded with a low, loud echo....in your mind? Out loud? You didn't know anymore but the panic creeping in overshadowed any coherent thoughts you could have conjured up. You dropped the towel and the voice sounded amused as it chuckled.
"God?" It seemed to openly mock the words that had just spilled from your lips out of fear. "Your 'God' is not here. He cannot save you." An uncontrollable sob left your lips and you fell to your knees. Clutching at the sides of your head, your fingers found themselves gripping your hair, almost hard enough to pull it out. It was so hard to breathe. The only warmth you felt was from the tears escaping your eyes as you slammed them shut, trying desperately to block it all out. You shook your head again and another pathetic plea squeaked out. The cold you had been walking in earlier that evening was no match for the chill that had now embraced your bones. "Please.....p-please go away.....this isn't....this isn't real...." This was followed by a chain of whispers in an attempt to convince yourself that this hell you found yourself in the middle of was an illusion. The vines squeezed tighter around your ankles and the dark chuckle turned into an even more sinister laugh. "Oh, Y/N. I'm very real. Now.....open your eyes.....and let. Me. In." You whimpered and shook your head again, eyes somehow screwed shut tighter than before. But it still didn't shake the nightmare away.
9 notes · View notes
mercurymusing · 2 years
Text
Dracula Daily has made me very aware how amusing non-linear narratives can be when unrolled, and I think it'd be a hilarious way to adapt The Locked Tomb. Or at least the parts we've seen so far.
The first film/season is just a straight retelling of pre-Resurrection John. Start with kiwi nerd, end on a cliffhanger after the end of everything, no foreshadowing on anything.
Second installment opens "In the myriadic year of our Lord — the ten thousandth year of the King Undying, the kindly Prince of Death! —"
[Spoilers for Nona The Ninth under break]
Given the Tamsyn endorsed casting of Taika Waititi, you could easily start at comedy and match the way John tries to frame it in his retellings. Goofy workplace comedy, through to all the body jokes, with a whole ridiculous bit about the cult.
Start at What We Do In The Shadows with the Necro shenanigans. Bodies wandering around as gags, treat the cow wall as a gross joke. Keep the bad line about beef.
Crack the facade when he pulls his "No Guns" moment, but keep it lighthearted as long as possible.
Play C- onward completely straight faced.
No bad-ass action sequence or goofy pop song accompaniment. Just John's realization. His dissociated journey through the fight gathering souls, until he decides to drop G-.
The end of the world, Alecto. Gigadeaths in quiet collapses and nuclear fire.
Fade to final scene on the beach. Abrupt return to the comedy, with desert island post apocalypse vibes and a gorgeous nuclear sunset, thanergy tinted sun and skeletons. John giving a blank faced Alecto his resurrection pitch, closing with a line about who won't be brought back.
After all this, the biggest question in Gideon becomes "how the fuck did we get here?"
John doesn't show until the very end, so seeing him in sloppy kiwi nerd mode will be a shock after all the emperor talk. Alecto remains a mystery, as we never really find out who she is or what she's like, but we do have plenty of reasons for her to turn against John.
We never meet Teacher or Cytherea in any way, so they mean nothing to us. We can probably figure out how sketchy the Lyctor process is a bit early, but we don't know who any of them are yet. The 2nd House Chambers get some extra spook from the hints about P- and G-, but the name Gideon doesn't mean anything except Nav yet.
The end of Gideon primes us to expect some massive threat. When we start to hear about BoE, we draw the immediate conclusion about the escaped FTL ships. "A-ha, the trillionaire assholes have returned!"
With the Ninth and Canaan house as our primary references, obviously The Houses are the underdogs. BoE must be greedy jerks come to take and evangelize, probably some christofash capitalist oligarchy.
That narrative will crack as we hear about flipping planets and will really crumble when we see Camilla on the other side. We have even more reasons to think John is sus as fuck, and we trust the Sixth.
And meeting Augustine, Mercymorn, and ORTUS! What a shock. They're still here, but they aren't who they were. Some things echo, but it's clear they're more different than can be explained by all that crushing time.
----
Then we'll get the slow name drops of the other Lyctors and cavaliers (Ulysses?!) and maybe some non-Third portraits, and the extent of John's deceptions will become obvious. What a relief to see him finished, the ancient evil vanquished, for a brief quiet moment of grief, until the fucker squeaks out again.
G(ideon) dies for duty again, but what a chance to subtly hint P(yrrha) with tells we'd recognize!
I need to muse a bit on Nona before I can really organize my thoughts on how all of those beats play out. It's the straightest conversion, exceptsofar as you've got to tweak the dream sequences. With the story told in the first installment, you'd have more room to focus on the aftermath shots, I guess.
I do have some quiet theories about Cassiopeia and the Angel that I think might fit here for big reveal moments, but I'm not sure they're textually supported yet.
Given how structured Harrow and Nona are, you could probably get clever with individual episodes too, if you really wanted to serialize the whole thing.
12 notes · View notes
sweetstarling · 3 years
Text
Octavinelle Pregnancy Headcanons - Beyond The Sea Line
Tumblr media
Hello lovelies, I received a lovely request from @kawaiidreamerarbiter for pregnancy Headcanons. Don’t worry, the second part of your wish will be granted soon, please enjoy!
————————————————————————
~𝕯𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖆𝖇𝖇𝖎𝖙 𝕳𝖔𝖑𝖊 𝖂𝖊 𝕲𝖔~
Tumblr media
Azul:
🐙This octopus has definitely imagined in the past of having children with you, it plagues his mind during his quieter moments such as going through contracts or the quieter times of the Mostro Lounge.
🐙Though, it visits his mind, he would never force those ideals on his significant other. He may love the idea of a family but the two of you can do too, after all he loves you beyond everything else.
🐙One day, searching for his loved one, he came across the sound of you gagging. The worst swimming into his mind if you being sick, rushing into the bathroom to be met with you.
🐙He’s gentle, cleaning you up and encouraging you that you’re doing fine, slightly quivering having seen you in pain. That’s when it leaves you, the news of being pregnant.
🐙His eyes widen and a smile spreading into his face, a low mumble coming from him We’re going to have a baby of our own. He wraps his limbs around you, the excitement having brought a few more pairs, some tears of happiness already building up.
Thank you so much
————————————————————————-
The light illuminated his gentle features, his soft hands reaching to your head lightly playing with your hair. A soft smile playing on his lips, the news having brought a new joy to his life; goosebumps quivering his skin as he slowly changed forms. Midnight purple taking over his skin as more limbs seemed to attach himself to you.
Tumblr media
Jade:
🐚The idea definitely came to mind a couple of times, the hope of one day having twins just like him and his energetic brother. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Two little eels running around all day, perhaps, uncle Floyd will join them?
🐚Never forcing those ideals of his significant other but is definitely more open to sharing his thoughts, perhaps hinting it from time to time or even taking them to mother eel to see some of his and Floyds baby pictures.
🐚Considering the part he plays for Azul and his contracts, stalking and observation are not bellow him. He observed you, taking in the signs of you being pregnant, he might’ve even known before you but he can’t be completely sure yet.
🐚If you keep stalling the chance to tell him, he’ll eventually run out of patience just confronting you during a calm evening, his yellow orbs boring into you awaiting a reply.
🐚The admittance of your pregnancy cause his eyes to soften instantly, a gentle closed eyes smile greeting you. A genuine laugh leaving him from once. I’m so happy seashell, aren’t you?
A family of our own? How lovely
————————————————————————
A low vibrated from the fish tank, overshadowing the dining table, flowers trapped within a crystal like vase. Warmth enlaced with sweet words from the gentle eel flushed over you, a wave of happiness overcoming to hear the acceptance of having a family with your significant other.
Tumblr media
Floyd:
🦈Floyd has a wild imagination, the idea of having multiple kids spins in his mind constantly. Running around with the constantly would be a joy, he wants atleast twins, opting for a fuller family but just twins are okay too.
🦈He’s shameless and likes to mention the idea often when in a good mood, it may feel like he’s forcing the idea but he’s just excited of the ideal and wouldn’t want to make his Shrimpy feel uncomfortable .
🦈He’s definitely taken you to mother eel multiple times for visits, the retelling of story’s between him and Jade a must whenever you’re there. Floyd, though, he hunts down unfortunate contractors for Azul, isn’t as observing in terms of things that are still foreign for him.
🦈It takes mummy eel to notice the unusual glow on you or the change of habit you have to realise you’re pregnant, she’s overjoyed which causes her to blurt it out in front Floyd thinking he already knew.
🦈Floyd widens his eyes slightly, having not realised earlier he smirks, sharp canines visible as he rushes up to you to squeeze you which only causes a gasp and a light scolding from mummy eel. Nuzzling into you, the wide smile sticks, We’re going to have little eels running around, Koebi-chan.
A little Koebi-chan like you
————————————————————————
A joy of laughter escaped the elder eels mouth, her eyes motherly and hands out to hug you lightly, “Aw, grand-children, I’ve waited so long”. The words not escaping the overhearing eels ears, as his tall stature came in, pointy teeth on display with a shine, “Grandchildren?” Is all he replied but rushing up to you shamelessly.
————————————————————————
“You three better treat them right, otherwise may the merciful sea witch help you that I don’t hunt you down and give you a stern talking to” - Mama Eel
Tumblr media
405 notes · View notes
deluluass · 3 years
Text
Red, like blood. Blue, like love.
Tumblr media
Content warnings: rape/noncon; nsfw; bullying; soulmates au
Prompt: 88 & 183
There’s someone for everyone, you’d learned growing up.
 "Remember, blue means happy," your mother would say. "The happiest you'll ever be.”
She liked reminding you about this fact— for it is an indisputable truth, every so often when she could still carry you. You’d be hugged from the back, as she recounted stories of first meetings, serendipitous and life changing in their nature; belonging to those who’ve lived long before you, sometimes even those who’ve only lived in tales.
Mostly, your mother loved telling those involving the people she knew. And if you’ve behaved properly, she would tell you about hers. 
Tracing your palm, starting from the forked lines to the dashed ones on your fingers, she’d say, “These would start to glow like stars.”
“That’s weird!” you’d burst out, shrieking a laughter as she tickled you. 
“Listen carefully,” she chastised. “Blue is for your soulmate, okay?”
And you’d repeat: Blue is for my soulmate.
“Then, mama,” you tugged at her sleeves, “What if it’s really, really bright red! Like! Bloody glow sticks! Say, mama, you see, everyone at the park was talking about the man who died because he touched someone and his hand became bright re— ”
You never brought that up again. What your mother said about it had been enough to never make you forget.
“Tell me if you get red,” she said firmly, clutching your arms as if she feared someone would snatch you away from her. “Red is bad, my heart. Red means run.”
Tumblr media
 It hadn’t nearly been as gruesome as your mother made it out to be. 
Case in point, when you turned twelve the couple three houses down your street found out, shortly after their honeymoon, that their palms gleamed a fierce red once they clasped each other’s hands in front of the neighborhood aunties.  
Their marriage ended with a swift and ordinary divorce, a year or so later.
Red: Not just an ominous warning for homicide, then. That was a relief, you’d thought.
Contrary to how your mother framed it, you were thankful, actually. It helped some of your friends escape from potentially hellish relationships. How lucky is it that you lived in a reality where the universe seemed exceedingly benevolent. Though, you sometimes have to question if that generosity extended to everyone.
Fat lot of good it did for you. 
Because, from where you’re standing, it doesn’t have to take some arbitrary and unsolvable scientific mystery to heed that Oikawa Tooru must be avoided like the plague.
Any person in your shoes would be conditioned to do exactly that. 
You’d first met in Elementary. You thought he was the prettiest kid you’d ever seen, with chestnut curls and doe eyes and lashes that swept past his cheeks, and when you’d asked for a hand shake he’d called you “the ugliest girl I’ve ever seen” and “fart face.” 
Recess and lunch were when he’s most fearsome. Spiky burdocks slapped on the collar of your dress; dead lizards in your food; the boy was determined. The worst part was that it always happened when no one was looking. And if someone were, it was his best friend. So when you finally told on him to your mom, both your teacher and the principal simply judged Oikawa as the victim of an attention deprived child.
“Please discipline your daughter,” they told her. “We are all aware of your situation at home, but do ensure that she’s not getting out of control.”
You couldn’t even muster up the strength to defend yourself. In that moment all you could do was swear that you’d never allow anyone to talk to your mother in that way again. 
You moved out of that school. 
You didn’t wait for your palms to flash a warning signal because, somehow, you knew that boys who discover early that they could get away with anything cannot get any better. 
There’d been no way to be sure of that until Aoba Johsai— after a peaceful interim of no Oikawa; no red palm lines (and no blue ones, either).
The proof hit you in the face. Literally. 
“Oi, Shittykawa!”
Heat permeated from your nostrils as you patted your cheek, detached and staring back at the large gymnasium. 
“You hit someone!”
How unlucky did a person have to be to bleed right on the first day of classes? 
You tried to lean forward. “It’s okay,” you slurred nasally, pinching your nose and averting your embarrassed gaze from the boy kneeling next to you.
“Trashykawa! You better hurry and apologize!”
“Don’t be mad, Iwa-chan,” that disgustingly saccharine voice came from behind you, making you flinch, as if the years you’d spent apart had done nothing to purge it out of your system.
In all honesty, you hadn’t really cared for whoever was responsible for the ball that careened all the way to where you were standing, so sure that it had to be an accident. No one in their right mind would want to injure someone they barely knew, especially if said someone is a couple of feet away from you. 
Morally and athletically, it should’ve been improbable. But then you saw who did it and everything made perfect sense.
Iwa-chan. The boy beside you. Iwaizumi Hajime.
If he’s here, then— 
“You,” he whispered. 
“Eh?! Gosh, I’m so sorry!” Oikawa Tooru gasped. “You’re bleeding.”
Time is cruel. It wears down on you, tears you and molds you into something you can’t even recognize, if it decides to. (Fate, more so). You didn’t know if you wanted to cry or laugh, looking at him. If the universe were so benevolent, then perhaps Oikawa Tooru had received all of its favor.
He was beautiful. You’d known this before, but with all the baby fat replaced with sharp yet slender angles, figure lean and imposing even when he’d lowered himself to meet your eyes, Oikawa didn’t seem real.
“I did hit someone, didn’t I?” he pouted, wiping the dried blood atop your lip. “And such a pretty girl, too.”
That volleyball existed should’ve made life better for you. It didn’t. If anything, it seemed that out of the court, when he’s not taking names and being praised like a god, you were his little pastime. Something fun to take his mind off whatever it is he thinks about it. 
The mocking comments, you could handle; every time you’d recite and he’ll interject with something playful and then the entire class would laugh (because he’s Oikawa) and your professor would reprimand him but you could always tell that they, too, are holding in a giggle. 
Those were easy to bear, because although his insults hit way too close to home, it’s just— it’s just so petty.
Really, it’s the aftermath that does the damage.
Tumblr media
“They’re like Christmas lights under your skin!” 
This topic pops up every month or so. Most people your age can be lucky enough to meet their soulmate this early. 
“And it’s the most awesome feeling in the world,” your classmate sighed. “When we touched hands? Man. We just- we glowed.”
Then, the others would poke fun, faking a gagged expression, but they’d always ask afterwards, “What happened next?” And everytime, you’d watch from the sidelines. Like an uninvited audience. 
You tried being a part of it once, wanting to share about the time your close friend met her soulmate. But all you’d gotten were side eyes and titters, as if they were laughing about a joke only you didn’t know about. 
“They’re so mean to you.” 
You groaned.
Oikawa was seated behind you, resting his head against his elbow. Everyone was too busy talking about blue lights and destined souls to notice what’s happening at the back of the room. 
He continued, “Not including you in conversations, treating you like an outsider.”
You didn’t bite, focusing on the opened book in front of you.
“Must be lonely, having no one.”
“Oikawa,” you muttered under your breath. “I don’t have the energy for this.”
The silence that came after that was unexpected. You were sure it would be short lived; he’s just gearing up for more. He usually went at it until you’d have no choice but to physically remove yourself from his presence. You’d thought once that that may be why he does this so much. Maybe he still thought you were the “ugliest girl” he’s ever met and he wants you out of his sight. Because Oikawa’s infantile like that.
But the silence stayed, accompanied by the background noise of eager conversations; lingering some more as white, fluffy clouds passed by the glass windows. 
When he broke it, all Oikawa said was, “Soulmates, huh.”
You felt a finger touch your back, drawing the barest of lines over your uniform. He removed them just before you could stand up and leave. 
You disliked those moments with him. 
You disliked him especially when he played. 
Oikawa’s a monster, be it in volleyball or with you. There are times, though, that you’d notice some things that you think you’re not meant to see. Like after a serve— its impact booming throughout the court, he’d have this puzzling expression on his face. 
It looked like....anger. 
He scored a point, right? Everyone’s cheering for him, aren’t they? Wait, didn’t they win?
You thought maybe it’s the adrenaline making him nastier than usual, but sometimes you’d pass by the gym when he happens to be alone. And that anger is still there, punctuated by the sound of the ball exploding against the floor. Jump. Hit. Spike. Jump. Hit. Spike. He’d do it, again and again and again. 
As if he’s trying to grasp something even he cannot reach. 
Tumblr media
Those instances should’ve taught you that the best thing to do is look away. 
That’s what you should’ve done. Look away.
They lost the Interhigh tournament.
You knew this not because you’d watched, but because for one day, Oikawa Tooru wasn’t your bully. 
The derision was replaced by sulking. He didn’t speak for the entire period. The funniest thing about it was that everyone kept staring at you. Like somehow you’d been the cause of this, when all of them were lamenting the loss just as much as the team itself. 
 What was supposed to be a reason for celebration suddenly became a crime that you had to explain for.
 “Great,” you grumbled to yourself. “One time I don’t have a target on my back, now I’m the bad guy.”
Trash bag in hand, the scraps inside rattled against each other as you stomped to the recycling bin, both sleeves of your P.E jacket folded up to the elbows. You affected a tone, choosing to mock the grating way some of classmates talked:
“Oh, hey, if it’s not too much,” you began. “Can you please be his punching bag again? If you will, can you relieve our superstar’s burdens? By, I don’t know, alluring him into walking all over you? Like the good old days! Please, oh please? We rely on you, oh Great Punching Bag! We Beseech thee, oh Esteemed Doormat! We compel— dude, what the fuck?!”
Crumpled papers and steel and tin cans rolled to the ground. You didn’t pick them up, like you should’ve; you left it there, trash bag lying open, and grabbed the ball that whisked mere inches from your face. 
This time you’re not making the same mistake. The asshole is more than capable of suspending what little morals he has, just to hurt someone he barely knew. As well as athletically adept (an understatement, that) at hitting a walking target; or not hitting it, in this case.  
You stormed the almost empty gym. Oikawa is a ray of sunshine, greeting you with that smile. It makes you want to punch him.
“What is wrong with you?” you spat. 
He chuckled. “Whoops. Sorry!” 
“I’m not having this-” you shoved the ball to his stomach. He didn’t even blink. “This isn’t gonna slide anymore, Oikawa.”
Wide grin still in place, he took it from your hands with his much larger ones and said, “Wow, you’re actually mad this time. ”  
Then, he added, “I didn’t mean it! Honest!” 
Must be nice, you thought with a scowl, to be him. Anyone can be sincere if they look anything like Oikawa. 
“Sure. Fine. No, actually,” you glowered. “You know what?” 
“Hm?” He tilted his head. Oikawa tilted his pretty little head.
You seethed. “I get it. You lost. That doesn’t mean you get to take it out on me. I mean, what did I ever do to you, Oikawa? I have-” you exhaled, surprised by the break in your voice. 
“I haven’t done anything to you. We stopped being kids a long time ago. That shit you pull should’ve ended by now. We’ve grown.” You jabbed his chest. “But I see that maybe not all of us have.”
His pleased expression hadn’t dropped. “Ouch,” Oikawa grimaced, glancing amusedly at the place you’d touched. “How mean.”
This isn’t going anywhere. 
You don’t know why it took you this long to realize this, as you shifted your gaze away from him, noticing the gashes on the floor that tear the surface like scars that never healed. That must’ve been because of him, with the amount of practice he does. 
“It won’t be enough, won’t it, Oikawa?” you whispered. “Not for you.”
The smile that’s been there since you arrived tensed, straining at the corners of his lips. 
“Yeah, I’ve been told,” he beamed. 
He was bathing in his own sweat, seeping through his shirt and matting his hair to his face, and he looks— Oikawa looked tired. His eyes were sunken in, too. Did he even sleep?
You’re so used to seeing him not a hair out of place, with a sweet scent that you amusedly thought lures his gaggle of admirers into following him everywhere. It takes you aback, honestly. Particularly the wobble in his step as he bent and squeezed his knee with shaky fingers.
You don’t think he’s aware he’s doing it in front of you.
Then, just like that, everything seemed to have added up.  
“You’ll never be happy,” you said.
You should’ve stopped there. You should’ve left. Instead, you looked him in those brown eyes, the warm hue becoming a lot colder as he moved closer. 
Oikawa sneered. “And what do you know, huh?” 
(Go. Leave.)
“Nothing,” you told him. “I don’t- I don’t know. Because, I don’t get it.”
(Shut up. Shut up.)
“Why you try any harder, I don’t know. Win or lose, it’s all the same. You’re still the same. You’re still awful and annoying and- and still you.” You laughed, unsure why you’re running your mouth like this. 
“Win or lose. Oikawa is still Oikawa,” you breathed in. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
His teammates must’ve gone somewhere. For lunch, maybe, you thought as you eyed the abandoned bottles and used towels scattered around the court. “Besides,” you huffed, not without a twinge of envy. “They’ll all still love you, either way.” 
Everything went still for a while, and you’d just realized what you’d just said.
“What about you?” 
You looked back at him.
“What?”
He tipped his chin. You stepped backwards. 
He brushed your wrist.
“Don’t touch me,” you hissed, but he only smiled and wrapped his entire hand around it. 
Oikawa had been your first bully. Before you could even comprehend what that meant, Oikawa had been the source of your mother’s worries whenever she parted with you at the school gates. It is funny, thinking about it, for letting this boy affect you despite making an effort to stay away the first time. 
But it is only now— now that he has a firm hold on you, gentle yet smothering— that you truly feared Oikawa Tooru. 
It rattled your breath, squeezing your heart and refusing air to pass through your lungs, as you felt a shock zap through you. And apparently through him as well.
You broke away from each out with a cry.
Your hand was burning. That’s the only explanation for it. Your hand was burning and any moment now smoke will diffuse from the pores. 
You waited. Any moment now. But the more you stared at it the more tiny spots of flames sparked under your skin, bursting along the palm lines— first, the forked ones; then, the dashed lines— glaring back at you, glowing brighter, blotting and spreading until they mapped your palms then your entire hands like constellations. 
“Red is bad, my heart,” your mother said. “Red means run.”
“I knew it,” you scoffed, shaking your head. 
Well, it’s not as if this is news to you. 
“What about that, Oikawa?” You put both your radiating hands in the air. “The universe is telling us, you and I? We just don’t—”
Why are you crying?
Why is Oikawa crying? 
“I knew it,” he croaked.
Your mother made the red light sound so horrifying for a reason. 
There has to be a reason, too, why the universe is warning you so late into your life. You’d actually ran before. And when you thought it a waste of money, you chose to stay and not fight back; thinking that his punches have become less severe, degraded into verbal taunts that induce social exclusion at most; that, certainly, red doesn’t forbode something as bad as murder, right?
Well, what now? You were wrong, after all. This time you have a feeling that you actually need to hide. 
Because Oikawa’s looking at you like you’re the last two people left in this Earth. 
Just you and him. Without any need for anybody else. 
You didn’t breathe, attempting to bolt despite the overwhelming need to throw up right where you're standing. He stepped closer, faster than you’d liked, and touched your face, caressing your cheek up to your aching temple.
“You should really stop trying to run away,” he said, voice low as if he’s sharing a secret. “I’ll always find you, you know?”
You didn’t have to look to know. Even if you closed your eyes, as well, you know it’s still going to be there; glowing in the darkness behind your eyelids.
“Me and you—” Oikawa sighed. 
Listen carefully, your mother said.
“ —we have a connection that no one else will ever understand,” he said.
The light emitting from his hand was so harsh it hurt you, pricking your sight until it drew fat tears, reflecting against your damp face and tinting the fallen streaks with bright—
Blue means happy, she told you. The happiest you’ll ever be.
And you’d repeat: Blue. Blue is for—
“My soulmate," Oikawa said, before locking you in a deep, searing kiss. 
Tumblr media
The lights didn't die even as he dragged you into the storage room.  
"Hey, where'd senpai go?" 
The rest of the volleyball team came in droves, occupying the hollow court with their squeaking shoes and questions about Oikawa's whereabouts.
"Must've gone somewhere," you heard a deep voice say. 
You could answer that question. All you  had to do was scream. They weren't so far from the room that they wouldn't pick it up over the noise of their volleyball practice. Really, if you needed to, you could even outshout their guttural yells of "Nice kill!"
Though, you'd have to remove the underwear lodged in your mouth first. 
Yours, in fact; soaked now by your own saliva, drool dripping to your chin as your wrists chafed against the rope that's keeping them tied at your back.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" You felt every sickening movement of Oikawa's lips against your throat. "Feels good when you- ah, fuck- when you give in."
With the cloth muting your shrill bawling, you tried your best to recall how you ended up here: seated on his lap as he sluggishly humped himself against you, his still glowing hands cupping your ass.  
The only thing left on your body was your bra, and even that he's already lowered to let your tits spill over the top. Your pants and t-shirt and jacket are lying around somewhere. You couldn't determine where in particular; the only sources of light were behind you.  
He was leaving imprints of blue all over your skin; around your waist as he slithered his hands to reach your breasts, scantily brushing over the hardened nipples and making you keel over.
"So sensitive," he tutted, smooching your neck so gently that even the underwear couldn't muffle your loud yelp when he suddenly bit into the flesh. Hard. 
You wanted to claw his eyes out and call for help and you wanted badly to scream don't do that Oikawa someone please save me he's gonna kill me he's gonna kill me-
But the gag remained intact and the boys outside continued their game, ignorant that their precious captain is taking everything away from you. 
Sharp canines bruised your skin, provoking a fresh batch of tears as he sucked and licked every after cruel bite. 
Then, when you thought the worst had passed, he removed his mouth from your neck to spit onto your bare cunt, allowing it to slide from the hair on your mound to the nub sticking out in the middle.
(It is not enough that he is killing you. Oikawa must defile you, too.)
His fingers gripped the insides of your thighs open when you tried to shut them together. "Don't be a brat," he clicked his tongue.
"Be a nice little kitten for me," Oikawa drawled, smearing the slick that's soaking your folds against the spittle coating your clit.
You didn't notice when he'd taken his cock out, you only realize that he's about to enter you when he teased your entrance with it, pushing the tip to nudge the drenched hole, only to pull it back again.
And you didn't dare look. The feel of it almost stretching you out with just the head is already driving you to insipid begging.
"What'd you say, kitten?" he pouted.
Oikawa you've already taken too much is it never going to be enough Oikawa let me go.
"I can't understand you," he chuckled. "Here—"
He pulled the underwear out of your mouth as he thrust all the way inside, your back arching, driving him deeper, as his cock throbbed against your pussy walls.
"Now, what were you saying?"
You swallowed your cries and heaved and swore you were gonna tear his heart out after this. 
"Say," he whispered, sniffing your wet panties without breaking his gaze. "If everyone saw us right now, how'd you think they'd react?"
It was so reverent, the way he did it, blue light revealing that he closed his eyes as he took a whiff, as if he hung onto your scent like a lifeline.
But you thought that'd been a calculated move, because as you dumbly stared at him, he immediately gyrated his hips under you, rocking back and forth ever so slowly, and you remembered that you had to keep quiet.
His cock was so big inside you, making you bite your lip as it filled you up, the curved tip hitting a spot that has you squirming in his embrace.
"At this point they'll know how much of a whore you are," he said, tangling his muscled arms around yours and anchoring you to his body. "Made just for me."
"Oika-Oikawa…"
You don't know this person. 
"Help..me.."
You don't know who's speaking out and whimpering for Oikawa, on her knees and bouncing up and down on his lap with weak, quivering thighs. 
It couldn't be you.
"Help you?" You felt him nuzzle your neck. "I thought you wanted me to stay away, though?"
Someone mewled out a pathetic, "N-no."
"No? Then what d'you want, kitten?"
(Oh. Oh, he feels so fucking good.)
Your belly has never felt this hot before and it's driving you crazy that you're chasing for something you cannot see and it feels so near but there's something, something that's keeping you from it that all you can do is grind your sopping cunt closer to him.
"Wanna- I wanna cum."
Oikawa kissed you on the forehead, and then he said, "Go ahead, then."
He released your arms. 
Then, he's scooping cum off your pussy, making sure to drag his fingers under the lips, before circling your large, swelling clit. Then, he's sucking your tits and swirling his tongue around a nipple and you're so so close.
"That's it," Oikawa sighed. "Ride my cock, baby."
His rough palm slapped both your ass cheeks and the cry that erupted from you only made him laugh. 
"Make yourself cum on my cock," he grunted, licking his smiling lips as he leaned back against the wall, hand idly rubbing your dripping clit. "You're making a mess, darling. Leaking like that."
You're quivering all over; your cunt is spasming and your legs are complaining beneath you, but you don't stop. You lift your hips and then sink your pussy down, down until you feel his balls touching your sore ass, the sloshing sound growing louder as you move faster. 
You don't think about what this'll all mean later, what you're doing giving in to him, when you scream out his name. But as soon as you did, Oikawa's growl had been your only warning.
He grabbed the back of your head and kissed you, plunging his tongue into your throat, his strong arms pressing you so close to him you can no longer tell his skin from yours, his battering heartbeat from yours. 
You didn't move—weren't allowed to, when he hammered his cock into you, pounding your cunt and fucking you raw until you're breathless and nothing but a shuddering wreck, splitting at the seams in his hands as you feel thick spurts of hot cum slide out of you. 
"My pretty girl," came his hoarse whisper. "My pretty, pretty girl."
The lights have dimmed, when he cradled your shaking form and moved out of you, faint traces left on just the palm lines and fingertips. 
They were flooded by the sudden brightness that enveloped the storage room.
"Holy shit."
You pressed your eyes close, your entire body prickling at Oikawa’s touch.
It shouldn't be surprising, at this point, that Oikawa, as quick as he'd stripped you off of everything, has already covered you back in your jacket. The smell of it striking you ruthlessly, that old cologne that you always use to school reminding you of who you were, before all this.
Had it only been a few hours? It felt like a lifetime ago.
"Ah," Oikawa murmured. "They caught us."
"Oikawa,” someone roared. Oikawa held you, hiding your face against his chest. “Why you son of a-"
"C-coach..! Stop- Oi, someone help me hold him- no, coach! "
You heard him chuckle. “Sorry about this, everyone.” He held up his hand and you had to keep yourself from sobbing. “But, look.”
There were several gasps. 
(Everybody knows now.)
“You..and her?” 
The boy who said that sounded so astonished, clearly overjoyed for some reason, that it revolted you.
“Mhm,” he nodded, a smile in his voice. “Now, can you guys please give us some privacy?” 
Feet shuffled out of the room, along with stuttered apologies. They all left. 
Except for one.
“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa pouted.
“What did you do, Oikawa?”
A beat. Then, he repeated, “Iwa-chan.”
Please. 
Iwaizumi didn’t say anything. 
Please help me.
“Sure,” he grunted.
He was gone, too, after that.
You were back in the darkness, with nothing but the faltering red and blue on your hands and his, while he untied your wrists and kneaded the abrasion away, cooing sweet nothings to your ear. 
“I hate you,” you rasped. 
“Don’t say that.”
“I fucking hate you-”
“Please stop yelling-”
“I won’t ever forgive you, Oikawa!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he cried, shaking his head as he brushed your tear-stained cheeks with both thumbs. You clutched them, wanting him off you, but he only latched himself firmly into you. “We’re meant to be.”
“You’re the only one for me.” 
Oikawa brought your numb hand to his face, pressing a kiss to your palm, the red light basking him in its soft glow.
“And I’m the only one for you,” he said, intertwining your fingers together. 
The lights flickered in and out, at first, as you stared vacantly into it, the red and blue swallowing each other. Until they finally disappeared, leaving just you and him, curled against each other in the shadows. 
803 notes · View notes
what-i-call-men · 3 years
Text
Loyalty
James Patrick March x fem!reader
Warnings: a lot of murder, cheating on multiple occasions, some sex mentions, a proposal
Request: from me Fic thought of the night- you become James’ first prodigy because you were in the hotel with your husband and ended up pushing him out the window or something (where he wouldn’t end up in the hotel) and James wants you to carry on his work but you just fall in love with his passion. I’m thinking like housewife in the 60s poisoning her husband or something. Maybe she’s running from the crime scene and hiding in the hotel. Murder suicide and when she wakes up James is just clapping
Picture credit to @copy-of-a-cheeto​
Tumblr media
That was it, you were over his stupid screaming and fighting with you and constant harassment over how bad you were at everything. You’d had it. You were on vacation with your husband and this was the last straw after nights of fighting instead of what should’ve been a romantic get away. He currently stood beside the window, looking out to the city, and muttering about how his assistant was so much better than you in bed. It wasn’t something you didn’t know about either but this was the last straw in your book.
With a rush of rage you walked behind him, grabbing an ice pick off the bar and ran it through his back. He gasped at the sudden pain, but before he could turn around to you you were removing the pick and picking him up with the strength of your adrenaline, pushing him head first out the window onto the street in front of the hotel. You leaned out after hearing the thud of his body from the 8-story drop. As you stared down at the body on the street you felt nothing other than rage, but as soon as you turned back to your room you realized that he’s dead and you just killed him. As soon as people figured out who he was you’d be suspect number one.
You hurried to his bag and grabbed the razor out of his toiletries. Killing yourself or your husband wasn’t even the strangest part of the whole affair. The strangest part was you waking up, staring down at your bloody body in the bath tub. At first you didn’t even realize what was happening until you heard slow clapping from behind you in your room. Turning around, you saw a man dressed in a suit with a cane and an ascot around his neck. “That was quite a show deary, I’ve never seen a woman with rage quite like yours.” He said and untucked the cane from his arm to lean against it again. “If you would’ve waited a few more seconds I would’ve offered you my own knife. Or I would’ve even done him in myself.”He gestures to his cane where it unlatched the head to reveal a small dagger.
You looked at him for a second, still at a loss for words until you finally murmured out a “who are you?”. James offered his hand to you to which you took as he introduced himself. “My name is James Patrick March. I built this hotel and I was walking past and heard the commotion. Serves him right for what he did to a beautiful woman like you. He got everything that was coming to him.” James muttered as he looked out towards the window where the body had fallen right off the property but behind the building where no one would see it.
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long. He makes it so hard to even carve up a chicken for dinner without imagining it was it throat. He had been sleeping with his assistant for a year but I never went to college so I could never afford leave him.” You muttered as James walked towards the door, beckoning you to follow him. You followed and he nodded for you to continue talking. “He always wanted kids but I was never able to give that to him so he would seek her out in hopes she would provide that for him.” You felt like James was protecting you and made you feel better about what had happened. It was comforting until he placed his hand in yours to lead you down the halls and you felt a wedding ring adorned on his finger.
As the night went on James helped you, making a woman from the front desk carry in the body of your husband and throw him down a chute. He also had Ms. Evers dispose of your body and your husbands things. You soon sat in what you assumed was his room at a dinner table, eating along with him as he spoke about how artful your murder was. How a murder suicide was how he died as well with Ms. Evers and how that never stopped him from killing others. As James spoke, you quickly became enthralled with how passionate he was about death and killing. You didn’t have a weird or gross feeling when he talked about it, only a passionate love for the art of murder.
As days passed James had begun to taking a liking to your intrigue, in his murders. He began to show you the ropes of his preparation towards murder, the gory treasures he took from those he killed. On a trip you two took around the hotel on one of these days, he seemed particularly exited as you followed behind him past the bar and down a flight of stairs. “Mr. March I wanted to thank you for helping me out of my situation.” You spoke towards the man before you as he walked ahead of you.
“It was no problem dearest, I built this hotel as a safe haven for my hobby. A body is the least of its concerns.” He went on as you walked behind him. “May I ask where your wife is?” You asked and he faltered for a moment before stopping his walking and turning to you. “She’s none of your concern dearest.” He said and then continued walking, you falling a bit behind before he moved on to show you the torture chambers in the basement of the hotel. Surprisingly you weren’t weak stomached as he spoke eloquently about everything. Instead you held onto his elbow as he lead you around.
Something still felt wrong with him wearing a wedding ring and yet no talk of his wife or even a hint of her being around him. You’d been with him pretty much all of the last few days and he didn’t even have women’s things in his room to hint she lived there. “I have a surprise for you.” He said and you turned after hearing a door close behind you. Ms. Evers stood with a man and woman being hauled in behind her. “He’s just like your husband. He’s here today with his mistress because they chose to run away together. I thought this might excite you.” James said and the couple was thrown before you, gagged and tied.
You paused for a moment. You saw fear in both of their eyes. This woman was years younger than the man and he had grey littered through his hair. “Is she your assistant?” You spoke to him harshly, feeling the same anger towards your husband to this man now. He looked up at you and nodded. You felt your face grow hot as James slipped something into your hand. You glanced down to see a blade, the one from the top of his cane. Looking back to the man, you stared him down as you plunged the knife into the woman’s chest. His eyes widened and he screamed behind the gag.
Soon after stabbing the woman a few times you ripped the blade out and pointed it at the man. “You ungrateful traitorous bastard of a man deserve the worst and hottest place in hell for treating your poor hardworking wife as if she were nothing! She’s not nothing. I’m. Not. Nothing.” You yelled, punctuating your last words with a stab to his chest. You now straddling his body as blood coated your front. You felt no remorse. You in fact felt relief and you only felt better when James scooped you up and praised you. He ended his praise with a kiss to your lips. One that lasted a few moments as your heart dropped in your chest.
Nothing was really the same after that. James would ring your room every time a new man came in with a mistress and you would show up to their room usually with a knife behind your back. And every time you returned to James with blood splatter across your face and dress he would kiss you and help clean you off. You loved the praise he gave you but you knew you’d become his woman on the side. You’d never even slept with him but you still felt bad every time his wedding band touched your arm.
It wasn’t until he’d invited you to a dinner with him and his wife was there that you had truly met her. “Y/n, dearest, this is my wife Elizabeth.” He said as he gestured to the other woman at the table. She was a major juxtaposition in comparison to him. She was more into the times with her fashion, beautiful blonde hair swept across her face. “I’m so happy you could join us. I wanted to talk to you about your relationship with James here.” She patted a seat near her as James nudged you forwards. You sat nervously beside her, her aura oozing confidence and radiance.
“I want you to know I know everything you do for him and that him and I have an open arrangement for him and i to do as we please. Because I am the living owner of the hotel I keep the name and the legality of what we had, but none of the love he had for me.” She said and placed her hand on yours. “If you’d like to keep him company in the romantic sense I will be all the more supportive of your choice.” She added.
From that night on your relationship with James become more gory. Now instead of kisses and praise. You two would kill together in the hotel, then make love on the sheets stained with the blood of the adulterous couples. James was a rough man but you were just as commanding which he loved. He became so infatuated with killing with you, he invited you to a dinner he had which he coined “Devils Night”. It was his birthday dinner which initially was you and Him alone, but as the years went on he found others he deemed more impressive than you.
These others were alive and he coached them to kill for him in the outside world. It wasn’t until John that you had truly become fed up with these new guests, each one more horrid than the last. When John came around you wanted nothing more than to kill him along with Sally. He took up all of James’ time. You had turned to Elizabeth for comfort which she welcomed with open arms and bare chest. Sure it was taboo to sleep not only with her husband but also with her. It brought a new flame to your existence to find comfort in her arms at your shared loss in the murderous man. It wasn’t until she announced to you she planned to marry again that you grew excited again.
“James will not take it well. I’m telling you now so that you can swoop in to comfort him. I see how in love with him you are and how passionate he is about killing with you.” She said as she lit up her cigarette, the two of you clad in your silk robes as you laid in her bed. “James was never enough to make me happy but he truly will be for you for eternity.” She said and you grinned. That smile didn’t leave your face until James came you to hours after their monthly dinner, his hair a mess and his cheeks red with what was either anger or tears.
You welcomed him into your room with open arms, pressing his lips to yours as you closed the door behind him. He lifted you up and brought you to your bed, muttering quietly about how he didn’t see it coming and how stupid Elizabeth’s man was for choosing her. You shut him up with your lips as you undid his jacket, throwing it on the ground as you began on his button up. He kissed along the column of your throat as you felt the fire ignite in you again. A fire that hasn’t blazed since the 70s when James had found his second prodigy after you.
He set you down and you looked up to him as he paused in thought. “There’s a couple in room 36. Can we go back to how we were?” He asked gently and put his hands on your arms, his wedding ring now missing from his hand. “I’d love to James.” You muttered and leaned up to his lips once more. The couple was no trouble, to murder. You always loved to get the men while he had no problem taking care of the women.
Moments after you were both straddling the bodies, now soaked in their blood and enjoying the adrenaline rush at its peak. You heard James say something but you couldn’t hear him over the buzz in your ears. Looking to him, you egged him to repeat his words. “Marry me. You’re the only one who truly understands me. Better than Elizabeth ever was.” He said and turned to you fully from where he kneeled on the bed. “No one is as good to me as you, you are the best thing to happen to me in this eternal life. You bring light to this dreary eternity more than completing some stupid commandments killings from my lifetime.”
He said and moved over the bodies to you where you just smiled and nodded at him. He grabbed you by the waist, letting you fall back onto the bed into the pools of blood, kissing you fervently as you grinned against his lips. The kiss tasted like so many before, coated in an iron taste and the love of this man before you, but this was different because as he pulled away he smiled down at you. “Let me help you up, Mrs. March.” He offered and you took his hand, butterflies swarming in your chest as he helped you.
159 notes · View notes
anika-ann · 3 years
Text
Just a Human (S.R.)
Type: mini-series turned one-shot, SHIELD recruit!reader
Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader     Word count: 8750
Summary: Being a SHIELD recruit was a dream come true, especially with people like Sergeant Barnes or Captain Rogers offering an input to your class’ training.
It was also hard work for many different reasons. One of them being all those guys around; not all of them were exactly fit to become heroes, simply because they were not good people.
Maybe you shouldn’t have pointed it out so openly though. Then again, what would the world turn into if you kept your mouth shut when feeling like speaking up?
WARNINGS: so-so graphic description of assault almost turned sexual, violence and a bit of blood, boys being boys in a real bad way, language
A/N: Steve Rogers vs assholes, round 2. Also, ‘you’ vs. assholes. And Bucky in the mix.
A/N: This was originally posted as a miniseries on AO3, but now edited, I decided to thrown it in as a long, sort-of three part one-shot. Enjoy and mind the warnings.
Tumblr media
(gif source dailymcugifs, divider by firefly-graphics)
Tumblr media
A Handful of Spite
“Can you believe the fucking nerve on him?!” Henry hissed, punching the bag harder and catching your attention. The statement was followed by his companion nodding grimly.
You tried to ignore the walking testosterone jerks; you never liked either Henry or Jim. The reason was simple – they were, as you loved to remind people, an advertisement on toxic masculinity. Bullies on top of that. The kind of people you wanted to avoid at all costs.
You weren’t that lucky to have that chance though.
So instead, you scoffed under your breath and continued your sit-ups series. You had more important things to do than wonder about what they were talking about this time.
It was your regular training session with the other SHIELD recruits led by Sergeant Barnes – which--- oh my. When joining the academy, you had no clue that the director’s ‘you’ll be learning from the best’ meant that of all things; trained by the more-than-once-believed-late James Buchanan Barnes. Everyone here knew his story – or at least some of it. The brainwashing. The murders. His heroics to make up for them as much as he could. His everlasting friendship and a nickname that was tied to it. Bucky; the very best friend of the oh-so-praised Captain America.
Oh, speaking of which, he joined the sessions too. You were being trained by not one, but two supersoldiers slash war heroes. You couldn’t believe this was your life sometimes, but you were not one to dwell on it. You just accepted it as a fact. An abso-fucking-lutely incredible fact.
“He’s just a fucker, man. Forget about Barnes, you have Cassie in your pocket. Just ‘cause he’s all sticky sweet on her doesn’t mean she’ll suck his-“
You made a disgusting face, pushing harder to tune out the conversation. You wanted to gag and at the same time, your blood was boiling.
Could there be a jerk who was objectifying women more than Jim? A guy who was using his lower brain more frequently than him? Doubtful. You really wanted to throw up at rubbish that was leaving his mouth.
Not to mention that he was throwing dirt on Sergeant Barnes who absolutely didn’t deserve it.
“-he’s like that to all of them. The chicks. And they fucking dig him, it’s disgusting. He makes the poor brainwashed kicked puppy face, reminding the sob story of his and they’re all dropping to their knees I swear…” Jim continued, practically spitting the venomous words.
You squeezed your eyes shut, half furious and half guilty; the sergeant did have a heart-breaking backstory and many girls were making eyes on him, their hearts softened by the tragedy and his bravery, yes. And you couldn’t say it wasn’t moving you as well, filling you with compassion – but compassion only. Obviously, Sergeant Barnes was objectively a very attractive man too, but what they were saying… ugh.
He didn’t deserve these insults; he was not trying anything on anyone, he wasn’t offering his ‘sob story’, actually being rather secretive about it for obvious and no doubt painful reasons. He couldn’t really couldn’t be blamed for the girls fawning over him a bit more because of it, could he? What was he supposed to do? Stop breathing? Stop doing what he chose to be his job?
It wasn’t his problem – and thank god for that – that these two assholes had egos the size of Texas and couldn’t handle a little competition.
Seriously. Walking testosterone-filled jerks. You seriously considered moving from the station you had been given, eyeing Captain Rogers, checking if he would notice.
“Well, he’s not. Getting. Any. From. My. Chick. Asshole!”
The bag swung wildly under Henry’s blows despite Jim holding it. You laid off, taking your fifteen second break.
“I bet he’s fucking them all on side. Always so… so soft on them. I bet he’s leaving all the hard shit for bed,” Jim snorted, somewhere between angry at him competition and amused at his own crude joke.
You were gonna puke. You were sure of it.
“And he’s too hard on us. Showing off for them. I would fucking want to see him holding up against us without that metal arm-“
You had enough. You sat up sharply, panting, your face flushed, unsure whether it was from the exercise or the exchange you were listening to.
“Are you serious?!” you hissed their way, earning their shocked glances.
And then, Jim’s face twisted in annoyance and disgust.
“Oh geez, you’re one of them, aren’t you?” he snarked, rolling his eyes. “The fangirls.”
More heat burned in your cheeks. You weren’t kidding anyone; both the sergeant and the captain had showed up in your not so innocent dreams, but you were only human, alright. There was only so much time you could spend with two very fine men like them in one room, a bit sweaty and rough (or just slightly gentler with the ladies) until your brain reacted. Mostly to the captain. Not the point.
But actually crossing the line? Being a part of the thing they were describing if it ever existed? Waiting in the line until one of them picked you for the evening with a promise to do it again after they… Jesus what, tried all the others? No, thank you. You had some dignity left.
Also, you simply couldn’t imagine them doing such thing. Raised in a different era, tried by war and pain and lost, yet remaining the great men they were? Just nope.
“No! Jesus, are you even listening to yourself?” you hissed, minding your volume. You hoped that the low hum of voice in the room, of others working out, giving each other pointers and the noise of the machines would offer you a cover from the rest of your companion.
“What, you wanna tell me they’re not going easy on you? On any chick, really?”
“Yeah, well, maybe because they don’t actually want to break our bones during training. Supersoldiers. Superstrength. Does that ring a bell?” you pointed out, reaching for your water bottle, hoping either of your trainers would forgive you when seeing you only took a sec to have a sip.
Henry scoffed, leaning onto the bag. “Sounds like someone has a crush…”
You couldn’t help the motion of your hands, inconspicuously throwing them in the air in frustration.
Why were you even speaking to them? You should have kept your mouth shut!
“Oh go to hell, Ulrich! You’re just jealous and scared that your girl whom you treat like a piece of shit will run off,” you murmured, wiping your forehead off sweat.
“Yeah, because they’re sure pulling their punches with guys too,” Jim complained again, rolling his eyes as Henry now watched you, eyes narrowed in anger – oh you hit a nail on the head, alright.
You couldn’t but mirror Jim’s action, deciding to stick to Devil’s advocate, because…. yeah, because it wasn’t fair to either Rogers or Barnes. They were good people and didn’t deserve this.
“So they’re not beating the shit out of us like they do with you, get over it.”
“They’re humiliating us! Showing off their big muscles, trying to impress all the chicks-“
You chuckled incredulously as they actually admitted the real reason behind their bitching so openly; as if you hadn’t known the whole time. Ego. Ohhh, the ego was bruised. Call 911, CPR is gonna be needed! God, how did they even live with ego this big? Compensating for something?
“They’re doing their job. Training. Yes, they go a bit harder on you, because your physiology can take it. Did it ever occur to you that they have bigger problems than entering a pissing contest with you just so they could steal the girls? Jeez… just… maybe try to be less of assholes and the girls will be into you too… ”
You missed the hard look Henry gave you, laying down again, this time on your belly to work on your back.
You wheezed when a knee suddenly dug into your back, violently and painfully knocking the air out of your lungs. Before you could react, one of your arms was twisted behind your back, Henry’s voice raspy right into your ear, low and dangerous.
“Listen, you little bitch, you don’t get to talk to me like that. Understand? Huh?”
He was so proving your point, but you didn’t have the time You tried to breathe in properly, and free your arm while pushing up on the free one, your muscles burning with the effort. Shit, he was heavy. You wheezed again instead of the answer.
“Can’t hear you, sweetie. What was that?”
Peripherally, you could see heavy boots approaching rapidly, making a quick guess of who that could be. You gritted your teeth, tears of humiliation pricking your eyes. You were not about to give Henry the satisfaction of proving his point of your trainers being sweet on all the girls even if this so wasn’t that.
“Screw. You,” you let out with the last oxygen left, grabbing his left calf and sharply tugging to the very same side. A half-second later when his weight of you eased just a fraction, you threw your body to the left as well, adding a jerk of your legs.
Both of you rolled over, him ending up under you and you quickly spun away, gasping, desperately fighting for air. As it burned your windpipe, it was as painful as welcomed. Little spots danced inf ornt of your eyes, but you quickly blinked them away – luckily for you, Henry didn’t dare to attack you again.
You shook your head before pushing to sit up, only to meet with Captain Rogers’s strict gaze.
“What the hell is going on in here?” he demanded, sharp blue eyes flickering between the three of you.
Maybe you were hallucinating, but he seemed to be murdering Henry with his eyes. Uh-uh. You would have been glad he was, hadn’t Henry been talking about favouritism only few moments ago. You pushed up simultaneously with him and you both stood straight, facing the captain.
“Apologies, sir,” you stated mechanically, his gaze immediately shifting to you. Your heart stopped. Oh wow, you would swear the blue of his irises was on fire. You gulped. “We had a slight disagreement with Mr. Ulrich. I’m aware I shouldn’t have been talking to him in the first place. I’ll take whatever punishment is given to me.”
“Yeah, I bet you’d liked taking a punishment from him, wouldn’t you…” Jim muttered under his breath, making your gut twist in disgust.
Was he ever not thinking about sex? You prayed the captain didn’t hear him and you had to stop yourself from shooting Jim a murderous glare.  
“I don’t think that’s necessary. Consider it a warning. Mr. Ulrich? You have something to add before you take a few laps?”
You could literally hear Henry’s blood boiling. You opened your mouth to ask for the same punishment, not wanting to have his point proved. You never got the chance to speak.
“No, sir. I only don’t understand why I’m the only one being punished,” Henry questioned innocently and you gritted your teeth.
Maybe because you attacked me, you dickhead?
Captain glared at him for a moment before his gaze shifted to Jim. “You’re not. Mr. Larkin is following your example.”
You pressed your lips together, this time to stop a smile threatening to spread on your lips. God, who knew America’s Golden Boy could get that sassy? You cleared your throat.
“If I might speak, sir, I deserve to run the laps as well,” you noted carefully, earning a curious expression from your superior. You could tell he wavered, a strange spark appearing in his eyes.
You desperately wanted him to let you run too even if you breathing was still a bit difficult; because otherwise Henry would be proved right. Yeah, nope.
“Very well, then. Ten laps around the gym, recruits. Then you move to the station free at the moment. Go. Don’t let it happen again.”
The three of you nodded dutifully and picked up a pace. For some reason, you could feel the captain’s eyes on you while he walked back to assisting his friend with hand-to-hand training. You glimpsed the sergeant leaning to him, probably asking what was that about, but the blond just shook his head.
Towards the eighth lap, you were being overpassed by Henry and Jim, who ran together; faster than you, whether you liked it or not.
“This isn’t over, bitch,” his hateful hiss reached your ears and you picked up speed stubbornly, not showing them that they might intimidate you even for a second.
They wished.
Even when leaving the room after the session was finished, you would swear there was a pair of blue eyes burning a hole to the back of your head. You hoped that you’d soon be free of the captain’s attention.
You sure didn’t want him to watch too closely. You didn’t need him behind your back to see mistakes you sometimes made just like anybody else. Also, it would be harder to admire and ogle him; you did that occasionally, okay. You were just a human, after all.
Tumblr media
A Handful of Mistakes
Shauna, your roommate and bestie from science division of SHIELD, was very patient listening to your lament about guys being dicks; she was awesome like that.
So you vigorously vented your frustration with male population, rolled your eyes when mimicking the silent threat of ‘this not being over’, had a very unhealthy piece of cake at the cafeteria that afternoon and moved on.  
You should have known better.
Henry’s words came haunting you few days later; which was too bad, because you had already forgotten about them, until the very moment they had punched you to the face.
…or rather to your shoulder and it wasn’t even a punch, more like one of those bumps people did, especially when they were being jerks, shoving you too hard for you to believe it was an accident.
“Sorry, didn’t see you there,” you threw over your shoulder sarcastically, continuing your way to the women’s locker room.
In hindsight, that was probably mistake number one; ignoring Henry and not starting a fight right there, not to mention being mouthy.
To be fair, you had no interest in further interaction; you were exhausted from the training, you were sticky and sweaty and all you craved was a shower. You would have just gone to have one at your dorm, but Shauna was having a hot date and you didn’t want to step on her toes. So you had taken your toiletries with you, using the showers near the gym.
Using the gym shower; mistake number two. It meant all of the students being gone by the time you emerged in fresh homey clothes, hair dripping water, because you hated hair-dryers and avoided them unless they were completely necessary.
You had spent much longer in the shower than needed, allowing your muscles to completely relax under the spray of water. That was mistake number three.
The fourth mistake was your pride. When you saw Henry, Jim, George (at least you thought, you weren’t sure, not having many classes with him) and Frank in the corridor, clearly waiting for you, since they bounced off the wall they had been resting against when you appeared, you should have probably been smarter and scream for help right away.
But no, you were being Miss Future Agent and you weren’t intimidated by four equivalents of high school jocks. Yep, this one was definitely the biggest mistake of yours.
“Fellas,” you beckoned to them, passing them gracefully, your bag over your shoulder along with the wet towel.
You barely made a few steps before a hand gripped your arm, harshly tugging you back. Your heart jumped into your throat, but you tried your best not to let it show. You turned to Henry, looking at his face, head tilted back just slightly due to his height.
“Is there a problem, Ulrich?” you asked calmly, earning a lift of his eyebrows at your tone.
“You know there is. I told you it was not over.”
You tried to ignore your pulse skyrocketing and the panic rising in your gut. You were not that stupid – you understood the implications. You knew that with four guys slowly circling you, you would have to fight bites and nails if it came to it and probably still lose. Sometimes it was just better to walk away and swallow your pride; a concept Henry and Jim clearly didn’t understand.
You jerked from Ulrich’s grip, still hoping you could walk away and call it day.
“It is over for me. Now if you’ll excuse me…“
Yes, you were being naïve thinking it would work.
The bag was torn away from your shoulder, your fingers automatically letting go to stay attached to your hand. You gritted your teeth, blood slowly reaching the boiling point.
Also, maybe you were more than just a bit afraid. Not that you would ever admit it to them.
Henry’s hand reached for your chin and your snatched it away in disgust before he could even make contact with your skin. Amusement dances in his eyes along with a flash of anger.
“Oh, kitty has claws?”
You felt another hand on your backside, sending a shudder up your spine, so you grabbed it, shoving it away as well.
Jim. Why weren’t you surprised? Pigs. What the fuck was their problem?
“I’ll let you know when I meet any. Now get out of my way,” you spat, your gut twisting as a sly grin spread on Henry’s face and he made a step right into your route.
“Or what? You’ll scratch, kitty? Or you’ll scream? Like a little girl?” he mocked you in high-pitched voice, his face lowering to yours so you were only inches apart.
“Bet you’d like that,” you murmured, narrowing your eyes when his breath with an unmistakable hint of alcohol fanned over your face. “No, I’ll offer you a breath-mint, because honestly you should do something about your breath.”
Yep, that was the mistake no.5 and definitely an enormous one.
You heard one of the guys chuckle, but you never got to enjoy the thrill of victory.
Out of blue, there was something around your neck, the weight of the towel shifting (add that to the mistake list) and your body flew backwards, colliding with a male one. George was it?
Your hands went to instinctively grab after the towel crushing your throat, but suddenly they were wrested down and pinned to your sides by strong arms. Jim had caught one, Henry another. Fucking cowards.
With your breath coming out short with both lack of oxygen and rising fear, your pulse thundering in your ears, you tried to jerk from their grip, but they wouldn’t budge, having an undeniable advantage.
Oh fuck, fuck, you were so fucked.
“Sassy little mouth, aren’t we?” Henry hummed, wry expression on his ugly face. “So dirty, feels like we should wash it with something. Who wants to go first, fellas?”
Loud alarm bells rang in your head, icy shiver running down your spine, stomach turning over.
Oh no, you don’t.
Your knee snapped up on instinct to gain the momentum, followed by a swift low kick to Jim’s knee.
He yelped and let go of your arm, allowing you to send an elbow straight to George’s face; and finally, your airways were free as the assault as the towel trap loosened.
You coughed, fighting for oxygen and mindlessly threw the item away to have at least one arm free.
“Bitch!” one of the men yelled; you weren’t sure which one, but you didn’t waste time thinking too much. Survival instinct took over.
Tears prickled in the corners of your eyes and you barely silenced the scream when Henry took advantage of your hesitation, twisting your arm behind your back. Fuck he really had a thing for that, didn’t he?
You tried to kick him, but someone else’s leg somehow managed to swept their leg under yours and you fell on your knees. Sharp tug on your hair caused you to cry out and obediently tilt your head back. Few tears escaped you, but you pushed up in attempt to get up again.
A kick coming from behind threw your body forwards and you nearly fell on your face when Henry finally let go of you. You tasted blood as you bit your cheek, but you managed to at least land on your shoulder instead of face-planting.
It still hurt like a bitch, but at least you still had all your teeth… or you thought so, not having time to check. Catching a movement from the corner of your eye, you managed to roll over before a kick to your side could hit you with full force. Frank’s foot only brushed you, but you were sure you’d have a bruise as a souvenir anyway.
A punch landed next to your face when you dodged it in the last moment, someone grabbing your legs and holding them together. Between your efforts to free them, you didn’t have time to chase away the body suddenly holding your arms as well.
“Fuck--- she’s a handful.”
A ragged battle cry erupted from your throat as you tried to jerk your body from their grip on pure instinct, every self-defence move you had ever learned flying of the window.
“More fun to break her, don’t you think?” Henry purred, his hand sneaking around your waist under the hem of your t-shirt.
Your head spun like crazy at the skin-to-skin contact and nausea hitting you hard. You wanted to puke and scream and punch and you couldn’t make yourself to do either, tears rolling down your cheeks as your body convulsed in a desperate attempt to break free.
There was ringing in your ears, disorienting you, but aware of the hand suddenly covering your mouth you tried to bite it on instinct holding you down.
“Oh-ho, biting!“ you heard, strangely muffled as if you were under water.
“I like them feisty-“
“Playing hard to get!”
“Shit, SHIT-“
The pressure on your legs eased all of sudden and you immediately kicked with all you had, catching the rising figure in the calf, knocking them off balance.
“Fuck!”
You would swear the floor vibrated, but in must have only been your mind playing tricks on you. George disappeared from your field of blurry vision; you only saw a fist sending him flying sideways.
Yep, your mind was fucking making up things, because there was no way he could have been thrown away like this by a single punch. You weren’t complaining; the relief the illusion provided was almost blissful.
Henry’s body weight vanished as well in nearly supersonic speed as if he wanted to escape the illusion. So you did the first thing that came to your mind; with your hands free, you grabbed his ankle, stopping him from running away. Which, thinking about it, was stupid, because only a moment before, you would have given anything to get him the fuck away from you.
He kicked back blindly, but his sole never met with your body – he was dragged away and… and lifted to the air as if he weighted nothing.
Blinking your tears away, your fuzzy mind cleared.
Only to reveal a very muscled and very much pissed off blond slamming Henry against a wall and then letting his suddenly unconscious body slide down.
You gasped, your eyes catching a glimpse of the fourth figure – Frank – several feet away, running for his life.
“Buck?!” came a shout and before you could question it, a metal arm emerged from behind the corner, stopping Frank dead as he rushed straight into it.
“Yep?!” the dark-haired supersoldier yelled back, sounding almost amused.
What the hell was happening? What the hell just happened?!
You blood sizzled in your veins, loud and rapid thump-thump-thump banging in your ears, face damp with several shed tears, body aching and your mind fucking racing.
You heard a whimper on your left, automatically turning to the sound. It left Jim’s lips, his form crumbled on the floor, struggling to stand up.
The captain’s knee seemed to come out of nowhere, digging into Jim’s back and pinning him down again before you even registered a movement.
“Is it fucking over now?”
“Steve, let him be. Not worth it,” Barnes’ voice tried to reason, sounding rather growly, but not nearly as loud as before. He approached your group in rapid pace and Rogers scoffed and let go.
You gulped at sergeant’s angry grimace, crazily convinced he was angry with you for all the mistakes you made that lead to this; but his expression softened when his gaze fell on you.
“Hey there,” he greeted you almost casually, holding out a hand to help you up. “Can you stand?”
You blinked several times at the suddenly dispassionate tone, even if you still sensed something bubbling under it. You shook off the thought and accepted the offered hand – the flesh one. The detail didn’t escape you, your bran in overdrive. Of course he hadn’t offered you the metal arm. He didn’t want to scare you. He was thoughtful like that-
-or not. The strength he dragged you up with was way too much for you, more so when combined with the speed and your state. You stumbled over your feet, a wave of dizziness messing with your balance.
You awaited the upcoming reunion with the floor, unable to stop the fall, but it never happened. Before you could as much as reel, gentle hands supported you in a firm grip, pleasantly warm against your bare arms.
“Whoa, take it easy,” Rogers’ voice warned you, soothing. For some reason, it felt more like ‘I got you,’ instead of ‘take it easy.’
You took a deep breath, Barnes’ hand letting go of yours as he semi-voluntarily handed you over to his friend.  
“You’re bleeding from your mouth.”
Thanks for the reminder, I noticed.
You swallowed the snarky remark, well-aware of the sergeant’s care. You fought against the urge to spit the blood out.
“Is fine…” you muttered, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. “Bit my cheek. I’m pretty sure I—“ you quickly ran your tongue over your teeth just to confirm your theory, “-still have all of my teeth.”
Sergeant Barnes gave you a tiny smile, the worried crinkle that had found its way between his brows disappearing.
“Whatever you say.”
His gaze flickered to something behind your head, probably in order of exchanging a wordless conversation with your still present crutch. Not that you were complaining. The weight of what had happened was slowly settling on your shoulders and you were grateful for any support – and who were you kidding, Captain America made for a pretty reliable support.
“Why don’t we leave you in pu- Cap’s capable hands while I-“ Barnes’ jaw clenched, pale eyes scanning the four bodies on the floor, calculating. “-take out the trash?”
You nearly choked at the choice of his words, wincing. Captain Rogers’ hands squeezed your shoulders reassuringly and you nodded, not sure what else to do.
You didn’t want to look at Henry. Or Jim. Or their loyal companions.
So when the captain carefully spun you on your heels, you didn’t protest and your feet started moving on autopilot in the direction he had set.
“You okay to walk without support?” he asked softly, a stark contrast to the voice you remembered from earlier or from the training sessions.
You knew that if you said yes, he would let go of you. Honestly, his touch felt damn nice, firm and yet somewhat gentle, a pleasant contrast to harsh fingers of the men who had the nerve to attack you – you had to swallow bile rising to your mouth at the awfully fresh memory. Fuck, it had been so close, just a minute later and--- you shook your head mentally and tried your best to erase this memory from existence.
You decided not to abuse the kindness the captain was offering. After several indulging steps, you quietly confirmed he could release you. You found out that sensing his large frame by your side as if he was your bodyguard was nearly as comforting. Nearly.
You didn’t have the strength admonish yourself for basking the light of his protective persona. Future agent of not, you still had the right to want to feel secure at times.
After all, you were only human.
Tumblr media
A Handful of Truths
You didn’t realize you were shaking until a blanket was tossed over your shoulders.
You were sitting on a short couch in what looked like a cosy office, hair still damp, body finally registering the ache caused by previous events, just like your brain was slowly taking in what had happened.
Captain Rogers, whose courtesy was to escort you from the hellhole you had been attacked in, had clearly took it as a personal mission to take care of your injuries; it hadn’t dawned to you until you were seated and your mind helpfully supplied you with ‘This isn’t the infirmary’.
He pulled a swivel chair to sit face to face with you, a box of medical supplies left open on the coffee table at your side. You didn’t realize he had moved the chair or dug the box from god-knew-where until the items were simply there.
“How do you feel?” he inquired, attentive eyes scanning your hunched form. You instinctively curled onto yourself, snuggling further into the blanket. You knew you should come up with an answer, but your brain started to hurt with the effort to do so. “I guess that’s fair. Can you tell me what hurts the most?”
You quickly glanced at his openly kind face, his baby blues still watching for any reaction that would clue him. Your throat went dry at the compassion of display and you had to swallow before speaking – and think. What hurt the most…?
You didn’t know what possessed you to tell him what you did, but it came out before you could stop yourself.
“My pride,” you croaked, causing his eyebrows jump just like the corner of his lips.
“That’s probably fair too. Then again, I’d rather know about something I can fix.”
You felt your body relax a little at his informal tone – you might even say a jovial one, but you could still sense too much worry behind it to call it that. You attempted a tiny smile at least to show him that you were more or less fine – you weren’t – and brilliantly failed.
“Landed on my shoulder. Probably gonna have a bruise on my side from when… when they kicked me. Ribs and arms might be a bit tender for few days, ‘cause they were heavy as they--- they’re heavy,” you voice wavered as you saw the muscles on the captain’s forearms clench and his hands curled up in fists. You sheepishly looked up to his face. “I got lucky.”
His eyebrows rose again in a ‘figures’ manner as he leaned back to the chair.
“Nothing else apart from that, your cheek and your pride?”
“I’m a little cold, but you took care of that,” you admitted, taking a deep breath in as you tugged on the blanket pointedly.
Despite what you were saying, you didn’t feel okay, the tremble never quite leaving your body. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. You stared at your knight in shining armour, gathering courage to do what was needed. You tried your best to meet his gaze, feeling so small and embarrassingly weak in front of him.
“Could have been much worse if you haven’t showed up. Thank you.”
He pressed his lips together, shaking his head. He leaned in, his elbows on his knees.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster... I should have kept closer eye on Ulrich,” he muttered under his breath, making you wonder if you only imagined it. “Your pride shouldn’t be hurt. You held yourself against them just fine.”
Your heart skipped a beat at the honestly his voice held – and you were honestly grateful for the slight shift of attention. Oh. Had he forgotten how things had been when he had arrived?
You weren’t sure whether you should remind him. You definitely didn’t want to remind yourself, but before you could solve your little dilemma, he clarified.
“You haven’t started training the combat against multiple opponents yet. Let alone four opponents, all of them having both height and weight advantage. You couldn’t exactly go all Black Widow on them if no one showed you how.”
He accented his words with a reassuring smile and you almost believed him. The shivers finally eased, most likely thanks to the warm treatment you were being given in all senses of the word. The inner cold gradually melted and you were left in nothing but pleasant warmth.
Mentally, you patted your pride gently on its head; you couldn’t quite disagree with him. No matter how helpless you had felt earlier and how ashamed for it you were, the truth was you were still learning. You weren’t a finished agent yet.
You breathed in and out, avoiding the gaze that was still on you. It felt like a freaking brand with how intense it was. You couldn’t say you hated it necessarily, you only wished you at least didn’t look so pathetic. No make-up, probably red with a smudge on blood somewhere, perhaps with some bruising already forming, hair wet and messy. You absently ran your fingers through it in attempt to fix it a bit as if it could help.
What had you been talking about? Right… those assholes being cowards and coming at your four against one.
“I… I just fucking hate bullies,” you grumbled darkly, your hand immediately covering your mouth when you realized what you had said. Oh. Language. Still your superior you’re talking to, no matter how nice. “Sorry. Please, pretend you didn’t hear the f-word. I just hate bullies, period.”
“I might have sworn earlier too, so let’s call it even,” the captain offered, one corner of his lips raised. Oh. He had, hadn’t he? ‘Is it fucking over now?’ What did that even mean? “And so I heard.”
“What?” you yelped, your mind racing again in search for the meaning behind his words.
“I mean… I heard you. When you were defending Bucky, in the gym. I’m pretty sure your exact words were about a ‘pissing contest’.”
“Oh god,” you breathed out, your face no doubt set aflame. He had heard you; that was why he had said he should have kept a closer eye on Henry. Oh. Ohhhh.
Also, did he just say ‘pissing’?
“You weren’t wrong by the way. But… neither were them.”
You blinked in surprise. What? “About?”
You knew he didn’t mean the sleeping around with recruits, your gut was screaming that at you, because they wouldn’t, but still, you rather asked for clarification. If he didn’t mean that part, which one then?
“Ladies do fall over for Bucky,” he hummed with a lopsided smile, a playful twinkle in his eyes. It did something to your belly, a strange familiar shift that was very inappropriate, but hell, people needed to cut you some slack. He was impossible not to ogle and you didn’t have the energy to control your reaction after today’s events. “And I don’t really pull my punches when I’m training those two in particular.”
“Why?” you blurted out before you could stop yourself and think better of it.
His gaze bored into yours, burning with intensity and with a glint of something you couldn’t quite put your finger on.
“I don’t like bullies either.”
Did he lean in even more or were you so focused on his face it only seemed closer?
You weren’t able to look away. His blue eyes simply locked you in, not allowing you to escape. The strangest thing was that it wasn’t scary. It should be, he was— he was a freaking captain, your superior, a superior to a lot of people, which you were constantly forgetting ever since he had saved you from falling on your ass in the hallway and you had to remember that.
Before you could though, your racing mind packed up and let your body, your mouth to be precise, act without supervision.
“Not trying to impress the ladies then, huh?”
His tiny sheepish smile cut off the uprising panic in your chest when you realized how bold of you was to say that. He lowered his gaze, giving a subtle shrug. “Guess I wouldn’t want one falling for guy’s muscles and a show-off of dominance.”
“What for then? Honesty? Sincerity? Kind eyes? Strong moral compass?” you heard yourself prying, internally horrified how far you had come when saying that. Your face was drained of colour when it clicked. You were literally naming things you liked about him, absolutely shamelessly putting them in the open. Oh shit. Fix it, fix it, fix it! “…the sass?”
His eyes went wide and he burst out laughing so loud it startled you for a second, especially as he threw his head back with the outburst. Then you reluctantly joined him, covering your face with your hands in embarrassment.
“The sass!” he howled, unable to hold back another fit of laughter and when you peeked at him through between your fingers, you saw his palm resting against his chest as if it could help him stop laughing.
Just like that, blood rushed back into your cheeks.
“Oh god, I made it worse!” you cried out, wishing for the earth to swallow you, frantically looking around for the fastest escape route. “Oh my god, I have to switch schools now… excuse me-“
You hastily got up from your seat, but a quick hand snatched yours, pulling you back.
You stumbled, landing ungracefully right back in your place, this time without the blanket. Captain Rogers was watching you with the corners of his lips high, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Sorry for grabbing you like that. But no, please. Stay.”
Your throat closed off when you heard his soft plea, only traces of humour in it. Yeah, you bet he hadn’t met anyone with such big mouth for a while, so he thought it was better to keep the comic around.
“Captain Rogers, I-I- what I said, it was completely out of line-“ you stuttered, only to be interrupted.
“Were you making it up?” he questioned.
You gulped, your mind screaming at you to say yes to save you the humiliation. And yet, with the cerulean irises staring into your eyes, your mouth did the exact opposite.
“No.”
Dammit.
“Then why would you go?” he questioned softly. His hand still didn’t leave yours, only easing the grip into a kinder one. You felt like a brand was being burned into your skin. A pleasant one, so you didn’t retreat. Oh, you’d never. But what on Earth was he getting at? “We need someone honest like you. People who stand up for others, even if only to defend their honour. That is the kind of people who should be in this line of work. The good ones.”
You opened your mouth, no sound coming out as his speech shook you to your core, tickling your stomach pleasantly along with your pride. His words seemed to be coming from heart, genuine, which was not helping your blood pressure and suddenly wobbling limbs.
“Even when they have potty mouth and put their foot in it? ‘Cause I seem to excel in that.”
“Especially then,” he chuckled and you could tell there was no pinch of a lie in it.
Something was in the air, crackling deliciously, and you liked it. You wouldn’t be able to describe it properly, the feeling simply too unique, but it was tickling your fancy so weren’t about to complain.
“O-okay. Thank you, Captain,” you whispered, revelling in the sight of the gentle curve of his lips.
“You started with the compliments, Agent.”
And just like that, you wanted to run for your life again, drowning in embarrassment.
What were you even still doing here? Complimenting him? Enjoying his touch? Flirting with him?
Were you nuts?!
Him, a captain— no, the captain. And you, an agent--- hell, you were not even an agent yet!
The captain whose eyes flickered to not-an-agent’s lips for the shortest of moments, widening a fraction before returning to her eyes.
Oh, now you were definitely going nuts. You were hallucinating. You must have hit your head too. He wasn’t into you and you being into him was very stupid.
You should go.
…any moment now.
…just get off your ass for god’s sake-
“Can I ask you something?”
You blinked yourself back to reality, shushing the voice in your head, curious smile appearing on your lips involuntarily. The softness of his voice felt better than the blanket before and you wanted to cocoon yourself in it, postponing the leaving plans to never.
“Sure,” you replied, the smile remaining on your face despite your better judgement.
He lowered his eyes to your joined hands, his thumb running over the back of your hand in a feather-light touch. You heart positively stopped at the moment, your breath hitching. Holy shit, what was he doing?
“This, does it… do you hate it?” he whispered the question, not meeting your eyes as if he was too shy, which was… ridiculous. He had no reason to be shy.
It still felt like a shot through your heart – a nice one, though, it that was possible. The words combined with the way they were spoken, it stirred something in your belly, warming it up and you couldn’t deny it anymore.
You really wanted this man; whatever this was, it was getting beyond a silly crush. Also, for some reason, it seemed as if he was trying to tell you he was interested too, which you thought was pretty freaking crazy.
“Stay honest, please,” he pleaded when you didn’t answer right away.
Did you hate it? The chastest display of affection if you dared to call it that? Your mind raced, trying to figure out why on earth he would ask that. Because the only reason you had come up with so far was completely impossible.
“No,” you said simply, earning a brief glance up before he looked down again. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Good. That’s good… and would you… I’m aware this is out of line and I—I want you to answer truthfully without fearing the consequences-…“
It was your turn to swallow loudly, because what? What did he want to ask that he considered it out of line? He was your superior – you could think of thousand ways of how you could get out of line, but him? And why should you fear the consequences?! Did he want you to help him to hide a body?
That’s not it and you know it. You know what he wants to ask, you rational side admonished you.
Oh please, shut up. Since when you switched sides?
“O-okay. What— what is it-- Steve?” you stuttered out, freezing when his name left your lips and his head snapped up, his hand giving yours a squeeze. Oh boy.
“Would you possibly say you like it?” he blurted out and your brain went to overdrive at the hope behind his expression.
Huh. He really just asked that. Oh shit. Oh wow. Your jaw fell into your lap – only figuratively, you hoped –, your ears buzzing, your blood bursting in excitement.
Oh yeah, you understood why he mentioned the consequences. Either you could say no and you’d fear he might treat you differently or you could say yes and you’d ‘fear’ he might treat you differently.
The fire in your insides burned hotter at the idea of the latter.
His hand slowly left yours, giving you a simple choice you still couldn’t believe you were given.
Holy shit. What do you even say to something like that? Coming from someone like him? Your brain froze as you only managed to stare.
Did his— did the corners of his lips turn down? Was that sadness pooling in the sea of blue of his eyes?
Oh no, you don’t.
“Y-yes,” you admitted sheepishly, closing your eyes at the heaviness of your confession.
You could feel the weight on your shoulders as silence fell, only interrupted by your soft breathing that sounded ominously loud.
Your fingers twitched when his warm palm covered them again, your lips parting in surprise. You kept your eyes closed, indulging the strange moment. His free hand caressed your other as well, the gentlest of touches, tender, contrasting with rough callouses on his fingers.
“I like it too.”
At that, you gathered enough courage to look at him, only to see him inspecting your face closely, observing your reactions. It shocked you that it wasn’t uncomfortable as you would expect; must have been the kindness and wonder in his gaze. You forced your lips to curl up in a tiniest smile. Steve smiled back with same hesitance, his face lighting up.
He looked like a boy next door (making it to a modelling agency), shining eyes and happy grin forming on his lips. He was more gorgeous than ever.
Still keeping your hands, he raised his right one, his knuckles brushing your unharmed cheek. The gesture was so tender it brought tears into your eyes, causing him quickly retreat.
“Sorry-“
You shook your head with a self-deprecating chuckle, squeezing his fingers before he could let go of you completely.
“It’s not you—I mean… it is you,” you babbled nonsensically, taking a breath to gather your thoughts. “It’s just— that was really sweet. No, that’s not-“ Not the right word. “It was beautiful. I swear I never felt so…” loved “-cared for in my life.”
He frowned, a shadow of pain running over his face. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I know that today was… unpleasant.”
Seeing his reluctance and discomfort, you went for the first thing that came up to your mind. You straightened up and pressed a light kiss on his cheek, withdrawing much slowly because once you were in his orbit, it was hard to leave.
His breath hitched, his eyes glued to you intently, flickering to your lips again.
“You didn’t upset me, Steve. That’s the last thing you could do with that,” you assured him, face still inches from his. His name rolled off your tongue easily this time, even though it still left your heart fluttering.
“And if I asked you to have dinner with me?”
Your stomach twisted in a pleasant knot at that suggestion, your lizard brain already thinking about having a dessert for a second; and you weren’t thinking cake or ice-cream.
Yeah, barely. This was a guy ready to treat you right, you were sure of it. He certainly wasn’t about to kiss you now, not afar what happened today, he might go for it after the dinner and that was only if you got lucky enough. You swallowed the disappointment at the idea, quickly shaking it off.
Make up your goddamn mind, woman. You should be glad that men who weren’t thinking with their lower brain still existed and one of those was clearly interested in you, which… yeah, what the hell, that might take a while getting used to. Add the fact that he was being incredibly considerate of how you might feel after being assaulted and you had a winner of your heart. You realized you were actually happy he wouldn’t try anything even nearly ‘funny’.
You were fine with hand-holding and brushes of his fingers on your face, which honestly, the tenderness behind that gesture made you toes curl. You didn’t care much if that made you a freaking sap.
“Still not upset,” you gave an answer at last, deciding he probably liked when you were a bit cheeky.
He offered a closed lipped smile in response, confirming your theory.
“Does that count like a yes?”
You shrugged, the corners of your lips twitching. You had no idea when the change had happened, but all you wanted now was to giggle. And maybe snuggle, but you weren’t about to say that out loud.
“You tell me.”
He licked his lips and shook his head as he retreated. Before you could protest – or have a heart attack, because the motion of his tongue attracted your gaze like a magnet, setting your core on fire –, he sat beside you, leaving enough space in case you didn’t like it.
You liked it, subtly moving an inch closer to his side. Damn, he radiated warmth. Maybe just a bit closer…?
“Cheeky dame, aren’t you?” Steve more stated than asked, reaching for the blanket pooled around you to cover you again.
You didn’t realize you had goosebumps before his hands gently tugged you in, careful not to touch you where you could consider it inappropriate.
Yeah, forget about any funny business any time soon.
You huffed. “Clearly. It did get me into trouble before.”
His eyes darkened a bit, his face noticeably falling.
No, nope, bad move, miss not-an-agent.
“I should walk you back to your dorm,” he remarked, already rising to his feet.
You first reaction was to say no, because you weren’t ready to say goodbye yet. Your second was to say no also, because Shauna probably still had her hot date.
Instead, your hand shot up to catch his, effectively stopping him. He froze before returning to his seat, tiny question mark in a place of his face right next to his soft smile.
You cleared your throat, deciding to give him the latter reason.
“Uhm… my roommate has a date. If I go there, I’ll probably find a sock on the doorknob,” you admitted, biting your lip when he raised an eyebrow and relaxed to the cushions.
“People still do that?”
You chuckled, the fact that not only he was a captain, but also Captain America, which meant he was about hundred years old, hitting you like a train.
“Yeah, people still do that,” you assured him, amused.
He pouted, which you found unfairly adorable and… kissable. Nope, later.
“Sure, make fun of the old man…” he uttered, but a spark of laughter lighted up in his irises, so you assessed he wasn’t too offended. He was most likely used to the teasing.
As an idea of interpreting his words differently popped in your mind, you grinned.
“Is that a permission to make fun of Sergeant Barnes?” you pried playfully, sending Steve into another surprised fit of laughter, not unlike when you had complimented his sass. Your heart swelled at the joyful picture of him and the prospect of seeing more of it in future.
Due to his laughter, you didn’t hear he knock on the door if there was any n the first place. The door simply swung open, revealing the other supersoldier. Speak of the Devil…
Seeing his friend, Steve burst out laughing once more. Sergeant Barnes closed the door with a puzzled look.
You just shrugged in response, opening your mouth without a sound coming out and he took in the scene in front of him again, a smirk appearing on his lips. Under that gaze, you felt your face heat up. You could only imagine how that looked like, Steve cosily close to you, laughing, your hand right next to his thigh as his outburst had sent it sliding from his hand.
The smirk on the supersoldier’s face only deepened when he noticed how flustered he had made you.
“Punk?” he questioned and Steve wheezed once more, raising a palm in the sergeant’s direction, turning to you first.
He offered you a hand to shake. Confused, you accepted as his eyes twinkling in mischief bored into yours.
“Deal,” he mouthed, sending your lips twitching, and only then he shifted his attention to his friend. “Buck?”
The supersoldier had his eyes narrowed, watching you suspiciously.
“I’m gonna regret sending you with her instead of doing it the other way around, aren’t I?” he stated, not actually asking as his gaze flickered between the two of you.
His expression pushed you over the edge and the giggle building up in your chest for the last few minutes finally broke free. You simply couldn’t contain it anymore despite having two superiors in the room. Steve gave you a warm smile as the sound left your lips, clearly not bothered by it.
You hoped you’d be forgiven by Sergeant Barnes as well. After all, you were just human.
“Yeah, Buck, I think you are.”
Tumblr media
S.R. masterlist
Tumblr media
Sorry for the cavities at the end. Or should I say ‘you’re welcome’? Whatever works for you :))
Thank you for reading! 
446 notes · View notes
Note
I feel like a redemption arc for Chloé wouldn't have worked since she (1) never expressed any remorse for bullying and harassing people and abusing her father's political power as mayor to do so and have her way. In "Malediktator", Chloé says she feels useless and is upset that everyone hates her... but her feeling useless was NEVER something that was part of the show before and she never acknowledges that everyone hates her because she's been bullying them for years. Like, that's THE reason why no one likes her, but it was never brought up, and (2) she never faces consequences for her actions. Sometimes things don't go her way, but that's not the same thing as facing direct punishment for bullying and harassment and abuse of political power and also for deliberately sabotaging a subway and risking lives to stage a rescue, especially since she continued to be snotty and didn't even care when Ladybug told her why she couldn't have the Bee anymore and still acted entitled to it, even when Hawk Moth had Mayura stake out by her home. If those two things had happened, a redemption for Chloé would have actually been satisfying.
You make a fair point there. While I still wanted a redemption arc for Chloe, it doesn’t mean I thought her betrayal was completely unexpected.
Yeah, she was making small progress in some regards, but like you said, never felt remorseful or got punished for the things she did. Sure, she got some slight comeuppance in some Season 1 episodes and did apologize for some things, but some of the bigger acts of sabotage she took part in during her “arc” starting from Season 2 never really got the backlash they deserved.
When Chloe caused a fake fire alarm to go off in “Despair Bear”, Adrien did threaten to end their friendship by simply telling her to be nice and never helping her, but as soon as he let her off the hook by the end of the episode, she went back to being mean and Adrien simply laughed it off, showing he really didn’t care about their “friendship” that much.
When Chloe sabotaged Marinette’s gift to Ms. Bustier in “Zombizou”, Ms. Bustier decided to treat it like it was a gift to from the two of them while never punishing Chloe for ruining the gift in the first place and literally expecting Marinette to set a good example for Chloe instead. Fun fact: I’m currently studying to be a teacher, and I was told to never show favoritism toward my students or place any of them on a pedestal in an entry-level course.
When Chloe essentially tried to Syndrome a train in “Queen Wasp”, Ladybug got more blame for losing the Bee Miraculous in the first place (it was knocked out of her hands and she didn’t have time to look for it), and compared the potential vehicular manslaughter to Ladybug’s mistake before portraying Chloe making up with her emotionally abusive mother as a good thing. And I’m sure that won’t give viewers the wrong idea at all.
When Chloe had to be told Queen Bee was being benched in “Miraculer”, it wasn’t because of how awful she is in her civilian life, but rather, because her identity is public knowledge. Yeah, that’s still a good reason as “Heroes Day” and the very same episode prove with Hawkmoth targeting her loved ones, but the episode frames it like that’s the only reason. And of course, because nobody ever decided to simply tell Chloe it would be highly unlikely she would be Queen Bee again, she continued to delude herself by demanding to get the Bee Miraculous back to the point where it was a running gag until the Season 3 finale was like “actually, you were supposed to take these scenes seriously and you’re a terrible person for thinking otherwise”. 
“Queen Wasp” in particular was a deal-breaker for some fans who wanted a Chloe redemption arc, but a lot of other fans, myself included, were hoping that they would all lead to a big payoff where she realized the error of her ways, and vowed to change. Instead, we got smeckledorfed by the writers and insulted by Astruc for daring to have hope she would change for almost a year and a half. The fact that sabotaging a movie production in “Queen Banana” was the cardinal sin that convinced Chloe’s father and Adrien to put their feet down and not any of the earlier examples shows how confusing the writing is when it comes to portraying reactions to Chloe’s actions.
The problem with all of these episodes was that nobody ever sat down and simply confronted Chloe with the fact that as much as she thinks she’s an amazing person, she takes pleasure in hurting others by abusing her power. All they do is either tell her to be nicer and say she can be nicer without doing much. The most we got was the butler in “Despair Bear” who came across more like she was mocking Chloe instead of actually helping her to improve.
Yes, a positive influence can help a character turn over a new leaf, but they need to work with said character and help them grow and not just tell them to do better. Enabling them will only make things worse. I know everyone on the planet loves this character and the role he played in the story, but Iroh was pivotal to Zuko’s character development not just because he helped to encourage him to break away from his father’s influence, but because he wasn’t afraid to call Zuko out on some of his actions, especially at the end of Book 2. He was a mentor who understood how troubled Zuko was, and wanted to do everything he can to help his nephew, despite the trouble he would go through in his journey to self-improvement. Even when separated in Book 3, you can still see Iroh’s imparted wisdom in Zuko with how he interacts with the other characters after he joins the team, with Zuko himself regretting how he sold Iroh out to the Fire Nation.
I’m not trying to say that Chloe herself isn’t to blame for how things turned out either. Her actions at the end of Season 3 felt appropriate, as frustrating as they were in the long run, because her ego went unchecked. I’m not just frustrated that so much time was wasted, but because the biggest reason Chloe turned out this way was a failure to communicate with her and anyone who actually bothered to help her. 
Of course, Astruc made it clear that any attempts to actually bother helping Chloe were pointless a year ago and keeps doing so to this day.
124 notes · View notes
blzzrdstryr · 3 years
Text
Moth into flame. Yandere!Kaeya x gn!reader
Wordcount: 4k
A.N: It’s very self-indulgent, but I had this idea for 2 weeks now and needed to get it out. I’ve never written fanfiction and I am not a native speaker, so bear with me.
CW: Violence, unhealthy relationship
For as long as you know Kaeya, he feels different from other people. Odd in the way that empty alleyways and dark rooms are odd, a sense of barely concealed danger lurking underneath the layers of charm and friendliness. You always felt his darker nature, but never questioned it before - you are an adventurer after all, the danger is your thrill.
He must have known that you aren’t particularly repulsed by this side of him, as his friendly facade morphed into something darker right in front of you for a couple of times. You doubt a liar and an actor as skilled as he is would make such amateurish mistakes.
No, he can’t be ignorant about how his more ominous part is what makes your veins sing from the strange mix of fascination and fear. That must be why he kept flashing his less amiable side, enticing you further in his grasp, and you gladly took step after step in the carefully crafted trap he prepared just for you.
How could you not? Kaeya is charming and dangerous, like wildfire  and you are nothing but a moth, too blinded by his light to stop and just think.
And now, seeing an irrefutable, but faux proof of the crimes you didn’t commit in his hands, you feel it - how searing his casual coldness can be. Right now, Kaeya Alberich is no human in your heart, he is a small piece of abyss that made its way out of Khaenri’ahn ruins to drag you down the cosmic darkness, where you possibly truly belong.
***
Kaeya both loves and hates your first meeting and he avoids reminiscing about it. It sounds strange, right?
Back then he was still a part of Ragnvindr household and Diluc treated him like a brother, and maybe that is a small part of a reason why he feels such aversion to recalling it - those memories are tinted both by fond nostalgia and bitter loss, enough to make him itch for a bottle in his hand.
Both Kaeya and you were green rookies - a knight fresh from training and a beginner adventurer, accidentally teaming up against a gang of treasure hoarders. It all ended up with both of you victorious, but injured. Kaeya helped you to walk back to Monstadt as one of the criminal's bolts wounded your leg, enough to make you wince from pain at every step.
In the middle of the trail he suddenly grew bored from your barely suppressed pained expressions and soft pants, no matter how cute they were to him, and decided to carry you, just like the groom would carry his  bride. He quipped and joked about it, as he made his way to the city's general direction, and you laughed and made some witty remarks in return.
At the moment he didn't think too much of it - you were another adventurer in his eyes back then, a cute, but insignificant passerby in his life and he was just playing a role of gallant knight in shiny armor. Give it a week or two and he would forget your face and your name.
But he didn't.
Just as you were approaching city gates, a miracle happened - red vision materialized right in your hands. You clutched it tightly to the chest, a bright smile appearing on your face. You turned your head to Kaeya, and he could have swore you were using your newly acquired Pyro on him.
How else could he feel so warm inside all of a sudden?
He couldn't help but recall your smile for weeks after that.
***
Your second meeting happened when you were returning to Mondstadt after your first long expedition. Shortly after the word of your Pyro vision reached Cyrus' ears, he was dead set on sending you to Dragonspine to help other adventurers. You were hesitant at first, but then your natural thirst for thrill combined with a hefty pay he promised won over you, and here you were - carrying several stacks of starsilver, absolutely exhausted and frozen to the very bones walking back to Mondstadt.
To say that you were unprepared would be an understatement of the year - even with pyro vision the cold seemed absolutely unbearable and to make matters worse you almost had a run in with a frostarm lawachurl. To avoid hopeless fight, you had to hide behind the tall snowdrift, almost submerging your body in it, as you both admired and dreaded the ice cladden giant.
Nonetheless, you acquired all of the starsilver the adventure guild needed, and now you trekked through the forest as the sun started to set.
Straining your eyes to see through the heavy rain and approaching darkness you saw it - a bright red smudge against the dark tree bark and unmistakable scent of blood. Such stark contrasts were enough to shake off the tiredness. You slowly made your way to the source of the stench, both fearing and anticipating what may reveal itself to your curious eyes.
There was a silhouette of an injured man that started to slowly morph into a vaguely familiar figure as you got closer. Seeing that there was no threat, you threw your ore to the ground and ran to the unconscious person. It was that knight who helped you to defeat treasure hoarders, Kaeya.
He looked horrible - his normally rich bronze skin now looked ashen and grey from the bloodloss, the face that radiated smugness seemed as if it already belonged on the corpse, the blue vest that he was wearing dyed almost completely in purple from the bloodloss, but the most horrible thing was a shallow but wide gash on his chest.
Not wasting any second, you pulled out your trusty dagger, and sliced the vest to inspect the wound. As you pulled obstructing cloth away you noticed another detail - small burns, surrounding the gash, as if someone slashed Kaeya with something hot enough to scorch, but not hot enough to close the wound and most unexpectedly, faintly glowing blue orb. A cryo vision.
You sat on your knees to put his vision in your pocket and clean his wounds. It still bled, as you frantically searched for a way to close it your eyes fell on the small burns around the wound and suddenly a crazy idea popped up in your head.
With shaking hands you used a piece of sliced vest to muffle him and prevent Kaeya from accidentally biting his tongue off, and then you took the dagger again heating it up. You heard about cauterization from older adventurers, but hoped that you wouldn’t resort to using it.
Kaeya’s pained groans were muffled by the makeshift gag, yet it wasn’t enough to wake him. After you made sure that his bleeding stopped, you removed your outerwear and wrapped Kaeya up. You cursed, as you hoisted a heavier body on your back, an exhaustion you have forgotten moments ago hitting you with a renewed strength.
The path to the Mondstadt with a new burden on your back now felt ten times longer. Even if you two were barely an acquaintance, a cold coil of fear for Kaeya's life still set in the pit of your stomach, and it seemed that no amount of fire would make you feel warm again.
***
Waking up in the infirmary was one of the biggest surprises in Kaeya’s life.
There were times when he was sure of his imminent death - an abandoned shivering child all alone in the forest, a stranger in the strange land, a prince of nothing with the weight of the whole dying kingdom left on his shoulders; a rainy night reeking of death and loss, grief and fury burning him just as much as incandescent claymore, rapidly growing pool of bright red blood, just as red as a…
Kaeya was okay with dying - it would be a nice ending to his story. The dead saviour of an already dead nation, an outlander casted out from the only semblance of home he had. He liked the irony.
He could have asked for help right after the duel, calling out that person’s name, he knew that that person wouldn’t leave him if he was dying, but the possibility of seeing hatred in those eyes was too much for him. The second a fiery blade cut through his flesh was when Kaeya decided to die.
And honestly, he couldn't continue to live once he confirmed what kind of a monster he is - the first thing he felt when he saw Crepus Rangvindr, a person who took him in, kept him fed, warm, safe and clothed all these years, a person who loved him more than his own father did, slowly disintegrating under the strain of delusion Kaeya felt no sadness. No, a relief, as if he was freed of a tiresome burden came instead.
Kaeya was disgusted and horrified for even experiencing such feelings in the first place, but he also couldn't do anything with it - for the last few years he was torn apart between Mondstadt and his homeland, and Crepus’ death should have solved his internal dilemma, driving the final nail in the coffin.
Sometimes he felt as if he was no person at all, just an abyssal creature that took on a human form and was allowed to live only to be unleashed on Teyvat. The time at Khaenri’ah was something that stuck with him for the rest of his life - the fear and resignation he experienced there heavily imprinted on his brain.
Every once in a while he had impulses to lie, to hurt and do as he pleases, for a long time he stopped these urges at the root, maintaining the illusion of normalcy he built for Ragnvindr household. He knew it was from Khaenri’ah, a cursed  nation of sinners with all of its glorious legacy lost to the sands of time. Immoral impulses were something that would have helped him to survive among the endless darkness that surrounded god-forsaken place.
“Ugh”, he tried to get up, to shake intrusive and self-deprecating thoughts away, but failed. Pain, like melted iron, slowly spread from his chest to the points of his fingers in a second. Even breathing was hard - his entire body ached and burned, a shaking hand slowly touched bandaged torso. Alberich winced as he remembered why exactly it was aching.
“Sir Kaeya, you are already awake! Please, don’t move.”, pretty but forgettable nun fussed over him, rechecking his bandages and then taking out a foul smelling medicine. She made Kaeya drink it all. He still cringing from the bitter taste, half sat on the bed, leaning on the headrest, tried to flash her his most charming smile and asked:
“Do you know how I got there?”, it seemed his charms did work on the girl, as she started to describe the previous night in great detail: what she was doing prior to his arrival, how dark the sky was, how worried she was when she saw his battered body, how exhausted the adventurer and guards that delivered him looked.
“Do you happen to know the adventurer’s name? I would like to say my thanks once I get better”
“Oh, it was [First], I think, but I am not sure.  I believe I saw a pyro vision” Kaeya slid in the lying position again, as he remembered you, his first and only crush. Half buried feelings ignited in his chest with a renewed vigor.
Seeing that Kaeya paid her no mind, the nun headed to the exit of the infirmary, but right before she left she turned to Kaeya again, saying that you will visit him tomorrow.
****
Just as you thought Kaeya was conscious today. After you managed to carry him back to Mondstadt, worried but distrustful guards at city gates took away your load and delivered him to the Church of Favonius. You insisted at coming with them, still anxious for Kaeya’s life. Nuns almost showed you out of the infirmary and you, defeated, had to go home.
The next day you spent looking for the abandoned starsilver, thoughts occupied both by Kaeya and the payment Cyrus promised. Fortunately, the stacks lied right where you discarded them and after a quick trip back to the adventurer's guild, you had nothing to do - weekly commissions done days prior, so you decided to spend some time inside the city for once.
As you navigated the city square you felt the tense mood that hung in the air, Mondstadt usually cheerful and carefree now seemed uncharacteristically gloomy. You later learned that the local wine tycoon, Crepus Ragnvindr, died in the accident and his son and young the youngest captain in history of Ordo Favonius, Diluc, left the city and abandoned the knights.
Despite spending almost all of your time outside the city gates, even you were aware of the city's happenings and certainly heard about two dashing young gentlemen. Kaeya was rumored to be a foreign orphan taken in by Crepus and Diluc as you remembered is a claymore swinging pyro user - a picture of Kaeya’s injuries came to mind. Scattered details started to slowly gather into a sound theory.
A fight after Crepus' death(was accident Kaeya’s fault?), that resulted in Diluc abandoning the knights(Are knights also at fault?).
You quickly brushed it off, as theorizing without the concrete evidence was one of the biggest mistakes one could make. So instead of building baseless speculations, you decided to visit one of the key people, Kaeya. Occupied by your thoughts and curiosity, the travel to the church seemed almost momentarily.
Stepping in the infirmary you were hit with a strong bitter scent of the medicine, but Kaeya sitting on the bed seemed fine, if not a bit tired. He was reading a book, but put it aside as he noticed you and gave you a warm smile.“I remember you, [First], you were the one who saved me I was told. Seems I should make it up to you”
“No need for it, you were dying”, you head to him, a hand searching for the vision in the travelling bag. His smile doesn’t drop, even when a somewhat awkward silence hangs around you. Finally, you exclaim: “I found a vision near you, and kept it so it doesn’t get lost or anything”.
“Oh, that’s a surprise, give it to me” the vision in his hands glows alive with a gentle blue light, a small ice shard forming between his fingers and you find yourself holding your breath. Kaeya looks less impressed than you, a strange emotion written on his face,as he looks from the blue orb, to the ice, to your amazed face.
“It may sound rude, but do you remember who injured you?” Kaeya doesn’t appear phased, slowly blinking, a confusion written on his face, as he looks up in contemplation. “Hm, no, can’t remember anything” You shift a little, disappointment not reaching your face. Was Kaeya lying or not?
“I hope I didn’t mess up your adventuring schedule” Kaeya murmured, leaning a little closer to you.
“No. I planned on spending a week inside the city. Why do you ask?”
“Well” he smirks, “maybe a brave and strong adventurer will lend a hand to poor injured me and”, you felt your face slowly heating up “escort me to Good Hunter, the food here is abysmal and maybe your company and decent meal will clear my head a little”
Only a day later you realized that it was your first date.
***
Kaeya likes challenges, and maybe that is a reason why he’s so drawn to you - you’re smart, just not people-smart, and you have enough intuition to guide you away from the schemes and plans he tries to pull off. Of course, he wouldn’t risk your life or general wellbeing - he likes your presence far too much to do that - but the possible less savory reactions he could gauge out of you were too alluring to miss out - frustration, fear, anger.
Alberich is frustrated - a hunger that was ignited by you grew greater and greater with each day - he wants to see so much of you, see you in pain, see you helpless, see you defeated. Would you cry, would you yell, would you curse at him?
He tried to resist it in the beginning - just as he did when he was still a part of Ragnvindr family - but he failed. Maybe, Diluc’s dismissal of him and abandonment was something that broke Kaeya in the way that Khaenri’ah couldn’t. That rainy day he learned one lesson - everyone leaves, and Kaeya didn’t doubt that you would too.
You are an adventurer after all, as free as a wind. It’s just pure luck that someone as curious and thrill-seeking as you hasn't moved to the other nations in search of excitement.
Kaeya feels threatened.
Over the years, you both fell in the comfortable, but vague place between friendship and something-more-than-friendship,a status quo of sorts. You were a loner at heart - fine with keeping almost everyone at arm’s length and Kaeya, to his disappointment, found that even his charms wouldn’t bend your will.
He could see how uncomfortable yet excited you got, when he showed his less considerate side - when he arrested and fought criminals, when he pulled off his complex plans, when he turned and twisted the words of others to make them scream and writhe and beg. Oh, of course you tried to hide it, your face becoming akin to a mask of stone, but there were other tells - the shine in your eyes, the body language and accelerated breath.
Kaeya also knew what an excitement glutton you are - there is a flame inside of you, needing to consume and devour new tastes, sights, adventures and mysteries. You are predictable in that way, he has a gut feeling that you are wary of him, but the promise of a new enigmatic crime that needs your assistance is almost always enough to lure you back into his arms.
And now he has a new problem at hands - his failed plan. Months of subtle work and manipulation led and were supposed to build up your feelings for this. A public love confession, both sudden and extravagant. Kaeya thought that someone as awkward as you, would cave in under the pressure he would put you through by making his love public.
However you didn’t, even if some, if not most of the onlookers gasped in the shocked disappointment - Kaeya was sure that you two looked like a would-be-couple to the observer’s eye. You stuttered some apologies, hid your face and almost ran away from him.
It grates on Kaeya’s nerves in a special way, annoyance slowly building up. Fortunately, he has a strategy to relieve it, by methodically destroying it’s source.
***
“Thank you, let’s do the next commissions together” you wave goodbye to the fellow adventurer, missing an indiscernible look cavalry captain gives both of you.
Only when the said adventurer leaves, does Kaeya step out of the shadow, his single eyes wholly focused on you. After the confession you started to purposefully avoid him - something that Kaeya thought was possible, but didn’t entertain it enough.
Seeing him is what almost sends you to retreat - relationships are messy, especially after failed public confessions, there’s too much burden now and you never felt the desire to work on any of them leaving everything to take its course. Instead, you stand there, enduring his cold gaze and warm smile, hit by a sudden realization of how childish your thoughts are.
Kaeya must have taken your passiveness as an invitation, as his hand snakes around your shoulder, throwing you off your internal monologue. “[First], I have an interesting case again” he leans in, his breath tickling your neck, “and I need an assistant again, the pay will be like last time”.
In spite of your current discomfort you almost space out, body habitually relaxing near him. “What the thing about?” the cases that Kaeya involves you in are always bizarre and something never seen before, a mystery awaiting to be solved.
He begins describing it to you - a strange string of deaths of young adventurers, all of whom were visionless and most curiously they all died off duty. Young men and women did their commissions, plunged in the domains and fought with monsters, but died inside the city walls, inside their houses and beds, surrounded by safety and comfort.
Kaeya shares that his informant found a hearsay that there were some interesting potions on the black market and he needs you to infiltrate as a visionless adventurer and buy potions, as much as possible.
This evening you leave the city, your heart full of trust for Kaeya, even if your relationship did take a colder turn.
***
You, as Kaeya predicted, still believed him.  Alberich almost felt bad for exploiting and twisting your trust in him , but as he supposed there was nothing more he could do with himself. Your visage filled his head day and nights, sometimes he even daydreamed about the life he would have with you. It would be delightful - to have you underneath his thumb, ready for any whim and perversion he could come up with.
He came to the Angel’s share and ordered a glass of wine, ignoring judgemental stare Diluc pointed at him. He could almost hear Ragnvindr saying “already” and calling Knights inefficient and lazy drunkards. Kaeya happily took a sip of the liquid - all of his plans always carried an element of risk, so the cavalry captain felt a bit agitated. What if you don’t touch the potions? What if the gang will escape with them?
Nevertheless, if you did touch it or not wouldn’t really matter, as catching you red-handed was more important. He needed to make you look guilty - you worked with him unofficially, which meant that no one knew about it, not even Vile. Sure no one would take your word over his, even if you left significant evidence of your innocence, after all a lot of knights are weak to bribes.
He almost hummed, as he imagined things he would do to you once you were imprisoned and completely in his power. He, of course, would save you from the dank dark cell, finding an “overlooked” detail, but not before breaking and molding you a little.
Finishing his wine, he went to the knight’s headquarters, to request the assistance of other knights in the arrest of a dangerous criminal, a spring evident in his step.
***
It was treasure hoarders again, you silently cursed, while dodging one of the attacks. You weren’t the best actor and within the minutes they exposed you. Fighting among the fragile vials wasn’t the best idea, so you moved the fight to the outside. Once they all run after you, you jump over them, raining a constant stream of fire over them. Some of them started to scream, a pure agony written on their face.
Some of the hoarders used a hidden gas bomb, submerging the whole place in smoke and using it to run away. You didn’t run after them, and headed inside instead. There was a significant change: some of the vials that contained transparent liquid now were bright red. You took one of them in and gasped - it felt so warm in your hands - and then you recognized your own elemental energy.
Out of curiosity you reached for the “uncontaminated” one, the colorless liquid rapidly bloomed with scarlet red, as your vision came to life without your command. Was it that deadly potion that Kaeya talked about? You felt how it sucked some of the pyro energy from you, then it must transmit collected energy to its consumer. No wonder all of those adventurers died - without a vision their bodies weren’t used to receiving and processing such amounts of elemental energy.
You tried to take the vials with the “clear” potion, but no matter what you did all of them got dyed in red the second you stood a little closer. Sighing in defeat you collected ones contaminated with your energy and prepared to head back to Mondstadt. You needed to warn Kaeya to take some regular knights with him if Albedo needed samples for analysis.
Suddenly there was a sound of several people running up to you, a Favonius armor coming into the sight. You almost smiled as you saw Kaeya, happy that he decided to help you, until you heard it: “Arrest them!”
269 notes · View notes
honoredbastard · 3 years
Text
such pretty tears, baby boy ♡
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
“does this get you off?”          “MGH! y/n please-”     “ah ah ah-”   
✻ ˒ ໍ CHARACTERS ♡ bonten!mikey, bonten!rindou haitani and sadist gn!reader. all above the age of 20. they’re all timeskipped.
✻ ˒ ໍ CONTENT/KINKS ♡ NSFW, EDGING, TYING, OVERSTIMULATION, Y/N BEING A soft SADIST-(?) MASOCHISTS, BOTTOM, BOYS, GIVE NO REICIVE. drug/addiction mention(s). MENTIONS OF PET PLAY.
✻ ˒ ໍ A/N ♡ Y’ALL SADISTIC GN!READER HAS ME BY THE NECK-. i don’t know how to write rindou nor smut well FORGIVE ME GODS OF SMUT- it’s just a little drabble thingy ma jig that really couldn’t be kept in my drafts for too long- manga spoilers? draken will be next time? also toy/gear mentions.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
::  ִֶָ MANJIRO “MIKEY” SANO 𓂅
sex with mikey was usually nice, lazy, and quiet. on other days he’d devour your body like a starving man, but in reality he was a little on the frustrated side. sexually. at times he’d be away for business purposes as he’d tell you and leave sanzu or rindou to be your bodyguard. as for rindou you appreciated his company, he didn’t talk to you much but the times you’d cook for him ( he loves your cooking, bad or not this man will devour it in full. so will ran, ran is just all smiles and eating. burnt food? doesn’t bother him. ) and/or just a small conversation was enough for you to smile. although sanzu was a different story, the top trusted bonten members and mikey all shared a loft, including you. so it didn’t take a lot of time to understand sanzu’s.... addiction.
it didn’t bother you much but whenever you came out of your shared room with mikey, he’d stare. just stare at you calmly, sword or gun in hand. sometimes he mistook you for his s/o, other times he was too high to think straight and was sprawled out on the couch. half of his body melting into the floor. you wondered how he could do that comfortably. 
but that didn’t matter anymore, mikey was arriving home soon and you snuck around to grab some things around the house. a rope (thank you high sanzu for complying and ordering one), a ball gag, a small paddle that shouldn’t hurt too much, and a blindfold. all things you ordered off the internet after studying in secret for weeks.
when you were alone, lonely, and sexually frustrated you stumbled across bdsm and kinks. of course mikey had kinks and interests that he’d expressed to you which you happily indulged in them. ( his spanks hurt, but they make mikey’s hips thrusting against you afterwards 10x better. ) at the time you just believed you were a maso with a bratty side and mikey had to many kinks to list that left you both in undying pleasure.
all until you were alone all over again, sanzu drunk and on whatever drug he smoked or popped this time. you were free to do as you want. a little on the dangerous side when your boredom stretched for hours on end when sanzu was sober enough to recognize your sneaking presence. at times he’d play along and sneak up behind you ( he’s too good at this when he has his sanity tbh ) and whisper in your ear “what are we hunting this time?” “OH FUCK!!” you’d scream and on reflex threw a fist at the man, who’s arms blocked his face and your fist. “sanzu!” you groaned, heart thumping against your chest like a race horse.
“i’m sorry.” you voice strained, scared that you fucked up this last time with sanzu and he was tired of it. “it’s fine, it’s fine. i’m the one who scared you. sooo... whatcha sneakin’ about for?” he grinned, leaning closer to your face. his eyes felt like he could see your lies before you’d come up with one, so you just told the truth.... parts of it at least. “i didn’t want to wake you and i got ordered stuff that i wanted to use online and i was gonna go get it!” 
sanzu’s face that was inches apart from yours leaned away, he smiled politely before trotting back to the couch. “all good, just wanted to make sure boss’ partner wasn’t meetin’ other gang members. y’know?” his body practically melted into the couch, eyes flicking between you and the t.v before getting comfortable. “you know i would never, sanzu!” you grinned, he shrugged, eyes already half-lidded. 
yup, he was about as stable as a dizzy ram for a few minutes there. you sighed and marched your way to outside where two small boxes were stacked above a bigger box. those were all toys- anal beads, a small paddle, dildos. you name it, you ordered it. you could already fantasize it- mikey under your touch, tied to a chair with every. single. part of him.... exposed. your body felt a shock through it, biting your lip to remain calm but it was hard for your ideas to settle.
you could already feel a knot building in your stomach that you had to get out badly. mikey would be a couple hours right? when you arrived to your shared space with mikey, you put the boxes in the closet and searched for something of his. something that smelled of him, that made you tingle in all the right places. you found a familiar black shirt so you took it, plopped onto the bed and held it in one hand while the other went to town on yourself. you began losing your mind from the pleasure as you started edging yourself - falling into a fantasy of your own.
mikey body was wearing ropes like clothes, you were staring him down with a smug smirk. eyes slow and attentive, it made mikey twitch when he watched. toes curled when you licked your lips, biting down on your cheek to stop you from devouring him right there. no no no, you had to have your fun. you inched closer to him, eyes never leaving his.
the man unable to speak was bontens number one, his life was right there for you to hold in your palms. you were aware of this, but you treated him like he was another civilian. he, of course, allowed you to. your hands brushed his untouched cock that was dripping with precum, “excited already?” you asked, licking the pent up contents.
mikey, who was gagged, nodded quickly before your warm tongue dragged itself from his base to his already flushed tip. playing with the slit for your own amusement while he tried to buck his hips to no avail. you were aware he’d try to get himself into your mouth, lure you into his trap where he has his way with you and not the other way around.
“ah-ah-ah.” you shook a finger at him, a teasing yet playful tone, your hand wrapped itself around his veiny shaft, slowly but surely raising the speed with each bite you placed on his pale thighs. he twitched and squirmed as he neared his release till you slowed down at the peak moment. you could hear his frustration through his muffled pants and whimpers. your fingers rubbed back and forth across his slit before placing a thumb there.
you looked up at mikey who’s cheeks were redder than a tomato, you kept looking while your mouth neared his inner thighs. you placed hickeys, ran a nail from the inside his hip down his thigh which made him squirm more. his skin flinched at the odd feeling, then you did it with his cock.
that sent him into an odd feeling of pleasure that made his toes curled, breath hitch, and eyes squeeze shut. raising yourself from the ground, you sat onto his lap with open legs for taunting him. “should i remove that ballgag? hmm?” you questioned, blowing into his ear before biting at the lobe. “so sanzu can hear your pleasure as i play with you to my heart content?” you licked behind his ear, his head jerked back slightly - free rain to kiss up and down his neck.
 “i’m not letting you cum till you cry for me.. slut.” you clicked in his ear, he shivered at your dominance over him. 
I’M GOING TO HELL FOR THIS ONE EVEN IF IT’S SHITTY LMFAO-
Tumblr media
::  ִֶָ RINDOU HAITANI 𓂅
sex with rindou was about a mix of everything. it was like those ‘god making me’ tiktoks you’d stumble upon every-so often from your pure boredom. at times you were allowed to go to bonten meetings and overs you weren’t. ( rindou is keen on protecting you from the heavy shit he sees too often. especially if those meetings are fucked up. ) so when you weren’t either someone who was already informed like koko or ran which rindou trusted more than anyone to watch over you, to be your bodyguard. 
the problem was, rindou didn’t touch you in the places that craved being touched. your bottom half was aching to feel his hands again, to become red, fading into purple and blues. aching afterwards but getting the best aftercare, you were treated like royalty after you let rindou have his way with you. you even missed his breeding kink that would never end and left you in a shaking mess.
yet although all the offers and signals you threw at him, he brushed you off. now this was getting on your nerves. very much on your nerves. so you set up a plan: overstim and edge your boyfriend beyond compare. you’d give him the best aftercare for a price. you were going to have your way with him, of course you’ll ask for consent and walk him through what you’d do to him. but after that the power exchange was all yours.
you’d both mutually set up on a safe word and if either of you couldn’t speak properly you set up a safe signal. rindou was invested in bdsm and you too, became invested into it. which may have flipped your sadist switch. the idea was to tie rin up or to a chair. you had plenty of gear ( both pet and non pet play ) and way too many restraining gear. which excited you of all the things you could do.
although you knew one thing for sure. you were going to play with his cock till it ached and tears were burning into his cheeks while you tried your way at humiliating him. he’d done this to you many times, restrained you, made your nipples harder than him. it was everything.
when you peered out of your room you saw ran sitting at the dinner table concentrating at something. “should i pester him?” you questioned aloud in a hushed voice, “hm? oh is that you, y/n?” “yes?!” you felt like you got caught, your voice was high pitched and confused which made ran laugh. “at ease, come on over here.” following his orders like a dog, you stumbled your way over to ran awkwardly.
you stared at the cards in awe, “are you playing by yourself?” “actually yes i am! would you like to play with me?” “sure!” you sat time with a smile, yyou seemed focused but your mind was somewhere else. far far away from the ground, it all played out with rindou’s loud moans and occassional grunts as your hand slid down his length. eyes flicking to him than the thing you were working so well for - applying your mouth soon after. though rindou failed your plans for his edging, you still went to town as he filled your mouth, riding his orgasim while you kept going. the pleasure becoming painful but it felt oh-so.... good.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
                thanks for reading! <3 it was horrible but fun to write 10/10.                 rindou’s part sucked everything that i had worked on was                 deleted and i’m still pissed so it’s not great, thank you!
138 notes · View notes
sanguine-tenshi · 3 years
Text
I just finished Inazuma and I have words
TL;DR: Hate the story, mixed on characters, love the design and tired of being treated like a 4-year-old with a learning disability.
SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT
Let’s start with what I like.
Tumblr media
Inazuma is absolutely beautiful. I’ll admit Inazuma hits a lot of aesthetic points for me. All the islands are different enough to feel unique but they still look like they are a part of the same land. There are a lot of secrets to discover through just exploring. Each island has a world quest to help it (make it less hostile towards you) so it very much feels like you are saving Inazuma from itself.
.
The puzzles are alright.
I like the cubes that rotate, I always put in the effort to figure them out properly.
Hate the ones that don’t rotate, they just aren’t engaging enough for me, so I just hit them at random and hope for the best.
The glowing floor tiles were fun, once you actually realized what they wanted you to do. A little bit too easy if I’m honest.
The electro compass isn’t really much of a puzzle, more of a fetch the nearest electrograna quest.
Those little pillars that require an electro connection are kinda boring to me, again not much of a puzzle, the hardest part is finding both pillars.
I love the new electro seelie, kinda hard to follow the jittery thing in certain parts but they make a nice contrast to the regular seelies.
.
I’m very much mixed on characters.
Yoimiya is adorable. She is so bright and bubbly. What little game play we had with her was fun and I love her over the top style of fighting. Kinda disappointed she’s another pyro archer but I do admit it fits her character well. It was also wonderful seeing her just settle down and be quiet, just be a part of that moment that obviously meant a lot to her. It’s always nice to see that bubbly, energetic character have that one quiet thing, ya know. Kinda funny it’s fireworks, of all things, for her.
Gorou I like, from what little we’ve seen of him. My man killed a dude with his thighs so I’m down. I do find it kinda ridiculous that a resistance general has his whole damn belly exposed. There is also something about his voice that just does not fit. I cannot for the life of me put my finger on what exactly it is. Could be the tone itself, could be just voice acting. It sort of feels like the VA is trying to sound deeper than he actually does.
Sangonomiya Kokomi, mixed. I like her design, she looks like some sort of mystical priestess. Again something about the voice is jarring. I expected her to sound sort of airy, like she isn’t 100% present, like she’s seeing something we can’t. TBH she reminds me of Luna from HP for some reason. 
Yae Miko, I was interested because of her design. She sounds very arrogant and up her own ass, which would have been fine...if she hadn’t given us that god-awful line. “...I have high hopes for you, child. Don’t disappoint me.” Dear lord I wanted to punt her off the mountain. Or fucking what! Also she’s some bigshot priestess of the Sacred Sakura and yet she can’t do her damn job properly. Why couldn’t her arrogant ass come down from her high perch and cleanse the stupid roots? Why did the traveler have to do that shit?
Baal looks dead inside. Booba sword is overrated, get a life. I want a remach! And no cutscene shenanigans this time!
Kujou Sara seems like one of those ‘honor above all else’ characters. Those are either hit or miss with me. You have my attention for now. Also what are those shoes woman?! I’d rather you wear those leg-killing, needle point stilettoes instead of those Wish gag shoes. How in the name of all that is holy can you run in those?!
Thoma, I like him. At first I thought we were gonna get another Childe incident, but Thoma is too much of a innocent puppy to pull anything that horrible. To me he fits a fox a lot better than Childe does. Childe is a dingo and I stand behind that.
Kamisato Ayaka...hate her. At first I was neutral on her. Nothing about her design really spoke to me, but I was willing to wait and see. But then miHoYo started to violently push her friendship at us. We are totally friends now, this is the first time you see my face, but we are so totally friends now. And during her story quest everyone was like “Ah, you are so good Ayaka. You are so nice Ayaka. You are so perfect Ayaka. We all love you so much Ayaka. And oh, how could a mere merchant like myself...” Ew, go away. This is the first time I’m actively not pulling on a character banner. Normally I pull even if I’m not particularly interested in a character, because you never know how good their gameplay is until you take them out in the map. But I think I’ll be skipping this one. No thanks.
.
And now, the worst part, the story.
We’ve been hearing about the situation in Inazuma for a long time. There has been also a lot of talk about how hard it is to get there. About the wall of thunderclouds that surround the islands. So to have it cut to black and then voila Inazuma, feel just so cheap.
I was expecting something. An animation. A struggle. A quest. A minigame. At least show us the horrible weather! Something! Anything!
Hell if they wanted to be assholes about it they could have made it so that if the player fails at this point the ship is damaged, you return to Liyue and have to wait until tomorrow for the ship to be repaired. No Inazuma for today. That sure as hell would have raised the stakes.
The next complaint I have is with Yurika, the 2 milion mora processing fee girl. Later on Thoma mentions that the agency people see the fees as easy money, so her attitude doesn’t make much sense. After all someone like her would want to extract as much money as she can, but you still want the people to be able to pay that.
So it would make more sense to me if she was overly friendly and asked way too many questions. She’d need to get a much information as she can and after all the previous hostility people would be very open with her. So she’d be able to quickly find out why someone is here, what they are selling and roughly how much money they’d be able to pay. A merchant selling expensive silk would have more many than a regular ore merchant. So she’d be able to extract as much money as she could.
“I know this is a lot of money, especially for something so simple, but there is nothing I can do about it. I’m so very sorry.” And people wouldn’t say anything bad to her because she’s the first friendly face they see in Inazuma.
The stealth mission was just god-awful and I hope we never have to do that nonsense again.
Getting off of Ritou was a bit janky at the end, Chisato should have had a better reason for coming along. But I’m honestly just glad we didn’t get out the usual way...getting stuffed in a crate and smuggled out.
As a side note, I’m getting really tired of characters overexplaining things to me, especially Paimon. Dear lord, not everything has to be said, you can leave me to come to my own conclusions and solutions. Just please, who cares if a few player struggle for a bit, you don’t have to hold my hand through the whole thing.
Ayaka’s three were...ugh. It was basic emotional manipulation. Oh no this guy forgot about the love of his life and he’s been waiting for decades. And oh how sad this guy was so good and he helped these people so much but now he can’t remember. And oh the tragedy this guy forgot his life goal and is now hunted by the demons of the past. Oh the humanity! 
And it did not work. Know why? Because I have no emotional investment in any of these people, in this land. What is happening to the vision bearers in Inazuma is tragic, true, but that doesn’t make me want to overthrow the government. I don’t live here. I just got here. I wanna ask a question or two and then move on. None of this concerns me.
I was so happy when the traveler just flat out refused to start a revolution. And then we had to go and meet some people and immediately I knew this was going to be some oh noes the tragedy moments and then we would agree to help them.
It’s so forced.
Wanna know what would have been better?
Just as we are leaving the Kamisato estate Thoma catches up with us. And he tells us he gets it. We are an outsider and this doesn’t concern us. He was hopeful but he expected the denial. We shouldn’t hold it against Ayaka.
He joins us as a guide because he knows of the people we have to meet.
And so as we help these three we also get to know Thoma. We find out he was an outsider too. He got in just before the worst of it started and then he was stuck in Inazuma. He lost someone to the Vision Hunt. They slowly lost their mind after loosing their vision, their ambition too closely tied to their personality to continue without it (what is happening to Domon hits a little too close to home and he has to walk away, this is where we hear the story of the one he lost). And the same would have happened to him if the Kamisatos hadn't taken him in. He owes them his vision, his sanity and his life.
So this rebellion is personal for him.
At the end of the three wishes the atmosphere is somber. We tell him we understand why Ayaka fights, why he fights. We know that this is all wrong, that it should be stopped...but not by us. We came here to get a lead on our brother. And rebellion isn’t an overnight affaire and we can’t loose so much time in Inazuma.
And yeah, he expected as much. He just asks that we let Ayaka down gently. It’d be a shame if someone as idealistic and hopeful as her lost their spark.
And so we are gentle but firm with Ayaka. She looks like she wants to argue with us but Thoma shakes his head at her. So she sighs and tells us that a promise is a promise. We should come to the Komore Teahouse in a few days and she’ll have a plan for us to meet with the Shogun.
Now we can still have a character story quest with Yoimiya and we can still somehow get involved with helping Master Masakatsu, but it’s through Yoimiya instead of Ayaka.
And instead of a character story quest with Ayaka we have one with Thoma. Hell, give him a whole damn hangout event even.
You can probably guess why I’m pushing the friendship with Thoma so much.
Because. He. Gets. Kidnapped. For. The. 100th. Vision. Ceremony. 
And that would have been the perfect emotional in to get us involved in the rebellion. After all we just saw what happens to people who have their visions taken away and we are not letting that happen to Thoma, someone we just got close to.
So Baal makes it personal for us as well.
.
I have a few more minor complaints.
Aoi is stupid for asking for compensation after she tells us everything we needed to know because, ya know, we could have just walked away. We should have.
The whole stupid misunderstanding about the value Kurosawa’s sword holds. Kinda obvious he meant emotional value instead of monetary.
The suspicious amount of visionless NPCs and by that I mean this is the first time we have NPCs with vision. This wouldn’t have been a problem if we’ve seen NPCs with visions in Mond and Liyue.
The whole rebellion camp bit feels incredibly rushed. We just sort of lollygag over there and then there is a fight (against Sara and her stupid shoes).
Don’t make us fight Baal just to force us to lose. It would have been better if we were forced to retreat, because Thoma was injured, because there are too many soldiers for us to handle on our own. Hell, you can have a funny scene where we straight up jump off a cliff with Thoma clinging onto us and screaming bloody murder until he realizes we are slowly gliding away and he’s not about to plummet to his death.
The Sakura cleansing quest should have been voice acted.
The Mirror Maiden and Pyro Agent are totally on a date, I will not be told otherwise.
84 notes · View notes
mariibound2003 · 3 years
Text
Scotsman X Diesel 10 headcanons
Tumblr media
(yeah, it’s probably an odd pair and y’all are probably furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, but idrc and thought they kinda complimented each other, enough talking for now, let’s hop into the headcanons!~) Before Meeting
*Before meeting, Diesel 10 had already known/heard a lot about Flying Scotsman and his greatest achievements, at first he saw him like any other steam engine and despised him just as much, but over time he gained a sort of admiration for him that he hadn’t shared with any other engine, that admiration would soon turn into a full blown crush, though ofc he wouldn’t admit it outright to anyone, but the couple of posters and newspaper clippings in his shed would tell you otherwise... *Before meeting, Scotsman had heard a few tales about Diesel 10 during his visits to Sodor, though he never fully believed them because he knew how... ‘close minded’ some of the Sodor engines could be, plus he was an open minded individual to begin with due to traveling all across the world and meeting all sorts of individuals, so unless he saw it for himself he wouldn’t fully believe the stories/rumors, he never gets a chance to find out if they are true or not until much later on, due to Diesel 10 usually locking himself away in his shed when not working... When they meet *How they met was simple, Diesel 10 had been driving around to blow off some ‘steam’ after a particularly rough meeting with the Fat Controller discussing about his shed door being broken, which was ‘put aside to be fixed later’ almost a year ago and still hadn’t been dealt with by then, that’s when he pulled up into the station where Scotsman was supposed to be meeting his brother Gordon for lunch, unfortunately Gordon was not available as he was in for repairs and wouldn’t be seeing anyone until tomorrow, Scotsman was about to head off to do something else after hearing this, but before he could get far he finally took notice of Diesel 10 on the track next to him, who was snooping on the convo he had been having with the station master... *Diesel 10 was instantly panicked as he had been spotted and feared that he had already made a bad first impression if Scotsman hadn’t already known about him before now and was prepared for him to start yelling at him, but Scotsman only seemed slightly taken aback by this, he wasn’t a stranger to having people sneak up on him and ask to take photos or to sign things- don’t ask how- so he simply laughed it off and made a few jokes about it, his eyes landing on the warship’s paintwork and gnarly claw on top of his roof, instantly recognizing these things he asks for his name and is delighted- much to Diesel 10′s surprise- to find out it was him!... *Scotsman begins talking about how he had been hearing his name around the island and had wanted to meet him, but ofc never could until now, further making Diesel 10 surprised and he even felt some blush forming on his cheeks, after all, he never thought such a fine, pristine and famous steam engine would want anything to do with a smelly, slightly broken down and scary looking diesel engine like himself, guess he was proven wrong!... *They get to talking, both deciding to head off and hang out for the rest of the day, since Diesel 10 wasn’t needed at the time and Scotsman wouldn’t have anything to do until tomorrow, despite causing a small stir amongst those who passed them by, it was going smoothly and at this point Scotsman could confirm he also had some feelings for his clawed companion, something he had questioned after knowing of the diesel’s existence for awhile, but was only comfortable admitting to it after seeing him in person to make sure the feelings were real... *overall it was a successful hangout and they got along a lot better then anyone would’ve guessed, even after Diesel 10 shamefully confessed that some of the rumors/stories were true, this didn’t change Scotsman’s feelings about him, if anything his honestly about it made his feelings grow stronger and gave him enough incentive to heavily hint at his feelings for the warship, confessing that he ‘always had a soft spot for the rougher and meaner looking engines like him’ and asked for another ‘hangout/date’ together, Diesel 10- very flusteredly- said yes to this and from that point forwards they became an item...
How they are now
*Despite getting flack from the others and being apart for long periods of time, they are quite happy with each other, while the steam engines are not all completely approving of the relationship- with the exceptions of Gordon, Percy, Thomas (kinda) and Edward- the diesels however all were very accepting and Scotsman was almost instantly welcomed by them after Diesel 10 introduced him!... *their dates together usually consist of driving around Sodor talking about what sort of shenanigans they’ve been up to while they were separated, or they get together to have lunch, sometimes Scotsman will bring back gifts and momentos from his travels for Diesel10 and sometimes the rest of the diesels at the Dieselworks. *Diesel 10 does his best to return his kindness, although he isn’t able to get gifts quite like Scotsman’s, he can at least make a mean apple pie, yes you heard that right, he knows how to bake, while sometimes he needs human assistance he can manage the kitchen on his own, Scotsman is always pleased to receive such baked goods from him and insists he makes something that he can take home to show off and enjoy when they’re apart. *Diesel 10 has offered countless times to show Scotsman how to bake/cook good food, because well... Scotsman has an interesting pallet, it’s so outrageous and appalling that it makes the most questionably appetited engines- which is most of them- gag and turn away in disgust, but Scotsman doesn’t mind/care, tho he has been banned from every kitchen within 80 miles of his location because of his crimes against food. *Scotsman is the only engine to ever make Diesel 10 get all soft and mushy and openly show of his dorkier side, despite Diesel 10 being mildly embarrassed if others are around to see it/make fun of him for it, he actually doesn’t mind the attention from Scotsman and won’t really try to stop him from doing whatever it is he was doing to make him feel this way. *they have flirting/compliment wars to see who will get all flustered first... Scotsman- being the natural flirt he is- usually wins, which is part of what makes his dear Diesel 10 a mushy mess. *if you were to catch them at the right time you might hear them singing together, as Scotsman naturally has a good singing voice and Diesel 10 is not half bad either, but he still needs a little practice, thus whenever they meet they’ll practice together. *Scotsman also helps Diesel 10 with confidence, because surprise, surprise! he has some lack in self confidence because of everything that happened in the past and the fact most people/engines outside of the Dieselworks give him dirty looks, hence why he usually hides away, but they’re working on it. *Diesel 10 now refers to Gordon as his ‘favorite brother-in-law’ and likes to antagonize him about it any chance he gets, often times coming to wherever he’s working/following him while doing express runs to do exactly that, Gordon ofc isn’t a big fan of this, but he allows it since Diesel 10 has mellowed out after meeting his brother and Scotsman seems quite happy with him, so he treats it as a minor annoyance more then anything, just like how he treats Scotsman’s ‘Little brother’ comments. *Scotsman often sleeps over at the Dieselworks whenever he’s visiting for a few days, whether it’s just for the sake of visiting or if it’s for some sort of competition on the island he is competing in. *speaking of competitions... while not always able to, Diesel 10 and some of the other diesels try to make it to see Scotsman compete, after all he’s one of them now and they do whatever they can to support him and will even hold a mini celebration with him after all is said and done, regardless if Scotsman won or not, it’s more-so an excuse for him and Diesel 10 to snuggle up next to each other and enjoy each other’s company.
69 notes · View notes