#then the humans would probably be unprepared for the battle and not used to working with cybertronians

[lord-squiggletits]

One of the thing I love about IDW Op is that he's technically an atheist war pope. It's interesting that he didn't believe in religious aspect himself but was willing to use it for the power. Made his character more complex to me. Do you have opinion on this topic?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about it tbh. On one hand, I think being an atheist/agnostic fits IDW Optimus' character well (I've tried to imagine him as religious and just...can't), but on the other hand, I kind of have a problem with the way most media depicts religious people, and it's a bit disappointing that the Matrix has canonically been associated with multiple miracles (reviving OP and Hot Rod from death, creating new sparks, even Primus/Rung being able to make them) but Optimus still calls the Matrix 'nothing but a bauble' at some point like. Really bro? So there is a part of me that is disappointed at the Matrix being treated as a Plot Device rather than a proper, respectable religious thing. On the other hand, that's just not what the story is about, and I can't call a story/character bad because it didn't go in the exact direction I wanted.

TLDR: I think Optimus being agnostic/atheist makes sense for him, but I really dislike the way it was handled in the story because it feels more like it was used as a plot inciting device than some sort of journey of Optimus trying to discover his purpose. Also, the way he interacts with other religious characters had a lot of wasted potential, so I just feel like it wasn't written in a very interesting way? Basically, the writing is such a mixed bag of interesting concepts with mediocre/bad execution that I can barely focus on the in-universe implications and mostly just get mad at Barber's writing.

My feelings are also complicated by the fact that I don't like Barber's writing at all (it's like 90% dislike and 10% like) because of how bad he is about prioritizing plot over character emotions and stuff. Earlier on in phase 2 it seemed as if Optimus was genuinely curious about his religious role as a Prime and asked the Camiens for guidance on who he should be as Prime (Windblade, Aileron, the Mistress of Flame). In Death of Optimus Prime, OP literally wished he was dead when he woke up. He made a very big deal about how he's Orion now, not Optimus. In Dark Cybertron he had a whole crisis about whether he's Orion or Optimus. Basically, he was set up to have a huge identity crisis (especially since the war is over and leadership of Cybertron fell to Starscream), but any amount of introspection was quickly derailed into PLOT PLOT PLOT OPTIMUS ANNEXES EARTH AND FIGHTS GALVATRON. The story just devolved into bullshit plot on Earth that was just action, action, plot, things happening, with pretty much no room for the characters to stop and breathe and talk and have relationships with each other. I barely felt any emotional investment for most of exRID.

I think the only scenes we got with Optimus actually getting to reflect on this new role of his was 1. when he first met Aileron and asked her and 2. when he's telling Aileron he doesn't believe and then Pyra Magna comes in and gets mad at him.

Speaking of Pyra Magna, the story writing also annoyed me because from the moment she was introduced, Pyra Magna was SUPER self-righteous about how she should be the Prime instead of Optimus and she said that she would try to make Optimus into a better Prime. But then guess what happens? Her and Optimus barely talk and Pyra Magna is basically just there to form Superion and punch people :/ And then later on when Onyx Prime is introduced, all the sudden Pyra Magna goes from having strong opinions about what a True Prime should be and believing she's destined to be the true Prime........ to talking about how she's never trusted Primes and she left the Mistress of Flame for trusting a Prime too quickly??? I know Pyra Magna isn't Optimus, but the reason I'm bringing her up is because she seemed truly religious and opinionated, she SAID she was going to "teach" Optimus things, she seemed like she was set up to be a rival to Optimus, but instead they barely have interactions and the ones they do have early in the series end up being retconned later by Barber's shitty writing that puts plot over consistent character development so. :/ I really expected Pyra Magna and Optimus to have some meaningful interactions, some mix between a rivalry and a mentor/student situation, but instead all she does is shit on him like half the case of exRID/OP and it just made me mad.

(There was also Slide who went from worshipping Optimus to saying that his leadership style is "literally fascism" and monologuing about how Optimus is a conqueror while fighting Unicron and Trypticon is being killed in the background. She's so fucking annoying and comically stupid that I genuinely thought she was going to betray them or do something evil just because she was so unhinged.)

But if you want my actual in-universe opinion on atheist pope Optimus, I do think it's an interesting concept. It shows off Optimus' sense of duty where even though HE doesn't believe, he thinks that what other people think of him his more important. He sees that being a religious figure can help him do what he thinks is right, so he willingly plays that role as a means to a greater end. He's already a "patriot and hero" to the Autobots thanks to his military feats; he's used to being venerated (sometimes to unhealthy degrees) and knows how powerful his influence can be whenever he makes political decisions. I think that he basically saw the Camiens' worship of him as just a new form of the admiration he was already used to receiving. He's spent his whole life commanding armies so simply adopted the colonists into his ranks as well.

(Also, side note, it's so fucking hypocritical for Pyra Magna to call Optimus a piece of shit for "using belief, but not believing" only for her herself to admit a few volumes later that she's never trusted Primes. Why do you wanna be one so badly then if you think Primes are so awful? If it's because you think you could do a better job than past Primes, that literally makes you the same as Optimus, who is also trying to redeem the title of Prime, so you have no right to be punching Optimus in the face lmao. But I also genuinely can't tell if that hypocrisy is supposed to be deliberate or if Barber just did what he usually did and ignored character emotion/motivation/self-reflection in favor of shoving some backstory in for Pyra Magna that tied her to Onyx Prime.)

At least Optimus tried to discourage the blind worship and used the Camiens to do things he had already spent his whole life doing (fighting genocidal colonizers aka Decepticons and protecting organic lives) so I don't really see it as out of line for Optimus. It shows how IDW OP can be a politician as well as a military leader. I think it shows how Optimus can be clever and take advantage of his reputation to achieve his political goals (protecting Earth) and it makes him a more realistic character. Sometimes things that are good aren't done through noble means. Sometimes people do good things by being not very nice.

Also, for what it's worth, I think IDW OP is less manipulative than someone like Starscream, who constantly flaunted his "Chosen One" status while admitting he didn't believe in it (or wavering in his belief) and doing things like creating secret police and trying to kidnap sparklings. Like damn at least Optimus risked his life in the same battles he asked his followers to fight in, he ruined his reputation for the sake of protecting Earth from the Decepticons. Even if the guy is an atheist pope at least he puts his own ass on the line for things he believes in for the sake of protecting people who pretty much hate him lmao. That's why I'm more inclined to view Optimus sympathetically; he's living a lie for political means, but his politics are literally "protect humans and Earth from the bullshit war and destruction Cybertronians forced onto their planet", and the burden of leadership is making him depressed and passively suicidal, and eventually he literally sacrificed himself by jumping into a black hole to save millions/billions of people so like. Let the guy fucking rest lmao.

#squiggle answers #idw op love #hot take but when you think about it #if idw op hadn't annexed earth then cybertron would have had no allies against unicron #unicron would've destroyed all the other planets and come to earth #then the humans would probably be unprepared for the battle and not used to working with cybertronians #and they might all have died #and also the remnants of the cybertronian race would have had no planet to live on #so like. i'm just saying this to put it on the record #OP is pretty much directly the reason why earth the human race and the cybertronian race aren't extinct #which i think makes him a very effective and realistic politician/military commander #he did shit things because that's the nature of war and politics #but also without his presence then the world/galaxy would be immeasurably different probably for the worse #which is why i get so mad when people just go 'he did bad things!' and hate him because of that #yes. he did bad things. he also did good things #he's a fucking military commander did you expect him to be a squeaky clean uwu daddy who's nice to everyone and has never done anything bad #sorry the ask was about religion but i also derailed it into idw op's politics #i thought this would be like a 10 minute answer but fucking OOPS #i should've been in bed like an hour ago

[desert-fern]

Ring Around My Rosie - Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw X Fem!Nurse Reader (WWII European Theatre AU)

Pairing: Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw X Fem!Reader

Summary: The year is 1944 and the Second World War rages on. You have been a nurse in Belgium for nearly three years, having seen the effects of the worst things human beings can do to one another. One day, like always, an injured man is brought in. An American sailor too far from the ocean he came out of on D-Day and you both are entranced.

Warnings: blood, bullet removal, mentions of Nazis (it is a WWII AU so…), probably inaccurate depictions of wartime nursing, most likely factually incorrect WWII history, fluff so fluffy I gave myself a cavity just writing this, 1940s Bradley Bradshaw (yes, he is a warning)

Word Count: 6.1k

A/N: If you can’t guess, this oneshot is a WWII AU inspired by a cover of Ed Sheeran’s Nancy Mulligan that I have linked here! I’m 90% I fucked up my Spotify Wrapped for this fic so I hope you enjoy!

===

Well, I met him at Guy's in the second world war

And I was working on a soldier's ward

The scent of blood was thick in your nostrils as you dragged yourself out of the field hospital in Les Annais, Belgium. The Germans had been menacing your location for weeks, baiting your troops and sending fractions limping back into your capable hands.

You knew nothing of the tactics being used, very few did. You were here as a nurse, not as a tactician, not as anyone of note, save for being the longest serving nurse at the 51st Field Hospital. The others had bailed out as soon as they could, doing their duty but the gruesome fighting months earlier at the Battle of the Bulge had sent many fleeing.

It wasn’t like you could blame them.

You were still new, having joined up as soon as you could convince your father and while you were a month shy of 23, you had never experienced anything like this. Your grandmother had told your father off, reminding him that it was his own stubborn streak that raced through you.

But you were unprepared for everything you would have to do out here, hundreds of kilometers away from home, with the least amount of training that they could spare. At the beginning, you could only offer comfort to some of these men, being unable to save them from their wounds, as they cried for their mothers, wives, children, begging for the pain to end.

Sometimes - well, most times - these men were boys your age or younger. Lives that had only just begun were snuffed out in the most violent of ways and you were left to piece together your shattered heart day after day.

So you closed yourself off, choosing to help as many as you could. The conditions were brutal, the wounds you saw even more so. A year and a half ago, you didn’t know how it felt to hold down a screaming man so a doctor could try and save a septic leg. You were a shoulder to cry on, a smiling face despite the bleakness, and more often than not, an object of flirtation and admiration.

The sky was a miserable gray, like it always was. It seemed like the sky was trying to match the color of the tents scattered around the outside of the main camp, doing its best to hide you from the prying eyes of the German aerial patrols.

The Luftwaffe were always around. Luckily for you, they couldn’t aim for shit, but you couldn’t deny that the German movements had been far more frequent. Sometimes a young man crawled through the borders surrendering to the English and American forces and begging for help.

No one else would treat him, refusing to even get close to him.

You had chastised them all, reminding them of their promises to help those in need, and slowly you had gained some help in the care of these young men, though they were few and far between.

Shouts caught your attention, sending you racing through the muddy field back to the hospital. A group of soldiers, Americans by the sound of them, were calling for help and you would be a hypocrite if you didn’t help.

Hurrying through the door ahead of them, you saw a small group, maybe seven or so men approach. They were muddy, beaten and bruised, but your eyes fell upon the man being held up by his compatriots. “What happened?” You asked, quickly replacing a red headed man and half-carried the brunette towards the only open bed in the corner.

“A bunch of Krauts caught us by surprise, caught Rooster here with a few shots and some ass- pardon me ma’am, idiot jumped out of a tree and landed on top of him,” the man explained, helping you lay this Rooster on the bed.

You focused on the brunette’s bloody uniform, eyeballing the few bullet wounds in his arms, but you were the most concerned about the broken leg. It only took one infected wound and that limb would be gone. Not today, you thought. “Dot, I need the suture kit and a basin. You,” you stated, standing up to face the man standing next to you.

“Mulligan, ma’am,” he told you, standing up straighter. “Lewis Mulligan, US Navy.”

“Lewis, can you help me hold him down? I can’t stitch him up and hold him down at the same time.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Dot hurried over with the makeshift kit, placing it on the bed along with a basin of water. Unbuttoning his shirt, you found that two of the three bullet wounds still had the bullet in them and that the third had begun to clot against his shirt. Pulling the scissors from the pants pocket of your uniform and cutting the shirt away, you finally had a better view at what you were working with. “Fucking Krauts. Guess they must be really desperate to keep using shitty ammunition,” you remarked dryly, dipping a set of tweezers in a basin of cheap spirits.

Lewis didn’t say a word, clearly stunned by your foul language. “Ma’am?”

Sighing, you turned to face him. “Lewis, I need your help holding him down. The longer this takes, the bigger the risk of infection. I can’t do that if you are going to be shocked when I cuss and swear. Can you help me or not?”

He nodded, coming to stand on the other side of the unconscious man. Hands placed on his friend’s shoulder and hip, Lewis gave you a nod and you began.

The bullets were soft and slippery. They slid out of your tweezers more times than you could count, but you made it work, finally prying the two out of his shoulder and side. Lewis wasn’t looking at you, his face green by the time the last bullet clinked into the porcelain tray. “I can take it from here, Mulligan. Go back to your group, tell them…”

“His name is Bradley.”

You gave him a smile. “Tell them Bradley should be okay unless he does something stupid.”

He left you alone, perched on the side of Bradley’s bed, stitching him up. You saw his eyelashes flutter as you finished the last stitch and quickly stood up. If he lunged at you, you had to be standing. Enough men had grabbed at you when they woke up and you had quickly learned not to make that mistake again.

Too many bruises, too many sprains, too many punches thrown.

To your surprise, Bradley let out a groan and his eyes slowly blinked open. That groan turned into a hiss of pain as he tried to sit up. “Stay down,” you said gently, approaching slowly with your hands up. “You’re in a field hospital in Belgium.”

His eyes flicked to you, taking in your bloody uniform and trailing over your face. “The others?” He said in a panicked voice. “Where are the others?”

“Lewis and the redhead are outside, they carried you here. Seven of you came up to us, that’s all I know Bradley.”

A nod. “Thank you Ma’am.” Relief was written all over his face, in the way his eyes fell closed for a moment and his shoulders dropped.

“I just finished stitching up your chest, but I need to look at your leg. Can I do that?”

“Anything for you doll,” Bradley replied with a wink as he tried to lay down. But he winced and you were there, your bloodstained hands firmly holding his shoulders and neck while you guided him back down.

Never had I seen such beauty before

The moment that I saw ya

You moved quickly to treat his leg, finding that thankfully it was just a broken ankle and not somewhere further up. The number of men that had come in with a broken leg and left with one and a half was a number that you didn’t like to think about. It was far too high.

But Bradley wouldn’t be one of them and you couldn’t help but send up a prayer of thanks. The minute he’d opened his eyes, you’d been transfixed by the deep amber of them. A deep brown like the whiskey that was saved for special occasions and sparkled like a polished gun barrel or belt buckle. It wasn’t like you hadn’t seen handsome men. Quite the opposite. You saw all kinds of men at their worst. Lots of them lookers, but you hadn’t felt a connection to one until him.

His gaze made it hard to focus as you fumbled with his boot lace, finally undoing it after what felt like hours. The smell still made you recoil a little, even after nearly a year in the nursing corps. Regardless, you still had to do your job. So you worked quickly, removing both boots and socks and compared both sides to assess where the break was.

A soft touch to his foot had him chuckle and you glanced up at him curiously. “Sorry, just ticklish, is all,” Bradley said sheepishly, hand coming up to rub at his mustache.

You gave him a smile before returning to work, splinting his ankle and cleaning the blood, sweat, and mud from his skin. “Better now?” You asked him, tucking a blanket over his body and helping him into a clean-ish shirt.

His eyes met yours and despite being in pain, Bradley shot you a small smile. “Better now that I can see my guardian angel.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you know how many times I’ve heard that one, sailor? More times than you’ve used that line on anyone in stockings.”

Bradley just grinned at your retreating form and let his eyes slip shut. The pain in his body was getting to be too much, but as he dozed off, he found himself listening to your voice as you reprimanded a soldier barely older than yourself for getting out of bed. You intrigued him, that’s all.

He said I was his yellow rose

And we got married wearing borrowed clothes

Weeks had passed since that first interaction and both you and Bradley had been writing to one another as often as you could spare. While in the hospital, you learned that he and his friends had been separated from their landing crew as they made their way inland from the coast. He’d been on Omaha Beach during what had become known as the “D-Day” landing in Normandy.

Not that he’d been allowed to tell you that, but he had anyways, trusting you implicitly. He’d had to leave after nearly a month under your care, but made a promise to come back.

You hoped he would, but neither of you knew what would take place.

The fighting had drawn closer to your hospital as the Allies fought for Belgium, liberating it in 14 days and wrestling it from German hands. There had been some celebration amongst your ranks, but your heart ached for Bradley, praying every night that he came back to you.

For now though, you had to settle for letters. Bradley’s smooth voice seemed to read every letter aloud to you, each word wrapped in that gentle, flirtatious tone he had used every day you had looked after him.

Doll. My darling Rosie, the most recent letter began. They usually started out with some endearment, God knows he had used enough of them as he tried to win you over despite your colleagues warning him that you wouldn’t fall.

You remember Lew? Well he told me that writing to you was a waste because I wouldn’t get any letters back, but I know you. You wrote me back like you always do. Means I’m going to have a nice big stack of letters waiting for me the minute the post catches up with us.

We’re still marching. It’s been hell on my ankle, but you patched me up nice and neat so I’m not too worried. At least the view is nice. I think you would like it where we camped tonight, crickets are chirping now as I write this and it’s peaceful. Kinda like those nights you spent sitting with me when we’d talk about everything and I would always get worried that you would get sick of me jawing and talking your ear off, but you never did. Spoiled me for a good listener. The boys here don’t talk much. Battle fatigue is crawling all over them and it is always quiet around these times cause no one says a word.

It’s awful lonely though, sweetheart. I miss your laugh, especially how you would have to cover it when it was the middle of the night. Closest thing to home I had in a while. I hope you can hear my voice in this letter because I know I hear yours every time. And I mean every word, Doll, I hope you know that.

When I come back, I want to take you somewhere nice. Get you all dressed up in something pretty but you would still be the most beautiful dame I ever saw if you came out in your uniform that I know you are wearing now. Maybe I’ll take you dancing like you talked about, holding you close for song after song and if I’m lucky we would be going steady after that. That kiss on the cheek you gave me before I left is just haunting me because I had a taste of the future, if you feel the same of course.

Call me a flirt, doll, but I’m just sweet on you. I’m doing everything in my power not to go AWOL and come all the way back to find you, but I hope this letter finds you well instead.

Thinking about you, my English rose.

Yours always,

Bradley.

Wiping a tear from your cheek, you carefully folded the letter back up and placed it with the others. They were all like that, yearning to be back here instead of wherever he was, thoughts of the future and he always, always, signed it off with “Thinking of you,” or lately “Yours always.” Every letter gave you hope and while you knew some of yours had likely been delayed, you always jumped up like you’d sat on a tack whenever the post arrived.

Dot had started teasing you the second that Bradley left, but one reminder of Lewis and she too was blushing. The two of you sat in your quiet fear, praying that neither one of you would get a letter from one of their unit mates saying that one or both was gone.

Your next letter went out the same day.

Hopefully, it would all be alright. So for now, you let yourself dream of dancing in Bradley’s arms, Glen Miller playing softly in the background as he held you close, whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

Hundreds of miles away, huddled under a thin blanket, Bradley pulled a creased letter from his pocket, finally having the chance to read it. As the letter slid out of the envelope, a sweet smell burst free and filled his nostrils. He recognized your perfume, the scent having filled him with joy every moment he spent by your side as he recovered.

Shifting a little and adjusting the blanket, he opened it up, catching a second page that tried to escape in the sudden breeze. Bradley moved his lantern over and began reading your tight script that had his heart skipping a beat each time he saw it fill a page.

Bradley,

I received another letter from you today and I thought I had best get writing so I don’t miss the post truck. I do remember Lewis. Hopefully he remembers Dot because she is patiently waiting for a response to her letter. I don’t think it matters, the sentiment is still the same and I would rather see you at the end of this harrowing ordeal than have you replay thoughts on paper.

I had been meaning to ask about your ankle. If it ever gives way, splint it like I showed you. I don’t want you to break it again, even if that would mean you have to come back to me. But for the moment, I am glad for your letters. They make me feel closer to you. Describe the view for me, please. I see nothing but muddy fields, canvas walls, and wounded men. Is it raining a lot on your march? I know your boots were ruined when you were brought here. Did you ever find new ones? He had, but the source of them sent his stomach twisting in knots. Pulling boots off a man killed in battle felt savage, like they didn’t matter as a person.

I miss our talks as well. I learned so much about you so quickly and I feel like I know everything about you. I miss the snort you make when you laugh, especially when I told you that the other nurses called me Rosie because I was the only English nurse here. I was worried you would stop breathing some nights the way you clutched your chest as you laughed like you had never heard anything so funny. But I would give anything to see your smile, the one where it reaches your eyes and it seems you swell up with joy. I know there isn’t much time for smiles now but if I could just give you one of mine, I would.

Send my love to the boys with you. War is hard enough without having to deal with loneliness at the same time and you all are in my thoughts and prayers. I miss you terribly and find myself daydreaming of you every spare moment I have, which is not often anymore, but I drift off to sleep with your past letters in my hands and your words in my mind.

Your confessions for after this war sound like heaven. I hadn’t let myself dream too long about what will become of us. We have both heard the stories of wartime romances often enough to know how precarious they can be, but if you have hope, dearest, then so do I. I’ll wear my best dress and you in your uniform, we will be the best dressed pair at the dance hall. Nothing sounds better than dancing close with you. I don’t care how presumptuous it is, the way my heart yearns for your nearness, I can give my answer to your most secret hopes without hesitation.

If you asked, dearest, I would be yours in a heartbeat. So long as you are mine as well. Bradley breathed out a laugh, trying not to wake his comrades. He had been kicking himself ever since he had sent that letter, hoping you felt the same and by the grace of God, you did. I may be English but we aren’t always prim and proper when angered. I could and would write a million pages with barely any thought, but the truck is waiting for me, so I must end this letter here. I hope my words keep you warm in this autumn weather and please, if you can, come back to me.

Stay safe, dearest.

Your Rose

The letter crinkled in his grip as Bradley bit back a wide grin. You were okay. You wanted to go steady. You cared for him. Fuck the war, he though. His doll was waiting for him back in Belgium and not for the first time, he hoped that the war would end for purely selfish reasons. You were waiting and his mama had raised a good boy who never left a woman waiting, he wasn’t going to start now.

The radio in the small hospital crackled as the BBC broadcast announced Germany’s surrender as Russian troops poured into Berlin. Cheers went up amongst the nurses and the men they were caring for, but you knew that the casualties were high on both sides. The United States still fought with Japan in the Pacific, chasing them back towards their island, and you knew that the fighting would go on for a long time.

The only thing? You hadn’t heard from Bradley in months, not since March of this year; 1945. It was now May.

The worry in you grew every day, trying and failing to hide it from Dot and the others around you. It hadn’t affected your work, but it affected nearly everything else. You were hardly sleeping, rereading his letters so often you had them memorized. “Thinking of you” was written in his neat handwriting against the back of your eyelids, and everytime you blinked, you thought of him.

A few days went by since that monumental announcement of the war’s end and some fighting was still happening but Germany’s surrender had a lot of Nazi sympathizers fleeing like rats. But world leaders were acting quickly and you knew that while it would be some time before you would return home to England, it would also not be enough time for Bradley to come back to you here in Les Annais.

So, like always, you went to work. The soldiers around you were still flirtatious, some even outright admitting that they were sweet on you, but you politely told them that you were waiting for your man to come back to you, and that while you were flattered, you just couldn’t.

Sweet smile after sweet smile. Bed bath after bed bath. Infected wound after infected wound. And still, no Bradley.

Then you heard your name shouted from outside. You had been packing your things, having received your letter to head back home, when Dot yelled so loudly you thought a hoard of Nazis were marching toward you. Racing outside dressed in your one non-uniform dress, you saw a Jeep full of men pull up. They too were yelling, and when you ran up, you saw a familiar face not half a meter away.

He was covered in dirt and grime, his hair longer than you had seen and his cheeks were covered in stubble like he hadn’t shaved in a few days, but it was still your Bradley in every way that mattered. “Bradley…” you breathed, coming to a stand-still with your hands over your mouth. You stood stock still, your heart nearly beating out of your chest as you took him in disbelief. “You’re safe…”

“Hey doll,” the rasp in his tone gave you shivers as you met his eyes. They were still the same color as the whiskey you all had drank the night the war was declared over, the same sparkle twinkling like the stars as he took you in. “Look at you. You look beautiful.” Bradley clambered over Simon, nearly elbowing him in the face in his haste to get out of the Jeep. “Prettiest picture I ever saw.

You blushed, ducking your head a little at his compliment. Bradley’s heart soared as he took you in, marveling at how his imagination had been unable to capture the picture perfect moment of you in that dress. You had lived in his thoughts for months, each letter sending pangs of loneliness through him as each moment without you passed. Now, standing in front of you, your hair curled and dressed like a million bucks, Bradley felt his love for you grow infinitely larger.

“You…” you began, looking up at him, your eyes wide in shock. “You came back, sailor.”

“‘Course I did. What kinda man would I be if I left my best girl waiting.”

Dot and the others were still watching intently, keen on seeing what happened when you both finally let your resolve snap. “Come on Rosie! Give your man a kiss!” Lewis hollered from where he stood with Dot in his arms. “He’s only been dreamin’ about this since forever!”

“Mulligan, I swear to God, shut your fucking yap for one minute,” Bradley yelled back, shifting his focus from you to his friend. “Sorry doll, Dot, shouldn’t have said those words with you around. Can you forgive me?”

Shooting Dot a wink, you caught his hand. “If you kiss me hard enough, sailor, I just might forget the whole thing.” You weren’t sure where the boldness came from, but it was worth it when Bradley’s face lit up.

“Is that right?” He said in a low voice. “Just one kiss?”

You shrugged as your gaze fell from his amber eyes to his lips and back again. “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”

That was all it took because next you knew, Bradley had picked you up in his arms and let his lips fall against yours, kissing you so soundly your breath left you in a rush. His hands around your waist held you so securely you didn’t fear falling. Your own hands cradled his face, subconsciously brushing away the tears that fell from his eyes.

He set you back on your feet, but his hands didn’t leave your hips. “So, did you forget about it yet?”

Smiling cheekily back at him, you replied “Forget what?” He chuckled and you let your palms slide down his neck to rest on his chest over his heart. “All that being said, dearest, I leave today. And I know you aren’t down yet.”

“We got separated from the Navy landing crew, doll. Kramer sent a telegram to the high ups and they are sending us on leave for a little while. Especially since we weren’t supposed to be in Berlin,” Bradley told you, a big hand running up and down your back. “So as long as I get to port at a reasonable time, I’m still doing my duty.”

“And when is that, Bradley?” Toying with his jacket, you found yourself chewing on your lip in thought.

“Hey.” His gentle tone had you looking up at his face that was filled with compassion. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I’ve got it in writing and up here,” Bradley told you, tapping his temple. “My mama always said I had a mind like a steel trap.”

You leaned up onto your tiptoes, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. “I’m still going to worry, Bradley. I don’t know how not to. But I trust you. If you say you have it, then you do.”

Bradley leaned down to kiss you again, this time the fierceness of the gesture had you gasping against his mouth. “God I love you.”

The world stood still as you looked up at him. “Do you mean that?”

“Of course, Rosie. Unless you have some other beau running around London that I don’t know about.” He paused, looking down at you. “Wait, you don’t have a beau waiting on you, do you?”

Looking shocked, you shook your head. “No. No, I don’t. My sister was the looker of the two of us.”

By now, Lewis and Dot had run off somewhere and the other men traveling with Bradley had scattered throughout the camp offering help to the pretty young nurses still there.

The two of you were alone.

“Come on,” you said, tugging him towards your tent. “I have something to show you.”

“You could lead me off a cliff, Rosie and I’d follow you happily,” Bradley chirped, relishing in the pretty blush that dusted itself across your face. His body hurt from sleeping sitting up, he hadn’t had a shower and probably smelled terrible, yet even just being near him flustered you to no end.

And he loved it. Maybe not as much as he loved you, but how could he deny you? Your grip on his hand tightened as you pulled him to you, your other hand coming to rest on his jaw. “I didn’t want to do this in public, but I’ve been daydreaming about you kissing me like I’m all you have ever wanted, Bradley.”

The words raced through him, excitement building as he let you guide his face to yours. The first gentle touch of your lips to his had him smiling broadly, and he knew that you were smiling just as hard by the way you pulled back just a little. The next attempt went similarly; the two of you too giddy in the other’s nearness to kiss the other properly.

But he made it work, catching your chin and kissing you soundly. The gasp that fell past your lips gave him an opening and he took it, slipping his tongue past your lips.

Bradley had anticipated some kind of resistance, the feeling probably new to you, but he found none as he continued to kiss you like you were the oxygen he needed to breathe. If anything, you brought in your own fierceness to the gesture, your tongue tangling with his.

When you finally pulled back, cursing your need to breathe real air and not just Bradley’s closeness, you found that his eyes were still screwed shut. “Pinch me,” he breathed out. “This has to be a dream.”

“This is real, dearest,” you replied with a giggle. “Would I lie to you?”

“You promise?” The tone of his voice seemed so young to your ears, reminding you that for all your 25 years, and his 27, he was still too young to have seen everything he likely had seen.

“Of course.”

His eyes fluttered open, shining brightly with unshed tears. “Thank God. I don’t know what I would do if I had imagined you.”

“I’d say that you have a very vivid imagination then, dearest,” you replied softly, turning his face back to yours. When he’d looked away, you didn’t know, but you loved the sight of those warm eyes looking down on you and you would do anything to keep them in your life. “Besides, where would I go then? If I weren’t real, as you say.” Your fingers ran along the back of his neck, gently playing with the short curls. That was something else you hadn’t noticed until now; the natural curls that had emerged once his hair had a little length.

“Marry me.”

You froze, shock filling you from head to toe. “I beg your pardon?”

“Marry me, Rosie. I don’t have a ring, hell, I don’t even know if I’m going to have a home when I get back stateside.” The words poured out in a rush, but the emotion in his tone was palpable. This wasn’t just a wartime distraction to him. “All I know is that if I don’t tie you to me, if I don’t make every effort to keep you near, I’ll regret it forever doll.” Bradley’s eyes held nothing but sincerity, truth seeping from every pore as he held you, his big hands pressing you to him.

A deep sigh left your lips, the silence thundering in Bradley’s ears as he waited. You glanced up at him, your eyes misty with tears. “If I say yes,” you began, swallowing thickly. “If I say yes Bradley, you don’t get to leave because this is hard. I would be your wife, and you my husband. We do this together or not at all.” Tears had begun falling and you didn’t know if this was an accumulation of emotion from finally having him close or if it was fear. Fear of being wed and left in a heartbeat.

“Rosie, I would find the Chaplain now if it meant that I could spend the rest of my life with you. I would march to the Pacific now to end this war if it meant I could marry you faster. I fought for us just as much as I fought for my country and my mama would come down from Heaven like a shot if I even so much as thought about leaving you behind.” Bradley had ducked his head down, holding your teary eyes with his own. In the growing darkness, you could barely make out the ring of his honey-coloured iris, but you knew that he meant what he said.

How could he not?

“So, doll. What do ya say, hmm? Feel like being Mrs. Rosie Bradshaw?” The usual humor in his tone returned when he saw the meaning behind his words sink in. You understood him and trusted him deeply, after all he’d come back, hadn’t he? In what world would he do all of this and not mean it, not swear by it? Bradley had taken a step to close the distance between you both for the rest of time, pulled his heart out of his chest and held it out to you.

You met him halfway. “I’ve certainly been called worse, Mr. Bradshaw,” you teased gently, as you toyed with the collar of his jacket. “What makes you think I’ll come running when you call that name?”

“Because I’ll come running if you promise to call me that everyday, Rosie doll.” A giggle broke loose from your chest and the matching smile seemed to split your face in two as you watched Bradley’s face light up once he heard your reaction to yet another sweet name he could drop. “You never did answer my question, doll. Are you gonna leave me standing out in the cold like some sort o’ schmuck or are you gonna let me in to get all the good lovin’ my weary bones need?”

You slapped his chest, cheeks burning under his attention. “My mother raised me to never let a man starve nor grow cold, therefore I believe I ought to marry you, dearest. How else am I to go on living when I have a very handsome sailor practically begging for my hand?” You were still smiling broadly and as you watched your words get processed.

“Yeah?”

“Of course.”

Bradley let out a whoop of joy, grabbing you suddenly before picking you up and twirling you around the yard. “Well dammit all! Rosie said yes!”

Cheers broke out from around the hospital. Nurses and the G.I.s were clapping and whistling in celebration that only got louder when you brought your hands to his face and kissed him so hard you could feel your lips bruise from trying to pour every ounce of feeling into it. “God, I love you,” you mumbled against his lips.

Setting you back on your feet, Bradley dipped you over a strong arm, bringing you into another sweet kiss that had you wrapping your arms around his neck and pressing yourself as close as you could to his chest. “So,” Bradley mumbled. “When I find my mama’s ring, it’s yours. She would have loved you, Rosie. My pop too.”

You leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to his nose. “I’m certain that they’re very proud of you, Bradley.” The softness of your tone combined with the sincerity filling every word was a shot straight to his heart. Tears sprouted in his eyes and Bradley brought you back up, hugging you tightly.

“I really lucked out, didn’t I? Meeting the most perfect girl this side of the Atlantic.”

A week later, you married Bradley William Edward Bradshaw in a simple ceremony at a small chapel outside London. His mother’s simple diamond and gold ring had slipped into your finger on the voyage across the English Channel while you had been staring out at the ocean around you.

You had scarcely noticed it at first, but when your eyes fell upon it for the first time, you swore that your heart had nearly fallen into your shoes at the sight. Bradley had laughed at your reaction, pulling you close and wrapping you in his arms for the remainder of the journey, all the while watching you trail your eyes over your hand time and time again.

It was all he could do not to press a kiss to your left hand every time he saw the ring catch the light, which was often, especially by lantern and lamp light.

Needless to say, the pair of you were very happy, and while Bradley had been tapped for deployment into the Pacific theater, his ship had only just made port somewhere in Spain before the US detonation of their super weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese emperor had surrendered almost at once and from your position in London, you couldn’t blame them. You had always hated the unnecessary violence, the casualties just because and this was no different. The innocent civilians hadn’t needed to die in such a way as they had, though you couldn’t see a way of changing the course of the war.

But Bradley was safe and on his way home to you. In the end, you couldn’t help those affected by the tragedy any more than you had during the war in Europe. You would be trying to wrap a wound made by a cannonball with a tiny sliver of fabric, so you set about waiting for him to come back to you.

Now though, you needn’t worry as much. You were Mrs. Bradley Bradshaw and he had made many a promise yet never broken a single one. So the mere sight of his form on the dock eased it all.

Today started the rest of your life.

We got eight children now growing old

Five sons and three daughters

She and I went on the run

Don't care about religion

I'm gonna marry the woman I love

Down by the Wexford border

She was Nancy Mulligan

And I was William Sheeran

She took my name and then we were one

Down by the Wexford border

===

A/N: So, I hope your heart has a big ass cavity in it and that you enjoyed the cotton candy level of fluff that I just threw at you! Big thank you to @startrekfangirl2233 for being the best beta reader ever and @sarahsmi13s, I’m sorry for making you sob when I was sharing snippets

Read Roo and Rosie’s Christmas fic here!

Tagging: @startrekfangirl2233 @sarahsmi13s @horseshoegirl @roosterforme @@eli2447 @nobody7102 @gigisimsonmars @dcyllom @bobgasm @multifandomlover4life @mak-32 @beyondthesefourwalls

#fern writes #Ring Around My Rosie #wwii au #bradley bradsaw x reader #bradley bradshaw fic #top gun maverick #bradley rooster bradshaw x reader #American Sailor Bradley X English Nurse reader #bradley bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x reader

[cyanichexanthine]

@potetosaradas’s first time hc post here made me lose my mind about the relationship progression (in a very good way, amazing HCs and all my love🥰💖 please go read if you haven’t, it’s perfect) and it re-sparked some thoughts that haunted me so this is gonna be a long? post of misc thoughts, buckle up I guess.

I see the relationship starting as a “perceived friends with benefits” thing like let’s just fuck nasty and hot and never speak of actual feelings bc Ricks. That being its fatal flaw in the end. I also think Prime felt a lot stronger about the actual relationship part than he’d ever admit, and thus got hurt by it way more in the end, like absolutely shattered him when Rick wouldn’t join him and they split. Rick is more oblivious to it initially, like of course he started to feel something but would likely suppress it more because he has more to “lose” per se. (His current life, his wife, his daughter etc) So he’d kinda just dip, dodge and ignore certain things until the first time they actually get intimate. It’s an endurance game he lost mentally because he didn’t really 100% want to win in the first place.

I do think it started off as Prime just visiting occasionally and helping with things and surprisingly even getting help with things he was working on, something he’d probably never, if only rarely, got before. Rick is smart, like as smart as him, almost, ego says so haha. But there���s a mutual respect there. On the odd chance they’re not on the same wavelength I think they’d give each other creative ideas the other hadn’t even considered. They genuinely enjoy each other’s company, hell they look forward to it.

But also occasionally he’d be showing Rick other universes, tech etc, this is partly because Rick didn’t suffer or even, you know, die immediately when “going alone” as the second version of the backstory would have us believe, he’s likely been out there before/has some knowledge or understanding of the universe/multiverse? Any human with zero experience or idea of what to expect or protection/weapons of some kind is eating dirt in 5 mins tops, especially if going in blind (which does make me wonder what it was like for Prime? But I don’t think he went in entirely unarmed or unprepared. That’s a thing for another day I guess.)

They spent a lot of time together, as much as they could without it being suspicious. But Prime definitely made the first intimate advance, maybe noticed that Rick was kinda frustrated and wanted in on that. Very in the moment. Manages to convince him maybe even similar to the Beth thing like is it really cheating if it’s with yourself etc and it really doesn’t help he’d know *himself* best sexually, Rick doesn’t stand a chance honestly. Again, slowly losing the mental battle with himself on why he shouldn’t.

Death by a thousand cuts but make it interactions.

From that point on the damage is pretty much done to the core, now it just slowly seeps out like a poison between all the casual sex and fun.

Unfortunately, Ricks have been shown time and time again to be heavily emotion/feeling (especially in the moment) driven creatures so of course they get tangled in between working together and the friends with benefits thing and the gears start to come off the tracks. Arguments, frustration, walking out, failing to apologise bc pride/stubborn nature of Ricks etc. Just failing to talk about how they feel in general. Instead, it’s micro-aggressions and cold shoulders. Why doesn’t the sex and touch hit like it used to? Why are the silences longer? There’s longer gaps between the visits etc.

I think they didn’t exactly have smooth sailing relationship wise, at all, when feelings get involved tensions flare more often especially when Rick didn’t seem 100% happy in his relationship with Diane but likely committed for the love of his daughter. Meanwhile, Prime wants in with someone who is already taken and “burdened” by the same things he so easily cast off himself. Likely believing that C137 would eventually if not already end up feeling the same way, longing for something more than this mundane life. So why stay? Why rot away like that? That they could do whatever, whenever, together.

Maybe it’s one of the first interactions/relationships Prime hadn’t got bored of, he can see the potential and it makes it hurt. Especially accentuated by the torment of holding and being so close to someone you can never truly have.

It’s part of why I think the final talk before the split would have been such an ultimatum/volatile one. Where all the hairline fractures they likely ignored and patched over with sex and careless words over time of their relationship/working together kinda just split and the whole thing shatters.

Ugh the tragedy hit this one sorry everyone. Just had to exorcise my brain a little.

#prickcest #long post #my dumb thoughts #I just really needed to get this out of my brain #special thanks to trucknoisettes in getting me to post this here #sorry for the tag poteto #I really hope you don’t mind

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Omy God, noooo, them holding onto the hats - BOTH their hats!! - is gonna make me cry! And it reminding Lady Sneasler of her nest, probably complete with Smells Of Ingo, which is familiar and comforting to her, and Smells Of Emmet, which is familiar and comforting to Ingo. It helps that like, to humans smell is typically the sense that lingers the longest and deepest in memories, and also that as Clamberclaw Lady Sneasler's sense of smell is amplifies Ingo's. So being in a soft nest with smells associated with safety, in an area that feels safe to Ingo, and having already ran themselves ragged, is a very good recipe. They just went from 100 in terms of bad stimulation and feeling like they're under attack, to a flat 0. Finally, what they need, finally a place to hide.

And then Emmet comes! And he is Very confused!! But again, this is someone who reads as a complete non-threat to them. Even though Emmet is expecting a fight and is all tensed and poised to throw out his very powerful pokemon to subdue this creature, they just... have exactly zero intention of doing anything violent towards him. If it were literally anyone else they might feel kind of cornered, even with the frenzy having died down some from exhaustion, but Emmet? They're more likely to drag him into the nest than scare him off the train.

Meanwhile, Emmet is so unprepared for literally all of this lol. Poor guy, he has no idea what to expect, but I love that he's already coming up with various strategies to account for various responses. Presumably the train has been stopped as soon as people started panicking, but I winced at the thought of something being so freaked out they tried to go out the front of the car.

Although, if the subway car was dark, did they like kill the lights? Or is this actually a battle car that wasn't being used so the lights were off or on low? Not great for seeing if he needed to battle them, but better for making them feel safer and calming them down. Like hooding a bird lol or letting a cat hide under the bed. The hard part isn't going to be calming them down, it's going to be coaxing them to come out and leave!

re: lights, i think what most likely happened is one of their moves went wide and broke something and took out the lights, probably just to the one front cabin? in my head this scene has to be mostly dark (and pls kill those bright lights for their sanity...) but this is the only way i think that would work

anyway they just want to sleep forever now thanks. they feel like shit mentally and physically, their brain still feels vaguely on fire from the frenzy, but it's soft and sheltered and there's a Good Person that they trust (that ingo trusts) more than anything to not let anything else bad happen to them. so. time to rest. emmet's still bracing to get ambushed, but then he gets a better look at them with the dim light filtering in from the last car, beaten and bruised with fur matted by sweat and blood, pinprick pupils and heaving breaths, and realizes this isn't some aggressive predator, this is something that's disoriented and possibly sick and scared out of its fucking mind.

what hopefully happens, once the frenzy's receded enough that it's not overwhelming, is that ingo can regain enough control over the fusion to Make Words Happen and try and explain what's going on. the most important part i think is communicating a) they're a fusion and b) even if he could, he doesn't want to disconnect from lady sneasler until he's sure she's unfrenzied (and also just, calmed down and reassured in a regular sense as well), for the safety of everyone else in the city.

(maybe he also mentions that he hunted this place down bc it felt familiar? that emmet has the same effect at a much more concentrated level? or even just his name. ...and maybe emmet remembers hearing about plasma's experiments in the P2 Laboratory, wretched biological-modification experiments on pokemon, and... oh, oh god, is this where his brother's been all this time?)

#the nemesis speaks #the nemesis answers #anonymous #warden fusion au #in actuality the truth is far more complicated. #...honestly. you could have that be partially true. if you wanted to be extra evil #that some scientist from genesect's project saw 'pokemon and person that could fuse' #and went 'wow i just HAVE to do something horribly unethical with that information' #not necessarily tho

[phoenixyfriend]

"Hey Aayla? They gave me a kid and I don't know what to do."

This one contains contributions by @atagotiak, @dracothulhu, and @gelpenss.

Do you think Anakin ever panicked about how to raise a child, and then at one point went "oh god, I don't know anything about teenage girls" because he interacts with maybe two women in his life and one of them is his wife, who is very human and knows nothing about Togruta adolescence and how puberty is going to display

And he just calls up Aayla like "Hey so I know that you're an example of a female padawan that had a male master of an unrelated species, do... do you known where I'm supposed to get information? On how to handle a teenage girl? I don't know anything about Togruta puberty and I don't know if I'm supposed to just look it up on the holonet or grab a pamphlet from medical or just find an older female Togruta in the order. Nobody told me what the Jedi protocol for this is and I didn't have any time to prepare before they just gave me a fourteen-year-old. Help?"

This would be so much easier if they weren’t in the middle of an interstellar war. Many things would be, but also this specifically.

Call up your old babysitter and ask her for advice, she's basically a cousin, right?

Anakin just having a breakdown bc he doesn’t know if Togruta get periods and he doesn’t know how to ask, or who to ask.

"Anakin, who taught you about this stuff?"

"Aayla, I grew up on Tatooine and thought the explosive in my arm was something to make jokes about, I don't know what's child appropriate!"

"Half the female togruta and twi'leks I knew growing up were implanted with hormone manipulators for... you know why, you can guess, it was fucking Tatooine, anyway my point is that I don't. I don't know things? I don't know things. Aayla help."

(Aayla, notably not a togruta, maybe advises him to call Shaak Ti? But I feel like Anakin might find her intimidating. Anakin only knows one adult female Togruta, and it's Master Ti, who's very nice but also on the Council, and currently on Kamino, and he feels like there's probably steps he can take before bothering her.)

Aayla finds out about Anakin's marriage but mostly because he's having a meltdown about taking care of a teenager, while he himself is barely more than a teenager.

"Are you just calling me because I'm the only girl you know?"

"The only other girl I know is Senator Amidala, and she knows even less about the Order's padawan-rearing resources than I do!"

It's likely that Jedi kids get standardized sex ed classes (maybe with more focus on your own species just for practicality and all that, there are many many species). It’d be the sensible thing to do. As a result, I'm imagining that Ahsoka is entirely unaware of Anakin's meltdown. Also, even if he took them, he probably didn’t pay attention to the Togruta part. So things like “do togruta get periods? Do I need to order supplies????” and other things like that are still relevant.

And/or is so overwhelmed with New Parent Panic that he forgot they all got those lessons, and Ahsoka probably already knows what's up.

(TBH, how many human parents do you know that worry similarly. Most people go through sex ed classes in middle/high school, but we all generally worry about what behavior to expect out of teenage siblings/children.)

And he doesn't know if there's other stuff to expect that has nothing to do with sex ed! He doesn't know how often Togruta need to brush their teeth! What if she needs to eat sand to digest things! Does she need specialty lotion for work on sunny planets? HE DOESN'T KNOW AND HE DOESN'T TRUST A TEENAGER TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELF BECAUSE HE SURE DIDN'T AT THAT AGE

Like, Anakin knew speeder racing was illegal and still did it. He's absolutely worried about Ahsoka doing some similar "Well, yeah, it's smart, but I don't feel like it" thing. Maybe she does need vitamins and he just doesn't know it, and she's lying because she thinks they taste gross but she needs them and he doesn't know!!! Teenagers do that!

(Anakin often forgets that not everyone is the same kind of disaster as he is.)

(Not that Ahsoka isn't her own kind of disaster.)

Aayla does kind of feel for him because most Masters have more warning about when they'll be taking on a padawan. They have time to research before the kid moves in. Anakin was handed a teenager in the middle of a battle and told to get to it.

The Order has been dealing with a very high rate of cross-species adoptions for a very very long time. Maybe they’ve got pamphlets.

It's part of why he went to Aayla: she's been the cross-species padawan. She probably knows who Quinlan talked to!

You know who’d probably be the best person to go to? Jocasta Nu. Just bc she’d know where to find the reference material and as great as a same-species mentor for advice is they might miss some things bc they’re so routine.

"Do you want to deal with Master Nu being judgy at you for wanting information (remembering that providing information is literally what she’s there for) or Master Che being judgy at you for neglecting your padawan’s health?"

Aayla probably suggests that and Anakin's panic spirals into "but she's scary" and "she'll judge me for not being prepared!"

"You literally had negative notice for acquiring a child and you're twenty, you had ample reason to not be prepared."

Honestly she’s probably extremely used to knights coming in all panicked and lost like a week after getting a kid of another species. It seems like a scenario that would come up a lot. She probably remembers Obi-Wan panicking and trying to slap together a crash course in Foundational Jedi-ing for Anakin, and at least they were the same species. She probably wouldn't judge in the slightest, she's seen it all before... not that Anakin would realize that. He's too busy freaking out.

I wouldn’t judge someone who intentionally adopted a kid panicking a bit later and grabbing extra reference material. You can’t be prepared for everything y’know? At least they’re trying.

Honestly Anakin being worried would be something that like... they’d negative-judge him for. Anyone who doesn’t know about Yoda meddling would be judging him and if they find out he’s

A. taking it seriously

and

B. not WILLFULLY unprepared

there’s a high chance they’d be super sympathetic.

Unfortunately, Anakin thinks EVERYONE judges him for EVERYTHING.

#Anakin Skywalker #Aayla Secura #Ahsoka Tano #Jocasta Nu #Snips and Skyguy #obi wan kenobi #star wars #Phoenix Posts

[shihalyfie]

How to meet (or reunite with) your Digimon partner, according to 02

Here’s a post dedicated to those of you who are worried or sad about Kizuna’s premise, or how the way it ends is supposed to lead up to the 02 epilogue, and are thinking of that elephant-in-the-room question of “so then how do they get their partners back?” I’m not the Kizuna staff, so I can’t say anything for sure, but I can tell you that 02 gives us some interesting leads here!

You’re probably thinking “weren’t Kizuna and the problem of partnership dissolution made after 02? Isn’t this an Adventure movie? Why are you bringing 02 into this?” Ah, but you see, that might be true if you’re thinking of it on a technical plot level, but 02 as a series isn’t as thematically displaced from Kizuna as you might think, especially when the exact same real-life incident about a kid skipping grades, the one that literally was the foundation for 02′s creation to begin with, was brought back 20 years later for Menoa’s backstory. Certainly, a lot of the plot points introduced in Kizuna are new to it, but the themes and things it wants to say about self-acceptance and how to pursue happiness have very deep parallels to 02 -- which means that it’s not much of a stretch to think that some of the answers to the questions presented in Kizuna can be found in 02, too.

While it’s true that “getting your partner back from adulthood existential-crisis induced disappearance” is not a problem that necessarily presented itself in 02, remember that we’re dealing with a lot of theme parallels here -- a Digimon is part of one’s heart, and the central characters of both narratives (Ken and Menoa) had backstories that came from the same real-life story, one that warns that pressuring a kid into “adult” situations that they’re not emotionally prepared to handle will mess them up and cause them to lose their sense of self. The answer to the question of “how to get a partner back” in Kizuna was only pursued by the very scientifically-minded Menoa, who mashed keys on the keyboard and played around with egg data to get it to work, but this is Digimon, where these kinds of fateful meetings and evolutionary moments happen because of the heart, and everyone depicted lost their partners for reasons related to mentality and not science (remember, Menoa lost Morphomon at 14). Has Menoa done any real introspection in the last eight years? Probably not.

So, back in 02, when Ken did lose his sense of self, he eventually came back to his senses and decided to reclaim Wormmon. Thanks to how the plot worked, Wormmon merely “died” and was set to be reborn at the Village of Beginnings, but...

Just being reborn by the mechanics of the plot wouldn’t do it. Ken would never be able to find Wormmon again until he accepted something else, which is...

...himself. Everything good and bad about him, what he’d done in the past, how he has to move on with that, and how to move on with the person he actually is instead of the shell of the Kaiser. And with that, he is led to Wormmon, and is able to start the process of repairing their relationship.

So the point made here in 02 episode 23 is: one will only be able to be reunited with their partner if they can accept everything about themselves and become able to move on -- something that Menoa, who forced herself into the role of an “adult” in the hopes of getting more acceptance among her peers and eventually drowned herself in nostalgia, was most certainly not doing over the course of the movie.

So anyway, we get to 02 episode 50, and the parallel becomes even less subtle -- “a Digimon partner” is given a very direct correlation to “one’s own personal aspirations and dreams”. If you look back at the entire plot of 02 up to this point, with Ken and the Dark Seed children, all of them have been shoving aside “themselves” and “what they wanted to do” in an effort to please others -- to become well-behaved, studious, athletic, whatever society expected of them, instead of what they wanted to do. 

So all of the kids admit all of the embarrassing, “undignified” dreams that they’d been holding back because they’d felt that they weren’t “allowed” to have them (following Daisuke’s shameless example of admitting that he’s fine with doing something as simple as running a ramen shop), and are encouraged to be a bit shameless about it and forget what society wants them to do, instead of what they want to do. The word “belief” is brought up a lot in this episode -- it’s not just having dreams, you also have to really, truly believe in your ability to make them happen and have the gusto to follow them without restraint.

And so, this strong resolution to have “belief” allows their partners to spontaneously manifest in front of them -- and it’s all but stated that said “dreams” and said partners are equivalent, and even implied that their partners had always existed in their hearts in some form, just not able to truly appear until they fully accepted themselves. Or, in other words, you will only be able to meet your partner when you embrace everything about yourself and what you want to do, regardless of what others think or what society expects of you, and have the will to pursue it.

(By the way, yes. Spontaneously manifest. Even if most of Adventure/02 had been defined by concrete mechanics for the most of it, in the end, this is still a narrative about the human heart before anything else.)

And guess who else learns this lesson by the end of the episode?

When Oikawa, who had been childishly (hmmm) chasing after shallow symbols of his past in order to get it back (hmmmmmm) because he considered himself too much of a “tainted adult” (hmmmm, sounds familiar) back in 02 episode 48, finally comes to realize what his actual mistake was and that he should have been more free about pursuing his dreams instead of accepting Chikara taking them away from him and Hiroki, Oikawa is finally able to reconnect with the partner he’d “lost” all of those years ago (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm). So, again, you will only be able to reunite with your partner once you accept everything about yourself and what you should do from here on out.

(Hey, fun fact: Pipimon also spontaneously appeared in front of Oikawa the moment he accepted this. Although the exact specifics of the current “adulthood” issue were probably not conceived until Kizuna, “not being able to reach a partner that you once had due to cutting your own dreams off” has precedent!)

Moreover, Menoa’s backstory seems practically engineered to make sure that she never witnessed this nor learned this lesson -- she lost her partner “eight years ago”, in 2002, the exact same year the events of 02 took place. Assuming that she lost said partner in the middle of the year (her flashback seems to take place in spring or so, when university admissions results are issued), this would have prevented her from participating in the “world tour” battles around the world in 02 episodes 40-42 and engaging with Daisuke and friends, and particularly from joining in the final fight with BelialVamdemon and therefore witnessing what happened with the Dark Seed children and Oikawa. Which means that her ability to get this cynical about partnership dissolution being “inevitable” and that there’s no way to regain your hopes and dreams was enabled by the fact that she didn’t get to learn the lesson that the Tokyo Chosen Children did all those years ago...

Let’s look at the four who lost their partners over the course of Kizuna. Where were they at the time they lost their partners?

Menoa: Considering herself spurned by other people who “look at her weird” and desperate to “live on her own two feet” and “be useful to the world”, forced herself into the role of an “adult” by getting herself to skip grades into a university setting she was unprepared for, for the sake of recognition more than anything, and ended up living a very lonely life

Taichi: Isolated himself from others for the sake of living independently and “having his own life to live”, losing focus about anything he wanted to do, and allowing himself to get slowly disconnected from Agumon

Yamato: Developed a sense of detachment from his old hobbies and started living life for a “grace period” due to lack of real focus on what he wanted to do

Sora: Started forcing herself into “obligations” to succeed her mother in flower arrangement and from her Chosen Child duties, to the point she isolated herself from others and started losing control over herself

(Funny thing: a big part of 02′s story was about finding support in others and fostering your relationships, and here we are with four people who are slowly “isolating” themselves from others...)

It’s not about “becoming an adult” and losing your partner. It’s about shoving yourself into the societally-enforced standard of an adult and losing yourself in the process, and therefore losing your ability to see your partner.

And so, by the end of Kizuna, all four of them have lost their partners -- but we also see the characters we know and love starting to follow their way to what we know is the 02 epilogue, through some very unsubtle hint dropping (retroactive hints to the careers we’re already aware of, such as Taichi’s future in diplomacy). Which means that the eventual existence of the 02 epilogue is in itself the answer to the question, because the epilogue is: everyone found what they wanted to do and pursued it, and therefore everyone eventually figured out their personal aspirations and what they wanted to do, and were able to accept and pursue it, which was established earlier as the key to meeting your partner.

By the way! It’s also revealed in 02 episode 50 that the Digital World itself is at least partially formed on “the power to materialize emotions” (both positive and negative), which is the explanation for so many phenomena over both Adventure and 02 being related to the human heart, and presumably is also why Digimon partners can even exist to begin with (they’re literally supposed to be a part of the inner self, so the power of the Digital World is what “brings them out”). All four “disappearances” on record happened with all four of them in the real world, fixated on their obligations to society and attempting to turn themselves into model citizens, but all of the above “meetings” with partners in 02 -- and Menoa making true “contact” with Morphomon (inside Eosmon) for the first time since her disappearance -- also happened in the Digital World, the world of idealistic dreams, personal aspirations, and the materialization of people’s emotions.

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #kizuna spoilers

[namjoonchronicles]

closure |nj

↳ pairing namjoon, reader

↳ genre fluff, domestic, established relationship, melodrama

↳ words 3,775k

↳ summary some stories aren't meant to be understood, they're just written to be heard.

↳ warning depression; major death of side character, suicide

↳ song 'feel something' by clairo, 'to love someone else' by avery lynch, 'chernobyl' by alec bailey

Truly, the nights are filled with unspoken stories. When he took your hand in his and looked deep into your eye with those soft concerned gaze, you were home. He cupped your chin, curled a strand of your hair behind your ear and studied your entire face.

“What’s that look?” his voice swam in your semi-consciousness, “I know that look. That look pains me, takes me to the edge, makes me curl my toes, that look…”

Your eyes flutter wondrously at his lashes, his Cupid’s bow and supple lips, along with a stricken smile you asked him quizzically, “I am alright, you have nothing to worry about…”

Namjoon thumbed your cheek and it traced down to your smile line, the curve at the edge of your lips, and you know he felt the trembles as you forced the smile. Namjoon’s eyes trail up to meet yours again, he starts chewing the insides of his cheek, hollowing them.

“You are faking the smile,” and he softens when he sees your eyes gleaming with tears. Upon this, he collected your head into his arms and cushioned by his chest. He passes a long lingering kiss atop of your head, cradling your head while your arms are low on his hip, trying to barely hold on. At the time, he felt like a pillar, holding you together in all your ruins. His stature, the scent of his aftershave, the makings of his shirts and the smell of his skin— it all rushed over your senses like a tsunami. The kind of comfort he was, such a calming presence for a cyclone-bearing human you were.

Rush of emotions. It builds up.

And up.

And up.

And overflows.

You are an enigma Namjoon is scrambling to find out. A tough shell of a crab, with walls built high and thick. Like a lost traveler with a single map that’s ever changing in its path, ever evolving— you were that map. The verandah's wooden panel wet from the late afternoon rain, the hammock under the small roof at the edge, lay static in its place until Namjoon put his enormous weight on it. One leg dangling out, arm spread and waiting for you to grab them. He bracketed your waist and lifted you from the floor and into his lap like a child. He has a bottle of soda by the side, its lid snapped open. Laying your back on his hard, defined pectoral chest, feeling the weight of the world on your shoulder somewhat lifted a bit. Namjoon knows, and he knows this without you saying a word— he knows that you had been fighting many battles alone, and with yourself. The battles had wrung you out, strewn you in and silenced you. Constantly, insistently the world is demanding a piece of you to give out. At this place and time, it seemed incredibly impossible to be at complete peace. You could almost give in— tempted to lay in defeat. You gave it your all, and they gave you nothing.

“It’ll hurt for awhile, but it will get better,” you suddenly broke the silence. Namjoon hummed back, either confused or surprised at the sudden remark. You turned sideways and up, to look at the view of his jaw. He tips his head back, drinking down the soda in his left hand. The thin fabrics of his sleeveless tanks, left almost nothing to the imagination. He tutted his tongue in response to what you said.

“That’s a nice saying…” his voice dropped an octave lower when he is relaxing like this with you. You were the few humans in the world he would appreciate silence with. You switched to face him, him between your legs as you sat up with a big gaping smile on your face, disbelieved.

“You’re the one who told me that…” emphasizing on him. You filled the gaps between his legs with your own, sandwiched as you sat opposed to him. Your toes next to his head and him grinning like he kept a secret from the world. After much struggle to get comfortable, you said,

“You told me that when my grandmother passed away that night in January… I remember it clearly, just like it was yesterday…

I was in the elevator with her lifeless body on the casket and not a drop of tears left my eye…

I started wondering if there was something wrong with me…”

Namjoon wrapped his palm over your ankles— the ankles you hated so much because you think they are unappealing, he thumbs the protruding bone affectionately, brought it to his stomach and started massaging it with his free hand. All the while you were reminiscing.

“And you told me that I was so hurt, I couldn’t cry. How I am used to fabricating my pain for the sake of others… that when I was expected to cry, I couldn’t. And wouldn’t. How I took being strong quite literally…” Your voice slowed down, your eyes casted to the view of his fingers, nimbling over your skin.

“And today, the same thing happened… but today, I chose not to be too strong,” you held your breath for a moment, and exhaled shakily. The emotions aren’t all gone; the remnants are still here, clinging on you like a stubborn stain on the wall left by the old frames that were no longer there. Coiling around you like a shadow at every hint of bright light. The guilt was paralyzing you to the point of tears.

“A friend of mine was taken today…” you painted a smile on your face but Namjoon didn’t etch one, one bit. His fingers stopped massaging briefly, before it continued.

“You’ve met him once, if you remembered, his name is Hoseok,” you wiped a single drop of tear, “He was a firm owner, a lawyer. We met at the convention…”

“... back in 2015.” Namjoon finished your sentences.

At the 2015 International Pharmaceutical Convention, 7 years ago...

Flourishing, the crowd of intelligent people came in with a big proud smile, wearing lanyards of their company. Blazers, heels, jewelries, research posters, new pharmaceutical breakthroughs, projects and investors circles. The big pharma are divided in sections.

Walking toward the condiments vendor for a quick refreshment, you were approached by a man. Tall, his face turned away from your view as he was speaking to another colleague. He hijacked your turn to access the vendors, unknowingly, and you weren’t exactly the kind to speak up when a stranger does this to you, so you backed away a little and forced out a smile, gazing down at your toes.

“Hey, I think I know your name…” this mysterious figure suddenly says, “Still letting others go first before you, huh?” In such a friendly tone, your mind began racing to decipher his voice and face when you shot your gaze up to meet his. The same disarming smile, perfectly lined teeth and just the right amount of cologne, wafted around your nose— was a face familiar from the years back.

“Hoseok? Jung Hoseok?” he mentions his name after a long pause from you.

You were tongue-tied, mind-riddled from such a sudden meeting. You were unprepared and it must have shown all over your face the way he hisses away, wearing a lopsided smile and gruffly saying, “Don’t be like that… Do you really not know me? Have I mistook you for someone else?” He suddenly shifted his weight to another foot, crossed his arm and placed his forefinger under his chin, gazing at the corner of the massive hall, thinking.

“Ankles, and that old wristwatch, it’s definitely you…” his pondering face switches to a cheerful smile in a matter of seconds and you could not have been even more right that this was your old friend whom you hadn’t contacted in years. All the way back in college.

“Oh my, it’s you…!” You gasped, trying to recover from the embarrassing delay, “Wow, you look amazing… How are you! How have you been?”

Hoseok exchanged your late recalling with a burst of laughter of his own.

“I own a firm now,” you heard him say. It was the first thing he said, and it showed just how much pride he took in it. Which was fair. Back then he was struggling to find his footing, trying to find a job and getting rejected at interviews— it was you whom he shared those stories with. Over late night coffee, late night conversations and texts; he talks about his days, sharing with you his strange humors. You were glad that he finally found what he liked to do; at least that's what you assumed he liked because you clearly remembered that he had different interests.

“So what about the photography business? Your freelance job?” you hesitantly asked.

You could see how his smile and whole stature faltered briefly at the mention of it. You knew that his family was against it— was against anything that isn’t bringing back money— passion or not, it wasn’t something his family wanted him to do. Besides, his father’s firm needs managing, and what other way to continue the business if not having a son that is doing law as well.

“Folded,” his cheeks puffed and deflated, “Sold everything including the antique camera, the analogues, the films… everything.”

Your heart thudded strangely. You knew just how much he loved photography. It was the reason why you both got close back then. Your passion to everything artistic and his passion to capture everything beautiful. You remember so well, how his face lights up at the mention of photography, how he was so willing to teach you how to use the cameras you’ve never seen, and how he shares all his work with you, including the new one he was currently working on. You had access to all of his digital work and manuscript. And it was unfortunate that all these had to go away, leaving nothing to the memory. Nothing to hold close. It probably killed him as well. But what could he have done?

“How about you?” the conversation now shifts to your side. You twisted the ring around your ring finger and showed it to him.

“Awesome!” He gleams. So delighted.

“He is here somewhere, I don’t know where he went… but he should find me in a few minutes,” you looked around.

“You were getting something from the vendor?” Hoseok asked, but you shook your head. You don’t feel like drinking now.

Hoseok gradually finds out how your life is, where you’ve worked and places you’ve been.

“And you met Namjoon at work?”

“Pretty much, he is in the investors group. We met once, talking about a big pharma project and he was one of the champions supporting the good cause, so I owed him a lot,” you shrugged as to say, the rest is history.

“So he made you marry him to pay up all your emotional debts?” Hoseok jokes.

“Not exactly but… you know how I am. I can be very difficult to convince, especially when I am so comfortable with the lifestyles I already have. I dread to be a housewife so when he understood that, everything else falls into place,” you added and caught a tall figure walking along the hallway, dashing in his slick back hair, lanyards dangling.

Blazers flailing, white dress shirt and slacks make up the shapes of his defined abs and thighs. He walks with his head hanging slightly downwards as if he was trying not to catch anyone’s attention but was failing. Everyone turned their head towards him the moment he stepped inside the hall.

He stopped midway and tugged his left sleeve back. His Patek Phillipe Nautilus shimmering handsomely under the spotlight as he studied the time. He lifts his eyes up to scan the room through his brows and pursed lips, wondering where his wife was at the promised time.

You raised your arm slightly and the smoldering figure of a man twitches a big smile and a small bite on his lower lip, making his way to you. Completely aware about the man that was nearby you as he plants a chaste, enveloping kiss on your lips.

“This is Namjoon, Kim Namjoon…” You placed your hand on the small of his back and he reached out to Hoseok first for a handshake, again, his wristwatch peeking out when he covers the handshake with the left hand.

“Sweetheart, this is Hoseok, Jung Hoseok. He is a lawyer…” you introduced them both and Hoseok handed him his name card. Namjoon waits for you to further elaborate how you seemed so friendly with this man. And you can’t say that Hoseok was in-fact your old best friend whom you cut connections with because you’ve had feelings for him when he was in love with someone else. So you say, “An old friend.”

You sighed in relief when Namjoon didn’t catch the extended pause, but you can’t help thinking that he might question more later in the ride home. But for now, Namjoon’s bright smile seems to captivate the whole room’s attention. Small talks, and brief discussion about the direction of the convention and what he thinks about it, comes naturally. But he makes sure you don’t feel left out by the conversation by constantly adding your pharma company name in the picture.

“Had it not been my darling, the company would have gone downhill with their outdated scheduling methods and utter refusal to accept reformations according to modernization,” Namjoon added, and while he says so, so professionally and with full alluring prospects of a seasoned business man, his hand was trailing down the curve of your ass and gently squeezing them— out of Hoseok’s sight. Had you been a terrible pretender, you would have moaned out of context. You can thank your overflowing control for that. You were also cursing his name in the back of your mind and he will have an earful of it when you get home later.

“She single-handedly save the multi-billionaire company from their biggest downfall from the company’s incompetent leader,” Hoseok added, “Also they had a lot of legal issues at the time. I was in-charge of the corporate files before they shifted to joint-venture with Daehan Pharmaceuticals… it was a mess already. Corruption, bribes and unreliable auditing data.”

“Wait…” you intruded, “You were in the pharma that long? So we could have met?”

Hoseok gave you a lopsided smile and nodded. He further explained how he kept sending his colleagues to do site visits because he wants to avoid seeing you. This is where Namjoon begins to realise that you guys might be more than just friends because he asked,

“Why is that?”

Hoseok began his answer with a shrug of his shoulder and pursing his lips. After a brief thought, he admits, “Because at the time, we weren’t talking anymore. She would know why,” He opens his mouth to say more, but glancing down at your wedding ring, he didn’t.

If Hoseok remembered clearly, he was talking to you about a girl he had been pursuing. It was the first time he ever revealed something like that, all along you knew each other. You were studying for your final year and had been bludgeoned with assignments. There wasn’t a right time to tell you until one day on April 17th, he said he was finally going to ask this girl if she would be his girlfriend. A little info on her was that she was in a toxic relationship she was trying to get out from. She didn’t ask Hoseok to wait, but Hoseok was so in love with her, he didn’t mind how long it would take. She requested for time and space. Another man claimed her as his girlfriend when she didn’t say yes or no. Another two were also after her. Her ex boyfriend returned after months of leaving her. Just at the same time Hoseok was allowing her in his life.

When he shared you that information, you felt so betrayed somehow. He was always preaching about how being single is the best way to live and he turned around and did things like this. Pursuing a relationship. You were stubborn, you had egos you wanted to defend. Everything regarding relationships, you refuse to acknowledge. And any slight differences in your opinions were enough to break a relationship, even a strong friendship like you and Hoseok shared at the time. You once confessed to Hoseok that you liked him and he couldn’t return the same feelings. So you accused him of loving someone else and he denied that. When this happened, you felt like you were lied to. Because Hoseok, at the time that you two knew each other, was already having eyes on someone else, treating you as a placeholder, sharing emotions until the girl was eventually available for him.

Then he dropped you.

Things would have been different if he just told the truth. That he was indeed in love with someone when you confessed to him. Things would be much easier and it wouldn’t have gone deeper than it was. You would have walked away, unhurt and without knowing each other at a depth that you’d have to crawl out from. But Hoseok didn’t want to lose you. For some reason, he kept the friendship despite being unable to return your feelings, fabricating attention and giving hopes that he might one day change his feelings. Had you walked out earlier, you wouldn’t have resorted to deleting all contacts with him. His Instagram account, all his numbers, his pictures, galleries. The assignments he helped you with, the emotional support, the ice cream dates and late night phone calls. You would take it all away.

You deleted him from your life, only for him to tiptoe around the same company as yours— afraid of being known but unsure of what he did wrong. You decided that you would punish him that way. By leaving him with no answers of why you left.

“Will you be joining the closing ceremony dinner at Hyatt?” Namjoon politely asked. Noticing that the conversation had run down.

“Perhaps I will. I have to keep the firm going for the wife and kids to eat,” Hoseok perked up, and it was the first time he ever revealed about his marital status all through the conversation.

“Oh, you married her?” the delight in your voice was sincere, you are so happy for him. But his answers weren’t what you expected.

“No I didn’t. She left me for someone else, she was never honest with me, and I was only hearing the things I wanted to hear,” Hoseok rubs his knuckle and politely excused himself when he saw Namjoon was approached by an entourage of bodyguards that guide you and your husband to the next section of the convention. No numbers were exchanged to insinuate a rekindled relationship. It’s like you both understood that you could never return to what you were before. You both are leading different lives now, with different people and different phases. But you hoped he knew just how much he meant to you back then.

Hoseok walked away with a lightened shoulders. Now that he has seen you face-to-face and sure of what life you’re living, he felt a little at ease and a little envious. In the car you once rode with him, this broken-down Honda Civic, divorce papers were scattered on the front seat. The top-most letter being the child custody granted to his wife. His firm is also on the verge of bankruptcy and he was laid off from his contract with the pharma, this convention being the last one he will ever attend. After you left his life, he was burdened with one bad luck after the other. And he was at his last strand of hope when he came to the building. He saw you gracefully presenting on the stage about the medication you have been working on, like how he always wished to see. You were so cool, so engaging, so intelligent in your presence. Namjoon is the ultimate husband you wished for, and of course, you would concede for a man that was at your level. Knowing you as long as he did, you will not settle for less and that’s final. No discussion.

Life is good for you.

Inserting his car keys inside the keyhole, telling himself that, “That’s the price of breaking a pure heart.”

Empty bottle of soda laying on the wooden panel. Your tear-stained face, sleeping on your side under the starry night sky, while Namjoon watched you intently. He covers you with a blanket and lets you sleep. He walked inside the house, and vanished to his home office. In it, he fetches his phone and turns on his table lamp, making a call that was immediately taken.

“I want you to find the burial information on a lawyer Jung Hoseok and send some condolences bouquet,” he instructed with a low voice. The short voice call felt heavy but necessary. Hoseok’s passing was detrimental to his wife’s mental and emotional health— it was important for him and her to get the closure they both needed.

Judging from her frail figure, she won’t be able to attend the funeral. Cremation was planned as requested by Hoseok. His children will not be attending, neither is his wife. The last thing Hoseok wanted was his funeral attended by the people that was the reason for his passing. For years, he had been battling depression and anxiety. It has been a long, lonely fight.

Namjoon watches the silhouette of you, standing against the setting sun, in your all-black attire and hair tied in a bun, hugging yourself. Wind blowing the strands of your hair back at every strike. Your diamond ring twinkling at the light it reflects. The sound of traffic in the distance, honks and vehicles throttling far away.

“The funeral ended gracefully…” Namjoon broke the silence.

You dropped your head and tutted your tongue, smiling weakly.

“It’s not your fault, darling…” your husband’s footsteps padded through the wooden floors to where you were.

“Then why does it hurt so bad? Why does it still hurt so Goddamn much?!” you shrieked.

Namjoon collected you in his arms, so you would rest your head on his sturdy chest, and he whispered, barely audibly heard by you,

“Because when you love, you love with everything you have. I know that much.”

It was then he realized that one is only allowed the closure they deserved;

And, no closure is also a closure.

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copyright © january 4th, 2021 namjoonchronicles do not repost, and thank you for reading <3

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↳ author’s note it's been awhile, i feel like i've been waiting for my personal life to overflow before i could write something. this is just an excuse to use 'that' picture of namjoon for the banner of a story. how are you? i've recently cut contacts with someone i hold dearly in my life. upon the break, it gave me back the emotions i used to have when i am writing. all this while, i have wasted my feeling, my elaborated word choices on someone who hardly appreciate it. with him gone, i started to think clearer and see things for what they are. i am no longer shrouded by dark grey clouds of uncertainty as i was with him. it was a difficult shift, but i feel better now that he is gone from my life. i dropped a tear or two not because of the love i used to feel for him, but because i felt incapable of being loved the way i yearned. this is the second day after i broke all connection with the said man/boy/creature. i feel liberated after the whole story was written. i needed him killed in my mind. so i wrote it just that. i've returned to where i was before, and i feel absolutely fine.

#closure #moonchildnetwork #bangtanarmynet #hyunglinenetwork #btsguild #thekimlinenet #kimnamjoonnet #established relationship #namjoon fics #kim namjoon #namjoon ff #bts fanfic #bts rm fanfic #namjoon #reader insert #husband namjoon #nj ff #rm fanfic #namjoon fanfic #bangtan fics #knj fics #knj fanfic #namjoon fanfiction #namjoon fluff #angst #tw: mental health #tw: depressive episode

[haleigh-sloth]

Hello,

I just found your page and after reading some of your mha posts had a couple things I wanted to ask if that's ok.

1. Since you feel Hawks is not justified because he could have chosen options other than killing Twice, do you think he would have been had he genuinely been made to choose between killing him and saving others? I.e. do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others? If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).

2. This might very well be a stupid question, but if we consider that heroes shouldn't treat others as an it and put them down for the "sake of society", do you feel this ought to extend to AFO too? I really don't mean to use this as a gotcha moment or anything like it, but I feel like if MHA is trying to move away from a punitive justice system in favour of a rehabilitative/restorative one, we ought to consider where people like AFO fall into this system as well. AFO is seemingly entirely unlike any of the other villains in the show, but if we judge that he deserves a different fate for this it also feels like playing into the "Some people just can't be saved" notion that's been perpetuated by hero society. It is of course entirely possible, if not likely, that he'll fall in battle, or that Shigaraki himself will kill him eventually, but I feel like that skirts the issue rather than answer it. As someone who does not seem to show any remorse, desire or even ability to be saved, and in fact feels rather inhuman, what should a reformed society even do with him? Even if we could convincingly argue him to be fundamentally different and thus deserving of punishment, it is much easier for us readers who have more information to make this call, rather than in-universe characters whose judgement will inevitably be based on something less than the full truth. So even if AFO's case in particular was easily answered, it would set a precedent for cases that may appear similar, but in truth be less clear cut. Basically, I believe you feel the villain league deserves another chance because they were victims of their circumstances, and thus not necessarily beyond salvation, because they never knew normality to begin with, but what about those who were not victims, those who by their nature have insurmountable trouble fitting into a peaceful society? Perhaps it's just my mistaken assumption that such people exist and I'm reading AFO wrong, or perhaps it's the opposite and I'm giving people like AFO undue consideration, or perhaps my assumption that AFO ought to be treated as a person rather than a carocature, a symbol, is flawed to begin with, but I just really don't think a manga that wants to argue that villains are people too should go "but here's THIS vile piece of shit, let's kill him!". Am I making sense here?

3. On another note, what do you think of Endeavor's recent speech and general recent development? I've seen some people who were upset by his "Would it fix everything if we showed you our tears" line, but rather than him being dismissive or callous I just see it as him awkwardly saying that he doesn't think anything other than actions can help him atone for what he did. He's still got a lot to work through, but him recognizing that he's got something to atone for and freely talking about what he did to his family is, as I find, certainly a huge step in the right direction.

WHOO hey! Sorry for taking a while to respond. You gave me some really well thought-out questions and I wanted to return the favor with well thought-out answers. Also I was heckin busy yesterday when you sent this. So, here we go:

To answer this question about Hawks, I first need to clarify what it means to be a hero in the eyes of the story that is BNHA:

This honestly doesn’t even make a dent in the amount of panels in BNHA that reiterate time and time again that heroes SAVE people, but I don’t feel like I should have to spend too much time looking for them, these I used above should suffice. The one with baby Midoriya and baby Tenko doesn’t even have any words in the panel, and it’s still powerful enough to get the message across. And make me cry.

Almost every story has its own “heroes” in it. And every story’s definition of a hero is different. In Marvel and DC superhero comics and movies, the heroes usually end up killing the villains, yes? I can’t say I’m familiar with these stories because they aren’t interesting to me in the slightest, but from the ones I HAVE seen, the final boss at the end dies. But all of the heroes get to keep their title of “hero”. That’s not really the standard we have in BNHA.

“Do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others?”

So this is a fair point and I feel that the best way to answer this is by asking what you consider self defense? Say Hawks is at home mad chillin and not prepared for a fight in the slightest, and somebody breaks into his house and starts trying to hurt/kill him. He’s unprepared and at this point just trying to keep himself alive. If he ends up killing the guy, is he wrong? In my opinion, no. In real life this happens to people, and they aren’t considered murderers, as they shouldn’t be. To me, self defense is a situation where:

It’s either you or me. It’s one or the other.

I think it’s fair to say what happened with Hawks and Twice was absolutely NOT self defense. I’m not going to go into detail about how deciding to kill Twice was absolutely 100% premeditated, because there’s a wonderful post by someone else that already explains that in great detail here. But I’ll end this thought by saying that Hawks was not committing an act of self defense.

Nothing about this says “self-defense” to me.

“If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).”

To make it simple for some people to understand these terms:

“Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on OUTCOMES.“ In a nutshell, utilitarian ethics means you make a decision based on how it will affect everything else.

“In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.” In a nutshell, deontological ethics means you make a decision based on whether it follows rules or not.

So this is a complicated question, and my answer to this is....both? Throughout BNHA we’ve had this dilemma over and over again:

Break the rules and save the day? Or follow the rules and possibly suffer the consequences? Well, BNHA just says “Yes” lol. Do both. Break the rules and save the day. Make a decision based on the consequences of said decision, but also try to follow the rules as best as you can. Even in reality, people do this to get through life. You really can’t live life under a strict utilitarian approach or a strict deontological approach. If Midoriya hadn’t persisted against his classmates and the law to go save Bakugo, he WOULD have gotten kidnapped AGAIN. They were actively trying to take him with them. If Midoriya didn’t break the rules to save Kota, Kota would have straight up DIED. Muscular was actively trying to kill Kota, not to mention Kota had zero ways of defending himself. But here’s where I don’t think this is a fair comparison:

Hawks claims his killing of Twice was to save others. I don’t completely disagree with this logic, if the situation was more dire and dangerous for Hawks. The league was taking peoples’ lives. Somebody had to do something. The problem is that Twice was RUNNING AWAY when Hawks killed him. Twice wasn’t fighting Hawks back, he wasn’t endangering Hawks himself. Hawks stabbed him in the back. AND Hawks had Dabi to worry about, who was actively trying to attack Hawks. But Hawks chose to murder Twice instead of fending off Dabi. And if you refer back to the post I linked above about how it was a premeditated decision to kill Twice, you’ll see that Hawks had the capability of knocking Twice unconscious. He should have done this from the get go. And honestly? There are other heroes who could have captured Twice. There SHOULD have been other heroes to capture Twice. If Hawks was the only hope for the heroes in that war then jeez, the heroes suck at their jobs.

So TLDR for this question: Hawks’s circumstances were not drastic enough for him to be justified in killing Twice. As I said above, self-defense is one thing, where yes I could understand how if a life is lost while defending oneself is probably inevitable in some cases. But this wasn’t self defense. Twice was running away. Hawks should also be able to rely on his hero comrades to help him out.

Instead Hawks chose to be law-enforcement, judge, and executioner all in one moment.

I hope this answers your question? I tried my best. If I misunderstood or missed a talking point, feel free to shoot me a message or another ask.

Next question:

Believe me. I have thought about this! What about AFO? He’s human too isn’t he? You have a point. Should the restorative justice system extend to AFO? I would say yes. If I’m going to stick to my guns that the villains deserve restorative justice and not punitive justice, I should be fair and say it should extend to all villains.

The problem is not in the idea of exploring saving AFO, it’s just that there simply isn���t enough time to explore this in the story. If Horikoshi had said “I’m not going anywhere guys! We’re in this for the long haul!” I’d say it’s possible to explore that route. We don’t know anything about AFO except from what we’ve seen on screen, and what we’ve been told by All Might and the other OFA holders. Which still isn’t much to go on. You’re not giving AFO undue consideration. It’s definitely a deserved consideration. There are people in the story (and the real world) who may not be victimized in any way and end up being villains. Do they deserve a chance? I’d say yes. It’s in my nature as a social worker irl to give people the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance to learn. You’re right that in the end, the league being saved and the characters not considering what could have led AFO to villainy is just “skirting around the problem.” And honestly, that’s probably what we’re going to get. I wouldn’t be surprised for the thought to pass in Midoriya’s head. After saving somebody like Shigaraki, who everybody in the story (and many readers) considered to be “too far gone”, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Midoriya entertained the thought for a brief moment. “What could have saved AFO from himself?” So honestly I don’t have an answer to this question that qualifies both sides. I can’t say that AFO is “too far gone” without undermining that fact that I never believed Shigaraki was “too far gone”, simply because we don’t get to decide what “too far gone” is.  All I can say is that in the eyes of the story, there are far too many differences between AFO’s circumstances and Shigaraki’s circumstances to compare the two, and say they deserve the same type of sympathy from us readers.

Truly I have no sympathy for AFO, because the story doesn’t ask for it. The story wants sympathy for Shigaraki, Toga, Touya, Spinner, and even a tiiiiiny bit for Overhaul. It asks for NONE for AFO.

Another post I’ll link here that isn’t by me but by another awesome meta blogger (@hamliet​) is this.

In a nutshell it says:

It’s not that AFO can’t be saved, it’s that he won’t. That’s the best answer I can give to that question honestly.

As for the third question:

That press conference was just...eh. I mean yeah, Endeavor not denying the allegations was good. Not that he really could anyway. It sucks for the rest of his family though. But at the same time Touya deserved his revenge, even though it was at the expense of his siblings and mother. It sucks, it’s a double edged sword because somebody is hurting no matter what was gonna happen. Endeavor was an asshole to that lady but I don’t really care too much. I’m really torn on what I think is going on inside Enji’s head because the Todofam is either extremely dense, or Horikoshi is writing their dialogue extremely vague on purpose to keep reader’s on the edge of their seats regarding what they want to do about Touya. I really don’t know. I’m not thrilled with the way the Todofam plot is being written right now, even though I’m 100% sure Touya is going to get his happy ending. But right now anything to do with the Todofam that isn’t Shoto and Touya just bothers me. I don’t think Enji really understands yet what he has to do for Touya. Yes he recognizes that he has to atone, but he’s not recognizing HOW he has to atone. Right now he’s still stuck in that “I have to be a hero to absolve my crimes against my family” headspace and I don’t think he’s going to get out of that headspace until he comes face to face with his son and realizes that he can’t just fight villains and go home to a happy family that he terrorized for 20 years. He’s going to have to let his family go, let them decide when to let him back in, if they ever do (I think they will just because of the way the story is being written.) As a reader, Enji is just a character that I cannot vibe with, no matter what happens. I definitely appreciate his role in the story. His role is vital to Touya’s saving and redemption. Touya is in my top 3 favorite characters from this series and I’m emotionally invested. So while I appreciated Enji’s role in the story, I don’t like his character or anything to do with him, at least until it comes time to help save his son. Also the trio of Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Enji just gives me major back the blue vibes and I just can’t read their chapters and be in a good mood lol.

Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered everything! This was fun to answer!

#bnha #bnha asks #ask haleigh #i guess that's what i'll call my ask tag lmao #boku no hero academia #bnha 306 #mha 306 #my hero academia #todofam #todoroki shoto #todoroki touya #todoroki enji #bnha endeavor #hawks #best jeanist #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #shimura tenko #afo #all for one

[sapphic-scylla]

@sapphic-alcina-dimitrescu

Name: Haley

Age: 27

Pronouns: They/She

Gender Identity: Non-binary

Race:Tiefling

Color: Lavender

Horns: Two small Black Horns jutting from her forehead

Sexual Orientation: Sapiosexual Polyamorous

Height: 5’7”

Weight: 170 lbs (due to her arm and leg being mechanical)

Eyes: A fiery orange

Hair: Jet black pixie cut

Skills and abilities: Battle Forge Artificer-A mechanical genius, they know how to fix and build just about anything. They have a companion named Pegs.

Pegs: Aeorian Warforged model automaton who functions as Haley’s defender and assistant. Mainly fights with melee, but also can shift his arm into a cannon and fire at enemies from a distance with fireballs. Their strength is much more than that of most humans. Can communicate to a fairly decent degree.

Gunslinger: Haley is also an experienced sharpshooter and a master of any gun imaginable. Her master creation, besides Pegs, is her Aeorian Multitool, lovingly named Bella. Bella can shift between a Winchester lever action rifle, dual revolvers, a minigun, a shotgun, and a grapple gun, all of which can switch between incendiary rounds, acid coated rounds, cryo rounds, and chaos rounds.

Personality: They’re a perfectionist. They cannot leave a project without feeling like it’s done right. They’re also kind of a ditz in the most affectionate sense of the word. Their short term memory is a nightmare though. They can get so enraptured with someone or something that they cannot remember for the life of them what they were doing beforehand. They love a fight even if they prefer to fight at a range.

Backstory: Haley never had a last name. They were born an orphan when their family was attacked when they were very young by slave traders. The traders took them to a weapon forge and they grew up learning everything there was to know about mechanical engineering, becoming a prodigy in the process.

As they grew up, they lived in this dismal cave deep underground with the rest of these indentured servants and never knew sunlight. They were tasked with forging weapons and armor for the Jagentoth crime syndicate and Haley learned everything they could from each person they worked with, but slowly, they began to build a plan.

Year after year, Haley slowly took armor and pieces of machinery from their forge and started to construct an automaton away from the prying eyes of their supervisors. A couple days after her tenth birthday, the automaton clicked on. Unprepared for that to happen, Haley was immediately caught by their supervisors. As punishment, they were held against a wall and had their left arm removed just below the elbow.

They were then forced to watch as the supervisor brought a hammer and attempted to break the automaton, which probably would have worked if the automaton didn’t immediately fight back. The robot grabbed the main supervisor and choked him to death. In the moment of chaos, Haley grabbed their tools and jammed them into the other supervisor's left eye. As he screamed, Haley rallied the other servants into a revolt and the entire forge fell into chaos.

As Haley walked out of the cave, they took their first breath of fresh air and sight of sunlight as the automaton followed. Haley walked for several days before they came to Uthodurn, where they constructed a makeshift arm from loose parts. As they looked through the archives, they discovered the existence of an ancient city buried in ice and snow in the far north. Using their sleight of hand and charisma, they worked for two years, gathering enough tools, supplies, coin, and skill to chart a voyage northward to the city of Aeor.

The trek was brutal. Not willing to leave their companion, Pegs, behind, Haley continued to fix their mechanical friend due to freezing circuits. It became so bad that Haley’s right leg eventually succumbed to frostbite. Hope began to dwindle as Haley and their companion slowly started to lose their energy. Right when they thought they were going to die, as they trudged through ice and snow, they reached the outskirts of the city.

Haley immediately began to tear through the city’s massive collection of research. With Pegs as their assistant, Haley cut off their dead leg and replaced it, as well as their mechanical arm with a much more reliable Aeorian-make prosthetic model. They also constructed a multipurpose magical weapon to defend themselves from the world.

Pegs became entirely Aeorian as Haley found blueprints for Warforged automatons and they infused their ideas with Aeor’s personal archives.

After five years, eventually, Haley, using their own ingenuity, created a teleporter and transported them and Pegs back to civilization.

They found themselves in Kamordah, a few hours south of Rexxentrum where they lived for several years as they made a name for themselves as one of the greatest blacksmiths of all time while gaining gunslinger experience from Baron Gargah, an old adventurer who lived next door.

After living in Kamordah for a decade with Pegs, Haley decided they wanted to see the world and gather more knowledge about the universe and how everything came to be, so they built their own Planeshifter. As they were about to take the maiden voyage, something went horribly wrong as a malfunction grabbed her and Pegs and she appeared in the middle of a castle, staring at three girls who continued to pore over notes…

#haley the tiefling

[hiatus-for-forever]

Hitoshi Shinsou x Neko?Reader

Summary: Shinsou’s crush is tricked into eating something that turns her into a half-cat half-human

A/N: If you know where I got this idea and picture, we have to talk. So I was supposed to post this 2 days ago and I thought I did but I found it on my drafts and checked my acc and it wasn’t posted

Qurik: Not specified

Genre/Warnings: Fluff, cursing, lack of Bakugou

WC: 1,346

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a Wednesday when the group started scheming. The Bakusquad had been trying to help you and Shinsou get together, as pushy supportive friends do. You weren’t really part of their squad, you hung out with the casually and did so with the Dekusquad, and with everyone else. You were more of a social butterfly, spending time with anyone you felt like. 

Which is why you befriended Shinsou. You lost your way one day looking for the teacher’s lounge to give papers to your advisor, Aizawa. You went to the first person seemingly heading to the same direction as you and asked them for help. He was the guy. He questioned you if you knew who he was, assuming you knew he had a brainwash quirk. You said no, you were to busy preparing for your battle to watch his and Deku’s. 

You and he got close, everyone cheered him on but no one could lie that they were completely comfortable with him, and he could tell. You, on the other hand and quite a few people in Class A, were not afraid of him whatsoever. 

Even so, you were the kindest person he met. You would actually go out of your way to find him to eat lunch together, you would invite him to hangouts, often you being the one he stays with a lot during those. You were also pretty. Very pretty. You had received confessions before from other guys but turned them down. You were holding out for someone, you didn’t know who, but it was fairly obvious to everyone all around.

Everyone could tell you were in love with Shinsou, except for you and him, obviously, and they made it their mission to get you two together. You didn’t know why you were in love with him, I mean, you didn’t know you were in love with him, but still. Maybe it was his kindness towards you, reflecting yours to him, or maybe it was the general way he treated you. His comfort when you’re going through a rough time, or how much he radiated safety, you loved to be around him. You also trusted him with your life, he has never used his quirk on you without permission and when he did it was always jokingly to steal your snacks. It was never a big deal. 

He loved you for the same things. You were one of the first people he met who trusted them fully. You two got along really well, only having fights when t’s about each others health or grades. You two were protective of each other as well, he often got jealous of all the men confessing to you and you would scold him if he slept too late. He found it endearing because it showed how much you cared for him.

Anyway, this Wednesday your friends were plotting a scheme. There was a new product being sold in a bakery exclusive to Musutafu, it was a quirk-infused cookie that could temporarily make you part-human, part-animal. It came with a wavier that you have to sign and it would last 12 hours. There are cookies to make you part dog, cat, bunny, and even panda. It was also pretty expensive, it cost the same as a pack of cookies but instead it was only a small square cookie. 

Yaoyorozu was the one who bought it as a favor to Ashido and she and Kirishima planned it and asked the group to go along with the plan. They explained that they would invite you on a hangout and you would obviously bring Shinsou with you and they would make an excuse for you to eat the cookie and you would turn into a cat. 

“Wait why a cat?” Kaminari asked

“CUZ! Shinsou likes cats and we’ll force him to take care of Y/N” Ashido explained

“How do you know he likes cats?” Kaminari asked, not paying attention to anything

“Y/N talks about him all the time” Yaoyorozu sighed, “Anyway, this should be enough for a cookie” she said, handing them bills from her wallet

They all thanked her with a promise of telling her how it goes before leaving and perfecting their plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday eventually rolled around, you got Shinsou to join you and the group and you all were on a train to wherever the next stop is. You sat next to Shinsou, him not as familiar with this group of people as he is with Midoriya’s. He looked over your shoulder as you scrolled through Twitter, looking at the shit that was on your feed. You both snickered whenever you saw something funny, only fueling the determination your group had to set you two up.

The train stopped moving at one point and both of you had gotten up. You held his wrist, not to letting him stray away as he did once before, and guided him to the exit. You all left the train station and went to the closest cluster of food stalls and vendors, hoping to find food and stuff to look at or even waste money on. 

You and Shinsou walked together ahead due to your constant pulling. You went to every stall, guided by the smell, and looked at other cute stuff to buy, dragging Shinsou along with you. The group behind you went to enact the scheme, knowing how Shinsou’s eyes were glued to you as you moved about, cheerful and full of energy contradicting the tired demeanor you held toward the end of the weekdays. He looked at you with so much adoration his eyes could turn into hearts. 

When you had the idea to go look for a restaurant to have lunch in, you had lead the group to a space with less people, stopping at the front of a sushi place. Ashido had pulled the cookie wrapped in plastic out of her bag, before jogging lightly to catch up to you. 

“Hey Y/N, I saw this as a free sample and I thought you missed it, do you want it?” she asked

She knew you loved getting free samples, because of course you do. You thanked her and unwrapped the cute cookie. It was a small square with a cute cat design on it. You immediately stuffed it in your mouth, wondering why the group was just standing around. The cookie tasted strange, it was sweet like a normal sugar cookie with the royal frosting on top but there was an underlying bitter and somewhat fishy taste.

Before you could ask you felt something weird, you felt your ears shift and you’re hearing had sharpened, your vision had changed too, it was weird. Some shadows had become lighter, as if they weren’t there, and reds looked more like greens as purples had dulled to blues. An unknown weight was felt in your lower back as you felt something on your body. Nothing was on your legs or arms so you didn’t know where your new limb was. 

You were gonna ask what the hell they gave you before your hands started to tingle. Your wide eyes went to your hands, they had fur all over and contorted to be smaller and... cuter. They were paws. Oh shit. Finally you felt the same tingling sensation on each side above your lips, knowing that these were probably whiskers.

“THE FUCK” you exclaimed

Your group was all excited though, “Woah, it worked!” and “I haven’t seen that” was tossed around

Your eyes went to Shinsou’s, who was also as shocked as you were, “Did you know about this?” 

“No, what the hell happened to you?”

“She turned into a cat!” Ashido said excitedly

“The fuck did you give me?” you said in a normal volume not liking the loud sound

“It was a cookie that made you into a cat-person! It lasts 12 hours!” Sero explained

“12 hours? I’m screwed” you said

“Oh yeah and you should start acting like a cat soon too” Kaminari added

You exhaled exasperatedly and looked at them with tired but mad eyes, “Ugh let’s just eat our lunch before any of that happens” 

You walked inside and got a booth next to the window, you sat next to Shinsou a little closer than needed with a gap that separated you and Kaminari. Shinsou sat next to the window, the quietest option available, with Ashido in front of him, Sero, Kirishima and Bakugou next to her in that order. 

Your sense of smell had actually gotten stronger and you could sniff out the scent of Shinsou’s cologne, which is probably why you sat so close to him. He didn’t complain though, he was enjoying the lack of space between you two, deciding to not let the opportunity slide, he just let it happen. He loved being this close to you anyway, he liked seeing the twitch of your nose and the small smile that played on your lips. 

The moment was cut short by the waiter coming to take your order, Shinsou was too busy staring at you and you were too busy sniffing him (not in a weird way), so you had just fumbled and ordered the first item you saw on the menu. It was salmon sashimi, nothing you hadn’t tasted before so you wouldn’t have to worry about not liking it. Shinsou ordered the same thing, slightly panicked and unprepared.

You had turned to Shinsou, talking about the stupid things these guys do including turning you into a neko. He had, in turn, complimented the soft paws, admitting they were cure and pressing lightly on the soft pads that had triggered the claws and caused them to pop up. You did admit it was kinda cool, you could hear better and your senses were hightened. In exchange the color’s were a little weird and your pants had to be pushed down to let the tail out.

The light chatter continued until the food came and only then did you realize the problem. You tried to pick up your chopsticks but it took both of your paws to keep them from falling, and even so, you couldn’t manipulate it to pick up food. Everyone had noticed but no one wanted to help you, “Hey can someone help?” you asked, annoyed

Everyone just looked down at their food and at each other, making it known that they were ignoring you. You huffed, trying again to pick up the pair of chopsticks, but before one could fall from your paws Shinsou had gotten them from you, using their to bring a piece of salmon to you lips. You muttered a ‘thank you’ as someone finally decided to help and let him feed you, taking the piece into your mouth. 

He placed your chopsticks down using his own to eat his food. It wasn’t until you had asked him to feed you again did he comply, putting a piece to your mouth, not noticing how Ashido had snapped a picture of you. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You and your group were back on the train, it was almost empty except for the seven of you. The time spent on the outing had been cut short due to your angered demand to go back to the dorms. You sat next to Shinsou, the rest of the group across from you because you were mad at them. You had latched onto his arm all day out of instinct and you enjoyed it, tail going side to side, despite being infuriated with you other friends.

He kept touching your whiskers curiously, coming back to tickle them even as you swatted his hands away. Your nose twitched in annoyance as his fingertips came in contact with the sensitive whiskers again, you sighed, “Stop” you whined. 

“I thought you liked that,” he said, confused, “I’m tryng to cheer you up ‘cuz you’ve been grumpy”

“It tickles then it becomes itchy,” you explained, leaning your head on him and rubbing against it, both a comforting feeling and a slightly possessive one, as you felt the need to mark him with your scent

“Hmm,” he put a finger on hid chin, thinking of how to turn your upset mood around, “lie down”

You didn’t know why he would ask this off you, but still you complied. You lay your head on his lap, hyper aware of your friends’ eyes on you but paying no mind to it nonetheless. Shinsou held an obnoxiously long hoodie string over your head, you squinting for a second before getting the urge to disturb its still state.

You hit it with your paw making it swing. The momentum was too steady and slow for you so you hit it again, and again, and again, not letting it return to its resting form. Shinsou eyes you, pupils like thin slits as you glared at the string, toying with it adorably. The others watched bemusedly at your battle with the long hoodie string and this time, you couldn’t notice them at all.

It wasn’t until you heard Shinsou’s chuckle did your attention turn away from the dangling target. You looked at him, bewildered at your own actions. You then realized you were acting like a cat, your attitude and urges similar to theirs. You sat back up, glaring at the floor, “Damn, I am a cat now.” You looked back at your friends “How long did you say this lasts?”

“Twelve hours” Shinsou replied from beside you. 

You groaned, “Is there something else I can eat to reverse this?”

Ashido looked slightly guilty, she thought you would enjoy this more and to think she made you upset made her upset. “Why do you hate t anyway? It’s not thta bad. It’s actually pretty cute” she chirped, “other than the fact you’re more territorial now”

“Am not!” you snapped

“Yes you are! You won’t let anyone get near Shinsou!” Kaminari objected

“That is not true!” you said back

Ashido sauntered over to you and Shinsou “If it’s not then you wouldn’t mind if I claim this, would you” she tilted Shinsou’s head up and leaned in close

“What are you doing?” Shinsou whispered, a scowl on his face

You looked at them, mortified. Ashido noticed the change in your expression and her eyes widened. With her reflexes, she instantly moved back to doge your claws, barely, as you were able to slice of a few strands of hair. Your growling had effectively made her back off as you straddled Shinsou’s lap, closing your eyes with a slight frown and crashed your lips onto his. 

Ignoring his yelp as you pulled him closer, kissing him harder. He eventually wrapped his arms around you as you grinned at your new claim. Once you pulled away you buried your face in the crook of his neck, rubbing your scent glands around his, making a silent promise, ‘You’re mine’

#shinsou #hitoshi #shinsou hitoshi #hitoshi shinsou #shinso #shinso hitoshi #hitoshi shinso #shinsou x reader #hitoshi x reader #shinsou hitoshi x reader #hitoshi shinsou x reader #shinso x reader #shinso hitoshi x reader #hitoshi shinso x reader #bnha x reader #bnha fluff #bnha imagines #shinso fluff #shinsou fluff

[writings-of-a-daphodil]

Fire Keeper: Chapter 13.5

Douxie x fem reader

Chapter 1

Masterlist in bio!

Series Summary: You are Jim’s older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures.

Chapter 13.5 summary: You meet some special siblings who are new to Arcadia.

You hummed as you admired a pretty suitcase. It was just your style and thankfully in your price range. You put it into your cart and continued shopping.

Now that you had decided to go to Europe with Douxie you needed to get some stuff. You were taking a plane in a few days so there was no time to waste.

You enjoyed how normal it felt to go shopping. You quickly checked off each item on your list and a few that weren’t. You weren’t going to risk being unprepared.

After you checked out you made your way to your car, unfortunately you had had to park far away.

The sun was setting and you were surprised by how much time you had spent shopping. Your stomach growled and you remembered that Jim was making your favorite food for dinner. It was supposed to be your going away meal since the both of you would be busy the rest of the day leading up to your departure.

As you loaded your purchases in your car you subconsciously monitored the auras around you and you would have continued to ignore them had two auras not stood out.

They weren’t like the soft and scattered auras of humans, the rough auras of trolls, or the clam aura of a wizard. At first glance their auras were organized and clean. As you studied them for longer you got past the first impression. You were able to sense the girl’s excited and determined energy and the boy’s nervous yet curious energy. The more you studied them the more you were able to glean about their personalities.

You looked for the source of the auras and found two kids around your brother's age walking towards you. You had never seen them before and while that didn’t inspire a need for investigating them, their odd auras did.

“Hi,” you greeted as they got near you.

The boy considered you for a moment while the girl shook your hand. “Hi, I’m Aja. This is my little brother, Krel.”

“I’m Y/n, nice to meet you.”

“Lively!” the girl exclaimed.

“I haven’t seen you in Arcadia before,” you stated, trying to keep the conversation going so you could continue to read their auras.

“We just moved here from Cantaloupia,” Krel said and that was when you became certain that there was something going on.

“Oh? I’ve never heard of Cantaloupia.”

Krel opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by a car alarm. You looked towards the noise and saw what you believed to be a robot. It gave off no aura so that was the most logical thing it could be.

You scoffed, first trolls and wizards now robots, what more did Arcadia have to offer?

Even if you didn’t exactly know what the thing was you knew what would happen when it raised its weapon.

You pulled Aja and Krel to the ground as blasts soared over your head. You were still struggling to use magic, but you did your best to summon a shield. Your orange magic lit up around you, keeping you safe from the robot for the time being.

You looked over at Aja and Krel, “So, I know what this looks like. I’m a sorceress and that means I can do magic. Um, please don’t tell anyone.”

“Lively!” Aja exclaimed. “Don’t worry your secret is safe with us.”

“Yes,” Krel added, “we know what it’s like to keep a secret.”

“Ah, so the robot is after you then?”

“He’s probably a bounty hunter,” Krel admitted as he fumbled with what looked like a protractor.

Aja grabbed her own protractor looking device and when she pressed a button it expanded to shield the three of you. “Cantaloupia must be quite the advanced country,” you mumbled.

“Oh you have no idea,” Aja replied.

“You can drop your shield, Y/n,” Krel said, eyeing the flickering dome.

You let out a breath as you dropped it, but there was no time to rest. You summoned your sword, though it took you awhile, and pounced on the robot.

It wasn’t focused on you at all which made it easy to fight. With that statement though it grabbed your arm tightly and threw you away from it. You tumbled through the parking lot and you were glad there were no humans around to witness the battle or to run you over.

You used your sword, which had landed near you, to help you up. You looked over to where Aja was attacking the robot, but instead of seeing Aja you saw a bright blue girl with four arms. You looked for Krel, and saw a bright blue boy lying on the ground. Things clicked as you ran over to him.

“You know, this makes so much sense,” you said, helping Krel up.

“What do you mean?”

“I was reading your auras earlier and I noticed that they weren’t human,” you explained.

“Watch out!” Krel cried pushing you to the ground as the robot shot at you.

“Thanks,” you said, Turing to face the robot. You ran at it, zigzagging to avoid its blasts. Now it seemed very focused on you, giving Aja the perfect chance to destroy it.

You walked over to the robot and kicked it to see if it was dead. Satisfied you walked back over to Aja and Krel.

“So where are you two really from?” You asked.

“A place very far away from here called Acaridian-five. We’re the king and queen in waiting. We had to flee after a coup,” Krel explained and you realized that Arcadia did have more to offer.

Your eyes widened in shock. You couldn’t imagine being forced to leave Arcadia. “Oh! I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help? I’m really good at making up excuses if you need any.”

Aja smiled. “Thank you, we will remember that for later.”

You opened your mouth to say something else when a car drove into the parking lot. You quickly hid behind your car.

“Aja, we should get going. Varvatos will be worried,” Krel said, then he turned to you. “Thank you for your help.”

“Of course and if you need any help at all adjusting I’m here to help.”

“Thank you!” Aja exclaimed, giving you a hug.

She and Krel ran off, darting into alleys and hiding from humans. You smiled at the two of them, your older sibling instincts had definitely kicked in. You would do your best to help out those two. 

****

Tada! I hope you enjoyed this even though there wasn't any Douxie, this was for setting up a later chapter. A later chapter that I am very excited to write. Anyways have a fantasticly wonderful day/night and stay safe!!💖💖💖

P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

P.P.S. I'm totally open for requests on fluffy half chapters! If you have any ideas for the half chapters send them in and I'll do my best to include them.

#douxie x reader #douxie imagine #wizards imagine #trollhunters imagine #toa imagine #tales of arcadia imagine #douxie #toa douxie #do #trollhunters #trollhunters douxie #tales of arcadia #tales of arcadia douxie #wizards #wizards douxie #toa #fire keeper

[jonthethinker]

I’ve been thinking about what I would find to be the perfect ending for Critical Role Campaign 2, and I realize how far my ideal ending may be from where we will probably end up, and why that is.

This isn’t to denigrate our fine storytellers, but there’s some strong ideological differences between what I would find most beautiful and interesting and where they are likely to end up.

To the cast, I sense it seems this is a story of recovery and discovery of identity. Seven broken people find each other, perhaps by chance or, as Matt’s opening lines of the campaign suggest, Destiny. Regardless, they come together, and in that coming together, they help each other heal. This takes time, and comes with many conflicts and false starts and set backs, but slowly, they do indeed begin the process of healing.

As they heal, these lost souls begin to explore their identities safely in each others’ company. Each member of the Mighty Nein gets a chance to feel out who it is they are and want to be, all the while knowing that if they stumble and trip along the way, they have their dear friends to catch them. Eventually, they will have a firmer grasp on who it is they really are, deep down, and with that, be able to tackle the rest of what life has to throw at them head on. So far, if I am right and this is indeed what the cast believes, I completely agree with them. But things do begin to diverge on where they seem to want to take it, and where I wish it would be.

This divergence begins in the fallout of this healing and recovery. What happens next? Place and Purpose, of course. Once they know who they are, they are ready to find their homes; ready to find where they really belong. For now, that place is the Mighty Nein, but for some reason, this type of story never seems to be satisfied with that answer. There must be a new chapter, one in which the Mighty Nein, while remaining loyal and committed to one another as friends, each go their own way. They will have done what they set out to do with the group, and now they must build something new on their own.

You see this clearly in the two characters most aware of what kind of story they stumbled into, unsurprisingly played into by the two players least bothered by the fourth wall; Sam Riegel’s Nott The Brave/Veth Brenatto and Marisha Ray’s Beauregard Lionett. Both of these characters have been dreading the eventual closing of this chapter on healing and recovery, because of how comfortable they’ve become in their place within it, and how unprepared they feel for what surely must follow.

Nott was afraid of getting her body back because it would mean she may have to leave behind the first thing she’s ever felt good at, and grappled with how that must make her a terrible wife and mother to have those sorts of feelings. Once she does regain her body, Veth still grapples with these very feelings, even when she could have everything she thought she was fighting for all along, because the adventures of the Mighty Nein have so filled her with excitement and purpose and meaning like she’s never had before. She’s still waiting for that other shoe to drop, and the day her travels must end, because that’s the only way she feels she can satisfy the contradictions.

Beauregard was in her mind a loner, and only with the Mighty Nein has she ever started to question that self-diagnosis. In the Nein, for the very first time, she’s found a place for herself, and a group of people who can actually dull all her sharp edges. She has clear meaning and purpose in working with the Mighty Nein to overcome their personal obstacles, and maybe in doing so, leaving the world a little better than she found it. Before the Nein, those sorts of things weren’t even possibilities. She even felt she was assured a young death and thus no future to begin with. But when she realizes she could have a future, she wants it to be with the Nein... But as her ability to empathize begins to bloom, she realizes this may not be what everyone else has in mind. That some day, the rest of the Nein hope to put the Adventuring life behind them, and in that moment, Beau will have a future to decide for herself and herself alone, and that is terrifying. Because the main thing the Nein has taught Beau is how desperately she doesn’t want to be alone anymore.

As I said, I agree that this is a story about recovery and identity, but it is also much more that. For me, as just a humble member of the audience, the story of the Mighty Nein, above all, is a story about the consequences and possible solutions to isolation, loneliness, powerlessness, and above all, alienation. All seven of our great heroes have been forced through their particular backstories and their mutual adventures to battle with these very feelings over and over, and to me at least the solution to these problems is, well, the community, solidarity, and comfort of each other.

For me, it’s not so obvious that the Mighty Nein has to, well, end.

Sometimes it feels like the cast agrees with me, but usually only in their moments of greatest spontaneity, dealing with the struggles and heartbreaks right in front of them as they happen. I think of Fjord casting his falchion into the lava only to be pulled in closer by his friends. I think of Beau facing her parents, and then later with the fallout of her potential bargain with the Hag. I think of Jester preparing to confront her father, and the subsequent results of his apparent rejection. I think of Caduceus saving his family and his home, and deciding to stay with the Nein anyway. I think of Caleb confronted by Trent in Castle Ungebroch as a shield of his friends form around him. I think of all the Nein reassuring Veth they would accept and love her no matter if she was staying with them or not, but how much they’d miss her if she went. I think of how easily they accepted Yasha into the fold whenever she came back from her wanderings, and how hard they fought to get her back when she was taken from them.

The reason I come to the conclusion that the cast see’s the Nein as eventually having to end is the end for Vox Machina. You had seven people who helped each other heal and grow in ways they never thought they were destined for, experiencing a sense of belonging and purpose the world had never afforded them before the merry band formed. But as a would-be-God was locked away and a dear friend, lover, and brother faded from their grasps, they all drifted in their own directions. They all had a place to fill in the grand scheme of things, and it was time for them to grow up.

And its this notion of growing up that grates me. That these moments of camaraderie and companionship must be as ephemeral as our adolescence. The adventuring days and the bonds we form within them are only meant for our youth, and the meaning and purpose and place we find inside of them is only meant to help us through the confusing days of young adulthood, before we begin our real days as adults, which may only be tackled alone or with a lover. I simply don’t see it this way.

Adulthood should not be this singularly alienating experience that it has become. For most of the existence of humanity, it has not been. We are not meant for self-sufficiency and independence to the degree our society insists upon. Societies would not have formed in the first place without faith that a person can depend on others to provide for them. If the blacksmith also had to sow and patch their own clothes, she would never have time to blacksmith, just as a tailor can’t focus on sowing when she has to build and maintain her own tools. Poverty and deprivation can lead us to have to be more independent than we ought to, but in a world with equitably managed resources, we can afford to have faith the farmer will provide our food, the treatment plant will make our water safe to drink, and the carpenter will keep the rain off our head.

Think of how miserable most adults are today, and then think about how alone and alienated they all are. They are either spending each day working themselves numb only to go home and distract themselves with various entertainments, or if they have “community,” it’s so narrowly defined and judgmental that the gains made from your place within it are completely offset by how much you must cut yourself into shape to fit in. The greatest moments of our lives are often within our youth, because while you’re young you get to grow and stretch and stumble in the company of other people doing the same, and there is no expectation in doing anything else. But we’ve decided on some arbitrary point in which this time of personal exploration and safe company must end. If you’re old and want to expand your horizons, I hope you’re rich, because if not, it ain’t happening.

So for me, to imagine a world in which the members of the Mighty Nein might go a week, nonetheless months without seeing each other is beyond cruel. Think of the feeling of security and belonging the Nein have provided for one another, and tell me there has to be some arbitrary cut off date for their continued company. Think about Fjord breaking the habit of filing down his tusks because of the support of Jester and the Nein, a habit he performed into his early thirties, and tell me that one day, he needs to go out on his own because of reasons. They can take the lessons they’ve learned from the Nein, and still have the Nein, and not be unprepared to take whatever challenges life has to offer them, and in fact, may be better at tackling them all together with their family at their side every step of the way.

People prosper most when they decide they are better off working together than they are alone. To me, it’s abundantly clear this is true for the Mighty Nein. And I hope and pray when the time comes the cast will see it the same way. And I’ll accept and almost certainly enjoy whatever ending they end up having, in this strange form of improvised entertainment. None of this is to hate on the cast or me trying to tell them how to run their game or tell their story, I just have a lot of feelings on the matter. I am almost certainly overthinking something that may very well be a long way off from even happening. but after spending literally hundreds of hours with these fictional characters, I can’t help but want the best for them. And so far, the best for them is... well, each other. And no possible future they could have will be as good as one in which even in their golden years, they can look over and know, no matter what, they have the Mighty Nein.

#Critical Role #Long Post #The Mighty Nein #Beauregard Lionett #Nott The Brave #Veth Brenatto #Fjord #Jester Lavorre #Caleb Widogast #Yasha Nydoorin #Caduceus Clay #Good Lord have these thoughts been floating around my head for a while now #I just hope it makes sense

[fizzingwizard]

Another Sunday, another episode of Digimon Adventure: (how tf do I do punctuate??). It is a good time to be a fan of Yagami Taichi.

I remember being 11 years old, the last episode of Digimon Adventure made be bawl my eyes out, and although I was excited for 02, really I just wanted more of Adventure. I guess I’m just slow to like new things (well, I am), but I would have super happy if the producers had been like, “02 will be a reboot for Adventure with the same characters and similar storyline.” And then do the same thing for every new Digimon season xD I’m sure I’m pretty damn alone in that opinion and don’t get me wrong, I love 02, and I think Tamers was good. And yet xD

^The screenshot that sums up the episode: Greymon gets his butt kicked while Taichi hangs on for dear life

I know the bond between children and Digimon is what powers them, and I’m kind of wondering if having a physical connection improves that in this show, because these kids are always riding around on their partners. (Not able exception - Togemon, because ouch. But I expect to see Mimi on her boxing glove at least lol) I have to rationalize it that way because otherwise it’s like why would having an elementary school kid on your head while you rush into the line of fire count as a battle strategy

This ep picks up pretty much where we left off, which means it’s probably only been hours since Yamato joined the group at the fortress. Already the atmosphere is completely changed.

I can see them, but they can’t see me... Ishida Yamato’s modus operandi

more below

Here is a very Digimon-esque tableau: everyone gathered around Koushirou and his computer. Yamato still being standoffish. I imagine he jumped at the chance to stand guard at the entrance so he doesn’t have to get too close to anyone.

Agumon’s fight with MetalTyrannomon went... not so great. Yamato coolly tries to explain to Taichi that evacuating was the only way, otherwise they’d risk all being destroyed, and that would be the end of everything.

Taichi’s fist tightens and begins to shake...

... he doesn’t look like he totally agrees with Yamato’s reasoning, but he doesn’t have a better idea. But, being Taichi, he can’t just let it rest.

Yamato talking to Taichi’s back while Taichi frantically starts to sort out his Feelings is just how they communicate. This is a common shonen anime trope for the hero and his foil. Yamato’s pushing, Taichi’s not exactly hiding, but he doesn’t want to face him until he can face him with resolve.

Yamato: Look at me. Look at me!

Taichi: *sweating* It feels like a hole’s burning in the back of my neck, so... I’ll pass

Taichi finally explains out what’s got him so knotted up: he regrets Ogremon’s death. Like we saw last episode, the battle that began as revenge turned into a battle of samurai pride. And Taichi is evidently a samurai. He wanted to see that battle to the finish, out of mutual respect for the opponent (who he’d never met before and who had been trying to kill him previously... but y’know when you’re kindred spirits that’s all water under the bridge)

Yamato doesn’t really get it. This is where these two are fundamentally different. Taichi attac, Yamato protec, then everybody gets a FIGHT!

I mean, not 100% of the time, but the bottom line is Yamato’s not so big on this pride thing, although he does have pride of his own. But he’s definitely not into taking unnecessary risks, especially if it puts his friends in danger. The trouble is, Taichi doesn’t think he takes unneccessary risks either... just necessary ones ;)

The other kids can already feel the tension increasing and Taichi and Yamato haven’t even raised their voices at each other yet. Lol buckle up kiddos

Jou wonders if he should make them stop, and Mimi instantly turns around and begs him to try. My Joumi heart LEAPT.

TBH I was surprised she did anything at all, I was expecting Jou’s “Should I break them up?” to just end there with nothing happening. Instead we got an adorable Joumi moment where Mimi shows that as much as she teases him, she already somewhat relies on Jou (to be fair, I do think Mimi’s the type to rely on anyone who offers when she’s not sure what to do herself). Jou, being Jou, is unprepared aaaaand wigs out.

Jou: Oh no oh no oh no she actually expects me to get between them?!?! But but I flunked Tough Guy school! That’s literally why I’m a nerd! This girl’s trying to throw me to the wolves!

Fortunately for Jou, he has a redheaded savior.

Sora: Stop it. He’ll wet his pants again and I don’t have any more extras.

Sora shows her insight into people’s hearts and understands that Taichi and Yamato need to hash things out. It’s not dangerous... yet. But the way she’s more or less frozen in place along with the others says she’s... maybe a bit on her guard, at least, lol.

Koushirou, being Kousihrou, is completely oblivious to all of this and focused on his computer.

Oh yeah... the real reason Taichi turned his back to Yamato earlier - whenever they look directly at each other, they suck each others souls out. I CALL BODY SWITCH

I mean jogress

I mean marriage

They spend like the entire first half of the episode arguing omg get a room.

Then... Agumon wakes up!

And even though it’s a cartoon, it’s clear to see the way Taichi’s body fills with relief. I wonder if Yamato didn’t realize or didn’t think Taichi was that worried about Agumon. 99 Yamato tended to feel that Taichi was insensitive to others. But while he can be, Taichi also doesn’t express his emotions in the same way as Yamato. They’re both wont to hide how they feel, but while Yamato goes quiet and aloof, Taichi just acts like everything’s normal. So maybe here, Yamato really thought Ogremon and MetalTyrannomon were the only things on Taichi’s mind. Just a guess.

Awwww montage of cute...

a boy and his dinosaur!!

Maybe to Yamato’s surprise, Agumon totally echoes Taichi’s feelings about Ogremon. “I wanted to settle the score with him.” Weird as it sounds, they made a manly bond with Ogremon and running away just doesn’t sit right. Agumon’s raring to go...

... but his stomach isn’t quite ready yet hahaha.

Yamato’s probably used to Gabumon’s appetie but I suspect Agumon’s tummy growl has errr exceptional resonance

Glad to see the return of the Digimon’s bottomless pit aka stomach. I think it was just last week I complained about that not really being a thing so far. This time it was the other Digimon who went gathering, but I hope to see the human kids rushing around in a frenzy to care for their partners’ appetites soon lol

While the others eat, Taichi and Yamato decide they haven’t finished vampiring each other’s souls and sneak out to the mouth of the cave. Sora follows them to see if she can watch any hot yaoi action.

Lol but I do really like the framing heart. All we can see of the boys is their shadows. Sora keeps her distance but she’s watching them intently from a distance. I assumed she was just gathering more data on how short a leash she needs to keep them on.

Turned out that was not quite correct... reluctant to interrupt though she’d been before, once they start talking about what to do next she adds her input. We’ve got Yamato on Taichi’s one side and Sora on his other side. It’s the beginnings of TAIORATOOOOO *more airhorns*

^I can’t see anything but Goku and Vegeta bahahaha. Also why is eleven-year-old Yamato SO broad-shouldered, between that, his deeper voice, and his perfeclty coifed hair Taichi must seem like a toddling infant to him bahahaha. Like come on Yamato is not a child you must be kidding

Already Yamato is getting into the habit of Looking At Taichi while Taichi Looks At Literally Anything Else.

These two don’t need words. They talk with their vampiric eyes.

Koushirou’s hyper focus on his computer finally pays off and they all gather back around. Everyone starts cheering when the hologram appears even though they don’t know what the heck it is. This is Koushirou, so it must be awesome!

It turns out to be a map of much usefulness.

And it turns out Ogremon was telling the truth about the path to the holy Digimon being straight ahead, while fires Taichi up even more.

^Obligatory ‘Gomamon is cutest Digimon’ cap

Koushirou also gives Taichi special data on MetalTyrannomon, including his weak point. Taichi is THRILLED. He’s happier about this than he is about finding the route to the holy Digimon. This is the difference between Taishiro and Taito guys. When Taichi gets a reckless idea, Yamato tries to talk him down, or at least be sensible about it. Koushirou? Koushirou is a FREAKING ENABLER.

They wait with baited breath for Yamato’s reaction. Though he seems underwhelmed, Yamato admits Koushirou’s information “does seem reliable.” That’s all the permission Taichi needs to go back to freaking out over how awesome Koushirou is.

They come up with a plan to lure MetalTyrannomon away so Taichi can fight him while the others take the chance to escape and head towards the path to the holy Digimon.

^Obligatory ‘Sora is best girl’ cap

Yamato waits for the others to get away before following after... he stalls for a minute as if unsure whether it’s really alright to leave Taichi on his own. In the end he joins the group... All things considered, I think he’s pretty thrown off by Taichi, tbh.

Yamato’s group doesn’t make it far before they encounter a very suspicious looking lake.

^More evidence that Yamato is not really an elementar school kids. He’s clearly at least 15. He’s been routinely failing every year in order to get held back until he can be in the same class as Takeru. That’s the extent of his overprotectiveness

It sure is fortunate that Koushirou’s genius extends to fluency in English or they’d have no idea this lake of dark mist is bad friggin news.

Or... maybe they would have:

Mimi sneaks behind Jou and pulls his middle school exam workbook out of his bag.

And immediately chucks it into the lake.

Where it disintegrates.

This is how Mimi’s mind works. She’s smart! They need to know what would happen if they went into the lake without actually going in it. So they need to put something else in first. So far so good. What should she throw? A stick? A rock? One of Sora’s endless towels?

No, Jou’s workbook. Duhhh.

She probably felt she was killing two birds with one stone here x’D Experiment complete, and Jou prevented from anymore whining about not having time to study. Mimi is chaotic good.

gosh I love Joumi

Jou is lawful neurotic

Greymon shielding Taichi is just soooo cute even if it still feels weird that he has to be up there in the first place

The battle rages between MetalTyrannomon and Greymon, who just won’t quit even though he’s losing... pretty bad... I mean...

He just grabbed a missile with his bare hand...

Taichi: Now I know what it’s like to be a firework

Loop-de-loop! Taichi’s suction cup shoes strike again.

Courage going UP!! Reaching a fever pitch! The evolution that’s been looming for two episodes finally happens!

MetalTyrannomon: Eat my dust!

Woooooooo, MetalGreymon is just as freaky as ever. Always my least favorite evolution in Agumon’s line, but the glowy purple wings are cool.

Also, nipple missiles.

MetalTyrannomon: I can’t believe I was beaten by some meddling kids!

So yeah, we are back to killing Digimon willy-nilly. None of this “but what about their hearts?” shitck. Always found it amazing in 02, a children’s cartoon, that said “Yeah the characters you loved last season were totes murderers but it was justified and sometimes you just have to kill.” And fourteen-year-old Taichi is just like, “Yeah, I’m a murderer, and you should be too.” XD And Miyako hits LadyDevimon with a skateboard. Priceless

This scene is adorable but Taichi’s butt looks so saggy.

I’m kind of wondering how evolution works in this show. They jumped right to jogress in like episode two or something, but we haven’t seen it since (I would sort of expected Taichi to think of it when it was clear MetalTyrannomon was too strong, though I would also expect Yamato to nix that idea both because he doesn’t want to and because to him it’s a pointless fight and not the priority). Since then, the Champion level evolutions went similar to 99 Adventure, with everyone getting their special episode, and I’m sure that’s how it’ll go down with the next level too, but there was no gap at all between going from one level to the next. I’m trying to say, they seem able to reach the next level awfully fast. They didn’t need to meet Gennai and collect the tags and Crests, the Crests appear already uploaded in their Digivices. I’m not complaining, as always I’m glad this show is not just a carbon copy of the old one, but I am curious if evolutions are easier to attain in this series, or if there are going to be more of them and that’s why they come so quick, or if the series just won’t run long enough for there to be significant gaps of time between evolutions.

Episode ends with the group deciding, like I predicted last week, to split up and try the Left and Right routes, since the Straight one is blocked. Gays go right and lesbians go left, of course. :P

This episode was pretty fantabulous, I loved it, Digimon is awesome.

Next week it’s no surprise what we’re gonna get.

WeeeeereGarurumon! Also my least favorite evolution of Gabumon’s line but still cooler than MetalGreymon hahahaha.

I’m also totally stoked for the grouping of Yamato, Jou, and Sora. There’s tons of potential for Yamato and Sora to bond, although my prediction is that while he’ll pretty much like her (even if he won’t admit it to himself), she’s going to find him a little difficult. But she’ll have an easier time talking to him than the others do. I also fully expect Jou to drive Yamato out of his mind lol.

This also means the other group is Taichi, Koushirou, and Mimi. I assume we won’t see too much of them next week, but I hope that means they’ll get their episode the week after, because I am dying for some Taishiro moments. Practically salivating. Also, Koumi fans can probably look forward to Mimi and Koushirou Not Getting each other too, lol

#digimon adventure 2020 #digimon psi #digimon adventure reboot #psi spoilers #digimon #fizz watches digimon 2020

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 79 Rundown

Code Geass: Lelouch is establishing the official United States of Fuck Imperialism which is like the UN but actually does stuff, plus he has to deal with the fact that CC’s lost her memory and is acting like a demure slave girl harem choice from a VN. Charles is still trapped in the Human Instrumentality Shadow Realm so everyone figures this is a great time to unify everyone against Britannia. Kallen beats the shit out of Suzaku for being a dick to her all this time and the Knight of Ten is making his rounds because they realize they forgot to give him any buildup and he’s going to be a miniboss later so they have to cram all his being a dick personality into like five minutes while all the Knights of the Round assemble to prepare for an attack on Japan once the National Federation is formed. Llyod and Cecile for some reason enhanced the Guren for Suzaku even though he’s clearly more used to the Lancelot but apparently they enhanced it too much and made it a death machine like the Talgeese in Gundam Wing so Suzaku has to stick with the Lancelot. Looks like the Guren will have to sit and collect dust unless a certain pilot is rescued and then immediately has a convenient upgrade. Amazingly all the countries go along with everything Zero says and give up their militaries and have the Black Knights be the official military of the Federation. I don’t know how that works given that the Black Knights have been struggling to fight off one nation’s military idk how it’s supposed to substitute for a dozen nations’ military but I guess they conscript support and troops from the other nations or something. Charles comes back on the tv after the Federation is formed and is all “Awww what a cute little UN you have, fuck off bro.” which you’d think this’d be the perfect time for him to just out Lelouch as Zero and wreck the Black Knights’ morale but he doesn’t for some reason and they’re just gonna fight. Lelouch is freaking out and knows that having everyone want to murder the Britannian royal family includes Nunally so he calls Suzaku who just straight up goes “Bro cut the crap are you Zero or not?” and after so much plotting and scheming Lelouch just comes right out with it. Suzaki agrees to protect Nunally as long as Lelouch meets him alone at the Kururugi Shrine where this all began.

Inuyasha: This is another one of those Modern Day filler episodes which are always fun. There’s just something about Inuyasha running around in modern Japan being Spider-Man and saving people and catching bank robbers on the way to deliver Kagome’s lunch that’s so thoroughly entertaining. Basically Inuyasha spends this whole episode jittery that everyone’s so chill and ready to relax after Naraku just got away and is probably an inch from death but after a big adventure in the modern era where Kagome is as usual unprepared for her test, he ends up passing out on the bed after insisting a little battle with Naraku wouldn’t exhaust him. It’s a really cute little episode to let everyone bide some time and reflect on the past arc now that we’re starting a new wave of filler before we get to the Band of Seven and Mt. Hakurei stuff.

Yu Yu Hakusho: The first match of the tournament is about to begin and Botan, Shizuru, and Keiko come in with Koenma who is sick of baby jokes and puts on his bishonen disguise to impress everyone. There’s some neat lore about how they gave Koenma the guest team every year to bribe him into not shutting down the tournament without giving him anything of value and how the bloody show of the Dark Tournament pacifies the demons so they kill fewer humans, so that’s cool. Since Yusuke is still passed out, Kuwabara is de facto Captain and decides on simple one on one matches while the other team Captain just kinda roasts an eight of the crowd to see if it’ll wake Yusuke up. Kuwabara’s in the first match versus Prototype Killua, complete with afterimages and yo-yo tricks. They size each other up for a while and Kuwabara shrugs off getting his fucking neck broken surprisingly well while they go back and forth with “Well I can track YOU better” for a while. Togashi really loves his yo-yos of death so those have Kuwabara on the ropes and turn him into a fucking kite ready to slam back down into the arena, so yeah, Kuwabara’s having a rough time of it.

Fate Zero: Waver’s been having strange dreams about Iskandar, and not the ones people usually have about him. So he goes to get a basic history lesson on the historical figure that’s been chilling on his couch for a few weeks and spending all his money on xbox live arcade. They also go through all the ridiculously obvious historical inaccuracies and Iskandar’s just like “idk bro, I’m here so the book must be wrong” which is hilarious because Fate also does this with more modern historical figures that we have pictures of and shit so they basically sit there saying all historians have no idea what they’re talking about and gaslighting the field of history as a whole. On the way back Waver’s upset that Iskandar’s so awesome that it basically takes any effort on his part to win and it won’t be an actual achievement despite the fact that they’ve taken out like… one servant, MAYBE, and most of the other historical figures are equally over the top. But still Iskandar says that if your aspirations are big enough it doesn’t matter how big or small you are, everyone’s tiny in the grand scheme of things and clawing at greatness you can’t truly perceive is what matters. Also Caster and his boy have found the wreck they made of their workshop of dead bodies and are kinda fucked up about it but also ready to fuck up more people because God sucks or some shit. So Caster summons a Bloodborne monster which you think more people would notice and mention during Shirou’s time, like nobody in UBW ever said “Hey remember like seven years ago when a giant Bloodborne monster appeared in the river?” so I’m guessing there’s some kind of perception blocking going on. But yeah everyone’s gonna jump on the Bloodborne Monster next time for the season premiere.  

Konosuba: So we pick up where we left off and Kazuma is working off his debt by… killing more toads. Wow this world really is like a video game, we get the same five enemies over and over again. However they’re fucked without Darkness throwing herself into monster orifices looking for a good time so Yunyun has to save them. We already met Yunyun in the OVA so it’s kinda weird to be re-introduced to her here in basically the same way but their relationship is basically like Gai and Kakashi if they only did the lame dorky challenges Kakashi suggested when he’s too lazy to think of a good one. Also there’s a cat now, I don’t think that really comes to anything, just a scene of Megumin going “we have a cat now” and everyone’s like “kay”. Kazuma and Megumin play Naked Chicken to see who can get more naked before the other backs down and end up taking a bath together because they’re both stubborn assholes. Also we get a quick snippet of Yunyun and Megumin’s backstories which you can basically make Yunyun’s the swing scene from Naruto (idk why Yunyun is bring out the Naruto references in me today) and Megumin is stealing bread like Les Miserables in increasingly bizarre and disgusting ways because she’s ridiculously poor or some shit.

Sailor Moon Crystal: So turns out that Usagi and Mamoru BOTH had their shots with the ‘fucks everything up’ sword with a pocketwatch and… the discarded gems of the four knights? Idk how that works given they were humans and also dead but what baffles me more is that both Usagi and Mamoru very obviously did not get hit by the sword but decided to fall down dead and not move for a couple minutes despite their shots very much being blocked and there being no blood. Anyway Queen Metalia has the crystal, bullshit is happening, 1000 years of darkness, you’ve seen Xiaolin Showdown, you know the drill. The remaining four Guardians get a cute little flashback of Usagi saying what she likes about them and then they give up their lives to revive her inside the dark energy blob of Queen Metalia and crystals and lights and shit happens and swords and wands are pulled out of nowhere and you know how a final boss goes, they beat it with the power of believing in themselves and shit like that. Also apparently the only difference between sealing Metalia away and killing her is hitting the giant bullseye on her forehead so yeah, hopefully she’s down for good this time. I don’t want to complain because this show was genre-defining but it’s hard to find things to say about something so generic and milktoast, it’s the Seinfeld problem where there’s been so many more interesting iterations that it’s just kinda “get on with it already” at this point. The only real markedly noticeable thing about it is how plainly and unashamedly it is about being a power fantasy for teen girls, and there’s something to that, harmless power fantasies can be fun but it just feels like the physical mechanics of this kind of progression being “She feels this shit REALLY HARD” is less exciting than some of the alternatives

Durarara!!: It’s the big Masaomi backstory episode and we get the whole deal of how he formed the Yellow Scarves and got into a relationship with Saki because Izaya wanted to orechestrate a gang war because that’s what Izaya does all day is orchestrate gang wars. It’s kind of amazing how many kids in this show are like “I don’t know how it happened but one thing led to another and suddenly I was at the head of one of the largest gangs in the city” like they kinda really yadda yadda over how that actually happens. But anyway Saki gets hurt in the gang war and Kadota’s gang has to save her because Masaomi’s adrenaline wears off at the last second and he can’t try and rush in and save her. I mean Dota’s van got there first anyway so how much he’d have been able to help would be doubtful but he feels bad about not even being able to try and Izaya says that fear and failure of his past will dominate his future actions which is exactly what he’s doing by letting his paranoia and frustration lead him to a war on the Saika army. Dota-chin tells him to face up to it and stop running or live with the shame of lying to Saki but Masomi can’t do that and his shame and determination to reverse the situation leads everyone into chaos as Anri discovers his secret.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Code Geass #Inuyasha #Yu Yu Hakusho #Fate Zero #Konosuba #Sailor Moon Crystal #Durarara!!

[rwdestuffs]

There’s a lot of ironwood stans and a lot of ironwood haters out there. Now, to be fair, one’s opinion on the guy is likely dependent on that person’s view of the real-world military, as well as their own opinion of the writing in general.

Due to the… let’s be nice and use the phrase “lackluster writing”, ironwood is a very polarizing character. One can see his view on wanting to save people, but once a single chess price shows up, he loses it, and plans to abandon all of Remnant.

Keep in mind that the main characters have no reason to trust him. Not only has atlasian forces been around Mantle for a long time, causing distress and by extension, attracting Grimm, but ironwood seems to have no interest in using any atlas resources to build the communications tower. He only expends atlas military resources to protect it. Everything else comes from Mantle, including the time and energy of their best protector.

It took a submission post [here] to kinda spell it out:

The writing is so bad that we aren’t entirely sure if we should be sympathetic to ironprick or not. Given that I am calling him ironprick, you can probably tell where I lie on that whole thing.

Our own views of the US military has kinda skewed our view of ironwood and the atlasian military, so, let’s try to take a much more objective look at what they do, and how it either makes ironwood a tragic character, or a downright villainous one.

The discussion as to how the show has more or less demonized characters with prosthetics, has been done better in this post [here].

Our first introduction to Atlas in general is honestly… not that great. in this post [here], we see that right off the bat, Atlas is… well, sus. Their resident robot girl is “combat ready” and while this seems like an innocent line in this world, it makes one wonder “Why would she need to state that?”

In addition, with the SDC being a major point for resident racist turned un-racist off=screen, Weiss, the view of Atlas is already not that great. And as a quick tangent, but can we at least have mention of an apology? Like, just a random line of dialogue that tells us, yes, Weiss did in fact apologize? If these writers can’t resolve that conflict on-screen, the least they could do is give us the details of what happened off-screen.

With that rant done, it’s pretty clear that Atlas is either full of a bunch of trigger-happy gun-toting military personnel, or that they seem to be gearing up for a war with the rest of the world.

In Volume 2, we also get the reveal that Penny isn’t allowed to have social interaction, and that her status as an android is kept secret for unknown reasons. Had this show gone in the route of “Penny would absorb the Fall Maiden powers, but we run into the philosophical question of ‘She is also a living being, should she not also have a say in how her future is determined?’“, then that would have made sense.

In this Volume, and in Volume 3, we see that not only is the Ozluminati willing to sacrifice a young girl and rob her of her dreams, but that Atlas isn’t willing to expend any resources for her sake either.

With Volume 4, we kinda get a sort of insight into Ironwood and Jacques’ relationship. Jacques more or less tries to play the “I’m your friend” card with Ironwood. Given Jacques’ easily recognizable racism, it’s telling that Ironwood kept him as good company until he decided on an embargo, which, really only hurt the rest of the world. Ironwood wasn’t protecting anyone, he was trying to hold onto resources.

This is further exemplified in Volume 7, where, as mentioned earlier, he is taking Mantle’s resources to fuel his own pet project… And we later find out that that pet project was a total lie, as it turns out, it was just bait to lure out one of Shadow Queen’s minions.

We then see this all culminate in Volume 8, where Ironwood starts working with Watts to get payback on Penny for betraying him. His dialogue mirrors a lot of rhetoric that an abuser would use to try to coerce their victim to their side. And his casual discard of Penny is honestly something to take note of. Ironwood doesn’t value differing opinions. He never wanted anyone who would question him. He wanted loyalty. If he had his way, he would have installed Order 66 in all Atlasian troops to make them turn on any hunter that wasn’t loyal to him.

All of Volume 8 happened because he saw that his supposedly perfect defenses weren’t so perfect after all. And instead of resolving to try to do better once they expelled the intruder, he instead turns on the main heroes for not trusting him.

Now here comes the next question:

Should have team RWBY trusted ironwood from the start?

Now, we as the audience know that all of that stuff about Ironwood makes him look suspicious. But what do the characters know? Well, Weiss knows that they’re a bunch of militaristic assholes who refused to help her or her family escape from her abusive father even though one of their top specialists was her sister.

Ruby and Yang likely have a poor view on Atlas and Ironwood in general thanks to their conversations with Qrow.

And Blake knows that they’re basically the racism capital of the world.

As for team JNOR, their experiences likely come from how team rwby acts. With them being so close, and adding the fact that all of them got arrested for fighting grimm when they first arrived, their views are also negative.

On top of which, Ironwood is the headmaster of Atlas Academy. The last headmaster they trusted (Leo) stabbed them in the back, and the one before that (Oz) lied to them about their mission, so they have every right to be suspicious of Ironwood. They don’t exactly have a good track record with these headmasters.

So clearly, with what both the audience knows, and with what the characters know, their lack of trust in Ironwood was not misplaced.

With all that said and done, let’s dive into the final question of this post:

Is Ironwood a sympathetic villain?

As a blunt answer, yes. As an equally blunt answer, no.

Ironwood is a human character who is in charge of a military force. He hasn’t had to deal with racism like Ilia, Blake, or Velvet, but he also has been through a lot of battles if his large amount of prosthetics is to be seen.

Ironwood clearly has not had the world be kind to him, but by contrast, he hasn’t been kind to the world. As for which came first, is up to interpretation, but the point of the matter still stands: Ironwood was acting like a dictator.

Now, is his horribly described semblance Mettle to blame for this? Well, let’s think for a moment as to how it would have affected the story if we had known about it beforehand. Either in an interview, or because (in this hypothetical scenario) the writers were smart and had maybe Qrow try to talk him down by saying something like “James, calm down. You’re letting your semblance talk for you” really doesn’t matter. Let’s ask ourselves: How would knowing his semblance beforehand had affected our view of this?

Simply put, it would make us sympathetic to him, until we see his aura break and that he’s still going on his main goal of ditching all of Remnant and being selfish. It would have informed us that it wasn’t just Mettle driving Ironwood, Ironwood had that sort of thing in him the entire time, but he reached a breaking point. It’s been said that “people go from 0 to 60 over one little thing” but really, that’s not true. People don’t just go “from 0 to 60.″ People just don’t pay attention to how long a person has been at 59. And quite frankly, Ironwood was doing an admittedly good job at hiding how long he was at 59. He was constantly calm, cool, and collected in a lot of stressful situations, like when he had to confront the rest of the council.

But we also know that he was locking up dissenters. Labeling them as “traitors” and more or less, acting like he knew best. Plus, we know that he was doing a lot of questionable things in the past that makes a lot of his actions rather dubious at best.

But, once we view this with the view of the US Military, which Atlas is based on, intentionally or not, we kinda see something. Not some “grand protectors of the border and ideology of the country” but a bunch of power-hungry generals willing to throw bodies just to get their way, only for them to be unprepared when they are the ones who get invaded. And for them to basically be the fuel that gives their supposed enemies their power to cause so much destruction. Atlas was already at a breaking point. All Salem and her forces did was just add that one little extra bit of weight that caused it to all come crashing down.

In this case, literally.

#rwde #ironwood crit

[imaginedcreaderinsert]

NSFW where a PI is investigating the titans and catches dick and reader having an argument which turns into rough passionate sex???

FIRST OF ALL I’M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. To compensate, I made it longer than I expected, almost as long as my longest one yet! I think I took some liberties with the ask, but I thought it would be interesting to make it this way?? THOUGHTS? It turned a bit mushy towards the end, sorry if you want something rougher. BUT ANYWAYS, CUE IN THE FIC.

SUMMARY: Reader is a “leader” and main representant of the Titans; she goes by the name Silver Blaze, and a PI, Randall, has been given the task of investigating her and Nightwing – possibly because they are the major representants of the group, but there might be ulterior motives within the investigation.

WORD COUNT: 4147

TW: Swearing and smut. There’s like a thousand something words of introduction and the rest is pure lemoney stuff, yep. I didn’t include any age for Randall, but it is understood everyone is legal of age and that he is a bit of a voyeur/creep. It is meant to be that way, it’s no accident. I hope it works???

I spy with my little eye — Dick Grayson x Reader

They had appeared out of nowhere, really. It was rumored that a similar place had happened before, in the times of Dr. Silas Stone, but with a few distinctions; the Titans tower was a secret, and it could be only speculated upon its exterior. The crime wave had exponentially lessened down since its appearance, but since it had been caught on camera, secrecy and conspiracy theories had arisen. It did count apparently with the permission of the city council; if there was a deal or not, no one knew anything about… Yet.

           PI Randall had been contacted anonymously; the money was incentive enough to make a man in California sweat, but the persons he had to look closer upon were his main drive. He had been investigating them for as long as they made their first appearance, and to say they had piqued his interest was to say the least. Fortunately (maybe not so much at nights, when the loneliness ate him alive and he starved for human contact), he lived alone, and thus only himself knew of his own madness and obsession towards the couple, Nightwing and Silver Blaze.

           The first was quite well-known, and some had been speculated, theories rounded the internet, on how he had been Batman’s disciple at some point and how he was to be the next in line; personally, Randall couldn’t believe it. Had it been that way, he would have stayed closer to Gotham, but he had gone all the way to San Francisco-what? Running away from something? Distancing himself from the infamous city, taking a paid leave? Randall quite knew that discovering his identity was a lost cause, as many journalists and tabloids were still obsessed with it. They were always too careful and secretive; they had been trained to be like that probably all of their lives. And if Nightwing was anything like Batman, which Randall had pondered over a lot of nights, there was no solid case that could ever be created on him.

           Silver Blaze on the other hand was a mystery. No one knew where she came from, where she had first appeared in or if she went with another name somewhere else. Rumors and stories had been built upon her first declarations on the San Francisco Chronicle (they were always the first to have her interviews, statements and photographs; surely that meant either she was in there working herself or she had an insider working for their publicity – it was always convenient to have the public on their side). People claimed to have heard of her on the west; others claimed to have first seen her in the North, the Canadian frontier, and that she had been moving towards the coast on unclear motives punishing anyone she had encounter – maybe she was heading to Gotham? But then why the detour, why had she been staying so long and as, apparently, a representant of the Titans? From what people knew, the images and videos taken, she did not possess any kind of powers other than her own body and the flashing of her own cape. That was her ability, blinding anyone who came close, distracting them and gaining over advantage towards their enemies. Silver Blaze had been the name the city had given to her: she always appeared after a blinding light, and in her ebony costume, the most striking thing was said cape and her mask, contrasting beautifully with her slightly darker skin.

           To say Randall had a bit of a crush on her was an understatement. She was in fit, and the armor did not hide a thing; skin-tight and glamorous with her gloves, her movements – she moved like Catwoman in a sense (was she a disciple? The inherent dark sexiness a common trait upon master and disciple?) but had a more definitive presence. Before it had been Nightwing the one making the announcements, statements – but maybe it was her sweet voice, her rosy lips, labored breath whenever she talked after a battle or after an incident that calmed somehow the citizens of California, that eventually came to love her. So what she hiding?, Randall wondered, night after night starting at the same pictures, side by side, of both leaders of the Titans side by side fighting. Who could want to unveil anything from the golden vigilantes of the city, seeing as they carried such an untarnished reputation? Randall couldn’t help but think that they were hiding something darker in plain sight. Something obscure, tarnished and possibly perverted. No one could be that perfect.

…

           “For fuck’s sake, Night, I had it! I fucking had it and you stole it from me!”

           “Can you please stop shouting? They are going to hear us, S.”

           “God, stop it with that nickname! It’s not cute and it’s definitively not my name!”

           It is pure coincidence, months of stalking them, following them and testing a theory. He shouldn’t be there, he shouldn’t be hearing them out that perfectly, clearly, at mere meters from them. Randall was supposed to be at home, fuming again over losing them; instead he has both of them right in front of him, slightly battered and definitively arguing. She doesn’t possess the sweet voice that she normally uses in interviews (he knew it! No one can be that naturally seductive, that sweet without actually trying), but Nightwing appears to be as collected as ever… Even when he can hint a sense of annoyance over the discussion. Maybe they’ve been at it more than once? It is definitively something that people haven’t cached up. Hell, he didn’t know a thing, and he’s been following them for years.

           “I had him, but you just had to go and disappear, leaving my flank completely unprotected, Night! That’s such a Dick movement!” Dick? He is confused. Did she mean-

           “Silver, don’t use names”. His voice is severe. He sounds like he is on alert. Maybe he has heard him breathing more than normal? Randall’s eyes are glued on her chest, heaving up quickly, up and down – probably still with adrenaline from the battle they’ve just ended. His theory had been that every time they had ended a battle, generally between the two of them or more, it really depends on the intensity of the fight, they disappeared somewhere else, running from the scene like thieves: last time he had tried west and he had felt stupid for thinking it could work. Now he had followed east and here they were, arguing while he was hiding near a bush with a small clearance.

           “… I was just saying you are a real dick, Night”. She says, following his tone; like in sync, she doesn’t question, but rather adopts the same measure until she realizes. “No! You are no getting out of this, Nightwing! This is the third time you leave me unprepared to protect myself against four guys! I cannot believe you, seriously, I-“

           “Oh please, we all know you could have blinded them and-“

           “To blind them I need both of my hands, dumbass! I barely have recovered from that night on-“

           “Still hurts?”

           “Yeah.”

           There’s concern and care in the next movements, in the last words; he gets closer to her, carefully grabbing her by her elbow, and pulling her closer. It is strange to see how easily she lets him, seeing as angry as she was; she just clicks her tongue, which makes him laugh for some reason. She mutters something under his breath, and Randall can quite only speculate on his next words, seeing as he just vocalizes them: “-amian”. ¿Amian? He has no idea on what he is trying or has said, but he definitively notes it down on his mental pad: and he has to update some things.

           He definitively didn’t expect for them to be so close, seeing as they have never appeared together in any interview or photograph; they had similar combat styles, and that’s why he imagined they wouldn’t share a team withing the combats, but from her complaints before, he can confirm that they do, and that she seems a bit pissed off at him for abandoning her. Again. Is it some tense rivalry that they have between them? Some brotherly bickering? Maybe they were past lovers? Nightwing has always occupied the most eligible bachelor of all Gotham, but since he had moved to California things hadn’t been the same. He hasn’t any more of presence than Silver Blaze has; maybe they have learnt to share a-? Oh.

           The realization, in the midst of the silence, it’s so severe that he forgets to breathe for a second. He looks at both figures, against the light of the moon, cut-out like perfect paper figures straight out of any Vogue magazine. But her stare is too humane when they make eye contact with his face; the domino mask actually prevents him from reading expressions, but he knows that one well from his own past. There is something else, maybe-maybe they are, or they have been-

           They kiss.

           He pulls her closer, still by the elbow, and her arms quickly go under his arms, to his back. His hands are on her waist, squeezing tight, as he makes all of her his in the kiss. There is an undeniable possessive nature in his embrace, and as he takes off her cape, with an ease that makes Randall think they have done this before – probably many many times after a battle. Is this it? Do they have sex whenever they finish, as hurt as they are or tired? Can’t they wait? His hands expertly manage to find the zipper at the top of her neck, slowly discovering her naked neck, back, until her waist.

           “I’m still angry, you know”

           “I can tell. And you think I’m not, having you insinuate that I’m a narcissistic traitor who would leave you alone midst of the battle if it was not important? You, of all people?”. There is something similar to hurt in his voice. He cares? “There’s only one narcissistic egomaniac in our family, and I know you know who is”.

           They are always careful; they don’t give out names, and Randall can’t figure out yet who is. Maybe a new Robin? But her eyes are more focused on her naked figure, her soft skin, slightly tainted, apparently, with some scars and red areas (bruised from battle, sex? Who knows): she is truly beautiful.

           “You mean the hot brooding one?”. There’s almost a teasing tone in her voice. He wonders if she’s like that in bed, the bratty adventurous type. The cock-teasing slut that opens her legs just to tempt, just so that she can after-

           “You did not call J-“

           “I just did, Golden Boy”.

           There’s movement. She falls to the grass, the small area they have secluded themselves in, with a bank not too far, and a small touristic viewpoint not too far from the city, overlooking most of it, if not all. There’s giggling, clothes rummaging and limbs moving until they give up. Someone gives up. He’s on top, half naked but mask still on: Randall doesn’t know if it was him or her that took her mask off, but he can finally see her shining eyes, daringly staring back at Nightwing’s. Her legs are around his waist.

           “What, too tired to fight me?”

           “Maybe I just don’t fear the punishment Daddy will give me. He’s always too soft”. And that goes straight to his dick. Is she the type to use that names on bed, secretly? Yes, he has pictured that. Naughty, daring, always too intelligent for her own good – sweet and caring, but with a small and horny devil inside. Always too wet at the most inappropriate times, like when he is supposed to be working. That’s always his go-to fantasy.

           “Maybe Daddy thought someone was starting to behave good. Too bad you have fucked it all up, kitten. Thought you would get fucked today”.

           There’s a whimper, more rummaging, and in a heartbeat she’s naked on the grass. Her cheek is rubbing the leaves, and he is completely dominating her from the back of her neck, putting enough weight just so that she can’t move. Her nipples are hard but hidden in the darkness; he wished he could come closer, lick them up, suck on them. They are perfect, and he just realizes that she wasn’t wearing any kind of underwear under.

           “No bra again? Hoping someone would notice?”

           “Yes, maybe I was hoping some fucking journalist would fuck me up already. It was about time I lived my own Kent fantasy, right?”

           There’s a smack that resonates, and she moves slightly ahead; there’s a whimper, and she bites her mouth as soon as she knows. All on her fours is quite apparent what’s going to happen, or at least that’s what Randall imagines.

           “You want to talk about fantasies? What’s yours, baby? Arsenal, Hawk and Tempest all for you, using you? Maybe with me, ordering you around, baby? Oh, fuck, you got wet. Shit, is that from the talking or was something from before?”

           “Night, shut up”.

           There’s a chuckle and, out of every God that is and is not alive pitying on him, he gets to see his glistening fingers, covered in her own lubrication. He separates himself enough so that he can take off the most important of the suit, letting Randall see her thighs, with wetness going down on them. She wiggles, moves her legs closer just so that she can take off the pressure, the edge – and he knows the edge too well, since he’s been at it too much time. He thinks that he will snap if Nightwing doesn’t touch her, seeing as needy as she seems, desperate for him.

           “My voice is all you are having tonight, brat. You just have to rile me up every time, don’t you? It’s like you don’t want to get fucked…”. His fingers move again, tracing a trail down her breast until her core, where she trembles and moans, slightly. “… Here”.

           His fingers dig in, and her arms almost give out. Her hips move, just like a dog in heat; and Randall figure she must be one. Too seductive, too sexy, too good for only Nightwing to have. He wished he could feel her nipples just like he is doing, left hand massaging her and taking her, pushing her back into his right hand, inside her and apparently going over a very nice zone.

           “God, fuck, Night!”

           “What? You don’t want my fingers?”

           “No! Nono, I didn’t-Oh, fuck. Night.” It’s a sigh, like he knows to perfectly touch her. Have they done this a lot? Have they been fucking all the time they have been at San Francisco and other places? Oh. Is she the reason why he is not outing himself more, like he did in Gotham, with his playboy reputation behind at times? “Night, no. That’s too good. Night please.”. She lifts up her pretty head, letting the moon bathe her, and she is glorious in all her nakedness, her sensuality as she opens her small mouth and moves her hips against him, in an attempt to get more friction, Randall thinks.

           “You don’t like good, now, baby?”. She melts every time he calls her that. Her back relaxes a bit, she sighs and a shiver covers her up. “And I thought I would never hear you complain about being good after-“

           “Shut up… Night! Oh… Fuck, fuck, there. Ah, Night”. It comes in labored breaths (just like the interviews); she can’t concentrate in her words and thus the stops. She is trying but she is absolutely losing. “Please, give me something. Please, I know you want it too. It is literally poking me to death”.

           He laughs and for the first time he palms himself. Randall can admit he is gifted (more than himself, it seems to be). His member is hard and longish, rather than being too big. When he first rubs himself against her, her hands move upwards, trying to grab onto something. Is she sensitive? Her back is trembling, her legs are shivering. Is it too cold? Like fearing that, Nightwing covers her back, presses himself against her.

           “How bad do you want it?”

           “Night, I’m not going to beg.”

           Proud. Yes, he knew she would be like that. Like a princess, in all senses. Maybe except perverseness. She is the real surprise of the night and he couldn’t be any more turned on.

           “No? Then I guess this pussy is going to be empty. And there’s no sense in getting naked, so start dressing up and-“

           “No! No, fuck no!”. She stops him by his arm, lowers him down so he can see her face. “Please! Night, I-“. Her mouth opens. Then closes. She smirks. “I’m going to shout your name if you don’t fuck me. Your real name, D-“

           “You are such a slut.”

           It appears she gets off on those things. She laughs, but before she can continue, Nightwing completely turns her around. His hand goes to her neck, almost in an aggressive way that scares Randall out of his hiding place: he is really attempting to cut her oxygen off, and she is letting herself be controlled. She can hear her gasping for air, arms struggling against his naked body, but her legs grasp at his waist harder, pushing both cores together and… She is rubbing herself on him. Does that actually get her? Shit.

           “You just want to be manhandled and have all of my attention. The fact that I have to go and help others just sets you off. I know you still want me to kiss you in front of all those photographers and make it official, you are so-“

           “Demanding? Insufferable?”

           “Adorable. I just wished you could be this open with the rest.”

           “We have to take things slow, Dick. This can affect so much more than just us.”

           “I know, (Y/N). I-“

           They kiss, like they want to erase everything up. Randall doesn’t know how to gulp everything down: they love each other? Her eyes are full of pure devotion as she continues to rub them off, head hanging almost as she tries to hang it on the grass. Almost because Nightwing (Dick?) grabs her by her waist, slightly elevating her and making her sit on his lap. His cock is rubbing her folds, and there’s almost a desperation in their movements which indicates both are fully prepared. He is at his fucking limit as well; it almost hurts how it’s pressing down on the floor, giving some relief at the same time whenever he moves (just slightly so, he doesn’t want to get caught… Investigating. Yes. Not spying. Spying is dirty. He has been contracted). Is it some type of edging, pursuing out pleasure and trying to make the most out of their desperation? He just wished he would be fucking her brains out, but maybe that’s why he is the one doing her, and not him.

           “I need you. Please, Night, I won’t-won’t complain, won’t be bad, I-“

           “Hush. Let me give it to you.”

           He enters her, and her nails go deep into his skin, moaning out as he moves inside and stops, once he is fully into her, it appears. It takes him some time, some moaning on her side and some furious nails on his back.

           “Always so tight. Are you-?”

           “Yes, just fuck me, make me loose”. She gasps, both of his arms moving to the sides of her head. It appears things are about to get serious. “Fuck me like you know, like-FUCK!”

           He sets down a pace. Her hips on his lap gives him leverage enough to target a special zone inside her body, and he takes on a relentless pace as he penetrates her. There’s dirty sounds of sex and skin clashing together – there’s no problem in getting inside her, apparently, and he notices himself harden even more. Her tits bounce against his chest, just slightly, and he can see her nipples hardened, herself grabbing them and pinching them while he aims at that special area that has her legs desperately tied to him like a vice. Her expression is that out of pure bliss, pain almost as she is bordering the climax, he imagines. She moans out his name, desperately, nails leaving furious marks behind on the bare skin of Nightwing’s back, making him hiss sometimes; others thrust harder, give it all to her.

           “I can’t, I can’t, I’m going to-“

           “Do it, do it, do it”. He insists, like a prayer; and he wonders, how could she resist if pleaded like that? There’s shouts, moans that get stuck in her throat almost as he lunges himself in, until she stops him, definitively, kissing him and moaning, legs out and frozen in time, in an almost painful position before they relax.

           She has cummed. She is completely laxed on the grass, eyes almost closed, and they are whispering each other sweet nothings, he believes. He is kissing her slowly, tenderly, as he makes the slow attempt of fucking her more, but without pressuring her to move. She is hypersensitive, he can tell, by the way she shivers, her legs try and stop him from moving. But there is no real intent, as he can imagine the pleasure she is feeling, the intense feeling of happiness she is surrounded by since it’s all clear in her pleasured out face.

           “Slowly, Dick, please. You are too big”.

           He has to start touching himself. It’s too much, and this is a fantasy he is going to replay a lot of times in the future. Even when tired, hypersensitive, she wants him to cum, use her. She is definitively dirty talking him, praising him:

           “You do it so good, Dick, I will probably-“

           “Yeah?”

           “Yeah.” She confirms, like it’s a secret code, something he was supposed to know. But he doesn’t. “Oh, fuck, not there. I’m going to go again too quick, otherwise”.

           He sets out another pace, but he is careful to no make her cum again, apparently; she looks tired, eyes closed and limp body on the grass, moaning still and with her legs more open this time, just so that he can thrust inside.

           “I’m close. So close. You are so good inside, so hot, so-“

           “Inside. Please, please. I’m safe. I want you in.”

           The way he talks, grunts, and her needy tone makes him know that this will be the last time. He masturbates faster, quietly, but breathing a bit too quickly; he has the start of a lot of his wet dreams in front of him. He has to treasure the experience.

           “(Y/N)!”. He exclaims, shouts, his hands gripping harder onto her skin as she bites her own mouth. Maybe they fear they are too loud, which they are.

           (Y/N)!, he thinks to himself, on the brink too of cumming with him.

           “Fuck, can’t stop!”. Who would? There’s a sweet release when he cums looking at her hardened nipples, her perfect body against the grass and her beautiful eyes. “Adore you.”

           They embrace each other and she trembles moans out and completely destroys the grass around her. It is intense, and it is not until Nightwing slowly retires himself that he can see her fluids, squirting out of her core, still making her shiver. Is she still cumming? That’s so-

           He cums as well. In silence, biting his hand and completely blissed out. The next moments feel too intimate, and he has to dress himself up and clean as quietly as possible. He has listened enough. There’s nothing more he needs at the moment, he couldn’t leave happier.

           …

           “For all it’s worth, I’m sorry”. He sounds sincere. She looks at him directly, still shivering, slightly cold and feeling gross from sweat, blood and sex. “I don’t meant to abandon you. I just know that you are that good”.

           They chuckle, and she rolls her eyes, but it’s all good. She knows. It’s not meant to make her feel alone, or to leave her to her own luck.

           “I know. I’m sorry I get so upset over it. I just wish you would say something.”

           “I will, I promise. I’m not going to do that to you again, okay?”. Her hand goes to her cheek, caressing and kissing her slowly in the nose. It makes her smile.

           She kisses the interior of his wrist, tenderly, before looking at his eyes.

           “I think I want to go to the Tower and get changed. Can we skip statements today?”. There are puppy eyes involved, to which she knows he won’t say no. Not if its her, anyways.

           “They will understand, sure. Let’s get dressed, I want some cuddles”

           “Can I be the big spoon?”.

           “Sure. Anything for you, (Y/N).”

#dick grayson #nightwing #dc #dcu fanfic #dcu x reader #nightwing x reader #dick grayson x reader #reader insert #reader #titans x reader #request