#evil fire guy and less evil fire girl he's training and the struggle of that which has been. brushed over | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pinheadbella · 5 months

Text

I have a project involving the TDI reboot in the works BUT I will have to go on a liiiittle rant about season 2 first. So SPOILERS BELOW

Season 2 has really great character dynamics and challenges that make me want to like it more than season 1. Bowie and Raj being officially boyfriends. MK and Julia being an evil alliance. Ripper and Axel softening each other up. And the challenges finally aren’t just slightly different obstacle courses/races.

The problem I have is how…disjointed everything feels.

The slide challenge felt weird without Scary Girl. If she wanted to try to be normal (and fail), then she should’ve been around to see the death trap that was the four point slide. And you know she would’ve gone crazy when Damien went tumbling down.

Chase being stuck to Emma during the sap challenge would’ve been funny. Emma didn’t really do much in the sap challenge besides some slapstick with animals. So literally sticking her with her ex when she genuinely doesn’t want to give him another chance would’ve been cool.

Speaking of Emma, why was there literally no acknowledgement of her and Bowie being friends this season? Never interacted. Please you can’t do this to me I wanted closure or them to be besties again or SOMETHING

Millie would have been insane in the bridge challenge. She would’ve fallen back into her judgmental ways to figure out how everyone would answer. And maybe, just maybe, that would get people that Bowie isn’t the only evil person involved in that notebook strategy. I mean, Millie wrote that thing. Wanted to make that into a book. And compound this with Millie shoving Damien down that slide. You got a player who wants to win but goes about it in the wrong way. She’s not malicious, mind you. She just doesn’t realize that what she says or does is wrong until someone calls her out.

Caleb and Priya is a genuinely cute couple. And Caleb being a genuinely nice guy only to be framed as a Justin or Alejandro because of a misunderstanding is a neat twist. But I don’t like how the others get sidelined when Prileb becomes the focus. And when all they say about each other during the team phase is either “we’re a great alliance” or “he’s so amazing,” I kinda wanted them to hook up sooner instead of yknow HALFWAY INTO THE SEASON I mean Ripper and Axel hooked up early-

-which is a perfect transition to Ripaxel. I like how Ripper is less mean because of his crush on Axel. I like how Axel went into the game wanting the be nice. I like how sweet it was for Ripper to write a poem for Axel after finding out she loves poetry. And I actually cheered when they kissed. But then they kept kissing. And kissing. And just making out or flirting whenever they were on screen. I don’t like that that’s what their relationship became. I thought we were gonna get some more serious heart-to-heart stuff that ties back to what Ripper hinted at back in season 1. That his family sucks. And maybe Axel could sympathize with that since she’s too busy training to really connect with people. But nooooo literally throw out all their personality and backstory that’s the way to write them off.

Rapid fire for the characters that I don’t have much to say GO

Nichelle: I think it’s fitting how she quit cause she puts her career over the show. Although it could be handled better so her whole “I don’t need you, Hollywood” thing isn’t shoved down our throats

Damien: I wish he was less of a scaredy cat and more of a nerd and a straightman like he was last season. After leaving last season as a hero, you think he’d be a bit more confident at the start.

Zee: He’s at his best when he’s silly and wanting to be friends with everyone. He’s at his worst when he’s saying things he definitely shouldn’t.

And the thing that I thought was going to be the overarching plot. The cheating arc. I really thought the hockey bros were gonna struggle with this. That Chris causally dropping that he’s okay with cheating would break them or make them call foul. But nope. Now those guys are there to be silly. They are entertaining and I still love them. But I fear that they’re gonna get out of the game without leaving much of a mark on the rest of the cast. And let’s not forget the active cheaters. Ripper only cheated in one challenge. But he wasn’t in on the first two cheating schemes. Why did he want to help all of a sudden? And why not make Axel, who was upset about the cheating, be upset at her new bf for helping? Bowie got the most punishment and all we get is a confessional from Julia saying how she gaslit him out of the game? I ain’t buying it. He could’ve gotten more time to actually play fair, prove himself, and come up short. But an even earlier merge didn’t help. Speaking of. Julia and MK. I liked the initiative they took to keep winning. I liked how both of them like messing with people to get what they want. But uuuuuggghh. They really are getting away with it, huh? Just got a beat down and now they’re free of charge. And at this rate, I see one of them making finale and ultimately losing there cause oooOOooooo villains never win Total Drama. So predictable…

…so what if there was a different way to connect all these pieces together? What if I rearranged the challenge order and the elimination order to give everyone their proper amounts of growth? What if some arcs from the original season 2 get tweaked so that every character can contribute in a meaningful way? What if Priya and Julia aren’t the main good and bad guys again? What if some unresolved matters from last season are brought back? And most importantly, what if everyone treated this season like the “grudge match of the century” that Chris said it would be?

I want relationships tested

I want more morally gray moments

I want new allies to join forces and old ones to falter

I want players to go in thinking they know what they’re doing only for someone to screw everything up and make them rethink their life choices

Most importantly…

…I want to write Total Drama Island: Hard Reboot

A season with all the challenges and interactions I loved in season 2. But with different people taking charge. Different power dynamics. A fight for control over the game that’s so intense that you won’t know who the main hero or main villain is anymore. Which’ll make the journey to the finale all the more fun.

So be on the lookout for updates! I’ll be starting school back up soon so this may take me a while ^^’ But I got a whole google doc full of bullet points so it’s gotta become a cohesive story eventually, right?

17 notes · View notes

bamfdaddio · 3 years

Text

X-Men Abridged: 1981

The X-Men, those back-to-the-future mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(Uncanny X-Men 141 - 152) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Brent Anderson, Dave Cockrum, Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod and Josef Rubinstein

While I also committed various fashion atrocities at the age of 14 (tye-die and fauxhawks, oh my), even Liberace would find Kitty’s outfits too much. (Uncanny X-Men 149; Uncanny X-Men Annual ‘81)

We dial back from the v. epic scope of the last few arcs. Instead, 1981 is just a lot of fun! We get:

Storm and Emma doing a Freaky Friday!

the X-Men vs. Magneto (again!)

A surprisingly effective Alien rip-off

An dystopian future! (OoOoOoOo)

Last year was the year of the Dark Phoenix, this is the year of Kitty Pryde. That’s not to say Jean’s death is swept under the rug: all throughout, we see her friends mourning her loss or remembering her fondly. (Scott even gets to have a demonic adventure about it.) But in general, Claremont puts Kitty in the forefront, fleshing out his YA-addition to the team. And what would a YA heroine be without a grim dystopia? Roll out the iconic Days of Future Past!

To be fair, 2013 was a dark time for all of us: What Does the Fox Say somehow got to the top of the charts and I was still watching Glee. (Uncanny X-Men 141)

How cool would it have been to see a name like Jonothon Starsmore or Eva Bell on those tombstones?

Anyway, that’s Kate. Kate’s had it rough. Mutants are at the bottom of the foodchain, most X-Men are dead and only a small cadre of resistance fighters remain, Sentinels dominate, and while she is married to Piotr, her children have been murdered. Bleak. Luckily, the rebellion has concocted the plan to shunt Kate’s spirit back in time to prevent this awful future from happening. (You’ve seen Days of Future Past, the last passably good X-Men film, you know what’s up.)

Let’s do the time warp again! 1981!Kitty’s mind gets taken over by 2013!Kitty, who promptly tries to convince the X-Men that a new Brotherhood of v. Evil Mutants will try to kill Senator Kelly, a presidential candidate who tries to put the mutant menace on the agenda. (Mutants tend to blow stuff up when he’s around.) Since the X-Men recently took a literal trip to Dante’s Infero and also befriended a cosmic world-ending entity, they basically shrug and go: “Yeah, this checks out.”

Off to Washington they go (zoommm) and there, they happen upon the Baddest Bitches in Herstory:

“How dare you hate mutants, senator Kelly! We’ll fix that by killing you!” (Uncanny X-Men 141)

This All-New, All-Different Brotherhood consists out of:

Destiny, a blind woman who can see the future. Definitely the eeriest member of this group. Badass lesbian, though that won´t be canon for years.

Avalanche. Greek who makes things shake. Is a long-standing member of the X-Men Rogue’s gallery, but rarely features in the spotlight. I think he got more characterization in four years of X-Men Evolution than he ever did in the comics.

Mystique. Shapeshifter. Ruthless and unhinged, the Cersei Lannister of the X-Men universe. Absolute legend, secretly the wife of Destiny, currently not as unhinged as she’ll be later. Immediately implied to be related to Nightcrawler: it’s the yellow-eyes-blue-skin-combo.

Pyro. Can manipulate fire, not create it. Absolute pillock, in all the best ways of the word. Originally intended as gay, but they decided to make him Australian instead. (?!)

Blob. Big, strong, immovable. We’ve seen him before.

One of the details in this fight I enjoy is that Storm is still struggling with her leadership, although she has a better grip on things than Cyclops:

Wolverine then proceeds to use those iconic but deadly claws about twice per issue for the next, oh, forty years. (Uncanny X-Men 142)

While the X-Men fight the Brotherhood in the present, we cut back and forth to the future. There, the X-Men consist out of some familiar faces - Storm, Colossus, Wolverine - and some surprises: Magneto (in a wheelchair), Franklin Richards (son of) and an unfamiliar ginger girl called Rachel. (She’ll be important later.) We even learn (one of) Magneto’s names: this is the first time he’s canonically called Magnus.

One of the strengths of Days of Future Past lies in its brevity, the way it tantalizingly taunts us with a brutal but familiar future without giving away too much. It’s single-handedly responsible for all those dark future timelines the X-lines are so fond of which will eventually culminate in time-displaced grandsons from alternative dimensions and the impossibility of a succinct answer to the question: “Who’s Cable?” Too much of a good thing and all that.

Still, what Days of Future Past does so successfully is:

Put the idea of the mutant menace back at the forefront, hammering home the metaphor of mutants being a minority. Mutants being put in camps and being forbidden to breed should - regretfully - make us think of all too many real life equivalents. (Specifically, all of the imagery harkens back to the Holocaust.)

It starkly shows what happens should the X-Men lose, reminding everyone of the stakes. The X-Men are here for a reason: bridging the gap between mutants and humankind. If they fuck up, we end up with mutant concentration camps.

It helps that the X-Men in the future almost all die horribly: Franklin is incinerated, Storm is impaled… It's brutal stuff. The only one to survive is Rachel, who wonders if their plan actually changed the future or if they created an alternative timeline. (It did the latter, sorry ‘bout it, Rachel.)

In the present, Kate chases after Destiny, who trains a gun on senator Kelly. I always wondered how this works: if Destiny saw the future, she knew that killing Kelly would trigger a terrifying future. What in the current Marvel timeline made her decide that the Days of Future Past was better? Did she see her own death? Did she see the Onslaught-crossover coming? The Chuck Austen run? What was it?

In any case, time-anomalous Kate stops Destiny from killing Kelly and the future is safe! For now. Kate disappears, Kitty returns to her body and some of the Brotherhood are apprehended. All is well, for now.

After being a key figure in DoFP, Kitty is also the main character in the Christmas special, which is basically a straight up horror and a pastiche of the Alien-movie.

Seriously, John Byrne still isn’t sure why he wasn’t sued by Ridley Scott for this. (Uncanny X-Men 143)

If you love Kitty Pryde? Read this issue. If you’re not convinced you like 80’s Kitty? Read this issue. It’s not continuity relevant and it’s basically Kitty playing the part of a Final Girl in a horror where she’s being chased by a demon, but it’s so good. It showcases all her strengths and her foibles. Kitty’s intelligent, cute (sometimes preciously so) and brave, but she’s also young, self-conscious and hot-headed. And it's not as if the other X-Men automatically adore her: Storm berates her all the time, she’s afraid of Kurt because of the way he looks (though she grows out of that) and she fights with Professor Xavier a lot. Moreover, she has a clever power-set for a young superhero who faces menaces on a daily basis: a thirteen year old who can go intangible is far less likely to have reality ensue on her and be dramatically offed because she's better at protecting herself.

I’m sure there are people who thought Sprite was hogging the spotlight, but I, for one, say she brings more to the table than, say, Angel. She’s not the Dawn Summers of this franchise.

Scott also gets a side quest. Poor guy can’t catch a break: first the love of his life dies, so he quits the X-Men, then he realizes he can’t do much else than be a superhero. He becomes a sailor on the ship of spunky captain Lee Forrester, is drawn into the sadistic plans of a demon unironically named D’Spayre and then shipwrecks in Bermuda with Lee.

The X-Men, meanwhile, are tormented by a team-up of Doom (who’s currently Latverialess and working on a comeback) and Arcade, that annoying crony. Locke, Arcade’s dom, has kidnapped the loved ones of the X-Men (Moira MacTaggart, Jean Grey’s parents, Illyana Rasputin and Amanda Sefton) in order to blackmail them into getting Doom to free Arcade. Apparently, Arcade accidentally insulted Doom and DOOM DOES NOT FORGIVE THAT FOLLY.

While the B-Squad (Polaris, Havok, Banshee and Iceman) goes to save Arcade’s hostages, the X-Men sneak into Doom’s castle. Well, except for Storm, who doesn’t give a single fuck and simply flies up to Doom, demanding an audience. Doom likes the cut of her jib and invites her to have dinner. (This is pre-Tinder, so this is a legit way of scoring a date.)

If Storm has a flaw (I said if!), it’s got to be her atrocious taste in men. (Uncanny X-Men 145)

The X-Men find Arcade’s cell empty, while Arcade casually saunters up to Storm and says hi. Storm realizes too late that this is a trap: while the X-Men are all trapped in Saw-like traps, Storm is encased in ‘living chrome’.

If you remember she’s claustrophobic, you know why this is a bad move.

While the X-Men free themselves from their traps - Polaris hilariously has to deal with a murderous merry-go-round - Storm is slowly driven mad in her prison, triggering a worldwide tempest. (She causes Lee and Scott to shipwreck.) Under the threat of Wolverine’s claws, Doom releases Storm - or rather, unleashes her.

“Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!” (Uncanny X-Men 147)

The memory of Jean brings Ororo back to herself and she starts undoing the superstorm she created. (If only climate change were reversed that easily.) Their confrontation ends by Storm easily forgiving Doom, because she apparently trespassed on his grounds without adequate cause.

Mkay.

All of Arcade’s hostages return to their homesteads, except for Illyana Rasputin, Piotr’s sister: she’s staying at the mansion for a while. Angel, who’s sort of been a part of the team since the Phoenix thing, has had it with Wolverine and his ‘tude, and decides to quit the X-Men : he doesn’t want to be a part of an outfit that has a killer like Wolverine on it. (Or maybe he’s just mad Claremont didn’t give him any storylines: his presence has been mostly pointless.) It’s too bad he left before Kitty started experimenting with her outfits: I bet he would have loved her ugly-ass costumes.

Equally inconsequential is the introduction of a brand new character, who then proceeds to disappear from the narrative for the rest of the year:

Black Tom has tried to kill you at least twice, but him sending you a long-lost daughter doesn’t give you pause? Ugh, Sean, you deserve Moira. (Uncanny X-Men 148)

Intrigued by Theresa? TOO BAD, WON’T SEE HER AGAIN ANYTIME SOON.

Another new character is the lonely, decidedly mutant looking Caliban, who can sense “people like him” and is on the lookout for companions. Like many lonely people who try and grasp at friendship, he decides to overshoot his shot and ruin the night of Storm, Kitty and Jessica Drew at a Dazzler concert. Because he tries to kidnap Kitty, the girls react a trifle aggressively. When they realize their mistake - the eerily pale Caliban is a simpleton rather than a menace - he’s already fled. No mention is made of the Morlocks yet!

There’s also another dull annual where the X-Men team up with the Fantastic Four to save Arkon’s dimension from the Badoon and yaaaaawn. Far more interesting is the landmark issue #150. Slowly, through the adventures of Scott and Lee Forrester, Claremont has been setting things up for the return of a favorite villain. While the X-Men investigate Magneto’s old base in Antarctica on a hunch of Professor X and tangle with Garruk, Scott and Lee survive Storm’s tempest, only to wake up next to a strange island that seems to have been raised from the ocean.

It’s apparently some ancient citadel from a long forgotten civilization with a fondness for squid statues. (I don’t know man, I’ve never been to the Bermuda Triangle, maybe this is just super-accurate.)The tentacles make Lee Forrester feel very amorous, but before Scott can tell her he is way too repressed to just have sex with an attractive someone he’s known intimately for a month or two, Magneto saves his ass by revealing he, in fact, raised this island from the seafloor.

Oh, Magneto. So extra.

My ambitious little mutant demagogue then proceeds to take the entire world hostage, showing how much he’s grown from the pompous, raving madman from the sixties. (Sure, Magneto is still a bit of a madman, but increasingly, he starts being on the right side of history.)

“I’m trying to make Magneto more sympathetic.”

“Just put him on a page with some bigger villains who are less noble, like the Vanisher, Count Nefaria, or…”

“Reagan, Thatcher and Brezhnov?”

“Er.” (Uncanny X-Men 150)

It’s obvious Magneto is being pivoted as a more noble villain, codified into the well-intentioned extremist we know and love today. Not only do we get the first hints at his past, fleshing out his motivations, he’s also not wrong. Humans are historically not great at taking care of the planet or each other.

When the Russians call his bluff and launch nukes at Magneto’s new island, he quickly disarms them. His retribution is swift and ferocious: the entire citadel is a machine that massively amplifies his powers. He sinks the submarine that launched the missiles, condemning the entire crew to death, and he casually erects a vulcano in a Russian city in Siberia.

Damn. Not messing around this time.

Despite his good intentions, Magneto is still definitely in the wrong: not only because of his methods, but as Scott points out: if Magneto unifies the world under his kind of benevolent dictatorship, all of that will simply fall apart as soon as Magnus dies.

In a way, Magneto is just as big a dreamer as Charles is: Charles believes in peace and integration, whereas Magneto believes his iron fist will be enough to make a perfect world happen. Both of them ignore the reality that acceptance is difficult and messy, because you’re trying to change essential human nature: the fear of the other. Magneto believes in big, sweeping gestures that will fix the world in move, while changing the world is also boring, hard work. One step forward, two steps back. Magneto just wants to leapfrog to his ultimate goal.

The X-Men fly over the citadel, returning from Antarctica, and their plane crashes into the ocean. (Magneto does not brook planes over his territory, humans!) The Professor is also nearby, looking for Scott with Moira, Peter Corbeau and Carol Danvers. The X-Men sneak onto the island, but to their horror, their powers are nullified by some machine of Magneto. They reunite with Scott, who formulates a plan to thwart the would-be ruler of the world.

While the rest of the X-Men go to trash the machine, Storm, Kitty and Lee infiltrate the control chamber where Storm finds a sleeping, shirtless Magneto. Once again showing her terrible taste in men, she is not weak in the knees at the sight of a sleeping Magnus: instead, she contemplates killing him.

Storm knows how dangerous he is, but she also knows that he’s a great man who’s fighting for ideals, no matter how misguided. She hesitates too long: Magneto stirs, suspects an attack and tosses her out of the window, to her death.

Magneto quickly undoes the sabotage the other X-Men have wrought to his machine. A fight erupts. Storm, meanwhile, has managed to grab hold of a ledge. She crawls back up and smashes an important-looking computer, restoring everyone’s powers.

The battle turns grim, but Scott sends Kitty away to wreck Magneto’s machinery. She sneaks off, following Scott’s orders and destroying both Magneto's power-up device and all of his plans by phasing though the computer circuitry. Magneto senses this and furiously gives chase. Overcome by rage, he attacks Kitty and disrupts her phasing power with a magnetic bolt, seemingly killing her?

Everything about this story beat is great: mama bear!Ororo, mournful Magnus and even the fact that Kitty’s godawful outfit serves a narrative function: highlighting to us (and Magneto) just how young she is. The fact that Kitty’s Jewish is just icing on the cake. (Uncanny X-Men 150)

And thus, the softening of Magneto commences. 1981 might be a year with wildly varying narratives, but it has given us at least three enduring legacies to the X-Mythos: a new kind of Magneto, a fondness for dystopian futures and the character of Kitty Pryde, who's really come into her own this year.

Ugliest Costume: Kitty! Purposefully, but still. Best costume, by the way, goes to Destiny, with her creepy, creepy golden mask. Just imagine this lady casually strolling across a battlefield, eerily calm and collected, dodging everything you throw at her. Awesome design.

Best new character: I usually pick one character - what good is having a shared award when declaring the best of anything? - but this year, it’s going to one of my favorite couples: Mystique and Destiny. Can’t wait to see more of them.

Most audacious retcon: Blob somehow retroactively becomes a member of the original Brotherhood, which is not what happened. Ever weirder is Xavier pondering that he never met Magneto before his attack in X-Men #1, while their cordially adversarial relationship rooted in a youthful friendship would soon become a cornerstone of the X-Men.

What to read: Uncanny X-Men 141 - 143 and 150 - 152

88 notes · View notes

thefanficmonster · 3 years

Note

I may or may not have just sent the 3 word challenge in my real account instead of anon... I'm sorry. Please don't answer there. :)

When you post, post answering here please.

Again, much love,

📚🌻

Don't worry dear! Your identity shall remain a secret 🥰 Here's yet another fic with my Resident Evil OC: Gwen Winters (she’s an adult guys, don’t worry. However this is still an Older Man/Younger Woman relationship)

The words dear 📚🌻 Anon gave me in their previous ask were: Unruly, endurable and system. Please enjoy!

What happens in the gym....

Pairing: Chris Redfield x Female OC

Warnings: Swearing, Spoiler Free 😊

Genre: Angsty Romance

“Sure, throw me in the fire like you always do, Leon!“ Chris snaps, clenching his fists tightly as he glares at his best friend while the two stand in the dimly lit gym.

“Chris, you’re a BSAA captain, for the love of God! You should know better than to complain about something as little as this!“ Leon, while significantly calmer tone and demeanor-wise, is glaring daggers of his own.

“Why me, damn it?! And why her?!“ Chris is not done with his attempts to get out of the situation Leon’s trying to land him in and his partner’s honestly done with it.

“And why not?! You see the same potential I see, why would it be so hard to train her? She’s a quick learner, she’s disciplined when she wants to be and she’s already skilled to a certain degree. You’ve made soldiers out of total wimps before, why is she such a hassle to you?!“

“Because she’s disciplined when she wants to be and I guarantee she won’t want to when she’s around me. She’s unruly, selfish, arrogant and a Chris-phobe. I’m telling you, she hates me!“

It’s about time Leon’s had enough of this conversation. To be honest, he was done with it as soon as it started but he stayed, thinking he’d be able to change Chris’ mind but seeing as how this is a hopeless case, he’s just been wasting his time. “Does she? Or are you projecting your hate for her onto her?” Slinging his duffel bag containing his training gear over his shoulder, Leon finally makes that realization that these are ten minutes of his life he’ll never get back and storms out of the gym without another word.

Chris doesn’t attempt to stop him, in fact, he’s relieved he left. He sighs, silently hating himself for all the shit he said and how he meant none of it. It was all hard bullshit and he doesn’t know whether to be thankful or disappointed that Leon didn’t realize. Either way, he’s been cleared of possible suspicion, even if training the newest BSAA rookie still remains as his task.

Gwen Winters, she’s such a fucking handful. One cannot tell if it’s because she’s angry with the world, angry with herself or just straight up picked up on the habits of the family that took her in when she was rescued from Raccoon City where she was held as an experiment hamster. A chemistry project basically. Ethan and Mia were recovering from the events back in Louisiana at the time, still probably are, that is not some shit you get over, so they thought having another person in the house would help them. And help Gwen did. See, Gwen isn’t a handful with everyone. In fact, she’s a real sweetheart and Chris knows it too, despite his bogus claims. He knows she’s got a heart and soul of gold and is built with the will of a BSAA soldier already. All she needs is a bit better fighting skills and she’s good to go.

He sees how she acts with everyone around him. She’s been quick to make friends with Jill and his sister Claire and she’s even got Leon’s liking and trust which is hella hard to get, especially after all the shit with Ada. She’s overall a super sweet and lovely girl, even with him from time to time. He’s seen her welcoming, friendly smiles whenever he stops by the Winters’ home. He’s heard her laugh at the jokes he rarely cracks.

Then why does she act like she hates him so often? And why does he claim he hates her?

Chris is snapped back to reality by the sound of rough impact. It’s a very distinct noise, one he places immediately: the sound of fists hitting a punching bag. It’s the middle of the night, almost midnight actually, and knowing how lazy the soldiers on his team are, he can only assume it’s either his sister or Jill, given that Leon just left. However, they’ve had people sneak in to train for free before, so it’d be for the best if he went to check who was releasing some pent up energy on the poor punching bag. Judging by the intensity of the punches being thrown, sounds like the person might be angry as well.

And they have every right to be. Because they are Gwen.

Chris’ face goes a bit red at the sight of the infuriated rookie giving the punching bag her all, punishing it the way she’d want to do to her superior she just heard call her all the names she hates being referred by.

“Winters I-“

“Unruly?“ Punch “Selfish?” Punch “Arrogant?” Punch

She stills herself, sighing and wiping the droplets of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, “You say all that and expect me not to be a Chris-phobe?” She lets out a bitter laugh, rolling her shoulders before continuing her wrath over the piece of equipment she’s threatening to destroy. She hasn’t spared him a single look yet, something he’s rather grateful for because the last thing he wants to see is whatever her gaze is hiding right now. “I’ll talk to Leon.” She says, her voice leveled and breathy, far from the pissed off tone she was just using. This calmness is a lot scarier though. “I’ll tell him I don’t want you to be my trainer. To be perfectly clear, I never wanted you to train me in the first place. I’m just not the type to complain, you know. I’m not picky. Beggers can’t be choosers. I take what I can get. And you were all I was offered, but...” she trails off, delivering a particularly hard punch, “It’s not gonna work. I may not be picky, but I know when to draw the line. I know when I deserve better.”

“Kid, you really have no idea what the case really is here.“ He attempts desperately, taunted by the thought of acting on his instincts and approaching her even if that means being the recipient of one of those hard punches.

“You know, I’m strong. I’m skilled. I can hold my own in a fight quite nicely. I’m endurable. I’m not afraid to work my ass off and sweat and pant like a dog after workouts. There’s not a line I wouldn’t cross, but you still choose to make me feel lesser than any soldier you’ve ever come across, that’s really lovely of you, Captain Redfield.“

“Winters, please...“

“It’s ok, I won’t tell Ethan and Mia. I’m sure they’ll send you to hell over it. I’m not petty like that.“

He’s had enough. He’s had enough of hearing that hurt tone in her voice. He’s done hearing these words she’s so certain are true but aren’t. He’s done lying to her and to himself. Before he can even think twice about it, he grabs her by the arms gently but firmly, turning her to face him despite her hostile attempts to free herself from his hold like a wild animal caught in a trap. He’s surprised when she relaxes, probably seeing that as a quicker way out of the situation rather than struggling though if she tried to free herself any longer he would’ve probably let her go.

“Fucking hell, Gwen, listen to me.“ He looks her dead in the eyes, catching onto the spark of shock created by his use of her first name. But he also sees something else, something that looks dangerously a lot like tears. He knows she won’t cry, especially not in front of him, but knowing that he’s the cause behind the welling of those crystal droplets in her always shiny, always smiling eyes breaks him. When she doesn’t look away nor protest, he continues, “I can’t be your captain. I can’t be your trainer. I can’t be any of that. I’m a strictly professional man, and it’d be highly unprofessional of me to take you in as my soldier.”

“But why?“ She’s fully aware she sounds like a whiny kid - exactly how she thinks he envisions her sometimes - but she couldn’t care less. She wants and needs answers. She knows she won’t be able to fall asleep or keep coming back to the training center if she doesn’t get them.

It’s blatantly clear this is far from easy for Chris. His first instinct is to look away, let go of her, run away like he always does - not that she’d let him do such a thing but still. He’s finds the words impossible to spit out yet he oh so desperately feels the need to get them out of his system. And so, he gathers all the strength within him and finally forces himself to say it.

“Because a captain isn’t supposed to look at a soldier the way I look at you.“

Sure, it sounds cryptic as heck but he has no doubt she’ll catch on. Gwen is a smart and sharp girl, among many other things. She confirms this when barely three seconds after he’s said it, he notices her eyes widening

“Sir, I-“

“Don’t.“ He says simply, a small, regretful smile playing across his lips as his hand slides down her arm to take hold of hers, “I just admitted my dirtiest secret to you and you are still gonna remind me how unprofessional I am by using my title, Kid?“

She purses her lips, the shock momentarily replaced by her signature mild glare, “Well, you just admitted your biggest secret to me and yet you still choose to call me ‘Kid’, huh?”

He chuckles, letting his other hand repeat the movements of the first, “Sorry, force of habit.” His thumbs brush against her knuckles briefly as his head falls, his gaze fixating on where their bodies are connected, “You know, I didn’t tell you this to get myself any pity or anything. I just wanted you to understand and....wanted to get it off my chest. Ethan will kill me if he finds out, won’t he?” He suddenly asks, regaining the courage to look up at her once again.

She giggles, “Who says he’s gonna find out?”

Chris bites the inside of his cheek, shaking his head, “You’re right, there’s nothing really to find out abo-”

Gwen has never been a chatter nor can she tolerate when people beat around the bush so she’s quick to cut them off sometimes, no matter how rude that may seem or sound. However, just to clarify, her chosen method of cutting a person off isn’t always kissing them. Just saying - this is a special situation requiring special methods.

Taken aback by the sudden feeling of her lips on his, Chris’ eyes close automatically but not even a second later he responds to the kiss properly: wrapping his arms around Gwen’s waist as her hands travel up to cup his face. The kiss is short - too short if either of them is to be asked - but it’s worth all the words they didn’t say despite wanting to.

When they pull away, Gwen gives him a mischievous smile, “Now he could find out about that and then shit would go south. That’d suck, wouldn’t it Chris?“

He’s only ever heard her say his name twice, once in passing conversation with Claire and once earlier when she paraphrased his term ‘Chris-phobe’, both time spoken with some dose of dislike he now realizes was a cover-up all along. Turns out the two are a lot more alike than they initially thought. Regardless, hearing her say his name with fondness instead of bitterness makes his heart flutter, his body yearn to have her closer, his lips wanting to be in contact with hers again. But he’s a patient and self-controlled man, he’s nothing if not willpower sculpted in a human body, so he keeps his distance, waiting for her to pick the moves, waiting for her to make the decisions just like she’s his captain.

“Big time.“ He manages to say, voice coarse all of a sudden, barely able to leave his throat. “So it stays here, right?”

She giggles again, bringing her lips within an inch or two away from his, taunting him, threatening to break his self-control, “What happens in the gym stays in the gym, Redfield.”

Golden rules of discretion, ones he mustn’t break ever. Especially not when his captain - Captain Gwen Winters - holds so much power over him.

121 notes · View notes

nickysescapism · 3 years

Text

here my thought on Fate real quick:

Things that did not piss me off:

Bloom being extra spicy really mega ultra special² (by now I’m not even surprised anymore)

Silva

the short time we spent with Marco

That one good-looking specialist girl that got killed off pretty quickly (you will be missed)

Terra’s dad

Bloom being the only one with an american accent (because british accents are supperior and also it shows that Bloom does not “fit in”)

Sam aka another white boy (but my feelings towards him were neutral so yeah)

Things that did piss me off:

the blatant whitewashing

unnecessary pop culture references (we get it you watched HP and make IG stories)

pls stop butchering the four houses like that if you can’t get your facts straight

the constant fatphobia

Riven’s obvious biphobia and everyone just accepting it

the 'blond mean girl' trope because what would we do without it

the victim (Dane) falling for the bully (Riven) for no apparent reason

“I hAvE A cOuSin NaMeD FlOrA”

the only black woc being the “mom of the group” because we haven’t seen this stereotype for a hot sec

the boring and repetitive sequences of the specialists training with wooden sticks like children in elementary school

“We DoN’t HaVe WiNgS aNymOrE”

Bloom being super selfish and everyone risking their lives for her constantly because they all love her anyway

the line “you full-creeped on my insta last night and I haven’t told anyone” exists non ironically (Riverdale called they want their awful-cringy-lines back)

"Riv"

fetishizing bi people (because bi’s can only ewist on Netflix if they are doing threesomes because that’s what being bi is all about apparently)

using the word mansplaining in the first episode TWICE in the span of a few minutes and not even using it right

the only healthy relationship (Musa and Sam) is so freaking boring that one had to make up a non existing drama to make it less boring

the unburned slaughtering like 10 specialist who are pros and do this job for years but two first-year fairies were able to get away without a scratch

the non existing friendship between the winx's and therefore it makes no sense that they still keep hanging out with each other

the erasure of our queen tecna!!

all the good specialist were erased too (like Timmy and Brandon)

the outfits making them look like grown ass moms and not like teenagers

the cast looking like they are more likely to be in college than in high school

Beatrix (besides everything she isn’t even a good villain, she is the worst secret “villain” i’ve ever seen like she is like a freaking elefant in mouse town)

and now Alfea basically is Hogwarts 2.0 but a cheaper version of it

changing Musa's powers because we need element powers for some freaking reason and not even doing anything with her powers for like 90% of the show

everything looking so dark and greasy and boring and basically not like Magix or anything magical at all

Stella (she is basically Diaspro but so much worse)

the lowkey abusive relationship between the adoptive parents (mom) and Bloom just to never mention it again

Aisha having no backstory and telling EVERYONE constantly that she swims but we never get scenes of her outside of her "parenting Bloom" sidequests

Terra saying that she misses Stella because she insulted her and was mean to her, because fat girls need this constant body shaming amiright?

they really tried making Stella bullying Terra ✨their thing✨

Aisha struggling with her powers is suddenly not important anymore when it’s inconvenient

the girls hate each other for like 80% of the show and suddenly they have a deep bonding

Musa being useless and stating the obvious and only being there for obvious exposition

"You are sad, aren’t you?"

“Yes, how do you know that? Is it because I’m crying my eyes out right now?”

“No, dummy. I’m a mind fairy. I can feel what you feel.”

the whole changeling plot

erasing the Trix and compromizing them into one character, but then give Beatrix two side kicks so they are basically a group of three again ???

they made it even more straight than the OG

the Sky/Stella/Bloom love triangle because we needed that one

the adults being stupid af

Vanessa apparently almost dying in the fire and having third degree burns but only at places that can be covered by clothes easily (and also they do not look like third dagree burns at all)

Bloom ready to kill her “parents” because they took away her door

“BuTt StUfF” another great literal masterpiece from our all-time favorite Riv

Stella is not only not part of the group for like 75% of the time, the others also don’t like her at all and therefore you don’t care about her problems at all

the teachers being unecessary mean to their students like “oh you just learned to control your powers, well damn you still suck hope you get better soon lol that looks so bad try harder”

Aisha being the only one who has no love interest

^same as Terra who is pining after a dude that doesn’t like her that way

Bloom always playing the victim and always acting like no one suffers as much as she does

using pop music that doesn’t fit the tone of the scene at all (and also ruining one of my fav songs)

Alfea basically turning into every garbage teenage high school Netflix ever had

Everyone acting as if Beatrix is super smart and a good spy even tho she sucks at it without end (why would you try to get as much attention as possible?? and kill your accomplice???)

no other planets but realms and still here everyone knows that California is part of America because americans aren’t full of themselves at all. Just replace California and America with anything else. :)

“You aren’t from Solaria, are you? Where are you from?”

“I’m from California Fer Island.”

“Uh...is that..part of...?”

“America Everix, obviously????”

they tried desperately to be woke by throwing stuff around like “don’t be sexist” and “don’t come at me with this feminist bs” like good job...to the white old dudes who completely missed the entire point of feminism and sexism - performantive feminism if you will - always SAYING the most basic feminist (women can be strong too) stuff but not DOING it

fire is somehow effective against BURNED creatures (e.g. throwing water filled balloons at a mermaids)

all telling and no showing (expositions + no flashbacks = BORING)

Sky being so obessed with Bloom that he doesn’t care that she drugged him at one point

Dane’s character doing a 180 out of nowhere for plot convenience

Stella being a threat to other students but no one seems to care

the good ol’ the bad guys aren’t really bad but in the end turns out they are and the good guys were the good guys all along plot twist that we have seen a million times on netflix alone

Sky not having trust issues after Bloom spiked the water bottle and just accepting that she felt the need to drug him

Sky having daddy issues and that being treated as his main character trait

using phones all the time but when it’s important suddenly no one got a phone with them

beatrix drags a random “bad boy” into her evil plan because that was ever a good thing to do but kills her only partner that already had the trust of FaRa

Sky still persuing Bloom even tho he knows that Stella could blind Bloom because she can’t control her powers and even threatens to do so - again no one saw a problem with that??

Bloom being one of the worst liars out there but Aisha is like “wow, you are a great liar” like no bitch you literally had to help her five seconds ago

Stella blinding her best friend being one of the most underwhelming plots I have ever seen (I mean how can a show fuck it up so bad that a literal girl blinding her best friend doesn’t interest me?)

no one can have an interesting storyline because there is the slight chance that they could outshine the real star (bloom)

^therefore most sideplots are super shallow or just boring

#fate winx saga #can you tell that i didn't like the show?#what can i say no matter how good it is i will never accept the blatant whitewashing and neither should you #if you say that it's a good show if you leave out that it is related to the winx club shut up it's still whitewashing k #anti fate the winx saga

46 notes · View notes

lloydshoulddyehishair · 3 years

Text

What we miss and what we gain | 1-For his own advantage

Summary: Lloyd never had a family and he didn’t want one either, especially not in the form of five weird teenage boys playing dress up and a girl with a secret identity, she thought no one knew about. (Except, maybe he did.)

When Lloyd first arrived at the Destiny’s Bounty he could just tell that he was anything but welcome there. The glares, the silly fruit coloured “Ninja” had shot him still burned on his skin as he entered what was now to be his room. The girl had tried to hide her annoyed expression, which the blond appreciated but he really could have cared less. He wasn’t here to be liked by them, in fact, he didn’t know why he was here to begin with.

Of course, his uncle had invited him to stay – or more like forced him to go with him – but really other than that? He didn't know why he was here and it almost set him on edge. Had his uncle some evil master plan? Yes, he was one of the “good guys” apparently but you never knew. Maybe he only wanted Lloyd to stay so his wannabe Ninja could use him as a punching bag for their training. Not that he wasn't used to that kind of stuff, he did have his fair share of punching bag experience from Darkley's.

In all honesty though, whether his uncle had something mean planned didn't matter in the end because at least he didn't have to worry about freezing to death at night any more or being kidnapped off of the street by some creepy people or having to wonder if he would get to eat the next day – you get the gist – cause now he actually had a bed to sleep in, a filled fridge only a few rooms away and people to protect him from possible danger.

Not that he cared about these people, which he was living with now, he was only using them for his own personal benefit. He didn't exactly need them either. He was just fine on his own – maybe a bit malnutritioned but that was besides the point. The point was that Lloyd Garmadon didn't need anyone, never had and never would. He never needed parents to take care of him, he never needed friends to play with, he never needed a shoulder to cry to. So he most certainly did not need to befriend some weird teenagers fighting snakes in pyjamas – or whatever his uncle had hoped would happen.

And the young Garmadon could have ignored the others' stupid and childish behaviour of making their negative opinion on him known on the entire ship. He really could've ignored Jay hiding his comics or Cole purposefully pushing past him, sending him flying to the ground – but what he couldn't ignore were Kai's annoying and constant comments and rants about Lloyd staying with them. He was behaving like a child that didn't get what it wanted. Ignoring him the whole time but also talking about him non-stop. What was his problem–

“My problem, is you, you little-”, the pineapple head yelled, coming dangerously close to his face with his index finger.

“Have you seen my fangs?”, Lloyd asked him rhetorically. “Any closer with that thing and I'll bite it off.”, Kai's expression changed into one of disgust but he pulled his finger away, nonetheless.

“See! That is what I mean! You don't even try to be good! You're always mean and starting fights – just like your father!”, Lloyd simply rolled his eyes.

Really what did the fire guy think he was doing right now?

“You started this! You were the one to raise your voice and point at me. I didn't even do anything”

“You were in my way–“

“In your way? Really, which one of us is the child?”

“Just leave!”, Kai screamed at him, pushing him away, almost making Lloyd lose balance. “Just go back to where you came from or something! No one wants you here, the only reason we haven't thrown you out yet is because Sensei feels like he is somehow responsible for you because your dad is evil and your mum doesn't love you enough to care about what happens to you!”

And suddenly it was almost like something in Lloyd's chest ripped apart and why were his eyes stinging– Oh no. No, Lloyd Garmadon didn't cry, especially not in front of 15 year old bullies with stupid hair, who had absolutely no idea what they were talking about–

His hands formed into fists as his eyes remained on the floor, not looking up at the brown eyes that probably stared at him with all the hatred in the world.

Maybe he sort of deserved it, the boy figured, after all he did cause nothing but trouble for them by releasing the Serpentine and he was probably right about Uncle Wu only keeping him there because he felt like he had to but– but that didn't mean he had to like facing that truth.

So instead of throwing a mean remark at him, like the brainless teen probably expected him to, he ran past him into his room, locking himself in and landing with a yelp on his bed, only staring up at the ceiling before some tears actually began to fall.

This felt way too much like Darkley's, like the nights he'd spent silently crying because if the other children heard a single sound he'd be– they'd do not so kind things to him or like the first nights he had been at the school, crying because his mother just left him there to rot–

Kai was right. His mum didn't care about him, if she did she wouldn't have left him at that school or had at least written letters or picked him up for the holidays or congratulated him on his birthdays– but she did nothing like that because she simply didn't care. Lloyd was okay with it, truly. It made him grow up faster, made him more responsible and it made him realize that you don't need anyone but yourself, that you shouldn't trust anyone but yourself because in the end everyone will betray you – something that Pythor had just proven true to him.

However, talking about his mother had never really been easy for him. He didn't even know why because talking about his father on the other hand had never been a problem to him. Maybe it was because of the simple fact that his mum had left him voluntarily, whereas his dad didn't have that much of a choice because he was apparently banished into the Underworld.

Sometimes he would think about why his mum had left him. Was it his fault? Probably. Who would want to raise the child of some supervillain, anyways? But at the same time, he was her son, too, so the problem must have lied somewhere else. Maybe he was too annoying? Too clingy? Just too much in general?

Whatever it was, it had made her leave – not that he cared of course (except maybe he did). He had no use for a mother, just like he had no use for an uncle or friends. Who needed friends? He could be his own friend! It's not like anyone could understand him or his struggles anyways, these annoying Ninja probably all came from perfect families and had gotten everything handed to them on a silver plate. They didn't know what it was like to grow up without parents, without a loving home. They didn't know what it was like to grow up and constantly be judged for the fact that you're Lord Garmadon's kid – either because you weren't bad enough or too bad. They didn't know what it was like to be all alone.

It was fine, though. He didn't care about being alone, he only stayed on the Bounty because he could use the others, that was all. As soon as he didn't see any benefits or advantages in living with them anymore he would leave and never look back because he definitely didn't care for them. Not for how they were, for how they were doing or for what they thought of him.

But then why were Kai's words still all he could think about and why did the tears not stop falling?

#saga writes #ninjago #ninjago lloyd #ninjago fanfiction #writing #found family #what we miss and what we gain #wwmawwg #child abandonment

52 notes · View notes

kv-muskwa · 3 years

Text

snippets

These are all just the ones I have on my google drive, the rest are all on my laptop and like a good 4 of them were on my phone before it broke so RIP all those ones, they’re gone forever

Afk Arena -

5 + 1

Shaking his head, Baden looked at Thane and felt his breath catch in his throat. Thane had a soft smile on his face, a rarity that only very few were privy too. Dried sweat made the loose hairs stick to the sides of his face, outlining his sharp jawline. The late afternoon sun only brought out his mesmerizing dark eyes and brought attention to his long eyelashes. Dura, he was beautiful. Baden glanced away, nervously changing the subject. His wife was expecting.

Icy Winds Consumed By Shadows

Joining Shemira on the ground, he glanced back up to where Kelthur still sat. "How did you find out?" He kept his voice quiet so only Shemira would hear, the sounds of the forest drowning out his voice from being carried. Shemira didn't reply right away, instead letting out a soft sigh. "Silvina. Her and Kelthur were sent out to gather more oils when they came across the wind whisperer." Ferael blinked a few times before looking at Shemira. "When?" Shemira looked up at Kelthur, who was climbing higher in the tree with an amused grin. Kelthur waved down at them and she waved back. "A few weeks ago, before autumn." Ferael nodded. He made sure to keep himself as calm as he could, though silently cursing.

An Uneasy Camaraderie

"I may have chosen this, but I assure you; many of the men and women who fight alongside us on the battlefield didn't. There is a reason why we have the division in our own undead factions. While some of us get along, there are those that don't. I only told you this as a warning when it comes to trying to understand us, we aren't all evil as you have presumed." There was silence among the few gathered around the fire until Kaz jumped up. Running and pouncing, she jumps at Ferael, making both Silvina and Kelthur laugh as the archer struggles to catch his balance. Kaz grins from her spot on top the archers shoulders. "Pffft- you're getting slow, old man!" Kaz laughs, jumping off of Ferael. "Shhh, don't say that to his face! He's touchy~" Silvina jokes as Ferael walks away throwing his hands up in the air. Kelthur stops laughing, cursing under his breath before turning towards the girls with an apologetic grin. "Sorry, would hang longer but I'm being forced to go with him back to the forest to restock."

Transforners -

Evening Out The Battlefield

Glancing down at his arms, he did a quick internal scan to see if anything major was injured. Thankfully, his important and major systems were functional, only superficial wounds that appeared but he’d dealt with worse so those could wait. Unfortunately, because it was, of course, an organic planet, he had dirt, leaves and sticks stuck in his amour seams. Never mind the scratched and scrapped paint by his less than gracious crash landing, Sunstreaker already felt annoyed by this planet. Getting up and trying to ignore the gross feeling of dirt and gunk caked in between his plating, he stared to where their pod crashed. They’d travelled a long way and he was honestly surprised that their escape pod even lasted as long as it did. When they broke the planet’s atmosphere, the pod had overheated which was probably why they’d been flung out of it. Reaching out with his spark bond, he felt Sideswipe begin to online. With his spark directing him towards his brother, Sunstreaker curled his lip. He could feel the dirt creep into his joints and protoform with every step he took. Primus he hated organic planets. Why did Prime choose an organic planet?

Wherever The Solar Blasts Take Us

Having stopped by a tech shop earlier to buy some ‘high tech’ computers which were really primitive, he was relieved to find out that his old credit card still worked. Of course, this was still going off on the hope that the autobots really were struggling like he had assumed. If not, he could just give it to one of their human friends, maybe he could win some points. It wasn’t because he was nervous, no way! Knockout felt his spark quicken up as he drove into Jasper. He never really gave it much thought on why neither him or Breakdown had reported to Megatron that he was aware that the autobots resided somewhere nearby the small town. He had told Star, who only shrugged at the information.

BNHA -

All You’ve Got Is Yourself(And Me)

Dear God, he was still alive and quirkless and useless. "You are still alive. And completely healed." A rough voice spoke through his sobs. Izuku took a deep and shaky breath, shakily sitting himself up. He wiped his tears with his sleeves though it was done in vain as the tears kept pouring out. The man was now crouching beside him, head tilted as he watched Izuku. "Did you know you would survive?" "No." The answer spilled out of Izuku's mouth before he could even process his mouth opening. A fresh wave of sobs and tears worked it's way to his throat, though he was now trying to calm his breathing. The stranger hummed, before tugging on Izuku's sleeve. "Well, no one else besides me saw. I'd say get out of here before people come near and see you sitting in a big pool of your own blood." Izuku nodded and stood up before freezing altogether. A pool of his own blood. That meant- looking at the sidewalk, Izuku noted the large splatter of blood across the ground. It painted the sidewalk a dark, angry red.

The Terror Teens

He’s glad he brought her. She can deal with Giran better than he could, even on a good day. Despite dealing with the older man for the past four years, he still finds him insufferable. Who cares if he’s doing alright? Why act as if he actually gave a damn about Izuku when he was still selling him weapons and support equipment? God, he’s annoying. “Whoa, that’s an impressive face you’re making Midoriya.” Giran says, chuckling as he pulls out a cigarette from his pack. “It’s in the car but first we’re waiting for someone else.” Himiko nodded before bouncing over to the old man. “Who would that be? Are they fun? Are they going to stab Izu again? Why didn’t you bring it with you? Where’s your car? Are you planning to do something gross with us old man? Are you a pervert?” Giran takes a long drag of his cigarette while stepping away from the girl before letting out a long sigh. “If I didn’t know that you guys have the money, I wouldn’t even bother with putting up with you two.” Izuku rolled his eyes at the fond tone Giran used. Did he expect them to believe he even cared for them besides being regular customers? Himiko let out a faux gasp before running to Izuku in a dramatic show of fake crying. “Izuuuuuu! He was being mean to me!” “Well someone has too.” Izuku replied, grinning at the look Himiko shot him. He ignored the choked sound Giran made. She placed a hand over her heart, looking both offended and shocked as she took a dramatic step back. “Izu, I thought we were friends.”

Fog In The Peripheries

Izuku opens his eyes. The fog is gone, instead replaced with confusion before being overrun with pure terror. The labs again. Izuku struggles against the restraints, feeling sick at the too bright fluorescent lighting, not seeing the doctors come rushing to him. At the sight of a doctor, Izuku goes limp, staring at the ceiling as all fight leaves him. If he fights it will only hurt more. He will be punished before something would happen and he will be pulled into the fog once more.

Some Things Never Change(d) - Suspected Traitor AU

It’s hard not to notice the way everyone’s been treating him. Very reminiscent of his life before now. Izuku notices the way everyone has slowly pulled away from him. How no one partners up with him besides Todoroki or Iida. How they seem to avoid him whenever they can. He notices how they cut him off when he’s talking. How they’ll walk away if he’s heading in their direction. How they talk about him whenever he’s not in the room, something he couldn’t believe the first time it happened. He had been running back to the classroom to grab his school bag, having written an idea for the new headphones Mei was working on for his costume. He was outside the doors, still in the hallway when he heard Uraraka and Iida arguing. About him. “You can’t trust Deku!” Uraraka. “This entire thing makes no sense!” Iida You were an idiot to think things would change just because you have a quirk. But why? Is there ever a reason?

A Convenient Scape Goat - Homewrecker Au

“You’re quirkless, yet while you attended U.A, you had a quirk which you used. Now, you are once again quirkless. How are we supposed to believe you that you’re not connected to-” Izuku didn’t bother listening, staring a hole into the table. All Might hadn’t bothered wasting time, demanding Izuku to give him One For All back as soon as he was taken into police custody. Of course, Izuku realized that it was his plan all along to get it back. He wasn’t surprised, but it still hurt. Knowing that his hero, the one man he had believed and trusted had used him and then looked for a way to throw him away. Izuku was only a means to the end, though he had wondered what would have changed if he had never introduced All Might to his Mom. Would All Might have actually cared about training him? Would he have been proud of him? Would All Might actually care about him other than seeing him as a mistake as soon as he brought up his own issues with his Mom? Izuku would never know. Because it was All Might’s fault he was here in the first place. Izuku was shaken from his thoughts as a hand gripped his hair and slammed it into the metal table. He heard the crunch of his nose breaking again, though he only shut his eyes closed. He would not give them the satisfaction of crying, not even as they repeated the motion until the darkness of unconsciousness took him.

#personal #my writing #homewrecker au #I lost over 4 works that were mostly finished #and that doesn't include all my own personal writing #And all the notes I had saved for other fics on my laptop #-long sigh-#afk arena #transformers #bnha

7 notes · View notes

starlightinhumanform · 4 years

Text

Strong As The Sun

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ship: Romantic Prinxiety, Platonic Analogicality

Summary: It’s Roman’s last summer before going off to college; he should be spending it hanging out at the beach and having fun. Instead, he is wasting his time away beneath the eye of his cruel manager and behind the counter of the local fair’s Help Center. His day gets a little more interesting when Virgil Sanders collapses into his arms.

Warnings (in order of strength): Moderate language throughout, Description of physical illness throughout, Not panic but Virgil does get pretty upset a couple times. Please tell me if anything needs to be added. Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Human AU

A/N: -The Dragon Witch is Ms. Drakon -Because of his anxiety, Virgil clings to ‘comfort items’ (in this case, his hoodie) And lastly: I am not a medical professional!! This is all based on my own experiences with heat exhaustion and may not be entirely accurate. If you are ever in a situation like this, don’t be like Roman! Get some help! Hope you enjoy! Love you all 🖤✨

Ao3 Link Fic Masterpost Fic Request Info

Roman couldn’t put his finger on the reason he loved his job so much. Maybe it was the suffocating heat that made him sweat so much his hair was consistently ruined by the end of every shift. Or maybe it was the entitled older folks who would yell at him for doing what his manager told him to do. It could have been the way his manager yelled at him for... doing exactly what she had told him to do. The best part was definitely the smell- a magical combination of cheap grease, sunscreen, animal waste, and a good amount of human waste.

Yeah, ok, his job sucked. Standing at the help desk of a local fair for 12 hours everyday was not exactly Roman’s ideal summer plan. It was his last summer before college; he should be getting toned from surfing at the beach all day where he would inevitably find his dream man and they would live happily ever after.

“Roman?! Did you hear a word I just said?”

Roman jerked his head up from where it had been resting in his hand (the perfect position for daydreaming himself away from this hell) and tried to look alert, “Yeah, sure! Of course!”

His manager scowled at him from across the counter. She looked like what would have happened if Snow White had made some sort of pact with the evil witch- sickly pale skin, blood red lips, and smooth black hair that never had a strand out of place. She tapped her nails against the desk and raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow, “Well, in that case, could you repeat it to me?”

“No, Ms. Drakon,” Roman hung his head, hoping his pathetic act would earn him some crumb of pity.

His manager just rolled her eyes, turning around and glaring at him over her shoulder, “I was saying you need to do a better job of looking enthusiastic- more ready to help. If you don’t, well just remember: there are plenty of other desperate teenagers who will easily take your place.”

The witch stalked away, stopping occasionally to bare her teeth at patrons in substitute of an actual smile. Roman barely resisted the urge to flip her off but decided it wasn’t worth the risk. He was positive at this point that she had eyes in the back of her head.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes and standing up straighter in an attempt to look more “enthusiastic”- or at least awake. Drakon might have been the epitome of evil, but she was right. It would be as easy as snapping her fingers to have Roman fired and replaced. And that was not something he could afford- literally.

Roman shoved the thoughts aside as a family walked up. He saw so many of the same groups over and over again that they all started to blend together. This one was no different- a loud, angry straight couple surrounded by a horde of unruly children.

The man slammed his fist down on the counter as he approached and Roman plastered on a smile, “Hi sir! How can I help you?”

Yep. Today was going to be fun. It was only noon and he had already a) gotten puked on by a little kid, b) had nearly been fired, and now c) yelled at because apparently the carnival games were arranged incorrectly and it was somehow his fault.

Roman spent the next two hours trying not to space out but it was so hard when he wanted to be anywhere else. He decided he was never going to a fair ever again. Ever. Unless it was with a boyfriend. Who he would win a bunch of prizes for. And take selfies with while they ate matching cotton candy. And they would ride the Ferris wheel together and kiss at the top. Hmmmm, so maybe he would never go to a fair ever again unless certain requirements were met.

If only his Prince Charming could come along now, jump over the desk partition, reach for Roman’s hand, and whisk him away to some place that had air conditioning. He would be tall, muscular, with a strong jawline, and-

“Excuse me?”

Roman glanced down, trying to find the kid who was trying to get his attention.

“Up here?”

He moved his gaze upwards to find a guy about his age wearing a dark hoodie with his hands shoved in his pockets. Not surprisingly, he looked like he was dying from the heat.

“Oh sorry. I thought you were,” Roman waved his hand at his knee, “small.”

The stranger grimaced, “Gonna try not to be insulted by that.”

“Anyways... how can I help you?” Even though the statement was built into Roman’s subconscious script, he really did mean it. The boy kept swaying and Roman wasn’t sure if it was some kind of nervous fidget or because he was actually about to pass out.

“Yeah. Right. Sorry. I’m just kinda- my head-“ He ran his hands through his hair, “Basically I lost my group and my phone is dead and I have no idea where they are and-“

He tried to take a step forward but stumbled, gripping the desk for support. Roman’s protective instincts kicked in immediately. He swung open the little shack’s gate and began leading the boy back to the shade of the awning, one arm swung around his chest to support him.

“I’m fine, really,” He tried to protest but used Roman as crutch as if this was A Christmas Carole and he was Tiny Tim.

Roman snorted as he latched the gate shut behind them, “You’re not ‘fine’- you can barely walk.”

Roman set the boy down on the rough floors, concerned by how hard he was breathing. He grabbed a water bottle from beneath the counter and offered it as he squatted down. This close, Roman was able to get a better evaluation his guest.

The good news: the heavy darkness beneath his eyes was eyeshadow- not some sort of bruise or dark circles that were so bad they could be seen from three feet away. The bad news: basically everything else. His breathing was labored. His face was deathly pale- nearly gray- and beaded with sweat. His black skinny jeans, heavy boots, and oversized purple hoodie were ideal for perhaps a light rain in mid October; at a fair during the sadistic month of July, the outfit looked nearly deadly.

Roman chewed the bottom of his lip. He really wasn’t trained for this sort of thing. His job was to look cute at the entrance and tell people where they could find the petting zoo. But he couldn’t just turn this guy away, “Look, you can stay here as long as you need but if my boss sees you, I’m dead so just try to stay low or something.”

The boy had been gulping down the water bottle but froze suddenly. His eyes widened and he started scrambling to get up. His feet scrabbled beneath him like a puppy who wasn’t used to their legs yet.

“Hey, hey, stop!” Roman hissed under his breath, trying to avoid making a scene, “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble. It’s better if I just go,” The boy stopped struggling and stared at Roman with eyes the size of a small planet. They were blue, so deep and dark they almost looked purple. Beneath them, the messy eyeshadow was smudged by what Roman realized were tear streaks.

“Shut up, Emo. I’m not going to let you leave until I know it’s safe,” Roman reached out, brushing his thumb across the boy’s cheekbones to wipe away the dark trails the makeup had made.

The boy looked confused but didn’t try to duck away from Roman’s touch, “What are you doing?”

Roman drew his hand back and stared down at it. He felt just as confused as the boy looked. What was he doing? He huffed out a laugh, “I- I’m not sure. I don’t think either of us are thinking very clearly right now.”

Across from him, the boy bowed his head down so Roman couldn’t see his face and started drinking from the bottle again- less desperately this time. Roman got the feeling the conversation was over.

He stood up and shifted so he was more centered at the desk, “I have to look like I’m actually doing my job, but tell me if you need anything. Try to, uh, cool off or something. I’ve got plenty of water bottles over here.”

“Virgil.”

“I’m sorry?” Roman turned to face the shadow of a human in the corner of his shack. The boy was trying to take up less space, but his lanky legs made it hard to curl up.

“My name is Virgil.”

Roman smiled, “Nice to meet you, Virgil. I’m Roman.”

Virgil nodded as if Roman had given the correct answer and was allowed to go back to his job.

The next hour passed sluggishly. Roman told six separate women asked where the bathrooms were but he could swear they were all the exact same person. He saw the girl who ran the lemonade stand spit into a drink at least twice. At some point, Virgil fell asleep, the back of his head pressed against the gate and his neck bent at an angle that would probably hurt when he woke up. His breathing was still a worrying rasp and Roman couldn’t help but glance over towards Virgil’s corner whenever he got the chance.

Three o’clock rolled in like it didn’t want to come. Roman slammed down his sign that read “I’m On Break Right Now!! I’ll Be Back In A Few Minutes :)” and dared the Karen who was marching toward his stand to take another step forward.

When he was sure the coast was clear, he ducked onto the floor and grabbed another water bottle as he scooted next to Virgil. This close, Roman could feel tremors that were running through Virgil’s body.

“Hey buddy, wake up,” Roman shook Virgil’s shoulders gently, wincing at the heat that radiated through the thick sweatshirt.

Virgil’s eyes blinked open slowly, glassy and unfocused. He searched around the small space before his gaze settled on Roman, “Where am- oh that’s right. I’m still here?”

Roman couldn’t explain it but something about the venomous disappointment in Virgil’s voice hit him in the chest. He shook the feeling away quickly when he remembered what was going on, “You’re burning up. I want you to drink some more water. And I think you’re going to need to take off that sweatshirt.”

Virgil collapsed in on himself, wrapping his arms around his chest and pressing himself against the side of the shack, “I don’t want to take it off.”

Roman could feel his eyebrows scrunching together by their own accord, “Why not?”

Virgil just shrugged and looked away which perfectly conveyed the message of I know exactly why and I’m not going to tell you.

“Ok, ok, whatever. It’s not like that stupid hoodie is seriously damaging your health or anything.”

Virgil flopped his head to the side to glare with two ice-cold flames. Roman got the feeling that if Virgil had more strength, he would’ve gotten slapped.

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose, searching for options. It’s not like he could force Virgil to take the sweatshirt off- that would be weird for anyone. Besides, he still hardly knew this kid. Maybe he refused to take the hoodie off because he had some giant tattoo from a gang. Did gangs get tattoos? Like the dark mark from Harry Potter? Roman was getting sidetracked and Virgil looked like the type of person who rarely left his house. Ok so definitely not the type to join a gang.

But the fact that they hardly knew each other still stood. If he pushed it too far, he would be crossing about twenty boundaries. On the other hand, Virgil was looking worse and worse by the second. In the space of a few blinks, his expression had faded from a glare to half-lidded stupor.

Roman grimaced as he pressed the back of his hand against Virgil’s forehead. His bangs were damp and his skin felt like a hot pan just off the stove. Roman brushed his hand upwards, combing his fingers through Virgil’s hair.

Virgil’s gaze flicked over to meet Roman’s eyes, unfocused and filmy. But within those eyes, swimming in the purple beneath, Roman could see so much emotion, it almost hurt to look at. Those eyes pleaded with him, so full of fear.

Roman sighed. He simply couldn’t say no that stare, “Yeah ok. You can keep the damn thing on. But we need to figure out a way to get your fever down.”

Virgil slumped sideways into Roman, pressing into him instead of the wall. The chills running through his body were so strong that Roman almost wondered if they were contagious somehow. He snuggled further against Roman, his head pressing into Roman’s shoulder.

Roman didn’t know what to do. What he wanted to do was wrap his arms around this strange little shadow and never let go. In reality, though, even this much contact was probably worsening Virgil’s temperature.

“Hey,” Roman shook Virgil’s far shoulder slightly to get his attention, “I had an idea. Would you be ok with just unzipping your hoodie? You wouldn’t have to take it off!”

Virgil responded by wrapping himself around Roman’s arm like some baby marsupial, “Too tired. Just wanna sleep.”

Roman could hardly hear Virgil’s muttering through the material of his own shirt. He sighed, “Yeah. Well too bad. Will you please just keep yourself from dying?”

“Ti-r-ed,” Virgil drew out the vowels like a whiny little kid.

“What- do you want me to do it?” Roman huffed out an exasperated laugh.

Against him, he felt Virgil shrug, “Sure.”

“Oh,” Roman hadn’t been expecting that answer. He had asked as a joke after all. Virgil had made such a big deal about keeping the sweatshirt on that Roman felt that he was crossing a line by even touching it.

Roman untangled Virgil’s arms for his and propped him against the wall. The boy moved as if he were a rag doll in Roman’s hands and it was nearly enough make Roman queasy. He scooted over so he was facing Virgil.

He watched him with those big eyes. Big, soft eyes. They carried so much uncertainty, always tracking Roman’s movement without ever shifting their gaze. But they held the weight of trust as well- feeling safe despite not knowing what Roman was going to do. Roman glowed under the trust, feeling like he had been awarded a treasure few could even find. At the same time, he was positive he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t know if he was doing the right things. How could Virgil seem so certain that Roman would help him if even Roman didn’t know that?

Roman reached forward, hands freezing as they hovered over the zipper that hung just below the dip of Virgil’s collarbone. This was weird. He knew these were “special circumstances” but still... it was weird. Roman cleared his throat, “Uh, sorry, this is just kind of awkward.”

Virgil mustered another glare, less deadly this time but still managing to clearly convey the message of Stop being such a useless gay.

Roman cleared his throat again. He probably sounded like he was developing a case of pneumonia, “Right. Sorry.”

Said useless gay took a deep breath and pulled the zipper down. Underneath, Virgil was wearing a plain black muscle tank to match the rest of his dark outfit. Roman had to give him credit for committing so strongly to the aesthetic. A part of him was still surprised that Virgil’s hoodie wasn’t hiding some kind of green alien body.

“Surprised I’m not some kind of green alien?”

Roman realized he had been staring and immediately tried to find something else to look at. His brain apparently decided that the best solution was to reread the safety rules posted on the back wall. He could feel a blush rising to his face and he was pretty sure it had something to do with the way the tank top dipped lowly across Virgil’s chest and hung across his delicate collarbones.

Roman nearly started laughing at himself out loud. He sounded like a repressed Victorian maiden. What he going to do next? Maybe he would stomp his feet and start chanting Show me your ankle! Show me your ankle!

“Hey, help me with this?” Virgil’s strained voice brought Roman’s attention swinging back to the real world. He was trying to shrug the sweatshirt off his shoulders while still trying to move as little as possible.

Roman reached out again, probably too quickly. He was acting so strange. He wished his hands would stop shaking so much.

“Oh, Roman?” A sugar-sweet, poisoned voice floated into the shack just as Roman managed to get the last sleeve past Virgil’s elbow.

“Shit,” Roman hissed under his breath, “That’s my manager.”

Virgil’s eyes went wide but Roman didn’t have the time to reassure him. He threw the nearest thing over Virgil which happened to be a beach towel from the lost and found. It probably wouldn’t help his temperature at all, but at least Ms. Drakon wouldn’t see him.

Roman pulled out his winning grin as he stood up, “Why, hello, Ms. Drakon!”

She responded with an equally bright mouthful, but Roman wouldn’t dare to call it a smile, “Roman, it seems you have quite a crowd beginning to build up!”

He glanced over and suppressed a groan as he saw the trail of unhappy looking people that glared at him from an ever-growing line. He turned his attention back to Drakon, pointing down to the sign propped on the counter, “Yes, ma’am, I see that. I will make sure that they are all satisfied as soon as my break is over.”

Her eyes wrinkled as her mouth widened, but there was nothing friendly about them, “I think you’ve been on break long enough.”

“Yes, of course!” In Roman’s head, a large anvil had just landed on Drakon’s head.

Drakon disappeared into the crowd and Roman turned to the daunting line in front of him. The snake was headed by a group of 12 year old girls. They were easiest type to deal with. Bless their boyband obsessed hearts- they were probably the only reason the counter hadn’t been broken down by a mob of angry middle aged women with expired passes. He gave them a wink, “I’ll be with you ladies in a minute.”

Judging by the giggles that erupted as he sank down behind the counter, he had bought himself a minute or two.

“Hey there,” Roman was trying to be quiet but he was surprised at how soft his voice came out.

He pulled the towel away to find Virgil fast asleep. His breath was definitely starting to even out. The stupid hoodie pooled around him, still attached at the wrists. A tiny hint of a smile tugged at one side of his lips.

Roman ruffled his hands through Virgil’s hair, “Hang in there, buddy.”

He twirled around as he stood up, adding a little more dramatic flair than needed. He flicked the sign down with one finger. The smile he beamed at the crowd was genuine; this time he had something to smile about- even if he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Another hour passed by with all of the ease of a root canal. A person told him they wanted a discount because their child had found a dead rat in a trash can. Roman tried to explain that it was a good thing it was in a trash can instead of anywhere else. The lemonade girl flipped someone off. She was Roman’s hero.

Virgil only began stirring by the end of it, blinking his eyes open like a owl in daylight. He looked around the shack like he was seeing it for the first time. His eyes were sharper than Roman had seen them before, glittering like obsidian now that they could focus.

Roman tried his best to concentrate on the customer in front of him, but he kept glancing back and grinning at Virgil. It was nice to see him looking more like a human and less like a very unhealthy zombie.

For what seemed like an eternity and a half, the customer refused to leave. Finally Roman made an under-the-table deal consisting of extra arcade tickets and a free voucher for lemonade just to get rid of them. He hoped the lemonade got spat in.

“Coast clear?” Virgil’s small voice came from what Roman had officially began calling Virgil’s Corner. He sounded different- probably because he wasn’t fighting for his life. His voice was still low, but the gravel in his tone sounded far more intentional and less like Holy shit I can’t breathe.

Roman turned around and leaned against the counter, “Ah! Sleeping Beauty awakes! How are you feeling?”

“Would I sound ungrateful if I said I feel like shit?”

Roman made an exaggerated act of thinking about it, “Just a little bit. But also honest.”

Virgil nodded and then looked down at the ground, letting a beat of silence fall between them. Roman got the feeling that Virgil had something to say, but they both had to wait for it to arrive.

Virgil began pulling the hoodie back up around his hunched shoulders, eyes still burning holes through the floor of the stall.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Roman sunk down to the floor, “Don’t put that thing back on. I just got you breathing right again- don’t make us start over from square one.”

He placed his hand against Virgil’s forehead again, “You still feel kinda overheated to me so-“

Roman stopped speaking as Virgil flinched away from the touch. His eyes darted around as if they couldn’t find a single safe place to land. He pulled his arms and legs in, tense and ready to- to do what, though? He looked like he wanted to hide, and run, and fight all at the same time. Virgil had quickly transformed into a cornered wild animal.

“Virgil, what’s wrong?” Roman spoke as softly and slowly as he could but tension was mounting within him as well. Had he done something wrong? Was Virgil hurt?

“They didn’t ask about me, did they?” Virgil spoke as if he didn’t want is voice to be heard.

“I’m sorry, who didn’t ask about you?”

“My group. The ones I came with. They both wear glasses and have brown hair and one’s shorter than the other and the taller one has freckles and was wearing a black button down and the other was wearing a blue shirt and- and,” Virgil’s voice broke and Roman’s heart along with it, “-and they’re my best friends.”

Suddenly Roman remembered the reason Virgil had shown up at his desk in the first place. It wasn’t the heat exhaustion- he had gotten lost.

Virgil succeeded in wrapped himself up in his sweatshirt. He curled into a tight ball, knees pulled against his chest and eyes just barely peeking above top of them.

“Hey, well, they’re probably looking around the fair for you. A lot of people don’t even know about my dumb little shack here! They’ll turn up eventually.”

Virgil shook his head, “They wouldn’t even look for me. They’ve probably left by now.”

“I really don’t think-“

Roman was cut off by Virgil launching himself onto him, wrapping his arms like a vice around Roman’s chest and digging his face into Roman’s shoulder. Shuddering sobs wracked Virgil’s body, all the panic and pain of today running onto Roman’s shoulder and staining his shirt with dark eyeshadow.

But Roman wasn’t thinking about that. He was hardly thinking at all. Roman was angry. Maybe angrier than he had ever been at that Drakon bitch or any of the customers that screamed at him or the kids who threw things at him or the teenagers who would snicker just loud enough so that he could hear them. That was trivial.

He was so mad. Mad at the pigs who stranded Virgil on his own, who apparently didn’t give a shit about his wellbeing, who made him feel so worthless that his immediate assumption was that they had left him behind.

Roman hoped they showed up. He would rip them to pieces.

He wrapped one arm around Virgil as tightly as he could and cradled the back of his head with his other hand. He didn’t want to let go; he wouldn’t let go. Roman could feel Virgil’s nails digging into his back as he gripped Roman’s shirt in fists.

Roman began rocking gently back and forth, moving his fingers through Virgil’s hair and letting his nails scratch softly against his scalp. Soon, Virgil’s sobs subsided into smaller hiccups. Roman could still feel hot tears soaking through his shirt.

They stayed huddled on the floor for a good minute before Virgil slowly raised his head, “I’m sorry, sometimes I get-“

“Hey, don’t be sorry,” Roman ran his thumb across Virgil’s cheek, brushing away the tears that ran down it. Like this, Virgil’s eyes looked ethereal, two pools of pure enchantment. Roman was sure he could spend the rest of his life memorizing the way the sunlight play against them.

“Excuse me?”

“Shit, shit, shit, damn it,” Roman knew he should have put his do not disturb sign up.

Virgil jerked his head up, “Patton?!”

Roman looked up to see another teenager about his age leaning over the counter. He was wearing glasses and a blue T-shirt with the Humane Society logo.

His face melted into a relieved smile as Virgil stood up, “Thank goodness we found you- we’ve been looking everywhere.”

He wrapped Virgil in a hug as yet another teenager appeared. He was taller, with eyes nearly as dark as Virgil’s, and he looked like he might sit down and begin discussing taxes with you at any moment.

This one nodded, “I created a systematic search pattern to use. Unfortunately, we were not even made aware of this place until a rather rude young lady at the lemonade stand directed us over here.”

The one called Patton let go of Virgil just long enough for the other to give him a quick hug before grabbing him into another embrace, “Oh we were so worried.”

Roman felt a pang in his chest. This was good, right? Virgil was safe now. And obviously his friends weren’t the monsters Roman had assumed them to be. So it was all good. Yep. Definitely. Totally. Then why did he feel so damn sad?

“Yeah, yeah, I’m ok,” Roman looked up to see Virgil wiping off his face as the other two fussed over him, “I wouldn’t be though if it weren’t for Roman.”

The more serious one raised an eyebrow, “Who?”

Roman rose up from the ground, feeling sheepish for a reason he couldn’t explain, “Uh, that would be me.”

“Logan, Patton, this is Roman,” Virgil glanced over and gave him a warm smile, “He helped me out in more ways than one.”

Patton pulled Roman into a squeeze, wrapping his arms around his neck in a way that made Roman bend down, “Thank you so, so much.”

Logan took a moment from talking to Virgil in a tone to stare at Roman, “You got him to take off his hoodie?”

Roman escaped from Patton’s reach, “Uh, well, I think he kind of had heat exhaustion-“

Logan turned his attention back to Virgil, “But you don’t take that thing off unless you’re very comfortable with someone or-“

“Or really like them. Yeah, I know,” Virgil stared at the floor, a bright red rising to his face.

“Oh,” Roman wasn’t sure what else to say. He could feel a blush as deep as Virgil’s tinting his complexion.

Logan looked down at a watch wrapped around his wrist, “Thank you for helping our friend, but we really must be going now.”

“Right. Yes. Of course,” Roman nodded, trying to clear his head. The implications of what Logan had said were quickly replaced by gloom.

Roman hoped the sadness sitting in he’s chest like a lead weight didn’t carry into his voice. He swung open the gate and tried for a smile as Virgil stepped past him.

Roman watched as Virgil stepped down into the dirt, probably the last time he was ever going to see him. Roman almost let him get away. Almost.

“Hey, wait!” Roman leaned out and grabbed Virgil’s hand. He reached for his pocket and waved his phone, “Could I get your number?”

Virgil’s jaw dropped, “You had a phone this entire time?!”

Roman blinked dumbly at Virgil as realization hit him, “Oh my god, I did.”

Virgil looked off into the distance as if he couldn’t process Roman’s lack of brain cells. At long last he began laughing. It started off as a snicker, developing into a full on cackle and finally dissolving into a wheeze. It was one of the ugliest laughs Roman had ever heard and some of the sweetest music he’d ever listened to. Virgil straightened up from where he had collapsed with his hands on his knees, “Oh my god; you’re so stupid.”

Roman felt his heart drop, “So that’s a no?”

“I didn’t say that either,” Virgil took a step forward and snatched the phone from Roman’s still out-stretched hand.

He gave it back after a few seconds of quick typing and seemed to be about to walk away, but froze, staring intensely at something on Roman’s shirt.

“What is it?” Roman craned his neck to find what Virgil was looking at.

“Well you’ve got something,” Virgil leaned forward, poking his hand against Roman’s chest for a moment before brushing it upwards and flicking Roman in the nose, “Right there.”

Before Roman hand a chance to react, Virgil had turned on his heel and was jogging to catch up with his two companions who were chatting at the gate. He watched as the group headed away, focusing on the purple hoodie in the middle until they turned a corner and Roman couldn’t stare anymore.

Heat still beat down from the summer sky, but Roman was sure that the warmth radiating from his chest could rival any sun.

If you want to join my Sanders Sides fic taglist just send me an ask or reply to this post :p

~ @phan-fander ~

#prinxiety #prinxiety fic #prinxiety hurt/comfort #prinxiety fluff #prinxiety high school au #prinxiety human au #prinxiety fanfic #prinxiety fanfiction #virgil x roman #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fic #sanders sides human au #sanders side high school au #ts roman #ts virgil #romantic prinxiety #platonic analogicality #starlight writes

346 notes · View notes

brief-candle · 4 years

Text

ᴀᴘᴏʟᴏɢɪᴇꜱ - Inosuke Hashibira

so i got my computer back and didn’t post anything in the meantime because i’m stinky and don’t live up to my word

but i’m gonna finish transferring everything tonight! and then i’m gonna start something kinda new :0

series: kimetsu no yaiba/ demon slayer.

notes: not yandere, inosuke being a child like the child he is, tiny bit of angst, mostly kinda fluffy, most likely ooc.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

It was a cold winter's night at the Butterfly Estate, perhaps colder than even the previous years'. Currently you were in the communal area, chatting with Sumi, Kiyo and Naho as you all huddled by the fire that you'd struggled to light through nearly-blue fingers. Thankfully, you'd succeeded, and soon dropped yourself as close to it as possible without catching fire.

It was without warning that the doors flew open, and Aoi was revealed to you all. Her eyebrows were in their usual position (furrowed) and her lips pursed. She very clearly wanted to say something, something important by her expression, but couldn't seem to find the words for a moment. Her fierce azure gaze was pinned onto you and didn't let go to even acknowledge the others. It was almost intimidating, if you hadn't known her by now.

After a few seconds longer of unbearable silence, you decided to slice right through it with a concerned voice: "Aoi? Are you alright?"

This seemed to work to break her out of her uncharacteristically silent shell, her mouth finally opening for her to speak. She announced your name first, as if you hadn't guessed by now that you were needed, before continuing. "It's Inosuke-san."

"Inosuke?" You couldn't help but repeat, dumbstruck. If she was struggling this much with telling you what was wrong- and this was Aoi, possibly the bluntest person you knew- then what sort of state was he in? Was he injured? How badly? Could he ever fight again?

Was he dead?

You had to hold back from physically shaking your head to clear it of those thoughts, instead choosing to rub your hands together roughly as some pathetic form of comfort. As you rose to your feet, you couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with him?"

She said no more, opting to beckon you to follow her instead. And you did; as quickly as you could without breaking to a sprint, you took long strides until you were both walking side by side. The tension was thick, silence unbreakable. Although you were both walking at a swift pace with large steps, you didn't feel like you were walking quickly enough. It was like the worst possible scenarios were nipping at your heels, taunting you from the darkest parts of your mind. It was unbearable. The hallway seemed to stretch out to the ends of the universe, the door to the medical wing lightyears away.

But, alas, you reached it. Finally. It only took a few minutes at most, but it was like lifetimes had passed with each insufferable step. Once again, Aoi seemed to hesitate, taking a deep breath and turning to you. Her hand lay on the door, about to open it, as she spoke in a hushed voice,

"Look, before we go in, he's... not really in a good state." Before you could prod her for more answers, she hastily continued, "well, more mentally than physically. He's not in great state physically- he got pretty roughed up on his latest mission- but it's his mental state I'm worried about."

You barely noticed her hand land on your shoulder, only realising it once you'd seen it gone from the door. Your eyes found it on your shoulder a second later, before crawling up to her eyes. They were a deep blue, dark like the depths of the ocean, and the hesitation swimming in them only served to help drown you in your worry.

"In what way?" This time she hadn't been quick enough to stop your questions tumbling out. "What's wrong with him? What happened on that mission?" It wasn't long before the built-up panic you'd been hiding behind silence came spilling out upon your exterior, your voice trembling and tears beginning to well up. You grasped her hand in both of yours, clutching it like a vice, which shook even more than your voice, "Aoi-san, please! I need to know!"

"I..." Her voice failed her once more, visibly shocked at your current state. She almost dragged you away from that door then until you'd calmed down, but then realised how much damage that'd do. You'd probably end up worrying more and more before bursting into the medical wing anyway. So with a deep breath to clear her thoughts, she tried again, "It's probably best for you to see for yourself, but you're going to need to calm down before I let you in."

"I am calm!" You snapped immediately after, definitely the opposite of calm.

"No, you're not." She took your hands in hers and led you a few steps away from the door, "you are not calm at all," you tried to interrupt but only a stern glance from her shot that idea down immediately, "and I need you to be calm before I let you see him; you being distressed is probably going to upset him even more. I'm not saying you can't be worried, but this is beyond worried." Again, you tried to rebuke her claims, only to find that you couldn't. Because you were, in fact, not calm at all- you couldn't even keep up the breathing you'd trained so rigorously to practice even when unconscious. So, with this sudden consciousness of your current state, you finally began to calm down. Your breaths became more even, the tears slipped away from the brim of your eyes and your muscles relaxed. It didn't seem to take long, but you were aware that it definitely wasn't as short as it felt.

When you glanced over to her, Aoi was gone from her spot right next to you. But before you could worry, you heard the door slide open. Your eyes shot over to it, finding her in the now-open doorway and speaking with her usual brash tone,

"Inosuke-san, wake up. It's time for your medicine."

There was no response, which was unusual for him, but there was definitely the familiar whining of Zenitsu again: "Oi Inosuke, come on! At least yours isn't gross like mine is- speaking of which, why's mine always the gross one? This is favouritism! I bet you guys have it out for me or something, always giving m..." you could not care less about his rambling to be honest. He did it every time he came to the Butterfly Estate, whinging about how bad he had it and then creeping on the girls the next.

Classic Zenitsu.

Since you knew he was there, you spared yourself from looking in his direction as you entered the room. By the tone of his voice, you already knew he was bickering with Aoi about taking his medicine and you really did not want to catch his attention. If there was one thing you didn't need right now, it was Zenitsu being a creep with you and then pulling out the crocodile tears when blatantly rejected or arguing with Tanjirou when he (thankfully) intervened.

The corner of your eye harbouring Zenitsu was blacked out by your mind (see no evil, do no evil) as you glanced around for the familiar boar mask. It took a second sweep of the room before you spotted it, covering his face as always. Although the mask was familiar, Inosuke seemed so different from when you last saw him. It wasn't the fresh wounds littering his body, beginning to scar by now, but it was just... him. You would say his stance, but he wasn't standing. It was the way he lay there. Silent, barely moving. If it wasn't for the subtle movement of his torso with each breath then you'd be convinced he was dead.

Your feet took you to his side before you could even process them moving, hand reaching out to grasp his. Now it was clear he was awake, head turning ever so slightly to see that his hand was taken by you. He croaked out your name, rough and quiet. Those damned tears threatened to spill again.

"Inosuke," you had said back to him, "I-"

"I'm sorry."

It was such a sudden interruption, especially as it was an apology.

"For what?" Your voice didn't tremble even a bit as it did a moment before, filled only with confusion.

"For being so weak."

Inosuke? Weak? You couldn't imagine those words being correlated in any way, never mind from the man himself. It took a moment to even take in what he'd said, and a moment more to realise he's actually spoken them.

"What are you on about?" What he was saying was so unfathomable that it was making you a bit cross. How dare this boy even have the audacity to call himself weak?! The gall! But more than that, the worry from before bit at your ankles again; what had happened for him to think this way? Could you even help him, if it was so bad as to wound his pride this much?

He didn't answer.

"Inosuke." You tried to get his attention, shaking his hand slightly in yours.

He didn't answer.

"Inosuke!" It was starting to exasperate as well as worry you. These opposing feelings began to wage a war inside of you, each one determined to take over. You weren't sure which one you'd prefer to win in this situation, as they could both very easily ruin everything if intense enough.

"Inosuke, look at me!" You demanded- pleaded.

He listened.

"I don't know what happened on that mission, but you need to listen to me here: you are not weak, first of all. You are far, far from it." As you stared into the eyes of that boar, hoping he was looking back, you squeezed his hand, "You're one of the strongest people- if not the strongest person- I know. And I mean every word of that. Now, you take whatever happened on this mission, and you use it to learn and grow; to become even stronger than you are now."

It was a few seconds after your rant that he responded, hand clenching underneath yours. "I couldn't protect him. That's the point of my damned job- to protect people- and I can't even do that!" His voice seethed more and more as he said each word.

"But how many have you saved before him? One, at least, because I'm still here, aren't I?" Well, you hoped you weren't actually some ghost. You could eat if that counted as proof that you weren't, "you can dwell on your mistakes all you want, Inosuke, but that isn't going to help." It was harsh, but this was a harsh world you lived in, and his job was probably even more harsh. It was hard to remember that he was still a child, even with all of those scars and all of the battles he's lived through. The person in front of you, who'd slain more than twice the amount of demons you had done before you retired at the Butterfly Estate, was still growing. He had time to learn, and he must learn, else he will die.

"What will help is learning from this mission- from what happened here. You must use this experience as a stepping stone to growth. If you give up here, then countless more like that man will die. But if you continue, and learn and grow even stronger, then you will save countless more."

"It was my faul-"

"It wasn't!" Quickly you were becoming desperate to drag him out of this state, "It was not your fault! You didn't kill him, Inosuke! It's not possible to prevent demons from killing everyone. One person died to that demon, but the rest of the town lives, don't they?"

There was no response, so you repeated your last two words again. By god, you'd say anything at this point, anything to make him see that he was innocent, strong, brave, et cetera. But he just didn't seem to see it!

"I'm sorry!" Or so you'd thought, until he had reached up and pulled you into a hug, sniffling as he hid his (already masked) face in your shoulder. Immediately, you returned the gesture, rubbing circles into his back between his shoulder blades, murmuring softly as you did so.

"It's alright."

"I'm sorry!"

"There's nothing to apologise for."

Over his shoulder, you saw Aoi and Zenitsu, shocked at the state of his stubborn companion. You lent the gentle smile you'd given Inosuke as he moved to hug you to them as well, continuing to comfort him.

It was hard to remember he was a child most of the time. But in these moments, such a thing was impossible to forget.

#kimetsu no yaiba x reader #inosuke x reader #x reader #reader insert #inosuke hashibira #inosuke hashibira x reader #kimetsu no yaiba

140 notes · View notes

thinkingoutlouddblog · 5 years

Text

stay with me

Pairing: Eggsy Unwin x Reader

Prompts: 1. “Stay with me.” 31. “I can’t do this without you.” 33. “Let’s give these fuckers a show.” 39. “It hurts so fucking bad.”

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: language, blood, violence, fluff and angst

PLEASE READ: I haven’t mentioned anything in the fic but the idea is that instead of getting married Tilde and Eggsy broke things off after the events of the Golden Circle. The reader is the new Merlin who has been dating Eggsy for a couple of years

A/N: actually super proud of this one, so I hope you guys enjoy!

What the fuck were you thinking? You scolded yourself as you gazed up at the monstrous mansion from your seat in the limousine, its size dwarfing you, making you feel even smaller than you already did. How on earth were you going to pull this one off?

The mission was supposed to be simple. Eggsy went undercover to gather intel, you hacked the location’s mainframe remotely from the Kingsman HQ, and together you would stop the bad guy from executing whatever diabolical plan they had dreamt up. Same as usual. You had hoped Eggsy would even be home in time to salvage your date night which had so rudely been delayed by William Bates, Kingsman’s latest Bad Guy To Beat.

Unluckily for you, however, Bates was also a tech genius, that being how he made his fortune which he was now using to fund his evil masterminding. Which is why, instead of being able to hack his system remotely, as you normally did as Kingsman’s new Merlin, you were having to go undercover with your boyfriend to access his mainframe manually. With the power of coercion on your side, you should be able to get the biometric scans you need while Eggsy gathers the intel you need to shut down Bate’s boy’s club that are supposedly going to take control of the UK government. How exactly they thought they were going to do that, you didn’t know. All you knew was that your complete lack of field experience and minimal hours of training had not prepared you for this scenario at all.

“You ready, love?” Eggsy asked you from his seat opposite you in the limo. His strong, unfaltering gaze grounded you, taking your brain away from the enormity of the mission at hand.

You were two very capable agents. Eggsy especially. You had complete faith in him. But you knew, right now, you needed to be someone he could put his faith in. The mission comes first, you reminded yourself. So you exhaled slowly, putting your anxieties aside. “Let’s give these fuckers a show,” you smirked at him, referring to your cover.

His smirk in return was immediate. “That’s my girl.”

As soon as he opened the limo door, the Eggsy Unwin you knew was gone, replaced in the blink of an eye by billionaire, Robert Hudson, looking to buy into this boy’s club of Bates’. He helped you out of the limo and then you walked, arm in arm, up to the security guards posted at the grand double doors of Bates’ home, where he tonight was hosting his charity’s annual gala. A front for inducting rich, like-minded extremists into his little group.

“Hudson, party of two,” Eggsy smiled politely at the guards, exuding confidence from his every pore.

The security guard, a large bald man with an expressionless face, looked down at his tablet for all of two seconds before he looked up again, surveying the area. “Welcome, sir,” he said as he and the other guard moved in unison, opening a door each to grant you entrance to one of the most lavish scenes you had ever witnessed in person.

You worked hard to keep the awe from your face, knowing Arabella Hudson should be well used to the kind of scene before her. Gorgeous gowns and bespoke suits littering the grand ballroom, framed by stunning floristry and lit by glittering chandeliers. Normally, you would grab the first flute of champagne you could find and make Eggsy twirl you around the dance floor to the sound of the live orchestra posted in the back corner of the room. But today, the two of you walked towards the sea of drab billionaires calmly and cooly, finding hands to shake, needing to identify the people who had the information and connections you required to get this mission rolling.

It was over an hour of talking to various celebrities, politicians and the wealthiest members of society before your host, William Bates made an appearance. He made his way down the grand staircase carefully, extremely aware of the attention that his entrance had grabbed. He walked hand in hand with his husband, Thomas Bates, whose elegance and grace was so severe one might think he was actually floating down the marble steps.

Inwardly, you rolled your eyes. What kind of a self-important prick thought he had to be fashionably late to his own event? Nevertheless, you plastered what you hoped was a bright smile on your face and joined the other guests in applauding the hosts as they made their entrance.

“So,” Eggsy continued the conversation he was having with the middle aged Irish gentlemen beside him, who positively reeked of old money, “I assume he’s the man to talk to about this…” he paused, for effect, “gentlemen's club I’ve heard whisperings of.”

The Irishman smiled slowly, understanding the meaning between the lines of his words. Eggsy had been working his usual magic to charm this oblivious pawn in Bates’ scheme, and he had very easily created the impression that he would be the kind of person to buy into whatever it was they were planning.

To your surprise, you seemed to be a natural at acting the part and aiding Eggsy in gaining the trust of the corrupt wealthy you were rubbing elbows with. Even Eggsy with his years of experience struggled to keep the admiration and pride out of his eyes as he watched you, nailing the undercover operation.

“He sure is,” the Irishman confirmed, accent thick. “I’ll take you to see him myself. We could use more members like yourself,” he commented cryptically.

That was how you found yourself, another hour later, approaching William Bates, the Irishman leading the way. “William, I’d like you to meet my new friend, Robert Hudson, and his gorgeous wife, Arabella.”

“How do you do?” Bates greeted as he shook Eggsy’s hand.

The two of you fawned over the magnificence of the gala, paying your respects to the host before the Irishman couldn’t help but interject in your small talk. “Will, I think Rob here is a prime candidate for your little side project.”

“Well, if you keep bringing me great candidates it won’t be so little,” Bates jested cheesily, clearly trying to maintain a cover.

“From what little I’ve heard of this project I developed a great interest. I’d love to be able to discuss it with you further and hopefully get involved,” Eggsy lied.

“That is just excellent,” a grin crept over Bates’ face, clearly eager to induct more extremists. “I’m not going to lie to you, I did a bit of reading up on you and I think you would be perfect.” You bit back a smile, the idiot had found the digital trail you had left for him to find Eggsy and contemplate him as a new recruit. “I’d actually love to discuss it now, if you don’t mind?”

Eggsy cast his eyes down at you, feigning a questioning glance for permission. You gave him a reassuring smile and the smallest of nods. “That sounds great.”

“Phenomenal! You two, follow me,” he began to turn, leading you out before Eggsy interjected.

“I prefer not to involve my wife in business actually.”

My wife. For a split second, you forgot the extreme stakes of the situation you were in, so taken aback by what Eggsy had called you. Obviously, it was just for his cover. Nevertheless, there was a deep longing in your chest. You were quite sure you wanted nothing more from this life than to be Eggsy’s wife. To be with him for life.

As quickly as the thought entered your mind, it went away, realising you were going to be on your own from here on out. Panic seeped through your chest, burning up within you. Despite your emotions, you maintained a neutral expression.

“Go enjoy the party, darling,” Eggsy spoke directly to you now. “I’m sure I won’t be long gone.”

With that, he sent you one of his dazzling winks only you could see, and he followed Bates away from the party and down a heavily-guarded corridor. You were officially on your own.

As discussed, you mingled for a while longer before you excuse yourself from the conversation you were in to go to the ladies. Your precaution in avoiding arising any form of suspicion by making your exit at the same time as Eggsy was largely unnecessary, seeing as the majority of the guests were far too intoxicated at this point to even take note of you.

“Excuse me?” You approached one of the guards barricading the corridor Eggsy had just disappeared down. “I was wondering if you could show me the way to the bathroom?” As you spoke, you placed the faintest of touches to his arm, as though to grab his attention. In actual fact, you were placing a small clear patch on his bare skin, imperceptibly using concentrated, fast-acting toxins to make him extremely susceptible to charm. In less than twenty seconds, he would be doing whatever you asked of him. It was of your own design, and you were extremely proud of it, to say the least.

Within ten minutes, your big dopey security guard was placing his hand on the biometric scanner to open the control room, with two bodies at your feet. Not exactly ideal, but you didn’t have the time or the patience to patch up every guard you came across so the two guarding the door had to go.

You didn’t even get a ruffle your skirt until the door to the control room opened, to reveal three men, two in charge of surveillance and two in charge of firing the many weapons Bates had hidden throughout the mansion to eliminate any threats. Clearly, this little team weren’t two quick on the uptake since none of them had managed to take up arms to defend your little raid of their workplace.

“Shoot them, Ben!” You instructed your brand new personal bodyguard, as you fired your own weapon, concealed as your bedazzled clutch just as Eggsy’s gun was often concealed in a briefcase.

Seeing you as the weaker link, the third of the men who was yet to be shot charged you, knocking you to the ground. “Oof!” You exclaimed, the wind completely knocked out of you. Without a single word from you, Ben had shot the man straight in the head, the toxin working it’s magic of instilling a sense of loyalty toward whoever was instructing them.

You sucked in a deep breath from your place on the floor, the pain it brought already informing you that you may have a cracked rib or two. Ben offered his hand, which you took appreciatively. God you missed your office at HQ.

‘U ALRIGHT?’ Flashed across the display of your glasses, Eggsy having subtly typed the message out with his eyes from wherever he was, clearly having been watching your camera’s streaming.

“I’m fine, Galahad, just focus on your end of things,” you adopted your usual objective tone which Eggsy was so used to hearing from you on missions.

You didn’t have to see him to know Eggsy was fighting off a scowl, hating when you referred to him by his code name. He liked to say he hated how professional you were when it came to your work life, but truly, he loved your unwavering passion and commitment to Kingsman. Even if that translated to you insisting on keeping your private and professional lives separate.

Eggsy, as he followed Bates through a series of secret doors, let out a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding as he heard you through the comms. He had faith in you and your abilities as a Kingsman, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried out of his mind with you in the field with him for the first time.

“Alright, I’m in,” your voice rang out through the comms once more. “I’ve got your back, Galahad.”

Your words filled him with a sense of ease as he walked closer and closer to what was possibly an extremely dangerous situation. He knew you would always be there to get him out of hot water when he needed it.

“I know all this secrecy and security measures might seem a bit excessive, Robert, but what I’m about to tell you is highly sensitive information,” Bates began his spiel, completely oblivious to the fact that Eggsy’s glasses were recording everything he said. “As you probably know, up until a few years ago I was working on a political career of my own, using the influence I ascertained from my business’s success to try and make a difference in this country. I quickly learned that I was going to be able to change shit all. Too many right wing conservatives in my way voting down everything we tried to put forward,” he shook his head, Eggsy through his research identifying that he was clearly a man scorned by the oppression he had suffered as a gay man his whole life, absolutely desparate to make changes. “But then, just as I was about to give up, I was hit with the greatest inspiration there ever was,” a smile crept onto his face as he paused dramatically. “Valentine.”

Eggsy sighed internally, wishing for the love of God that the influence of that man would just die out already.

“To see someone come so close to changing the world for the better. That was… life changing,” there was a glimmer in Bates’ eye, which quickly disappeared as he continued on. “Obviously there were flaws in that plan, however. Leaving so many like minded people to die who would so clearly follow in his leadership. But the way he took action to make change. That was groundbreaking,” he smiled wide, looking to Eggsy now for some kind of input.

“I agree completely,” Eggsy gave Bates what he was looking for. “But what action could we possibly take?”

Somehow, the smile on Bates’ face grew even wider, mania spelt out all over his face. “I’m glad you asked,” he said, placing his hand upon the biometric scanner on the wall behind him.

At first, Eggsy thought he was just looking at an empty room, but quickly realised he was entering an observation room as the wall made completely of glass around the corner came into view. On the other side of the two way mirror, was rows upon rows of beds in a warehouse sized room a flight of stairs below where they stood. Each bed was occupied, each occupant appearing to be deceased as they laid face up, completely still with their arms by their sides. The only indication that they were alive came from the machines hooked up to their brains, displaying their brain waves as they slept.

“It may not look like it, but you are looking at the greatest army in history,” Bates explained. “Each soldier you see here is dormant, their minds made, by my scientists, to be extremely pliant. Each one of them is awaiting programming, which will be sent directly to their brains through those computers,” he pointed to the brain monitors. “My programming will make them the most obedient, most highly trained soldiers alive within seconds. Ready to overthrow the government of the United Kingdom at a moment’s notice.”

“Already working on a reversal program,” you notified Eggsy through your comms, having discovered the information Bates was divulging through a quick skim of his files.

“Who are they?” Eggsy questioned.

“The homeless, the poor, the isolated. People that won’t be missed when they disappear. All right wing conservatives,” smugness oozed from Bates’ reply. “All the people who agree with those standing in the way of making the changes this world needs. LGBT rights. Climate change prevention. Free healthcare. And with more help from people like you, Robert, we won’t just be making these changes here, we can make them on a global scale. All you have to do is enter your money into the pool of funding and you too can be a part of our little, gentlemen’s club, as we like to call it.”

“A gentlemen’s club that rules the world, eh?” Eggsy joked.

“Precisely.”

From your position in the control room, you snorted. “Great thanks for the complete confession, dickhead, that’s going to playback well in court,” you laughed quietly as you typed away, working at lightning speed to finish the program which would set Bates’ victims free of any control he had over them.

The rest of the conversation became white noise to you as you worked furiously, knowing the time Eggsy was buying you by chatting with Bates and inquiring further into the logistics was limited.

“Okay Galahad,” you spoke once more, ten minutes later, “the program is complete. I just need you to get Bates back to the party before I send the program to the computers so he doesn’t notice that anything has gone awry before the feds arrive.”

“Why don’t we go back to the party and celebrate over a bottle of champagne? I’m sure your other guests are missing you,” you heard Eggsy follow you direction over the comms.

For a moment, you couldn’t believe your luck. Your first field mission. A taped confession. All of the offenders all piled into one gala, drunk out of their minds completely oblivious to the fact that they were ten minutes away from arrest. Enough evidence to prosecute them all ten times over already sent.

Luck, of course, was not actually on your side. Little did you know, as you were patting yourself on the back prematurely, a guard was approaching the control room door to swap positions with one of the guards who now laid on the floor dead. In your haste to get to where you were needed most, behind the keyboard, you had forgotten to instruct Ben to clean up his mess.

The lights throughout the entirety of the mansion flashed red as the guard raised the alarm. Through the surveillance screen to your right, you could see the people around Eggsy go on the offensive immediately. “Ben guard the door!” you screamed, needing to protect both yourself and Eggsy simultaneously.

As soon as you yelled out, the door to the control room was open and Eggsy was into action as he started to fight off the guards he was surrounded by in the most heavily guarded area of the entire building. Ben was scuffling with the guard who had called the code red behind you as you worked furiously to lock the door to the control room and bar anymore guards from interfering with you. At the same moment the door slammed shut, a gunshot rang out.

Without thinking twice you grabbed your clutch-pistol, as Ben’s dead body fell to the floor with a thud. You were quick to turn and fire a shot straight between the man’s eyes. Just about as quick as he had been in shooting you straight through your abdomen.

“Fuck!” you exclaimed, body curling inwards as you clutched the wound.

“Merlin?” Eggsy questioned across the line, even as he fought off the guards from every side.

You stared down at the crimson seeping through your dress, ears ringing with shock.

“Merlin, I could really do with some back up right now!” Eggsy yelled across the comms, not having registered the meaning of the commotion on your end of the line. You said nothing in return, writing in pain in the chair which was quickly becoming soaked in your blood. “Y/N I can’t do this without you!” He spoke your true name, desperation evident in his voice.

His words struck something deep within you. Eggsy Unwin, the love of your life, needed you. No gunshot wound was going to stop you from saving him. You barely felt the pain as the adrenaline began to pump through your veins once more. Within seconds you have access to the guns hidden within the walls of the corridor Eggsy was in, and you were firing away at anyone who dared try and harm him.

As soon as all immediate threats to Eggsy were eliminated, you moved onto the next largest threat. William Bates running for the hills to find the nearest computer so he could launch his program and have an army at his disposal.

As he ran, you found the nearest gun in a corridor nearby and locked sights on your target. Bates crumpled to the ground with a tremendous scream as a bullet shattered his right knee cap. You smirked, despite yourself.

You glanced back to the surveillance displaying the party where all the guests were convening. The alarm and red lights had ceased, and while some were sober enough to realise that they should be on their way before trouble arrived, the majority were so drunk they just continued as they were. Despite your slip up, most of the criminals would still be brought to justice immediately.

So with what little energy was left in you, you hit send on the program you had just designed. Within thirty minutes they should regain consciousness, with their free will and identities still in tact.

You slumped in your chair, breathing out a sigh of relief. The mission was complete.The world was safe. Most importantly to you Eggsy was safe. You watched as he approached Bates, propping him up against the wall, finishing the mission the way he loved most, rubbing salt in the wound with witty remarks.

You smiled to yourself, forgetting everything but your love for Eggsy in that moment. That is, until you glanced down at your abdomen once more, remembering yourself and what exactly might be happening to you.

“Eggsy,” your use of his first name grabbing his attention immediately as you spoke softly across the line. “Eggsy I’ve been hit.”

With your words, Eggsy’s blood ran cold. No, he thought to himself, body kicking into gear before his brain did, turning and bolting back down the way he came. No no no no no.

A notification flashes across his glasses display that Kingsman’s personal medical team has been alerted and are on their way to the scene.

It doesn’t take him long to find you, remembering the route exactly from when he had been watching you to ensure you got to the control room safely. When he arrived, the door, to his dismay, was locked.

“Babe!” He yells, voice so much more desperate than it was not ten minutes earlier when he had begged for your help. “Babe open the door!”

The moment of silence between his plea and when the door opens seemed to stretch on for an age. Eggsy needing to get to you in this moment more than he thinks he’s needed anything in his entire life. The sight he’s met with seems to fill his lungs with ice. You, slumped in a chair, covered in your own blood.

“Eggsy,” you cry, your fear finally catching up with you, allowing tears to leak from your eyes.

He’s at your side in a second, ripping his jacket off and scrunching it into a ball to use to place pressure on the wound.

“Eggsy, it hurts so fucking bad,” you sob, overcome with the pain.

Eggsy swears he feels his heart physically splitting in two, watching you in absolute agony with no power to stop it. The only power he had, was to hopefully take away some of your fear. “It’s all going to be okay, babe. The paramedics are on their way and they’re going to fix you up. They’ll make the pain stop, I promise.”

As he consoles you he takes hold of your body and lowers you to the ground, allowing you to lie down and providing himself with better ability to slow the bleeding of your wound. The movement causes stars to dance before your eyes, and black dots start to cloud your vision. You shut your eyes, hoping to make it stop.

“Hey, hey, hey. Stay with me now darling. You have to stay awake,” he tries to maintain a calm tone, knowing the last thing you needed from him right now was panic, no matter how strongly he felt it.

“Why?” You ask, tears ceasing, head so groggy from blood loss you begin to lose sight of sense.

“Because,” Eggsy fights back tears, “I have a really important question to ask you. And if you go to sleep you won’t be able to give me an answer.”

Neither of you take any note of the sound of the feds arriving, raiding the charity gala and arresting everyone on the list of names you had sent them.

“Oh Eggsy…” you smile dreamily, blood loss officially making you delirious. “I think we both know my answer is a yes.”

Eggsy allows a single tear to fall, the bitter-sweetness of the moment becoming too much for him. “Agent Galahad?” He hears one of Kingsman’s personal paramedics call from down the hall.

“Hurry up!” He turns and screams in reply.

When he turns back to you, your eyes are closed and your face is completely void of expression.

“Y/N?” he asks, hoping for you to reopen your eyes. “Y/N!” he shouts, as you fail to do so. Your complete lack of response breaks down his walls, and he begins to sob over your body as the paramedics burst into the room.

In a matter of seconds he is pushed away from you, a medic taking his place in putting pressure on the wound. Another medic, takes your pulse, checking to see if there was any life left in you.

The world slows. An hour seems to pass before the medic says a word. Eggsy is sure that he’s lost you right up until the medic says, “She’s still with us,” giving everyone the go ahead to start work on you to make sure it stays that way.

Naturally, the Kingsman paramedics were some of the best, so as quickly as they had arrived, they were taking you away, already starting work on a blood transfusion to make up for your severe blood loss. Anytime a Kingsman went on a mission, the medical team had plenty of the agents�� blood on standby, for situations exactly like these. Eggsy had lost too many agents in his time as a Kingsman, so when he and Harry worked to rebuild following the wrath of the Golden Circle, he ensured there were as many safety nets available possible.

Even as they moved through the chaos that the gala had become, guests being arrested everywhere, the medical team continued their work on you. Eggsy was pushing the stretcher himself, ensuring you were getting as much attention as humanly possible. Sadly, there was only so much they could do until they got you into surgery.

Before he knew it, Eggsy was loading you into a medical truck and being instructed to sit in the front seat. Away from you.

“Bullshit-” he began, before he was quickly interrupted.

“We need the room, Galahad. Do you want to waste precious moments arguing or let us save your girl?” One of the lead medics snapped.

Without a word, Eggsy jogged up to the front seat of the truck and got in. He sat for a moment, fist quickly finding its way into his mouth to stop himself from crying again. Swiftly, he chose to channel his emotion into anger instead.

“Fuck!” he yelled, removing his fist from his mouth and smashing it onto the dash.

He should have never left you in the field alone. He should have asked another agent to come to protect you. To ensure nothing like this happened to you. He made the wrong call and he knew it.

Now, he had no idea what was going on with you. He couldn’t hear a sound coming from behind him over the sound of the siren wailing, ensuring they had the fastest path possible. Your heart could have stopped mere inches behind him and he would have no idea until he stepped out of the truck.

This thought stuck in his mind, ricocheting around through his brain up until the moment he stepped out of the truck again, scared to death of what might have happened to you in the mere minutes since he last saw you. When he did see you, it was like coming up for air after being underwater for too long. Immense relief. You were still alive. You were still with him.

But then, all too soon, you were gone again. Swept away to a private room for surgery, leaving Eggsy alone in an empty corridor. The second you disappeared behind the doorway, Eggsy fell to his knees, drained. He had asked to go into the room with you, but one of the medics had quickly replied, “Yeah because having your patient’s boyfriend doesn’t add any pressure when you’re performing surgery.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m her fiance actually,” he mumbled to the closed door.

It was the longest night of Eggsy Unwin’s life, as he sat there in the hall, awaiting either the best news of his life or the worst. It was an hour before Harry arrived, offering him a hug, which, for the first time in Eggsy’s life brought him no comfort whatsoever. Harry brought with him a couple of chairs, and a glass of water, Eggsy not realising how much he needed it until he had downed it in two gulps.

There were few words spoken between the two men. Harry knowing nothing he could say would be of any help to Eggsy in this moment. Nothing would save him from the dark thoughts he was drowning in, picturing a life without you in it. All he could do for him, and for you, was be there.

By the time the head surgeon stepped out three hours later, Eggsy felt as if he had aged a decade. Nevertheless, he was quick to jump to his feet, eager for information.

“Merlin’s surgery has gone well,” he said, removing the weight of the world from Eggsy’s shoulders. He lifted his hand to his mouth, tears of joy springing to his eyes immediately. “There was a bit of internal damage, but luckily nothing to her major organs. We’ve managed to stop all internal bleeding. From here on out, it’s just about avoiding infection and ensuring she heals properly.”

“Can I see her?” Eggsy asked, eyes glistening with hope in addition to the tears.

“Of course,” the surgeon stepped aside, allowing Eggsy through. “She should wake up in the next thirty minutes.”

Eggsy stepped forward, towards the door before stopping in his tracks. He turned and wrapped his arms around the surgeon,whom he had met all of three times, hugging him tight. “Thank you so much,” he spoke, patting him on the back before pulling back.

Much to the surprise of all men present, Eggsy started to jog down the hall, away from the girl he had been dying to see for hours.

“Eggsy where are you going?” Harry called after him.

“I have to grab something before I see her, I’ll explain later!” Eggsy called back, joy finally making its way back into his voice.

The first thing you became aware of, as the effects of the anaesthesia wore off, was the feeling of two warm hands holding your left one. Before you were even fully conscious, the first thought to enter your head was that Eggsy was here. The knowledge filled you with a sense of ease as your eyes fluttered open, as though you were awaking from a pleasant nap and not a major surgery.

Your eyes met Eggsy’s instantly, as though a magnetic force made it so. “There’s my girl,” his smile reached his tired eyes.

“Hey handsome,” you croaked, taking in his appearance. Hair disheveled, still wearing his blood splattered suit (minus the jacket, of course), glasses tucked away in his pocket. Although he looked like an absolute mess, he still looked happy, riding on the high that the good news about your health had brought.

“Oh my days. You gave me quite the scare there babe,” he forced a laugh, trying to conceal the trauma he had suffered through in not knowing whether or not you were going to make it.

“I’m sorry,” you spoke softly, not buying into his attempt at a cover up and feeling the guilt more sharply than the wound.

“You have nothing to apologise for,” he reached forward with his left hand, stroking your hair, knowing all too well just how much comfort it brought you. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I’m not sure, did anything happen after I said I would marry you?” You feigned genuity in your line of questioning.

His mouth dropped open in shock at your words. “I don’t quite remember asking!” He struggled to hold back laughter at your antics.

“Then ask,” you challenge.

“Well,” he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a little red velvet box, “good thing I grabbed this before you woke up.” He opened the box, revealing the gold ring you would recognise anywhere.

“Oh Eggsy…” you breathed out, gobsmacked at the magnitude of the gesture, “is that…?”

“The ring my dad proposed to my mum with? Yeah, yeah it is,” he smiled, “I asked her for it a couple weeks ago. Last night’s cancelled date night had been when I was planning on proposing.”

You placed your hand over your mouth, trying to contain the smile threatening to take over your entire face.

“But here we are instead. So, Y/N Y/L/N, my best friend and the love of my life, will you marry me?” He grinned, clearly already knowing your answer.

You removed your hand from your mouth to give him your answer for the second time that evening. “Eggsy Unwin of course I will marry you,” a tear slipped from your eye.

Somehow, he grinned even wider, taking your answer as permission to slip the ring onto your finger. Kissing your hand as the ring slid perfectly into place.

“Well, darling, let my first act as your fiance be telling you that you are never going on a field mission again,” Eggsy joked.

“I really wish you would just kiss me instead,” you raised an eyebrow at him.

“I can do that too.”

775 notes · View notes

mha-fanfic-writer · 4 years

Text

I would hug him

Part of the todoroki family

Name: Akari todoroki

Age:16

Quirk: white flames

Hair color: white with faded red

Eye color: blue

Description of quirk: you have white flames, you learned how to use it in different ways, You can last about an hour longer than todoroki when he uses his quirk.

Homelife: If someone were to know who had it worse you or shoto, it would be you. Your quirk was white flames. You were hotter than shots but because he had fire an ice he still continued training. But you had it worse since you lasted longer than Touya or shoto when using your quirk. Enji trained you longer than he did shoto. He was harder on you. Yet your mother’s first instinct was to go to him, completely ignoring you when you were on the floor crying. You didn’t know if it was because she knew Touya was going to come and help you or what all you knew was that you felt like she hated you. Also, you and shoto are supposed to be twins but you guys aren’t really, you guys were both born on the same day but that’s about it.

“Touya’s dead” those words from your father echoed through your head. At that moment you felt your whole world come crashing down. You felt your sibling’s eyes on you but you didn’t care. Tears started rolling down your face as you stood there shocked. Had he really just left you alone to deal with this monster you call a father. But why. Your thoughts were interrupted when fiyumi held something up in front of you. “Touya told me to give this to you on your birthday but I think you need it now.” she had tears in her eyes but she still smiled. You took the hoodie from her looking at it. It was a black hoodie with blue strings. The zipper was broken and it had a small tear on the side of it. “But this is Touya’s favorite,” you said as some tears fell onto the hoodie. You looked inside the hoodie and found a paper. You took it out and read it. “Dear Akari, it’s your big bro. I wanted to give you this, you told me you liked it a while ago, its kinda old but I hope you like it. Love you, happy birthday sis. P.S. try getting rid of that biting your lip habit” was what it said. You could feel more tears falling as you read the paper. You put the note in your pocket and put the hoodie on. It was way too big for you. It was kind of bi on him last time you saw it. The hood covered your eyes not letting you see. Natsuo lifted it up revealing your smiling face. Still teary but smiling. Shoto hugged you, you gratefully returned the hug. After that, you never took it off. Only when you were training or needed to wash it. Your 8-year-old self didn’t know how to at the time so fiyumi took care of it.

By the age of 10, you stopped calling your father, father, and called him enji or endeavor. You had so much hatred towards this man, he didn’t even seem like a man to you he seemed like a monster. You were the only one brave enough to actually fight back as your other siblings just watched. You had become cold to your family. You didn’t talk to shoto like you used to, nor fiyumi nor Natsuo, not even your own mother. All you wanted was your big brother. You all used to call him big bro Touya, he was the oldest but he was shorter than fiyumi and Natsuo. Even then he always protected you guys.

You were 13 when you ran away. You didn’t know why but something was telling you Touya was still alive. You made it your goal to find him. You were going to find him.

By the time you were 14, you were a well-known assassin. You had stopped wanting to be a hero when you were 9 but kept that to yourself. They had announced you dead too after you left. The public knew you as deadline. Your identity was a secret form everybody, the media never got a good picture of you. All they got was a girl with long white hair and that was it. Other than that the pictures were blurry. You had killed a lot of people and you had to admit you felt good. You had two goals now, find your brother, and kill endeavor.

You were 16 right now. You looked up to stain. Every word he spoke was the truth. This world was filled with fake hero’s. One that just wanted money, fame, glory. It made you sick. You kept tabs on your brother. Apparently he was going to UA now. You were watching the news in your apartment when your phone rang. “Hello this deadline speaking what can I help you with” your voice was calm, almost seductive. “We have a job for you,” the man said. “Go on,” you said. “We need you to try and kill endeavor,” the man said, you could almost hear the smirk in his tone. “Is that so,” you said putting out the cigarette you had. “We offer 1 million if you try and he doesn’t die, we give 2 million if he doses die.” the man said. “No, how about 2 million if he doesn’t die and 4 million if he does” you offered. It was silent on the other side. “Deal, we’ll send one of our guys when the jobs done, we need it done by the end of the month,” he said before hanging up. You put your phone down and smiled to yourself. “I guess I have to speed the process up a bit, oh well works for me,” you said to yourself. “Im coming enji” you sai to yourself. You giggled, that giggle turned into a laugh, then a psychotic laugh. You did your research on his whereabouts. Apparently he had a meeting next week with the top pros. You looked at where it was going to held, then you planned out everything.

The next week came by fast. You woke up earlier than usual. You noticed that the white dye was starting to wash out a bit showing the faded red at the end. You shrugged it off and figured you would redye it later. “So the meetings at 12:00 pm,” you thought to yourself as you tied your hair up in a ponytail. Your hair was long, it went down to your knees. You put on your black ripped jeans, with a white shirt. You put Touya’s hoodie on. You had fixed the tear it had, you also did something so the hood wouldn’t fall off if thongs got messy and you had to fight. You put on your white mask that had your villain name on the bottom of it. You looked in the mirror at yourself. Your eyes seemed the brightest under the hood. You had to admit you had lost some of your sanity over the years. But you felt happier away from the place you used to call home. You put the two guns on your belt, put the spear point pocket knife next to one of the guns, and put the normal straight with the other. You didn’t like using your quirk to kill, only if you had to. That would just make it easier for them to identify you. You were skilled with a knife and gun, a lot of other weapons to but these were your favorites. The spear pint was dull, you used it when you wanted them to feel more pain. You used the other when you wanted to make it quirk because it was sharp and you struggled less. When you left your place it was 10:00 am. He was walking to the meeting, apparently, he wanted to meet some fans so you figured he would start walking around 11:00 am and you were right. He was by himself. There were no other pros around right now. When he was walking through an alleyway to get away from the cameras you jumped him. You stabbed his right hand and put a white cloth in his mouth muffling the sound. You quickly did the same on the other hand but of course, he was going to put up a fight. You didn’t have to kill him even though you really wanted to. You had stabbed him 3 times and shot him 2 times. He was still standing though. He couldn’t use his flames from his hands if he did that could cause a lot of permanent damage. You used the normal straight and stabbed him in the back. When he fell on his knees you spoke. “How’s it feel getting stabbed in the back by your own child,” you said with an evil smirk. His eyes widened. He tried speaking but he was to fucked up and muffled. You laughed in front of him before he knocked out. Or died you would find out later. “It feels so good to finally do that after all these years,” you said with a relieved sigh. You heard clapping behind you. You turned around to see the number 3 hero hawks standing there. He got to endeavor and tried to stop the bleeding. “Pathetic,” you said. He sent one of his feathers to get you but you disappeared in the swirl of white fire. He waited for the others to arrive so he could look for you but he never found you. When you returned t your place you were pretty fucked up yourself. Your mask had his blood splattered on it, along with your shirt, the hoodie you could barely tell. You took off your clothes and but them in the washer. You lied down in your bra and jeans watching the news. “Pro hero endeavor stabbed and shot in an alleyway on his way to a meeting. The pro heroes claim it was the assassin villain known as deadline.” the lady continued on. You scoffed. You wrapped your head and your arms in bandages. “Stupid bird” you muttered to yourself. You had gotten into problems with him before, barely escaping. He never really saw you. He had no idea what you looked like all he knew was that you were too fucking good at your job. You were the only villain that ever got away from him.

Dabi’s POV

When I first heard my sister was dead already knew it wasn’t true. They said the same thing for me yet im still here. It wasn’t that hard to figure out deadline was her either. What amazed me but also pissed me off was the fact that she got to endeavor first. But she does have her reasons. I’ve ran into her a few times but she didn’t recognize me at all. Then again that is the point. When shigaraki told me to try and recruit her I felt pity for her. If she did join she would probably die the first week. But that handjob is my boss right now so I dont really have a choice.

Your POV

All I wanted was ramen, not to try and be recruited by the league of villains. Yes, they were a good group but why now. I’m still beaten up and my fucking ankle hurts. Why am I going with this guy. “So tell me again why your boos wanted me to join,” I asked him, He didn’t really give me detail on why before. “I dont know, what I do know is that a small fire like you is gonna get themselves killed within a week” he smirked. “Wow, clearly you dont know me,” I said giving him one of my own.

Authors POV

Dabi actually thought he did, but you had changed from that cute innocent girl from childhood. He just didn’t see it. When he saw you still had the hoodie he gave you he couldn’t help but smile a bit. You were the one person he could never hurt. Villian or not he would never. He had made you that promise back when you were 6. He might have broken a lot of promises but ht one was the only one he count break. “Zip it up,” he said when he noticed you just had your bra on with the hoodie and jeans. “Cant the zippers broken, and even then it’s fucking hot” you wined as you looked up at the sun. Maybe it was just his big brother instincts telling him to say that. “Well, just a warning, we have a crazy girl named toga. She’s a complete psychopath. Our leader is to,” he said trying to remember everybody he could. “Then there twice, he’s pretty chill, there’s this other guy, calls himself spinner. He licked collecting knives and shit” he said bluntly. You just nodded. “What about you what’s your name,” you asked. “Just call me dabi, what’s your name,” he asked. “Just call me deadline,” you said. “So are you dead,” he asked. You knew exactly what he meant by are you dead. “She’s gone, that innocent girl is gone,” you said with a small smile on your face. “So am I,” he said looking down at you. “Damn it you fucking tree, you’re too tall” you wined. “Nah your just to short,” he said patting you on the head. You were probably about 5’2 or 5’1. You forgot all you knew was that this man was too tall for you. He seemed oddly familiar, yes you had met him but you never really met him.

When you guys got to the base you were greeted by a black fog guy. “I see you got her here” he seemed like a gentleman. “Oh yeah that’s kurogiri,” dabi said. “Forgot about him,” he said as he walked to where the other girl was sitting. “So your the one who almost killed endeavor,” a guy with a hand on his face said as he scratched his neck. God, he was disgusting. “Yeah” was all you said. “Zip up your hood,” he said looking away from you. “Oh my god, the zippers fucking broken I can’t” you wined. “Dabi where did you find her,” he asked. “She was on her way to the ramen shop nearby,” he said. Shigaraki sighed. “How old are you,” he asked. “16,” you said bluntly. The girl jumped up. “Yay, im not the only girl here anymore, and shes around my age,” she said excitedly. “Oh great, another minor” shigaraki said. You ignored him. “How old are you toga,” you asked. “17,” she said happily. “Good to know,” you said with a smile. “So tell us about yourself,” spinner said as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. “If you’re trying to look edgy, stop,” you said bluntly. Some of the others just laughed. “Im being serious,” he said. Toga dragged you over to sit with her. “What do you wanna know,” you asked. “What’s your past” toa asked. “Uh, abusive dad. He wanted power more than anything. He had a lot of children just so they could be what he wanted.” you leaned back. “Me and my other brother were twins, both the youngest. I wasn’t close to him though. I was closer to my two older brothers than my twin or my sister. Especially my older brother. He protected me a lot, my mother kina just ignored me. He was there up until I was 8. He “Died,” you said rolling your eyes. “My father didn’t care, he continued training me till I felt like I was going to die. All my brother left was this hoodie. And a note” you said pulling out a piece of paper from the pocket. Dabi couldn’t blive you still had it. “Can we read it?” toga asked. “Sure,” you said handing it to her. She and dabi read it. “Aw, that’s nice,” toga said. “What did you scribble out,” dabi asked. “My name,” you said. “I’ll tell you guys it when I feel I can trust you, but only my first name. Anyways. After he left the torture never ended. I burned myself a lot.” you said lifting up your sleeve to your shoulder. There was a huge burn mark. “My father did this to me after he died, saying it was my fault,” you said as you put it down. “That son of a bitch told her it was her fault,” dabi thought to himself. “He didn’t want to accept the fact that it was his so he pinned it on me. I believed it for the longest time. When I was 9 I stopped wanting to be a hero. When I was 13 I ran away from that place. Leaving everybody behind. Not that I really cared, I know my brothers still alive. Im not that stupid.” you said shooting a glare at dabi. “I mean I’ve met him before, didn’t recognize him the first couple of times but the most recent one I knew it was him,” you said looking away as a smile appeared on your face. You really did figure it out, he wasn’t really surprised though. “What would you do if you saw him again” twice asked. You thought for a second. “First I would punch him for leaving me alone like that, them I would hug him, then punch him again for not taking me with him,” you said. The others just laughed. “Oh really,” dabi said with a smirk. You both got up. “Uh-huh,” you said as a shit-eating grin was plastered no your face. Everybody else was confused. Dabi was fine if they knew you guys were siblings as long as they didn’t know who your family was. Or your names. You both stepped closer to each other. “Do it then?” he said in a challenging voice. He thought your punch wasn’t going to be as strong as it was. When you punched him he doubled over and spit out some blood. “Woops to hard,” you said rubbing the back of your neck. “Wheres my fucking hug,” he said standing up straight. You wrapped your arms around him and he did the same. The league had no words. “Oh my god, this cute” toga said. You both pulled away and turned to her. You just smiled as you punched him again a little less hard though.

#touya #todoroki #touya todoroki #dabi #siblings #family #my hero academia #boku no academia #bnha #mha

7 notes · View notes

ant-dec-1975 · 4 years

Text

Behind His Back

I only did it because I missed him.

He'd went to America for 4 months to train for a football match with all the other sporty kids, saying that he'd be back before I even knew it and leaving me in school. Of course, we chatted online and video called but it wasnt the same. Plus, as much as I trusted him, I didn't trust the people he was with. Girls who rolled their skirts up high for him to see and boys who I swear eyed him up and down like meat.

The new kid in school didn't mean much to me. I didn't think much about him either. Sir asked me to give the guy a tour, I noticed that he barely payed attention to his surroundings and seemed to me staring at me instead. I brushed it of though, he was just new.

But then Stephen started to approach me and my friends at lunch and between lessons, he would talk and laugh with us. Eventually, we started walking home together and waiting for each other after classes. I don't know why I sad 'eventually' because it was quite sudden.

Stephen knew about my boyfriend, and he told me to call him whenever I could and he would listen while I gushed over Ant. I think that was when I realised something was off. I found myself cutting the calls of with Ant a lot earlier, and the butterflies in my stomach settled down. I didn't tell anyone, because I told myself It was just a 'phase.'

After that, it's kinda confusing. Stephen sort of helped me with everything, we became a lot closer and had those little touches that flirty people do. Sometimes, I would find myself staring at him. Sometimes, I would forget about my other friends and become intoxicated by Stephen. But...sometimes...Stephen reminded me of Ant. Forget 'reminded', he turned into Ant.

We would go places together; we would subtly flirt with each other;we would laugh together. I was really unsure about my feeling at this point, I missed Ant more and more everyday but Stephen was taking me over. By the way, this happened in the span of 2 months.

One day I came to school bright and early, planning to meet up in the library with you know who. My original plan was to wait 20 minutes for him, but I heard footsteps behind me that sounded familiar. I turned around expecting to see him smile, but his face was different. It was smoky and dark and...and...

lustful.

Not in a greedy or mean way, in a more enchanting way. He stopped in his tracks, just a few inches behind me. His sky-blue eyes, mysterious yet welcoming, reading through me and his lips a pale pink. I think he was scanning my face, his eyes were wondering everywhere.

Without warning, without any plan, without telling me, Stephen attacked my lips. Do you wanna know why I said attacked? It's 'cos that's what it literally was. He had the ferocity of an animal, moving against my lips without any effort and I moved my head in time with his. I don't think we even breathed, we were so caught up in the moment. He pushed my back onto the lockers, still snogging me senseless.

Reality hit me.

I opened my eyes and broke apart from Stephen,moved away as fast as I could. With that, I ran off into the bathroom, washed my face and stared at my pink face in the mirror. I was panting, mainly because this meant I'd cheated on Ant. I fucked up.

We avoided each other for a few days, it was so awkward and I felt like being sick. The calls with Ant felt horrible, I felt like he could tell what had happened and hated me. I still had slight feelings for him, and I hated that I couldn't choose.

Ant's sister found me after school one day, tears streaming down her face and her eyes blotchy and red. Guilt immediately flooded through me, my heart sinking with it. Ant had trusted me to look after her, and now?! I'll never forget the words that next left her mouth, "You tell him, or I will."

"What? Tell? What-who do I tell what?"

Sarha's eyes were more than fire. They were molten lava and they were burning through me, they screamed, 'I hate you.' The thought hurt a lot, she was like another sister to me. But my world stopped when she said, "You-I- I saw it. You and-and that STEPHEN. In the-the morning," her words were slurred and quick, she was erupting with anger," you, YOU-KISSED HIM DECLAN."

I had nothing to say. Nothing could take back the past.

"DECLAN. YOU FUCKING SNOGGED HIM," Sarha yelled, somehow not spitting in the process. I was used to seeing her eyes filled with love and compassion and care, but she couldn't bare to look me in the eye.

I remained silent, whatever I said wouldn't help.

"ARE YOU GOING TO TELL HIM?" She put emphasis on each word, pronouncing each letter with precision.

I opened, planning to say something that would comfort her, but I probably looked like a fish. Sarha still had an evil glint in her eye, so I managed to get something out of my mouth," I-uhh."

Pathetic.

"If you don't tell him by the end of tomorrow," Sarha looked around us and took a deep breathe, "then I will."

She left me standing on the pavement, looking lost and guilty. I had a horrible ache in my heart, sinking me down with it. The guilt that crashed through me was too much. Too much so that I ram straight home, sprinted to my room and cried on the floor. The tears never stopped, they were tormenting me, they were torturing me, however, I was sure they were punishing me. I was punching everything in sight. Trying to get rid of the horrible feeling. I screamed and I yelled and I wailed.

I didn't want to tell Ant. It would break his heart, I was sure of that.

The next morning was gloomy and dull. I avoided Stephen and Sarha in the corridors, I planned to hang out with David, he was one of my best friends.

David found me first, instead of the joyous twinkle in his eyes, his jaw was hardened. "Is it true?" he asked me, his voice above a whisper.

"What?"

"Sarha, I found her crying."

I gulped, by the look on David's face, I was sure that she'd told him everything. "Why was she crying?"

He looked at me for a solid 10 seconds. It felt like I was being examined to see if I was carrying a gun. The stoic expression never left him. "So, it's true."

"David-David please. I didn't-I just-"

"Dec, what were you thinking." I wanted him to be angry, I wanted him to shout at me and tell me that I'd been an idiot. I would have preferred him to slap me to what he actually did.

"I'm disappointed," his voice was distant and forlorn, "I don't know how you could do that to him." I'd never heard David this sad before. "Why?"

A lone tear was struggling down my face, turned out I wasn't the only one who noticed it.

"You shouldn't be crying." He said, "I don't want to talk to you. Again." And then he left me, with more tears streaming down my face. He walked of past the door to talk to Holly and Phil, but not before he gave me a dirty look.

I was more than broken. I was wrecked with guilt and pain, it dragged me down. I was a sinking ship, with no chance of survival left. All I could do was give myself into the water and accept fate.

As much as I tried to deny it, it remained in the back of my mind. I told myself it wasn't true, that it couldn't be true. But trying doesn't always work, the truth always interferes.

I liked the kiss. I enjoyed it.

I hated myself for it.

The rest of the day was boring, I didn't want to talk to anyone, or see anyone. Sarha caught my eye once, her face was emotionless.

So I told myself that would be the night, the night that I called Ant and told him everything. I needed to get Stephen out of my head, after all, I only loved Ant...right?

At the last minute, I changed my mind, deciding to call him the next day.

The next day, at 5pm, I stood in a restaurant toilet. I didn't want to do it at home, a public space would make me feel less lonely. It was also the restaurant Ant and I had went for our first date. I dialled his number, finger shaking with each press.

"Ant?"

"Hi." For some reason, it sounded as if he was in a really crowded place. But it would only be morning in America right now.

"I-I need to tell you something," I stuttered out, snakes were slithering up my spine, hairs stood up on my neck.

"Do you want to tell me over the phone or-"

I heard the toilet door open.

"Or to my face."

#antanddec #antanddecfanfiction

2 notes · View notes

bestillmyslashyheart · 5 years

Text

the one left behind

In hindsight, it made sense. Roswell was home, for all of them, but that didn’t mean it was safe. At the time, of course, it felt like one hit after another and Maria wasn’t sure how she would survive.

Liz was first. Or, more accurately, Rosa was first. Waking up from a decade long coma to the realization that the world thought you were dead and hated you for it would be a shock for anyone. For Rosa, it was the last straw. She’d always been planning to leave, had been trying to leave when Noah-via-Isobel killed her. To her credit, she made it almost two weeks in 2019 before she split, stealing Liz’s car and leaving Roswell in her rearview mirror.

Maria had barely gotten over the shock of seeing Rosa alive (and learning that aliens were real and had both tried to kill her and revived her) before Liz was hugging her tightly and apologizing profusely. She’d lost her sister once, like hell was she going to do it again. Less than a day after Rosa left, Liz piled her stuff into Max’s car and took off after her.

The next one surprised her more than she’d thought possible. Rosa Ortecho, alive and well? She could (eventually) wrap her mind around that. Michael Guerin packing up his truck and his Airstream and leaving Roswell? That was somehow harder. Guerin had been her constant. While Liz and Alex had left, Guerin had always been there, ever present and utterly dependable in his own weird way. Maria wasn’t sure she’d ever forget the image of him driving his trailer past the Welcome to Roswell sign.

He didn’t plan on coming back. He hadn’t actually said those words when he told her was leaving but she didn’t need to be a psychic to see that. Roswell held too many painful memories and not enough good ones.

With Guerin gone, Maria supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised that Isobel followed not long after. Of course, she said she wasn’t actually following him, something about them each needing to find their own paths, but she didn’t stick around town for long after he was gone. She packed up her house, setting a spectacular bonfire of all of Noah’s things in the process, and sold her house. She gave Maria her phone number and email address in case something alien happened and she needed to get in touch but she didn’t leave a forwarding mailing address. Maria suspected that was because Isobel had no idea where she was going. She was probably going to get in her car and drive until she didn’t see her abusive ex-husband or Max’s ghost around every corner.

It was a stressful month, to say the least. In 30 days, Maria went from maybe starting a relationship with her best friend’s ex to finding out aliens were real and one of her oldest friends in the world was alive and well after a decade, to losing the people she’d unexpectedly grown closest to. The only ones left in Roswell with her were Kyle Valenti and Alex. And she and Alex weren’t speaking.

It would have made sense in high school for her and Kyle to be friends. He dated her best friend for almost three years, after all, but they’d never been close. It was strange, being close to 30 and finally getting to see just what it was Liz had seen in that dick of a teenager Kyle had been. He was actually a pretty cool guy, Maria was happy to find out.

It made his departure a month after Isobel’s hurt all the worse. She knew the second he walked into the Pony that night that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. His aura was shrouded in guilt but also exquisite happiness. Between that and his face, she knew before he opened his mouth that he was leaving, too.

“Where to next, Dr. Valenti?” She plastered a smile on her face as she served him his usual without waiting for him to order.

He glanced at the drink and then her face and smiled crookedly. “Nigeria, first, I think.”

Maria arched an eyebrow in question.

“I was accepted to work with Doctors Without Borders. I need to leave within the week.” As he spoke, he couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face, his lips turning upwards almost against his will and Maria couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“Kyle, that’s awesome.” She reached across the bar to squeeze his hand. “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks, Maria.” His smile was bright against the slight gloom in the bar. “I’m sorry to leave you here-”

Maria waved him off. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Always am,” she added cheekily. His smile turned a little sad but she wouldn’t let it drop. “So. Tell me all about it. When did you hear about it?”

She let him prattle on happily about his new job and the next week she gave him a proper send off, on the house. He sent her a lovely worded text very early the next morning that told her he both appreciated and resented the night. In other words, it was perfect.

And then there were two.

It was strange to think that she and Alex had once been as close as siblings. She’d known that kissing Michael would be a mistake but she hadn’t fully understand the ramifications until she’d lost Alex. Oh, he was always friendly and polite when they crossed paths, but the warmth and close friendship they’d once shared was gone. Maria had hope that the one silver lining to finding out everyone had been lying to her for months and then losing them one by one would be that she and Alex could bond again but that hadn’t happened.

In the month following Isobel’s departure, Maria only ever saw him for more than a second when he was with Kyle. They’d come into the Pony some nights and he’d make friendly conversation but he always kept his distance, emotionally speaking. Even his aura was closed off to her. After Kyle left, it was like Alex became a ghost. He didn’t come into the Pony anymore and she never saw him in passing around town. If she hadn’t overheard someone mentioning seeing him in the grocery store, she might’ve thought he’d left to.

But he couldn’t. The one good part about his military service, Maria struggled to think, was that he was obligated to stay in Roswell until he was discharged.

It was almost two months after Kyle left, over three since Rosa came back to life and everyone fled Roswell like it was on fire, when Maria put on her big girl pants and drove out to Sheriff Valenti’s old hunting cabin. She’d had to ask Kyle where Alex lived and if that wasn’t an indication of how lackluster of an attempt they’d made to reconnect when Alex moved home, she didn’t know what was. Even before Michael came between them, they hadn’t been the friends they once were and Maria missed him.

The truck parked next to the cabin was standing with its doors flung open and the trunk half full of boxes when Maria drove up. She fingered the bottle of tequila in the passenger seat before leaving it there as she got out of the car.

The front door to the cabin was wide open and she could hear someone moving around inside. Grunts and curses filled the air as Alex came stumbling through the door, a large box in his hands. Maria waited as he shuffled over to his car and added the box to the load.

“Hey,” she greeted softly when his hands were free. Alex tensed but didn’t look to startled so she assumed he’d heard her pull up. “Going somewhere?”

Alex sighed and nodded, turning towards her with a blank expression. “New posting.”

Maria blinked in surprise. “What? You’re being relocated? I thought your service was up?”

“It was,” he admitted slowly. “And then I re-upped. Turns out they don’t need me in Roswell so I have a week to report to my new posting. Which is not in New Mexico.” He turned away and disappeared into the house. Maria followed before she could think better of it.

“You’re leaving?” Maria asked, needing him to say it again for some reason.

“Yes.”

Maria opened her mouth to say something then closed it again when she realized she didn’t have anything to say. Alex didn’t pause in his movements. He moved slowly but surely through the living room and kitchen, piling the last of his things into boxes and taping them up.

“Were you going to tell me?” Maria’s voice wavered and she cleared her throat. “Or was I going to find out you were gone too by coming out to an empty cabin?”

Alex chuckled. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Why would you be coming out here? I’ve been back over a year and you’ve never come by. Not once. I didn’t even think you knew where I was living, honestly.” Maria looked away, unwilling to admit she’d had to email Kyle for his address. Liz hadn’t known either when she’d asked her. “But yes, I was going to tell you. I was planning to stop by the Wild Pony on my way out of town.”

“Oh. That’s g-,” Maria cleared her throat. “Thank you. I guess.”

“Everyone else is gone,” Alex commented idly as he taped up another box. “Didn’t want to disappear without a word. Just in case you might-” He stopped.

“Might what?” Maria asked. “Worry?” She barked out a harsh laugh. “Do you honestly think I wouldn’t worry if you were gone? Hell, I’ve been worried about you since you left for Basic Training ten years ago. I thought we were coming up on the end of my having to worry about you. But no, you had to go sign up for more!” Alex didn’t turn around and it only stoked her anger. “Why the hell would you go back for more, Alex?”

“Why not?” He didn’t quite shrug. “Being in the military gives me access to the Project Shepherd files and the means to dig deeper.” Maria had to wrack her brain for a moment to remember what Project Shepherd was before remembering the massive government conspiracy into Michael and his family.

“You’re doing this for Michael.” Maria had meant for it to be a question but it came out a statement.

Alex paused in his movements. “Partly,” he agreed. “But I’m also doing it to undo every evil thing my family’s ever done. And because I didn’t have any particular reason not to do it.” He straightened up and turned to face her. “Look, why are you here Maria? Is there something you need?”

She stared at him for a beat before shaking her head and shrugging. “I miss you. I miss- I don’t know, I miss my friend. I know things got fucked up between us and I wanted to try and fix that.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Yeah. Things did get fucked. And- and I’d like to fix it too but I don’t think we can. At least not now.”

“So that’s it?” Maria swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. She’d had breakups hurt less than this.

Alex ran a hand over his hair. “I don’t know, Maria. If I was staying in Roswell I’d say no, of course not, we’d fix it. But I’m leaving. And I don’t know where I’ll be posted next but I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be here.”

Maria nodded. “And after? Where will you go when your service is up? Or will you keep re-upping?”

“I don’t know. You’re asking me something that I probably won’t think about for another four years, at least.”

“Right. Sorry, I guess I don’t know. I guess I’m wondering if this is the last time we’ll ever see each other.” Maria wrapped her arms around her stomach, hugging herself lightly. “I don’t- I don’t want this to be the end of us, Alex. How can- how can we just be out of each other’s lives like this?”

Alex sat down heavily on a chair. “I don’t know, Maria.” Maria was really getting sick of hearing him say that. “I don’t feel like this is something we can fix through a phone. Maybe it’s better to just let it go. Remember the good times we had growing up.”

Maria breathed out through her nose. “I’m really fucking sick of having memories and shit else. I get- I get that Liz had to leave because of Rosa. Hell, I get that Kyle got a job he couldn’t say no to. I get that the Air Force tells you where to go and you can’t argue with that. Hell, I even get why Isobel freaking Evans split town. But what about me? Everyone’s so desperate to leave this town and all its bad memories behind while I’m still here. I’m still here and I get lumped in with the bad memories. And now you want to- to just- pretend we stopped being friends after high school?!” Maria closed her eyes. “I’m really sick of people leaving, Alex.”

Alex didn’t say anything. Eventually, she heard a shuffling sound as he got to his feet and started walking. Maria pressed her eyes closer together so she wouldn’t have to watch him walk out the door and leave her to her tears.

The arms that wrapped around her shoulders were a surprise but Maria didn’t dwell on that. She just sank into Alex’s embrace and buried her face in his shoulder as he hugged her tight.

“Y’know,” Alex began quietly after a while. “You’re not the first to point out I have a history of leaving and not staying in touch.” He paused. “I’m trying this new thing I like to call not being a shitty friend. I’m not great at it, admittedly. But I’m willing to try. If you want to.”

She nodded into his shoulder. “I do. We’re probably going to suck at it. At least at first.”

“Probably,” he agreed. “But we’re quick learners, right?”

“Right.” Her voice sounded firmer than she felt.

Alex left not long after that. Turns out, she’d shown up on his literal last day in Roswell and he couldn’t stick around or he wouldn’t make it to his next posting in time. Maria broke out the tequila and they toasted farewell to the cabin and then she helped him load up the last of his boxes before watching him drive away.

#roswell fic #rnm #my fic #this will be continued #currently debating between one or two more parts #long post

51 notes · View notes

buffster · 5 years

Text

The Yoko Factor (BTVS 4.20)

This is part of my ongoing Buffyverse Project, where I write notes/meta for every episode in an attempt to better understand the characters and themes of the shows. You can find the BTVS list here and the ATS list here. Gifs are not mine.

All I remembered about the Scooby fight was that it happened. I had forgotten how, and I actually do think it makes more sense now. It wasn’t about their friendship, it was about attacking each of their insecurities and making them feel that everyone else in the group had noticed them too. This was possible because the friendship has been so fractured that no one feels supported or even seen. They have no reason not to think they’re being judged.

Unfortunately, the resolution to all this never really comes around. There is a ton of good stuff here--Buffy’s increased reliance on herself, Willow’s moving away from her computer skills and into witchcraft as a solution to everything, Xander not feeling respected and seeing Anya as an extension of that, Giles losing his sense of leadership and importance--but we never really get an acknowledgement of any of that until much later. And the real problem that Spike landed on--that the Scoobies aren’t paying a bit of attention to one another--gets a quick patch over but continues to be a problem. Yes, Buffy isn’t judging Willow, but is that a good thing or just a symptom of her ignoring her entirely?

Spike is the one who comes up with this plan to incite drama, which I do feel makes sense for his character. He’s insightful and incredibly good at stuff like this. It’s also fun to see his perspective on Buffy and how fascinated/afraid of her he is. He keeps insisting to Adam that he needs to consider her a bigger threat. You can sense the admiration beneath the irritation.

Adam: You feel smothered. Trapped like an animal, pure in its ferocity, unable to actualize the urges within… Clinging to one truth like a flame struggling to burn within an enclosed glass… That a beast this powerful cannot be contained. Inevitably it will break free and savage the land again… I will make you whole again. Make you savage.

This is the episode in which Forrest is killed. He claims his problem with Buffy is that Riley is willing to commit treason over her and turn against their “family”. I would have loved to see some more backstory on Forrest: either have him be an orphan who found his family through Riley and now he feels abandoned or have him have a romantic interest in him. Then you could even have had him join Adam willingly as a way to get his family back.

Angel’s return also doesn’t fit into the story well. I covered over in Sanctuary why his coming here made no sense, and his drama with Riley was nothing but fan-baiting. It also felt like a bit of a step back for Angel’s character; he always seems less mature over on Buffy. On Angel he seems sad but resigned to the fact that he can’t have Buffy and she comes off as wanting more than he can give. But here he seems like a petty, jealous ex. I don’t see a scenario where he would like Riley, but beating him up, refusing to explain he’s not evil, and insinuating he might have slept with Buffy is ridiculous. The end scene where he says “I don’t like him” in a tone of resigned sadness makes more sense than everything before it.

Buffy: Look, I… you weren't entirely wrong, what you said in L.A. We don't live in each other's worlds anymore. I can't just barge in on yours and make judgments.

Angel: I'm still sorry.

Buffy: Thank you.

Xander is the one who gives Riley the information on what turned Angel evil. Why does he have this habit of venting inappropriately when it comes to Buffy’s boyfriends (here, and when he tells Dawn Spike tried to rape Buffy)? In the script Xander decides to tell Riley even though it’s clear Buffy doesn’t want him to know, but in the episode it plays like Xander accidentally spilled the beans.

As far as Buffy’s decision on this, I get it. It’s a bit easier for Willow, for example, to be totally honest with Tara about her past with Oz. She loved him, the wolf thing became a problem, he left. Angel will always hold power over Buffy and she will always have feelings for him, and basically the only reason they’re not together is because they can’t be. How do you tell a boyfriend that if your ex suddenly became human you’d be tempted to run right back into his arms? It’s unresolved and messy.

Riley: I went a little nuts, you know? I mean, on the one hand, I should believe in us. But, on the other, sometimes things just happen between ex's and then I saw he was bad

Buffy: He wasn't bad.

Riley: Seriously? That's a "good" day? Well there you go. Even when he's good he's all Mr. Billowy Coat King of Pain and girls really-

After their talk they say I love you to each other and then Buffy has to tell him about Forrest. He abruptly leaves, and the cliff-hanger is that he goes to Adam.

Let’s get in to the Scooby drama. It’s clear Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles haven’t been paying much attention to each other lately, but you know who has been paying attention? Spike.

Spike: Think you're neglecting the past tense there, Rupert. Besides, she barely listened when you were in charge. I've seen the way she treats you.

We’ve seen a few hints that Giles is insecure about losing his job as librarian and, more importantly, Watcher. He was fired way back in season three, but when Buffy belonged to the Council she continued to look to him for guidance and ignored the replacements. When she decided to drop the Council and stop taking orders she also stopped looking to him. She’s the leader now.

Xander: This is so like them lately. It's all about them and the college life. You know what college is? It's high school without the actual going to class. Well, high school was sort of like that too but the point is, I'm the one working hard to earn a living and it's a huge joke to them.

Anya: They look down on you.

Xander: And they hate you…

Anya: But they don't look down on me.

Xander is struggling to find his footing post-high school, which we actually have seen hints of throughout. The ironic part is Buffy and Willow will be in the same place after college, but by then Xander is finding a place in construction and doing a bit better. Spike suggests they mentioned him going to the military, which was a strange choice. It would be fairly easy for them to shut down having ever said that if it came up. Spike only gets away with it because the fight is so chaotic.

Willow: I am a whiz!

Tara: She is a whiz.

Willow’s insecurity is about her new relationship with Tara and her friend’s feelings about it. Spike slips up here; he says Xander said she was being trendy but Xander doesn’t even know about the relationship at this point. Spike points out something interesting here--Willow isn’t as focused on her computer skills lately. But that’s not something she or anyone else will be concerned about for awhile.

Spike doesn’t say anything to Buffy, which makes sense because she’s sort of the center of this whole universe. Buffy has a lot of concerns, but her friends not liking or needing her isn’t one of them. The interesting thing about all this drama is that none of the friends care a bit about what the others are going through; they’re too focused on their own drama. Buffy and Willow don’t think about Xander’s employment issues, Buffy and Xander don’t think about Willow’s sexual preferences or her obsession with wicca, and Buffy, Xander, and Willow don’t think about Giles’ lack of employment in any real way.

Tensions escalate when they all convene at Giles’ house because everyone is overly sensitive (Buffy is totally lost).

Giles: You never train with me anymore. Adam's gonna kick your ass.

Buffy: Giles?!

Giles: Sorry! Didn't mean to be so honest. Terribly sorry.

After seeing Forrest die, Buffy isn’t eager for anyone to come along with her. And that just further taps into their feelings of inadequacy.

Xander: And if I did join the army I'd be great. You know why? Because maybe they'd give me a job that couldn't be done by any well-trained Border Collie.

Willow: Sure, you'd be wonderful in the army -- you think the umbilical cord between you and Anya would stretch that far?

Xander: I knew it. I knew you hated her.

Willow: Hey, I'm not the one being judgmental, here. I'll leave that territory to you and Buffy.

Buffy: Judgmental? If I was any more open minded about the choices you two make my whole brain would fall out.

Xander: Oh. And superior. Don't forget that. Just because you're better than us doesn't mean you can be all superior.

Buffy: Guys, stop this. What happened to you today?

Willow: It's not today. Buffy, everything's been wrong for a while. Don't you see that?

Buffy: Willow, what do you mean things have been wrong? Things don't have to be wrong, do they?

A major problem with the Scooby friendship is that Buffy is the leader--and she is both too distracted and too inclined to ignore emotional issues to lead effectively. Buffy is an avoidance type and so the entire group avoids talking or working through their feelings with each other. This is something Giles noticed in Once More With Feeling but it never gets fixed. The group is missing someone like Faith or Spike...someone who would be more willing to call out issues and bring them out in the open. Buffy hates that, but sometimes it’s necessary. Just look what happened to everyone in season six...

Character Notes:

The Initiative: They want Riley back. They (correctly) realize they can’t harm Buffy if they ever want to bring him back into the fold. When the relationship between them ends they do eventually lure him back, so good call there.

Spike: We learn he can’t even point a useless gun with the chip in his head. It appears to be activated by intent to harm rather than ability, which makes sense. He lists his past fun night outs as deflowering a virgin princess, killing a minister mid-sermon, and seeing the Sex Pistols in ‘76.

Adam: His favorite Beatles song is ‘Helter Skelter’.

#theyokofactor #doug petrie #buffy summers #willow rosenberg #xander harris #rupert giles #spike #anya jenkins #angel #buffy/angel #riley finn #buffy/riley #xander/anya #tara maclay #willow/tara #forrest gates #adam #buffy/spike

11 notes · View notes

ficsrus · 5 years

Text

fic recs: bts

this one’s a bit lengthy folks. have fun reading. make sure to give kudos and comments and lots of love to the authors!

namjin—

*prudence in the face of adversity: rated E, 7k

“But we’re not a girl group, hyung, there’s like…” Namjoon waves his hands in the air as he explains, “identity issues and gender issues and how are we supposed to dance with b—our bodies in this condition,” he finishes weakly. “And we can’t do publicity like this, or rehearse, and I don’t want to call the president and Seokjin-hyung is bleeding and I don’t know how to pick these things out from the store so could Hobi and I please just take a bit of money to the store to get things for Jin-hyung because he’s crying…”

[In which the entirety of Bangtan wakes up as women, and Namjoon is confused and put-upon.]

ch4otick gayz: rated T, 17k [includes vhopemin & yoonkook]

[EM0 CRAKHED]

jeon can't kook: jfc,,

jeon can't kook: sorry guys i took care of it,

jeon can't kook: i gave him like 3 tablets of Benadryl he's out

hobi-wan kenobi: kook, you're supposed to only take 1

jeon can't kook: ......

jeon can't kook: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ guess he'll die.

yoonmin—

hands down: rated T, 43k

Hoseok wouldn’t stop talking about him. It was Jimin this, Jimin that, Jimin was so cute, Jimin was so talented, Jimin danced so well and he was so nice- Yoongi had to control the impulse to roll his eyes the minute his name came out of Hoseok’s mouth.

So, yeah, maybe Yoongi was already predisposed towards disliking Park Jimin for some very valid reasons but this? This took the fucking cake.

the songbird and the sea: rated M, 256k [minor taekook and namjin]

In a world where dominance of the sea is an endless battle between pirates and mariners, Park Jimin is content living in his little village on a small, uninteresting island by the eastern mainland. He wants nothing to do with the bloodshed of good and evil, the heartless killing of both innocents and condemned, the constant establishment and disruption of order. What he wants is peace, to live his life in the same town he was born in, to spend his days in the beautiful forest, and to use the powers of his Blessed Rune to nurture the home he loves so dearly.

But when his island is attacked by pirates, Jimin will have no other choice than to do as they command and leave all thoughts of peace behind in favor of boarding the Agust, a pirate ship captained by the infamous Min Yoongi, Black Fox of the East.

*flashflood: rated E, 15k

A handjob a week is not much for Jimin to live off of.

Jimin thinks it’s sort of like the equivalent of feeding someone nothing but peas for all three meals of the day: sure, peas are all well and good, but eating peas and only peas for any extended period of time is going to result in some serious vitamin deficiencies. And probably some other bad stuff, although Jimin doesn’t actually know all that much about it.

composure: rated E, 131k

Everyone has secrets.

Everything in Jimin's life changed the day he presented as an Omega. It's as though the world were grabbed out from under him, launching him into a special hell not meant for someone with as much fire and potential as him.

This is why when Jimin is given the opportunity to stop being an Omega, he takes it.

What Jimin hadn't anticipated, is meeting his roommate, Yoongi, or realizing his entire cover will be blown if he can't stop going so crazy over that cinnamon and mint scent he has.

Too bad that is the least of his worries...

*(This is a story containing serious and dark themes with disturbing elements which become more prevelant as the story progresses.)

jikook—

*On Patrol: rated M, 130k [includes yoonseok & namjin; read the sequel here]

Officer Jeon has his eyes on Mr. Adorable.

Officer Min has a strange neighbor he can't seem to keep out of his life.

Captain Kim finds comfort in his son's homeroom teacher.

Well, cops need some loving too, right?

under the mistletoe (with you): rated G, 5k

Jimin and Jungkook try to get Yoongi and Hoseok together during the holidays but it doesn't really go as planned.

The White Wolf’s Shadow: rated T, 41k [includes yoonseok, namjin, & taekook]

Jeongguk, a powerful Alpha in line for his father’s throne, needs a mate to wear the crown. When Jimin, an alluring Omega and foreign Prince, comes to re-cement their alliance everything seems to fall into place… against their wishes. Jeongguk, forced to decide what's more important, his own happiness or his people; and Jimin whose carrying deadly secrets that place the fate of everyone on his shoulders, are forced to come together. With enemies on all sides will they be able to overcome their struggles and do what has to be done?

Jeongguk and Jimin’s wolves have liked each other from the start, but when they are forced into an arranged marriage both parties are unhappy about it for various reasons. Neither wants to admit it, but both find themselves falling for the other as time goes on.

yoonjin—

heists and hearts: rated T, 95k [minor jihope and vmon]

"Give me a number,” Yoongi says when Namjoon finally turns around in his computer chair. Namjoon looks at him and sighs.

"One."

It's not the first time he's stumped with one plan. Namjoon looks at Yoongi, eyes trained on him like a hawk. “One?” Yoongi asks, voice low. “One,” Namjoon repeats, “and you’re not going to like it.”

There’s a hint of curiosity in Yoongi’s eyes and a question attempts to come out from his lips. But instead, Namjoon hears the order from his partner.

“Call them in.”

a little water clears us of this deed: rated T, 4k

All Yoongi wanted was to read Macbeth and pass his Literature class in peace, not catch the attention of Kim Seokjin.

*best served cold: rated E, 16k

[They say when you / embark on a journey / of revenge, dig two graves. They underestimate me. (mr state trooper. please don’t stop me. please don’t stop me.)]

After Yoongi's parents get killed by the mob, Yoongi sets out to avenge them. No matter what it takes.

he’ll come back for the honey and you: rated E, 18k

“Cooking is attractive. Like playing guitar, it demonstrates your prowess with your hands, your sophisticated knowledge of an art form... But it goes deeper than that. Cooking is a shared experience, a way to express yourself to someone you care about.”

Or: Seokjin is no stranger to a little sugar. However, Yoongi is the sweetest thing he’s come across in a long time, and there's no recipe telling him exactly what he should do next.

a ballad for you: rated T, 3k

tumblr prompt from anon: "Hi, do you take requests that aren't smut? I'd like to see YoonJin where Jin mistakes Yoongi for his blind date."

[At this point, Seokjin only has one thing to say about his date; he needs to show the hell up.]

everything i need: rated M, 12k

“Sorry I’m late, babe. Traffic was awful,” the man is saying. He flashes a bright, gummy smile at Seokjin and nods apologetically at the waitress. “I’m sorry. Can we have five more minutes to look at the menu?”

He waits until she is gone before he leans across the table and says in a low voice. “I’m Yoongi. Just play along okay? Whoever didn’t bother to show up is a dick.”

Or, the one where Seokjin is a single dad. His son is in love with the music their first floor neighbour plays on the piano, and the last thing Seokjin expects is to fall for the man behind the music.

déjà-brew : rated T, 7k

according to his employees, seokjin has a crush on the cute guy that comes around and orders an americano every single day. what they don’t know, and what seokjin hasn’t told them yet, is that they’re actually married. (he has his reasons, okay?)

yoonseok—

same damn hunger: rated E, 40k

When it comes to fucking around with his best friend, Yoongi follows two rules:

1. They must be inebriated.

2. They must not kiss.

the daily grind: rated E, 8k

hoesock87: I refuse to believe that u didn’t just google “cute asian twink” to get that selfie

yoongay: i am a cute asian twink. r u tryna fuck me or no

(or: yoonseok meet on grindr)

and one musn’t tell lies: rated M, 46k

Yoongi wants to fly so bad he's ready to break the rules for that. Jung Hoseok is the worst collateral damage possible. (Stop lying).

*days to weeks to months: rated M, 10k

Yoongi’s just trying to date the possible love of his life, Jung Hoseok. But the package deal includes five asshole friends and a theoretically infinite number of disasters.

Basically: a series of moments where Yoongi wonders why his friends and also god hate him.

see, i’ve got plans (to get to you): rated T, 11k

Yoongi and Hoseok have a game plan.

(Or: The one where Yoongi takes three tries to propose to Hoseok.)

single pringle: rated T, 7k [includes jikook and namjin]

Where Yoongi owns a restaurant that is a date hot-spot and he is single and salty at all the couples streaming into his restaurant on a daily basis. Not only that, but somewhere along the way he's gotten himself a couple of gay regulars who won't go away. And maybe someone who makes him a little less salty at the end too.

**halcyon: rated M, 27k [includes minjoon]

The only explanation for how two demons have found themselves on Earth is a simple one: Jung Hoseok loves to gamble and Min Yoongi can't resist a good game.

junghope—

blue flame special: rated E, 106k [minor vmin]

hoseok just got dumped and now a clearly under aged bartender is refusing to serve him a much needed round of shots.

("can you do this teenage angst thing some other time? my ex just walked in with his new boyfriend and i could really use some liquid cowardice."

the kid narrows his eyes in the direction hoseok had nodded toward. "seokjin hyung's your ex?")

hoseok nods. "you know him?"

"yeah," jeongguk glares at hoseok and begins stepping away, definitely refusing to serve him any drink at all. "he dumped me for you.")

yoonjihope [?? essentially yoongi/hoseok/jimin]—

**good things always belonged to everyone: rated E, 9k

Yoongi is trying to accept his part as the beta in a polyamorous relationship with an alpha and an omega. Little by little he notices just how unfitting that role is.

yoonkook—

soft melodies and softer touches: rated E, 11k

[22:39; I see the way you look at me, hyung.]

Yoongi's world stands still, and in that moment, he wants nothing more than to wring Jimin's neck. It's Jeongguk, it has to be Jeongguk, who else would it be? Yoongi knows many dancers--unfortunately Jimin's one of them--but there's only one that he's on close terms with, and whose number he doesn't have.

Jeongguk. It's Jeongguk. It's fucking Jeongguk.

(OR: Jeongguk's a contemporary dancer, and Yoongi is his academy's pianist).

take me out (the date way or the assassination way): rated T, 7k

jin [8:01] theres a mysterious hot guy on campus that yoongi keeps running into like a damn romantic drama but every time they meet he ends up nearly killing yoongi

tae [8:01] kinky

with a bang (stunted plants can bloom): rated M, 24k

what not to do when you find yourself falling for the guy you almost slept with but then didn’t because he turned out to be your friends’ roommate: a guide by min yoongi

flower boys: not rated, 3k

“it was pretty,” namjoon protests, trying to defend himself. “and it was a gift from a fan. wouldn’t she have been troubled to have to take it home?”

“and you brought it back to let it die?” yoongi interjects, dry as sand. he rises to his feet, dusting off his jeans. “you gonna take care of it, namjoonie?”

“how hard can it be,” namjoon says, but he sounds hesitant, like he knows his own annihilatory powers will trump his determination. “it’s a small plant. it needs water, sunlight, and air. we can provide all of those. piece of cake.”

(yoongi and jungkook take care of a plant together.)

i know i’ll fall in love with you, baby: rated T, 31k

The soulmate/soulbond au where Yoongi is part of a famous rap duo and Jungkook is his diligent fanboy, they meet at a fansign and things escalate from there

(alt. Yoongi didn’t sign up for this)

i blow up buildings (but i’d blow you): rated T, 8k

“Yoongi,” says Namjoon, his tone allowing no argument. He holds the boy an arms length in front of him and smiles painfully. “Meet Jeongguk. He’s your new bodyguard.”

Yoongi sputters and decides to argue anyway, because fuck no. “I said I don’t need a bodyguard, Namjoon.”

(Or, the AU where Yoongi has been receiving death threats from an enemy organisation known as Skeletal, and Jeon Jeongguk is the lucky bastard brought in to be his bodyguard. Yoongi tries to hate him. He really does.)

all the light we cannot see: rated T, 64k

“i’m not your servant!”

“you are on my ship now, and anyone on my ship does what i say,” snaps yoongi, and when he takes a step closer to jeongguk, jeongguk realizes that he’s actually taller than yoongi. strangely, he hadn’t noticed it before, because yoongi doesn’t seem like a small man. especially now, with that fiery look on his face, he seems larger than life—but jeongguk refuses to back down. it’s a bad idea to argue, he knows, but jeongguk has never been very good at stopping himself from doing something he’ll regret.

(or: when jeongguk finally gets his chance to sail the cosmos, it’s onboard the ship of an aggravating man named min yoongi. he thinks it’ll be extraordinarily dull—but the universe, and the legend of treasure planet, have other plans.)

gusto d’italia: rated E, 64k

Jungkook turned towards the kitchen - and walked straight into the icy glare of Min Yoongi.

“Are you always this late?”

Jungkook tried to bite his tongue. “I was talking to – ”

“I don’t care who you were talking to,” Yoongi snapped. He had both arms crossed firmly over his chest as he continued to berate Jungkook in front of the rest of the staff. “How am I supposed to trust you to get my food out on time if you can’t follow a simple direction that I gave less than five minutes ago?”

Jungkook stared at his feet. “It won’t happen again, chef.”

“Better fucking not.”

-----

[Jungkook always dreamed of becoming a chef in the future. When Yoongi, a culinary genius with unusual social skills, shows up in the kitchen of Gusto d'Italia, Jungkook becomes awestruck.]

taegi—

the less i know the better: rated E, 41k

Yoongi shifts uncomfortably in his seat, avoiding making eye contact.

"I might’ve… invented a boyfriend," he finally mumbles to the glass in front of him

i want to believe: rated G, k

Taehyung starts an astronomy club.

my heart flutters from the sugar high: rated M, 6k

Yoongi and Taehyung sneak around together, cheating on their diets. The group? They've drawn different conclusions.

over the winter lake: rated E, 9k

There’s a small alcove along the outskirts of Daegu, not too deep in the woods, that lead to a lake of still waters and peaceful surroundings. Yoongi isn’t entirely fond of it—the body of water itself being named Death Lake by locals who’ve lived there long enough to tell the tales of the disturbing amount of murders, suicides, and disappearances that are linked with it.

Yoongi sees something in the water. Something inhuman.

abracadon’t: rated M, 7k

"i don't understand why you hate taehyung," hoseok always asks.

yoongi doesn't really understand either. but he's just so...hate-able.

or, taehyung never learned that annoying the fuck out of someone isn't actually a healthy way to show you like them.

namgi—

you could give it all (but it’s never enough): rated E, 46k

yoongi imprints with an alpha he's an alpha too

again again again: rated T, 8k

Yoongi takes a deep breath. Runs through the facts. 1. Namjoon is really fuckin drunk. 2. They made that dumbass pact well over ten years ago when they were both sad and weird and lonely. 3. His heart definitely did not seize up a little bit at the thought of marrying his best friend. It just didn’t.

vmin—

it’s not about reciprocation (it’s just all about me): rated E, 34k

“Taehyung and Jimin broke up.”

“It’s bullshit—”

“We were all rooting for them.”

“It’s complete bullshit—”

“Everyone actually thought they had a chance, you know?”

(Alternatively: Taehyung’s a problematic idiot who fell in love with the right person at the wrong time.)

jinkook—

*knowingly, i drank from the poisoned chalice: rated m, 22k

In captivity, Seokjin learns that you cannot have both love and life without sacrificing something important.

namgikook (namjoon/yoongi/jungkook)—

*the kinky encounter at the auto-erotic asphyxiation house: rated E, 6k

"The last owner of this house died too.”

“How?”

Jeongguk looks over his shoulder at them, his front teeth poking into his bottom lip as his nose scrunches and the corners of his eyes crinkle in a delighted grin. “Auto-erotic asphyxiation! Honestly, what a way to fucking go. Do you think he came before he died?”

“Christ, Jeongguk.”

Namjoon drops his head into his hands, letting out a long-suffering sigh as Jeongguk elbows him playfully.

“It’s a valid question!” Jeongguk snickers as both Namjoon and Yoongi give him a painfully withered look. “We can only hope his last moment was a pleasurable one.”

taekook—

**fading brilliance, fire on silk: rated E, 26k

Jungkook spent his life studying angels and demons, but none of his imaginary portrayals of them can even come close to Taehyung’s mystical, almost poetic beauty: sun-kissed skin and full lips, lashes so long that Jungkook feels the brush of it on his skin when Taehyung leans in to dip his tongue in the hollow of his throat.

Jungkook wonders if he’s already too far gone. The guilt doesn’t eat him up anymore, the shame only serving to heighten his arousal instead of extinguish it. Jungkook has no hope of salvation now, and he doesn’t even care, not when damnation tastes this fucking good.

#namjin #taekook #namgikook #namgi #yoonjin #vmin #taegi #yoonkook #yoonjihope #junghope #yoonseok #sope #yoonmin #jikook #bts #bts fic recs #bts fic rec #fic recs #bangtan boys

5 notes · View notes

fuckyeahcharmcaster · 5 years

Text

Another post just to further clarify that me thinking “Which Watch” being the weakest Charmcaster episode in the reboot to date mean I think it’s a bad episode. On the contrary, it’s quite good. Beyond what I’ve already praised, I need to give credit for the episode avoiding a pitfall it so easily could’ve fallen into: unbalancing the portrayals of Kevin and Charmcaster through some sort of bias, most likely by depicting the latter character as the truly villainous one in order to make the former character look better and more redeemable.

The lack of balance between these two character who were meant to share the exact same narrative function for Ben and Gwen respectively has been an issue in all past incarnations of the franchise. In the OS, things were off in Kevin’s corner - being a darker villain than Charmcaster is one thing (he’s A-list and she’s B-list, after all), but he attempted to crash two subway trains, killing hundreds of people, without a shred of remorse in his debut! None of Charmy’s evil deeds come close to matching this level of heinousness, and it makes it difficult to swallow that Kevin could ever become an anti-hero. In UAF, the pendulum turned too hard in the opposite direction, with Charmcaster becoming the dark, murderous villain to the point of attempted genocide, while Kevin got absurdly whitewashed of every bad deed he ever did and given maximum rewards for minimal effort. In OV, they were only equal in how confusing their positions were. Kevin was still on the good guys’ side, but can he be considered a hero when he’s un-whitewashed to the point where his whole heroic persona was forced on him against his will back when he was a villainous child? Charmcaster was still in the rogues’ gallery, but can she be considered a villain when she’s only trying to obtain things that are rightfully her’s and being pushed into doing it the wrong way by literal voices in her head taking advantage of her mental illness? Their lack of appearances did not help matters.

But in “Which Watch”, the focus is placed on how they’re fundamentally the same. Charmcaster may be the main villain of the episode, but Kevin is not once treated as though he’s a good guy in comparison. As terrible as Charmcaster taking control of his mind and body is, it all started when she pulled him away from a fight he was picking with Ben, mistaking him for Ben. When she realized her mistake, she was actually going to just let him go along on his way, but his own ego sabotaged him when he insisted that he’d be of better use to her than Ben since he has 11 alien forms instead of 10...and then he’s totally shocked when Charmy decides “OK, then I’ll use you!” Throughout his time of being controlled, he expresses anger not that he’s being made to do bad things like try to kill Ben, but that he’s not getting to do those bad things of his own free well, which he would gladly do. And at the end of the episode, he is depicted as having been given a comeuppance by getting stricken with gravity sickness, which happens right after he violently denies the notion of an UAF-style Ben/Gwen/Kevin team being a thing that should exist. Kev is as much a villain as Charmy, and Charmy is as much a villain as Kev. They are two people cut from the same cloth.

In fact, their villainy is constantly being shown as identical throughout the episode:

- They both possess edgy, hot-headed delinquent type personalities.

- They are both blatantly motivated by massive egos that shield fragile self-esteems, even to the point of self-sabotage. They have a fixation on Ben and Gwen as enemies because they represent the invalidation of that ego: Kevin can’t stand that Ben, the boy he used to bully, got his watch first and might be better at using it than him, and Charmcaster can’t stand that Gwen, the ordinary, dorky magic-less girl (much like she used to be) is a stronger person than her and has advantages in her life that she doesn’t. They feel that taking their enemies down is the only way they can justify their egos and continue to feel good about themselves.

- Their antagonism toward Ben and Gwen causes them to do some really shitty, spiteful things. Before Charmcaster accidentally pulls him away at the start, Kevin, in alien form, was going to beat Ben, in human form, possibly to death. And while controlling Ben or Kevin to attack Gwen is just standard evil-doing as far as Charmcaster is concerned, threatening to destroy the space camp just because it’s something Gwen enjoys crosses the line from “I’m a villain” into “I’m a petty bitch” territory. And they both seem to thoroughly relish this villainy.

- They are deluded hypocrites who can project like mad. Kevin mocks Charmcaster’s feud with Gwen as “stupid drama” while taking his equally childish feud with Ben completely seriously, and deriding her as a wannabe trying to act tough as if he isn’t the exact same. Charmcaster in turn insults Kevin for thinking he’s the best when he not, saying that he’s useless without his watch, willfully ignoring her own invalid ego and how she relies entirely on a book to feel useful. And in the end, they’ll always default to blaming Ben or Gwen for their problems rather than take responsibility for themselves: yet another case of projection.

- Despite being legitimately powerful and threatening foes, their immaturity and character flaws inevitably cause them to become the butt of comedy when fighting against their rivals.

- They are not devoid of better qualities. As twisted as it is, not wanting to kill Ben while under mind control in favor of wanting to kill him by himself is a moral standard for Kevin, as is his refusal to hurt Gwen since, beyond his crush on her, he considers her to not be a part of his and Ben’s feud. Charmcaster, meanwhile, limits her villainy to the Tennysons and does not want mass civilian casualties, immediately giving Ben a heads-up on how fighting Kevin’s fire as Stinkfly will create a chemical reaction and huge explosion, so that he can rush all civilians out of the space camp. She could have refrained from saying this and won, nor did she need to allow Ben to evacuate the building, but that’s just not how she rolls. Shes not THAT evil.

- Finally, the single most important similarity: neither of them are simply just “the villain”. This was true of them in the OS as well: when they were put in an episode, they weren’t just there as the main obstacle for the heroes to defeat, they weren’t like Dr. Animo or Hex or Zombozo. Since they were “meant to highlight more personal, peer-related conflicts” for Ben and Gwen, this meant they in turn had to have their own personal, peer-related conflicts, their own PoV and complicated emotions that they got to showcase, their own developments to make thanks to the heroes just as the heroes were developing thanks to them. They were treated as full-fledged characters on par with their heroic counterparts. In UAF and OV, this only consistently applied to Kevin since he was turned into a good guy, while Charmcaster was turned into “just a villain there to cause conflict for the heroes” for all her appearances up until her backstory episode in UA...and even after that, she wasn’t treated very well as a character, especially not compared to Kevin. But in the reboot, they are back on top form as vulnerable young characters with their own struggles who just so happen to be villains.

I just can’t say it enough: I’m so glad Man of Action is back in control of this franchise.

11 notes · View notes