#that was the first thing i thought of when i heard the succession quote anyway

[charlottenewtons]

A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort.

Sharp Objects (2018) // Succession 4.08 // Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

#sharp objects #sharpobjectsedit #tvedit #my thing #that was the first thing i thought of when i heard the succession quote anyway

[cillivnz]

THE OTHER WOMAN [anakin skywalker]

pairing. ANAKIN SKYWALKER x JEDI!READER

trope. unrequited love, ‘the other woman’.

word count. 1.6k

warnings. 18+. f!reader, cursing, virgin!reader, loss of virginity, heavy angst, rough sex, no aftercare, degradation, vaginal fingering, unprotected sex, size kink, tummy bulge, creampies, crying, unrequited pining, clit-play, sadism & masochism, emotionally vulnerable reader and unavailable anakin.

a/n. personal experiences inspired this. could possibly be the prologue to a series, depends on reception. single quotes ‘’ indicate telepathic communication. descriptions are not intended to offend, just to depict a state of vulnerability.

“HIT ME!” MOANED THE MASOCHIST, “NO,” SNEERED THE SADIST.

Love’s a silly little thing that’s made Saints do questionable things, so how were you expected to be any different as a Jedi with tainted ethics? Except, the sole purpose of being one— a Jedi, is to be damn near a Saint. Well, you’re near one, now.

With your face buried in his sheets, and his cock buried inside you.

“Ani— fuck,” you sighed in fulfilment.

this was home, homely; beneath him every night after a long day of you awaiting the sight of him in the Temple, and for him, distracting himself by killing all evil and bottling up all thoughts of his lost love.

“How many fucking times have I told you not to call me that?” You flinched at the smack landing on your ass cheek. The hopes of him rubbing the supple flesh to soothe the pain went in vain.

The sole reason for the success of your “relationship” or even why Anakin agreed to your pathetic advances in the first place was because you were symbiotic, yin and yang of a very wicked balance.

HE LIKED INFLICTING PAIN, YOU LIKED BEING INFLICTED UPON.

When Padmé Amidala left the Coruscant for Naboo, abandoning her Ani with a broken heart, you volunteered to pick the pieces.

“ANAKIN, TALK TO ME,” you urged, clutching onto his onyx Jedi robes. His jaw clenched, an eyebrow irking at your audacious hand placement.

“Leave me alone,” he pushed himself away from you, but you were adamant as ever.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” Your gut churned out a warning, intituition telling you you’re digging a hole that’s bound to be deeper than the bond you’ve formed with Anakin Skywalker over the decade of knowing him— from Slave to Saviour of the galaxies.

His head whipped towards you, his broad back tensing as he turned threateningly slowly towards you.

“I can,” you were unsure of what you were going to propose— hell, you were unsure of what you were even going to say.

‘I can make you forget her.’

He sneered, you squirmed.

“I’d love to see you try, sweetheart.”

First pet name Anakin Skywalker learned to use, coincidentally, too, for you. He had heard a sleazy man on Tattooine say it to his mother. For the longest time, he had thought of it to be vulgarity, until little Skywalker used it for you in front of Obi-wan and was quick to learn that it expresses endearment, not disdain.

After ten years he calls you ‘sweetheart’, and you knew better than to blush over it, but you were flushed, anyway.

You strip yourself bare; physically and egotistically. You lay yourself bare for your first love to unravel, even if there wasn’t much to remove physically; you were laying your soul bare to him, for him.

Mere virgin, inexperienced and shielded. Jaded just from communicating with two-timers, but so, so willing to bend over backwards and break your back for Anakin Skywalker’s mercurial self and pretty face.

While he sees your naked flesh on display for him, you see the first emotion on Anakin’s face that was not indignation towards you. Desire. He desired you, but the speed at which he masked his emotions proved to you that it wasn’t half of what he felt for her.

“You have no idea what you’re setting yourself up for.” He grabbed your chin with his metallic arm, one you’ve admired for the valour that gave it to him and one you’ve shamelessly fantasised about.

One snap was all it would’ve taken for him to break you in half with that faux robotic limb, but Anakin wouldn’t do that. Not just yet.

“What makes you think you can compare to her?”

“She is the kindest, strongest, most generous and most beautiful woman in the galaxy. What makes you think you can compare?”

What really makes you think you can compare?

You’ve been selfish, cursing the entirety of their relationship, which was as one-sided as your love for him.

You’ve been impatient, reckless and impulsive, and it’s evident in your performance as a Jedi.

You can’t even fulfil your sole purpose because, by Maker, he’s clouded your mind with himself and left little room for rationality.

‘I can try,’ you think, and of course he’d read it. ‘To fill the void.’

‘Let me in, please.’

‘Please let me try.’

“Bend over, ass up, face down.”

That’s how you two started, and how you persist.

He insists on fucking you in the same position, same force and speed of his thrusts, every night.

You know better than to ask for more. Maker’s giving you more than you deserve, isn’t it? Gratitude has been a virtue of yours, so you stick to it.

Even if there are days when he doesn’t show up to your room, knock curtly thrice before barging in to find you stripped and on your knees for him, you still love him.

He’s forgiven, he’ll always be.

You take those days to forget him, to jump down the Tower instead of climbing further up the spiralling stairs of a love doomed before it blossomed.

Anakin Skywalker only brings despair with him, a fact even the Order knows now.

“An-ah!—Anakin, slow down!” You squealed, his thrusts never faltering.

He was taking out his frustration for the Maces of the Order onto you.

“Shut up and take it,” he grunted, going faster.

You were crying, a mere mess in his bed.

The tip of his cock was assaulting your g-spot, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

You felt him there, too, snaking a hand down to your tummy to feel the bulge of him going in and out of your tight channel.

He rubbed your clit vigorously; the swollen bundle of nerves had been begging for his attention, which, his balls slapping against it was sufficing, but the extra heed paid had you writhing in overstimulation.

You were sobbing, softly, but loud enough for him to hear over the sound of skin-on-skin slapping and his own haggard breath.

He pulled out, making you clench around just his tip. It was like your body was trying to keep him in.

“Can’t have me stay and can’t have me go,” he said under his breath. He spread your cunt with his hands, watching your abused hole leak your juices.

He eyed you for several moments, making you self-conscious as jolt away from him. He only spreads you further apart to spit into your hole.

Your body jerked away from him, but his metallic fingers were faster in being shoved inside of you.

The cold metal felt like ice to your hot insides, the juxtaposition of a sensation sending a shiver down your arched spine.

“Oh, you like this?” His human hand cupped your mound. “Is cock too much for your little pussy to handle?” He mocked, but you sensed a tinge of amusement underlying his tone.

“You have one purpose, and you fail to meet it.” He pulled out his fingers, causing your head to snap back to look at him.

You see him seated on the bed, leisurely stroking his cock as if he has all the time in the world, no necessity for release while you ached to come undone.

‘I’ve given you more than she has.’

Anakin’s cock may be the biggest in this galaxy, but your pride’s bigger in every other.

His jaw clenched, but his cock twitched.

With one swift leap, he was on top of you— the predator atop his prey— pounced and ready to penetrate— eat you alive.

“Not a word out of you, y’hear?”

“Not. One. Word.”

He aligned the tip of his member with your tight entrance and forced his way in, fucking you dumb with merciless thrusts, just the way you wanted.

You were drooling, panting, screaming, moaning, crying, all while Anakin drove his hips into yours wordlessly.

The silence was eerie and scary, not even a grunt was sounded, and how you yearned to hear his groans of pleasure, knowing they were for you.

He then moaned, once again reading your mind with that impeccable bond of Force that Maker’s aligned your souls with, but your heart nearly dropped to your cunt when he said,

“Padmé, fuck.”

You clenched out of instinct, spinal cord taking over all senses while your brain was too weak, too fucked to react.

A normal person with self-respect would ask him to get the fuck out and never, ever come see you again, but you had ego, not the former, and the difference between the two is what’s allowing you to let him finish and go, like every other night, like a part of you would normalise this foreplay as long as you feel his touch— feel wanted by him.

When his seed tainted your walls once more, you sighed in relief. You couldn’t bear to look at him with tearful eyes.

You hear him shuffle into his robes, then silence, yet his presence was still felt.

You hear the doorknob twist, so you turn around to lie on your back, not expecting a lurking Anakin lingering by the doorframe. You peer at him through wet lashes, doe-eyes reduced to slits while you reciprocated the venom exuding out of Anakin for the first time towards him, clenching your jaw. Your chest huffed with forced respiration, drawing Anakin’s attention to your breasts.

It was then he used the force not to hear the string of curses flowing through your mind for him, but to talk to you, for the first time.

And for the first time he ever said,

‘If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t come to you.’

“Like” isn’t “love”,

But it is something—

‘—But you mean nothing to me, so your love is useless.’

‘And I won’t always be around as the other woman,’ you were going to go berserk.

But which one of you was lying, sneering sadist or moaning masochist?

main masterlist. more of Anakin. blog directory.

#anakin skywalker x reader #anakin fanfiction #anakin x reader #angst #smut #the other woman #unrequited love #anakin skywalker x reader smut #anakin imagine #anakin smut #star wars anakin #sw anakin #anakin skywalker #anakin x you #anakin and padme #star wars smut #star wars #skywalker x reader #padme amidala #star wars padme

[inkdemonapologist]

In the BatIM Call of Cthulhu game, the Yellow King’s cult actually already has an established habit of replacing people’s heads with other things so y’know wHY NOT DO SOMETHING WITH THE LEFTOVER HEAD!!!! dealing with the head-half of Bertrum was GENUINELY TERRIFYING ACTUALLY, HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO FIGHT A GIANT WHIRLING CARNIVAL RIDE,,

Prophet was pretty distressed by the amount of noise caused by Large Angry Man + Out Of Tune Carnival Ride Music + Giant Mechanical Thing Whirling Around and did his best to shoot it, but Jack was the real MVP with his incredible skill of JUST BEING REALLY FRIENDLY AND LIKEABLE AND CONVINCING THE OTHER HALF OF BERTRUM TO HELP US.

Prophet giving himself a nosebleed by pushing his ink-sensing abilities isn’t related I just needed another image to get the photoset not to stretch out too long LMAO

anyway have some out of context quotes from our last session!

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[Sammy] Okay, well, Prophet’s plan is to wander around until he ends up where wants to go. So. If anyone has a better plan than that –

[Henry] If Henry has spares, he might distribute them to people who don’t have weapons. [Sammy] In the middle of Luna Park?!? [Henry] Before they left, I mean! [Henry] YOU get a stick, and YOU get a stick! EVERYONE GETS A STICK!!! [Joey] I feel like Allison might not need a weapon. I feel like Allison could possibly, be a weapon, [GM] Allison has a very large, thin handbag. :) [Sammy] Hm. [Joey]...yeah. [GM] It looks very fashionable!

[GM] Joey thinks he notices something moving in the water! [Joey] *nervous* WELL,,, CAN HE TELL WHAT IT IS,,, [GM] A shape, a shadow, maybe limbs; hard to tell. [Sammy] I mean, there’s NO aquatic creatures at ALL in the Cthulhu Mythos, so that’s probably FINE! [Sammy] That’s what it’s known for, right? Its LACK of aquatic creatures???

[GM] You do think you see, kind of in the detritus of this ride-thing – a figure? [Sammy] Of ink? That shines in the darkness?

[Sammy] *rolling to dodge* Extreme success!! [GM] With an extreme, I think Sammy probably could move Joey out of the way as well, if he wants to! [Sammy] [Sammy] …not really. [Joey] *sighs* Yeah, I thought so.

[Sammy] I think this is the first time Leon has heard Bendy? So, from his perspective, Joey just… explained what was wrong in a cartoon voice for some reason???

[Jack] I see that we have an interesting head, for Bertrum… Are we going to have to hire another guy, because he got traumatised? Or, coincidentally hire a guy who also got traumatised, [Sammy] He’s fine! I don’t see a problem; I think he’s fine. [GM] You didn’t hire Avedon. You don’t have to hire every traumatised person. [Sammy] SEE!! We don’t have to hire every traumatised person!!!

[Sammy] And then medic guy who seems to have no other useful skills is with us, obviously. [Joey] He wanted to come! [Sammy] Yeah, I know, I’m just picking on him.

[GM] You hear a much louder rumbling; make a Dexterity check! [Joey] Oh boy… *rolls* Hm! Well,, [GM] Hm? [Joey] Got a double zero, but the other die is also a zero, [Henry] OHHHhhh, [Sammy] Oh NO, that’s VERY bad, [GM] Oh, that’s a fumble! Okay, cool! Excellent, great! Cool. [Henry] … it’s not good when your GM says “excellent.”

[Henry] Henry’s ready to fight an amusement park ride. [GM] You got your perception check, right? There IS an axe on the wall! [Henry] We really are just doing Bendy and the Ink Machine, huh?

[Henry] *distressed* I don’t wanna lose Joey! [GM] It’s fine! He’s having a nice ride. : ) Okay, it’s Prophet Sammy’s turn! [Sammy] Bendy said that these things whipped people around withOUT killing them. [GM] Yeah. Yeah, he’s disappointed,

[Sammy] Well, Henry’s in Murder-Mode or whatever, so I’m sure he can handle it. [Henry] AN ENTIRE AMUSEMENT PARK RIDE??? [Sammy] WELL YOU HANDLED AN ENTIRE CULT JUST FINE!!

[Jack] Does Jack recognise the voice of Bertrum? [GM] ... I’d make you roll for it, but he was being so loud the entire contest, I think you just recognise it. [Joey] Can’t NOT recognise it!

[GM] Henry could use that Other Thing. [Sammy] Other thing??? Why does everyone have so many secret powers?!? [Henry] This one’s only unlockable on special occasions! [Sammy] Sammy doesn’t have SPECIAL POWERS, he just has FIVE DIFFERENT MENTAL DISORDERS

[GM] It’s a spell that the Cult Leader in Haiti had, and tried to use on Henry -- it is a compulsion spell! [Jack] *laughing in disbelief* What is Henry compelling the octopus ride to DO?!? [Henry] Just heckin’ stop. [Henry] Calm down, put Joey down, go to bed. [Joey] *laughing* Henry just treats the octopus ride like it’s one of his kids who had a tantrum – [Jack] The Great Bertrum Piedmont gets angrier! [Sammy] *Bertrum voice* HE TOLD ME TO GO TO BED, LIKE I WAS A CHILD!

[Sammy] Bendy, let’s talk about our wording, and how you don’t say “I lost Joey.” Like. Word that differently. [GM] No, he’s doing very good! He didn’t say he was dead; that’s the important one, right? [Sammy] …Alright, we’re going to have a talk about this later.

[GM] Pete also doesn’t know what to do with this. He’s willing to help, but he’s not going to fight an Octopus Machine. [Joey] *dying laughing* I love how this started with “there’s an axe on the wall.” S…SURE!! Except we’re playing CALL OF CTHULHU and NONE of us are sure what an axe on the wall might do to help!!! [GM] I just needed Henry to know! It was important to me that he was aware. [Henry] Henry DID grab the axe. He doesn’t know if he can use it, but he’s grabbed it!

[Sammy] Who knows! We’ve split people into different pieces before. [GM] We sure have, [Sammy] Can’t think of any examples offhand, but it seems like a thing that could happen!

[Sammy] But if it doesn’t work, I would like to shoot, uh, The Great Bertrum Piedmont, in the head. [Jack] Ohhh, the other Sammy isn’t gonna like this one… [Sammy] HE DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS GUY! This isn’t one of the ones I’m not supposed to hurt!

[GM] It is Jack’s turn! Henry’s chanting a creepy spell, Joey is no longer screaming, and Sammy is aiming a gun at the head! [Jack] All of the other options seem to be accounted for. We have someone who’s doing magic at it, we have someone who’s doing violence at it, we have someone who is passing out on it, we have someone who’s watching and not doing anything – we have two of those, in fact, so we don’t need a third one! [Jack] Jack is going to go back, and try to befriend, The Great Bertrum Piedmont.

[GM] *points out that an early note from the mob refers to “TGBP”* [Sammy] OH………. The Great Bertrum Piedmont….. [GM] I’m glad you guys all had the same reaction as the gangsters, to this guy.

[Jack] He’s saying he wants to help him, and “I’m not going to hurt you, I’m trying to help,” [GM] He’s just a little guy. [Jack] Just a little guy, and it’s his birthday. His… Bert-day… [Sammy] And Then He Shoots Steam At You

[GM] I’m going to roll a sanity check for Bertrum… *rolls* I ROLLED A ONE? [Henry] This is a VERY sane man! [Joey] No, this is the power of Jack Fain.

[Sammy] This gun doesn’t have any special, like, “definitely hit octopus rides when shooting at the heads imbedded within” stats, right?

[GM] *discussing different effects of major wounds vs dying* That said, I do not know as the Lurker knows the difference, [Joey] I feel like so far, the Lurker has taken any amount of damage as “dying” – [Jack] –not to be confused with “bleeding,” which is fine if it’s just a little bit!

[Sammy] Look, all Prophet’s been told with Joey, is that the Masked Messenger wants to see how things play out! And dying on a carnival ride is a way that things could play out! I don’t feel like I’ve done anything wrong here!

[Joey] I need to say this, before we get into it again: I don’t think Joey’s walking out of this season~!!!

[Jack] This is going to be the second time, that Jack goes to get help from someone he befriends who has a giant replaced head, from some kind of machinery, and then walks back into the room, where there’s a circle and lots of magic things and weird things are happening, and Joey and Henry are both unconscious. [Joey] It’s Weird That It Happened Twice, [GM] That’s an impressive two nickels! [Jack] *has the inflation calculator open* That’s like two dollars! You could buy something with that!

[GM] Man, I was reviewing all this gun stuff, and I didn’t review fumbles! I was like, oh they’re actually doing guns – I know how to do multiple shots a round, and things that give you dice –! [Sammy] And you weren’t ready for us to fumble? Thren, it’s like you don’t know us at all!

[Henry] *noticing Bertrum* Henry might yell over to Jack, if he thinks that thing can help??? Sorry, he’s rude now.

#cthulhu bertrum isnt this tall actually just assume hes standing on something #call of cthulhu: haunted hijinx #cthulhu game quotes #sammy lawrence #prophet sammy #bertrum piedmont #Jack Fain #when in doubt just keep drawing #im biased but i think we were really funny this session #just delirious from the concept of having to fight an entire octopus ride

[apoptoses]

DA here and I just wanna say A FEW THINGS 💭

First of all I hope you're feeling better now! Read about you having a horrid week and my hear broke for you. Sending nothing but hugs, horses, kind words and the sweetest summer breeze your way🫂

Onto smuttier thoughts, I read the final chapter of Come Get Your Knife and I'm IN AWE of you as usual. Perfect ending to a perfect story. The pool scene was incredible and it reminded me of those pictures of people taking their very old dogs with arthritis for a swim and just holding them in the water while they have the most peaceful, trusting, loving expressions in their faces. That was Armand with his boy right there 🥹

Armand finally doing for Daniel what Marius couldn't do for him was nothing short of a healing experience. Also some of the best smut out there 🥵 The mirror, Armand coating his fingers with his blood and and putting them in Daniel's mouth 🥵🥵🥵, "faking" a real human orgasm and smearing Daniel's come on his own cock jfc. She NEVER misses.

My favorite bit: “Did you know there’s a rare songbird, and when people eat it they cover their faces with a cloth so as to hide the shame of their pleasure from God?” Armand murmured into Daniel’s back, voice just loud enough to be heard over the little wet gasps he dragged from Daniel every time he rolled his hips. “I should cover your face, Daniel. I should hide you from God so that he doesn’t see the pleasure you take in being fucked by a dead man.” INSANITY!!!! Also was this a Succession/Tomgreg reference (yk that scene at the restaurant) or am I just That person now? 😭 perfection either way.

Finally, I read your last ask abt that anon seeing Armand/Daniel hate all over town and lmao SO IT WASN'T JUST ME. I mean I'm not doing myself any favors here because I do check their tags constantly. I'm sadly like a rabid hound when it comes to them, sniffing around in search of good food and yeah most of the time the takes are rancid but other times I find one ☝️ good take and some amazing fanart and I tell myself it's all worth it dsfhsjfk. The way some ppl treat their extremely personal headcanons and projections as undeniable canon facts is nuts. Ship and let ship is my motto but damn some of the things I've seen... and I wouldn't blame the show per se, but the massive influx of fans that a mainstream tv show gave to an already existing fandom has been a contributing factor to what we're seeing imo, where very few people actually bother to read the source material (which is okay really, no one actually has to read the books and the show is almost nothing like the books anyway) and then start treating out of context quotes and scenes or headcanons or summaries of events they heard from a friend of a friend of a friend or plain incorrect takes as canon. it's like a bad (horrifyingly bad) game of telephone around here 🥴 wtvr tho it's literally fiction, and not that much of a big deal (someone tell them that tho lmaoo).

xoxo ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 

Dungeon anon, I wondered where you were ♥ Thank you for the kind words, things (seem to be) getting better.

lmao armand as an arthritic dog floating in the pool. It's accurate though, his old body needed a rest and I needed them to do something cute before the filth began. I feel like he would enjoy swimming, not for any particular reason. It's just a chill activity for him that he can do like any mortal.

listen i just needed them to fuck while daniel was still mortal and i was hellbent on making armand find a way to 'come' in daniel 😂 and tbh it's nastier for him to put daniel's own mess back inside him, daniel probably liked that better than he would anything armand's body could produce were he able to do the deed. it reminds him this is an artificial experience, it's not natural at all (and thus hotter)

and hell YEAH that is a wambsgans reference lmao i knew about orotolans long before succession but tom reminded me of them, and i just really wanted to write armand threatening to cover daniel's face from god (also it feels like something marius may have said to amadeo, and that armand would put his own twist on and later repeat), i couldn't pass up the opportunity.

see i have no courage to check the tags, i only trust what people i know reblog or the content of people who follow me 😂 i don't even wanna know what's out there.

but yeah, people do some WEIRD projecting, there's some weird head canons people insist are book canon fact (like guys daniel never did hard drugs on page in the books, not even once, the blood was his drug of choice lol but some people will go TO THE MAT and fight you about this like book!daniel was baby leo in basketball diaries, prostituting and railing heroin)

and the taking quotes out of context thing is way out of control. it's so easy for someone to screenshot some text on their ibooks app and then write whatever meta they want and then people who haven't read that book take it as gospel and just...it's very frustrating lol even the stuff from the vampire companion gets treated as gospel as that's a book written by FAN, it is FAN META with a few quotes from anne sprinkled in. ramsland calls armand a black hole who doesn't love anything and people take that as fact and just...no lol anne didn't write those words, those are ramsland's interpretation of the first five VC books circa 1991!

i'm lucky that everyone who likes the show who happens to follow me and read my fic has been outrageously nice, so i have no clue what happens in the more tumultuous waters of amc fandom lol but i really hope people give the books themselves a chance, even if only to read their blorbo's chapters because they're good and it's worth knowing the context in which things happened in them!

ANYWAYS DA, the fic you inspired me to write with armand learning dirty talk will be posted tomorrow, i hope you're hyped ♥

xoxo

#apoptoses answers #dungeon anon

[glorytv]

you are now watching ryuntv.

yoo yongha, twenty5, male, he/him.  ───  3, 2, 1 — action!  everyone, we’re here at jincheon national training center, and this time i have with me our national taekwondo team’s very own jeong ryun. you might know them for being a repeat gold-medalist at the world poomsae championships, but if not, don’t worry. they’re here to field all your burning questions. let’s dive right in.

  thanks for joining us today. so, tell me…

can you share your journey to joining the national team? what obstacles did you overcome along the way?

"i started taking taekwondo classes when i was twelve, and you could say i have somewhat of an addictive personality," he starts. he pauses for a moment afterwards, a look of 'you already know where this is going, right?' on his face. his tone is fond with reminiscence as he continues on, "so immediately, i clung to it. i wasn't good at first, but it was something to do. something to fill my time with. something to strive towards. any medal, any little piece of praise or sure sign of improvement fueled me. god, i never had a chance against this sport, you know. from the first time that we met, i was wrapped around its finger." with that, he laughs. he leans closer to the interviewer. it's a subconscious thing and surely fueled by his enthusiasm on the topic. "but for a long time, i wasn't good with sparring; i had this, this, this... as ridiculous as it sounds, fear of getting hurt. so i avoided sparring as much as i could, which didn't allow me to improve. if i'm being completely honest, i'm still working on getting over that fear. i think it holds me back a lot, but i know i've come a long way with it already. i had to, being a part of the national team and all."

what strengths do you believe you bring to the national team?

"i'm an upbeat person. obviously, i'm not the only person like this on the team, but i think my demeanor goes a long way in increasing my value. competitive sports—well, obviously there can be a lot of tension at times. i'm good at breaking that tension." a smile, a shrug; with these two actions, his entire personality is expressed. "every team needs a mood maker, right?"

amazing. addressing a sensitive issue now: the rumors on “105fm.” could you shed some light on any concerning rumors you’ve heard about yourself?

"at one point, it was said that i had been 'kicked off the national team' due to 'conflicts of interest'. i was so busy at the time that the first i heard of this rumor was when my mom called me to ask what happened. she was so devastated, and i'm not gonna lie, i was... like, blind-sided. there was a second when i almost thought maybe it was true?... but rest assured, i am very much still a member!"

… and, i’m sure your supporters want to hear your thoughts.

how do you ensure 105fm doesn’t affect your relationships with teammates and fellow athletes?

"i take everything that's posted with a grain of salt," he claims, shoulders dropping just as fast as they were raised in what appears to be an unbothered shrug. "people like to talk, you know—i've learned that time and time again in these past couple years especially. it's easy for stories to get distorted, and i'd like to think that i know the people i'm working with more than whoever's behind 105fm does, so i'm pretty good about not letting anything that's posted change how i perceive the people around me. staying grounded in reality is the most important thing regarding things like this." he pauses just to grin, all teeth and protruding cheeks. a flashy look at me gesture. "recently, i've been cracking more jokes than ever. like i said, i don't let this stuff change how i act, but some humor works well to calm anyone else who might be more bothered than i am. usually, anyway."

i see, i see. i’m afraid that’s all the time we have. thank you so much, congratulations, and best of luck to you and your team. to wrap things up, can you give us a quote?

"success follows confidence."

writer info: peyton, 22, she/they, cst

#gtvaccepted #resident:athlete #bldg:the elite #subplot:hall of fame #team:taekwondo

[phil-lesterfan]

4, 22, and 61 for the ask game

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

“a pleasure to have in class.” also creative :) i was quiet and bookish and usually writing stories or making comics when we had free time. i used to make my own books and my teachers would read them and put them in our class library ^_^ (copy+pasted from prev ask sorry haha)

22. role model?

amazingphil / phil lester !! i’ve looked up to him ever since i was a kid, like <10 years old. i just think he’s so cool and creative. back when youtube was at its peak, i feel like he and jenna marbles were kind of the brains behind all the “challenges” and “tags” that existed. i also like how he keeps to himself and values his privacy — i have a bad habit of oversharing, but i hold that same value. especially bc in the past i have had a very strong online presence, so it’s good to know what to keep personal and to yourself and what you just… put out there.

and then there’s the fact that he’s driven and gets what he wants; dan jokingly calls him a “sell out”, but it’s like to me if phil wants to do something, it will get done one way or another. and how he went to got his masters for video editing, and also when you can tell he enjoys things. plus, he sticks strongly to his, like… image, which can seem shallow, i know, but when he wanted to keep things more pg, he was so careful about it, and he’s so considerate of his viewers (i’ve made a post abt this in the past, how he reassured the audience he and dan are friends, when i know, if i were a creator, i wouldn’t have even thought abt that fear ppl have).

i know i’m getting parasocial, and phil could be an absolute menace off camera (i’m choosing to ignore what others have said abt him — that he’s really just a decent person 😭), but what he does choose to show, i really respect and admire. also, him coming out and having pride just really makes me happy, especially as a lesbian who has struggled with her sexuality. he makes me feel like things can get better, and seeing gay people older than me be happy and successful is really fulfilling.

61. favourite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

GOD. asking this of a past english and creative writing student is just. cruel.

“dogfish” by mary oliver has inspired my own poetry.

“I wanted / the past to go away, I wanted / to leave it, like another country; […] You don’t want to hear the story / of my life, and anyway / I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen / to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.”

and a certain scene in rosencrantz and guildenstern are dead helped me work through shit about 5 years ago

“… [T]hat isn’t what makes it death. It’s just a man failing to reappear, that’s all — now you see him, now you don’t, that’s the only thing that’s real: here one minute and gone the next and never coming back….”

lastly, and i’m really limiting myself here as i could go on about quotes all day, a quote from the best manga of all time, the cat proposed (化け猫かたって候) by hayane dento

“… Someone, somewhere in this city, is getting ready to take a plunge. Somewhere, a child is crying. Someone has come to a stop, so weighed down that they can’t go any further. I’m holding Kihachi’s hand. He is telling stories again today, stories that may or may not save someone else. And I … am thinking about writing my own story. I’ll start by writing the first letter / of the first word.”

i did not mean for these answers to get so long but one question let me talk about phil (favourite person) while the other let me talk about quotes (i’m in love with writing and language). like. oops but also not really. AUGH. thank u for the ask ^_^ <3

#ask #aq-uatic

[the-art-in-arthesia-is-loud]

what the character tags reference

h. HI.

so the ocs in the rg-verse have their own tags obviously, but their tags are also accompanied by a quote/sentence. i wanted to explain what they mean/reference so yeah!!!! under the cut as always lel

also i mentioned spoilers for final verdict and silent answer (specifically one last dream), the two parts of arcaea's main story, in this post. proceed with caution

———

1. "don't let him go" (ars):

this.....actually has smth to do with lore. i haven't explained much abt ars lore yet. not even in his trivia post, so i'll save the explanation for later~

2. "this is just a dream" (lucas):

it's a part in lucid traveler!

3. "another me" (ana):

the name of the song ana is based off of; another me by d_aan!!!

4. "where are you? please don't be dead." (galactic):

it has smth to do with galactic (and spinel)'s backstory. this quote was said months after spinel's disappearance.

5. "i don't give a f***" (destonio):

references a part in destruction 3, 2, 1.

6. "our fates are distorted" (fate):

references the name of the song fate is based off of; distorted fate by sakuzyo!

7. "to the furthest dream" (felicia):

song name for the song that felicia is based off of!

8. "darkest night i'll confront you here" (tessi/the testifier):

the first lyrics of testify.

9. "what an agonizingly long journey it has been" (abstruse):

initially, it references a tweet the official arcaea twitter/x acc made. now it's known as a quote from the severed eden story.

10. "this is all my fault" (trojan):

it has smth to do with the story. not gonna spoil that~

11. "money can't buy happiness (but creating things can" (logos):

uh.....the first part references her bio. the second part however......is pretty much outdated. i'll give her a new, updated tag soon. but not now. BECAUAE I'M LAZY AYGHHFHF

12. "a special kind of texture" (primeval texture):

references a quote in the primeval-lore-focused comic i posted awhile back!

13. "i exist" (ego eimi):

""Ego eimi" (ἐγώ εἰμι) in Ancient Greek means "I am" or "I exist". The phrase has Christian theological significance due to its usage in the Gospel of John, where Jesus uses the phrase to assert his presence and divinity" — thing from arcaea wiki

14. "like an ice cube" (technicolour):

references technicolour's weapon (bc nearly everyone here has their own weapons honestly); a small looking cube. Don't Be Fooled By It's Appearance, However.

15. "to the new dream" (dahlia):

supposed to reference felicia's tag, ig?? lmao

16. "the embodiment of chaos and destruction herself" (arghena):

this has smth to do with lore, so i can't say it here. it Is pretty odd how she gets a title like this and not destonio, who is literally the god of destruction here....hmmmmmmmmm

17. "it's not your fault. don't blame it on yourself. please." (tempo):

connected to trojan's tag, which is why i can't say the reasoning here~

18. "authentication: successful" (shifta):

references a part in temporal shifting.

19. "i heard the world is collapsing" (callima karma):

kind of a reference to a lyric in the og song, but bc i forgot what it was for some reason, i might be super wrong for some reason. obviously i remember the part where "arcaea" was mentioned, and since this is Not arcaea, i had to change that lel.

20. "the one who got away" (spinel):

you thought that tag is a reference to that one song? you fucking thought wrong. this has smth to do with her backstory, actually. referencing how she ran away and just went 'missing'.

21. "is it so wrong for a girl to like bugs?" (pamolia):

references a part in pupa's official mv. sort of. forgot how it originally went so i Might get this part wrong. UM. ANYWAYS.

22. "butterflies tear people apart" (pupa):

when i was going thru the comment section for pupa's official mv, i noticed a few ppl commenting that exact quote, so naturally, i had to reference it somehow :3333

23. "he was the one who bared witness to her wrath" (tempestissimo):

i think my art related to tessi, lacey, and tempestissimo already implied this enough, but this tag references how tessi fucking murdered tempest. yea. and while we're on that topic, that also references how hikari killed tairitsu in final verdict. and the way tessi gave up her goddess powers and became lacey just to bring tempest back to life is ALSO A REFERENCE TO SILENT ANSWER'S STORY SPECIFICALLY ONE LAST DREAM'S STORY. AND. AND—

24. "last (moment or eternity?)" (lacey):

references last, last | moment, and last | eternity.

25. "you are your very own light!" (hikaru):

that one phigros tip 🥹

26. "welcome to the progression express~☆" (arta):

references my very first artwork of him, actually! and also references how he's a train conductor

27. "the fireworks that bring tragedy" (lumine):

has smth to do with destonio and lumine lore. not gonna elaborate further tho. for now at least.

28. "the math expert himself" (aleph-0):

references how he's a math teacher. also, aleph-0 is a math thing, am i wrong?

29. "class memories (trauma and paranoia)" (clarith):

references her backstory (and also class memories itself ig)

30. "class memories (realist and serious)" (chase):

references his backstory (and also class memories itself ig)

OH MY GOD WE ARE AT THE END OF THE POST THANK YOU IF YOU READ IT UNTIL THIS MUCH OH MY FUCKING GOD.

#arthesias rambles (art blog edition) #arthesias ocs #i am Not tagging everyone again. #rgverse: misc

[littlesniggy]

Helloooooo! I love your writing and was looking forward to the request being opened again🥺 I'm feeling so excited right now!

Hmm, may i ask for a nsfw scenario with ichiji where he says "my face is your throne, come sit on it"?

Have a good day 💗

Hey Anon! Thank you for requesting! I love writing for Ichiji and I hope you like it! I'm not entirely sure what readers and Ichiji's relationship exactly is but I'd say it's pretty close to being in an actual relationship lol Reader is not royal (and maybe is/has been a servant?) and Ichiji just sticks to to her every chance he gets. I hope you're not mad at me but I changed your quote cause it just fit so perfectly but I can change it if you want! Just send me a message and tell me!! Anyway, please enjoy!

Warning: 18+, nsfw, oral, light slapping, name calling, King x Queen (servant lol)

Pairing: Ichiji x female reader

Word count: 2.4k

With an amused look he watched you order the cooks around, wanting everything to be perfect for the big day. He’d usually never even dream of lowering himself to coming down here but the whispering of the servants left him curious and he was surprised to actually see you invest so much time and effort into something so trivial and stupid like a birthday – of all the things you could’ve chosen to invest time in it was a birthday! He found it ridiculous.

“Instead of grinning so smugly you could help too!” you demanded, putting your hands on your hips. Ichiji raised an eyebrow in enjoyment, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Help?” he asked, voice sounding cocky. “Nah, that’s peasant’s work. But I guess you feel right at home here, don’t you, Y/n?” He was testing you but you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of getting flustered.

“And what if I do?” you retorted, crossing your arms as well, taking up the challenge. The man snickered, the grin not leaving his face. “Serf stays serf, amirite?” his voice dropped an octave, knowing he hit a nerve but not giving a shit at all. You grinded your teeth, breathed in and out of your nose deeply before putting on a fake smile.

“Guess so. Got a problem with it?” He knew he got you and one more word could push you over the edge but he weighed his options and came to the conclusion that you being in a bad mood was not worth the fun. “See you later then, Y/n. Don’t overexert yourself down here. Father’s party is about to start in an hour and I want you to take a shower before you show yourself. Just cuz you like hanging around the servants you don’t need to look like one.” And with that, he left.

You watched him leave; once he was gone, the anger hit you and you let out an angry screech. “Bastard!” you yelled after him before turning back to the cooks who were all standing there petrified at this encounter. Nobody dared to talk to him like that and live. Understandably, they had no idea how to behave.

“What are you looking at?! Get back to work!”

.

.

.

Judge’s birthday was as boring as you had expected – until the drinking came! You knew Ichiji and his siblings wouldn’t get drunk but all these high-profile people that had been invited sure as hell did. You weren’t particularly fond of the Vinsmoke leader but it was always good to be on his good side; especially since he was the one who let you stay here. Ichiji would kick you off this kingdom if his father told him to.

You were standing on the side line, a drink in your hand but still sober. After all, this was still your first and you never intended on getting drunk yourself. Niji and Yonji were drinking two other princes under the table, mocking them for being so weak. Barely dressed ladies kept serving alcohol, being subject to a lot of maybe wanted or unwanted attention, you didn’t know but either way they knew what they were getting into.

“This party is quite the success. You’re gonna stay to clean up after everyone, too, servant?” you heard Ichiji’s voice next to you and were surprised to see him lean casually against the wall, a mug of beer in his hand. “And if I did?” you questioned, turning your whole body towards him, getting closer and leaning your body against his, looking up at him suggestively. “Are you gonna punish me?”

Ichiji’s smirk grew wider, his hand finding its way to your cheek, gently stroking it. “Depends….” He said, his thumb stroking your bottom lip. “On what?” you whispered, putting his thumb between your lips, lightly sucking on the digit while never breaking eye contact.

“If you do a good job or not. Can’t have a sloppy maid now, can I?” he replied, enjoying the way your sucked in his finger with your mouth. “Guess you can’t. But I guess I’m more of a queen material anyway, right?” you started moving your head back and forth slowly, tasting the salt on his skin. “Queen material?” he chuckled, pulling his thumb out of your wet cave. “You’re not even close to being a princess. So what makes you think you can be a queen?” he smeared your saliva on your cheek, awaiting your response.

“Well…and the reason for that is that you’ve never actually taught me how to be a proper queen in the first place. So I’d say it’s actually your fault, isn’t it?” you bit your bottom lip, loving the way you two went back and forth until one of you won. Or landed in bed.

“Is that so? Then I guess I have to teach you.”

.

.

.

“I’m not expert but I think this is not how a queen behaves….” You said, looking up at Ichiji not overly excited about your position. You had your hands were folded on your naked lap, your bare breasts being on full display for him to look at. When you were thinking about him giving you “lessons” about being a queen, you had the slight hope he would actually let you command him around but you should’ve known better.

“Before you can be a queen, you need to learn how to listen to your king first, Y/n.” he said with a smug grin on his face, sitting in front of you on the bed, you between his spread legs like a good servant, not a queen. “Well, what does my king want?” you asked, looking up at him with one eyebrow raised.

“Your king wants you to please him, like the good little slut you usually are for him.” He purred. “And how does my king wish to be pleased?” you insisted, already knowing the answer. You saw a slight twitch in his pants to your words, getting hard by you being so submissive to him. Why haven’t you done this before? Master and slave, or if you wanted to insist king and “queen”, was really doing it for him. And you two haven’t even really started yet.

“Why don’t you start by opening my pants? You need to serve your king, remember? And undressing him is part of this.” He answered, watching how you got up with a small grin on your lips, starting to undress him completely. He had to get up for you to remove his pants but when you were done, you sat back down between your legs, looking up at him with big eyes.

You tried to ignore his member practically poking your face and instead focus on his face. “You may worship my body.” He allowed you with this condescending tone and shit eating grin but it turned you on. To be honest, this position had you even more excited than originally expected. His harsh eyes boring into you, devouring every inch of your naked body, leaving a hot prickle on your skin.

Your hands started moving up his calved, your face leaning in to kiss the skin of his legs up, over his knees and to his thighs. Your palms came up with your head, rubbing the sensitive skin on his inner thighs, seeing how he got light goosebumps at your touch. His member twitched a little, bobbing up and down in front of your face but you didn’t pay it attention just yet.

Your lips kissed his thighs, your teeth lightly scratching over the flesh before you moved further up to his hip bone, nibbling on it while your hands felt his abs, tracing each pack carefully, feeling how his muscles flexed underneath your touch. His dick brushed against your cheek when you started kissing his stomach as well, his pre-cum leaving a hot and wet mark on your skin.

Your pussy started to get wetter at the short contact, already anticipating the moment it could wrap around him and clench him until he was dry. You wanted to touch yourself so badly, wanted to give yourself some pleasure as well but, in order to be a good queen, you needed to put his needs above your own (for now at least).

Your lips moved down again, kissing the junction of his lower abdomen and dick, his member pressed flush against your cheek while you did. You moved one hand to the base of his dick, wrapping your fingers around him and letting your thumb circle the soft skin of his dick. You wanted to hear him sigh at this contact but you were left disappointed. He never gave you the satisfaction of letting you see how good you made him feel.

“May I kiss your dick, my king?” you asked, looking back up at him again, waiting for permission. His dick twitched once again at your words, the grin growing even wider if that was even possible. “You may.” He allowed, watching how you slowly kissed his member with little butterfly kisses up and down.

“It’s so perfect, my king.” You praised him. Another twitch. “I wonder what it tastes like.” Even though you knew what he tasted like you enjoyed how his dick twitched with each word, betraying his otherwise aloof behavior. He was a human being with a good sex drive, after all. His father apparently didn’t wipe out all of his emotions.

“You can give it a try.” He suggested. “Thank you.” Your mouth wrapped around the hot head, followed by a long and deep suck, eliciting a small grown from him. Finally, you thought satisfied. You let your tongue twirl around the tip, first slowly, then fast, then back to slowly. The pre-cum started coming out more frequently, being eagerly licked up by your tongue and swallowed.

“How eager you are to please your king. Maybe I can make a good queen out of you after all. But first, you need to put in a little more effort. I think you can fit more of me into your mouth, can’t you?” he asked. As a response, you started taking him in deeper and deeper, feeling how his big member filled your mouth to the brim before taking him down your throat, swallowing him to the base. Now it was your turn to grown at this feeling, the vibration stimulating him in return. “That’s right, Y/n. Just like that.” He praised, voice sounding a little strained.

You let his dick glide out your mouth again, sucking on his tip before taking him in deep into your mouth once more, this time only until his tip brushed against the back of your throat. With that, you started to bob your head forth and back in a steady pace, your hands moving in tandem with your mouth, giving him as much pleasure as possible.

You twisted your hand, varying the pressure of your hand around his shaft; your second hand came up to his balls, fondling them in your palm or squeezing lightly. You put in all your effort into pleasing him while your own arousal was dripping to the floor by now. Every time you took him in, tasted his pre-cum, made him twitch your core send up electric impulses through your body, begging to be pleased as well.

“Do you like my dick?” your heard him ask. A quick look up at his face told him you certainly did, hallowing your cheeks to suck at him again before bobbing your head repeatedly.

When you let him slip out of your mouth, you didn’t give him time to complain or reprimand you; you took your breasts and put them around his dick, starting to move them up and down, your eyes finding his anew. “Do you like this, my king?” you asked innocently, wiggling your breasts between your hands, creating a sight he simply couldn’t resist.

“I would be a fool if I didn’t.” he replied, watching how your tits moved around his dick. You lowered your head, letting your tongue flicker over the mushroom head every time it appeared, licking up his arousal once more. Your fingers started twisting your nipples, finally giving you some pleasure even though it was not the desired spot.

“Damn, Y/n. Pleasuring yourself? I thought I’ve told your that you should put my needs above your own…” he scolded you in amusement, loving the sight of your twisting your nipples while you gave him a tit job.

“I’ve been thinking….my job as your queen is to serve you but….what’s the king’s obligation towards his queen?” you asked, continuously moving around him. Ichiji huffed, grabbing your chin between his thumb and index finger.

“If you have time to think and ask silly questions while your entire focus should be on pleasing me then I guess I was a little hasty in praising you.” He whispered in a deep tone, this bass resonating in your own body.

You bit your lip at his words but didn’t stop your movements; your fingers pinched your nipples hard, making you pant in response. “Maybe that’s because I need your help, my king.” You whispered back, rubbing your thighs together. “I’ve been dripping ever since I started to touch you, my king. Your body has just this effect on me…” you praised him, thinking it will increase your chances of him finally giving you pleasure as well.

Ichiji chuckled at your words and let go of your chin, instead tracing your cheek with his finger. “Is that so?” he asked curiously. “Of course, my king. I’m craving your body.” You kept going, looking him deep into his eyes. “Pathetic.” He purred, making you stop dead in your tracks at his words. What?

“You want to be a queen yet you act like the servant you’ve always been and always will be.” He grabbed your hair and pulled you on your feet, pulling your face close to his.

“But you-“

“- said I would teach you how to be a queen? I did. But the moment I told you to undress and get on your knees you should’ve fought back. Cuz that’s what queens do….”

“You damn bastard, you set me up!”

“I did. But I can’t say I didn’t like what you did. So, as the graceful and just king that I am, I’m gonna make you an offer.” His hand let go of your hair and instead pulled you onto his lab by your hips.

“Since you wanna be a queen so badly, why don’t you sit your dripping pussy down on my face? Cuz that’s the only throne you’ll be sitting on tonight.”

#one piece #op #op x reader #op x female reader #x female reder #ichiji #Vinsmoke ichiji #Ichiji x reader #Ichiji imagine #op imagine #ns.fw #x reader #Ichiji x you #op x you #female reader #vinsmoke niji #vinsmoke yonji #vinsmoke judge #scenario #op scenario

[azaleavi]

Woman Like Me - Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Bucky meets someone in Madripoor who reminds him of himself a long time ago

Warning(s): language, bad writing lol

Author’s Note: this is my first time writing so any feedback is appreciated and i didn’t know how to end it so it’s horrible but i tried

Word count: 2.2K

Part 2

“Selby will see you now”

The three men walk through the corridors and into the room where Selby is waiting for them. It is full of cash and guns on tables.

“You should know Baron. People don’t just come into my bar and make demands.”

“Not a demand, an offer” Zemo sits down on the couch while Sam and Bucky stand on either side of it.

“A lot has changed since you were here last” Selby eyes Bucky up and down, clearly recognising him as the Winter Soldier “By the way I thought you were rotting away in a German prison” she turns back to the man sitting in front of her and lifts her eyebrows “How did you escape?”

“People like us always find a way, don’t we?” Zemo shrugs “I’m sure you’ve already figured out what I’m here for”

“Yore taller than I’d heard, Smiling Tiger” the woman points at Sam then smiles at him, not paying attention to Zemo anymore. Sam nods slightly, trying to speak as little as possible. Selby playfully purrs at him, joking about his name. Sam looks away not wanting to give her the satisfaction of replying to that. She turns back to Zemo and smiles.

“What’s the offer?”

“Tell us what you know about the super-soldier serum” Zemo stands up walking over to where Bucky is standing acting like the Winter Soldier “and I give you him, along with the code words to control him, of course” he holds Bucky’s shoulders while he tries his best to not react. That was not part of the plan. But of course you can’t trust Zemo to not change it to whatever benefits him.”He will do anything you want” he grabs a hold of his chin insinuating things Bucky doesn’t even want to think about. He hates it. Feeling like a toy between the two and he can’t do anything about it. Not if he wants to succeed in getting the information they need.

“Now that’s the Zemo I remember” she smiles, pleased. “I’m glad I decided not to kill you immediately” Zemo sits back down on the couch waiting for Selby to start talking.

“Yeah you were right to came to me. Arrogant, but right. The super-soldier serum is here in Madripoor. Dr. Wilfred Nagel is the man you wanna thank. Or…” she looks at Bucky for a second “condemn, depending on what side you’re on.”

“Is Nagel still in Madripoor?”

“Oh. The bread crumbs you can have for free but the bakery is gonna cost you Baron. And unfortunately you don’t have the means to pay me” she stands, walking closer to Sam. Bucky immediately tenses, ready for a fight. Something doesn’t feel right.” I don’t need your Soldier” she smiles, something sinister behind it ”as I have my own little puppet. Tell her to come in” the three of them freeze as one of the men with guns goes through a door in the back.

They hear his voice but can’t make out what he says. When he stops talking a woman walks out, into the room they’re in. Bucky feels like his world is turned upside down. The woman is fully decked out with guns and knives and is wearing tactical gear with combat boots. But that’s not what unnerves Bucky. It’s the dead, soulless eyes that stare back at him. A cruel reminder of what he used to look like.

“Come here girl” Selby smiles and the woman complies without a question never taking her eyes off the strangers in the room “look at that. Isn’t it amazing what a few words can do a person’s mind when said in the right order?” Bucky finally looks at Selby realising she is watching him “Isn’t that right Winter Soldier?” Bucky can’t speak. He knows he can’t break character, but it’s damn hard not to when he sees someone like him and he knows he should help.

“How is this possible?” Zemo breaks the silence, clearly baffled by seeing another winter soldier-like person.

“Well it was quite easy to get a hold of Hydra’s files in Madripoor” Selby walks behind the woman who can’t be older than 25 and puts her hands on her shoulder. “Don’t worry though, they were sadly destroyed after we used it once on her. But we got the perfect soldier out of it” Bucky tenses at the mention of the perfect soldier. That’s what he was called back then. I need to help this girl he thinks I can’t let her go through the same shit I had to go through. He looks at Sam who is already looking back at him. They seem to think about the same thing.

“Harcos…” Selby starts talking in a foreign language but she is interrupted by a glass window shattering. Bucky sees Selby on the floor dead, a bullet hole in her chest and he immediately goes into fight mode. The woman or harcos he should say doesn’t waste any time and takes a gun off her back but before she can start shooting he is in front of her. He tries to twist the gun out of her hands but he finds out that she is strong. Too strong for her to be human. She is a super soldier which shouldn’t surprise him at this point but it still does.

They start fighting but their strength is evenly matched and Bucky doesn’t want to kill her. He uses his metal arm to finally grab the gun from her and throws it to the side. She kicks him in the chest and he is flung backwards into the wall. Bucky gets a hold of the gun he threw away and knocks her out with the back of it. The others finish fighting as well and they look at each other.

“Now what?” asks Sam looking at the woman lying on the floor.

“I recommend we kill her” chimes in Zemo before Bucky can start talking.

“We are not killing her” Bucky goes and picks her up, thinking about how they could get her out of here without drawing too much attention. He hold her bridal style and puts her head against his neck, hiding her face.”we need to get out of here and fast” Zemo walks to the door, opens it a little and looks through the open space.

“Put down your guns and follow my lead” the other two are hesitant to do what Zemo says but they don’t really have any other choice. They walk through the doors and out into the streets trying to look as casual as possible. Well, as casual you can be with an unconscious woman in your hands. But in Madripoor it’s not an uncommon sight so no one really pays attention to them. That is until every single person in the vicinity starts getting text messages and looks at them. Shit they know what happened Bucky thinks and they start to walk faster. Suddenly the people around them get out their guns and start shooting at them. Zemo runs to the right while Bucky and Sam start running straight down the street.

“I can’t run in these heels” Sam shouts trying to keep up with Bucky who is running slower than he could so he doesn’t leave Sam behind. They turn into a darker alley with to people on motorcycles following them. Suddenly two shots rang out from somewhere in one of the buildings and the motorcyclists are dead on the ground.

“You seem to have a guardian angel” Zemo shows up, out of breath from all the running.

“Well this is too perfect” Sharon shows up out of nowhere holding a gun in her hands. Her eyes immediately go to the woman in Bucky’s hands and the men can see her surprise. “Please tell me that’s not Harcos in your hands” Bucky looks down to see the woman, who seems to be calmly sleeping. How she didn’t wake up while they were running around is beyond him, but he is glad he doesn’t have to fight her again.

“Would you believe me if I said no?” asks Sam trying to lighten the situation.

“We need to get out of here before they see you carrying around Madripoor’s most valuable asset.” Bucky tenses, pulling her closer and not liking how that sounds. Asset. The word brings back horrible memories of times he would much rather forget. He needs to help this girl. He will not allow someone else be called asset “come on, I have a place in High Town where you can lie low” Sharon starts walking and the men follow him, Sam dragging Zemo with him.

They walk into her place which is filled with stolen artwork, that turns out to be the original.

“So can you tell us who is this harcos that Bucky decided to save?” Sam sends a look at Bucky who is putting the woman down on the couch. She is still out cold which is starting to get concerning.

“Y/N L/N. 24 years old. Has been a super soldier since she was a kid. She was Nagel’s first patient” she draws air quotes with her fingers ”well… the first successful one anyway. And when the Blip happened Selby used the chaos to get the files on the brainwashing and used it on her. Her memories are not gone like your resident Winter Soldier here but she still has trigger words that turn her into a mindless killing machine” they all watched the girl who started to stir awake from her deep sleep.

“Uhm… how are we going to go about this?” Sam watched her intently, getting ready for a fight. Bucky was still standing next to her when she opened her eyes staring straight into his. She sat up, panicked trying to crawl back from him. She obviously knew who he was and she was scared. How is she scared of him? She is supposed to be a super-soldier.

“What do you want?” she speaks for the first time.

“Hey it’s okay, we don’t want to hurt you” Sam walked over to her trying to calm her down. She snaps her head at him.

“Well then I would like an explanation” Y/N is till unsure about them but once in her life she wants to trust people and maybe the Avengers would be a good start.

“Do you remember fighting me?” Bucky speaks up.

“Yeah, kinda hard to forget fighting the Winter Soldier” she looks back at Bucky.

“I’m not him anymore” he shakes his head.

“Well at least someone got out of this thing” she shows a pained smile

“I head you have trigger words too”

“Yes and I would rather you don’t say them” he can’t understand how she can joke about something like this.

“We don’t even know the words” Sharon speaks

“Although I wish I did” Zemo smiles trying to get a rise out of y/n. But he doesn’t know her so he doesn’t know that that’s a very hard thing to do. Oh she gets angry easily but she was trained to not show it and not act on it.

“Very funny Zemo” she sends him a mock smile. He seems surprised that she knows who he is which she notices “Yes I know who you are, don’t be so surprised. So what are the Avengers doing in Madripoor?” she turns to Sam.

“A group of people got hold of the super-soldier serum and they used it on themselves so we are trying to stop them” Sam explains

“Sounds fun”

“I think she would be a valuable help” Zemo speaks again and Bucky immediately thinks that he has some ulterior motives.

“Stop your schemes Zemo” Sam shuts him down but y/n seems to be deep in thought.

“I mean she could help…” Bucky starts but Sam sends him a pointed look so he shuts his mouth.

“We do not need another liability with us” Sam looks at y/n who is already looking at him “No offence”

“None taken, but I agree with James” she stands up and walks over to Sam “I understand that I’m not stable, but I know what it’s like to have the serum in your veins and I want to help any way I can. As long as no one says the words I’m good”

“Yeah that’s exactly my concern. What if someone does know the trigger words and uses it against us? Against you?” he points at her. She thinks about if for a second.

“Okay how about this? I go with you but only step in to help when you say I can.” She offers, a hopeful look in her eyes. Sam knows she just wants to help but it’s still risky. He sighs.

“You can come if you do what I say. But if I feel like you are risking our mission you are sitting it out and only come in when I tell you to. Understand?” he says firmly, holding out his hand. She takes it and they shake hands.

“Let’s get these super-soldiers”

#bucky barnes #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #bucky #the falcon and the winter solider spoilers #the falcon and the winter soldier #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #marvel #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fic #sebastian stan #winter soldier #woman like me bucky

[xsamsharons]

pride, prejudice and rain. - nikolai lantsov.

pairing: nikolai lantsov x reader

genre/warning: fluff, nikolai quoting pride and prejudice.

words: 1.6k

summary: a rainy night that consists of reading on the garden with nikolai, and slow dancing under a gazebo soaked from the rain.

a/n: ik p&p doesn't technically exist in the grishaverse, but we're gonna ignore that.

The sky was glistening with stars that were getting less and less visible every passing second due to the clouds that had started to cover them up, and the wind was blowing through the trees in the garden as you laid with your back pressed against its grass. If your parents could see you, they’d probably tell you your clothes would get tainted green, your hair would get tangled, and your hands would get dirty, but you didn’t care, and they weren’t there anyway. The only person other than you in the garden was Nikolai, and he was reading to you from where he sat behind you, with your head resting on his legs and his unoccupied hand resting on your hair and tracing circles every now and again.

“And then h- Oh, Saints!” you heard Nikolai’s narration be cut short from above you and you chuckled at his dramatic gasp, opening your eyes and looking up at him.

“What did he do to annoy you now?” you asked, soft smile on your lips as you took in his baffled expression, the moonlight giving his hair a darker glow but shining brightly on his hazel eyes.

“He’s criticizing her whole family while proposing to her!” he explained, and you snorted.

“Don’t worry, she won’t let him get away with it.” you told him, and he furrowed his brows but returned his attention back to the pages in front of him, his hand not leaving your hair.

The night sky was almost completely covered by clouds now, and the wind that had previously been just a refreshing summer breeze, quickly turned colder, making you shiver once it passed through your body. Wordlessly, Nikolai took off his coat with one hand, and draped it on top of your body softly, not taking his eyes off the book in front of him.

“Oh, that’s rough.” he winced as he read her reply. “Good for her, though.” he nodded, way too serious to be talking about a work of fiction, which caused you to laugh loudly.

“Good for her.” you agreed.

“We should convince someone in the palace to make a play about this.” he proposed, his voice excited at his idea. “Or we could just do it ourselves!” His hair was a mess of blonde curls as the wind continued to blow against it, and from below him, his face was even less visible. Nonetheless, you could tell the expression he wore on his face was one of excitement as he told you his idea, his hands making exaggerated motions with the book still in them.

“We could play every single character in the book.” you nodded, smiling at his happy demeanor.

“It’d be a two person show.” he finished with a smirk. “Guaranteed success.” he said sarcastically, causing you to laugh once again.

He stared down at your laughing form with a soft look on his face for a moment longer than necessary, and stored the memory away in his brain for when he needed something sweet to think about. He went back to the book after your laughter had died down, but the fond look on his face remained as he read.

After a few moments of more narration from him, you felt something wet land on your cheek, and at first you thought maybe the book had been a bit more emotional for Nikolai than you originally imagined it would be, but as you looked up at him and watched how a raindrop landed on your book, you stood up quickly and took the book from his hand.

“Hey! I wasn’t done.” he pouted, and you rolled your eyes.

“I’m not letting you ruin my copy of this book just because you haven’t finished a chapter.” you explained as he snatched the book back from your hands, and the confused expression on his face quickly dissolved once a drop of water landed right on top of his nose, making him look even more adorable than before. You smiled at the sight, and raised your eyebrows as he scrunched up his nose to get rid of the water. “Could’ve just used your hand.”

“But then i wouldn't be able to do this.” he used his free hand to yank yours in his direction and took off running through the garden. His laugh could be heard loud and clear even after the rain became stronger and drowned out almost every single sound in the palace, except for him - and your screams.

“Nikolai, if you don’t stop right now, I swear on the Saints.” you threatened, which caused him to laugh even louder.

He finally stopped his running once he reached the gazebo standing in the middle of a deserted spot away from the garden and hidden from the view of anyone in the palace grounds. He collapsed on the dry floor and you used the opportunity to hit him on the side with your book before collapsing right next to him. “What was that about?” you complained, out of breath.

“I didn’t want you to go back to your rain because of the rain.” he shrugged.

“So you made us both run in the rain, getting completely soaked, and ruining my book?” you asked, sitting up and looking down at him and his mess of a hair now that it was wet. He still looked as beautiful as ever even with his curls sticking to his face, which caused you to hit him again out of frustration.

“What was that one for?” he complained, sitting up as well and taking the book from your hands and placing it on the floor next to him to prevent you from using it against him again.

You ignored his question and instead went back to the previous topic. “You could’ve just asked me to come back to my room with me.”

“Yeah, but how boring is that?” he smirked and stood up, holding his hand out to you.

“I don’t trust your hand anymore.” you said, but took it anyway. You almost thought he was about to start running again when he yanked you to him, but instead, he placed his other hand on top of your waist and kept his previous one wrapped around your own. “What are you doing?” you said, your voice sounding weak and kicking yourself for it mentally.

He just shrugged. “Dancing.”

“There’s no music.” you said, but followed his steps nonetheless, your heart beating way so fast that you were sure if a heartrender were near, they would think someone was dying.

“You don’t say.” he faked surprise, and you rolled your eyes.

“You owe me a book, you know?” you glanced down at your disregarded book, wet and laying on the floor.

“I’m this close to you and you’re thinking about your book? Unbelievable.” he said sarcastically once again, and you looked down feeling guilty for the way your mind was trying to avoid thinking about exactly that. “Hey, i was kidding.” he leaned down to meet your gaze, any sarcastic tone vanished from his voice.

“I know.” that’s the problem, you thought.

You continued to look down instead of looking up at his face, and he caught onto your change of attitude pretty quickly. He hated to think that he was the reason you were suddenly feeling down and so he did the only thing he could think of: he spun you around and used your surprise to meet your eyes and yank you close to him once again.

“In vain I have struggled. It will not do.” he started, dramatically as you looked up at him with an amused expression on your face. “My feelings will not be repressed.” he continued to quote the book, causing you to let out a small laugh.

“Stop that.” you slapped his chest softly.

“You must allow me to tell you,” he chose to ignore your words and decided to finish the quote, an over dramatic tone to his words and look on his face. “how ardently I admire and love you.” he finished, his fake performer accent never once slipping, and you let out a loud laugh.

“That was terrible.” you continued to laugh, burrowing your head in the crook of his neck.

“I thought I kind of did okay.” he shrugged once your giggles had died down, a fond look on his face as he looked down at you.

“You need to practice your acting if we want to go through with the plans about the two person play, your highness.” you said, a grimace on your face. “And you should probably work on your self-perception as well.”

“How rude!” he gasped, his smile never leaving his face as he observed the smile that was still on yours. “I’ll practice on my acting as long as you help me.”

“Deal.” you smiled.

“Deal.” he repeated, spinning you around once more to put an end to the conversation and keep dancing with you.

As the rain outside the gazebo started to die down, instead of going back to your respective rooms, you just kept dancing and giggling with each other like two little kids avoiding their responsibilities. And even as you stumbled back into the palace at an ungodly hour in the morning, neither of you could bring yourselves to care about the bags under your eyes or the shivers cursing through your bodies as a result to your wet clothes, your smiles way too big to be thinking about anything else other than the other.

taglist: @subjecta13-thefangirl @wtfrae @goldengoddess @thegirlwiththeimpala (lmk if you want to be added!)

#nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov fanfiction #nikolai lantsov x you #nikolai lantsov fanfic #nikolai lantsov fic #nikolai lantsov fluff #nikolai lantsov imagine #nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai fanfic #nikolai imagine #nikolai x reader #nikolai x you #shadow and bone #shadow and bone x reader #shadow and bone imagine #shadow and bone fanfiction #shadow and bone fic #shadow and bone fanfic #six of crows #crooked kingdom #siege and storm #ruin and rising #king of scars #rule of wolves #nikolai duology

[inkdemonapologist]

[BatIM Call of Cthulhu Masterpost]

nEW SESSION (summary here!), where there’s been an unexpected development to the music issue and its time to [checks my notes] taLK TO THE PROPHET AND BREAK INTO SUSIE’S APARTMENT??? Also, the Prophet and Joey have made.... a truce(???), Prophet is concerned Sammy isn’t going to stay on task now that music is returning and has left him a sort of alarming note, and Jack is uh, trying to hold, too many things, maybe some things he shouldn’t be holding, Jack please put those things back,

anyway heres a stack of out-of-context quotes from our session under the readmore:

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[Jack] My favourite thing is, there are so many reasons that Henry could've avoided things that I have no idea WHY Henry isn't affected. [Jack] Like, is he not affected because his art isn't a performance? Is he not affected because he warded his house? Is he not affected because he'S FILLED WITH GLOWING BLOOD?!?

[Jack] He got as far as feeding his cat, and I feel like feeding cat isn't a performance-- [Sammy] Not usually, not unless you sing a song to your cat, which-- [Jack] Awww! [Sammy] -- which, now that I've said that, sounds like something Jack would do actually,

[Sammy] Ohhhh, that's right, Joey just heard some people play some bad notes and start panicking, and then he stood up and passed out, [Jack] Which is probably how Sammy feels every time he hears people mess up music!

[GM] He finds news on the radio, but they’re not talking about that right now. [Joey] What are they talking about? [GM] Something mundane; business or sports or something. [Jack] The, the sportsball team, got a…..uh….. a, a point. Congratulations, sportsball,

[Joey] If the sportscasters sound normal, then Joey is instantly VERY ANGRY.

[Henry] Henry’s not very musically inclined, but he knows some songs, [Sammy] Like, can you hum Twinkle Twinkle Little Star -- [Jack] “Anyway, here’s Wonderwall.”

[Jack] Jack has made a vague list of the kinds of people who seem to be affected. [Jack] There’s also “NOT HENRY?????” with a bunch of question marks in this list.

[GM] He’s told that Peter is out of town for a week. [Jack] Hmm. [Sammy] PETER WHERE ARE YOU GOING? [Jack] Hmmmmmm. [Sammy] Jack, is Peter coming here, to check on you, [Jack] HMMMMMMMMMMMMM,

[Sammy] *exasperated* NPCs Stop Getting Involved In The Occult Challenge [Henry] Stop Getting Involved In The Occult Or Draw 25

[Joey] Peter had never seen a Bendy cartoon, and this needed to be fixed. [Joey] The premier is this weekend, and he sent tickets to Pete to correct this, error, in his ways. [Jack] ...I think it is very slowly dawning on Jack, that this means that Pete has been pulled directly into yet another… supernatural nonsense... [Sammy] WE DIDNT DO THIS ONE!!

[Sammy] I CAN’T BELIEVE PHONES ARE THE ANTAGONIST OF THIS ADVENTURE

[Henry] Oh wait--! oh, no, nevermind, I forgot he and Allison probably aren’t together yet. [Sammy] Yeah, I think they just met; they had a meet-cute where they found out they both like Frankenstein and that’s it. [Jack] They actually got married today, since nothing else was happening at the Studio, [Sammy] That’s why Allison hasn’t shown up, she was busy getting married!

[GM] Bendy might’ve been keeping tabs on Henry, but it depends I guess on how distressed Joey is seeming. [Joey] Joey is probably just going to bury his sorrow in studying magic. [GM] Okay! That’s fine and normal Joey behaviour!

[Sammy] Sammy will note that nothing got done in the music department, because he has good priorities.

[Jack] I like the idea that it’s just like, when the teacher isn’t in, and nobody does the work the substitute teacher gave you, [Jack] Everyone’s just playing pokemon in the back, [GM] I thought you were going to say “poker,” but I like the way you ended the sentence better.

[Jack] HMMMMMM. I wonder if we know, any suspicious women, who were around on that specific day, who are known to have, skill and interest in magical things,  [Joey] And also were aware of the cutouts, [Sammy] *cheerfully* Yeah, weird! Anyway!!!!

[Jack] Sammy was acting weird about Allison. Far too agreeable for a Sammy!

[Sammy] *talking about Prophet* If you want to lock him in somewhere, or restrain him, I’ll cooperate. [Jack] Just handcuff him to Jack! [Sammy] SAMMY IS UNEASY WITH THAT PLAN, [Jack] *laughing* What could go wrong! It’s not like Jack is significantly less strong or anything!!

[Jack] Not everyone makes up their entire self, Joey!!! (Affectionate)!!

[Sammy] I give my word, my sheep! [Henry] How good is your word? [Sammy] I mean. It’s pretty good.

[Henry] Henry’s trying to decide if it would be rude to doodle during this very serious conversation. [Jack] I mean, Jack is taking notes, so I feel like-- [Joey] --you can get away with fake note-ing. [GM] No one will know! [GM] Well, Bendy will know, because he’s up high. [GM] Ceiling Bendy

[Sammy] He’s not gonna give you a grade afterwards, like, this isn’t a lecture, [Jack] Time for Prophet Pop Quiz!

[GM] What’s Prophet writing? [Sammy] Um, I gotta think about this... [Jack] “Dear Frightened Shepherd, that Allison person sure is nice, isn’t she?” [GM] “What’s up with everyone ragging on her?” [Joey] “I think I have finally found a way to bridge the gap between us!” [Jack] “I think you need to replace your sheep, they seem kind of suspicious for no reason,” [Jack] “To Do List: Get Better Sheep”

[Sammy] Does this feel like something that’s trying to take his focus, like, very compelling creative ideas? [GM] Yes. [Sammy] ...Prophet will write “don’t get distracted” five more times.

[GM] His mind is abuzz with thoughts of dancing and actoring, [GM] Ideas to be the best Joey ever! [Jack] Oh no.

[Joey] He will wave at the cutout and make a “come here” motion. [Joey] Though also, he’s looking at the cutout like, I’m not quite sure how this works, but I’m going to trust you that it works! So I’m going to do this and see if Bendy shows up! [Jack] Like someone trying to learn how to do phone video calls for the first time, [Joey] YES. Joey’s actually like really close to the cutout, and the motions -- you can make them out, but it’s really awkward,

[Sammy] They’re in no danger. I will take care of the Shepherd’s sheep. [Jack] ...JACK’S BEEN DOWNGRADED!! He’s no longer PROPHET’S sheep!

[Joey] I like how everything Prophet says really just feels like, Knife Cat face.

[GM] You could probably make a Mythos roll to figure it out. [Joey] *rolls* Oh! Extreme success! [GM] Joey’s back!

[GM] Bendy will lead Joey back to the room, where hopefully there are three alive, non-fighting boys!

[Jack] Part of me was like, “What if Jack DOES turn into a cat…?! It’d be pretty hard to write things!” [GM] *laughs* We’ll keep that in our back pocket, in case Jack ever fails a Mythos check. [Jack] Meowthos check…

[Henry] I’m going to have Henry look, look with his Special Eyes.

[Sammy] *failing a roll* Prophet is just, NOT on the ball today, in any way shape or form. [GM] Really hard not to think about music. : ) [Sammy] Ohhhhhh boy, [Jack] Prophet just writes a note to Sammy that says “HOW do you LIVE like this???”

[Henry] Henry’s gonna try to scribble what he remembers of the symbol!  [Sammy] Didn’t we learn, from the last scenario, about reproducing weird symbols, [Henry] No.

[Joey] Did Joey get burnt? [GM] Make a dexterity roll! : ) [Henry] *mumbling* Y’all this entire building is made of wood. *Joey fails* [GM] 1 point of damage, you singe your hand -- on the plus side, you kind of were holding it as it burned up, so it doesn’t fall on the wooden floor. [Sammy] OH GOOD, we’re not LOCKED IN A CLOSET that’s about to burn down? GREAT!

[Joey] We could head over to the infirmary -- [Jack] Jack is already pulling the burn ointment out of his bag. [Jack] He’s prepared this time! [Jack] He’s been practicing, he knows what you’re all like,

[Joey] Joey will give him a smile that’s most recognisable as the “I know you will do good!” smile. [Sammy] Prophet will also smile! It is not a friendly smile. [Jack] It’s a “smile” in quotation marks, but it’s like, baring your teeth as an act of aggression. 

[Jack] Jack lets him go to do the call, but just before he picks up the phone, he says, “Don’t call him Petey.”

[GM] The phone rings, and is not answered. [Joey] Okay! Joey hangs up, says Peter checked into his room, but is not answering. Most likely asleep. [Jack] Half of my brain is going, “what if he’s just stood outside Jack’s house?” The other half of my brain is concerned about manias. I hope he’s not decided that now is a really great time to do more writing, and now he can’t stop, and this could go wrong-- [Jack] This is what Jack’s mind is doing, thinking of all the terrible possibilities. [Joey] While humming. [Jack] ...yes. He’s writing some very troubling lyrics.

[Sammy] *talking about Jack’s compulsive humming* Like Cornifer, [Jack] *starts humming Cornifer’s theme* Dangit, now it’s in my head, why would you do this to me? [Sammy] It’s in character! [Sammy] Method acting. : )

[Joey] Joey’s going to grab supplies to make sure Bendy can… hang around with them! [Joey] Sleepover supplies! Let’s grab your sleepover bag! :D

[Sammy] I don’t know why the idea of a wild Bendy running around across the rooftops is so cute to me… [GM] Probably on all fours, [Jack] Scampering,

[Jack] It’s a good thing Henry’s around because I don’t think Jack can… carry??? An entire Sammy??? [Jack] Like he’s good at holding but he’s not strong at holding.

[Joey] We’ve all been acting terrible for the last 24 hours… [Joey] WAIT. We’ve all been acting terrible for the last 24 hours!!!

[GM] Bendy hides under a blanket or something. [Jack] Comfey… [GM] Cozy boy, [Joey] Bendyrito. [Sammy] BENDYRITO,…….. [GM] Rolled up… snug...

[GM] Is everybody coming into the apartment, or just the two? [Jack] Hmmm….. Jack isn’t fond of either of these options. Going in is suspicious and weird; staying outside makes it look even more like they’re breaking in, to steal things, as opposed to, y’know, breaking in, for,,, “good” reasons(???) [Sammy] We’re not breaking in, we’re just walking into this apartment! What’s so weird about that?! [Jack] That’s breaking in. That’s what breaking in is, Sammy. [Sammy] They don’t have to know that we don’t belong here, maybe Susie gave us a key! [Jack] ...they heard us knocking. [Sammy] [Sammy] We’re BEING POLITE!! SHUT UP!!

[Henry] Jack, did you pick up kleptomania.. [Joey] I thought Jack picked up Being Prepared! [Jack] H-he’s just hoarding a little bit!! It’s fine!!! It’s very, useful, see, already Joey got injured!! It was useful to bring lots of things with him okay!!!!!!!!!

[GM] They do not have the police called on them, so that’s nice. [Sammy] Oh good! [Jack] Thank GOODNESS. [Henry] Love when that happens! [GM] If you guys got arrested, the Lurker’s just out in the car all night, [Henry] oh NO, [Jack] Worse punishment than jail… [Joey] Lurker learns how to drive for fun. [GM] *laughs* Gets curious, [Joey] “I said I wouldn’t leave the car, but--”

[Joey] WAIT. There’s a very important factor that we just decided but didn’t say. [GM] Oh? [Joey] If we have Henry heading home, and everyone else sleep over at Jack’s…. [Joey] ...the Lurker finally gets to meet a cat. *everyone gasps* [Jack] Oh that’s SO important

[Henry] And Henry will probably look at these, while in the car, to make sure they don’t have any gold writing on them-- [Sammy] Isn’t Henry driving??? [Henry] ……Henry is not going to look at them in the car,

[Sammy] We’re all going to bed, Sammy, you don’t need a banjo to sleep! [Joey] You might sleep worse if you have a banjo, actually. You might not stop.

[Sammy] Jack you wanna join us? We’re gonna just jam all night! [Jack] It really is Jammy… [Sammy] *laughs* TRUE Jammy!! Real Jammy Hours… [GM] That makes it a pyJAMa party… a real jammy jam…

#call of cthulu: haunted hijinx #sammy lawrence #Jack Fain #joey drew #Henry Stein #Bendy the Lurker #when in doubt just keep drawing #cthulhu game quotes #everyone except henry got a new insanity and we're doing... fine!

[kellyvela]

Hi! I wanted to ask you something. Jon and Sansa thinking about having children and having domestic life with their respective partners is a strong foreshadowing for jonsa. Then there was Jeyne W who also told Cat that Robb was going to name their firstborn after Ned. While Robb is dead, it's not sure if jeyne is pregnant. Sansa didn't married to Willas and Jon will not gonna steal Val. Do you think it's foreshadowing something?

Before actually answering your question, I think we can't compare Robb and Jeyne, who willingly married, actively tried to have a baby, and were arguably in love, to Sansa and Willas (they never met, they never married, they weren't in love), and Jon and Val (they never had sex, they never married, they weren't in love).

Also, while having the wish to name their children after their late father and siblings, Sansa couldn't stop thinking about Loras, not Willas; and Jon wished Ygritte were alive so he could marry her instead of Val.

And Loras is a stand in for Jon the same way Ygritte is an stand in for Sansa.

. . .

"A king must have an heir."

Jeyne Westerling told Catelyn that Robb was going to name their firstborn after Ned???

Are you talking about this passage???

"Jeyne," she called after, "there's one more thing Robb needs from you, though he may not know it yet himself. A king must have an heir."

The girl smiled at that. "My mother says the same. She makes a posset for me, herbs and milk and ale, to help make me fertile. I drink it every morning. I told Robb I'm sure to give him twins. An Eddard and a Brandon. He liked that, I think. We . . . we try most every day, my lady. Sometimes twice or more." The girl blushed very prettily. "I'll be with child soon, I promise. I pray to our Mother Above, every night."

—A Storm of Swords - Catelyn III

Because it was Jeyne who told Catelyn that she (Jeyne) was sure to give Robb twins to be named Eddard and Brandon, and that she thought Robb liked her idea (Jeyne's idea).

We don't know if Jeyne Westerling was, at some point, pregnant or not.

With all the Tully super fertility references, Jeyne could have been pregnant, but, as you can read in the quote above, her mother Sybell Spicer was giving her an abortifacient all the time, and sadly, that's what happened to Lysa Tully in the past... That's why a guilty Hoster Tully repeats "Tansy" in his sickbed several times, since "Tansy" was an ingredient of the abortifacient that Lysa took all those years ago...

The Lannister not only plotted to kill the King in the North, but also to prevent that said king have an heir... Sybell Spicer and the abortifacient were part of the plot.

And if there was still the slightest chance that Jeyne was pregnant with Robb Stark's heir, the Lannister would not hesitate to kill the unborn child and the mother, if necessary.

Actually, I'm afraid that in the next Book Jeyne Westerling will die anyway...

Now, Robb also used the same phrase "A king must have an heir." while later talking with Catelyn about the North's Succession, and guess who were the ones actively mentioned during that conversation? Any thoughts?

The answering is, a "Lady Lannister" (lol) and a "bastard Snow". Let's see:

"I had hoped to leave Jeyne with child . . . we tried often enough, but I'm not certain . . ."

"It does not always happen the first time." Though it did with you. "Nor even the hundredth. You are very young."

"Young, and a king," he said. "A king must have an heir. If I should die in my next battle, the kingdom must not die with me. By law Sansa is next in line of succession, so Winterfell and the north would pass to her." His mouth tightened. "To her, and her lord husband. Tyrion Lannister. I cannot allow that. I will not allow that. That dwarf must never have the north."

"No," Catelyn agreed. "You must name another heir, until such time as Jeyne gives you a son." She considered a moment. "Your father's father had no siblings, but his father had a sister who married a younger son of Lord Raymar Royce, of the junior branch. They had three daughters, all of whom wed Vale lordlings. A Waynwood and a Corbray, for certain. The youngest . . . it might have been a Templeton, but . . ."

“Mother.” There was a sharpness in Robb’s tone. “You forget. My father had four sons.”

She had not forgotten; she had not wanted to look at it, yet there it was. “A Snow is not a Stark.”

“Jon’s more a Stark than some lordlings from the Vale who have never so much as set eyes on Winterfell.”

“Jon is a brother of the Night’s Watch, sworn to take no wife and hold no lands. Those who take the black serve for life.”

“So do the knights of the Kingsguard. That did not stop the Lannisters from stripping the white cloaks from Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Boros Blount when they had no more use for them. If I send the Watch a hundred men in Jon’s place, I’ll wager they find some way to release him from his vows.”

He is set on this. Catelyn knew how stubborn her son could be. “A bastard cannot inherit.”

“Not unless he’s legitimized by a royal decree,” said Robb. “There is more precedent for that than for releasing a Sworn Brother from his oath.”

“Precedent,” she said bitterly. “Yes, Aegon the Fourth legitimized all his bastards on his deathbed. And how much pain, grief, war, and murder grew from that? I know you trust Jon. But can you trust his sons? Or their sons? The Blackfyre pretenders troubled the Targaryens for five generations, until Barristan the Bold slew the last of them on the Stepstones. If you make Jon legitimate, there is no way to turn him bastard again. Should he wed and breed, any sons you may have by Jeyne will never be safe.”

“Jon would never harm a son of mine.”

“No more than Theon Greyjoy would harm Bran or Rickon?”

Grey Wind leapt up atop King Tristifer’s crypt, his teeth bared. Robb’s own face was cold. “That is as cruel as it is unfair. Jon is no Theon.”

“So you pray. Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the north must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa … your own sister, trueborn …”

“… and dead. No one has seen or heard of Arya since they cut Father’s head off. Why do you lie to yourself? Arya’s gone, the same as Bran and Rickon, and they’ll kill Sansa too once the dwarf gets a child from her. Jon is the only brother that remains to me. Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North. I had hoped you would support my choice.”

“I cannot,” she said. “In all else, Robb. In everything. But not in this … this folly. Do not ask it.”

“I don’t have to. I’m the king.” Robb turned and walked off, Grey Wind bounding down from the tomb and loping after him.

—A Storm of Swords - Catelyn V

As you can see from the quote above, Robb and Catelyn were pushing to prevent Sansa or Jon from inheriting Winterfell and the North after Robb. For Robb, the problem was that Sansa was "Lady Lannister," and for Catelyn, the problem was that Jon was a bastard "Snow," and a brother of the Night's Watch.

Ironically, Robb ended up losing Winterfell and the North, and it will be precisely Sansa (the Lannister by marriage) and Jon (the bastard Snow) the ones retaking the ancestral seat and all the lands of House Stark, and I suspect they will do it together.

Indeed, Robb and Catelyn's conversation is also very telling because Robb said: "By law Sansa is next in line of succession, so Winterfell and the north would pass to her". But since Sansa was married to Tyrion Lannister, Robb had to name another heir, Jon.

Robb's reasoning is a contrast to Jon's reaction to the offer of getting Winterfell and the North.  Stannis Baratheon used the same argument (Sansa's marriage to Tyrion Lannister) to convince Jon to accept his offer to become a legitimized Stark and Lord of Winterfell, Stannis even called Sansa “Lady Lannister”, but no matter what, Jon didn’t accept Stannis's offer.

And what was Jon's answer?

“By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon I

Jon said, “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon IV

Beautiful, isn't it?

And Jon and Sansa could also produce a new generation of Starks, honoring their late relatives by naming their children Eddard, Robb and Catelyn, the ones that are actually dead, because fortunately Arya, Bran and Rickon are still alive, even if Jon and Sansa believe they are all dead.

She pictured the two of them sitting together in a garden with puppies in their laps, or listening to a singer strum upon a lute while they floated down the Mander on a pleasure barge. If I give him sons, he may come to love me. She would name them Eddard and Brandon and Rickon, and raise them all to be as valiant as Ser Loras. And to hate Lannisters, too. In Sansa's dreams, her children looked just like the brothers she had lost. Sometimes there was even a girl who looked like Arya.

—A Storm of Swords - Sansa II

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. Val would want to keep her sister's son, but we could foster him at Winterfell, and Gilly's boy as well. Sam would never need to tell his lie. We'd find a place for Gilly too, and Sam could come visit her once a year or so. Mance's son and Craster's would grow up brothers, as I once did with Robb.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XII

Be still my beating heart!

. . .

So if you're wondering if the sad fate of Jeyne Westerling and Robb, who had a similar wish to Sansa and Jon's wishes, to name their children after their late father and siblings, could mean something negative for Jon and Sansa in the future. The answer is no.

#anon asks #jonsa

[intheticklecloset]

The Perfect Pair (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Finally, an excuse to write a Todoroki/Kirishima fic! I’ve been looking for a way to make this happen since Todoroki admitted he wanted to tickle Kiri a while back, and now here we are! Wishes coming true all around! Enjoy! ^^

22. “I think I’m stuck…”

30. “Are you crazy? I can’t last that long!”

You’ll notice for the numbered prompts I didn’t use the exact quote, but a variation thereof. This was to help prevent repetitiveness as well as maintain believable story flow. They’re still in the fic, just not word for word.

~

“Kirishima?”

“Ah! T-Todoroki!”

The sight was an amusing one, to say the least. Todoroki had been on his way to the dining room for dinner when he heard a loud crash from the laundry room, followed by a curse. Obviously he went to make sure everything was all right, and when he stepped into the small, warm room, he found the redhead wedged between washing machine and dryer, titled to the side as though he were trying to reach something that had fallen behind the machines.

“Are you all right?”

Kiri grinned sheepishly. “Oh, y-yeah, I just lost a shirt back here and I’m trying to get it.”

“What was that noise?”

“The lid of the washing machine tried to break my hand. Thank goodness I have a hardening quirk.”

Todoroki stepped further into the room, the swinging door sliding shut behind him. He saw a small basket full of clothes on a chair to his right, while Kiri grunted and scooched even further between the machines to retrieve his fallen article of clothing on his left. “Do you need assistance?”

Kiri’s eyes lit up suddenly. “Hey, can you make, like, an ice hook or something so I can reach it?”

Todoroki complied without question, handing him the new creation. “Didn’t you bring hangers?”

“Didn’t think I’d be losing a shirt behind the washing machine today.”

Within moments, the shirt had been retrieved and tossed into the basket by the door, and Kiri handed the ice hook back to Todoroki.

“What am I supposed to do with this now?”

“I don’t know, melt it? I don’t think it’ll last long in here anyway.”

Todoroki searched for a trash can, found it, and melted the hook over top of it. “Done.”

“Great. Now, maybe help me get out of here?”

When the half-and-half hero turned to look at him again, he saw that the redhead was trying to wiggle his way out from his spot between the machines, but with little success. “Kirishima?”

Kiri couldn’t help but laugh at his own predicament. “I’m stuck, man. Help a friend out, would you?”

Todoroki silently moved to help as requested, grabbing Kiri’s left arm with one hand and hooking his other under the redhead’s right arm, tugging.

“Ah! Wait, wahahait!” The giggling caught him off-guard, and he stopped. Kiri glanced at him with another sheepish smile. “S-Sorry. I’m really ticklish there.”

Todoroki froze, staring at the redhead, feeling blood rushing to his cheeks. He swept his eyes over his classmate briefly, assessing the situation fully for the first time, then swallowed.

“Whoa, hey, you all right?” Kiri asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. “You’re turning all red. Are you…” The hardening hero paused. “Are you blushing?”

“I…” Todoroki swallowed again. “I-I…I’m sorry. Here.” He shifted his one hand so it was grasping Kiri’s right shoulder instead. “Let’s try this.”

Kiri eyed him curiously, then nodded. “Sure.”

Together they worked to try and get him out, but he was wedged in tight, and he only moved a couple of inches. All the while Todoroki’s eyes kept straying to his open torso as he pulled, until finally he gave in to the urge. As soon as it was clear Kirishima really was stuck good, he pulled his left arm above his head and scribbled his fingers in his wide open underarm.

Kirishima jerked, laughing, trying to squirm as much as possible. His free hand grabbed onto the washing machine frantically. “Ahahahahahaha! Whahahahahahat--?! Why are yohohohohohou--?!”

Todoroki felt something rise up in him, and he broke into a small smile, traveling down to Kiri’s ribs.

The redhead cackled. “Todoroki, wahahahahahahait! T-That tihihihihihickles! Stahahahahap!” But even as he giggled and squirmed, both he and his attacker noticed he was starting to finally get free of his laundry machine prison. The half-and-half hero let his fingers skitter to the space between Kiri’s shoulder blades, and Kiri arched his back with a squeal. “Ahahahahahahaha, not thehehehehehere! Crap, why – plehehehehehehease, nohohohohohohoho!” He laughed and struggled so hard he finally managed to get one leg free, and after that the redhead shoved himself out the rest of the way, sending them both sprawling into the opposite wall. Todoroki let him go, and the two of them stood there in silence, Kirishima catching his breath.

Todoroki spoke first. “Sorry.”

Kiri looked at him, a confused smile on his face. “Why? It worked, didn’t it?”

“I…” The icy-hot hero averted his gaze, feeling his cheeks heat up in another blush. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“Hey, it’s all good, man. Really. You do know I like being tickled, right?”

Todoroki was growing so flustered he couldn’t take it anymore. He let it all out in a rush. “Yes, I do know. That’s why I’ve wanted to tickle you for a really long time and so when I found you like that and you said it tickled I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry, I just really wanted to – but I know it might be kind of weird, so—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” Kirishima said, looking at him with a softer gaze now. “Why would it be weird?”

“Because…I…I like it. Tickling my friends.”

“And that’s somehow worse than liking being tickled by your friends because…?”

Todoroki paused, his brain feeling like it was a broken record player, stuck in the same loop. He hesitated. “Because…not everyone likes it, and I don’t know how someone feels about it until afterward, when the damage is done. Except for a couple of people. Like Ba-uhh, I mean, Midoriya, and Kaminari. And – and you.”

Kirishima broke into a grin, his eyes going wide. “Dude, Bakugou? You’ve tickled Bakugou?”

Even more color pooled in Todoroki’s cheeks. “I…y-yes, a couple of times.”

“More than once?” Kirishima laughed. “That’s hilarious! He never said anything!”

“I don’t think he particularly enjoys it,” Todoroki admitted.

“He doesn’t, unless he’s comfortable around you.”

“I don’t know that he is.”

“Sure he is. He keeps hanging out with you, doesn’t he?”

“We kind of have to.”

“Nuh-uh. I’ve seen you two hang out together outside your extra training sessions.” Kiri nudged the flustered half-and-half hero. “He likes spending time with you, man. He’ll just never admit it. But back to the matter at hand. It’s not a bad thing to like tickling people. It’s fun to make your friends laugh, right?”

Todoroki kept his eyes lowered. “Yeah.”

“Dude, don’t make me turn the tables here.”

“What?”

“I’ll make you laugh if you don’t stop being so down on yourself about this.” Kirishima grinned, and Todoroki was suddenly very aware of his position against the wall, with the redhead in front of him, blocking his exit. “It’s okay, Todoroki. Really. We’re kind of the perfect pair, if you think about it. You like tickling people, and I like being tickled. We were destined to be friends, don’t you think?”

The icy-hot hero offered a small smile. “Yes, I suppose we were.”

“I see that smile,” Kiri teased, pinching his sides. Todoroki made a small noise in the back of his throat and grabbed Kiri’s wrists. The redhead chuckled. “One thing Bakugou did mention was how insanely ticklish you are. I wonder if that’s true, or if he was just exaggerating.”

“It’s – it’s t-true,” Todoroki gasped, smiling uncontrollably now, trying to push Kiri away. “Please, Kirishima…”

“The only way you’ll get out of this is if you let yourself have fun and tickle me instead. Making me laugh is your only way out of this room.”

“I-I could…juhuhust run by yohohou,” Todoroki managed around the first giggles, squirming even more when Kiri started to pinch upward, toward his underarms.

“No you can’t. Because I’m standing between you and the door. So as long as you’re not tickling me, I’ll be tickling you. Kind of hard to run away when you’re helpless with laughter.” Kirishima was dangerously close to one of his hot spots now, and Todoroki felt that familiar feeling rise within him, stronger this time. “Right?”

“Right,” he growled playfully, suddenly tackling Kiri to the floor of the laundry room, hooking his fingers in his ribs and drilling. The redhead burst into surprised laughter. “Ah, there’s my ticket out of here. I made you laugh. Although, now I kind of don’t want to stop.”

“Thehehehehehere you go!” Kirishima squealed, curling up instinctively. “Embrahahahahace it, Tohohodorokihihiehehehe!”

Todoroki felt a warmth inside of him like he hadn’t felt for several weeks. The realization that this was okay, that no one thought lesser of him for liking this, for enjoying making his friends laugh. No one who knew had bad-mouthed him about it; not Deku, not Kirishima, not even Bakugou. With every person he opened up to, every friend he drew laughter from, he felt more and more at ease with this side of himself. It was so freeing, having friends like this. He was so grateful he couldn’t form the words to express it.

“You know what?” Todoroki grinned, rolling Kiri over so he was flat on his back and then straddling his waist. “I think I will embrace it. Especially since I know you like it as much as I do.”

“G-Good for you!” Kiri giggled, his praise genuine. “So, should I be worried? Are you a tickle monster like Bakugou? Or a gentle, teasing tickler like Mina? Maybe somewhere in between?”

“I suppose we’ll find out.” With that, Todoroki shoved his hands into Kiri’s underarms, smiling at the shriek he got in response, followed by bright, bouncy laughter.

“Y-Yohohohohohou cahahahahan be mehehehehehean with me!” Kiri declared through his cackling. “I cahahahahahan tahahahahake it! My rehehehehecord is ahahahalmost an hohohohour!”

Todoroki stared at him in shock, but managed to keep tickling. “An hour? When were you ever tickled for an hour?”

“Bahahahahahahahahakugou!”

“Ah.” Somehow, no more explanation was needed. “Well, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go quite that long.”

“Thehehehehehen stop tahahahahalking and gohohohohoho crahahahahazy!”

Todoroki paused, smirked, slid his hands back down to Kiri’s ribs, and kneaded deeply. “All right.”

“GAH!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! W-WAHAHAHAHAIT, WAIT, M-MAHAHAHAHAYBE I SPOHOHOHOHOKE TOO SOHOHOHOHOHOON!! TODOROKI!!”

The icy-hot hero said nothing, merely smirking down at his suddenly desperate friend, watching how his face went from smug confidence to panicked excitement in the blink of an eye when he realized his tickler wasn’t going to leave that spot.

“N-NO, TOHOHOHODOROKI, PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!! PLEASE – STOP THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT!! IT TIHIHIHIHICKLES SO BAHAHAHAD!! TODOROKI!!”

So ice fingers really do make it tickle more, Todoroki thought, feeling a surge of wicked confidence. Interesting. Never could get an answer out of Kaminari on the matter.

“TODOROKI!! PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEASE!! N-NOT THEHEHEHEHERE, ANYWHERE EHEHEHEHEHELSE BUT THERE!!” Kiri screamed with laughter, his head tossed back and mouth wide open as wave after wave of hysterics escaped him. “PLEASE, IT TIHIHIHICKLES – PLEASE NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!! I TAHAHAHAHAHAKE IT BACK I CAHAHAHAHAN’T LAHAHAST THAT LOHOHOHOHOHONG!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

Todoroki couldn’t help but be a little evil. “You said I could be mean with you, Kirishima. I’m merely giving you what you wanted. Your record’s an hour? What if I try to set the record for breaking you the fastest?”

“AH!! YOU’RE CRAHAHAHAHAHAHAZY!!” Kirishima squealed, but it was obvious the idea thrilled him. “YOUR FIHIHIHIHIHINGERS ARE COHOHOHOHOLD!! IT’S SOHOHOHO MUCH WORSE – NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

Todoroki experimentally switched to raking up and down his ribs, which got an even better reaction than he was hoping for. Kirishima’s laughter flew out of him, loud and uncontrollable, and he thrashed and kicked his legs desperately, trying to push him away. “Hmm. Good technique, I see. How long can you take it, I wonder?”

“I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T!! I CAN’T I CAN’T – PLEHEHEHEHEASE, STAHAHAHAP MAHAHAHAHAHAKING YOUR FINGERS SO COHOHOHOHOHOHOLD!!”

“Now you’re asking me to stop being myself? That’s rather rude, Kirishima.”

“YOU JEHEHEHEHEHEHERK I KNOW YOU CAHAHAHAHAHAN CONTROL IT!!” Kirishima was laughing so hard at the nonstop tickling on his ribs combined with the freezing, tickly effects of Todoroki’s ice fingers that mirthful tears sprang to his eyes. “PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!”

“You seem to be enjoying yourself, though. Why should I stop when you like it so much?”

Kiri squealed. “I’LL GEHEHEHEHEHET YOU BAHAHAHAHACK FOR THIS!!”

“Threatening me now?”

“AH!! NO!! NONONONONO WAIT WAHAHAHAHAHAIT!!” Kirishima’s laughter reached entirely new heights when Todoroki leaned down to start nibbling on his ribs through his t-shirt. The redhead finally started to sound desperate – almost panicked – as the wildest, most hysterical reactions Todoroki had ever produced from anyone burst from the redhead beneath him. “GOD STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP PLEASE TOHOHOHOHODOROKI I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAN’T!! YOU WIN!! YOU WIHIHIHIHIHIHIN!! IGIVEIGIVEIGIVEPLEASESTAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

Todoroki stopped immediately, hearing the desperation in Kirishima’s voice. He climbed off of him and rubbed his shoulder gently. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take it so far.”

“S-Stohohop apologizing,” Kiri said through a giggly wheeze. “Thahat was fuhuhun.” He rolled over and looked up at his attacker through watery eyes. “Didn’t you have fun, too?”

Todoroki couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I did.”

“Then everything’s fine, because we both had a blast. Like I said, we’re the perfect pair.” Kirishima sat up with a groan with Todoroki’s assistance, then glanced up at the washing machine. “Guess I should actually start doing laundry now.”

“Just don’t get stuck again.”

They both got to their feet. Kiri grinned. “If I do, I’ll just have you tickle me out again.”

“Careful, Kirishima,” Todoroki teased, feeling completely at ease and in his element after the fun they’d just had. “Every time I have to tickle you out of being stuck, I’ll use my ice fingers on you as punishment afterward.”

At this point, both boys were smiling widely at each other, enjoying the ease with which they could banter about this topic. It felt so good to both of them; especially Todoroki. For the first time in his life, he felt like he could be fully himself around someone. Kirishima really did bring out the best in people. They really were the perfect pair.

“Somehow, I think I can live with that.”

#fanfiction #tickle fic #boku no hero #my hero academia #bnha #mha #shoto #todoroki #eijirou #kirishima #red riot #stuck #perfect pair #playful #wholesome #fluff #cute #tickling #ticklish #tickle

[chosetherose]

Submission:

Mr Perfectly Fine

So I've seen a lot of theories about Mr Perfectly Fine. I think we all have. The official narrative is that it's another song "about" Joe J*nas. Gaylors think it's about Taymily. I've even seen the argument that "Mr Always Wins" is Taylor throwing shade at current beard Joe Aly*n. (Which I can definitely see, tbh. This is Miss "and you poke that bear, Taylor Kloss come out" TS we're talking about. She's no stranger to sneaky wordplay.) 

But I was listening today and another idea hit me, which I haven't seen anyone talk about so far. 

I wonder if Mr Perfectly Fine is a song about Scott B*rchetta? Specifically, about the Fearless era, when Taylor was "encouraged" to let Emily go for the sake of her career. We can all guess who would have been behind the encouraging. 

Obviously MPF is like most of the vault tracks on Fearless TV. It's been reworked from Taylor's current point of view, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's angry about more than just the Taymily situation when she sings it now. But it does really fit for that. All you really have to do is change the lyric "I've been Miss Misery since your goodbye" to "I've been Miss Misery since HER goodbye" and boom, you have a song in which "he" isn't the lover but the outside influence who was instrumental  in breaking Taylor's heart. If you've ever read Jane Austen's Persuasion, just imagine Taylor as Anne, Emily (and her other girlfriends) as Captain Wentworth, and Scott as Lady Russell, who talked Taylor out of the match for the sake of her future. 

Verse 1:

Mr. "Perfect face" Mr. "Here to stay"

Mr. "Looked me in the eye and told me you would never go away"

Everything was right Mr. "I've been waitin' for you all my life" Mr. "Every single day until the end, I will be by your side"

This all seems like romantic imagery, but it could also be metaphorical. We all know that Scott and Taylor seemed like a match made in (business) heaven at first. Taylor has talked about how Scott took a chance on her. Scott talked about seeing something unique and special in Taylor, and throwing everything behind her. We all know Taylor basically made Big Machine. It's easy to imagine Scott telling a young Taylor she had the perfect face for country. It's easy to imagine him telling her he was in it for the long haul, willing to promote and develop her as an artist even if it took a while for her to break through. It's easy to imagine both of them thinking their meeting was fate - a perfect partnership that would last her entire career. 

Then comes the pre-chorus and the chorus. 

But that was when I got to know Mr. "Change of heart" Mr. "Leaves me all alone," I fall apart It takes everything in me just to get up each day But it's wonderful to see that you're okay [Chorus] Hello, Mr. "Perfectly fine" How's your heart after breakin' mine? Mr. "Always at the right place at the right time," baby Hello, Mr. "Casually cruel" Mr. "Everything revolves around you" I've been Miss Misery since your goodbye And you're Mr. "Perfectly fine"

We know that Taylor and Emily were together for nearly two years before the break up, and it seems like the break up was directly related to Taylor's increasing success. In this situation, it's not hard to imagine Scott as "Mr Change of Heart" - someone who initially encouraged a private (closeted) relationship, but then changed his mind and decided even that was too dangerous. Taylor was better off alone. She was only a teenager, after all. She had years ahead of her to fall in love again. Maybe this girl thing was just a phase anyway. She was too young to throw away the opportunity of a lifetime. "Mr Casually Cruel" is, of course, a reference to All Too Well's "so casually cruel in the name of being honest". It evokes the same feelings here. It's belittling, from someone who thinks they're older and wiser. It's easy to imagine Emily repeating some of these statements back to Taylor later, claiming they come from the same place of greater maturity. You can see how Taylor came to feel no-one was on her side, when she sings about the Taymily break up in Bye Bye Baby. 

And Scott would be "perfectly fine" after breaking Taylor's heart. Because he's not hurting. He's not part of the loss. I've always thought some of the descriptions Taylor uses for "Emily" in MPF seem overly harsh, and don't tally with her attitude in other songs. But they absolutely fit for 31 year old Taylor looking back at Scott's actions through an adult lens. Angry that he had such influence over her. Angry that he was so dismissive of her feelings, but mined them for a profit. Now she sees it all differently. She feels it was all about him, all about the impact her stardom would have on his label, and he didn't really care about her feelings at all. 

[Verse 2] Mr. "Never told me why" Mr. "Never had to see me cry" Mr. "Insincere apology so he doesn't look like the bad guy" He goes about his day Forgets he ever even heard my name Well, I thought you might be different than the rest, I guess you're all the same

Pre-Chorus] 'Cause I hear he's got his arm 'round a brand-new girl I've been pickin' up my heart, he's been pickin' up her And I never got past what you put me through But it's wonderful to see that it never fazed you

Here is where I think Taylor starts to conflate the past and present. She goes from talking about Scott's first betrayal to his last and worst one. Selling her masters to Sc**ter Braun. Never had to see her cry? No explanation for the betrayal? Insincere apology? Attempts to sign new artists to replace Taylor at Big Machine? Apparent indifference to something Taylor still hasn't got over? All of this checks out for Scott and the masters situation. Especially the line about thinking he was "different than the rest" only to find out "you're all the same". She thought Scott was like a father to her, but when it came down to it he was as greedy and self-serving as Sc**ter. 

She doubles down on this in Verse 3 and the bridge. 

[Verse 3] So dignified in your well-pressed suit So strategized, all the eyes on you Sashay your way to your seat It's the best seat, in the best room Oh, he's so smug, Mr. "Always wins" So far above me in every sense So far above feeling anything [Bridge] And it's really such a shame It's such a shame 'Cause I was Miss "Here to stay" Now I'm Miss "Gonna be alright someday" And someday maybe you'll miss me But by then, you'll be Mr. "Too late"

This is absolutely about a business man. It never fit for Taymily or Joe J*nas. It doesn't fit JA either. ("All eyes on you"? "The best seat in the best room"? "Always wins"? In his dreams!) JA wishes he'd made as much out of Taylor as Scott did. It's like the Mean Girls quote "I like, invented her!" That's what Taylor did for Scott. She put him on the map.

(Just like she's doing right now for JA. Bearding like Scott taught her all those years ago. I think the "always wins" / "alwyn" soundbite is another way of saying they're all the same to her, these men using her for their careers. She doesn't trust JA any more than she trusts Scott. The comparison is pretty revealing about her real feelings regarding JA. Pretty damning.) 

The final lines say it all. Taylor would have stayed with Big Machine if they'd been more supportive of her as a person and as an artist. They could have had it all. All the success she's experiencing now, Scott could have been a part of. But he chose another road, and Taylor was left trying to process it in her songs. Trying to claw back the rights to her work by rerecording her albums. And now all that's left is for Scott to miss what he lost - far, far too late to ever get it back. 

- ❄️🥀

(P.S: You're welcome, Lucky One!) 

#CTRsubmission #submission

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 17

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

One of the advantages of being a photographer — or a self-taught photographer in your case — is having the ability to acquire an eidetic memory. You remembered the hat that the little bitch (a four-year old) was wearing when she pushed you off the swings in daycare, or the little stain on your father's doctor's lab coat when your family had to rush him to the hospital, or what Peter was wearing the day you guys first met (some oversized flannel he borrowed from Bucky), or the look on your ex-boyfriend's face when you punched him in the face for cheating on you.

The attention to every pretty little detail is, and always will be, a must, and so not remembering where you had seen Bucky before killed you, or rather, was killing you.

It was a normal morning, well, better than your normal mornings to say the least, with Bucky spending the night in your bed. This time, you woke up first, all wrapped in nothing but sheets and Bucky's arms just like yesterday. You rolled over to his side and admired him in his sleep. Then, sudden flashes of Bucky's face from before flooded your memory. You didn't know when exactly was before. It felt like a kind of a deja vu moment.

While eating Bucky's homemade breakfast, in your mind, you listed all the possible places where you could've seen him before: a café, a bar you once went to in college, a bookstore, a museum, a convivial gathering, a convenience store, and any other places you could've bumped into him.

The morning grew unusually quiet and clouded, eliciting concern from Bucky.

"You seem awfully quiet this morning." He observed. "Are you alright, doll?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"Uh-oh, was the sex not great last night?" He joked, nudging his elbow against yours.

You shook your head, trying to smile a little. Thankful that Bucky was trying to keep everything light. "No, no, it was great. You were great. It's just... I'm just quite anxious for today."

Today, you were going to Sam's office and to his store on Fifth Street, to discuss the details about the project. It wasn't what you had in your mind this morning but as you told Bucky about it, you realized you really were getting a bit nervous about the meeting. It was a big deal, after all.

Sam's business, The Falcons, was getting more recognition than you thought. He was now in near competition with Nike and Adidas, especially with the rumors of him releasing brand-new footwear, that could — and you quote one of the articles you read while on break — “overthrow the big leagues.” That alone, already put you in the spotlight. So, whatever you put out there should only be a success, and not a flop; because if it were a failure, you wouldn't only be humiliating yourself, but Bucky as well.

"You're gonna do great!" He assured you. "Plus, it's just a meeting. You two already seem to have a grasp on the project, anyway."

"Yeah." You sighed. "You're right."

You wanted to ask Bucky if you had ever, ever, met each other before — perhaps during a party where you’ve rescued Peter before? — but you bit your tongue to stop yourself. You already did when you met, anyway. And everything was going great between the two of you — whatever the hell this was; besides, labels are overrated nowadays — and you didn't want to say anything or do anything that could potentially ruin it. You were beyond happy in your little bubble, and you could tell Bucky was, too.

You brushed all those thoughts at the back of your mind as you and Bucky strolled through Sam's building's hallways, ironically telling yourself it was all just in your head, that you were just quite edgy about this damn meeting, that you were just thinking about Bucky all the damn time; and the more you told these things to yourself, the more you believed it, and the more you hoped you would never have these thoughts again.

Today, you wore something a bit different than what you usually wore down at the bar. A blazer and pants set, adorned with black and white stripes, a tube top inside, and a white belt that kept the blazer on your sides. You got the set when you and Bucky were out shopping on Monday, of course, Bucky paid for it no matter how many times you refused. Your hair was let down, all the ends flowing down your shoulders until the bottom of your breasts. Lips painted bright red (which Bucky really, really liked). A bit of shimmer on your eyelids as well.

Today was a huge deal and you wanted to look your best.

Bucky kept his hand on the small of your back the whole time you walked, giving a sense of comfort and familiarity you now learned to be fond of. He told the story of how he met Sam (at a bar, where else?), how he had seen him grow in the industry (all the ups and downs), and also how they've always supported each other — the three of them.

"Wait, the three of you?" You asked. "There's another one?"

Bucky almost wanted to stop in his tracks but decided against it. He avoided your gaze, his eyes straight down the hallway. "Yes, but we've fallen apart." He said. "He has his own thing now. Anyway, let's not talk about it. We have more important things to deal with today."

Before you could even ask what the name of this third friend was, Sam appeared at the end of the hallway, with his arms wide open, like a king opening his arms to his heir. Bucky, without leaving your side, proceeded to hug Sam only using his free arm, "Hey, man," he said, and retreated back afterwards.

On the other hand, you shook Sam's hand and gave him a smile.

"Hi, Sam." You greeted. "Nice to see you again."

"You too... y/n." Sam replied, hiding a smirk you knew he was itching to show, hiding the fact that he wanted to mock Bucky by calling you "babydoll."

"You guys made it in time." He said. "Come with me to the conference hall."

Sam led you to his right where a white long table stood in the middle with a bunch of vacant office chairs around. A projector sat on the center of the table, a series of displays of sports apparel lying around, perfectly organized by color. A blonde woman had her back on you, flipping papers on a clipboard. Once she heard you come in, she swiveled around and put the clipboard on the table.

"Y/n, this is Sharon Carter, my assistant and the project manager assigned for this new release." Sam spoke. "She knows everything there is to know about how my business works, all the ins and outs. And if in any case I won't be around, you can always rely on her."

"Hi, nice to meet you." You said.

Sharon Carter, instead of answering verbally, just offered you a smile and a small nod. Her gaze shifted towards Bucky, and then Sam. "Mr. Wilson, does he need to be here?"

"Always a pleasure to see you, Sharon." Bucky chuckled.

Sharon ignored him and continued to talk to Sam; well, tried to. "All the details in today's meeting are confidential and he — "

"He's good, Sharon." Sam cut her off. "I doubt he'll be interested in this, anyway. He's just here for his... doll." Sam chortled and Bucky winked and clicked his tongue in response. "Besides, he's the one who introduced me to y/n."

Sharon sighed in defeat and tried to smile at her boss. "Very well then."

"Please, take a seat." Sam offered, leading you towards the vacant chairs.

While walking towards the chairs, Bucky bent over on your side and whispered: "Don't worry, she's usually like that" which gave you relief.

"Good," you whispered back, "for a moment there, I thought she hated my guts."

"To be fair, she usually hates everyone's guts. Especially mine." Then, he placed a small kiss on your temple before pulling out a chair for you. "You'll do great, doll."

"Alright," Sharon started, glaring at Bucky, "shall we begin?"

The meeting lasted longer than you had liked it to be, and for a little while, it suddenly became an understanding of the difference between working with small, independent businesses and big businesses such as Sam's. Usually, you had a lot of artistic upper hand when it came to the small ones, seeing as they were still starting — and it was also where your college degree came in handy. You would talk to them about advertising, and marketing strategies through product photography. And that was that. But Sam's business already had something to start with.

Something already big.

In the middle of the presentation, Bucky reached for your hand under the table (which took you by surprise), hooking his pinky into yours.

"Just hold my pinky like this if this is too overwhelming for you." He whispered.

"Why the pinky?"

He just shrugged in response, a smile playing on his lips.

Sharon walked you all the way through it, careful not to miss any kind of detail, small or big: from the moment the business started (Sam working in retail, then reselling clothes, then making streetwear designs of his own until he landed on sporting apparels), and to what made the business grow what it is right now.

"Inclusivity." She continued, clicking on the next slide, "This is what The Falcons is going to be all about. Plus-size workout clothes, a huge array of colors suited for every skin tone — literally any color you can think of. We also have workout clothes and streetwear in one which means new designs and new materials. And of course, the new footwear. Bringing the light in speed, bringing new comfort, a new aesthetic, footwear for all. Again, inclusivity. Right in front of you," she pointed to all the sports apparel lying on the table, "are the new designs. We just received the first batch yesterday and we're expecting the second and last one hopefully this weekend just in time for the photoshoots any day next week."

"Me and the marketing team haven't actually discussed the photoshoot details, but they've had that with Sharon, seeing as she's the project head. All I have to do is approve it," Sam said, looking at you, "with you here, of course."

You nodded in agreement, then looked at Sharon. "Will we discuss, perhaps, half of it today?"

"Oh, I can discuss all of it." Sharon smugly replied. "I have a very promising proposal right here." She clicked the next slide, showing photos of various known models. "Let's start with the models. The new faces of the Falcons — "

"Hi, sorry. Can I weigh in on this one?" You interrupted as you scanned the faces of the models in front.

"I haven't finished yet."

You looked at Sam, who had his finger on his chin (assessing the situation), pleading with him with your eyes. "Go ahead, y/n." He said, nodding.

"Thank you, Sam." You replied then went back to the screen. "If I'm not mistaken, that's Kendall Jenner."

"Yes, it is."

"That's not exactly a new face." You argued. "And isn't she already an ambassador for Adidas?"

"It is a new face of The Falcons." She answered. "And she's actually ending her contract with Adidas. Something about breach of contract or some sort that I cannot legally discuss with outsiders."

"Where are the plus-size models?" You asked.

"I was actually getting to it." She clicked the next slide.

"Ashley Graham?"

"Yes, her. She's the perfect candidate."

You bit your lip, leaning forward on the table and unhooking your pinky with Bucky's. "Look, all of these models are gorgeous and handsome and good models but they're faces you see every single day on billboards — "

"Exactly. They're faces you see every single day." She repeated. "That means that these faces sell. And that's what we want for this release."

"I thought what you wanted was inclusivity." You frowned. "We should get people who are real athletes and models from different races, colors, and sizes. Real people, not these people you see every day on your phone or everywhere you go. These models are overrated, anyways." You faced Sam, who was listening intently. "Let's not get faces but stories instead. I believe that's what will separate The Falcons from these huge brands. It's a new release, right? Might as well make everything new."

Your words hung in the air, rendering the whole conference room quiet. Until Sharon broke it off. "Business doesn't work that way. I went to business school. I know how the system works."

You chuckled. "I majored in business and finance. Trust me, I know everything there is to know about business, not just you."

She was dumbfounded but tried to hide it, anyway. "But this is my proposal. You don't have a say on who we should get. You don't work for The Falcons."

"I know." You sighed. "But I'm working with you, and I have a say in this as much as you do." You glanced at Sam who was deep in thought. "But of course, Sam will always have the last say."

You leaned back in your chair, your chest heaving. With your eyes straight ahead, you grabbed Bucky's hand and hooked your pinky with his.

"Sharon," Sam started, "that was an excellent presentation and I humbly appreciate it but y/n does have a point. I wouldn't want these people representing The Falcons. I want people like me, people with stories to tell. Inclusivity isn't a marketing strategy, or a statement. It's what I believe in. And you," he swiveled his chair in your direction, "made a good case out of it."

You broke out in a smile, glancing at Bucky who also did the same. He now intertwined his fingers with yours, squeezing your hand three times.

"Sharon, find new models and athletes and have their profiles by next week. Let's think of it like... Kind of like a casting call." Sam said, standing up. "Now, let's dismiss this meeting 'cause I am starving."

-

"You have got to get a new assistant, Sam." Bucky groaned as you got inside Bucky's limo. You had lunch at some fancy restaurant in Manhattan before Sam showed you around the main store down Fifth Street.

You laughed, greeting Howard who gave you a smile through the rearview mirror. "She's the best assistant I could ever get."

"Please." Bucky said. "You could have better. She's just, ugh, I don't know, what's the word for someone who thinks she's better than everyone else in the room? Who hates practically everyone but goes to great, great lengths just to kiss your ass — "

"Alright, alright!" Sam cut him off, laughing. "I get it, man. But y'know I can't afford to lose her. It took me months to get a loyal and honest assistant."

"Ugh, fine."

"You just want her out because you're protecting your little babydoll."

"Jesus, Sam." Bucky said. "Stop calling her that."

"Yeah, stop calling me that." You frowned, leaning on Bucky's side and wrapping your hand around his muscular arm. "Only he gets to call me that."

"You guys make me sick." Sam joked.

You turned towards Bucky who had the end of his eyes, crinkled, and nose, scrunched. "Hey," you said, grabbing his attention, "did you get a text from Parker last night?"

His expression became relaxed, and looked at you. "Yes, actually. Something about a kid named Schmidt."

You chuckled. "Yeah, he's kind of a bully. Remind me to beat his ass when he comes to the bar. You won't miss him. He's got way too much gel in his hair, and too much of a know-it-all, kind of like, Ross Geller."

"Oh, I'd like to watch you beat someone up." Sam nodded, smirking. "You know what, I'd pay you to punch Parker."

"Oh come on, Sam." Bucky laughed.

"Nah, I'm kidding. I love that little kid. Speaking of Peter," Sam cleared his throat, "what are you guys gonna do when he gets back?"

You and Bucky fell silent, hooking your pinky with his once more. "We, uh," you glanced at Bucky who had his eyes on his shoes, "we haven't talked about it yet. But we will tell him, that's for sure. Right, James?"

His eyes shot up to yours, then at Sam. "Yes, yes, of course. I mean it's Peter. Of course, we'll tell him. Just not right away."

"What do you mean not right away?" You frowned.

"Well, we can't flat out tell the guy we're dating the moment he comes back. I don't want him to have a heart attack." Then, he bent down a little, leveling his mouth on your ear. "We are dating, right?"

"Well, we haven't talked about it and we're certainly not talking about it in front of Sam." You replied, glancing at Sam who was just staring at the both of you.

"We're here, Mr. Barnes." The partition pulled open, revealing Howard's voice. The three of you got out of the limo, the bar right just right in front. Before we even got to enter the bar, Sam tapped your shoulder and called out to Bucky.

"Do you mind if I borrow your girl for a moment? I'll just have to discuss something work-related."

Bucky turned around and glanced at the both of us. "Yes, sure." He pecked you on the lips then turned around to enter the bar.

"This is actually about Bucky." Sam said.

"Oh." You said. "Okay. What about Bucky?"

"I have to say, I haven't seen him that happy."

"Uh, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"It is, it is! And I'm glad he has you."

"But?"

He sighed. "But just be careful with him. Look, y/n, he's a good guy and all; we're practically brothers... But he's a child. I've known him since we were teenagers. He's almost forty and not once has he had a serious relationship."

"What are you trying to say, Sam?"

"You've only known him for, what, a couple of weeks? Don't you think this is going a little too fast?"

"I like Bucky." You replied. "I genuinely do and what we do or how we do is honestly none of your business. It doesn't matter how long I've known him. I appreciate you looking out for Bucky, but Bucky's an adult. We're all adults here. We can handle ourselves."

"Just promise me one thing."

"Sure."

"Don't hurt my friend." He said. "He may act like this rich bitch just parading around town, getting by with his manly looks and shit, but he's a child. He doesn't know what he wants. If you hurt him, you'll also end up hurting yourself. So, be careful, alright? Think this through, and talk with him."

Silence.

"Promise me, y/n."

You nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

"Good. Now let's head in there, I need a drink."

"Wait, Sam." You said, making Sam stop in his tracks. "Do you think Bucky likes me as much as I do?"

"I can't say for sure." Sam replied before walking inside.

You leaned your back against the brick wall, hitting the back of your head. You closed your eyes, letting all your thoughts rush in.

Still feeling a little bit light-headed, you went inside (which was still empty except for Nat, Sam, and Bucky) and as soon as Nat's eyes landed on your figure, she whistled. "Oh wow, Mrs. Fancypants!"

You chuckled, removing your blazer, revealing the tight black tube top as it was getting a bit hot. "Shut up, Nat."

"Woah, somebody call the fire department 'cause it's getting hoooot in here!" Nat continued then tilted her head towards Bucky. "Hey big guy, if you're not gonna hit that, I will."

You rolled your eyes, chucking the blazer to her face. You turned to Bucky who was sitting in the usual booth with Sam. "She said the same thing to me about you."

"Don't expose me like that, y/n. Not. Cool."

You giggled, sliding in the booth and greeting Bucky with a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, you."

"Hey, doll." He smiled, placing his hand on your thigh and pulling you closer. "We were just talking about you."

You glanced at Sam, who was smiling at you. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Don't worry, it's all good. And, y/n... That thing we talked about earlier."

"What about it?" You asked.

"We're good." He answered. "And to answer that last question, he does."

You beamed. "Really? He does?" You asked, as if Bucky wasn't even in the room.

"Yes, he really does."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Bucky asked out of curiosity.

You glanced at Sam, smiling, "Oh, just this model I want for the shoot," and then you looked back at Bucky, "I was kind of having doubts for a hot minute over there about him, but, everything's fine. Everything's good."

"Good." He kissed your temple softly, making your heart flutter. "It should be."

#bucky barnes story #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fan fiction #bucky #James Buchanan Barnes #Bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky fic #bucky fanfic #bucky story #marvel #bucky x female reader

[tundrainafrica]

Title: A Tale of Two Slaves (17/17)

Summary:  “Soulmates don’t exist. Fate doesn’t exist. Everything is a choice.” At that moment, Levi could only watch as she made the choice for him.“

Reincarnation AU. Levi remembers everything from their past life. Hange doesn’t.

Other Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Link to cross-postings: AO3

The most difficult part for Levi was picking the best place to read.

His first choice was the oval. It was almost summer though and Levi was familiar enough with the timeline to know training must have started already. The last thing he wanted to do was run into old teammates and be forced to maintain some inkling of a conversation.

His second choice was the library. And it wasn’t a bad choice. For a while, Levi had settled on one of the desks at the corner of the library, far from cramming students or students looking for a convenient place to cool off. Seats on the corner didn’t have wide windows though and the artificial light and the artificial chill of the room had turned out to be distracting.

It was only a few pages in did Levi realize, he would have preferred some green around him and the heat of late spring wasn’t so bad. He started to wonder why he had even considered reading indoors in the first place.

He had ended up wasting a good fifteen minutes only to fall back to where he had parted ways with Hange anyway.

In front of the science building.

Hange was inside one of the empty classrooms defending her final thesis. Levi sat on one of the benches to the corner of the building, closing his eyes tight as if that would have been enough to make out the voices inside the building.

Others came to watch and he was sure of that. He had seen Erwin on the way in. Nanaba and Mike had waved at him, asking if he’d be coming inside.

Levi decided against it long before and maybe Hange would have preferred it that way too. After all, she must have left him that particular manuscript before entering the building for a reason. He read the title page, neatly printed in a very much readable and professional font.

Although it had looked like one with the thick cover and the hard binding, as soon as Levi opened the first page, the small title on the upper left had him speechless yet very much convinced.

It wasn’t her thesis manuscript.

To: Captain Levi

Captain Levi. How long had it been since he heard that name and that title? Hange had called him that months before. He had remembered writing about him. The words on the page, Hange's voice, Kuchel’s voice and his own voice all mentioning those same two words in succession had happened, he was sure of that much.

The circumstances though with each memory had blurred into each other one by one and he liked to attribute it to his hermit tendencies the succeeding months after his injury.

Life had been different since then. He had gone back to face to face classes. He had been working on his thesis. Hange had been working on her own thesis too. And they were both just too busy trying to graduate on time given the chaos of the first semester.

He stared at the title page for a few more seconds pondering that chaos, possibly trying to reach for something behind that haze to no avail. The only thing he was able to grasp then had been a bout of nostalgia.

And the nostalgia was more than enough to get him in the mood to read. He chalked up the small stint in the library to a test run and started again from the beginning.

Hange Zoe was born to a rich family within the Walls of Wall Sina…

Hange had taken great pains to describe everything from the cobblestone streets to the crystal-like bricks that lined the walls of the elegant buildings. The bricks shone with a unique glint and that alone had been enough for Hange to waste one paragraph on it.

She then used up another few paragraphs talking about the stifling life within the walls and her own curious nature.

If there’s something you don’t understand, go out and learn to understand it.

Living within the walls wasn’t in her nature so she ran away. She joined the survey corps. She was drawn to the outside world, drawn to titans.

So she became a researcher.

Levi didn’t notice it at first. Although his brain had been able to partition those few early events on the timeline, eventually the words started to shift, blur into one another and he found himself scanning through the paragraphs much quicker than usual.

He knew that much about squad leader Hange Zoe. He knew she hyper fixated on titans. He didn’t need vivid descriptions of Sonny and Bean nor did he need detailed descriptions of the outside world, the guns, the war or even her theories on the rumbling.

She had already told him everything then in the forest. She had told it to him back then in the office. Before he even knew it himself, he was flipping through the pages much faster. Suddenly his mind was pushing him to look out for certain things as he read.

There was something else he was looking for, between the lines of the descriptive narrations of Hange Zoe’s life.

“Maybe we should just live here together right Levi?”

Levi found the quote three pages before the back cover, towards the upper left of the page. He found himself running his left hand up to the corner of the page, slipping that corner between his two fingers, pressing on the ink on paper, just to make sure it wouldn’t so easily smudge with touch. Maybe it might even disappear like some sort of an illusion.

He just had to make sure it was real.

Hange’s exposition on sceneries was exhaustive. They were clear and vivid and they covered everything to the most granular bits of the large painting in his mind. If Levi closed his eyes, he was sure he would see the forest then.

Although Hange’s descriptions were detailed, comprehensive, enough to paint easy pictures in his head, they were far from introspective.

She had taken great pains to describe the darkness, the crackling campfire and the rough gashes of his face but she didn’t talk much about how it felt. Maybe it was up to the reader to contemplate them.

So Levi filled in the blanks, he filled the spaces between the lines with emotions, musings, ponderings. He couldn’t be too sure yet whether they were his or hers though, so he trudged on aimlessly as he read.

Everything happened in fast forward from there. Although Hange never left his side when she could, she was still fighting, suddenly she was strategizing.

Of course she would, she was a commander. He was just an injured soldier.

There was another quote, towards the last page on the upper right and Levi found himself running his pointer finger through it and he pressed on it hard, hard enough to crumple the pages of that corner. He ran his nail through it leaving a noticeable crease before he closed the binder and took a deep breath.

Dedicate your heart.

Just like every other page, there was no introspection into the character that made Hange Zoe, only words, more words then vivid descriptions of everything that happened after.

He didn’t need white spaces between the lines to figure it out for himself. Even if the pages had all been black, save for the words and the emotions they evoked, he felt it then like a weight.

But he shook it off, opened the book once again and continued to read.

Hange flew up. She fought titan after titan. And the fight had ended with her burning up in the air with the one last quote below.

“Titans really are incredible.”

Levi had half the mind to close the book again there, except that time, with no intention of reopening it. If he didn’t hyper fixate on that last sentence towards the end of the page, towards Commander Hange Zoe’s last words, maybe he wouldn’t have noticed the faded grey at the back of the last paragraph.

It was particularly noticeable on the white, between the lines of paragraphs. Once again Levi played with the creases just to make sure he hadn’t missed it. It was the last page, he was sure.

There was something written on the other side of the page. As much as it had ached to read on, Levi willed himself to flip the page.

It was empty, a blank white page. Fortunately, Levi was desperate enough to stare at it a little longer and he soon realized, he was focused on the center, somehow he had expected to find some sort of resolution there.

Hange had left the last line towards the upper left corner.

See you later Hange. Watch over us. Next to it was a shabbily drawn airplane and unlike all the other pages, it was smudged. The ink had blotted, sending light streaks of gray towards the right in such a predictable manner, Levi could almost imagine the way she had held the crease of the corner between her finger tips.

Once again, he shifted the weight of the page, moving his thumb and his pointer to that corner, reproducing the motions of how she must have messed up something so simple. It was easy to imagine and Levi found himself smiling.

Below it, towards the lower part of the page, he saw it. It was written with the same gel pen that bled through the other side of the page.

There were so many things I wanted to tell you but I never got the chance.

“Then why didn’t you say it? You had ten pages to say it.” Hell, you had five years to say it.

The next line read as if Hange had already predicted what he was going to say next.

I was the commander. You were the captain. We had a war to fight.

But you know, I thought when everything ends, once we retire I could let you know.

In a moment of dissonance, Levi started to wonder who those words were for. For all he knew, he could have been telling her the same thing.

Even if you don’t remember, I hope you at least felt it.

Please remember. Even if I wasn’t able to tell you anything, even if I couldn’t stay by your side.

I was watching you until the end.

Commander Hange Zoe

“Commander Hange Zoe,” Levi said it out loud a second time. Those words were ambrosia to his lips and he probably mouthed it a few more times as he stared at the blue sky above him.

Levi let his shoulders fall and he looked back down at the binder. He didn’t even notice he had closed it. “There were so many things I wanted to tell you too.”

You said it already. Commander Hange heard you. The answer came as a whisper. A quiet whisper that blew into his ear, caressing his neck.

And it had him jumping on his seat. “What the fuck Hange.”

“Are you done being sad already?”

“Why would I be sad?”

“Because Commander Hange Zoe died and you were staring at the sky like this for a good few minutes.” Hange let her head fall back playfully and Levi could have sworn he didn’t look like that. When she looked back at him a second later, she gave a knowing smile, an almost mocking smile.

That was enough to get Levi a little abrasive. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was watching you,” Hange said. “You looked like you were concentrating so…”

“I was.”

“So I didn’t wanna bother you.”

“You could have announced your presence like a normal person at least, maybe drop a greeting?”

“I had to look for you and you weren’t answering your phone then I got impatient.” Hange seemed unperturbed. “Come on, I’m treating you guys out to dinner.”

Levi opened his phone to see an hour had passed since he last checked the time and beneath it five missed calls, all from Hange. On the upper right of his phone, the silent mode sign flashed like some sort of reminder. “I was in the library so I had to put my phone on silent.” Those words in defense of his actions were instinctive. Soon, as Hange looked back gesturing for him to follow her, he started to realize that maybe that defense was useless.

“Okay Levi,” Hange said. Her tone was reminiscent of a know-it-all. Her pace was insultingly slow. Levi found himself angrily quickening his pace to catch up to her.

Hange’s pace was at least slow enough that even with his recovering leg, he found it easy to catch up. The moment Levi walked past her, he felt familiar arms on his shoulder. They weighed on him and in a way, they had prevented him from overtaking her.

He had no intention of doing so anyway. “How was your defense?” Levi asked. It was an easy question to start with.

“Better late than never but I’m getting a diploma.”

“Late? You’re graduating with all of us.”

“I’m the last one among my batchmates who presented.”

“Believe me, I’m more amazed that you managed to get something out even after redoing your thesis three times.”

“I should thank Kuchel, it was her sources which got me here. I’ll probably send her a copy of my thesis as a thank you. You think she’ll appreciate that?”

“She probably will. Something to help her pass the time when she goes on leave.”

“Leave?”

“In our last session, she told me she’s expecting.”

“Oooh? A baby?”

“She ended up opening up to me about it after our session. She was pretty nervous about having a child for a while and recently, she managed to get over that fear.”

“I guess we all had something to deal with…” Hange said as she pulled him towards the gate. “You think we’ll get to meet the kid one day. I’d love to see Kuchel as a mother.”

“She’ll be a great mother…” Somehow, Levi knew it. He only had to look back at her words, her refined tone and the way she easily shifted between professional and motherly to be almost jealous of the child growing in her womb.

Hange gave him a toothy grin. “Let’s visit her together?”

“Why not?”

The conversation died as they turned the corner of one of the buildings along the path, a corner that opened up to a large courtyard and beyond it the gate of their university.

“Wait, where are we going?” Levi asked,

“I told you, I’m treating you guys out.” Hange answered matter-of-factly.

“Where Hange?”

“We’re having grilled meat.”

“Hange? For the third time… Where?” Levi asked.

It wasn’t Hange who had ended up answering the question. By the gate, Moblit and Nifa were waiting and they looked like they had been waiting a while. Nifa was tapping her feet impatiently while Moblit had seemed genuinely concerned.

“You guys okay? You looked like you were fighting,” Moblit said as he approached them.

“Where are we eating?” Levi asked.

“The Korean grill just a few blocks away.” Moblit said.

Levi didn’t need any more clarification from there. They were all from the same university and the restaurants around the area were a common language among them.

“That’s how you answer a question Hange,” Levi muttered coldly.

“Well, I didn’t think the location was important. I was leading you there already anyway,” Hange responding mirroring that same cold tone with her own. She went ahead and put one arm around Moblit muttering unintelligible words save for the quick congratulations at the start.

“Congratulations?” Levi asked.

“He got nominated for best thesis and everyone's pretty convinced he’s gonna win it,” Nifa answered. She had fallen back behind the two and matched Levi’s pace.

Moblit eventually raised his voice, loud enough for even Levi to hear. “No No… That was your data Hange and it was your idea. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”

“Still…” Hange’s voice trailed off. She was far enough, her voice was garbled enough that with that few feet distance, her words were unintelligible. Her smile though was very much still perceptible, a genuine golden smile.

“Levi, you agree right?”

Levi looked towards the voice, Moblit’s voice. “Agree with what?”

“If Hange had submitted her thesis early, she could have won ri---.”

“Moblit, stop downplaying your nomination.” Hange interrupted, giving him a strong push n the back.

Moblit wobbled and held onto Hange’s shirt to keep his balance “But it was a good thesis right?” He asked as soon as he recovered. He looked at Levi expectantly.

It was only then did Levi realize, despite the five months together, he never really thought too much to ask what her thesis had been about. With his own hectic schedule, his physical therapy sessions, his sessions with Shela, maybe it just never peaked his interest. He was starting to feel guilty at such a reminder and before he knew it, he was finding excuses for it.

She spent a lot of the past few months cooped up in her room if not in class, save for the few moments when she would accompany to therapy sessions or to meet with Shela.

His thoughts flew back to the document she had shared with him.

To: Levi Ackerman.

And if that document was half as good as her thesis, he was sure she did well. So he returned Moblit’s approval with one of his own. “It was a good thesis,” Levi said. “But don’t downplay yours. You won fair and square.”

That was all there was to it. Hange didn’t win. But she didn’t seem to mind either. Hange had snuck what looked to be a grateful smile and she continued to playfully poke at Moblit then, probably whispering inside jokes, reminiscing about their life before.

Her mood was unwavering all the way until the restaurant

It turned out Mike and Nanaba were in the restaurant already and they only joined Hange at glomping Moblit for his nomination. The four childhood friends created a world of their own in the restaurant, a world full of inside jokes, long gone memories and maybe even discussions on future plans.

Levi deemed it appropriate to sit on a chair at the edge of their long table and just quietly listen.

Mike was selected for the national team.

Nanaba wanted to go back to minor league volleyball after college.

Moblit was going to medical school

And Nifa, who had joined their conversation then, was going to take masters.

Hange’s plans were either long-awaited or they were intentionally avoided. He couldn’t tell.

By the time the question came, it had come as a casual question by Moblit who had always been sensitive with the way he phrased things so his intention had been something Levi couldn’t read either.

Before Hange could open her mouth though, Nifa chimed in greeting. “Doctor Erwin!”

“Sorry I’m late. We were discussing the nominees,’ Erwin said.

And the topic shifted from there, even before Levi could get answers.

Erwin never spilled who the winner was, but it was apparent in his gaze that shifted to the side and the smile that curled up his lips that it was one of them. By the time Hange had started being too vocal about it, Erwin had spilled more than enough for the students to guess for themselves.

“You’re free anytime next week for an awarding ceremony right?” Erwin asked.

“Anytime sir! Thank you for this opportunity.”

Erwin shook his head. “You wrote a great thesis. It was well deserved. Will you be inviting Elijah?”

“I think I should treat him out, I’ve wasted a lot of his time this past year... He’s been pretty busy training with the national team though… But I’ll talk to him.”

Their long table was already a conglomerate of conversations and Levi struggled to keep up.

Somewhere between conversations, the charcoal had been added to the grills, the sides were served and Levi found himself listening intently to Erwin and Moblit’s exchange in particular while he played with the spinach on his plate.

Elijah swept the high jump. He swept the other events. He came out winning the Most Valuable Player Award for the High Jump. And he recently started training with the national team.

The Olympics isn’t a far off dream at this point. It’s probably just another step for him.

Moblit had shown up for the first training and he had started to describe Elijah’s skill with the bar then. His coordination with the take off food, his wide penultimate stride.

He was using lingo most track and field athletes wouldn’t have thought twice to use and Levi had used and heard them more times than he had counted through the years. Having not thought about high jumping in months, listening to such a conversation peppered with such words that used to be home for him, seemed surreal.

So surreal that for a second, Levi lost his grip on a reality. Enough to not have noticed the waitress who served the drink in front of him

It was a short and stout glass. The contents looked particularly ---almost dangerously--- colorful and the red stick on the side was enough for Levi to deduce what exactly it was. To confirm it, he took one sniff.

“Nanaba, why the hell did you order alcohol?” Hange asked.

“It’s a celebration right? We should be drinking. Cheers!” She raised her cup up to no one in particular.

Moblit and Nifa had been nice enough to join albeit a little uncomfortably. Levi found himself making eye contact with Erwin who was still slowly mixing the cup in front of him, seeming unsure of what exactly happened.

Hange seemed flustered. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with us drinking but more people are coming and---”

“Sorry we’re late Hange!”

Armin? That was Armin’s voice. But it wasn’t just Armin, tailing behind him were several other very familiar people.

Armin continued. “None of us wanted to go alone…”

Of course none of them would want to go alone, they were high school students and around them were a group of college students and a college professor.

A group of high school students among college students. Levi noted. He eyed the cocktail glass in front of him then. Was that what Hange was worried about? Levi found himself downing his cup a little quicker.

“Blame Connie here, He was the one wasting his time on extra batting practice until god knows what time,” Jean said as he followed behind Armin.

“Shut up Jean. At least Armin didn’t have to cover my subway fee.”

“I just didn’t have change on me.”

“Calm down you two, you’re eating here for free.” Historia went in between the two, and walked up to Hange who had stood up to guide them to their seats. “I could pay for my share.”

“No, no. I set aside money for this. I just wanted to express my thanks for the past few months and I wanted to meet you guys again. I hope we can keep in touch even after...” Hange pulled Historia to the side and Levi couldn’t make out the rest of their conversation.

So he focused elsewhere.

“Is this… unlimited?” It was Sasha who spoke up that time. It was great timing that the moment Sasha had come in, the first plates of meat were starting to be served on the table. Expectedly, she had been the first one to sit and she started cooking on her end.

“Yes it is,” Levi answered

“No way… Right after a long day of training? Is this heaven…” Sasha could have been tearing up at that moment. She had been too focused on the meat so Levi couldn’t confirm it for himself but the crack on her voice had been evidence enough.

Hange squeezed herself among the high school students who had settled on the nearby seats. “No no… This is a thank you for helping me with my thesis. I got some good data from you guys so really, thank you for taking the time to fill out those forms and dealing with all my messages and calls,” Hange said.

“You didn’t have to. You did more than enough for us.” Jean sat in front of Levi towards the edge of the table. “You helped me fix my dunking position.”

“Ah Jean, you mentioned last time, you’d be going abroad for college. Will you?”

Jean grinned. “Basketball isn’t too big of a sport here so I thought of going somewhere where I can go pro. I got a full ride in a pretty good university.”

“Jean! Congratulations!”  Their side of the table had exploded into other conversations.

They were all going to colleges, some abroad, some local. Levi had turned to their side, ready to passively listen for details. He was starting to get invested in their plans too.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Mikasa Ackerman. He instantly recognized her voice. “Ah sorry, I didn’t notice you there.” Levi said.

Mikasa remained standing. She stared at Levi expectantly and pointed to the seat next to him. “So, I can sit here?”

“Go ahead.” Levi scooched over on the bench. He eyed the filled cocktail glass next to Mikasa and pushed it casually towards himself. The last thing he wanted to do then was enable a minor.

Mikasa didn’t seem to notice the drink at leats.. “I talked to Elijah,” she said as she started placing meat in the grill... “He welcomed me during my first training.”

“Didn’t he move on from collegiate jumping already?”

“He had some free time. We had a long talk about prospects after college. I’m guessing coach put him up to it. Some extra persuasion points maybe?”

“You’re not gonna change your mind.”

“I don’t plan on changing my mind. I submitted my documents, signed the contract and I’ll probably be moving to the dorm next week so I’ll be nearer to the oval.” Mikasa paused to eat an egg roll.

“To think you were so against it before.”

Mikasa shrugged. “I guess it’s just easier now since Eren’s starting to prepare for entrance exams. I’m actually convinced he’s gonna be fine. He’s been taking review classes and he’s been studying a lot outside the classes too.”

“Entrance exams of Paradis University?”

“That’s his first choice,” Mikasa said. “Are you still staying in the dorm? Maybe we could go through drills together on off-days and you could give me a few pointers.”

“I’ll be in the dorm for a week more or so... I’m not exactly sure.”

“You’re gonna wait for Hange?”

Is it obvious? Levi avoided her gaze then, looking back at his empty plate. He soon realized he hadn’t even started cooking himself. So he dropped a few slabs of meat on the grill in front of him to feign at least some disconnect. “Maybe,” he answered.

“It would be nice to get a few pointers from you,” Mikasa said. “You really were one of the best jumpers out there.”

“I won’t be able to demonstrate a jump if that’s what you’re expecting. Besides Hange is much better at giving pointers. She’s a lot more observant than I am.”

“I’m sure there are things you can teach me that Hange can’t. I wanna improve my vertical jump. And maybe try some of the other events as well.”

“This is a complete 180 from you months ago..”

“I’m stuck training twice a day. I barely get to talk to Eren and Armin. So I ended up finding happiness in just jumping… And I thought to myself, might as well make some jumping goals for myself right?”

“So what’s your goal?”

“I wanna beat your high jump record. Even Elijah hasn’t beaten that yet,” Mikasa said.

“That’s some character development,” Levi mumbled.

Mikasa ignored it though or maybe she didn’t hear it. Levi never really figured out how loud he had said it. “.. And the only person who can teach me how to beat your record is you.”

***

Levi had eaten too little and had drank a little too much. But he would rather not have told anyone that.

So he had made the journey to the rooftop of the restaurant alone. There was a toilet conveniently by the staircase where he had ended up dry heaving on the bowl. A few dry heaves and a few sets of stairs later, he found himself sitting back on the metal wired fence that lined the roof.

Just long enough to get my bearings. Levi reassured himself as he leaned further in.

As time passed though, he managed to convince himself that maybe he could stay there long enough to just wait for everyone to leave. The last thing he would have wanted to do was puke on anyone on the way down.

He checked his clock. 9:30pm. Most college students wouldn’t even be leaving for the party yet at that time. His strict athlete schedule meant he never was a normal college student though.

He graduated college already anyway. With that realization, Levi was a little more merciful towards himself. So he rode out the high of his inebriation. He counted out the stars above him, treating it as some sort of countdown to sobriety.

It probably wouldn’t work. After the tenth star, his head was still pounding, the stars were starting to show signs of blending amongst one another and he could feel his face warming up.

He was starting to feel the beginnings of dry heaving—or possibly wet heaving—again. Unable to sit up any longer, he lay on his side.

He didn't know how long he had lain there, waiting for the pounding to subside before he heard footsteps. His first instinct had been to force himself to sit up. His mind though was quick to recognize those footsteps, that natural mix of fast, loud and even as they made their way up the stairs and somehow, he ended up relaxing instead on the cold concrete floor.

How many times had he searched for those footsteps before?

“Hey, you know you’re lucky we’re here on a weekday during off season. If this were a weekend, the rooftop probably would have been full and they would have kicked you out already.”

“How’s everyone?” Levi asked. He kept his question to two words but the amount of syllables he had to pronounce then only garbled it.

“They left already,” Hange slid back on the metal fence and leaned back on it. “It’s just you and me now.”

“Okay,” Levi said. He would have wanted to say more. The pounding headache only made something so simple as speaking, a game of Russian Roulette and he didn’t want to figure out which word had the bullet, and which word could have him throwing up on Hange then.

“It’s just you and me,” Hange repeated.

You said that already. Levi would have wanted to say. Instead he kept his own response at a hum of understanding. She should interpret that as a yes at least.

“You don’t wanna talk? Or are you just too drunk?”

Levi didn’t respond.

“Didn’t you just have two cups?”

Levi raised up three fingers. He wasn’t exactly sure how many at that point. But he was sure it felt like more than two.

“Okay, that still isn’t enough to be deadass drunk you know.” Hange seemed impatient. And maybe a little disappointed.

So Levi took one risk. “Just keep talking. I’m listening.” Maybe that had been enough to get some bile up his throat. It had done more than enough to aggravate the pounding in his head and he found himself leaning on Hange’s shoulder.

As she held him closer, her hand gently guided him deeper onto her shoulder. Within seconds, Levi found he had rested his head on her lap and was staring up at the sky above.

The night was clear, the stars were shining and Levi was counting the stars again, a little ticked that he had lost his pattern and his train of thought of a few minutes ago. He was starting from the top again and he could have sworn the stars were constantly moving. There was no way he would have been able to guess which line of stars he had already counted.

“Hey, talk to me.” Hange only made the ordeal of counting stars worse. Her big head of all things was obscuring the view of the patterns he was starting to form as he counted.

Get out, I’m counting stars. That’s what he would have wanted to say then.

Hange could have heard it. Or maybe she didn’t. She bent a little more forward, so unnaturally, Levi could have sworn she had done it out of spite. She stared at him with wide eyes, her lips curled up into a playful smile. “Let’s talk Levi, one more hour and they’re gonna close. Besides the view here is nice, it’s breezy and…”

“And?”

“You’re probably too drunk to move now. We’re gonna have to get a taxi home.”

“Later,” Levi mumbled as he turned on his side and buried his face into Hange’s polo which smelled unavoidably like beef. He would have complained then if his head wasn’t pounding and if it didn’t dawn on him then, he probably smelled worse.

“Okay, Wanna talk about my work?”

“Thesis?”

“That… and, the binder I gave you, the one with the stories.”

“What about it?” There was a lot to talk about. But it wasn’t like there was much Levi could have contributed then but one to two syllable answers.

“What did you think?”

“Good.”

Hange pouted. “No, not about the quality. How did it make you feel?”

“Good.”

“Okay, how did Commander Hange’s death make you feel?” Hange had taken pains to pronounce the word death a little more clearly than everything else. Enough for Levi to almost think throwing up on her would be a good idea.

So he took another risk. “If you had so much more to say, why didn’t you say it?” Levi asked. His voice would naturally slur so he willed himself to enunciate every syllable even if it could make him look like an idiot in the process.

“That’s what Commander Hange should have been asking Levi,” Hange said.

“Captain Levi didn’t wanna let Commander Hange sacrifice herself. It was obvious.”

“No it wasn’t.” Hange shook her head, quickly enough to get even Levi dizzy. “You wrote something before, right? Your descriptions of everything were incredibly vivid, like I remembered the views, the appearance of the titans, the way you weaved words together but you know half the time, I couldn’t even be sure of what Captain Levi was thinking.”

“That’s how it felt reading your work. Squad leader Hange, Commander Hange… all they described were titans.”

“But Commander Hange explicitly said she wanted to live with Captain Levi. It was obvious too,” Hange said.

And for a second, maybe they were engaged in some mental sparring, a game of tug of war. Levi was still a little too incapacitated, he couldn’t take the initiative.

So Hange spoke up, loud and clear. “I thought being with each other, doing all that was enough of a love letter. Did they need words? A mad declaration of love?”

“Maybe, no one can be too sure unless somebody says something right?”

“Hange was the commander. Levi was the captain. With the war going on, I don’t think they could have left their post right. They couldn’t be too selfish. I think the commander was planning to wait until retirement to say it.”

“Retirement never came.”

“We’re both retired now,” Hange said. “I’m done with this whole academic stint. You’re done with your whole athletic stint. We have the time to make it work for Commander Hange and for Captain Levi right?”

“Are you saying we’re Captain Levi and Commander Hange?”

“My dreams tell me yes.”

“Dreams huh? That’s pretty objective.”

“Hey, I think I did enough research on this to make a theory about it. It was part of my thesis.”

“And you do realize you’ve never told me what your thesis was about?”

“Sorry about that…”

“So you knew? I always thought I was an asshole for not asking.”

“You asked a few times, not directly, but I think maybe you wanted to go in that direction,” Hange said. “And I admit, I ended up digressing every time.”

“Why?”

“I guess I wasn’t too comfortable telling you yet. I was writing my thesis side by side with that story and ever since I got serious about it, after a few dreams, after that night in the hospital, I wanted the memories to be as raw as possible, untainted by whatever story Captain Levi told me before. It was Commander Hange’s story, not Captain Levi’s. So I guess that’s why I wanted to avoid discussion on it.”

“Thesis is done. The book is done. You can talk about it now.”

“You're gonna get bored. So I’ll just read out the title.”

Hange twisted towards her side, jostling Levi in the process and Levi had to bite his lip not to aggravate the dull headache then. He heard the sound of a zipper and the sound of books pushed against one another.

After what felt like a lot more than a few seconds, it stopped. Hange opened the book, she turned on the flashlight of her phone.

The glare was sudden and for a good few seconds the glare of the light could have been right on him. Maybe that was what had made it particularly painful for Levi then.

He buried his face further into Hange’s shirt and let out a taut curse.

“Sorry,” Hange whispered, seeming distracted. After flipping through the pages for a few seconds longer, she read it out loud. “Nature and Nurture as Determinants of Athletic Potential, A Case Study on High Performing Athletes… Okay you know,  maybe I was a little biased towards ‘nature,’’ she added cheekily.

“Why nature?”

“Dreams… Past life. What if… You’re Captain Levi and I’m Commander Hange Zoe. Right? We have the evidence. Captain Levi was humanity’s strongest and he was really good with fighting in the air... Commander Hange Zoe liked strategy and research... And the fact that we had the same dreams?” Hange trailed off.

Levi was in no state to respond.

So Hange continued. “You wrote a lot Levi and maybe you’ll write it again. But I can swear, from what I remember about your works, and what I remember from mine, They’re the same story. And Kuchel had something similar right? What if past lives are real?”

“I don’t think you’re wrong..”

Hange pulled another book from her bag then.

Under the dim starry night, Levi made out the thin binder, the one he had read that afternoon. She started to flip through the pages, much faster as if she memorized the exact page and maybe the exact position where the paragraph was.

“Maybe we should just live here together, right Levi?” Hange read out loud.

If we keep running and hiding, what will that get us… I know you’re not able to stay out of the action. Those words echoed clearly in Levi’s mind then. Captain Levi was still alive inside him and he was whispering.

Clear enough to convince Levi. Maybe past lives are real. Levi thought to himself. He was in another life then, circumstances were different so he changed the script a bit, a script fit for soon-to-be graduates Hange Zoe and Levi Ackerman.

“Where to, Hange Zoe? What’s the game plan?” Levi asked.

“What’s the game plan of an academic washout…” Hange asked. “Well first things first, thank my parents for their grad gift, you know, the money to pay for the all you can eat beef… I’ll probably get a full time job, save up money then decide if I wanna go to med school again but at this point, I might just be better off pursuing a research track.”

“Didn’t Commander Hange wanna study plants?”

“She did,” Hange said. “And you know maybe she’ll get the chance now. Didn’t Captain Levi wanna own a tea shop?”

“I think that’s a viable career option for an athletic washout. The Olympics and the national team are out of my plate anyway.”

“So what? Teashop and research?”

“Teashop and research.”

“Well first things first, we’re gonna have to save right? My parents and I have been reconciling our differences lately already but I don’t wanna borrow too much money so our best option would be to get a place outside the city? You think we’d be able to afford that?”

Levi forced a slight nod. “Maybe a place with lots of green. You’d probably enjoy the trees and you’ll find lots to study during your days off. The commute to work is gonna be a bitch though.”

“We’ll find a job nearby or we’ll make it work. Just long enough to figure things out.”

Figure things out… The conversation died then. But maybe it did because Hange had started to do a little more research then, he saw in the glare in her glasses, the natural green over the white background.

Was she researching houses? Levi asked silently. It wasn’t worth asking anyway. They had only a few weeks before their contract ends and they’d be forced to vacate the dorms. Maybe it was a good idea to search much earlier.

So Levi endured the bright glare of the screen and searched for the beauty in the green glare on the white screen on Hange’s glasses then, and maybe he found it underneath in her eyes that seemed to be smiling.

If eyes could smile… No, they were definitely smiling.

“I’m sorry, we’re gonna have to ask you to leave. The restaurant is closing soon.”

Just like that, the moment was broken.

“We’re going down. Just give us a few minutes to fix our stuff.”

“Let’s go, Levi?”

“I would've wanted to stay here a little longer. It feels like a dream. I feel like Captain Levi here.”

“Because you are Captain Levi,” Hange said as she started to stuff the books back into her bag.

“Alright, Commander Hange.”

Hange chuckled. “You seem very disappointed.”

“Do I?” Levi couldn’t really tell the face he was making there. Hange’s face wasn’t the clearest either under the dark light. So he considered the possibility that she could be right. He might have been disappointed.

“Fine, I’ll give you something to dream about,” Hange said slyly. “You know, if Commander Hange Zoe wasn’t fighting a war, there was something else she probably would have done.”

“Wha--?” Before Levi could even complete the question, she had answered it herself.

She answered it with a quick peck. Or at least it should have been a quick peck.

With Levi’s mouth half open then, it morphed into something else in that split second, lasting a little longer. Their lips locked, their tongues touched and it had taken a few seconds longer to let go.

It probably could have taken a minute, an hour or even an eternity longer and Levi wouldn't have minded.

He continued to replay it in his head again and again as Hange helped him up, slung his one arm over hers. His surroundings changed, from the starry rooftop, the restaurant interior then the taxi on the way home.

And it ended with the sofa of the dorm lobby, the wooden ceiling and Hange leaning on him on the sofa.

He was still thinking about it then. In the silence, in the peace even with the changing surroundings, he had been on cloud nine the whole time.

He was convinced, Captain Levi wouldn't have minded that eternity either. Hell, he probably would have loved it.

***

There was a hiking trail near their house. Luckily it wasn’t too steep.

So Levi deemed himself well enough to brave it. It had been almost a year since his surgery, six months since the last tear and most days, as long as he wore his knee brace, his knee wouldn’t give out on him.

Unbuckling happened. Swelling happened. The dull aches never left. Levi had learned to just live with it, ride through the worst days.

It was as if his knee knew then that that day in particular was special. Or maybe Levi had chosen that day because his knee was feeling better. That day, Hange was notably freer and on the days leading up to autumn, it was only gonna getting colder and colder and he didn’t wanna have to wait another year to hike.

“Just tell me if anything hurts,” Hange said as they made the almost perilous journey up the hill.

The steeper it got, the harder it would be on his knees. He noted that, it would get worse particularly on the way down.

It was still far from the steep incline in the reserve Hange had brought him to more than a year ago.

There was a peak that overlooked the small town they had settled in. The incline, the climb albeit longer, was friendlier for his aching muscles and his bum knee.

Levi was counting his blessings. So through the worst of the dull aches, the worst of the pains as they climbed up, Levi gritted his teeth and clocked it as ‘bearable at least,’ not worth a complaint.

Hange probably could tell though. He didn’t figure out by her eyes since he kept walking behind her. She hadn’t been particularly pushy either. He had figured it out for himself when she started talking, and she never stopped.

“How’s Petra?”

“She’s working towards a PT Certificate.”

“How’s Isabel?”

“I heard she’s starting her third year of high school already?”

“And Farland?”

How do you even know them?

“I visited Erwin a lot in his office in the hospital you know. And I talked to them.”

But it hadn’t been just that. Hange had an emotional investment extending far beyond that. He slowed his pace, appreciating her seemingly interested voice then. With that, Levi was reminded, they were Commander Hange’s friends too.

So he continued to answer questions as they came. They were a good distraction from the specter of exhaustion that loomed over him.

And soon, he took the reins. "So how's Moblit?" It had only felt natural to ask too.

"He's in his first year of med school...How's Mikasa?"

"Her first college competition is next month.”

Conversations shifted quickly from topic to topic, person to person before dying somewhere at the peak when they attributed the death of such to speechlessness at the view before him or just utter exhaustion.

Levi knew it was neither of it and he became sure of it as Hange guided him to the bench that overlooked the rolling hills behind them.

She kept one hand over his knee. "Your knee did a good job not swelling."

"Even if it does, I won’t regret it. I wanted to do this for a while."

"Is this because you couldn't join me up the peak last year?"

"Probably," Levi said. He turned to her. "You didn’t get to the top then right?"

“No, I didn’t. I went back down as quickly as I could when I heard you scream my name.”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what came over me. But Levi knew, so he kept that last part to himself. “You know, maybe I am doing this for you. You still wanna fly right?"

"Yeah, I do. Even if I remember everything then, after writing everything out… Sure I know how it ends for Commander Hange Zoe but... I still wanna fly. Maybe because I just wanna enjoy the freedom that comes with it.”

"Then I guess we made a good choice." Levi grabbed his backpack from behind him and unzipped it. "I wanted to give this to you. And I thought you might enjoy reading it in a place with lots of sky."

He had binded it the same way and he had titled it similarly.

It looked like Hange knew what it was. "Levi… is this…" Her wide eyes looked far from confused.

"After reading your work, I started dreaming about Captain Levi again so I rewrote the story I made a year ago. It's not a perfect copy but I think I remembered enough to maybe get you immersed again in his thoughts."

Hange didn't reply but Levi didn't mind.

In a way, she had responded, through whispers, murmurs and the grin on her face as she looked through the file. "To Commander Hange? Yours truly, Captain Levi?" Hange asked, a little louder and clearer than her murmurs. She wanted to be listened to.

"Are you laughing? That's the same thing you wrote at the top in your own file,” Levi said. “I guess you can say, it's Captain Levi's love letter to Commander Hange."

“A love letter huh? All I’m reading here are long drawn out descriptions of humanity’s strongest soldier fighting titans…” Hange chuckled. “And maybe some mentions of Commander Hange Zoe.”

“Captain Levi was with Commander Hange a lot right?” It was a shoddy reply. Still, an inkling of pride had Levi clinging on to that comment.

"Do you notice that neither of us actually wrote something introspective. It’s like they never could tell what the other was thinking. Captain Levi was too obsessed with fighting, Commander Hange was too obsessed with Titans."

"Those were how my dreams were."

"That's how they were for me too."

"But if you look over there, towards the last page, you'd find it. I wrote 'dedicate your heart' right? Captain Levi didn't want you to leave"

"I remember that and if you looked towards the end of my work you'd see I wrote... Commander Hange wanted to live with you."

Levi had a copy of it on his phone so he opened up, did a quick search and highlighted the text.

Maybe we should just live here together, right Levi?

For a second they sat in silence. Levi was too busy finding a reason for the tens of thousands of words worth of exposition all for one sentence. Maybe Hange was doing similarly.

Hange spoke up once again, only confirming it for herself. "Commander Hange and Captain Levi really took each other for granted huh?”

"They had a war to fight. They couldn't be too intimate could they?"

“So instead of just explicitly saying I love you through a love letter, they decide to send each other memories of a past life and we’re left to decode it for ourselves?”

“Captain Levi was never really the type to say he loves someone. And I’m guessing Commander Hange wasn’t the type either.”

“Or maybe... They were too scared to think about it to admit it was love, but somehow the reader just knows.” Hange suggested. She turned to Levi then, eyeing his phone.” It wasn’t just in the ‘live together’ part right? I’m sure you felt it in the letter? With every mention of Captain Levi… Toward the end, he never left her side and she never his side too right?”

Levi nodded slowly, gripping his phone a little tighter. “I felt it and every time I reread it, it only got stronger." And how many times had he reread it since she first gave it to him months ago?

“You know Levi, even since last year, the first time I read it, I felt it for myself and I really thought they would have kissed. And maybe if Commander Hange died they would have.” Hange cocked her head to one side. “So none of us needed reflection or introspection huh? I guess the descriptions on titans and technology made some great padding to the love letter.”

“Don’t you think it just made everything more complicated? For us?”

“Maybe it did. But I like to think this long drawn out puzzle just makes everything deeper, worth remembering. Think about it, just mentioning someone again and again, just quietly assuming that someone would be there by your side forever, not thinking too much of it but just casually thinking ‘I wouldn’t mind if they were there forever.’ And when the prospect of losing them comes up, that refusal to let go...the regrets that follow... I think those run deeper than any flowery declaration of love." Hange waved the binder in front of him. "I like this. It’s better than any love letter I could have gotten.”

“Two idiots just writing stories about their tragic past lives and exchanging it," Levi mumbled that first part to himself. He turned to Hange. "I enjoyed the process of writing these ‘love letters’," Levi said. "Did you?"

Hange nodded. “It wasn’t all happiness for sure but overall, I’m enjoying the writing process and I'm enjoying where the dreams brought me. It’s not where I expected to be a year ago but hey, who says life should be following the path we set for it,” she said. She took a deep breath. “And I should be saying the same to you. I’m not the Olympics. I’m not the national track and field team but you don’t mind right? Being stuck with me? Writing love letters like that?”

“Hey, instead of going to medical school, you’re here living with me in some small house near some hiking trail. We’re both on nine to five jobs saving up money until god knows when. It’s a far cry from what our teammates and blockmates are doing.”

“But you know if I didn’t drop the other theses, I don’t think I would have written this much about you.”

“And if I didn’t get injured, I wouldn’t have written. I’d probably be training with the national team now.”

And we wouldn’t be here. Somehow, Levi knew she was thinking about it too. From his peripherals, he saw, Hange had leaned back on the bench and had let her head fall back. She was staring at the sky above her.

He followed suit.

There was something about the sky at the top of the hill. It was a light yet mesmerizing blue that endlessly stretched above him. There were no buildings, no trees, or no highlands framing such a view. The sky looked free.

And for the first time in months, Levi felt like he was flying again.

But he didn’t want to fly alone. Levi dropped one hand along that very small gap between them.

It looked like Hange had taken that as a sign to reciprocate.

Levi looked to his hand, cradled against hers and up at her face to see that she still wasn’t looking down. In fact she held her head back further, propped her glasses on her forehead, and continued to stare at the blue sky above.

The blue sky reflected on Hange’s hazel eyes and it manifested in streams of color Levi couldn’t have even imagined as ever been producible by blue and brown. He wanted to catch her gaze then.

So he spoke up. “It wasn’t easy to accept it at first but I’m happy where we are. I’m not regretting anything and you know, there’s something liberating about failing---” Levi shook his head almost instantly as if what he had just said dawned on him then. “Actually wait, I think I phrased it wrong. This probably sounds weird.”

Hange continued to stare at the sky. “No, I think I get it,” she said. “Failing is embarrassing, it fucking hurts and for a while it feels like life stops. But when you fail enough times, failure starts to feel like a friend. And when you fail a few more times, you stop chasing and that’s the liberation you’re talking about right? There’s something liberating about accepting failure as just something that happens and just riding through that downward spiral before picking yourself up again." Hange held the booklet over her and reopened it. “I’m happy where I am now too, post-downward spiral.”

Levi could only watch and listen as she whispered unintelligible sentences to herself, grinning at the pages. He wondered which scenes she was reading through then.

“Well, it’s time for both of us to regroup then. We can't just keep feeling sorry for ourselves right?” Hange added as she stood up. “I have my research. You have your tea shop to work on. We better start hiking now or I don’t think we’ll make it back before sun down.”

“I would have wanted to enjoy this view a little longer.”

“Then we schedule another hike. We endure the uphill battle, we enjoy the peak then we deal with the downward spiral. That’s how it’s always been anyway.” She stuffed the booklet on her backpack and pulled him up from the bench.

“Yeah, we’re both used to it anyway,” Levi joked. He felt Hange’s hand behind him as he looked down at the decline. Only looking at it then did it dawn on him, hiking backwards, the downward spiral which followed the euphoria at the peak could be almost comparable to hell for his knees.

“Hey, I’ll go first. If you feel like you’re losing your balance, just grip my shoulder harder. Besides we can look for a gentler slope on the way down. We just have to get past this one.”

“We won’t be able to get down if we don’t deal with this huh?”

“We won’t,” Hange said. “I know it’s bad for your knees… but if you walk at an angle, it will reduce pressure. I’ll cover for you.” She clutched his hand, went ahead and guided his hand towards her shoulder.

Levi took it as a sign to grip..

“Just relax," Hange said.

It was easier said than done. Levi waited for his legs to start screaming then. The dull aches were ubiquitous, the buckling and unbuckling of his knees were a discomfort he had learned to just ride through and he was sure, he wouldn’t be hiking for another few months after that.

Even before the slope had gradually morphed into something gentler, Hange had started talking again as if she knew once again that it could ease them the whole ordeal of hiking downwards.

“Remember that teashop, the one just a ten minute walk away from our apartment, you wanna check it out?” Hange asked.

There was only one teashop near their place and Levi was quick to recognize it. “I’ve been going there everyday after work.”

“Without me?”

“Where do you think I buy the teabags and the coffee beans that never seem to run out?" Levi asked. He had taken great care to say the word 'coffee' in particular. It was Hange who went through bags of them too quickly that it was almost impossible to not frequent the cafe.

“Fine, I won’t complain. Tell me about it then, any regulars? Anything notable?”

“There are two kids who live nearby and they hang out there a lot. A brunette and a blond. Falco and Gabi.” Those names had been easy to remember. Yet as he imagined those two kids in the cafe, as he recalled their minimal interactions, he started to wonder if they ever really did introduce themselves.

“Those are familiar names," Hange commented.

“And there’s a pilot who hangs out there but mostly on weekends. His name is Onya--”

“Onyakopon?”

“So you’ve met them before?”

“No, just seems familiar.”

“So what, are you gonna tell me you’ve dreamed of them?”

“Maybe I did.”

Somehow, that had taken a weight of his shoulders then and it had started to become easier to admit on his end. “To be honest, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dream of them too.”

#levihan #levihan fanfiction