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phoenixkaptain · 1 year

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I love it when pre Original Trilogy era shows how much effort went into making the Death Star. It took decades, literal decades, and it took so much money and so many people and it was such a secretive thing and it’s staffed by millions because it’s the size of a small moon.

I cannot express how much all of the added information makes it so much funnier that Luke blew it up.

Luke destroys literally everything Palpatine built. He blows up the Death Star, which was referenced in universe as early as the second movie. He blew up the weapon of mass destruction twenty years in the making. And he blew it up pretty much directly after it’s first and only successful attack. It was operational for fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes that Palpatine had the thing he’d been building for longer than Luke has been alive, and Luke blows it up. First day retirement, but first hour retirement.

Luke convinces Darth Vader to turn back to the light side, a feat thought literally impossible by literally everybody. Sidious clearly doesn’t see Vader’s betrayal coming. Vader’s betrayal was not in his plans, nor was it something he was prepared for. Sidious is a powerful Force user with all four limbs while Vader is a man in the tin can Palpatine put him in. If Palpatine had seen Vader turning coming, he would not have allowed it to happen.

Luke literally should not even be alive. Palpatine almost definitely got Padme out of the way on purpose, and he almost certainly was trying for her unborn child as well (there was way too big of a risk that a cute liddol bebe would bring some humanity back to Anakin, and Palpatine did not want Anakin to have any humanity) Luke living is literally the first step in Palpatine’s ultimate downfall, especially once Vader finds out that Luke is his son. His very alive son. His son that is not dead, despite Palpatine claiming Anakin killed Padme. Implying that Anakin killed Padme and she posthumously gave birth. But, she didn’t give birth on Mustafar, which was the last place Anakin interacted with her. And once the mother dies, you have to get those fuckers out fast or they die too.

I imagine Darth Vader piecing all of this together is that meme with all the math floating around his head, because how could Padme have died by his hand and then given birth like two hours later?

Luke killing Palpatine is what ultimately leads to the dissolution of the Empire as an omnipotent entity. Luke killed the Empire. Luke spends a good amount of his adult life killing Empire remnants. We see that in the Mandalorian, since he’s so recognizable that Gideon immediately knows he’s fucked just by seeing an X-wing. We read it in Legends’ continuity, where Luke terrifies Imperials because he can walk into their changing room and stand in their for a minute and they don’t even notice.

Luke destroyed Palpatine’s life’s work. Everything Palpatine spent his whole life working towards, and Luke kills all of it. He blows up not one, but two Death Stars (he may not have pulled the trigger on the second Death Star, but without him, it never would have been destroyed). He convinces not one, but multiple Sith and Dark Jedi to return from the Dark Side. He is the only reason that Obi-Wan Kenobi, the biggest pain in Palpatine’s ass ever born, lives long enough to make it to the Death Star.

Palpatine went through so much effort. And just when he had finally won, when he finally had a weapon capable of destroying entire planets with a single blast, making it impossible for any planets or peoples to go against him, Luke shows up nineteen years late to the Jedi party with space Starbucks and a droid twice his age and almost singlehandedly destroys everything Palpatine ever had a hand in creating.

Luke manages to become even worse than Obi-Wan Kenobi, the ultimate thorn in the side of politicians, and Luke doesn’t even understand any politics. He wasn’t trained in diplomacy like Obi-Wan and Leia, no, he’s a farmboy who left home for the first time in his entire life, just this morning. And he is the one to destroy the Empire.

If they rewrote Star Wars and had it entirely from Palpatine’s perspective, Luke Skywalker would be his greatest foe. Luke Skywalker would be the final boss. Luke Skywalker is the antithesis of everything Palpatine believes in and he is the one character that Palpatine cannot predict. He isn’t as moldable as Anakin, he doesn’t respond to threats very well, he’s apparently impossible to kill via Force lightning (still the funniest scene of all times, the progression of Palpatine’s face falling and him looking like “what the fuck??? Is this kid rubber??? I’ve electrocuted him eight times???”), his unwavering faith in his father’s goodness makes Darth Vader want to be a better person, Luke Skywalker is the big bad of Palpatine’s story and—

There is nothing in this world that is funnier than someone’s biggest antagonist being Luke fucking Skywalker. Luke Skywalker, who saved the galaxy with the power of love and who shouldn’t exist, by Jedi rules and by Palpatine’s own attempts, and whose best friends are literally droids, which Palpatine canonically hates!

Everything about this is hilarious, this is the funniest thing in all of media, Palpatine loses absolutely everything to some backwater farmboy who fucking likes droids.

#luke skywalker #star wars #anakin skywalker #sheev palpatine #darth sidious #original trilogy #the inane ramblings of a madman #listen i recognize that other people are important in the plot of sw #but at the same time #luke is the marble that gets things rolling #just in general #luke is the reason obi wan eventually actually kills maul #luke somehow gave yoda hope that another generation of jedi was an achievable goal #luke saved leia from being executed #luke is the sun of the series #it’s from him that literally everything grows #the story that began this universe #is one of a boy becoming an adult #and so without luke skywalker #none of the characters would exist #thus luke is the sun and we should all bask in the rays #but also in how funny it is #that this guy was more of a pain than obi wan kenobi #a feat previously thought impossible #long post

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call-me-copycat · 5 months

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hey, can I ask the reader to be Aizawa's daughter, but she lives with her mother in another country, so when the reader gets into a fight, her mother sends her to live with Aizawa, but she forgets to tell him, so y/ n arrives and says "hey dad, surprise?"

Hi! Thank you so much for requesting! Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy with school and work (˶> <˶) Hope this is what you wanted!

A Runaway's Hope

➤ Welcome - Introduction and Request Rules

▶ Characters: Aizawa x Daughter Reader (platonic)

▶ Genre: Fluff, maybe some comfort mixed in

▶ Summary: The ask sums it up

▶ Word Count: 2746

▶ Warnings: None :⁠-⁠)

You don't even remember what the fight was about.

The quiet rushing of cooled air and the machinery of the train helped to lull the negative thoughts away, the bright lights hitting your face every time you passed a station.

All you remember was...

"You can't live here anymore! I can't put up with this any longer!"

Your mother... She and you didn't get along too well. She was too distant for you, and you could never seem to get along, despite the numerous efforts made by both parties.

Constant fights were normal. Not talking for long periods of time was normal. But you knew you both were wearing thin. That's why you jumped at the chance when she said she'd be sending you to live with your father instead, with hopes that it'd turn out better than the current way it was with her.

You hardly knew the man. You'd seen a few photos, spoke on the phone a few times. That was all you had.

Was it a risk? To jump so fast to live with what was practically a stranger? Very much so. But you'd take it, anything to get away from the constant arguments.

The intercom crackled to life, calling your station. With a sigh you rose, awkwardly lugging your single suitcase and heaving your backpack onto your shoulder.

The night was sparkling with life. You had never been over to Musutafu, having lived in the more rural parts of Japan your whole life. Back there, people would shut off lights and be in bed by 9 or 10 if they weren't working. You rarely saw anyone out past that.

So to see such a large city, bustling with so much life despite the dark... It was mesmerizing.

You lugged yourself to a less crowded part of the station, pulling out an address shakily scribbled on a piece of paper - despite owning a functioning phone. Reading it to yourself once more as if you didn't already have it memorized, you folded it and put it back in your coat pocket. This was it. You were in the city, now all you had to do was find the place.

As you walked up the steps and out in fresh air, you suddenly felt like a child again. No home, no support, all by your lonesome. Stuck and helpless...

You clenched your fist. You got this far, you couldn't go back. It had a chance of working out.

With that thought, you found a taxi (despite how expensive it was) and rode out to the apartment complex. The cab was cool and quiet, reminding you of the train you took to get there.

Once there, you stood out on the sidewalk, holding up a picture you had to compare to the building. You felt your heart beat faster, the blood in your body warming and filling you with adrenaline.

This was it.

The very building you had heard of but never visited, the place that housed a person you had never officially met in person...

All you had to do was go up and...

And-

You mentally slapped yourself. You hadn't even bothered to call! You didn't even send a note or something! You had simply up and left in the moment!

Panic flared in your chest as your surroundings began to spin. You hadn't even let him know you were coming. What if he didn't want anything to do with you?! What would he do? Throw you out?!

Inhaling deeply and exhaling similarly, you attempted to calm yourself. Worst case scenario, he could give you some money to travel back, and you could just grovel for your mother to give you a place to live.

A shudder passed through you. You'd rather it not come to that, but you couldn't exactly be too picky. You were currently homeless, after all.

What else was there to do, besides dragging you and your suitcase up the steps to the building, and then even further until you were on the third floor of the apartment, until you were standing in front of his door. Finally, you held up your hand to knock.

Nothing.

You knocked once more.

Nothing again.

You waited about five minutes before trying again. Then ten minutes before knocking once more. Then again.

Finally, once thirty minutes passed by, you began to panic once more.

'No, no... What if he's... Out getting groceries or something?'

The thought wasn't the brightest, but it was something. That's at least what you told yourself. Finally, after an hour of waiting, you slowly trotted down the steps, nowhere to go. The people passing by reminded you that they had places to be, while you didn't. It felt suffocating.

Before you reached the bottom, an older man who was watering some plants noticed you. Looking over at him, you saw he had greying hair and was wearing a cardigan, along with a bandana placed oddly low on his head, close to his eyes.

Approaching him, he gave a little wave. "We don't usually see that many this late at night," he joked, as if he had known you for a long while.

"Ah, about that..." You suddenly felt a rising acknowledgement about your situation, feeling oddly embarrassed at your impulsive actions. "I'm here to see my father, but he doesn't seem to be home at the moment"

The man looked over without saying anything, smiling tiredly while he watered the plants, only making you feel even more awkward than before as you debated whether you should stay or not.

"Sorry if I seem suspicious, but we get that a lot from nosy intruders trying to bother our residents here - especially since we house a few heroes." The man let out a little chuckle as if he hadn't just said he suspected you of lying. Although, you could understand his sentiment.

"You said 'our residents', are you the owner here?" You asked, not expecting this man of all people to be someone responsible for the entire building.

"That I am" He responded kindly.

You stood bewildered. The owner! Maybe he could help you... You just had to get some proof. Quickly, you scrambled to pop open your backpack, looking for a certain photo book. You didn't have any photos with your father past birth, but you did have a photo of him holding you as a baby. Just one.

The man stood to the side, tiredly watering the plants with an old hose, a stark contrast to the panicked movements of you right next to him.

Finding the photo and pulling it out, you showed the man. It was a photo of your father holding you just as you were born, with his sole focus on you instead of the camera. He was much younger back then, and you didn't know what he would look like in current times.

The man looked over the photo once before shrugging his shoulders.

"I believe you, I already did from the beginning. Cute photo though."

You stood there with the photo still in your hand. What was with this guy?!

"Your father is Shota? Is that right?" He looked over at you with an expression of interest compared to the tired smile he wore earlier. "He never said anything about having a kid."

You nodded, "We don't really talk that much... Do you know where he is by the way?"

The man stopped looking at the water flowing out of the hose and went to look up at the stars instead, moving one hand to his pocket and exhaling a heavy breath.

"You won't find him here right now, unfortunately"

"Why? Is he busy?"

The man shrugged once again, slow as molasses, though clearly smarter than he was letting on.

"You could say that"

Talking to him was a struggle, really. He only let out answers to questions explicitly asked, and you felt as though you weren't getting anywhere.

"Can you please explain?"

He chuckled at your exasperated tone, finally giving a suitable explanation.

"He's almost never around. He works at night. Probably sleeps for a bit, then he works during the day. Sometimes I don't see him for days at a time just because he sleeps elsewhere," He sighed once more, looking back at the plants in the little garden. "He needs to take better care of himself, that Shouta.. "

You couldn't believe it. Days at a time? You didn't have days, besides what if you couldn't catch him during the small amount of time he was actually there?

Another thought dawned on you. If he was so busy all the time, would he even have time for you? You stood quietly, pondering what you would do.

"Maybe try waiting by his door for a bit? Tomorrow's a weekday, so he'd have to show up to get ready to go to his day job"

You could only nod sullenly and take the man's advice. He gave you a few snacks to keep yourself busy while you walked back up the stairs, eventually planting yourself in front of his door to wait it out.

The view from the third floor wasn't so bad at least. You could see the lights of the lower buildings twinkling in the back, and since the area was quieter than the rest of the town, you felt as though you could think a little clearer.

After a couple hours, the landlord from before came back with a blanket and more snacks (which you just packaged to save for later), and soon enough you were out like a light.

A soft nudge to your side caused you to groan, and the sharper one that followed it caused your eyes to fly open, rubbing the tender area on your ribs. Looking up to see who caused it, your eyes widened as you saw exactly who you were looking for.

"Mind explaining why you're sleeping in front of my door? I'd also like to know why you're here, on the opposite side of Japan, as well."

Giving him a once over, you didn't expect your father to look so... Worn down. Raggedy, you'd call it. His hair was unkempt and fell in front of his face, and his eyes held dark bags underneath them, the eyes themselves being red and irritated. In addition, he was still wearing his hero outfit from patrol, with him just wanting to head in, get a few minutes of rest, then clean up before heading to UA. You tried to ignore the small spatter of red on his scarf.

"I..." Quickly standing up, you brushed yourself off and tried to make yourself look as presentable as possible (at least for someone who just woke up from sleeping outside all night).

Clearing your throat, you tried explaining yourself, "I... I'm sorry for the sudden request but..."

He looked at you with an eyebrow raised.

"I was wondering if I could live with you?"

Getting it all out at once was what your decided was the best you could do. At least it'd get rejection out of the way.

He wiped his eyes, the irritation of dry eye making him want to be inside even further. He was covered with grime from patrol, hadn't eaten all night (wondering if you didn't either), and was exhausted.

"Look... There's a lot going on right now, but you can just come inside with me so we can discuss it there," he explained, fishing out his keys before opening the door and letting you in first.

The place was rather empty. Clean, but empty. It was small too. You started questioning yourself once more at the sight. The walls were bare, the furniture being the bare essentials (like a couch and a table with a chair), and it definitely showed he wasn't there a whole lot.

"Sit wherever you'd like. I'm going to get changed and then we can work something out."

You sat on the couch due to it being closest, fearing he'd send you back sooner if he thought of you as a nuisance.

Truth be told, Aizawa was feeling as though he was hallucinating. Coming home exhausted from work and seeing his daughter sleeping outside of his door made him think he had really lost it. His daughter, that he had never seen in person other than photos every now and then, and who was supposed to live across Japan.

He didn't know what to do for once. He couldn't send you back, that'd be cruel. He knew you and your mother didn't get along, but that was all he knew. He didn't think it'd get this bad, though.

He could understand your perspective, at least. He himself didn't have the best relationship with his own mother, having moved out when he barely turned eighteen and having to survive off of cup noodles and a single lightbulb for months on end. He didn't want you to go through the same struggles.

Still, he didn't know if he had the time. The last thing Aizawa wanted to do was to ignore you and your needs.

Wrapping his scarf up and tossing it on his bed (instead of the special rack on the wall that it was intended for), he decided he'd have to make changes to his schedule then, so he could take care of you without being too busy.

Back in the living room, you clutched your backpack to your chest, fearing where this would take you.

Once Aizawa stepped into the room, you immediately put your attention on him, ready to beg for a place to stay. You noticed he changed into something more casual, being just a long sleeve shirt and joggers, with his hair tied up.

He stood in front of you with his hands in his pockets, giving you a once over. He could see the way you tensed up. The way you were ready for a yelling match. He'd definitely not be sending you back.

Instead, Aizawa surprised you by holding his arms open. Sensing your confusion, he directed you.

"I haven't seen my daughter since she was born, you couldn't at least give me a hug?"

He almost chuckled at the sight of your eyes getting wider, wrapping his arms around you when you came up to him. He wasn't the most outwardly affectionate man, but his colleagues and students were making him softer by the day.

You stayed in place for a solid minute, enjoying the warmth which helped to ease your tension that had been built up all night long.

"You can stay with me, but since you failed to communicate this to me earlier I'm going to need time to prepare"

You nodded, smiling as fatigue overtook you once more.

"Does this mean I'm living with you now?"

Aizawa smiled softly. "It does." Looking out of the barely rising sun in the window, he breathed out of his nose. If only he had more time to discuss and get things ready.

Ever since you were small, he cherished every photo and phone call sent his way. He looked forward to it, your voice or smiling face being the only thing keeping him going some nights. So to have you in person, he was elated. Frustrated with the lack of communication, yes, but overall it wasn't the worst thing that could've happened.

Seeing your eyes closing on you once more, he frowned. It wouldn't hurt to take a day off work.

"C'mon, let's get you into a pair of pajamas or something so you can sleep properly," looking over to you tiredly rummaging through your suitcase, he remembered his earlier thought. "Let's also get some food in you as well"

As you brushed your teeth while the sun began to rise, Aizawa pulled out a plate to prepare some food. Out of habit he pulled only the one. Reopening the cabinet, he brought out another. Looking at the two dishes, he smiled. It was nice not being alone for once. If you weren't there, he'd have slept with his hero outfit on, popped a jelly packet, and then headed off to work at UA.

Maybe taking care of you would also teach him to learn how to take care of himself.

Seeing you walk in the kitchen in your sleepwear and toothbrush still in your mouth, Aizawa's look softened.

It definitely wouldn't hurt to call off work today.

I hope you enjoyed! This one was a bit shorter than normal, so I apologize for that! I wish you a lovely day! ( ͜♡･ω･) ͜♡

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gremlitsspoon · 1 year

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just thinking thoughts about how getting force-electrocuted would just completely fuck up ones body, nerves getting fried, muscles not quite working the way they once did, and how that might affect hearing

afterwords, when everyone is getting checked over by medical, they do what they can to help luke's muscles and body but they overlook his hearing because he can kind of get a sense of what they're saying through the force on top of lip reading. so his damaged hearing slips through the cracks for other, more life threatening cases. and luke just brushes it off thinking its just something that'll wear off

edit: i have a fic up about this now, its on my profile >:)

but 5 years later it still hasn't, if anything its gotten worse but he's so busy with rebuilding and fighting off remnants of the empire that he just cant find time to go through a ton of hearing tests so he just makes do with using the force and lipreading. it also adds to his mysterious jedi persona and gets people to leave him alone which, after everything, is what he wants. r2 isnt a problem cuz hes loud and makes sure luke is looking at him when hes talking so he doesnt really know how bad it is (r2 is also a vault of personal secrets so even if he knew how bad it was he'd say nothing)

then din happens and he cant lipread him and he also cant get a good fix on what the hell he wants through the force cuz the man is like a force dead-zone. luke does well enough with small sentences and such, enough to do small talk with minimal stumbling but then din starts coming to yavin to see grogu and starts spending time there and thats when luke realizes he's screwed himself.

because now, when theres nothing life threatening happening and din's emotions are quiet, theres nothing spilling through the cracks to latch onto. and the man speaks quiet enough as-is so luke is floundering. he just ends up realizing "oh shit my hearing is really fucked, what do i do? i cant keep this up cuz im giving him the wrong impression and i want to be nice because he's been nothing but nice"

finally one day luke is sitting working on a piece of something for r2 and din walks up behind him and calls his name a few times with no response so he taps luke and startles the bejeezus out of him, which confuses din cuz like... he wasnt being quiet, he stepped on a branch and was telling r2 to go away.

so luke comes clean after a moment and din's like "well, i know tusken sign if that would help" but luke doesnt know any. so din starts teaching him tusken sign after grogu's lessons

and because im a sucker for the parties, theres a big party for the new republic and luke brings din because he cant go alone and leia wants to meet him. through the whole party luke is making do with lip reading and the force, and din is talking to leia when she asks din something about how grogu's training is going and din turns to luke and taps his shoulder and starts signing and luke responds then translates to leia what he said and leia's just like "uh. why are you signing?" and luke freezes because he did not think that through and din covers for him making some excuse about how he didnt know if it was ok to talk jedi training in public which leia half buys because she knows her brother but its also not a bad reason especially for a large public gathering.

so she's suspicious but buys it and they make it through the rest of the party alright and get back to yavin and thats as far as i've thought rn but oooh the thoughts be thinking

#dinluke #grogu #the mandalorian #din djarin #luke skywalker #deaf!luke

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anacecherry · 7 months

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I was looking through the Fionna and Cake trailer to look for scenes we haven't seen in the show yet, and I noticed how most of them are most likely from the same episode. So, on this post, I will be talking about my theories/speculations for Episode 7, The Star.[Spoilers for the episode synopsis under the cut]

So this is what we know about the episode right now.

My first theory was that the title came from whatever happens in the gumlee subplot or maybe it was about Cake being "the star" of the vampire hunters, but then my friend Will reminded me how the previous episodes were all names of characters (Yes, Im counting Destiny idc), and said it could be a nickname for a pre existing character. Maybe it could be this world's Marcy's "Vampire Name". I dont know enough on the topic to be able to tell if it would fit in with the theme the vampires in Stakes had, but it does have an article at its start.

For the first screenshots we have these. The first image shows up near the end of the trailer, its 3 vampires attacking. I think these two are back to back, as the vamps are exactly the same. In the second image the third vampire is in the background and appears to have knocked Fionna down, with Simon standing next to the vampire. Maybe Cake does that attack in rage due to them hurting Fionna.

This is a one second scene and the frame where the explosions dont cover up the whole screen is very hard to catch, but these are the same garlic bombs Peppermint Butler had in Stakes. Maybe the Bubblegum of this universe, along with Pep But, is working with the vampire hunters.

Following up on what I said about Marcy having a "Vampire Name". When I first read the synopsis I assumed that Marcy was the one leading the vamp hunters, as it only makes sense. Being a Vampire hunter was a big part of her backstory that led to her *becoming* one. But I then realized, what's going on here, might be completely different. Not only is she already a vampire, both in the trailer and on the poster this Marceline looks pretty smug for someone presumably fighting for her life, and she has that dress which looks very "royal"(to me, at least).

I thought maybe she embraced being the vampire queen, and attacked the humans, but that wouldn't make sense. Why would she hurt the beings she wiped out an entire species for? And then it clicked: this Marcy never had a Simon at all. She was found by vampires instead of him. Remember the conversation Simon and little Marcy had at the beginning of episode 2?

Someone rich? Living in a castle? With people trained to tend to their every need? Sounds a hell lot like a king.

This conversation is going to come up again. Simon is going to find out that No, Marcy would NOT have been fine if he didn't find her. He's going to see what would really have happened to her if she never met him. In all the past episodes Simon's been constantly told that he sucks, that Ice King was "better" and "more fun". He's been feeling like he truly did not matter and had no value, that it would be better for everyone if he just went back to being Ice King. He's going to see that that's not true, that he does matter. That Marcy values and needs him, even if things are different now. Maybe he won't get it immediately, but he might start doubting his decision to wear the crown again. I'm so confident in this I will eat my door if it doesn't happen.

Human huntress wizard with a garlic arrow. Obviously its from this episode. She must be a hunter(duh) and maybe she's the leader as well. Or maybe Im right about Bonnie being there and *she's* the leader.

Im only assuming this scene is from this episode bc the background color scheme is similar, I dont have any other evidence for it. It may be after Cake beats the vampires, where she gets approached by the hunters to join in. Im kinda basing this theory off the voice line that goes along with it in the trailer ("Now that is a party I don't wanna miss" Who'd wanna miss out on the fun of hunting evil vampires?), but the voice line may be about something else and she could be praising herself to the hunters here (she just has that vibe in here).

A gun(?) Lowers down to face the gang. They smile at it nervously. The ground theyre standing on is wet, and so is Cake. I don't know the reason for that, because they didn't immediately come here after leaving the Winter Kingdom. They might have gotten their clothes wet on some other universe and then came to this world, or maybe this is after they fight the vampires and they somehow got splashed with water during the process. I came up with two possibilities of what might be going on here:

Option A) It is the vampires spotting and trying to kill them. If thats the case they might've destroyed the gun before it could shoot them, or maybe Fionna got shot and thats why she's down on the scene where Cake is attacking. Both end up with the 3 vampire goons attacking.

Option B) It's the vampire hunters seeing them, either after the fight or right as they arrive, and they think the gang are vampires as well until they show their teeth

This isn't from the trailer its from a magazine. I think its from this episode because of the background, like that Cake screenshot. This may be after Cake is recruited. Fionna seems to be annoyed so maybe Cake is doing something wrong and Fionna's disagreeing with her. Or maybe Cake's trying to annoy Fionna and it's working. My friend @weirdlizard26 said this about it, which is far better than what I came up with:

And that's it for the speculation! I wanted to talk about the rest of the scenes in the trailer as well but 1) this post is long enough as it is and 2) tumblr image limit is not being kind to me rn. I might make a separate post for those if I get the motivation. Untill then you'll have just one post of me going insane rambling about what could happen in a show about an old man having an existential crisis and a girlfailure with her cat.

#tagging time #at #adventure time #fionna and cake #simon petrikov #fionna campbell #cake the cat #marceline the vampire queen #marceline abadeer #huntress wizard #ace's cherry #fionna the human #<- I forgot she had 2 tags

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valiantverses · 3 months

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The Azrael Series: Chapter Two

(Simon 'Ghost' Riley X Reader Slowburn/Sort of Enemies to Friends to Lovers)

°°°°°

Summary: Task Force 141 is assigned a new member to deal with Makarov for good. Highly-skilled, brutally efficient and devastatingly competent, Ghost has met his match - and finds himself at odds with the SAS Fraternization Regulations as getting to know you makes him re-evaluate a life he never thought to allow himself.

CW: Canon-typical violence.

°°°°°

@beansproutmafia @chinuneko @agustdpeach @murder-hobo

Introduction 1 2

"We've not gotten much out of the drive m' afraid. We've got cyber forensics and analysts going over the files - far as Makarov's movements, we've got nothin' of note."

The briefing room's atmosphere was a degree short of despair. Papers strewn about, stale cups of coffee and tea haphazardly pushed to the side as Laswell's Toughbook blinked to life, showing the results of the hard won drive the 141 had retrieved a couple of days prior.

Ghost had opted to stand during the meeting, taking up his usual spot with a full view of the room. Most of the team had elected to sit around the metal tables, the briefing now on its third hour - not quite as brief as one would hope, he thought.

He watched Gaz lean back into a stretch, arms opening wide and settling at the back of your chair. You glanced up at the sergeant briefly before turning back to the neatly stacked piles of documents in front of you, poring over the mind-numbing reports and occasionally making notes.

Your integration into the group - Johnny and Gaz, anyway - had not been seamless from his observations, but the sergeants had been as open as could reasonably be expected from their personalities, and you seemed to be reciprocating - or trying to, anyway.

"Ach - not even in the emails? Employee profiles?"

Johnny piped up, unable to hide the annoyance that darkened his features. Ghost had noticed the Scot had been mellower in recent months. Maybe even years - ever since Zakhaev, at least - the burden of their profession was a continuous wear and tear on the mind and soul for those who hadn't locked away parts of themselves like he had. Like his boots, gloves, tactical vests, the work pushed and pulled at soldiers, clawing and scratching till it had to be replaced, patched up, or discarded.

Conveniently, Ghost mused, replaced, patched up, or discarded were the same three fates most soldiers stumbled into.

Johnny knew what this job meant, had experienced it firsthand, and still continued to shoulder the responsibilities. Ghost was intimately familiar with the drive to push through and respected that need - even if it meant watching a part of his comrade wither away.

Laswell sighed, rubbing her temples as she looked up from her computer to meet Johnny's eyes.

"All legitimate, tracing back to businesses or third party contractors."

"All fer nothin' then, was it?"

Price, who had opted to stand as well with his arms crossed, chose this moment to speak up.

"It's hard to imagine the ultranationalists just went and gave up after Zakhaev's death."

At this, Soap leaned back a bit, shifting his whole attention on to price. Ghost remembered reading the reports, how shattered Soap had been over Zakhaev when he got back from S.A.S. recon in Mexico.

"We know Makarov is well trained in counterinsurgency from his time in Airborne and the Spetznaz, but there must be a link somewhere - you don't move weapons and people on the scale he does without having some kind of paper trail."

You chose this moment to speak up, hand still carefully taking down notes as you pored over the files in front of you.

"You mentioned contractors. May we have a list?"

Laswell glanced up at surprise at you before switching to a different tab. It was true that you hadn't been particularly vocal in your time at the base, keeping your distance from most of the upper brass.

"Gutter cleaners, vehicle upkeep, insurance inspections, air conditioning installation, occupational health and safety reviews, catering-"

He watched you smile, that was that same wry smirk, the same twist of the lips that pulled at your face and made your eyes quirk in such a way that-

He jerked his head to the side, keeping his eyes trained on Laswell's computer.

"Couldn't imagine air conditioning would be on my list of priorities, in a winter desert."

Wordlessly, Laswell pulled her laptop closer to her, instantly beginning to pore over the emails sent by the air conditioning company. Price and Johnny shared a look when Laswell made a hum of approval.

"Seems this company uses a really simple order form template, copy and pasted- not really something you'd expect of a company taking orders at this volume."

Gaz reached over, leaning over the table to point at the screen.

"Subject: Notice of equipment upgrade. In our ongoing efforts to enhance the performance of our air-conditioning units, Our technicians will be overseeing the delivery and installation of a package containing the latest components aimed at optimizing energy efficiency. Your cooperation during this upgrade process is greatly appreciated."

He whistled, leaning back in his chair. "They've 'upgraded' their air-conditioning 11 times in the past 4 months.'

You didn't even acknowledge the discovery, still buried in the files. It strangely grated at him, this nonchalance of yours- but surely it was better than the callous sort of arrogance many soldiers at your level possessed? He respected good soldiers, especially those fighting alongside him. But you... there was something different about you.

He was aware of the glaring hypocrisy, to question someone's integrity because of the walls they put up when he himself wore a mask to distance himself from who he was outside of the battlefield.

But you wore a different kind of mask.

He had noticed, during brief moments where your professionalism didn't so much crack as it distended- like a rubber band warping after being pulled apart too strong. There was a smouldering fire beneath the glacial shell of duty you wore. It flickered sometimes, a molten glint in your eyes or a wry quirk of your lips, hinting at a real live breathing person within.

That ferocity had sparked your first clash in the mountains, tangled limbs and shared breaths in thin air, his gaze tracing the map of your face as he tried to determine your motives, whether or not he could trust you. Then there was the hangar, your quiet confidence grating against his need for control. An unlikely pair, yet you'd executed the mission flawlessly. Rolled with the punches and gotten through it all.

Though his face betrayed nothing, his mind buzzed with thoughts as he went over your latest interactions - outrage at your audacity, annoyance at your nonchalance, and a strange reluctance to let go of the distruption you caused, one he wouldn't- couldn't, try to understand the root of.

Beyond it all, he had to admit, was a begrudging sort of respect.

"8 payments have been made this quarter alone to the HVAC company - all worth tens of thousands."

"Drip feedin' Makarov's extra curriculars I take it- any ID on the company behind it Laswell?"

"Northwest of the Caucausus mountains. I'll clear it through Shepherd."

He saw your lips quirk down into a frown at Laswell's words, clearly unhappy about something. He tore his eyes away, accidentally locking gazes with Price, who tossed a raised his eyebrow his way. He maintained eye contact, unwilling to look away first and crossing his arms when Price shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

"We should-" it was the first time he'd ever heard you sound even the tiniest bit hesitant. "We should look into Makarov's known contacts. See who's benefitting from his actions that may be flying under the radar. All of them, even known hostile connections."

There was an implication to your words that Ghost didn't like, and he voiced it.

"Looks like we're already drownin' in information and more questions than answers. Want to send us on a wild goose chase when we don't even know if there's a goose to chase, do ya?"

He could see your jaw tense the tiniest bit as you turned to him, eyes hard.

"All I'm saying is that - paramilitary operations do not function in a vacuum, sir. Terrorist attacks require weapons, and those weapons require logistics to distribute, processing, manufacturing - everything does. The fact that we've run into nothing might suggest we're being walled off from information by design."

There was it- that spark, like flint and steel crashing together. He approached the table, placing both hands on it as he lowered himself to look at you directly in the eyes. When he spoke, his voice was rough, taking on a gravelly quality.

"We've been working on this for years and you've been here a month- if you could focus on your job instead of speculating on facts that aren't there maybe you could actually get the job you were assigned to do done, sergeant."

"Yes, sir." You gritted out, lips thinning. He could see in the tenseness of your shoulders that had he not been your superior this discussion would have been more drawn out.

But your words were beyond inflammatory - they were dangerous and put into question the very foundation of the chain of command that the operation was centered on. You would have to learn that these were thoughts best kept to yourself - it was clear to him that you lacked experience and maybe even the humility that came from working with teammates.

Relaxing his shoulders, he turned to regard the group, realizing that several pairs of eyes were now glancing between you and him with varying levels of confusion and surprise. Laswell, closing her laptop with a neat click, spoke first.

"I think we got it. This corporation has two locations- we'll do some recon and get a plan going, try and positively ID any key people. Great catch, Azrael. I sense this is something big."

You shifted the tiniest bit, simply nodding in response. He hadn't seen you handle direct compliments very well - the military did acknowledgements at most.

You remained quiet for the rest if the briefing and the dismissal after, studiously going over old files, not meeting his eyes again.

"LT! I think we need ourselves a little celebration to welcome our little Sherlock here, aye?"

You mumbled a bit, shuffling as the Scotsman draped an arm over you and patted your arm.

"Just identified an anomaly in the information- is all-"

"None of that now, gawn yerself! We got an ol' teammate comin' with us, Roach, I reckon you'll like 'im."

"I think it would really help your case if you could speak English, McTavish." Ghost remarked, dryly. He had been ready to leave and stretch his legs after leaning up against cold concrete for closing in on 4 hours.

"Alright- not sure about drinking, with the mission coming up soon, but I'll go."

"Ach pure brilliant, so it is. Gaz! You're drivin'! No fun juice for you m'fraid."

There was a groan from inside the communal area, then a smattering of mutters of which if Ghost were a betting man, he'd say could give any sailor a run for their money.

"What d'ya say LT?" He turned back to two sets of eyes, yours a strained sort of amusement, before he leaned back and rested his hands on the straps of his vest.

"Fuckin' hell. You're buyin', Johnny."

There was outraged sputtering, so Scottish it was indecipherable, before he turned to leave. His eyes locked with yours for a split second, assessing. Then he broke connection and made his way back to his barracks, his mind lingering.

He wondered what you were like away from it all.

Away from Azrael.

You seemed like more of a person than he allowed himself to be - but that remained to be seen.

Tonight, the echoes of questions would be drowned at the bottom of a bottle.

°°°°°

Translation for the Soapese:

Gawn yerself: Go on yourself (You're doing really good)

#ghost x reader #cod x reader #simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x reader #task force 141

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kandisheek · 2 months

Text

FIC REC WEEK 10 – FOUND FAMILY

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: scifigrl47

If you've been in this fandom for any amount of time, you've probably read something of Sci's. The universes that she's created are a fandom staple, and it says a lot about how fantastic her writing is that her OCs fit seamlessly into the stories, to the point that I sometimes forget that they're not actually canon. I especially love the way she writes the whole Found Family aspect of the Avengers, so those are the kinds of fics I want to rec today. But honestly you should just go ahead and binge her entire AO3, because everything on it is incredible.

Here's some of her work that I think you should check out:

Phil Coulson Knows Tony Stark's Super Villain Name

Pairing: Steve/Tony, Clint/Coulson Rating: T Words: 14,454 Tags: Training Exercise, Paintball, Humor

Summary: The only thing really stopping Tony Stark from attempting to conquer the world is that he wouldn't know what to do with it once he conquered it. He's still pretty sure he could do it, though. SHIELD's pretty sure he could do it, too, and SHIELD is pretty uncomfortable with that. There's a plan in place, in case Tony makes a try for world domination, or any sort of caped super villainy. It involves Steve. No one is surprised. This is not that plan. This is a training exercise, involving paint balls. It might end with world domination, anyway.

Reasons why I love it: You just know that if Tony wanted to, he would've taken over the world a long time ago. This fic is hilarious, and I especially love Bruce and Harris' roles in this disaster that Fury calls a training exercise. Also, Darcy is goddamn adorable. This fic always puts a smile on my face, so I hope you check it out!

The Best of Life and Asgard

Pairing: Steve/Tony, Clint/Coulson Rating: M Words: 15,794 Tags: Humor, Public Indecency, Drunken Behavior

Summary: Tony Stark has been drunk at a few parties in his life. A quick browse of YouTube makes that impossible to deny, so he doesn't bother. But he can control himself, he doesn't have to drink. He can stay perfectly sober for just one night. He promised, he could go one night without drinking. The problem is, he was the only one who made that promise.

Reasons why I love it: Drunk Steve is so adorable, oh my god. I love the mild dash of angst sprinkled in at the beginning and the end, and Steve's upset over his own behavior is funny and endearing at the same time. The strip poker scene makes me cry laughing every time. And the Avengers family feels are strong with this one. I adore this fic, so please check it out, if you haven't already!

Phil Coulson Does Not Bake (and The Avengers Do Not Shop At IKEA Anymore)

Pairing: Steve/Tony, Clint/Coulson Rating: G Words: 6,671 Tags: Humor, Pranks, Baking

Summary: Sometimes Tony Stark makes poor choices. Sometimes Tony pushes his teasing of Steve Rogers just a little too far. Sometimes Steve decides he's had enough. Phil Coulson's the one who's got to write this nonsense up, and he does not bake.

Reasons why I love it: Tony is such a little shit. Honestly, he deserves what Steve has in store for him. And of course, Tony is absolutely adorable in his desperation to make it up to Steve, even if he has to learn a new skill to do it. The rest of the Avengers getting roped into it is just the cherry on top. I love this one so much, please go and read it for yourself, it's amazing!

Extracurricular Activities

Pairing: Steve/Tony, Clint/Coulson Rating: T Words: 8,332 Tags: Overprotective Avengers, Poor Choices, Exotic Dancing

Summary: New York has a party for any taste. Some people like high class lounges. Some enjoy a good dive bar. There are gay bars and techno clubs and all night raves. And somewhere out there, there's a club where the dancers are dressed like Super Heroes, and Spider-Man may or may not be their headliner. Let's face it, the everyone assumed that Clint would be the first Avenger to take up pole dancing. He's a little distressed he's been beaten to the punch.

Reasons why I love it: I don't know why, but somehow the thought of Spiderman pole-dancing for money just makes complete sense in my head. And the rest of the Avengers being nosy bitches about it is a given. We love to see it. And any appearance of Harris in a scifigrl47 fic is enough to make my day. This fic is amazing, and you should definitely go ahead and read it!

Phil Coulson is Not the Avengers' Public Relations Manager

Pairing: Steve/Tony, Clint/Coulson Rating: T Words: 6,881 Tags: Humor, Steve Does Not Like Bullies, Social Justice

Summary: From the Avengers Case Files of Phil Coulson: Grocery shopping is necessary, Tony's a little too proud of his tech, Captain America's lost on the streets of New York, and sometimes social injustice just happens. Phil Coulson's the one who's got to write this nonsense up, and he is not their PR Manager.

Reasons why I love it: Drew and Shawn have my entire heart. And Steve too, although that one's a given. I love seeing the Avengers fight for social justice, and their statements to the press are so fucking satisfying. Give me Steve fighting bullies any day! Definitely check this one out if you haven't read it yet, I bet you'll love it just as much as I do!

#marvel #stony #fanfic #fic rec #fanfic rec #ficrec #a year in fanfic recs #found family

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sokkastyles · 1 month

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Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Thank you for the response on my last query. I was reading a meta about the air bender extermination, which you had reblogged in one of my older queries on TSR.

Reading it properly. I realized two things

The fact that all the air nomads were exterminated makes no sense. Were they stupid enough to not escape when they were attacked? If we are to believe none escaped, then air nomads are actually dumb.

The above also goes against the fact that Aang's Avatar training was to begin when he was 12 instead of 16, because the monks seems to have realized that the war was approaching, and he needed to be ready, which is why they tried to take Aang away from Monk Gyatso, which led to Aang running away out of fear.

This goes into LOK territory, but there are some disturbing implications of the way the Air Nomads operate. The idea that every air nomad child born will be a bender is just not possible. Heck, two of Aang's children are not air benders, so that itself throws a wrench in that idea. It also makes them similar to Ozai, if they actually held such idea (this point is never made in the shows or acknowledged in canon I think, but the idea is dangerous, and well Air Nomads are not to be idealized.)

I would like your thoughts on this.

(The meta I am referring to is; " The Airbender Extermination Is Dumbo and I Refuse to Accept It" by tumblr user @whentheynameyoujoy)

@whentheynameyoujoy's atla metas are a treasure, and I agree with the above statements. One of the big plot holes in the story is not only that the air Nomads were all exterminated in one fell swoop, despite being Nomads, something the live action adaptation tried to explain by having them all come to the Southern Temple on the night they were attacked, and Sozin purposefully planning his attack on that day. But the other thing about it is that as you say, the reason Aang was told before sixteen was because the Air Nomads knew the war was coming. They were preparing for it, to the point where they were willing to put a child's life on the line before he was ready, but they weren't prepared enough to be ready to fly away the moment a threat occurred? If we factor in the live action, this also means they decided to all have a party in the same place on the same night that they knew the people who wanted them dead would be at their most powerful.

It also just doesn't make thematic sense. These are AIR Nomads, they should be able to go wherever the wind takes them, to scatter at a moment's notice, to rise no matter how many times an attempt is made to crush them. Wouldn't that be a satisfying ending, for us to find out that like the air, there were hidden pockets that remained, permeating even the fire nation so that it would be impossible to truly defeat them. Wouldn't that also fit really well with the whole illusion of separation thing?

Which brings me to point three, or, Eugenics is Good When Good People Do It, which is actually very bad. The only way the Air Nomads only produced benders is if they did not mingle with the other nations, which makes no sense, since they were nomads, or if they somehow got rid of nonbender babies, either through dropping them off at the nearest earth kingdom orphanage (which is similar to my headcanon on what people like Ozai might do with nonbender children, or straight up infanticide, which Ozai also is a fan of.

Unfortunately the first method does not explain why there were no airbenders just hanging out in the other nations. Since we know that bending can be passed to a child from nonbender parents, then even nonbender children of air nomads would be passing on the airbender gene, and there would be nonbenders all over the Earth Kingdom suddenly giving birth to airbender children. That actually would have been another clever way to reintroduce airbenders back into the world, instead of...whatever Korra does. It also fits with theory of people like Ty Lee having air nomad blood without knowing it.

#atla critical

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sarahowritesostucky · 3 months

Text

📖"Alpha, Beta (& Omega)"

Story Rating: Explicit

Chapter Rating: Mature

Word Count: 2368

Pairing: Steve x Bucky

Tags: a/b/o, arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, nobility/royalty au, alternate history, dom/sub elements, beta bucky, hurt/comfort, age gap (18/29), domestic discipline, spanking, head of household, wedding night, Edwardian time period, m/f/m poly marriage

Summary: To save House Barnes from scandalous ruin, James must agree to a contracted marriage, accepting Lord Sentor Steven Rogers as his Alpha, Husband, and Headship.

To read previous parts of this series, go to the masterlist

2. A Most Untoward Introduction

Chapter Summary: Before Bucky knows what’s what, a prenuptial agreement has been negotiated and arrangements are being made. Deciding to cause one last scandal before he's bound to a controlling Spouse for the rest of his life, he takes the train to New York for a night on the town.

House Barnes holds the New Jersey Seat, but of course Bucky’s been to New York. It’s where all the best parties are.

He’d have been perfectly happy if it had been university or even his own youthful adventures that brought him to live in New York City, but the fact that it’s a marriage of convenience means that he’s not happy about it. Not one little bit.

Lord Rogers gets word back to Winnifred fairly quickly, and before Bucky knows what’s what, a prenuptial agreement and dowry has been negotiated and arrangements are being made. The servants start packing his things and the neighbors visit with well wishes and Bucky is just dying inside, because he can’t stand this. He’s engaged, and everyone's acting all glad and happy because House Barnes won't be ruined after all, but all Bucky feels is a growing sense of dread. He hates that it’s out of his control.

To feel better about the whole situation, and to maybe just cause one last scandal before he's bound to a controlling Spouse for the rest of his life, Bucky—engaged as he is—takes the train to New York with some friends for a night on the town. House Romanov is hosting an evening at the St. Regis, and it’s where everyone who’s anyone will be.

The party is in full swing by the time Bucky walks through the ballroom doors. He inhales deeply, feeling some of the tension of the last two weeks slipping away. He’s going to have a good time tonight, impropriety be damned. Hell, he’ll be disappointed if by tomorrow morning there aren’t headlines in some cheap tabloid. With a smirk and a drink swiped off a passing waiter’s tray, Bucky thinks that perhaps his stupid father won’t be the only one to make the papers, come Monday.

The party isn’t meant for Senators themselves. Bucky and his loose group of friends wouldn’t have bothered attending, if it was. Instead, it's the sons and daughters and the fortunate friends of the country’s ruling class who crowd the hotel ballroom. The music is fast and loud, pushing the limits of what their parents would find suitable, and the dancing that’s taking place isn’t the requisite twelve inches apart. It's a fashionable evening of young people drinking too much and behaving loosely—mostly single Betas and Alphas, as there are no chaperones present to protect the virtue of unmarried omegas. But there are a few married omegas whom Bucky spots amongst the throng of guests, their beta Spouses or Alpha Headships never far away. Bucky stands towards the edge of the room and downs several glasses of champagne as he surveys the crowd, assessing his options.

Suddenly, someone is at his side, starched skirts brushing up against his dress pants. He glances over. “Natasha,” he says. “Thank you for the evening. It's a good turn out."

“Of course,” she says. "But I honestly didn’t expect you to be attending.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“Does your fiancée know you’re here?”

“No." Bucky takes another sip of his drink, mulish over her use of the word 'fiancée'. "And I wouldn’t care if he did. I’m free for a few more nights, at least.”

“A date’s been set, then?”

His guts clench at the question. “Yeah,” he mumbles. "Yeah. June first.” That evening is May twenty-fifth. He’s getting married in a week. Sighing, he tosses back the end of his drink and shoves the empty glass at a passing server. His head’s floating already, filled pleasantly with bubbles. He’ll be drunk within the half hour, he thinks. “This is my last hurrah,” he says to Natasha. “Don’t try to stop me.”

She shrugs. “I won’t. Though I have a feeling I should. You’re going to make a spectacle of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Why not? It’s not like my dear betrothed is here to stop me.” Bucky sneers, liking the thought of making a headline or two so that when he walks up to the altar in a few days, he'll earn a glare from his new husband. “If the good Captain cared, he’d be here, now wouldn’t he?”

“I suppose,” Natasha says, looking amused. “Have fun with that, James.”

Bucky grunts, shaking off the thought that perhaps she disapproves of his intentions. Whatever, he thinks. She'd do the same if she were in his boat. Bucky's the one being forced into a marriage of convenience to salvage his family's name. He deserves to have one last bit of fun.

The first person to catch his eye is a handsome young alpha with auburn hair. Bucky doesn’t recognize him as a Senatorial heir, but that doesn’t mean much. Bucky's only been introduced to society for a few short years, and he's spent far more of that time in hospital beds than he has in ballrooms. There are surely many members of Society—both high and low—with whom he is still unacquainted. Emboldened by the champagne, he approaches the auburn-haired stranger and strikes up a friendly but inelegant conversation.

The stranger engages with him for a few moments before he seems to realize who Bucky is, his attention catching on Bucky's neck and his stiff left arm. “Oh," he says. "You’re James Barnes."

Bucky’s a little miffed at being recognized by his scars, but he lets it pass. He’s still got a pretty face, after all. He’s a little confident that it can make up for his shortcomings. Especially to a half-drunk alpha with no date on his arm. “Yeah,” he says. “And who are you? I’d think I’d remember such a handsome face.”

The man looks surprised, and he visibly gains confidence as he catches onto Bucky’s interest. His posture becomes more flirtatious and he inches closer to Bucky. “Oh? Well I’m not Society, but my father does business with House Stark. Hammer industries?”

Bucky’s eyes light up. Even better. He steps closer and reaches to finger shamelessly at the man's lapel. “Bourgeoises,” he hums. “Just my taste."

A couple hours later, and Bucky has obtained a reservation and a room key from the front desk. His companion joins him on the lift, where the grate gets closed and the operator averts his eyes. Bucky kisses his companion and snickers privately to himself about the impropriety of it. He wonders if the lift operator will be the one to give comments to the tabloids, come tomorrow morning.

The alpha Bucky's kissing does a fair job of it, despite their mutual drunkenness. He favors brandy, evidenced by the flavor of his tongue each time it dips into Bucky's mouth. He kisses confidently, and his hands are large and rough where they grip at Bucky’s sides. The lift 'dings' as it arrives at their floor, and they step off together. The poor lift operator looks downright relieved to be rid of them, nodding his head with a harried, "Sirs," and quickly lowering back out of sight.

Bucky’s companion laughs and tugs him along down the hall to their room. “I daresay I like you,” he says. “A beta who knows what he wants. No wasting time.”

Bucky hums. He stands at the door to the room and tries to fit the key into the lock, but it’s hard with the other man standing behind him the way he is, holding his hips and rubbing up against him and kissing at his neck. “Mm, can’t wait to undress you.”

Bucky groans. “Yeah." He’s all for exhibitionism, but the hallway is too much, even for him, and he continues to fumble with the key. "Just ... gotta get this damn door."

The man laughs. “This is so improper!"

"No that improper," Bucky grunts. "Jeez."

The man snickers and noses under his ear. "Well aren't you supposed to be engaged?"

“Yes, he is."

The voice that cuts in is deep and unamused. Bucky inhales sharply and whips his head to the side. There’s another man standing there, another alpha, looking borderline furious and smelling that way, too. He’s handsome, blond haired and strong-jawed, but he’s also in the way, and Bucky looks him up and down with a scowl. “Do you mind?”

The man steps closer. He’s not looking at Bucky, but rather at Bucky's companion. “Take your hands off of him and get out of here,” he says.

Bucky isn’t expecting his companion to listen, is actually expecting a pissing contest to take place, but then the guy’s hands leave his hips and he steps away. “I’m sorry,” he says to Steve, sounding very embarrassed, despite his drunkenness, then he hurries away back towards the lift.

Bucky cannot believe it. He turns to glare at the new stranger. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” he yells. He’s swollen in his pants, after all, and this guy has ruined his plans. The man doesn’t look abashed though. He looks disapproving as hell, which pisses Bucky off even more. “I asked you a question,” he growls, getting in the alpha’s face.

The man doesn’t budge. He just looks at Bucky like he’s a stupid kid. “I think you’d better go in that room and sleep off the state you’ve gotten yourself into,” he says. “I’m booked into a room down the hall. I’ll see you home safely in the morning.”

“Excuse me?” Bucky says, fuming. He reaches up to shove him, but the man catches his hand and holds it in place just over his chest. Bucky’s eyes narrow. “Let me go.”

“Promise me you’ll go in there and go to sleep,” the man says, still not acting like he’s in the wrong at all.

Bucky growls. “Fine!” He tries to yank his hand back and is surprised when the stranger allows it. He huffs, rubbing his wrist. “Jesus, you fucking pretentious alphas, think you can do whatever you want. You’re gonna regret this. Do you know who I am?”

The man’s lips quirk, for the first time looking amused, however wryly. “I know exactly who you are. You’re a spoilt brat who’s trying to make trouble.”

Bucky gasps. He feels like hitting the guy, but knows that he’d lose that fight fast. The man before him is big and fills out his suit in a way that lets Bucky know just how strong he must be. “Fuck you,” he says, angry and drunk and too tired to maintain this argument anymore. He turns away and focuses on getting his key in the lock. “You’re gonna regret this,” he mumbles again, though this time it’s with less venom since he can tell he’s not managing to get under this stranger’s skin. The door opens and Bucky pushes through.

“Go to sleep,” the man commands, as if it’s his right to do so. “I’ll retrieve you in the morning.”

Bucky scowls at the idiot stranger and slams the door in his face. He doesn’t bother getting undressed or doing anything more than taking a piss in the ensuite and yanking his collar loose before collapsing on the bed and passing out.

An abrupt knocking wakes Bucky, the sound of it far too loud and confusing the hell out of him as he groans blearily and blinks his eyes open. “Uuugh,” he moans. His head is pounding, and suddenly he remembers the night before, remembers where he is. “Fuck,” he mutters, feeling like shit.

He’d drank too much, and that stupid stranger had ruined the only reason why he’d imbibed anyway. He sits up in the bed, sparing a glance at his rumpled clothes. He hadn’t planned to spend the night in the city. A late-night train wouldn’t have seen his debauched state nearly so well as the daylight will. Great, he thinks. Now he’ll have to trompse through the lobby of the St. Regis in broad daylight.

“Fucking great,” he mutters. He gets up from the bed, as the knocking hasn’t stopped. He opens the door, prepared to fling a nasty insult at whatever hotel employee has deigned to disturb him. “What do you think you’re—” he freezes, words lost. It’s the man from last night; the blond alpha who’d ended all his fun. Bucky’s eyes narrow. “Are you kidding me?”

“I’m afraid not,” the man says, calm. He’s dressed for the day and composed, and he nods out at the hallway. “I’m seeing you home. Let’s go.”

Bucky laughs. This man is a fucking idiot. Bucky’ll have him detained at the front desk, he decides. Tell the hotel staff to hold him for harassment while Bucky leaves. Satisfied with the thought, Bucky nods and steps out, shutting the door and starting off for the lifts. The stranger follows, self-assured. Not for long, Bucky thinks.

He turns his key in at the front desk and tells the clerk his name. One mention of House Barnes and the woman’s eyes are widening in acknowledgement. “Of course, Sir. We have your account on file.” Bucky’s lips curl as he prepares to tell the woman to make sure that the lunk at his side doesn’t follow him further, but before he can, her attention is shifting over to said lunk, and she’s saying respectfully, “And yourself, Captain Rogers? Are you checking out?”

Bucky’s heart seizes up. No. He looks over at the blond stranger and watches in vague horror as he answers to the name. Once the hotel employee has moved away, Bucky meets the alpha's gaze, astounded. “You’re Steven Rogers?”

The man—Captain Steven Rogers, it would seem—nods. “My friends call me Steve.”

Bucky gapes, mortified. “You could’ve told me who you were!”

“And what would that’ve changed?” Steve asks, eyebrow arched. “You were on a mission to misbehave last night.”

“You're damned right I was!”

“James, be quiet,” Steve snaps, looking around at all of the other hotel guests that litter the lobby. “You don’t need to make more of a scene than you already have.”

Bucky sneers. “Oh, are you embarrassed, Lord Rogers?” Steve stiffens. He takes Bucky by the upper arm and begins steering him towards the hotel’s front doors. “Hey!”

“I’m embarrassed for you, James,” Steve tells him as they emerge onto the street. He brings Bucky to the curb, where a motor carriage is idling. He opens the door and pushes Bucky in. Before he closes the door, Steve looks in at Bucky and tells him, “My man will take you home.”

“I don’t need your help,” Bucky snaps.

Steve sighs. “I understand that you’re acting out or something along those lines.”

Bucky scowls. "I—"

“I also understand the situation that your family is in, and I won’t force you to do anything against your will. If you truly don’t want to follow through on the engagement, you only have to write me a letter. I’ll make some excuse. I won’t let anyone else know it was your decision.” Steve looks at him seriously. “But if you don’t write me that letter, James, then I’d better never hear of you behaving like this again.” He pulls back before Bucky can say anything to that. He shuts the carriage door and claps the roof to tell the driver to go. Bucky can only watch out the window as his future husband’s figure shrinks into the distance.

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utilitycaster · 9 months

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The wildest part about people being mad on Imogen's behalf is Imogen herself understood Keyleth's position in spite of her own wishful thinking, helps acquire the blue flowers for her, was the first to acknowledge the Changebringer's help, and the first to say "I'm sorry" to Orym losing more of his people. I'm really baffled to read these "Orym is manipulative" takes and that it was dangerous of Keyleth to validate his anger. Do you think it goes back to the god stuff, or is it just Imodna?

I think a little of column A, little of column B, little of several other things. Since I've been on the "hey could we consider that Imogen and Laudna are adult women who are responsible for their own actions" train for over a year, the specific "Imogen can be mean-spirited as well as unintentionally insensitive" train since at least this past February, and the "Orym is correct and Bor'Dor signed his own death warrant by casting Vitriolic Sphere at a group of people who were not violent towards him" train for a month, let's break it down.

There are a small handful of people in the fandom who just really hate Liam. Per a very salty rant I put into my drafts shortly after 3x63 to describe this type of person, it is a small, scattered, bizarre group of people who for no apparent reason have decided to be foaming-at-the-mouth levels of furious because, as far as I can tell, a nerdy Gen X-er dad who went to Tisch is kind of corny sometimes. Anyway nothing he does will ever sit well with them so we can ignore them forever. Moving on.

Some is Imodna; I thought the whole issue of Imogen and Laudna as agency-less infants against a cruel world would have been ameliorated by them entering a canon relationship (one currently compatible with the 2013 Pinterest board vibes of fanon no less) but it appears to have not been the case. For more on this, see this still relevant post and, while I personally haven't ever written something up, there's just, again, a complete black hole of empathy from a segment of the fandom when it comes to any of the other characters; my post from this morning about Imogen as compared to Caleb touches upon it. You know the Far Side cartoon where a guy is talking to his dog and the dog only recognizes a small handful of words? I feel this is similar, like, they see that Imogen wanted one thing and Orym and Keyleth wanted another thing that wasn't even, as you point out, terribly incompatible, and then the "well if not thing Imogen wants and not 100% deferential to her then BAD BAD BAD" attitude kicked in.

But I do think, in the end, a lot of it does come back to if not the gods exactly, the idea that the Vanguard is, unmistakably, the enemy. They are not the revolution here to usher in a new era of rule by the people. Keyleth is not here to raze Vasselheim to the ground but to have a diplomatic discussion; neither is she here to grant any leniency to the woman who attacked Vax regardless of her connection to Imogen. And she finds the idea of a world without the gods, regardless of her own personal feelings, to be one to be avoided. [sidebar: I hope we get Matt on 4SD; I am wondering, after the one-two-three punch of Hevestro, the Raven Queen, and Keyleth all placing a heavy thumb on the scale opposing the Vanguard if he did not expect the party to be as conflicted about the role of the gods and is trying to wind up an argument that I think as of last episode reached the end of its useful life.] When you couple that with Orym's positive attitude towards the gods, that explains the animosity towards him.

The undermining of Orym's position over the past few episodes has always been one of emotion. First he was not objective - as if anyone else was objective! As if any moral decision is ever 100% objective! We all have biases! What kind of early 2000s atheist forum shit are you on to claim perfect rationality that conveniently matches the ideas that apparently came to you in a godless vision? It's insane. Then it was his grief; grief makes you irrational (unless you're Imogen grieving Laudna, in which case you are objectively right at all times, even as you shout down every other suggestion, beseech Laudna's first murderer, not a month later consider the potential validity of the her second, and try to to undo her immutable past) and remember, moral decisions must be made by the rational. Then it was his impatience (nevermind that Imogen has absolutely no patience). And now it's his anger, and he's apparently been manipulating the party the whole time by...having suggestions for the group which he mentions, and openly stating what he was feeling and what he wanted, and not intuiting that Laudna reawoke Delilah with his approximately no magical ability and then encouraging her to finish a job she had started herself. Because god Rational Objective Conceptual Being forbid women do anything; it is the role of the man to protect their fragile souls from all consequences.

Even more generally I think a lot of people- not just in this fandom, though certainly within this fandom - are terrified of anger. Like, they think they like it - they say they love barbarians (though rage is its own beast and I think very different from the anger Orym and Keyleth exhibit) but most of the discussion of them tends to veer more into angst, and most players of barbarians are often exploring emotions like grief, self-pity (as Ashton says), or frustration just as much if not more so than anger. I think a lot of people perceive anger as this awful thing inside them to be controlled and denied, or alternately to only be let out for whatever they think is a sufficiently righteous cause, and instead sit in an increasingly toxic stew of simmering resentment and conflict avoidance until they begin to think this is not just normal but aspirational - anything but that awful beast they call anger. It's not new in discussions of Keyleth, and it's not limited to her and Orym; I can point to nearly every single character who has had even the slightest of outbursts - even something as mild and controlled as Orym's whispered profanity or less - and I promise you there's been pearl-clutching for every single one of them.

Anyway, you make great points! One of the things that struck me about this episode and prompted my frustration and my post earlier today is that Imogen has changed. I think she's been mulling over Liliana since her appeals to her during the Key's activation were unsuccessful; she hesitantly told Chetney when he asked in Uthodurn that yes, if Liliana's death is necessary, she understands; and I think seeing the utter devastation and pain that was inflicted on Keyleth brought it into focus. She was much more open to FCG and the coin as well. And, you know, if one had embraced Imogen's moral ambiguity in the leadup to the solstice, and the possibility that she could betray the party, instead of shouting that down? Then one could see this as a beautiful moment of growth for Imogen. One could, in fact, if one was so inclined, attribute it to her new sense of ease thanks to her circlet, or even to her nascent romantic relationship. If one, of course, had wholeheartedly embraced Imogen's past moral ambiguity and the possibility of her betrayal.

#answered #Anonymous #critical role spoilers #critical role #long post

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i-guess-im-into-this-now · 11 days

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The Apothecary Diaries

S1E7 First Watch

Here's where I watch The Apothecary Diaries for the first time and give my thoughts, analysis, predictions, and occasionally I stumble into a joke.

If you want to read from the beginning:

Episode 1

My character cheat sheet

Hongniang - Head LIW at Jade Pavilion

Lady Lishu - child bride concubine

Lady Ah Duo - one of the top 4 concubines

Lady Lihua - concubine who was poisoned by face power

Crystal Pavilion - Lady Lihua's residence

Jade Pavilion - Lady Gyokuyou's residence

Xiaolan - Maomao's servant girl friend

Lihaku - military officer who gave Maomao a hairpin

The Verdigris House - brothel

Luomen - Maomao's dad

Maomao has been ordered to rest since she was poisoned last episode. Her friends are worried and demand she take time to let herself heal. Maomao would rather not, but so far she is compliant.

And now that she has time to think, some of the things she has been repressing are rising. She's thinking about her father and wondering if he is okay. I suspect that she hasn't spent a lot of time with the grief of losing her old life. But grief is something that is inside you, not something you can run away from. Now that she is still, there is no where to hide from it.

Her trauma is also making itself known. She admits to feeling uncomfortable without her freckles painted on. Her altered appearance has been a shield she wore to protect herself from the male gaze.

The fact that she is processing her grief and trauma is actually a good sign that she is in a place that she feel safe. And I credit that to the love and care she receives at the Jade Pavilion.

But Maomao can only tolerate so much of this kind of introspection, so she paints her freckles on and goes to ask to be allowed to work. Apparently, most of the people at the garden party thought Maomao was literally a different person and Lady Gyokuyou is fine with Maomao hiding her true face.

Gaoshun has been at the pavilion all morning, just waiting for an opportunity to talk to Maomao, and not for any other reason, especially not to spend time with Hongniang. Lady Gyokuyou sent this high ranking official out to the yard to pull weeds because he was making eyes at Hongniang bored. Once again Maomao notes that Gaoshun is prime husband material. If only he weren't a "eunuch." My prediction here is that he is a private guard/official to Jinshi who was assigned to the rear palace along with his master, rather than a regular eunuch or palace official.

Jinshi actually sent Maomao the poisonous soup that she asked for. Gaoshun wants her to promise she won't drink it. Lol.

Maomao is out here using fingerprinting analysis to solve this crime. She deduces how many people have touched the bowl and is compelled to tell Gaoshun her theories on Lady Lishu's food taster. A fuller extent of the bullying that Lady Lishu experiences is painted. It turns out her ladies in waiting are even more terrible than Lady Lihua's.

The person who added the poison touched the rim of the bowl which is something servants handling food are trained not to do. So that eliminates a few suspects. Maomao has passed what she knows to Gaoshun, and therefore Jinshi. Hopefully he will have some insight.

But not tonight. We are seeing an exhausted Jinshi for the first time. He hasn't slept, or changed his clothes, and now he doesn't have the energy to be formal. Gaoshun scolds him for it.

Gaoshun: Your true nature's starting to show.

Jinshi: Who cares? There's nobody here.

Gaoshun: You're forgetting me.

Jinshi: A little slack, if you please.

Gaoshun: No.

As it turns out, Gaoshun has been looking after Jinshi since the day he was born. Yet, despite their long relationship, Jinshi is not permitted to relax in his company. I feel bad for Jinshi here. His relationship with Gaoshun may be the closest one he has, and yet even this is so formal. It has to be a lonely existence.

And as if we hadn't picked up that Jinshi is in fact a prince, this whole conversation offers more evidence. He has had a minder since the day he was born, and the dignity of his station must be maintained at all times.

And if that isn't enough, Jinshi's hairpin is a symbol of his status. Gaoshun is frustrated that Jinshi just tossed this hairpin of great importance.

It's something only special individuals can wear.

Xiaolan informs Maomao that she can use the hairpin she was gifted to request that the man who gave it to her escort her outside the palace. Maomao is enthusiastic about the idea. And two men have given her a pin. I'm guessing she'll ask the bouncy military officer before Jinshi, even though she knows him better. Things are complicated with Jinshi and there are so many unnamed feelings between them. Asking Jinshi would mean something. Whereas Lihaku means nothing to Maomao. He is a means to an end.

Not Maomao questioning whether Jinshi qualifies as a man! OMG!

But considering how one of them lost a certain part of their anatomy does he still count?

And Lihaku is... kind of a shitty guy. He's repulsed that Maomao isn't as beautiful as she was at the party, accuses her of being clueless, and trying to take advantage of him. His tune drastically changes when Maomao makes an offer to get him a night with a high ranking courtesan.

And this is why Maomao chose Lihaku to be her escort rather than Jinshi. This is what she has to trade. An introduction to a famous courtesan would not be of interest to the two women, or the "eunuch" who gave her hair pins, but it very much interests Lihaku. This is just a business transaction for both Maomao and Lihaku, but it is a successful one. Maomao has secured an escort to take her home.

Maomao's pavilion friends are enthused for her. They essentially are acting like Maomao has accepted a proposal. They don't question her on why the man she is leaving the palace with is a different guy than Jinshi who they saw give her a hairpin first. They are simply happy for Maomao's good fortune. Maomao understands none of that. Lady Gyokuyou knows that Maomao doesn't understand about the hairpins and she spares a thought for Jinshi saying:

A pity. His poor heart. When he finds out, it's going to shatter.

Which delights her. Lady Gyokuyou is looking forward to seeing Jinshi suffer. Me too.

And sure enough, when he visits a day too late, Lady Gyokuyou delivers the new about Maomao in the most devastating way she can, implying that Maomao has eloped. She then laughs at Jinshi's horrified reaction before softening the news by letting him know she'll return in 3 days. Lady Gyokuyou is my hero.

As we enter the pleasure district, Maomao describes the various roles the women there play. The Three Princesses of Verdigris House are revered by all. They outrank everyone else. Courtesans in general are respected and there are many girls who hope to be one. Though it's very competitive. Girls will become servants and train to become a courtesan but there is no guarantee they will achieve it. This show is always showing us the various roles that women play in this society.

The Madame of Verdigris House greets Maomao with a violent gut punch. She does allow Lihaku to enter the brothel and meet with one of the princesses. Turns out Maomao is paying half of all of her earnings from the palace for this opportunity. And it's still not enough. She's in debt to the brothel. That's probably not a good thing. In fact, I could see that going very, very wrong. She's going to need to be careful.

Maomao returns home, and things are weird with her dad.

Maomao: Hello Dad. I'm home.

Luomen: Oh. Welcome back. You were gone awhile.

Maomao is so happy to see him. She's smiling the whole time, but the casual interaction after her disappearing without a trace and coming back after so long, is weird.

After Maomao falls asleep, Luomen is reflecting and thinks:

The Rear Palace? What a twist of fate.

What do mean Luomen?!

Do you mean generally? Like oh, look how this poor girl who used to live on the bad side of town and work hard to scrape by, is now living in the palace and hanging out with royalty?

Or do you mean specifically? Is there some reason that Maomao being in the rear palace is remarkable? Does she have some hidden connection to the palace? Does she know?

Very little JinMao content in this episode. Which is probably good because they have some things to think about about after all the events of the day of the garden party.

We might be seeing the beginnings of Jinshi unraveling. He's either unable or unwilling to keep up all the walls he's kept until now. Maomao somehow slipped through and he's starting to question if it's worth the effort to keep them up. He tested taking them down with Gaoshun, but was rebuffed. But the cracks have already begun forming and it's only a matter of time before things start to give. He's had a taste of something real and I doubt he can go back to the way things were before.

Maomao on the other hand is running. She had some time to think in the beginning of the episode and she's scared. The emotions are so big and scary. And for as honest and straightforward as Maomao is, she is not good at being vulnerable. It's not a coincidence that she left the palace right after all that happened with Jinshi the day of the garden party. She needs to get away from the palace and Jinshi so she can evaluate how she feels and decide what she wants to do.

Maomao returns home, back to a place where she knew who she was and what she wanted. But she's changed from her time in the palace, and she needs to examine that. Her desires have also changed. Does she really want to leave the palace and return to work for her father?

There are parallel stories being played out between Maomao and Jinshi. Both of them have changed and can't return to the way things were before.

It will be interesting to see how these characters adjust to change, and how their stories will differ or reflect each other.

Most of Jinshi's challenges seem to be external; the pressures of his status, the condfines of his station. He seems willing, perhaps even eager, to face the rising emotions.

Maomao on the other hand has a lot more freedom and less external pressure than Jinshi (ironic because she's an indentured servant), but she instead struggles with internal stressors; the scars of trauma, and fear of intimacy. She fears the rising emotions.

For both of them, there is no going back, and they will have to adjust to the changes and face the challenges that result. There is no way out but through.

But hopefully they will come together face their challenges side by side.

🤞

If you want to read these from the beginning:

Episode 1

Next episode:

Episode 8

#the apothecary diaries #apothecary diaries #maomao #jinshi #jinmao

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lgcnathan · 1 month

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*guess_who's_back_back_again.mp3* hi all ! thank you so much all the warm welcome (back's) 🤍 i'm kristin / admin *, and for those of you who don't know, nathan is my previous third-turned-second muse before i dropped out of the rp completely back in may of last year. i've still been around doing graphics, but nathan has always had a special place in my heart – and i knew that if i were to return with a muse, it would be with him. so when soobin opened up, i knew this was my one and only chance !

that being said, nathan is ~pretty much~ the same but ofc different in ways. his timeline is a continuation from where he was ic-wise last year, and you can read more under the cut about what his life is like now in the post-type zero era of his career. i've also linked his previous introduction that includes more of his backstory before he came to legacy for your reference !

now, without further ado, please like or reply to this post if you want to plot ! and if we plotted before, please don't feel like we need to keep the same connection – i'm practically starting from scratch here, and i'm excited to see what the future holds for nathan + all of you !

because i am an admin, you can easily reach me here or on the main. alternatively, you can find me on twitter or discord – just ask for my username, and i'll add you !

super stoked to be back here in my favorite place with my favorite people – let's get this party started 🥳

tl;dr on his backstory is that he (1) grew up in new york city, (2) acted out a lot because of parental neglect (re: being raised in boarding schools his whole life), (3) ended up in korea because the school board threatened to expel him after a prank-gone-wrong, (4) auditioned for legacy after his npc-big brother got signed to the company, (5) stayed because it was the first time in his life he ever got praised for literally anything and, wow, very much attention and affection-starved from the get-go, and (6) debuted in type zero in april of 2021 after four years of training!

now ... where, oh, WHERE do i even begin? like i mentioned in my ooc post when i dropped, nathan ultimately left type zero because of massive burnout. at the time, he was practically hard-carrying the group's promotions with his solo activities, and the burden of maintaining type zero's 'status' in the industry was eventually too much for him.

it was a lot for him, okay. not only was he dealing with the emotional turmoil that came from being in a group with so many line-up changes and differing opinions from the public, he was succumbing to the pressure of all these expectations placed on him that he (as he knows now) never felt properly prepared for before his debut.

the first few weeks after his departure, he had an extended staycation with his grandparents in the outskirts of seoul before flying back to nyc for some much-needed r&r.

since he was still signed to legacy even after leaving type zero, he returned to training after about three months of 'vacation' – so he's only been full-time training for a little over six months now.

he's been avoiding, basically, everyone – previous managers and stylists and other staff members, other debuted idols in the company, and, of course, the type zero members.

he's so ashamed of himself, for giving something up that (as he first-hand witnessed himself!) hundreds of kids only dream of after sacrificing their childhoods, their youths, their critical developments years all for the goal of becoming an idol.

and he's embarrassed, for obvious reasons. when he left type zero, he was practically at the top of his game, but now? now he's stuck in the basement, in the hallways of dance studios and practice rooms, surrounded by unfamiliar faces that whisper and gossip as he passes by. he's visibly older than most trainees now, and his energy nor enthusiasm can barely keep up anymore.

before, nathan thought he could take the world on by storm – that no matter what problem or obstacle, he could bulldoze through with sheer willpower alone. but now he's scared, and more jaded. the idol industry isn't anything like they tell you to believe, and there truly are things you can only learn through real-life experience.

but at the end of the day, nathan knows why he's still here, why he's tormenting himself by going through this rigorous training process again. he loves it. he loves it so much, and so much more than wanting to run away from it all once again.

#lgc:intro #OUT OF CHARACTER (TAG)#whew got a lil emotional writing this

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igotanidea · 1 year

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Still waters run deep: Dick Grayson x f!readear

Summary: Here are some things I heard about myself: Kind of a girl that looks young, innocent and harmless. Kind of a girl you know is the weakest link in direct combat. Kind of a girl you tend to ignore beacuse she is no threat. The girl you feel the need to protect. (ironically, completely different than the previous one). A sensitive one. A shy one. Well, tonight I'm going out in sole purpose to have some fucking fun, cause life has been a mess lately. So, let's see if I'm going to act like shy and sensitive one after a couple of drinks. Oh, Dick's not going to like it.......

Warnings: cursing, a bit of smut (minors DNI!), mentions of illegal activities,

First person POV

This has been a hell of a week.

Between fighting with titans and keeping my secret identity a secret I also had to deal with day-to-day regular job and it made it twice as much energy consuming than for everyone else.

Of course, my thoughtful (and a bit too possessive) boyfriend tried to convince me to give one it up and commit to the Titans fully, but much to his disappointment (to say the least) I refused , trying to balance it all.

So, can you blame for being stressed and drained?

Given all that I had two options – lay down, getting all my emotions suppress me or quite literally shake it off. A little party was just what I needed. But going out alone was not something I enjoyed, so the plan was to somehow convince Donna and Dawn to have a girl’s night out.

“I’m out” Donna muttered, not even raising eyes from the book she was reading

“Oh, come on” I whined “all work and no play…..”

“Don’t.” she cut me off, warning in her voice and instinctively I looked down moved by her harsh tone “Sorry Y/N. You know I don’t mean in in a bad way, but seriously. I really need some time alone, all right? I’ll join you next time.”

“Fine. I won’t push you. Hopefully Dawn will be up for the party.”

“Sorry, Y/N, I’m staying too. Hank has been going through something and I need to get him to talk before it gets out of hand.” Dawn chimed in

“Right. Can’t risk the big guy losing control.” I muttered getting her point but still disappointed

“No hard feelings though, right?” the blonde asked putting a hand on my shoulder, reassuringly

“No, no, of course not. I guess I will just go alone than.”

“Is your boyfriend not up to some dance with you?” Donna smirked knowing well enough how Dick felt about any and every party. Bruce had him discouraged during the years when he was forced to attend Wayne’s yearly galas. Therefore, I was not even going to ask him.

“Such a surprise, right?” I rolled my eyes ironically

“You know, maybe you should give him a chance.” Dawn suggested “I’m pretty sure he will go anywhere with you.”

“The point is, I want to party, not watch him eye everyone in search of a potential threat, so…. yeah, I’m going alone.”

“Stay safe than” Donna muttered, back into lecture

“She knows how to handle herself. Have fun Y/N.

It took my quite a while to get all dolled up, wearing the dress that surely drew attention and was far more revealing than the hero suit I was used to, and putting a bit more makeup than on a daily basis. Truly, even with all my self-doubts and modesty, I had to admit I looked hot as hell. This is going to be a good night. I though as I sneaked out the tower.

***

Dawn was only partially right. I knew how to handle myself, but still all I heard from people was that H/N was the weakest link in combat. That Y/N was that kind of girl that pose no threat and the one you don’t really give attention to. It always made me …. sad and a bit angry for being seen like this. There was so much more to me they never seen. But tonight, tonight I was going to let it all go and just let loose. Knowing well enough, Dick would never approve of my plan for the night. Well, I was not his possession, was I?

***

Third person POV

Dick was working out, not surprising to anyone. He needed a good training after the whole week of stress, anxiety and fast action not that it was going to change anytime soon. He was truly hoping this will clear his mind, but clearly it did not. So the other option was to find his girlfriend and let her soothing presence and her soft touches calm him down. He truly had no idea how she ended up with him. He was rage, she was clear thinking, he was impulsive and a bit reckless, she was always the one with the plan and clear vision. He missed her. For the last days they didn’t really spend much time together and when they did it was usually just sleeping together, tangled with other, trying to get as close as possible without disrupting the rest they both so desperately needed. Passing by was not good for the relationship and she pointed it out once, when instead of spending time with her he was up late, but he never listened. Until now. With the best intention to make up for his negligence he started searching the tower for her, but the girl was nowhere to be found.

“Has anyone seen Y/N? I can’t find her anywhere.”

“Seems to me like she finally broke.” Hank muttered with mouth full of some crazy dish he made “got to admit, she was pretty resistant in ditching you.”

“I’m serious. Did she left the tower?”

“Do you think you can keep her a prisoner here? She’s a free spirit, a fierce woman with ……”

Since Hank was not helping, Dick decided to ask Donna and Dawn if they knew anything. At first, they kept their mouth shout, not revealing the plan their friend made, but seeing his sad puppy eyes and real worry on the boy’s face they gave in.

“She went to a party” he repeated a bit confused. Why? Why would she go without him? Why wouldn’t she tell him a thing? Was she going for a one night stand? “Where?”

“She wasn’t specific about that, but knowing Y/N she joined the first club on the way.”

“I need to find her.”

“No, you don’t. She deserves fun.” Dawn objected

“It’s not like I’m going to destroy it” he stated, crossing arms on his chest “what?” his face dropped a bit upon seeing girls’ mocking expressions

“Not at all, Dick. You’re just a party animal.”

“I….” he tried to say something, but at the same time his phone rang and he was fast to pick it up seeing it was Y/N calling. “Y/N? Baby, where are you? are you all right? Did something happen? I will pick you up just tell me….”

“Dickie….” She slurred “I’m having so much fun! All those boys are just so friendly, you know. Wish you were here, boyfriend. TIME OF MY LIFE!” and then she just hanged up on him.

“Was she drunk? She never gets drunk.” Dawn was now a bit concerned about her friend safety

“Are you sure that she knows how to handle herself now?” Donna was obviously sarcastic on the outside but quite as much worried inside “she has no real fighting skills and if some creeps are all over her…..”

“Stop it!” Dick felt his blood boil at the mere thought of any other dude touching or even getting close to his girlfriend. If anyone were to cross the line and to hurt her, he would have no mercy and no hesitation in permanently hurting all of the perpetrators “We’re getting her home. I’ll track her phone. “ he rushed to the elevator grabbing his jacket on the way, ready to fulfill his knight in shining armor duties.

“Do you think we should go after him?” Dawn looked at Donna. Dick was really in the state of mind in which he was capable of everything.

“I’m not his babysitter” Donna scoffed “And neither are you.”

“But maybe we should make an exception and just this once follow him?” Dawn insisted

“What about Hank?” Wondergirl asked

“What about me?” said boy came through the door, a bowl full of food still in his hands.

“He can join.” Dawn shrugged, not really giving the boy any liberty to decide for himself

“What exactly are you girls getting me into?”

“A party, apparently. Main stars being very drunk Y/N and very angry Dick.”

“Well if that’s the show I’m all in.” Hank was already halfway to the door. “Are you coming or what?”

***

First person POV

I made a really, really good decision to come here. After a couple of drinks all of my inhibitions dissolved and I wasn’t the quiet member of the team anymore. Oh no! Now I was the star of my own show! Dancing like there was no tomorrow, moving my body, showing my best moves. Old, quiet Y/N was long gone, the sex queen raised. Apparently I was not solitary in that opinion as a couple of guys, I was eyeing for some time now, came closer to me, following my dance moves. One of them grabbed my hips from behind as the other put his on my waist. Shit, they were both so hot and I giggled seductively trying to imagine how surprised Dick would be right now if he saw me. Not a good girl anymore! Not the one he could omit and neglect and left high and dry, unfinished . This was not a revenge or a payback, this was my way of getting what I needed, what I wanted, what I deserved. If my boyfriend wasn’t up to the job I needed some other forms of entertainment.

The song changed into something far more sexual and the guy moving behind me started to pull me closer as his friend leaned in, his faces inches from mine. I did not stop him as his lips crashed on mine, his hands started roaming my body, caressing my skin pulling me off the dance floor. I let him fully take control of me. After all, like I said I was eyeing him all night, giving signals to come closer and have his fun.

“come with me, baby. Let’s go somewhere private and quiet, shall we. I’ll make you feel good, you look like you need it”.

“Less talking, more action” I whispered in his ear “I want to get you all alone, loverboy.”

The last sentence finally made him grab my hand tighter and get me out, downstairs. Apparently the club was situated above some old bunker, not that I cared when I picked it as my nightly destination.

Third person POV

***

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?

Getting the signal from her phone took Dick just a few seconds and getting to the place where it came from, mere minutes. He was quite relieved to realize she wasn’t far but the view before his eyes made him regret getting here so fast. His love, his sunshine, his girlfriend was practically making out with some dude, that wasn’t him. In the middle of the club! What happened to the girl reluctant to any form of PDA!?

FUCK!

This fucking guy was touching her in the way no one else but him was supposed to! Getting his dirty hands on her perfect hips, trying to sneak them under her dress to feel her soft, smooth skin. For a while his mind was blurred with the memory of her naked body underneath him, whining and squirming in pleasure only he was capable of giving her. The flashback of her begging him for more, more…. Of her hands all over him, pulling him in, her soft moans as he was getting her high, her quiet words assuring him that she loved him so, so much and that he was doing so, so good…..

I need more, Dick…… please…. I need you so bad…..

I love you baby, I love you so much. Tell me you’re mine.

I’m yours, Dickie. Only yours…..

And I’m yours, baby. Let me show you…..

FUCK! FUCK! He was going to kill him for even looking in her direction! His poor baby girl. Seduced, probably drugged and used! The sudden movement, coming from the direction where she was, made him come back to reality and as he saw that lapdog drug her out into more secluded part of the building, the Robin with his ruthlessness took over his mind and action. Oh, this was going to be a bloodbath.

Just a couple minutes later, the rest of the Titans team entered the club. At first glance everything was fine, but Dawn was quick to pick up on Dick’s figure disappearing behind the back. It took her a second to figure out his posture was now different, more stiff, more grim, all his muscles tensed and fist clenched. The only things he was missing were mask and cape, but besides that, he wasn’t Dick Grayson anymore.

“Fuck!” Donna hissed realizing the same thing.

“What? What is going on?” Hank wasn’t even half as fast in recognition as girls, confused and lost in the situation.

“Just shut up and hurry or someone will end up hurt!”

***

First person Pov

“Where are you taking me? “ I giggled almost tripping over my legs, letting the stranger guide me

“Patience, baby, we’re almost there.

“I need you now” I whined, not being patient.

“I now, sweetie, I know. But trust me, once we’re in the safe place you won’t get rid of me….” He trailed, something dark in his voice

“I surely hope so…..” I started but didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence as something dark and stinking covered my head, my face included cutting off the oxygen supply and making me black out.

Oh, fuck….

***

I have no idea how long I was unconscious but I woke up to the sound of a few male voices, three or four most probably, but the extreme headache I was now experiencing did nothing to my evaluative skills. Oh, and I was also tied up, not able to move, my hands above my head, facing all the capturers.

“how many pills did you give her?” one of the man said

“One as planned.” The other replied

“Well, if it was one she would be up by now, you idiot! I’m serious, how many!?”

“One or two additional may have slipped in.”

“You dumbass! We need her aware of what’s happening! It makes everything far more funny.”

“I agree with him. The screams and attempted fight just spice the whole act” Ok, that was the third

“All of you shut up now!” the last one. So my calculations were right. There were four of them. Despite the situation, I congratulated myself in the back of my head. I groaned a bit and it got their attention “Oh, the princess is finally waking up. Welcome back to the land of the living, sweetie.”

“Where….. where am I?” I muttered narrowing my eyes. Gods, why all of the kidnappers always had to use the brightest light available.

“Well, it really depends from the point of view. From mine, you are on the verge of heaven, from yours probably first step of hell.”

“Are you the boss?” I looked him straight into the eyes

“ Are you always so eloquent?” he crouched next to me and grabbed my face painfully “and here I was thinking you were only a pretty face and a nice ass” he slap my back and I flinched. What did I got myself into?

“What are you going to do to me?” I sobbed, tears falling down my cheeks now.

“Oh, there it is. You are finally realizing what is going to happen to you, don’t you? Such a pathetic little bitch. Probably forgotten by a busy boyfriend, am I right? Desperate for entertainment and attention. Those are the easiest catch.”

I shook my head abruptly, the mascara smudged all over my face, vision blurry.

“Don’t cry princess. Where we are sending you, you’re going to have plenty of boys ready to thoroughly devour your attributes” the man laughed viciously. “Am I right boys?”

“So what is it? Some sort of trafficking ring? You sell girls to the brothels?” I gasped in terror, my eyes growing wide and mouth falling open in awe.

“You little pinhead” he cooed “you’re lucky you’re pretty, because sensibleness is not your strongest suit. Yes, we will send you to one of our massage parlors. The clients will love you. And hey, another good thing. You will get to meet with some other bitchy hoses like you. After all, you were asking for it, weren’t you, you little slutty whoredog?” he leaned across, his face inches from mine.

“Ok, I think that’s enough.” I stated, becoming calm and sober in a blink of an eye. Before any of the guys wrapped their heads around the situations I did a flip, kicking their boss straight into the jaw, probably causing the ostectopy and sending him flying back. One out, three to go. The second one came right at me but I used my strength to hoist up and wrap my legs around his neck.

“Here’s a taste of your own medicine” I spat, now causing him to black out due to the lack of oxygen. “Not so nice is it?”

Two to go.

The third man came from behind me with some stick in his hands, his gaze fixed solely on my face. Oh, poor one, he thought he got himself some crazy weapon. Fool. It was way too easy to just trip him up, causing the guy to make friends with the floor.

“You bitch!” right, there was the last one. Probably the smartest (irony of course) observing my moves and trying to get the best strategy to get me.

“Please, tell me you are at least a bit better in fighting than those scumbags” I sighed in desperation. Honestly, my hands was becoming a bit sore and I wanted to get over this situation.

“You bitch!” he yelled again. Definitely wasn’t the one with wide stock of words, but what can you expect in his profession. Taking cue from his friend, he tried to gather himself some gear, settling on a rusty chain laying nearby, spinning it over, almost hitting me. I just moved a bit to the right and then to the left and then a bit more to the wall, the man following me closely still playing with the chain. In the final moment I ducked and the weapon bounded off the wall hitting him right in the face, knocking him out. So, all four hurt, unconscious and defeated. The only problem for now was getting out of the rope that hamstringed my wrists.

“Do you need help with that?” a familiar voice and a familiar face egressed from the shadows.

“Nah, not really. I can handle myself” I smirked casually. In some other circumstances I would probably add a shrug but it was a bit impossible now.

“Mhm, I see” Dick came closer, stopping just a foot away from me. All of a sudden the closeness made me away of my vulnerable position. Ironically, I was not scared standing with my hands up in front of four dangerous men, but became paralyzed in front of my boyfriend. And shit if he didn’t; know that.

“Did you follow me? How much did you see? Wait, how long were you creeping there?” I tried to take control of the situation.

“Long enough to see you to do some improper things with someone that wasn’t me.”

“I bet he learned his lesson by now” I pointed my head towards said man lying on the floor, stepping from one foot to another. The position was getting more and more uncomfortable with every second.

“Oh, not even close. It’s me who will give him a lesson. When I’m done there will be nothing to pick.”

“Dick….” I whined, now really in pain.

“You got some moves baby” oh, this jerk really enjoyed having me on his mercy “why did you never show it in the tower?”

“You know, I’m really living by the still waters run deep rule. I…..” I groaned a bit and his eyes darkened at the sound “I like the element of surprise.”

“Do you? Well, this really was a surprise to me. In more than one way.” His face was now inches away from mine and I felt my cheeks (and not only them) growing hot.

“Dickie…..” I whined again

“By the way, are those the guys who were engaged in human trafficking? The one who sell girls to brothels? The ones we were trying to track for the last month?”

“Yes…. I…..”

“So this was your plan all along?! Did you know how much danger you were in!?” his voice grew a bit more angry now. He was probably imagining all the things that could have happened to me. It served him right! “What if they were stronger than you? What if you weren’t able to defeat yourself? What if…..?”

“Grayson!” I yelled in frustration cutting him off.

“What is it babygirl?” he faked innocence.

“Can you… can you get me out of this ropes? Please? It hurts now. ”

“Don’t know. I saw you doing some things I didn’t like tonight. I think you deserve a bit of punishment for that” he smirked.

“Dickie….. please, please…” I moaned in that special way and it turned him on at once as he crashed his lips on mine, one of his hands lifting me up motioning to wrap my legs around his waist, the other untying the rope finally setting my arms free. As soon as he did both of his hands circled around my waist pulling me closer to his chest, squeezing me against his body while his lips and the kiss became faster, hungrier, more passionate and predatory. Not that I complained as my own fingers ghosted over his arms and chest, going down to the hem of his shirt, slowly peeling it of him. He groaned and pushed me to the wall to enable himself to pull that useless piece of material over his head. God, he was so well built it took my breath every time I saw him shirtless. He was so warm and strong I instantly felt safe, craving his touch, his attention and affection tossing my own shirt away.

“What happened to you?” he muttered against my skin, his lips moved to my neck and shoulder covering it with kisses and hickeys.

“What…. What do you mean?” I gasped as he found one particularly sensitive spot.

“We are practically in a public place. Everyone can nail us going so physical” his lips ghosted over my half-exposed breast “you were always so private, babe…..”

“I missed you” I confessed “and I honestly don’t care anymore. I need you. I want you. I don’t care who can see us…. Make love to me…..” I whispered and felt his pulse raise.

“I missed you too…..” his hands reached towards the clasp of my bra, letting my breast free “I’m gonna make you feel so good babe….”

***

“I don’t want to see anymore of this. I’m gonna be sick” dark haired girl standing in the corner turned on her heel and rushed out.

“Well, I am quite enjoying the show” the muscular boy let out a laugh but being hit through the head by his blonde girlfriend crouched and they both left the room as well. The only people present were two very longing for each other young adults, too busy with themselves to care about the rest of the world.

@somest1 @pinksirensong - I'm sorry to drag you through this ..... 🙈

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short-black-diamond · 2 years

Text

NOOOOOoooooooo.....

UHMMMMMMMMMM, I’m alive, haven’t posted in a while and i’m sorry, anyways, here’s a thought that crossed my mind!

Hope y’all like it! BTW, no good ending for deku, like, Reader ends up with Bakugo n shit.

Um Um gender neutral (They/them/their), no name called, like (Y/n), I didn’t write (Y/n), annnnd, yeah.

Um, so it’s actually mutual pining, but...yeah, i dunno. READ!

---

Bruh, imagine one sided love with Deku.

You, who has known Midoriya Izuku all their life, who has been there for him when he found out that he was quirkless, when he got made fun of by Bakugo, when he didn’t feel his best.

So...

Why?

Why is he doing that to you?

Why is he going towards Uraraka and not to you, with your outstretched arms, ready to hug him when he fucked up throwing the ball in the first test they had with the whole class on the first day of school? She only gave him a pat on the shoulder.

Why was he trying to talk to Todoroki when the latter one didn’t want to have to do anything with the green haired boy? Why did Izuku care so much?

Why didn’t he talk to you as much as he did when it was just you two against the world?

Then it hit you.

You loved him, but he only liked you. yeah, that’s it. Nothing more.

anger, sadness and pain filled your whole body and soul the more you thought about it, and before you saw it coming, you spent the rest of the holidays alone, training to become a better person.

Not once, ever since Deku met All Might, did you get a message other than ‘can’t srry’, ‘’m training rn’, ‘Maybe next time?’, or read on your phone from that freckled boy.

Heartbreak.

that’s what it was, yes...

You were so stupid. Why didn’t Deku tell you about his quirk that he had after all? Why was Uraraka the first one to witness it? Why was Bakugo the first one to find out about it? Why are Todoroki, Iida, Uraraka and Deku suddenly close friends with each other?

Why?

Is it because you’re somebody he knows already? Someone he thinks is boring? didn’t he like you anymore? Is that why he barely talks with you, too busy blushing whenever Uraraka touches or smiles at him?

You wanted to puke. You wanted to rip your heart out. Bang your head against a wall, fall down a building, drink poison, anything to stop those fucking butterflies erupting in your stomach whenever you thought about your ex bestfriend.

Stupid feelings...!

...

It’s Sero, who notices your absence and lack of optimism first. Knocking swiftly on your door before opening it slowly, he is met with you pushing yourself up with your arms on a bar, in a handstand.

“Whoah, you alright there?“, he asks, cautiously stepping closer and sitting down on your bed. a soft matress welcomed his ass as he sat down, and he sunk down a bit because of his weight.

You didn’t hear the scotch tape dispenser and kept up with your training, sweat forming on legs, arms and neck, as well as on your forehead, rock music blasting your eardrums. your eyes were trained on the ground as to not loose your balance.

Huh, pretty cozy in here., Sero thought.

Just now, the black haired boy realised that he has never been in your room until now.

Sero looked around. He counted two pots of plants by the balcony, three little aquariums on your bookshelves, a big, little house like cage for Koda’s and your bunnies, which they rested in peacefully (yes, Koda canonly owns a bunny!) and as to not disturb them, you heard music with your earphones and tried your best to keep quiet with your groans.

On the floor were some lost leaves for the bunnies, a few slices of carrot on the old fashioned nighttable, and lots of pet toys. but, there were also many pillows. A few people could make a pajama party here.

And that became Sero’s idea. He smirked while watching you as he dialed Denki’s number, who then contacted the whole group.

Soon, the loud people met your sweaty body and Sero looking at your form. They looked around, everyone thinking the same thing.

They’re not as intimidating as they look.

Suddenly, your feet met the ground, but you didn’t make a noise. you panted slowly as you stood up, but your sould nearly left your body when you saw the five people in your dorm room.

“What the fuck? What are you guys doing here?!“, you whisper-yelled, not wanting to wake the furry pair in their nice little home.

“Sero chatted us!“, mina cheered silently.

“You looked down a little, so I thought we could chill a little.“, Sero gave back, speaking quietly.

You locked eyes with Bakugo, and to your utter disbelief, he gave you a look of concern.

“You okay? You seem...dried out.“, he rasped, eyeing your body which was covered in sweat.

You didn’t know what to say.

Was THE Bakugo Katsuki asking about your wellbeing???!

“I...need a shower. Don’t be loud or touch anything.“, you then commanded upon seeing Kirishima, Denki and Mina play with your fishes.

...

After about twenty minutes with a cold shower later, you were met with the sight of the five people having widen out your bed and everyone laying on it in a tangled mess; Mina was sleeping on Sero, Sero’s legs were on Denki’s stomach, Denki’s back was on Kirishima’s back, and Bakugo has somehow managed to sleep next to them without them touching him.

You chuckled quietly and struggled to find a place to sleep on without laying your body parts on somebody else’s, when Bakugo pulled you flush against his chest.

You blushed furiously while trying to escape from his vice grip, but he only pulled you closer. “Um...Bakugo-”

“Let’s stay like this. Tell me. Why are you behaving like that?“, he whispered. The soft snores of your loud friends signaled that you and Bakugo were the only ones awake at this hour.

And that gave you time to think about your answer.

“I...well, it’s about Izu- Midoriya.“

“Ouch, what did he do to make himself land on last name basis with ya?“

You laughed a little, your nervousness about being so close--too close--with your childhood rival, fading a little.

Huh, it’s pretty nice with him.

Only now did you feel his chiseled hand trail up and down your body, relaxing you. comforting you.

“I don’t know. First thing I know, we’re besties, it’s me and him against the world, and the boom. Suddenly he has all those other...those better people around him...“

Bakugo listened to what you whispered. He didn’t say anything.

“...He is friends with Todoroki, son of the number one pro hero. With Iida, son of a rich family. With Uraraka, whom he must have a crush on...!

I-I mean, look at her! She’s so much more than me..! She is so nice! While I’m trying to be intimidating and shit. She has a nice, high voice, while mine is grotesquely deep. she can make things float! And what can I do with my quirk? No-“

A pair of soft, caramel tasting lips touched yours tenderly. He pressed them on you, very slowly, cautiously, as not to ram into you. His lips were made to fit against yours it seemed.

he breathed out a sigh, and you, being completely shocked and surprised, calmed down a bit after a few seconds. Then you closed your eyes and cherished the moment.

After a little more moments of that sudden intimacy, you guys broke the kiss.

You still had your eyes closed, still feeling the explosive boy’s lips on yours. When you opened your eyelids, you caught him looking at you with a little smile.

“Please don’t think so lowly of yourself. If you want to know, ‘m havin’ a hard time catchin’ up with ya. Yer more than that floaty bitch, y’know? And about that damn nerd...I’ll handle this. a’ight?“

Unable to say anything - then again, what could you say? - you nodded.

And then, you saw Katsuki avert his eyes, his cheeks changing their colour and he stuttered something.

“...w-would you like to... go out ...with me or somethin’?“

at that, you smiled. “Sure, why not?”, and you snuggled into his tits. chest.

Securely, you fell into a deep slumber in the arms of your former enemy.

But...that didn’t seem to be so bad now.

...

“Oi, you ready or nah?“, your boyfriend sneered, standing in the doorway. you were putting on a jacket to your school uniform. “Katsuki it’s cold.“

“I am hot.“

“I know, now put on this hoodie.“

“No.“

“...Why not?“

“It’s-“ - “Put it on.“

“Okay.“

You felt a pair of eyes staring at you when you left the UA building to go hiking with Katsuki and when you turned around, you saw Midoriya looking at you with a sad expression.

Why was he looking at you like that? He has Uraraka after all! And his new best friend Todoroki! And the little brother of the Pro Hero Ingernium!

since you had no feelings for the green haired guy anymore, you gave him a look of disgust before turning around and looking forward to the date your boyfriend wanted to take you on.

...

“why...?“, Izuku asked himself, after you gave him stank eyes and fucked off with his childhood friend. Hand in hand. Ouch.

Uraraka grabbed her chance to confess.

“well, maybe they like Bakugo more? And don’t worry, you’ll find somebody better soon!“, she cheered.

But Izuku was having none of that.

“No, I’ll talk to them. I can’t believe they’d date Kachan! I don’t want to believe it!”, soon, tears blurred his vision and he retreated back to his dorm room, leaving the floating girl in the common room.

In his room, Izuku took off all the posters. Yes, the All Might posters.

...

“we’ll be heroes together! Okay Izuku?! Kachan?!“, you yelled giggling, and your two best friends cheered.

“Yes! I’ll be the number one pro hero!“

“No, I will be!“

“Jeez, why do you guys always need to be number one?! Being a hero isn’t about who is the best, it’s about saving the innocent and fighting the evil!“

“Oh, they’re right!“

“Then we’ll save as many people as possible and fight the bad guys as good as we can!“

“Yes!“

“Yeah!“

...

that memory came when Izuku found a photo of you, him, and Kachan as little children in his drawer. He didn’t remember when he put it there, but it always made him happy. Now his heart broke.

He saw another photo underneath the first one, and his heart nearly shattered upon seeing the next flashback.

...

“Wow, Mido, you really planning to buy all these posters?“

“Yep, I wanna have all of them!“

“Well, talk about hurting the environment.“

Izuku and you were in your thirteenns, you were looking edgy and you were popular, while Izuku was just a simple loser nerd, but still, you hung out with him.

He was holding many plastik sticky posters in his hand, in a plastic bag, and you were buying eco friendly books in your cotton bag.

You were angry at him, to say the least, but you couldn’t let him know.

After all, you wanted to become an intimidating hero.

But, Izuku knew you, and your sarcastic remark didn’t really soothe his nervousness and guilt around you.

What could he say? He was a sucker for emos and goths!

“W-well, I will hang them in my room for a long time! Until they fall off alone!“

“...I sure hope that for you, Mido.“

at your nickname, he blushed, and quickly followed you to the cash register.

...

Now, he was ripping the All Might posters with all his strength, and he scraped the walls a little, but not that he cared.

Izuku was crying so hard as memory after memory of good times with you and him came crashing down on him and it was tearing his heart apart.

Now, after he even broke the big poster on the ceiling and stuffed all his all might figurines into a carton, he sighed, his chest heaving, and he sniffed.

Then, he took his phone which he let fall onto the bed carelessly and texted you.

‘Hey, where r u rn?‘

‘Is everything ok?‘

‘Wanna meet up?‘

No answer, every single message he sent you wasn’t even on read.

five minutes passed, nothing.

He tried doing homework.

Nothing after 30 minutes.

Three hours later, he looked at his phone again.

You did read his messages. But you didn’t answer.

Izuku wrote again.

‘R u good?‘

‘are you feeling ok? Should i come ovr?‘

‘pls answer...‘

you read them on the spot.

And this time, you were writing- No, a voicemail?

After said voicemail, ten seconds, appeared, he pressed on the play butten and quickly put it right next to his ear, a hopeful smile on his lips.

“Izuku. Stop writing me. Stop thinking that we’re friends after you’ve fucking ghosted me for nearly a fucking year. And don’t you ever fucking talk to me again. ever.“

...

You sighed, a tired look on your face, as you layed down onto Katsuki’s bed after you gave said owner your phone to place on the nighttable.

He chuckled before swiping your hair to the side and softly kissing your temple. you moaned contently and smiled as you closed your eyes.

“You did a great job, y’know?“

“Yeah, feels nice to finally tell someone to fuck out of somebody’s life. Also, can we go hiking again? I haven’t been so close to nature in ages...!“

“Sure, love.“, he whispered before cuddling you with his sweaty hands, but you didn’t mind wet hands.

---

HEY

HOW ARE YOU:DDD

HOW WAS THAT

SORRY I AM SHIT AT WRITING ANGST :(((

#mha deku #kirishima x reader #sero x reader #bnha x reader #mina x reader #deku x reader #deku angst #katsuki bakugo #kacchan x reader #katsuki x reader #uraraka x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugo x reader #midoriya x you #midoriya x reader #izuku x reader

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dongfuck · 1 year

Text

Mistletoe - n.jm

pairing: crush!jaemin x fem!reader

genre: fluff (yes, no smut. sorry not sorry)

wc: 2k

note: try to guess what netflix movie this was HIGHLY inspired by after you’ve finished reading it ;)

taglist: @smuchsmut , @jenojammin , @goquokka , @nctgirlok297 , @johnniverse , @matchahyuck , @220513080208 , @ablackbtsstan , @jwinm , @tyongspice1

Jaemin was your best friend. He has been since the first day of middle school. You know everything about him and he knows everything about you too. But what he doesn’t know is that you have a huge crush on him. You’ve always thought of confessing to him but you were afraid that it will ruin the relationship you have with him so you decided not to. You were being so obvious but he doesn’t seem to pay any attention to the way you were behaving and you felt the utmost furious about it.

You know he only sees you as a friend and nothing more but you can’t help but hope that he has the slightest bit of attraction towards you. It was Christmas and you were invited to a small Christmas party at Buckley’s Lodge. The place was highly to your liking. It wasn’t modern nor was it high-tech like what most people preferred nowadays, but it was rather cozy and simple and you always feel at home whenever you visited the lodge. Oh and did I mention that Buckley’s Lodge is owned by one of your closest friends? Haechan got married a few years back with a lovely girl he met when he was studying in London. Her name is Noelle Buckley and she is the absolute kindest girl you’ve ever met in your whole life.

Long story short, after they got married, Noelle’s father, Thomas Buckley gave the lodge to his one and only son-in-law knowing that he would take good care of it. Now, you might be wondering, are you really going to fly all the way from Korea to London just for dinner? Technically, no. You and Jaemin agreed to further your studies in Liverpool so it was merely a five hour distance if you take the train. Jaemin had let you know that he would be picking you up at around four and it was currently three-forty. There is approximately twenty minutes until Jaemin arrives and you know how sensitive he can be about time.

Exactly twenty minutes later, you heard your doorbell ringing and you knew it was Jaemin. The moment you opened the door, you were astounded. He looked exquisitely handsome in the black suit he was wearing. It was simple and plain, yet ravishing and classy. “You going to a dinner or a wedding?” you commented as you locked the door to your apartment. Walking out of the building, Jaemin himself judged your appearance. “Same goes to you. You look like you’re about to walk the aisle.” He snorted. To be honest, you weren’t wearing anything too extravagant. You chose to wear a long-sleeved plain satin white dress that reached just slightly under your knee with some pearl jewellery. Jaemin’s hair was neatly gelled to one side whilst yours was perfectly curled and adorned with some hair decorative that complimented your dress.

“It would’ve been favourable if you’d complimented my look. I took my time picking this outfit, you know.” you said playfully. “You look beautiful.” he praised. “And you’re quite the looker yourself, Na Jaemin.” laughing it off, you and Jaemin entered his car before driving off to the airport. Yes, you guys settled on taking a flight since it would be faster and more convenient. Though, you should’ve though of getting dressed in London ‘cause now everyone’s gonna look at you and think that you’re some newly-wed couple going on an immediate honeymoon. Besides, your clothes would get all wrinkled. But it’s a one hour flight. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

An hour passed and Jaemin had woken you up from your slumber. The moment you woke up, you immediately looked for wrinkles on your dress, releasing a relieved sigh when you spotted none. “Well someone looks horrible.” Jaemin snorted in your face. “Dick!” you frantically searched for your hand mirror in your bag before checking your reflection on it. You hair was a mess! After getting off of the plane, you stopped by one of the restrooms to fix your hair. Thank god your curls weren’t ruined. Stepping out of the ladies’, you spotted Jaemin leaning against a wall looking like an awfully good looking bachelor.

You looked at your wristwatch and saw that it was already fifteen minutes into six so you harshly slapped Jaemin’s arm to indirectly tell him to hurry up. Of course, he would never get the hint. “Ow! What was that for” he rubbed the ache in his left arm and cringed at the pain as you groaned in annoyance. “Hurry up, the party starts at seven!” you pulled Jaemin out of the airport before calling a taxi.

The drive to Buckley’s Lodge took almost an hour and but the time you reached the place, it was seven twenty-two. You entered the lodge and the first thing you catch sight of was Mark Lee accompanied by his cousin, Jeno Lee. “Mark! Jen! How are you guys?” Jaemin instantly pulled them into a bro-hug as they chatted. “I see Y/n’s your date?” you heard you name being mentioned by Jeno. “They’re always together, the fuck you mean?” Mark nudged his cousin’s shoulder. “I know, I know.” Jeno rolled his eyes playfully at Mark before a small chuckle was heard from Jaemin. “Have you guys seen Haechan?” he asked and looked at them expectantly.

Mark seemed to be recalling where he last saw Haechan which he then replied with, “He was by the sweets a second ago.” Yeah, you definitely know where the sweets are. Thanks a lot, Mark. “The sweets are at the lounge.” Jeno smiled at you dashingly as if he could read your mind. “Thank you, Jeno.” you returned his smile. “Okay, lovebirds, I’m cold. Let’s sit by the fire, Jen.” Mark wrapped his arm around Jeno’s shoulder and urged him to walk but Jeno stood his ground to let you know, “You look stunning tonight, Y/n.” before walking away with a smile.

You felt your cheeks slightly heat up at the compliment and the corners of your lips slowly curled up into a small smile. “Oh God, don’t tell me you actually liked his compliment.” Jaemin rolled his eyes at you. “And what if I did? It was decent. Why? You jealous?” you smirked slightly. “You can suck my dick.” and with that he stormed off to look for Haechan. Jeez, who hurt him? Tailing behind Jaemin, you spotted Haechan talking to one of the guests before his eyes landed on the two of you. “Jaemin! Y/n! It’s been a while!” he engulfed the both of you in a tight hug as he eyed you guys with adoration. “How’d you guys get here from so far?” Haechan questioned.

“Oh it wasn’t that far.”

“We took the plane.”

You made eye contact with Jaemin and squinted your eyes at him. “I see, I see. Why didn’t you tell me you were taking the plane? I really could’ve paid for the flight ticket.” said Haechan. “Oh, it’s fine. It really wasn’t that expensive.” Nope. It was. “Then at least let me pay for your flight back.” he insisted. “No it’s ok—” you were cut off by Jaemin’s annoying voice (no offence Jaem). “I mean, if you insist.” He shrugged before you hit his right shoulder. “Ow! Why do you keep hitting me?” he winced in pain as Haechan laughed at the interaction.

“Some things never change.”

Slow music played in the background as you looked at the few people dancing in front of you. You moved your head to the rhythm of the music and can’t help but smile softly at the situation you were in ; side by side with Jaemin along with a glass of Rosé as music filled your ears. The lodge was almost empty now considering it has gotten a bit late and the only ones left were close friends. Nothing could feel better than this. Or so you thought. “You wanna take a walk?” Jaemin whispered softly to you. “Yeah, sure.” you took the coat that Noelle had lend to you before walking out the lodge with your best friend.

Your footsteps littered the snowy ground as the crunch of your steps filled your ears. “It’s a cold night, isn’t it?” Jaemin commented with his hands in his pockets. “Well I mean, it is snowing.” you giggled softly. “Oh shut up.” Jaemin himself couldn’t help but laugh along with you. You spotted a bench next to a lamp post and decided to sit on it. Buckley’s Lodge is located at the very top of a mountain and is a perfect stop for skiing trips so you could almost see everything from here.

Your thoughts were interrupted when you felt a hand on yours. It wasn’t too common for the two of you to be holding hands but tonight felt a tad bit different. “Y/n.” he called for you quietly to which you hummed as a response. “Look at me.” he said. Carefully, you turned your head to face him before waiting for his next word. “To be completely honest with you, We’ve been best friends for quite the amount of time now and I just think you’re absolutely perfect just the way you are. No matter how annoying you can be at times, you’re still the one I adore the most. So what I’m trying to say tonight is that… I’ve fell for you, Y/n. Harder than ever and I can’t help but feel slightly jealous when you swoon over other guys. I-I just felt like I had to get this off my chest before it’s too late.” Jaemin released a breath of relief as he looked at your intertwined hands.

“Fuck— I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“Jaemin.” you chucked seeing him in this state. “It’s fine.” you held his hand tighter in your hold as he met your eyes. “And as a response to your heart-felt confession, look what I brought.” you held your free hand out for him just to show the mistletoe with a red ribbon in the palm of your hand. “I found it on the way here.” Handing the object to him, he took it without hesitation before staring into your eyes for confirmation. “You know what to do.” you urged him to continue. He seemed nervous at first but when you planted a small peck to his lips, he was surely taken aback but also more confident.

Biting back a grin, Jaemin lifted the mistletoe and held it just above your heads with his left hand. “You surely are one of a kind.” he leaned forward to close the gap between the two of you before his lips finally landed on yours. He released his hand from your grip gently and moved it to the dip of your waist and pulling you in deeper. Smiling into the kiss, you took your right hand and placed it just over his shoulder to keep balance. Just then, you felt something drop on your head. Pulling away from the kiss, you saw Jaemin picking up the mistletoe that fell from his grip with a nervous smile. “Oops, sorry.” he laughed awkwardly.

You couldn’t help but let out a small giggle at the way he was acting. This really is the man you love. “What’s so funny?” he furrowed his brows playfully at you. “Nothing, just, Merry Christmas, Jaemin.” you said with a smile. Returning the smile, he replied with a giddy voice. “Merry Christmas, Y/n.” As the moon lit the white night, you couldn’t help but wonder what challenges you’d have to go through during this journey of bumpy roads but one thing you were sure of is that you were doing it with Jaemin, and Jaemin only.

And to wrap it all up, that is how your story begins.

definitely more on the simpler side of my works but i did enjoy writing this so i hope you enjoyed reading this too. and don’t worryyy jaemin’s the only one without some filth :)

#once a year by dongfuck #nct imagines #nct dream #nct 127 #jaemin #jaemin fluff #jaemin imagines #jaemin scenarios #jaemin fanfic

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acourtofthought · 1 year

Text

(Contains spoilers for all SJM books)

Confirmed SJM Endgame Couple:

And then she said one of the foulest things she’d ever uttered in her life, bathing in the pure hate of it. “Fae like you make me understand the King of Adarlan’s actions a bit more, I think.”

His features remained impassive, turning vicious, even, as he said, “There is nothing that I can give you. Nothing I want to give you. You are not owed an explanation for what I do outside of training. I don’t care what you have been through or what you want to do with your life. The sooner you can sort out your whining and self-pity, the sooner I can be rid of you. You are nothing to me, and I do not care.”

Confirmed SJM Endgame Couple:

“Stop following me. Stop trying to haul me into your happy little circle. Stop doing all of it.”

“Good. He hates you, too,” Cassian shot back. “Everyone fucking hates you. Is that what you want? Because congratulations, it’s happened.”

But she sliced into Cassian before he could go on. “Does that mean you’re done panting after me as well? Because what a relief that will be, to know you’ve finally taken the hint.”

Confirmed SJM Endgame Couple:

“Get your hand off me.”

“No one told me.” I didn’t particularly care. No doubt she had better things to do, anyway. “You didn’t ask. And why bother? Better to be miserable and alone.”

Confirmed SJM Endgame Couple:

“Did she pick Dorian, then? The queen. I’m surprised she could stomach either of you, given your history. What your kingdom did to hers.”. Roaring filled his ears as he began shifting his weight onto his feet, willing his spine to hold while he spat at her, “You didn’t seem to mind it one bit, that night at the party. I had you practically begging me.” He didn’t know what the hell was coming out of his mouth. Her nails dug into his back. “You’d be surprised the people that opiate makes you consider. Who you’ll find yourself willing to sully yourself with.”

“I knew another woman who lost as much as you. And do you know what she did with it—that loss?” He could barely stop the words from pouring out, could barely think over the roar in his head. “She hunted down the people responsible for it and obliterated them. What the hell have you bothered to do these years?”

Confirmed SJM Endgame Couple:

She made to stomp past him, but Lorcan stepped into her path. She craned back her neck to see his face, yet he’d never felt smaller. Shorter. “I didn’t push for Akkadia to spite you,” he managed to say. “I don’t care.” She tried to edge around him, Lorcan easily keeping ahead of her. “I didn’t …” The words strangled him. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Elide let out a soft, vicious laugh. “Of course you didn’t. Why would you have intended for your wondrous queen to sever the blood oath?” “I don’t care about that.” He didn’t. He’d never spoken truer words. “I only wish to make things right.” Her lip curled. “I would be inclined to believe that if I hadn’t seen you crawling after Maeve on the beach.”

Pretty Much Confirmed SJM Endgame Couple:

“Seems like she’s your standard spoiled party girl,” he said, turning the pages.

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “And you were going to tell me when?” “After you’d spent a whole day assuming I was a dumb, vapid female more interested in getting my nails done than solving this case.”

Hunt’s eyes darkened. “Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me.” “Yeah, yeah, you’re the Umbra Mortis.” His teeth flashed. “I don’t care what you call me, Quinlan, so long as you do what you’re told.” Fucking alphahole. “Immortality is a long time to have a giant stick up your ass.” Bryce put her hands on her hips. Never mind that she was completely undermined by Syrinx dancing at her feet, prancing in place.

Some readers get so fixated on what they think is healthy in a fictional relationship or what they want to read about in a fictional relationship.

But it's not about what we want, is it? It's about what the author wants and what sort of romance she writes about.

No, you can't necessarily claim her Fae relationships are "healthy" in terms of the aggression they show toward one another but what you can say is the Male and Female tend to go toe to toe and give as good as they get. It's not just the male behaving in a way that's more dominant than the female and neither holds back when they speak their minds. They're raw and real in their communications and she loves starting them out with a bad first impression of one another.

I realize Elain is a lot different than most SJM heroines but SJM isn't going to completely abandon her usual style, even for her. So, based on the authors preference and not the readers, what pairing seems to demonstrate the first hints of having that sort of relationship? The anger, the boldness?

E/riel:

Azriel smiled faintly. “Would you like me to show you the garden?”

Azriel and Elain remained in the sitting room, my sister showing him the plans she’d sketched to expand the garden in the back of the town house, using the seeds and tools my family had given her tonight. Whether he cared about such things, I had no idea, but I sent him a silent prayer of thanks for his kindness

"where she'd leave her gift amongst his other unopened presents, subtle and unnoticed"

"She extended the wrapped gift, her hand shaking"

"She had no idea he had done unspeakable things"

"This was a mistake." "She opened her eyes, hurt and confusion warring there before she whispered," I'm sorry. "

Elucien:

“You betrayed us.”

Her eyes went frank and cold. “I was to be married in a few days.”

“I am not always in this city to see my mate.” The last two words dripped with discomfort.

He and Lucien did not exchange gifts, though the male had brought a gift for Feyre and one for his mate, who barely thanked him after opening the pearl earrings

Some readers act as if the way Elain and Lucien behave towards one another right now is a point in favor of E/riel but based on the authors style, Elucien is way more in line with her endgame couples than E/riel. Again, no they won't be as aggressive as we've seen in the past because Elain and Lucien are different people. But the tension, the willingness to express anger, the lack of tiptoeing politeness (which is something we see with Elain and Az not to mention the fact Az and Elain started out just oh so gentle with one another 😴) is her formula through and through.

#elucien #pro elucien #elain archeron #anti e/riel #lucien vanserra #elain x lucien #lucien and elain #elain and lucien

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