#(i really intended to get action-y but they got cute instead and who am i to argue)

[carelessgraces]

@valiantsword​​ said:   ❛ What odd turns our lives have taken. ❜   ( reign sentence starters | accepting )

It’s a nice change. 

     The spell still needs some work. They’ve been testing it out with little injuries, nothing serious and nothing over the palm of the hand, no matter how dramatic it would have looked, that seems unnecessarily unsafe and definitely impractical. He’s still healing at about the same rate, and she’s healing, at least, so that’s something. It could use some tweaking, especially before either one of them goes back to work in a field that involves people shooting at them on a semi-regular basis.

     “Can you imagine,” she’d laughed, “if I was giving someone a tarot reading and I dropped dead halfway through? Do you know how hard it is already to convince people that the Death card doesn’t actually mean they’re going to die? God, I’d get such good reviews on Yelp, though. Went for a psychic reading. The reader died and came back to life. She’s definitely speaking with arcane knowledge from the Other Side.” 

     "Can’t have your Yelp score hurt,” Arthur drawled in response, holding a washcloth to a small cut on her arm while the skin slowly knit itself back together, and he leaned closer to press a kiss to her temple. “Should I start coughing up blood whenever you’ve really got to sell a haunting?”

     An hour later they’d popped down to the shop — if she was going to be tweaking spells and testing injuries, she wanted some aromatherapy to go with it — and he’d sneezed when she took in a breath of a candle that smelled so strongly of patchouli it made her eyes water. “That might undermine how smooth you are,” she’d pointed out. “You, staring down the barrel of a gun, daring the bad guys to make their move. A thousand miles away, I smell some flowers, and then instead of — god, I don’t know, what’s your move there? Cocking an eyebrow, saying make my day — ”

     “What exactly do you think I do?” he asked, laughing, and she only grinned and powered through, picking up another candle.

     “ — you let out that monster of a sneeze. Or you’re hiding out somewhere, preparing to bust out into the open and take advantage of the element of surprise, but I’m visiting with a new cat and discover an allergy — ”

     She would have rattled on indefinitely if he hadn’t simply slung her over his shoulder, one arm around her legs to steady her, her whole body shaking with laughter while he carried her back up the stairs and stopped only to snatch up a candle that smelled like cranberries.

     She’s looking at that candle now, burned down to half its height — it’s the same candle she would have picked, if she’d gotten to it, and there’s a small smile playing at her lips as Arthur comes back into the bedroom, depositing a cup of freshly brewed tea at her bedside table. ( For a woman who has been so resistant to being seen, to being known, she certainly has come to relish it. ) Her smile only widens, and on a whim she shifts onto her knees on the mattress and tugs at the front of his shirt until he leans forward, just enough for her to reach him. 

     Her arm is still a little sore — that last minor injury still hasn’t healed all the way — and she’s fatigued from the constant healing and spellwork and she’s feeling the start of a headache, hence the tea, but he takes her face in his hands like she’s something precious and he kisses her like he can’t get enough of her and Astoria thinks she’s never felt better, never felt more like herself. 

     “No more tests tonight,” she promises. “I’m wiped out. Come to bed? We can watch Vikings and you can tell me about all the historical inaccuracies. I’ve been curious about the armor.” 

     “Nothing like winding down to the sounds of battle.”

     “You’re right. I found a new documentary on Netflix. It’s about exorcisms — ” 

     “I stand corrected. Nothing like winding down to the screams of the eternally damned — ”

     It’s a pretty picture, said screams of the eternally damned notwithstanding: the two of them sitting beside each other, blankets pulled up and pooled in their laps and the cats draped across them, Astoria’s phone on silent and cast aside for a change while business carries on without her and no threat that Arthur will have to take off to save the world any time soon. The elder of the cats makes her way to Arthur’s lap, chews on his hand until she falls asleep, and Astoria lets out a contented sigh wholly at odds with the scene playing out on the television across from them.

     He casts her a grin, careful not to move his hand and wake the cat. “What odd turns our lives have taken.”

     She knows what he means. The both of them have become desensitized to the bloodshed and the violence that follows them; their opportunities to breathe easily are rare, so often dependent upon the cooperation of the rest of the world, notoriously uncooperative as it is. More than that, they have become desensitized to half-truths and outright lies, to the numbing quiet of returning to an empty home, of having so few people upon whom they can truly rely. He sees her set off sparks in her hands or light flames with a touch and he smiles; she watches the little cuts and scrapes from the cat’s claws fade from his hand, from her own, in a matter of seconds and minutes and home feels more and more like home with him in it. 

     Last thousand years never prepared you for domesticity? she wants to laugh, but the teasing dies in her throat and paves the way for sincerity. She leans away from him only long enough to blow out the candle on her bedside table, the smell of cranberries still hanging in the air, before nestling into his side again. 

     “Yeah.” Odd turns, indeed. “I like it.”

[aerynwrites]

Please can I request Viktor x Fem reader in a modern au? Maybe a meet-cute or strangers to lovers? I have a hankering for something in the snow. Perhaps a ski-trip or getting snowed in together somewhere? Idk. My ambiguity is yours!

Okay this is such a cute idea! Sorry it took me a while to get around to it, I hope you enjoy!

Snowy Troubles

Modern!Viktor x Fem!Reader

A/N: finally decided to post this after that little ask game yesterday…so thank you to @zaunitearchives for asking about this piece and giving me the courage to post haha.

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: meet-cute, reader literally falling for Viktor, fluff, possibly ooc!Viktor? One use of (y/n), Fun sorta wing man Jayce, fluff.

You should have known better than to try this slope. Sure you’ve been skiing for several months now, but you still felt a little unstable on your feet. But you were determined to get off the beginner slope, something that is now showing itself to be a huge mistake.

The air is frigid around you as you speed down the slope, snow stinging your cheeks as you continue to pick up speed despite trying to slow down. The end of the large hill is approaching and you try to maneuver in a way to slow your momentum, Herat racing as it does little to diminish your speed.

Panic swells in your chest as you focus solely on trying to slow down instead of also paying attention on the direction you’re heading. The end of the slope keeps getting closer and despite finally starting to slow your speed, you realize you’re now pointed straight at two men.

One of them is strapped into a snowboard while the other is standing off to the sidelines, clearly a bystander.

“Watch out!” You call, waving your hands as best as you can with your ski poles in hand. “I can’t stop-woah!”

As if things can’t get any worse, in your haste to warn the two guys you cross your damn skis! With little warning, this action causes you to come to a screeching halt, tumbling forward straight into the bystander.

Your bodies collide with a solid thud, the wind knocked out of you both as you tumble to the snowy ground. Thankfully you manage to do something right and wrap your arms around him and turn to throw yourself to the ground, saving him from being squashed beneath you.

“Viktor!” A deep baritone calls out from above you and your eyes fall to the snowboarder.

He’s frantically trying to unclip from his board as you and, Viktor, start untangling your limbs.

“Oh ny god.” You rush out, looking to the man above you, who’s golden eyes peel open from where they had undoubtedly slammed shut upon impact. “I’m so sorry! I’m such an idiot - here.”

You grasp onto his upper arms, steadying him as he pushes himself off of you. He shakes his head as he braces his arms beside your head on the ground, and you thank the gods above he can’t see your flustered expression below the buff you’re wearing.

“I’m sure you didn’t intend to run into me.” You immediately notice his accent and how the words curl from his lips.

“No, absolute not I just-“ You cringe, ears burning as he finally gets to his knees off to the side of you, allowing you to sit up. “I got a little bit too ambitious,” you say pulling your buff down so they can hear you better.

Finally, the other man is by Viktor’s side, worried eyes dancing over him quickly. “Are you okay?”

Viktor nods. “I am uninjured, my leg is a little sore but…nothing worse than usual.”

Finally the man looks over to you. You expected harsh words or scathing comments but instead he looks concerned for you as well. “What about you? You good?” He reaches out a hand to you, hoisting you to your feet with ease once you untangle your skis.

Nodding, you avoid his eyes as shame eats at your chest. “I’m fine. I’m more worried about Viktor over here,” you say, gesturing to the man who is also being pulled to his feet by his friend. “I really am sorry, I didn’t -“ you sigh, angry at yourself, frustrated that you could have really hurt someone. “I shouldn’t have gone on that slope.”

Your eyes never leave Viktor as he takes a few staggered steps before picking an item up off the ground. An item that you quickly realize to be a cane.

However, Viktor seems to be unbothered by the incident, brushing the snow from his shoulders and hair lazily before adjusting the red scarf around his neck. “It’s okay, truly.” He insists, a thoughtful look coming to his face. “What’s that saying? Eh….no harm no foul.”

You release a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, your shoulders drooping dramatically. “Well, I appreciate it,” you say honestly, turning now to look at the other man. “So, you snowboard?”

At the mention of the sport, he lights up, eyes sparkling. “I do! This is my first time at these slopes though, and it’s been great. I’m actually competing later today, just trying to get in some practice runs since I’m unfamiliar with the area.”

You nod, leaning down to unclip from your skis, glancing over to Viktor as you do so. “And you? I didn’t see any gear.”

He lets out a light laugh, the action making his eyes crinkle at the corners. It strikes you then just how handsome he is. Golden eyes, chestnut hair sticking out adorably in different directions, sharp facial features…

His response cuts off your wandering mind as you stand. He taps his cane against the metal brace around his leg.

“I am not the athletic type,” he jokes, a smile on his face. “I just came to support Jayce during his competition.”

You glance over to the other man and nod. “When’s the comp start?”

Jayce glances down at his arm, tugging up the sleeve of his snow jacket to look at his watch. “In about…2 hours.” He sends you a teasing smile. “You gonna stay and watch?”

Returning his grin you shrug. “Might as well.” You stick your hand out to him and then Viktor once he shakes it. “My name’s (y/n), by the way. Figured you should know the name of the person who plowed you over.”

Both men laugh, and Jayce claps you on the back. “I would ask you to join me on the slope but…”

You wave your hands quickly. “No, no. I think I’m done for the day.” You turn to Viktor, shoving away the butterflies that erupt in your belly as you speak. “There’s a coffee shop inside the lodge. Would you want to go grab a cup while we wait for the comp to start?” You try, and pretty much fail, to hide the hopeful tone in your voice, wanting nothing more than to get to know the man you literally ran into.

Jayce glances at Viktor, and you don’t miss the way he waggles his eyebrows at him. He just huffs, sending you a small smile.

“Coffee and warmth sounds much better than standing out here in the snow. I would love to join you,” he says.

You beam at him, grabbing your skis and poles quickly before starting a slow pace towards the lodge. You weren’t too far, but you could tell Viktor was being careful with his steps.

“Don’t forget to come back and actually watch me compete!” Jayce calls, making both you and Viktor laugh.

The latter waves a hand over his shoulder absentmindedly and Jayce must take that as a response because he doesn’t call after you again. The rest of the short walk to the lodge is comfortably silent, and once inside you pull your jacket hood down and stomp the snow from your boots.

“I’m sorry again for before. It could have been much worse, and I shouldn’t have gone on a slope I wasn’t ready for.” You tell him again, lips tugged downwards.

Viktor shakes his head once more. “No serious injuries occurred,” he points out. “But if you truly want to make it up to me, I won’t refuse a cup of coffee.”

You smile at him, unable to stop the way your heart flutters at his flirting. “I think that’s fair. Let me just go put my gear away in my locker and then I’ll meet you back here in ten.”

He dips his head. “I look forward too it.”

He turns away before he can see the dopey look on your face and you rush away to get your gear put up.

Maybe attempting the slope was a good thing after all.

[patd--phan]

Wanna Be Yours

Pairing: Dadsbestfriend! Bucky (mid/late 40s) x reader (in early/mid twenties)

Summary: Y/N surprises bucky on a business trip and he promises to be hers.

Warnings: SMUTTY stuff (18+ only pleasee), unprotected sex, creampie, oral sex (m receiving), riding, teasing, significant age gap, reader takes charge, “Doll/sweets/baby/sweetheart”, some cute ass shit at the beginning and end tho

WC: about 3K im sorry I was really H*rny yesterday and I was unable to do anything about it as i was stuck in the car all damn day

Note: So I was really h*rny yesterday and this happened lol I’m sorry. Loosely based on the song wanna be yours-arctic monkeys. Also this will probably be the only smut I ever write bc I don’t wanna become an 18+ blog or make anyone uncomfortable (not that 18+ blogs are bad tho lemme set that straight, most of my fav blogs are)

PS thank you for the love on my first ever fic with Peter Parker x reader, it made me so happy that ppl didn’t think I suck lol ( and i guess i lied saying i would probably never write another one shot lol)

You do NOT have my permission to repost this anywhere, I will come for u if you plagiarize ok bye

It was no secret that Bucky liked to be in charge in the bedroom, and you had absolutely no problem with that. After all, he was older and more experienced; he knew how to make your body sing. But this week you were craving something a little different. Bucky had been away on a business trip all weekend and you really missed him, not just the sex (but I mean…) but just cuddling and talking to him about your day; you were feeling clingy. You decide to text bucky even though you knew he couldn’t answer right away because he was currently in a meeting.

Y/N: I mis youu :( when will you be back tomorrow?

You just wandered around your apartment for the next 20 minutes, casually checking your phone about every 30 seconds just in case bucky was able to sneak in a text. He finally replied after 30 minutes, right as his meeting was ending at 3.

Bucky: Hey doll, I miss you too <3

Bucky: unfortunately one of the investors this morning had to push their meeting to late tomorrow afternoon, so I’m not gonna be home until very late tomorrow night :(

Y/N: dammit :(

Y/N: well good luck at the pitch meeting tomorrow, I love and miss you <3

Bucky: don’t gimme that pout I know your making doll, ill see you tonight on facetime! :)

Y/N: haha u know me so well, and yes you’ll see me tonight ;) (but I still miss u)

Bucky: I know doll I hate it too, see you tonight. Love you <3

Y/n: love you too <3

You didn’t know if you could go until late Monday without seeing bucky. As you laid on the couch smiling sadly about missing your love, an idea popped into your head. He was only two and a half hours away, and he wouldn’t be back at his hotel for another 4 hours at least. Fuck it, you were gonna go drive to his hotel and surprise him. You couldn’t be away so long, you felt super clingy this weekend and you needed to be on top of with him.

You quickly ran around your apartment, packing an overnight bag and you saw the package that arrived earlier on your floor that you completely forgot about because you couldn’t stop thinking of Bucky. You remembered its contents e(a completely evil lingerie set) and threw it in the bag with a smirk on your face.

The drive to Bucky’s hotel felt like forever and you had to remind yourself to stop speeding because you were so excited. When you finally got to his hotel, you had to convince the manager to give you a key to his room, proving that you were the man’s girlfriend with several pictures on your phone which was slightly embarrassing because in almost every picture, at least one of you was half-naked. Worth it. You thought. When you arrived in his room you quickly went into the bathroom to change into a little black dress (with a surprise underneath). Then as you were sitting on his bed waiting for him, you realized it would still be a while before he would get back, so you decided to tidy up his things, packing his clothes and organizing his suitcase. Pleased with your work, you sat back down on the bed and looked at your phone for a while. You finally got pulled out of your Instagram daze when you heard Bucky’s voice in the hallway laughing at something a coworker said. You quickly threw your phone on the dresser, straightened up you dress, and sat at the edge of the bed with a huge smile on your face, giddy to surprise him.

As he turned the doorknob he was still looking behind him talking to the man. When he finally said goodbye and turned his head around, his eyebrows raised up and his jaw dropped, which was quickly replaced with a smile even larger than yours.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, running towards you and throwing his briefcase on the floor.

He picked you up in a tight hug and you squealed, legs immediately wrapping around his waist.

“I told you you’d see me tonight!” you said, still clung to him like a koala.

“W-what?” He replied, still in shock. Letting your legs fall back to the floor.

“I just missed you too much” you shrugged.

If any human could embody “heart eyes” it was Bucky at that moment- he’s such a softie for you. He pulled your face towards him and gave you one of the most loving kisses you’ve ever had in your life. You were expecting it to be passionate and rough, but it was soft, delicate and loving, and your heart melted into a puddle. After your lips parted, you gazed into each other’s eyes before being pulled up in another tight hug. You giggled and wrapped your legs around him again.

“I guess you missed me too huh?” you laughed.

“Oh doll, you have no idea.”

You wrapped your hands in his hair, massaging his neck and he moaned loudly.

“Mm, that feels nice.” He hummed.

“You tired baby?” you asked, he seemed like he needed some TLC (and you were ready to give it to him).

“I am so exhausted.” He replied, making you frown behind his back.

You slowly slid down his body, back onto your feet again, and kept massaging his head. He looked at you lovingly before looking around his hotel room, his eyebrows pulled in confusion.

“Did you clean up in here?”

“Yep, while I was waiting for ya,” you replied, smiling.

His whole face softened.

“Oh, I really don’t deserve you doll.” Making you smile and shake your head.

“Oh yes you do.” You replied making him smile and his heart flutter in his chest.

He pulled you in for another kiss, this one with more fire and longing in it than the last one. His large hands grabbed you ass to pull you closer to him and you moaned into the kiss. You pressed your body against him even tighter and ran your hands through his hair making him moan. You could feel his pants tent start to grow against you and you smirked and moved you lips down to the side of his neck making him groan.

You pull back and look at him, hard and eyes half lidded, it turns you on so much you feel your panties dampening.

“Hey Buck?” you whisper, lips mere inches apart.

“Hmm?” he hums in response.

“I have another surprise for you.” You whisper into his ear before pulling back to look at his face.

“What’s that, doll?” he whispers.

You smirk and step away from him, noticing the confusion on his face before you pull your dress over your head and throw it onto the floor.

Bucky’s jaw drops, making you bite your lip and smirk even more. This was gonna be fun.

“Oh, fuck me,” He groans.

“Oh, I fully intend on it, Buck” you smirk.

He just groans and starts walking towards you.

“Buck?”

“Yeah sweets?”

“Wanna be mine tonight?”

“Fuck, I’ll be yours forever doll.” He says, making you whimper. You pull him against you by his tie, pressing your bodies together.

Your lips crash and tongues swirl together fighting for dominance. Hands moving up and down each other’s bodies like animals. Bucky squeezing your ass so tight you know there’s gonna be marks.

You both pull back enough so you can shimmy off Bucky’s tie and throw it over his head before unbuttoning his shirt and peeling it off him. You then sink to your knees and undo his belt quickly before slowly unzipping his pants, kissing the outside of his member though his pants making him exhale a breath sharply.

“Fuck” he breathes out.

You don’t want to tease him too much (yet) so after another kiss, you shove his pants off and lay down on the bed, his body caging you under him.

The passionate makeout session resumes with Bucky still hard in his boxers pressing against your clothed core. You suddenly remember what you wanted and pull back from the kiss.

“Wait, no” you whisper.

Bucky pulls back, confused and nervous he did something to hurt you.

“What’s wrong?” he whispers.

You take advantage of his confusion and roll him over so you were straddling him with a smirk on your face.

Bucky moans at your actions, core pressing tight against him.

“You said you’d be mine.” You breathe over his lips. Moaning as being in charge is giving you a whole rush of feelings and confidence.

You kiss him, and he lets you dominate the kiss this time, biting his lips and grinding on him. He bucks his hips onto your and you pull back.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll take care of you, I’ll make you feel so good.”

Bucky moans at your words as you start to kiss all the way down his body, leaving little hickies down his chest. When you get towards his boxers he thinks your gonna kiss his member or pull down his boxers, but instead you go back up his chest, licking a stripe from his belly button all the way to one of his nipples, up his neck, to his lips.

Bucky moans, loud. You give him one more kiss before deciding to stop teasing him (kinda). You quickly kiss down his chest again and then plant a few kisses on his aching cock through his boxers. He bucks his hips and is whimpering under you. Fuck, that turns you on. Your big strong boyfriend who could probably crush you with one arm, whimpering and practically begging under you. Your panties are fucking soaked and you don’t think you can deny your own pleasure too much longer. You pull down his boxers and his cock is throbbing and dripping precum.

“Shit” you moan at the sight.

You lick the precum off him and he gives a high pitched moan that goes straight to your core.

“Baby please, I- I can’t.”

“Don’t worry baby I got you.” You reply as you take his full member into your mouth, sucking lightly.

Bucky moans and bucks his hips into your mouth. You push them back down and suck a few more times before getting off of him. He looks worried for a second before you slide your panties off and straddle his cock.

“Still wanna be mine?”

“Always” he replies.

You sink down onto him, jaw dropping and eyes closing at the feeling. You don’t think you’ll ever get used to him no matter how many times he’s been inside you. You both moan as his whole cock is finally buried inside you.

“Fuck Bucky, you feel so fucking good in me.” You moan, starting to rock your hips.

“God, I’m so fucking wet for you.”

Bucky continues to give low moans as you start to ride him.

“Fuck baby, I love you like this.” He says, making you start to ride him harder, moaning at his words.

His hands come grab your hips to help you ride him faster, harder.

“Baby- shit I’m close already.” He pleads.

“All for me? Shit baby aren’t I the lucky one?” You moan.

Bucky’s grip on your hips tighten and he starts to fuck up into you. He was about to blow.

You moan loudly at the feeling. “Cum in me baby please I need it.”

After a particularly hard thrust into your wet pussy you feel him spilling inside you. He lets out one of those vulgar high pitched moans and grunts that make your brain short circuit and your eyes roll back while your pussy clenches around him. You feel yourself getting close, but you want to give him another orgasm, so you sink down on him fully and slowly ride him, hearing him whimpering and moaning. You feel him get hard in you again (thank you supersoldier serum) and you rock back and forth on him. You reach down to rub your clit, but Bucky sees it and swats your hand away, replacing it with his metal one.

“Oh fuck” you moan at the cool sensation.

You start to bounce up and down on him again, the knot in your abdomen building and heating up. You feel yourself close to being undone as you ride him and his other hand runs up your body and squeezes your nipple through your thin lace bra. You moan and feel yourself clench around him, making him moan.

“Fuck- I’m gonna c-“ you get interrupted by the white hot explosion of your orgasm. Your eyes roll back, jaw hangs open and toes curl as you feel that release knock throughout your whole body, making you shake. You let out those high pitched moans and whines that only Bucky makes you feel.

Feeling you clench around him and watching your completely fucked out face, you feel Bucky’s thick cock twitch inside of you, and you moan as you feel him release in you again. Fuck that makes you feel good. So good you can’t think or move and you start to collapse on top of Bucky, but he slightly catches you and lays you down on his chest, both breathing heavy, with his cock still inside you, cum dripping all down your legs and onto Bucky.

You can’t speak, can’t think, the pleasure totally ruining you. After what feels like forever, you feel your breathing start to return to normal, as does Bucky’s, and you feel his hand rubbing up and down your back, grounding you back to earth from wherever on cloud nine you were.

You hum as you feel yourself finally calm down.

“Holy fuck, doll” you feel him lowly whine in your ear. You can only moan lowly in response.

“Baby that was fucking amazing.”

“Mmhmm.” You hum.

“…but I think I’m gonna lose my mind if you keep clenching around me.” He chuckles.

“oh shit, sorry,” you mumble out. You try to push up off of him but the farthest you got was placing your hands on his shoulders before your body gave up on you.

“Oh my God, I can’t move” you whisper. You’re so fucked out, your body won’t respond to your brain anymore.

Bucky moans at your words and slowly rolls both of you so youre on your side facing him. He reaches down and pulls his soft cock out of your pussy, moaning when he sees a burst of cum leaking from you.

You moan at the feeling of him exiting your body. You look him in the eyes and give him a lazy smile. His eyes sparkle back at you and his hand comes up to rub your cheek.

“Mm” you hum at the feeling.

“That was fucking incredible” he says, making you smile wider.

“I’m not disagreeing” you quip.

He chuckles lightly before saying “you gotta do this more often.”

“What, surprise you on business trips?” you question.

“No” he rolls his eyes and smiles, “Well yes actually, but I was talking about you absolutely taking charge tonight.”

“Oh yeah?” you smirk.

“Fuck yeah doll, I don’t think I’ve ever cum as hard. You looked so damn sexy in charge.”

You look away from his eyes, shying at his words, but also they were giving you the confidence to look right back into his eyes and say “I agree” with a smirk.

“I love hearing those high pitched moans you make, It turns me on so much” you admit.

“You know, only you can get those noises out of me, doll” he chides. You blush and smile at him.

He chuckles and you bring his face towards yours and kiss him deeply, tongues meeting together. You both hum into the kiss as his hand rubs down the side of your body.

When you break the kiss, both of you needing a breath, he pulls your body towards him, resting your head on his chest. You hum in peace as he rubs your back.

“I love you so much Y/N” he says and you feel your heart absolutely burst in your chest.

“I love you so much too Buck,” you reply, lifting your head to peck him on the lips before placing your head back on his chest.

You lay in silence for a minute before your mind begins to wander again.

“Did you mean it?” you ask.

“Mean what, doll?”

“That you’ll be mine forever?” you ask. “I mean not just in the sexy way but that you’ll be with me forever?” you ramble out.

“God yes sweetheart, you’re the one for me.” He responds and you didn’t think your heart could explode anymore, but it just did.

You squeeze his shoulder with your hand before coming up to kiss him passionately again, almost crying at all of the love going though you.

“I promise I’m all yours forever too, Buck” you smile at him.

“Good,” he smiles back, and you rest back on his chest, eyes getting droopy.

“Night-night sweetheart.” You feel yourself smile in your sleep.

“Goodnight my love.” You reply, further cuddling into his chest. Bucky feels his heart combust in his chest. God, wasn’t he lucky to have you. He didn’t know what he did to deserve you, but he knew that he was going to assure you that you deserve the world every day for the rest of his life. He kissed the top of your head before falling into a deep sleep, content with his favorite person tight in his arms.

[kdjamlabel]

Tendencies

Pairing: Hawks x GN!Y/N

Summary: Hawks with bird tendencies, but he’s faking it because he thinks you’ll like him more.

Hawks fluff for the soul~

~~~~~~

Everyone assumes because of his animal quirk, Hawks should have animal tendencies. It would make sense since people with animal type quirks often share habits with their animal counterparts. These “bird hero headcanons” stem from the various theories his [rabid] fans have of what the hero is like behind his cocky, charming exterior. Unfortunately for them, the most bird-like qualities he has are his wings, which is why he gets a little confused when some fans ask him to coo when he signs things for them.

Being in a relationship with the bird boy is a whole ‘nother ball game. When you gave him a cracker and some trail mix as a joke, he nibbled at it while making chirping sounds and doing a little happy dance. You thought it was absolutely adorable and started to pull out your phone when he noticed and immediately stopped, desperate to convince you that it had to be a secret because it was too embarrassing for the public to know about.

Opening the door into your shared living space after work one day, you found him sitting on the couch surrounded by an assortment of pillows, blankets, some of his feathers strewn about. When you asked what all this was for, he got up and gently pulled you to come sit in his “nest” for cuddle time. Needless to say, you two were nice and cozy for the rest of that night.

You don’t know when, but one day he started bringing you things. Shiny things. Rocks, shells, the occasional piece of overpriced jewelry, you name it. You had asked him why he, and he simply answered “Because I thought you would like it!” with the sweetest, most innocent loving smile. You now had a box in the closet labeled “Y/N’s shiny things” written on the side messily in glitter glue. Looking at it every morning before you got dressed never failed to give you the warm and fuzzies.

One night he came home from a mission covered in some weird sludge and you had offered to help him clean up. You had him sit on a stool in your-unreasonably large-bathroom while you ran a warm damp towel through his feathers. He spent the whole time giving little hums of approval as you worked your way through. When you reached the base of them however, he shuddered and gasped, causing his wings to fluff up and push you away. He had his hands covering his face in shame while you were rolling on the floor laughing like crazy. In your fit, you didn’t notice him peeking through his hands, smiling softly down at you.

He had made it his mission to learn how to do your hair. It didn’t matter what type it was, or if he had no previous experience, he was going to do it. You had told him it was fine and he didn’t need to, but he insisted. It was supposed to be payback for how well you had been taking care of his wings. He’s gotten really good at it now, confident enough to let you show up to work in a “Keigo original” with only the smuggest of grins when your coworkers compliment your hair.

It happened one afternoon when the two of you were just chilling and listening to the radio. He started bobbing his head to the music ever so slightly, then started doing it harder as the song got to his favorite part. You carefully and sneakily pulled out your phone to take a small video. You weren't going to show anyone, you just wanted to keep it as a little secret for yourself. He was fully aware of what you were doing, but he let it slide, only because he loves you.

The truth finally came out one day at the beginning of spring. You had been pulling away from him and he couldn’t figure out why. You had cut cuddle time shorter and shorter, only stayed in the house to eat and grab spare clothes, you had even started staying over at a friend’s house instead of with him. He was starting to go cuckoo not having you there. He needed to confront you about your recent behavior, so he made a plan.

When he called you to meet on the roof of the penthouse, you were a bit skeptical of his intentions, but thought to humor him as the guilt of leaving him alone was eating you alive. What you weren’t expecting was to see him standing there, smartly dressed and roses in hand. The nerve ridden man in front of you was a stark contrast from his usual laid back and carefree persona, but a strangely welcome sight all the same.

Before you could speak, he handed you the flowers and basically begged to know what he could have possibly done wrong. You try to calm him as he frantically apologizes for things he hasn’t even done. Finally, you grab him by the shoulders and yell that he hasn’t done anything wrong.

“Then why have you been avoiding me?” He asks in such a sad and broken tone that you feel your heart ache.

“Babe,” You sigh, embarrassed that you didn’t think of talking this out with him earlier and had to do it here and now of all places.  “I’ve been avoiding you because it’s spring.”

“What does the weather have to do with anything! You can’t just randomly pull away because winter’s over!” He was still visibly confused by your actions. You couldn’t believe you had to be the one to say it like this.

“It’s SPRING, Keigo! I know it was mean of me to do that without telling you first, and I’m sorry. I’m just not sure if I can handle…” You trail off, not wanting to finish, cringing. 

Hawks was a smart man. The Commission had made sure of that. The moment you hesitated, he finally understood what this was all about. He processed it for a bit, then the chuckling started, which evolved into full-blown hysterics. You were taken aback by the sudden change in demeanor. First, completely frantic, now this? Was this a side effect of-

“I’m not-I-I don’t really act like a bird y’know.” He said, finally calming down and wiping small tears from his eyes. “I’m just a guy with wings, nothing more, nothing less.” He looked at your wide-eyed and open-mouthed expression.

“Wh-bu-I thought you-”

“Acted like a bird because I have a bird quirk? Sorry dove, but no, I don’t.”

“Then why have you-”

“If I’m being honest, the only reason I did was because I thought you would like me more. The fans think that’s who I am and I thought you did too. I know, I know, I shouldn’t have lied about it, but what else was I supposed to do? The thought of ‘“What if they leave you because you aren’t what they thought you were?’” kept creeping in and I just couldn’t tell you the truth. If I had known you would avoid me because of it, I would have said something sooner. I’m sorry” His eyes were downcast as he finished. He really didn’t mean for it to get this out of hand. If he had just told you, then maybe things would be better. Now you probably hated him. You gently grasped his face and brought it up to meet yours.

“Oh featherbrain-” You touched his forehead with your own, caressing his cheeks as you do ”I love you, quirks-yes pun fully intended-or not. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re the same Keigo Takami I fell in love with. It was cute, but I think I can live with just-normal-man-with-wings Hawks.” you say squishing his cheeks and giving him a little peck on his nose.

“I don’t know about that. Some of those things have turned into habits that I’m not sure will break so easily.” he smirks as he snakes his arms around your waist.

“I guess we’ll just have to live with that then. But to be perfectly clear, your not-”

“No, I’m not.”

“Thank god. I wasn’t sure how long I could stand being at (y/f/n)’s house. I think they’re just about ready to kick me out.”

“Then It’s your lucky day. There’s a penthouse lease with your name on it and some very empty bed space just your size. Think you can fix that for me, love?” He arches his brow, teasingly.

“I think I can fix that.”

[handsoffmyfriends]

Breaking Expectations

— when you transfer into the hero course for your second year, you have a lot of expectations regarding your soon-to-be classmates. of all the people to not meet your expectations, bakugou katsuki ranks number one, but you find that you aren’t disappointed in the slightest

PARING: bakugou katsuki x reader WORD COUNT: 1,852 WARNINGS: bakugou swears like the bakuhoe he is

A/N: my first one shot 🥺🥺 i really wanted to write something cute and fluffy and angst free for once, i hope i did okay!! warming myself up for opening up requests !

Part 2

You weren’t sure what you expected when you transferred into the hero course, but somehow befriending the hot-headed Bakugou Katsuki hadn’t even been within the realm of possibilities. You respected his undeniable power, but his personality left much to be desired. You, like the rest of the school outside of the hero course, believed he was nothing more than a feral child with a superiority complex. All you had ever heard about him was how angry he was and how poorly he treated everyone around him. Hell, the guy called his best friend “shitty hair” for crying out loud. It left you feeling not as excited as you should have been when you found out you were transferring into Class 2-A.

Your first interaction with the angry boy left you wondering just how much of the rumours you’d heard had been just that; rumours. You thought for sure he was going to yell at you when you’d been thrown into him during hero training, but he’d simply helped you steady your footing and told you to be more careful. His tone always held a note of anger, you’d found, but the way he helped you and proceeded to back you up during the exercise left you feeling like you’d completely misjudged him. 

You couldn’t shake the guilt at how poorly you’d originally viewed him, so you approached him later that day in the dorms. Thankfully, he was by himself, sitting on the sofa scrolling through his social media. You weren’t sure how you’d have spoken to him if other people were around. 

Still, you weren’t sure how to start the conversation. He very clearly didn’t want to be disturbed, but he was out in the communal living space, so surely he expected to be disturbed? You stood there like an idiot for several long seconds, agonising over how to begin, but once again, he surprised you. 

“Don’t stand there all day,” he growled out, flicking his crimson eyes up at you. “Couches are free real estate. Don’t need my permission to sit your ass down.” He returned his attention back to his phone.

You stiffened slightly at his bluntness. Again, you hadn’t known what to expect, but that certainly wasn’t it. “Ah, that’s not what I came over here for.” 

He looked back up at you, this time putting his phone aside and giving you his entire attention. “If it’s about before, don’t worry about it. Everyone does dumb shit during the exercises. Dunce Face does something stupid every fucking time.” 

You frowned in confusion before realising he meant Kaminari. You shook your head, finding your voice. “Ah, it’s not quite that either, though I am very sorry about getting in your way. It was a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be.” 

Bakugou shrugged with indifference. “You did alright to me. Better than that grape fucker we had last year.” 

You dug through your brain to figure out who he could have possibly meant before noticing you were getting distracted. “It’s— I mean... I came over to apologise to you! For misjudging you!” You blurted your thoughts out before they got lost on the way to your mouth. It came out a lot less eloquently than you intended. At his furrowed eyebrows, you tried to save face and explain yourself. “I just... I needed to apologise. You aren’t at all how I thought you would be.”

His expression darkened. “Let me guess, you thought I’d be some kind of villain in the making? Some asshole that would stomp you into the ground without a second thought?”

You didn’t respond, but it was answer enough for him. 

He sighed deeply, releasing his frustrations. “Look, that shit was probably true a year ago. I get why you’d think that.” He pulled his phone back out, returning his attention back to it. “People change, believe it or not. But, thanks... for being upfront, I guess.”

You weren’t sure how you felt about the conclusion to the conversation, but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. You didn’t feel right just walking away after that either, so you took a seat on the couch, a comfortable distance away from him, and pulled out your own phone to browse your social media. 

You looked back up at him sharply when you noticed the new friend request notification pop up. The Bakugou Katsuki had just sent you a friend request. He seemed entirely unaware of you staring at him in disbelief, despite having just sent you the request. He continued to scroll through his phone, very pointedly not looking up at you. 

You decided not to make a big deal out of it, since he wasn’t either. 

-- 

Bakugou continued to surprise you as the weeks and months went by. Sure, he was as angry as you had been led to believe, but it wasn’t a personal anger that you had assumed. He was just a shouty kind of guy. He called all his friends insulting nicknames, but they were said with a strange kind of fondness, like insults were the only way he could allow himself to show affection. He even had one for you, and if anyone else had called you that, you would have been really offended. Coming from Bakugou, it was strangely nice. 

You found yourself hanging out with him more and more. Not through any intentional planning, but the two of you just ended up in the same places at the same times. He was almost always accompanied by Kirishima, who was always overly happy to see you, almost like he was making up for Bakugou’s lack of enthusiasm. You didn’t mind the extra company, though you found you liked your alone time with Bakugou even more. 

Sometimes, it was just studying together. Sometimes, you both didn’t say a word, simply enjoying each other’s company. When you did talk, it was comfortable. Bakugou wasn’t a big talker, but you could tell he really trusted you when he did talk to you about more serious topics than the weather. You treasured those moments. 

--

“Hey, Y/N! We’ve been looking for you!” Kirishima called out, pulling you from your book.

“Oh, Kirishima, Bakugou,” you greeted pleasantly, giving up on studying. You probably shouldn’t be studying in the communal area anyway. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

Kirishima grinned impossibly wide, showing off his famously sharp teeth. “Bakubro here wanted you to join us for squad movie night.” 

Without hesitation, Bakugou threw a punch at Kirishima, right in the face. The red-head had apparently been expecting it, since he’d hardened up instantly and was left entirely unaffected by the slug. “Shut the hell up, shitty hair, you make it sound so fucking creepy!” 

You laughed at their bickering, finding it endearing. How you had ever thought Bakugou was an asshole to his friends was beyond you. The words themselves were harsh, but the emotions behind them spelled out an entirely different meaning. He was embarrassed.

You decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. “Squad movie night, huh? I didn’t know I was part of a squad.”

Kirishima threw an arm around Bakugou. “I’ll add you to the group chat! But, you gotta come for movie night first! It’s like, initiation.” 

You giggled. “Alright, alright. I need a break anyway.” 

-- 

That’s how you found yourself curled up on the couch, pressed up against the arm of the three seater. It seemed squad movie night was an accepted practise in the dorm, since no one other than Bakugou’s friends were present despite being hosted in the communal area. 

Mina had picked the movie, which was surprisingly an action packed thriller, not a rom-com that you’d have expected from her. It suited you just fine, since you weren’t exactly in the mood for a rom-com. 

You’d sat down first, since you weren’t sure who did what when it came to movie time. Kaminari handed around little bowls full of snacks for everyone, while Sero and Kirishima pulled out a plethora of comforters, blankets and pillows, passing them around to everyone. You suspected they were from everyone’s rooms and you suddenly felt lacking since you hadn’t brought your own. This certainly wasn’t what you’d expected to come along to. 

You continued to be surprised when Bakugou took a seat next to you and threw his comforter over you. “Bring your own next time,” he growled at you, adding on your insulting nickname. 

You figured Kirishima would sit next to Bakugou, but he just sat down on the other couch with Sero. Mina had created a nest on the floor, pillows and blankets piled into an impossibly comfortable mound of plush. She practically disappeared into it when she laid down in it. 

You found it hard to concentrate on the movie with Bakugou so close to you. You were surrounded  by his smell, burnt sugar and smoke, a combination that you would have thought to be repulsive. Instead, it wrapped you up and made you feel nice and warm. Although, that probably had to do with the fact that Bakugou was so close to you that you could feel his body heat. The sudden realisation had you barely able to breathe.

Why did you suddenly feel so weird? No one else made you feel like your heart was in your throat, so why did Bakugou? 

You think your heart completely stopped when Bakugou very casually threw an arm behind you. Well, behind the couch was more accurate, but it was still behind you and when your heart came back online, it was working double time. 

“Fuckin’ relax,” he murmured, eyes never leaving the screen. When you didn’t relax quick enough for his liking, he turned his crimson gaze onto you, those red eyes boring in your own. “I can move if you’re that fuckin’ uncomfortable.” He probably meant to come off blasé, but you could hear the underlying hurt in his voice.

You shook your head very quickly when you realised he wasn’t just being casual about getting comfortable, but making a silent move to get closer to you. You didn’t speak, not trusting yourself to talk. You’d probably say something really stupid and really loudly. Instead, you forced yourself to relax, shifting around a little to get more comfortable. Bakugou hummed in satisfaction.

You weren’t sure when you were snuggled into Bakugou’s side instead of the arm of the couch, and you weren’t sure when he pulled his arm from behind the couch to be wrapped around you, but you found that you were way too comfortable to care. 

You felt so warm and safe that you didn’t even notice that you were dozing off until you were being gently woken up. The room was dark, the movie very clearly over, and the rest of the squad were long gone. Bakugou gently jostled you awake, a strangely soft expression adorning his features. You’d never seen it before, but you decided then and there, in your sleepy stupor, that you wanted to see it as much as you could.

[alovesongshewrote]

What Do We Do With - A Sad Bounty Hunter | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot:  You're a badass bounty hunter sent by the Arcane Order (Posse) to kill one Hisirdoux Casperan.  There’s just one problem.  He’s literally to nice to kill. [Hisirdoux Casperan x GenderNeutral!Reader]

Word Count:  1,362

Warnings: mentions of murder in passing

A/N:  nyeh

Taglist: @furblrwurblr​ @einahpetsyarcip​ @sorrels-scribbling​ @anxious-stitcher​ @alive-and-afraid​ @animedweeb333​ @douxiesdamsel​ @saroski05 @blixeon​ @yagirlcheesely​

You never expect a barista to be a deadly bounty hunter, but sometimes they just are.  This was a lesson Douxie had to learn, and you were glad to teach him.  

You’d been posing as a coffee shop employee for a while, spending most shifts watching the wizard working in the attached book store.  The man really let his guard down while on shift.  Or maybe he didn’t.  You never really got close enough to tell.  You did, however, get close enough to see what a good person he was.  Whether he was assisting a lost child, an elderly patron, or a coworker, the boy exuded kindness.  He was cute and charming and a bit of a cheek, which you were always down for.  Also, he said ‘Fuzzbuckets’ instead of ‘fuck,’ which you loved.  The kindness, though, that was sickening, sickening in your opinion.  That’s a lie you told yourself.  You tell a lot of those, watch out for them.  

In truth, the wizard’s kindness was what kept him alive.  Usually, when someone had a price on their head, they weren’t a very good person.  You’d brought in killers, magical dictators, and man-eating monsters, but you’d never had a target quite like Hisirdoux Casperan.  

So, you hesitated.  Every time you got a chance to kill him, you waited, biding your time and lying to yourself.  Mission failed, we’ll get him next time, except there was never a next time.  You had the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair, and your moral compass was a roulette wheel, but you still felt guilty about taking the life of someone so good.  You knew the world would be a darker place without him in it, and the world you’d seen needed as much light as it could get.

Unfortunately, your sudden sense of morality was about to cause several problems.  The group who’d put the price on Casperan’s head in the first place (the Arcane Posse or something?) were growing impatient.  They wanted the poor man dead and they wanted it as soon as possible, so they did what anyone else would do and hired someone else to kill him.  In any other situation, you may have been offended.  You were a professional, and you were taking your time, so the Posse could sit there and wait, ok?  In this particular case, though, you knew deep down that you had no plans to take the wizard’s life.

So, no, this time you weren’t offended.  You were determined.  That wizard dude was a good person and you were determined to keep him alive.  With that determination on your side, you kept calm and carried on, breaking into Douxie’s apartment like any rational bounty hunter turned bodyguard, completely unaware of the mess you were about to crash into.  

It was safe to say that the wizard was more than a little surprised when you smashed through his window, “FUZZBUCKETS, WHAT THE H- wait a tick, don’t you work at the coffee shop?”

You nodded, glad that he remembered you.  It can be nice to be perceived, “Yeah, I do, and I was supposed to kill you but I decided against it.  Anyway, your life is in danger, so come with me if you want to live.”

His mouth dropped open, his brow furrowed, and you watched his eyes cloud over as he searched desperately for a response to that.  He was spared from that, though, by the small green being who walked into the room, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  She was probably the forest child that the Arcane Posse wanted so badly.  On her shoulder sat a black cat.  He was wearing glasses, and you weren’t sure if he actually needed them, or if it was a stylistic choice.  When the forest child started speaking, you decided it didn’t matter.

“Douxie?  Who is this?”

“Uh, this is-”

“I’m (Y/N).  I was sent by the Arcane to kill Douxie, but I took too long and now we’re all in deep shit.”

The cat leapt off the forest child’s shoulder and landed, gracefully, on the floor, “Wonderful.  Simply fantastic.  Why should we believe you?  We don’t know who you are, and this could be a ploy to kill all of us.”

You wanted to roll your eyes, but the cat had a good point, so you just answered him, “You should believe me because I haven’t killed you yet.  Now, we should run, because the new assassin’ll be here soon, and he won’t hesitate as I did.”

Douxie shook his head while his cat kept up the conversation, “That isn’t a great defence.  Did you not say you were sent to kill Douxie?”

“I did, and that kind of proves my point.  Why would I tell you I was here to kill him if I still wanted to kill him?”

“To make us think you weren’t going to kill him!”

“That isn’t working for me very well, is it?”

“Of course it’s not!  You’re just here to kill him!”

“I am not!”

“Oh come off it, you obviously are!”

“No I am not, if I wanted to I would have done it already!”

“Or is that just a ploy!?”

“Okay, both of you shut it,” the wizard you were arguing over was rubbing his temples and trying very hard not to scream.  He was not in the mood for this.  All he wanted was a cup of tea, and then his cute coworker turned would-be assassin broke into his house and caused problems.  Probably on purpose.  This was not his day.

You took in Douxie’s state and sighed.  You wanted to protect him, not give him a headache.  Whatever, it didn’t matter, you could still watch him from afar, “Look, if you don’t want to listen, fine.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  For now, I’m out.  See you at work.”

And with that, you walked towards the door, fully intending to walk out like a civilized human being after breaking in like some common bitch.

The cat snorted, something you were unaware that cats could do, “Good riddance.”

You’d almost reached your destination when you felt a small tug on your pants.  It was the green being, Nari.  She stared up at you with huge yellow eyes, tilting her head slightly.  You mirrored her actions until she looked up at Douxie.

“You should believe them.  The Order has many servants at their disposal, but none of them would admit it so willingly.”

Ohhhhhhhh, the Arcane Order.  You were still going to call them the Arcane Posse, at least internally.  

Douxie, unaware of your silent discovery, sighed and crossed the room to your side, kneeling down to Nari’s height, just as he did when speaking to small children at the bookstore.  It reminded you of why you were here.

“Nari, are you sure we can trust them?”

“Yes.  I trust that they will protect us.”

You smirked while the talking cat groaned, “Douxie, you aren’t actually considering this, are you?”

The wizard sighed, closing his eyes and burying his head in his hands.  He did not need this right now.  What he needed was a nap and a cup of tea.  Instead, he had a cute assassin, a troubled forest spirit, and a grumpy familiar, all of them on his ass to make a choice.  When did this become his life?  Probably when Merlin died.  He didn’t have time to spiral, though, he had to make a decision, and yes, he was considering this.

And when he said as much, a smile split your face.

Despite the situation, Douxie found your cheeky grin a nice sight to see.  Nice, especially, in contrast to his very dramatic familiar who, at that moment, had his head shoved against a wall in general disappointment.  The wizard felt bad, but you didn’t care too much.  You were just glad you could keep them safe. 

“Alright then,” you said, cracking your neck, “Here’s the plan.”

[something-very-special]

they ran over the seals

More Replicant playthrough observations and general nonsense under the cut. For reference, up to the keystone quest; completed the Forest of Myth and Junk Heap.

This fucking game I swear to god.

A vaguely coherent ramble about sidequests An observation about sidequests in general in this game -- and I don't recall if I ever voiced this somewhere public or it was just a personal observation from my time with the original -- is that the quests in the first half of the game are all relatively easy to complete. There's that one asshat who wants 10 goat hides, but other than him, most of the sidequests are either very much based on finding characters, or gathering a sensible number of items that are either relatively common, purchasable, or given a guaranteed spawn for the duration of that quest.

The sidequests everybody remembers having to do are in the second half, where everybody is demanding and awful and I'm sorry ten MACHINE OILS do you know how goddamn rare those are? They're goddamn rare.

(We'll not discuss Life in the Sands.)

This is generally agreed to, in the technical vernacular, 'suck'. And it's always funny that the most interesting sidequests are the ones with very minimal requirements (Yonah's cooking, getting Popola drunk, the Lighthouse Ladoh my god everything's gone blurry I'm not crying you're crying who am I kidding we're both crying). That particular aspect of the design also feels intentional, not really gating your ability to progress the really meaningful or funny sidequests behind an unreasonable number of rare items. The other aspect of the design is that these quests are not meant to be completed in a single playthrough; most of them are single-stage and just absolutely unreasonable, but if you're going through the game four times you have a... reasonable chance of getting everything you need more or less naturally.

Nobody does that but I think that was the intended design. I think it's a good idea, although the execution of expectation is flawed so I don't really blame people for saying those sidequests suck. (Although I will in turn blame people for saying the sidequests suck as a blanket statement. Yeah getting that guy who burned his kitchen down a billion Broken Motors is aggravating but did you not find that old man's dog? Speak to Ursula on her death bed? Solve a murder? Then again I think tracking down that rotten son who's trying to get away from The Family Business only to learn his father is a con-artist and get literally no reward is the height of comedy so maybe I'm not the greatest point of reference.)

But that asshole in Facade can get bent. I can't exploit my garden properly, jackass! I am no longer a god of time. (I kid, of course.) (This guys sucks even when you can fix your clock.)

Forest of Myth It didn't even occur to me to wonder how they would incorporate the comprehensive voice acting into the Forest of Myth. I like how it plays out, although I wish the voices maybe had a fade as you went deeper into the dream instead of just cutting out at some point, especially for the lines where the characters are being ascribed actions by the narrator that they themselves aren't doing near the start of the Deathdream. But it's just delightful to go back to it. The second half of the game really sticks in your mind both for emotional reasons and because you play it at least three times per full playthrough of the game, but the first half is just so much fun.

Protip: Talk to everybody after you've finished the dream sidequest. Weiss tries to dissuade you. Don't let him dissuade you. I'm still delighted by the Mayor; "We're building a statue of you, made of solid gold. I know you don't own a horse, but we're going to put you on a horse."

I forgot about Yonah being a disaster chef Papa Nier's reaction to the stew is better. Brother is still funny but Papa Nier just expecting to die is comedy gold.

For anybody curious, the joke about the cakes is that Yonah made 'fruit cake' using some of the worst possible fruits for cake-making. If only she'd thrown a tomato into the mix, too.

Lighthouse Lady Every time. what the fuck is a canal I'm aware of the addition of the new-old content but it didn't occur to me until Popola suddenly starts nattering on about fixing the canal when I'm expecting Yonah to talk about a penpal that oh, yeah, I guess Seafront would have had something going on the first half that would play into the second half? (I assume it does. Be weird to introduce these characters just to have groundwork for an added sidequest. ...but it was a cute sidequest.) But look Popola my boy is supposed to be in the next area I visit could we-- I mean he's on the way could we just-- no-- fiiiiiiiiiine. (It was short and sweet, though, and I appreciate that the couple's love is exemplified by them both calling Weiss a floating magazine in tandem.) On a related note but was I the only person suddenly concerned when the sidequest completion maxed out at 50% and not 51%? I had to double-check with a guide just to make sure, since I've spent the last decade telling people to make sure you hit 51% before going on to Part II.

MY BOY I love that nowadays, Emil is everybody's son. But I really wish I could go find somebody only familiar with Automata and just watch their reaction. (I'm guessing there are streams out there that fulfill this but man I'd love to get it in-person.) If you're only familiar with him from Automata this has to be a mindfuck.

Personal anecdote, but I've had the privilege of playing NIER with somebody else almost every time I've gone through it. I had a wonderful experience of doing a replay some years back with somebody who had experienced it with me before but didn't have the most solid memory of the beginning (and had actually missed the entire weapon's lab the first time through). I get to the boy at the piano introducing himself and the 'Wait, what?' was a thing of beauty.

MY ANDROID This was a welcome mindfuck for me; finding Sebastian and having him 'reactivate' in such an unnatural, mechanical way. I don't recall if it was ever officially confirmed that Sebastian is an android (I know that it's just understood that this is the case but I'm not I can't recall a specific one) but the little flair they added to his animation caught me completely off guard. I liked it!

Destroying the food source A lot of people will cite a major inciting incident for the game as being when the protagonist heading back into the village and killing the child Shades just outside the entrance. This moment is such a great bit of subtle foreshadowing that's so easy to miss... but kind of joining that, just before the Knave of Hearts attacks, I realized that the Shades out on the Northern Plains are clearly ramping up for an assault of their own by murdering the sheep. The sheep population at this point is decimated (which is great when you realize you haven't gotten the Sheepslayer trophy and you're about to enter Part II and you don't know if the boar drifting minigame got carried forward with the inclusion of 15 Nightmares). You go out onto the Plains and you will find not only small clusters of sheep left behind instead of the vast, terrifying herds from the start of the game, but until you get their attention the Shades are prioritizing killing the sheep. (Also annoying because that doesn't count toward my sheep murder number.) The Shades will be out there also killing sheep earlier on, but since the whole map is in Overcast mode after talking to Yonah it's especially prevalent to go out to the Northern Plains and seeing the slaughter. And I realized-- they're cutting the Village off from a primary food source. Shades don't eat and they don't have any beef with the local ungulates (at least, no more so than anybody else does), so why are they hunting down the sheep? To deprive their enemies of resources. Sheep are extinct by the timeskip. It's actually really clever of them, and a really clever indication of their sentience and intelligence before it's fully verified.

"Let's get these shit-hogs!" Everything about the way Kaine and Emil interact across the entire game is perfect I will brook no argument this is objective fact.

Emotive Rectangles I wrote an essay about this before but it really bears repeating that the job the original animators did with this scene is just phenomenal. The way Weiss drifts, flits, flips, fans his pages, drunkenly swerves, shoots around the room in defiance... He's a goddamn rectangle, but there is so much emotion and personality in this scene just based on the movements conveyed through a what is effectively just a box. Ten years later and triple-A titles with full facial capture don't have this much seething personality. I really have to give props to the cavia animators, wherever they wound up. That studio could really put some subtle love and care into their titles, utterly unnecessary and easy to miss but you can tell that whoever was working on it was giving it their all. The books are probably the exemplification of this, but every time I go into Seafront and visit the seals I can tell that the guy on seal duty was having just the best day. They made Emil so pretty There's an FMV cutscene right smack in the middle of the original game after the battle against Noir. I understand why it was a necessity on a technical level, but it always looked pretty out of place and a little uncanny valley compared to the rest of the graphical fidelity. That's no longer a necessity so this cutscene is rendered in-engine. I admit I was actually curious to see it redone this way and it looks fantastic. I single out Emil since he is the focal point of cutscene and because his particular high-poly model had some pretty weird difference from his in-engine model, but he and Kaine both look great. But, like, it's almost mean how pretty he is.

They made Brother Nier so pretty Yeah okay you got me he's kind of hot. Kaine's expression when she wakes up and looks him over is... significantly easier to read now. Good voice, too. (Ancient rumors tell that one of the issues with international releases of RepliCant was that they couldn't find an English VA with a voice that 'fit' Brother Nier. He sounded good out the gate but hearing him growl "Let's go TAKE CARE of those KIDS" during the thief sidequest-- I got chills. It sounds so silly but there's a kind of percolating fury to that delivery. Papa Nier was like frustrated but mostly disappointed dad; I felt like Brother was going to take care of those kids, and nobody was going to find the bodies. Younger Brother Nier just never stops looking goofy to me but Older Brother just looks great in motion, between the alterations they made to the movement and just the entire weaponry system. The distinction between the two halves of the game was always a little odd in the Gestalt version-- not odd enough to really raise eyebrows if you didn't know about RepliCant, but of course you can tell that this age gape between the optimistic doe-eyed dogooder and a man largely ruled by his fury and calloused by tragedy is what the timeskip was going for. Swab me down and call me Ishmael, it works. Younger Brother wasn't quite clicking with me-- not because of any writing or voicework issues, but I've got Papa Nier on the back of my mind and it's impossible not to compare and contrast the delivery and dialogue between the two. I know that this is intentional, too; Younger Brother is supposed to be that happy-go-lucky video game protagonist, always doing the right thing and helping people, in order to contrast against the man he becomes. Even just edging into Part II the effect is dramatic and it recontextualizes Younger Brother into a much more effective overall character. And let me reiterate, I enjoyed my time with Younger Brother just fine, I have no issues with him. But he's up against Well Meaning Big Dummy Part I Papa Nier. No contest. And I'm excited to see where Older Brother goes from here.

Speaking of voices I mentioned this before but the delivery on the character's lines is different. The entire game was re-recorded and quite a few lines are still pretty similar to the original, but there are some that are... definitely different. Part of this is a difference in the relationship between characters based on their life experience and ages-- Weiss is much more of an ass to Younger Brother but has a much more even respect for Older Brother (neither of which are like the rapport he established with Father). Some of Kaine's lines feel more aloof, dismissive, and almost tired in the front half of the game. I haven't really gotten to a point to dig into Emil's rapport with the other characters, but the delivery feels more hesitant and uncertain (which I think is more in line with his Japanese VO, but I'm prefacing that on an untrained ear and a presumption rather than recent memory). It's been interesting to see not just where hey adjusted dialogue (and how-- there are some lines that didn't need to be rewritten), but also how they adjust tone and delivery. Dealing with Younger Brother is one thing, but as I said, I'm very excited to see what's different in the second half, especially being much more familiar with that part of the game. Speaking of Voices! Halua got dialogue! I... preferred when it was inferred (and the implications of "I'll always be watching over you" are borderline malicious given the results of their fusion dance, yeah THANK YOU HALUA this is GREAT). Halua's delivery also felt a little too innocent and upbeat both for the situation and when compared to her narrative voice in The Stone Flower, where she comes across as much more cynical and cold. But given what she's been through and the nightmare she's finally escaping I guess she's allowed express happiness. She's certainly earned the right to having a spoken line. No matter what. Every fuckin' time.

"Here we go." This was always a great line to kind of ease in to the officially-official start of Part II-- every time you start up a New Game+ you're greeted with Emil musing about his conflation of Halua to Kaine, and then the phrase "Here we go". There's a lot in that one line. On a personal level he's grounding his thoughts in the moment and steeling himself for what comes next and pushing through his pain and sadness and fear. Whatever Nier told him in the facility he's still terrified, desperately terrified, that Kaine -- who was the one who told him his life had meaning -- is going to reject him. And why wouldn't she? Ultimately they don't know each other, not really. He understands at that moment that his relationship with Kaine is based on confused memories of his sister, that maybe the bond he thought they established isn't actually real. As soon as he frees Kaine he's going to have to confront her, like this, and how could she ever-- she won't-- but he can't just leave her. Whatever happens next. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. (God it matters.) "Here we go." On a meta level, that's our introduction into the second half of the game. The first half is all prologue. This is where we'll be spending the rest of our time, even to the point that 'New Game+' skips straight ahead to this moment. Now that we've finished the establishment, this is where it all builds and where it all matters. Here we go, audience. The ride starts now. You get up to this point now in Replicant. You get the same lead-in. My dumb ass even whispered "Here we go", because I can't help myself. And he says, of course he says--! "Anyway." ... ...a-anyway? What the hell kind of line is that? "Here's some deeply personal musings that are also an indication of my own discomfort as I babble to myself just to fill the void so I can stave off thinking for just a few more seconds. ANYWAY." What a... bizarre decision. Just bizarre.

Upgraded melee combat The introduction to the armored Shades always feel kind of rough-- the defenses on those Shades are significantly higher than anything you've faced and the new weapons you're given to combat them just aren't that good. (If you got lucky you could have a fully-upgraded Faith by now, which is nearly three times as powerful as the 'heavy' two-handed sword you're given; if you downloaded the 4 YoRHa pack for Replicant you've probably been able to upgrade one of those weapons once, which are also a really nice strength boost that leaves the freebie heavy swords and spears in the dust). As an introduction to the new weapon types it always feels like rough going. But then you get a chance to get decent weapons and the combat system truly opens up, and compared to the first game you really feel it. At this juncture I would always just bustle off to Facade and grab the Phoenix Spear and never look back-- the raw power compared to the rest of your arsenal coupled with the triangle dash is basically the bread and butter of the rest of the game. It's not exciting, but it's effective. No more triangle dashing, which was deeply disappointing... but both weapons definitely feel good. I am also somewhat ashamed to admit that it wasn't until now that I realized attacks weren't just about rhythmic input-- you can hold the attacks down to do different charged hits and combos depending on when you execute them in your combo, similar to Automata. I, uh... I felt a bit dumb. But hey, wow, it's a welcome adjustment and it makes all of the weapon types feel equally valuable for different purposes. I never liked using the heavy blades in the original release because they just felt too slow for the damage output they did, even if their 'point' was mostly to sheer off armor (and they definitely felt too slow for use in crowd control). Now they're still heavy and slower, but not to the point that you're basically leaving yourself open just trying to attack. Spears now do crazy sweeping combos and multi-hits. Both of these properties were borrowed from Automata and I find myself prioritizing melee combat and almost forgetting I have magic because honestly it just feels intuitive and fun. I feel like Kaine and Emil might have gotten a power boost as well? Not that I can really confirm this but going into some of the Junk Heap rooms I'd focus on killing a few robots in the corner and then turn around and just see a field of item drops and no more robots. Don't take my word on that, of course, but they felt a little more effective, and a placebo effect is still an effect. "You're staging a protest? That's fun!" Emil. Rebel without a cause. Will not hesitate to kill you if you trespass on his property. (Might explain the statues in the courtyard, actually.) I'll have to double-check this dialogue because I definitely remember more of a melancholia before we get to roasting marshmallows. I think Papa Nier actually offers to talk to/implicitly threaten the villagers to let them in the Village whereas Brother offers to sleep outside with them... which is actually kind of funny. In the former it comes off as Emil and Kaine maybe kinda-sorta not wanting to be allowed in the Village for their own reasons (they're not happy reasons but they're reasons nonetheless) and reassuring Father that no, it's okay, it's fun! The latter is almost telling Brother to stay inside because he'll ruin their sleepover.

(They're absolutely having giggly girl talk about him outside the gates, 100%.) they ran over the seals All I want in Seafront is to enjoy the music and run out to the big beach and hang out with the last living seals and they put a fucking pirate ship on top of them. Oh, wow. Gideon. Wow. OG Nier featured a Gideon that tried to keep himself together and then had fits of mania. You'd be concerned about him during some of the dialogue but generally speaking he came across as... functional. The delivery on all of his lines is now so insanely murder bonkers, like every line he's addressing you like you're already chained to the wall of his serial killer dungeon and it's glorious. I don't know if the distinction between the games is deliberate (in that Gideon in Gestalt was just more even-keeled between his 'rip 'em apart' snarlings and was always just totally nutso in RepliCant) but I do appreciate it. It's a good mirror to Brother Nier's own anger, which only ever seems to be mollified when he's talking to his friends (even kindly accepting sidequests there's a pretty consistent -- not universal, but consistent -- air of barely-bridled frustration). The other characters that Brother encounters are various reflections of himself if things had just been a little different-- Gideon was a representation of the kind of obsessive madness that would have eaten Brother alive if he hadn't had his network of support. Gideon's constant fury and bloodlust even bleeds into him just saying "What can I do for you?" He has no anchor to keep himself sane, nobody to stay human for; he's all mania, all anger, and he only takes any real interest in Brother on his return because he sees an opportunity to act out his vengeance. After defeating Beepy and Kalil he even goes so far as to not only blame Beepy for killing Jakob, but for also killing their mother, which is patently insane but really speaks to how far his justifications and fury have taken him. Papa Nier responds to his anger toward Beepy by basically backing away slowly and saying "Oookay then". Brother, however, actually commiserates; "That's enough. [...] We get it. We really do." This is definitely one of those moments where Brother's context works better than Father's; he absolutely sees himself in Gideon. He completely understands him and sympathizes. He recognizes the madness of his own quest, he sees where it could take him, and there's a resignation when he speaks to Weiss: "Revenge is a fool's errand." "...yeah." Papa Nier has a similar delivery and similarly implies that he understands how terrible his quest is, but there's something decidedly haunting in Brother's sympathy. Also just verifying something on the wiki and this bit of 'Trivia' really jumped at me:

Gideon is the only character to only cause the deaths of other characters. In his case, he caused a platform to crush Jakob and ordered the deaths of P-33 and Kalil, with P-33 surviving.

Metal AF.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

We’ll make it work; Wanda x Vision x child reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys well it’s been a LOOONG time since I posted something OUTSIDE of the Bohemian Rhapsody/Queen fandom. So I hope that my marvel readers enjoy this cute little fic that had been on my wattpad inbox since like last Sept. And I PROMISE to those anons who have sent me requests from Doctor Who and a couple more marvel stuff, I WILL GET TO YOUR REQUESTS ASAP. So I’ll stop here for now and let you all enjoy this cute little fic :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@queensdivas

@platawnic

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

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They said it couldn’t be done.  Hell everyone would say it was downright unnatural but yet it was finally happening. After the whole battle with Thanos and managing to bring everyone back, Wanda and Vision settled down together in a quiet suburban home in upstate New York.

They built their house from the ground up using their own two hands and decided that now with the white picket fence home, they could now start thinking about having a family together.  Now of course Vision being a machine he can’t physically reproduce but as luck would have it, there was an orphanage just 30 minutes from where they lived.

Wanda submitted an application to the orphanage introducing themselves and what their preference for adopting was.  They had agreed on wanting to adopt a little girl, preferably around 4-6 years old. With some interviews, home visits, and looking through the files, Wanda and Vision finally came to an agreement on their dream child, young (Y/n) (l/n).  

An orphan that was brought to the orphanage after her mom gave birth to her in prison.

Her parents were would-be-robbers who mostly robbed homes or cabins but then they got cocky hoping to rob a bank.  Unfortunately they were caught right before they got even a foot away from the bank.  It was there her mom found out she was pregnant and gave birth in prison before the foster system brought her to the orphanage.

After reading her backstory, Wanda and Vision knew immediately they wanted to have her.  So she called the orphanage and set up a meet and greet and in one week they would get to meet their future daughter.

When the day arrived, Wanda and Vision (in his human disguise) drove up to the orphanage where they met the Head organizer Ms. Eliza Soo.  She asked them some questions that weren’t on the application like what their current jobs were, and since they were publicly named heroes, that they had their powers under control for the sake of their future daughter.

The two heroes assured Ms. Soo that they had full control of their powers and do not intend on showing their powers before young (Y/n) unless she asks them to. After about 15 minutes of chatting away, Ms. Soo told them.

“Alright. Now unlike most meet and greets that other orphanages do, we personally would like to see how the potential parents interact with our children. Instead of trying to force the child to talk in a room with 2 strangers, we ask that the potential adopters meet the child in the Playroom. Are you two up for that?”

“Yes of course. I personally understand what it feels like. For most of my childhood it was only my brother and I for years before he…...” Wanda said.  At the mention of her brother, tears flickered in her eyes but Vision took her hand in both of his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“My wife lost her brother just shortly after we met. They were both orphaned when they were 10 years old back in her old home of Sokovia.”

“Oh I’m so sorry Ms. Maximoff, my condolences on your loss. I lost my brother around that age too. Gunshot by a rival gang member.” She took a deep breath in before exhaling out. “Now then, (Y/n) should already be heading towards the playroom if not already there by now. Allow me to escort you there so that you three may get acquainted with each other.” The three of them stood up and Ms. Soo guided them out of her office and down the hall.

They soon reached a room that was labeled at the top of the door PLAYROOM. Decorated all over the door were various art projects that the kids have done and at the bottom there were their names and ages.

“Now we’ll just observe you guys from the double-sided mirrors and see how you guys interact with her. If we see that there’s a connection, then we can proceed with the legal adoption.”

“Thank you Ms. Soo.” Vision said.  She nodded and walked off leaving the couple alone by the door.  The two of them looked at each other and Wanda asked her husband and partner.

“You ready?”

“If you are, then so am I.” Vision responded.  Wanda then reached for the doorknob and turned it on its side to open it up.

When they stepped into the room, it was completely filled with every kid of children’s toys imaginable from toy cars and trucks, dolls and action figures, even a small TV with a videogame console.  There was also drawings hung up along the wall just like there were on the door.

Soon their eyes came to young 4 year old (Y/n) (L/n).  She was at a small circular table with some paper and crayons surrounding her.  Happily humming to herself as she continued to draw on the paper.  When she saw Wanda and Vision, her head tilted to the side like an intrigued puppy.

“Are you my new mommy and daddy?”

“We—we hope to be.” Answered Wanda.  A wide smile soon spread across her face and she raced right up to them and immediately embraced Wanda.  Once she felt that little girl embrace her, a warm sensation fell over her and she already felt that maternal instinct take over.  Wanda knelt down and embraced young (Y/n) and she said. “So what is it you were drawing?”

“Come look. I’ve been working really hard on it!” like every excited child that wanted to show off their accomplishments, she dragged them both to the table and they all sat down around it and she began to show them all the drawings she’s done.

Some of them were drawings of herself out in a flower field, with her favorite animals, but one picture struck out to the two of them.

“What is this picture of (Y/n)?” Vision said as he held up a picture of (Y/n) standing between two adult figures.  But they had no hair or facial features drawn yet.

“That’s a picture of me with my new family. I…..I didn’t want to finish it till I knew it was for real. Are you guys really gonna be my new parents?” Wanda smiled and gently placed her hand on top of (Y/n)’s head and stroked down it.

“If Ms. Soo thinks we’re good with you, then yes. We will be.”

“I know one way that can help you, follow me!” she then stood up and raced over to the toy chest and opened it up.  Inside were dozens of costumes ranging from feather boas, to every kind of hat imaginable. Donated Halloween costumes, and even some props. “Since you guys are real life heroes, do you think we could play superheroes?”

Both Vision and Wanda were a little hesitant but after seeing the hopeful look in (Y/n)’s face, they agreed.  So they want up to her and they dug through the costume chest to see what all they could find.

With the wide imagination (Y/n)’s had, her and Wanda would be the heroes while Vision was to play the giant fire breathing dinosaur.  They stacked up some blocks for the town and places the toy cars to make it feel like an actual city.  

Watching them through the double-shift mirror, Ms. Soo along with some of the other workers watched the two former heroes interact with (Y/n).

“Seems (Y/n) has finally found the family she’s always wanted.” Said one of the female workers.

“I agree.” Said a male worker.  Ms. Soo who had been watching with interest, began to realize that maybe her employers were right.

After about 10min. of playtime and just getting to know her a bit more, that’s when Ms. Soo stepped into the room.  Her face was stoic as she looked at the three of them.

Wanda and Vision stood up and Vision asked.

“Ms. Soo, is there something wrong?”

“No. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen all that I’ve wanted to see. And……you guys have proven to me that you’re meant to be her future parents.”

“Really Ms. Soo?! Wanda and Vision are gonna be my new mommy and daddy?” (Y/n) asked excitedly.

“Indeed they are. We’ll have the legal forms printed out and have you both sign them. Then in a couple of weeks you can officially move in with them to your new home.” Ecstatic about the news, (Y/n) jumped up and down happily cheering at the fact she now had a new mom and dad, not only that but her new parents were Scarlet Witch and Vision.

“Thank you Ms. Soo. Thank you.” Wanda said happily.

“No need to thank me. You’re truly shown me that you both are the perfect couple to take her in.”

So for the next couple of weeks, Wanda and Vision signed any legal papers that the orphanage would send to them, get (Y/n)’s room ready for her and buy her some new toys, clothes and get her bed all made up.

Vision was currently outside building the playground that they wanted (Y/n) to play in the backyard.  It wasn’t anything grand just the basic swing set and jointed mini-clubhouse.  But as he was reading the instructions for how to hook the swings up that’s when he heard the gossiping voices of one of the neighbors next door, Karen and Felicia.

“Have you heard about the couple next door adopting a kid?” asked Felicia.

“Yes. That poor kid, having to be adopted by a bunch of freaks.” Karen mouthed out.

“I mean Wanda’s an okay girl, but I just worry about that boyfriend of hers.”

“Like he’s a freakin machine! You’ve seen all those robot shows. What if he goes all Terminator on that poor little girl?”

“I’d feel safer if her and Wanda bailed when that robot isn’t looking.”

“Amen to that sister. Oh! Did you see the recent Housewives of Orange County….” At this point Vision stopped working and went back inside.

He phased through the wall before levitating himself up towards the master bedroom and just stood there with an array of emotions buzzing about his head. Anger, fear, hurt, heartbroken, but most of all doubt.

Was he really able to take care of a child….scratch that a human being? He was an android after all.  What hope could he possibly have of taking care of a human child? He couldn’t taste properly so there’s no way he’d be able to cook for his new daughter.  There are some human emotions that he still has trouble deciphering, so how would he know what his daughter was feeling, especially once she reached her teenage years?

“Vis?” Wanda’s voice called out to him.  He looked up and saw Wanda kneeling in front of him.  Vision soon took notice that he was now on the floor, his knees curled up close to his chest, his back up against the wall. “Are you okay?”

“Wanda I—”

“Shhh, calm down. Breathe for me.” She placed her hand to the side of his head, her fingers gently brushing against his temple and he closed his eyes taking in a few deep breaths.  “You okay now?”

“Yes. Forgive me I—don’t know what came over me.”

“You were having an anxiety attack.”

“How—how is that possible?” Vision asked.  He was an android how could he have an anxiety attack?

“I don’t know.”

“Well we’ll—we’ll worry about how that’s possible later. Do you want to tell me what it was all about?” Vision looked down with regret and he whispered softly.

“I was a fool to think I could do this.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“Me. Being a—a father. To a human child.”

“What? Vision why—why would you say something like that?”

“I’m not fully human Wanda. I mean yes I can pull the disguise but—when it all comes down to it I’m a machine. After all I was originally supposed to be Ultron’s Vision.”

“But you’re not…….”

“There could be another threat. A threat that—puts you and our……I’m sorry Wanda. I shouldn’t have even spoken up about this.”

“Hey, hey, hey, look at me. Look at me Vision.” She cupped the side of his face. Her eyes filled with concern as her brow furrowed to match the concern in her eyes. “There is nothing wrong with speaking up about something like this. I’m scared too.”

“But you’re at least human. What if I—what if I hurt her?”

“You won’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I feel you. Just you. And when we played with (Y/n) just two weeks ago, I could feel just how happy you were. You will not hurt her.”

“But what if…..”

“Stop.” She held out her hand as she spoke softly.  She then moved her hand and gently with her powers, showed Vision a memory of when they first met (Y/n).

Specifically the memory of when both him and (Y/n) were playing together.  It was when she (as the superhero) had slain the reptile creature and he allowed her to climb on top of him and do a victory pose with her fake sword and shield.  After awhile that’s when he suddenly came back alive and he began to playfully tickle her.

After seeing that memory, Vision turned to Wanda and she said with a warm smile.

“That’s how I know you won’t hurt her. After just knowing her for that short 10min. of playtime. You were just like how my father was with me. Kind, caring, and a heart full of love.”

“You do realize I don’t actually have a heart right?” she arched her brow at Vision annoyed. “Right, sorry.”

“You know what I mean. What I’m trying to tell you Vis is that it doesn’t matter whether your human or machine, (Y/n) loves you for who you are, who you’re going to be to her. You’re the only father she’ll never know. And as long as you care and love her, it doesn’t matter what you look like.” Vision nodded and said to his love, tears flickering in his eyes.

“Thank you Wanda. Thank you.”

“I love you Vis. So does (Y/n). I won’t deny that we’ll probably make a million mistakes but so long as we both love her together, I know we’re doing something right.” The two of them shared a soft but loving kiss before embracing each other.

In a few days (Y/n) was soon moved into her new home and just like Wanda told him, they both loved and gave her the care she was denied from her birth parents.

Of course there were the skeptical neighbors but Vision hardly paid them any mind now, because as long as he was loved by his new daughter, that’s all that mattered to him.  

Also I won’t confirm or deny that when Wanda finally found out just who was responsible for putting doubt into Vision’s head in the first place, she may or might not have given Karen visions of her worst memories and fears, while making Felicia think she had a poltergeist in her house.

[shianhygge-imagines]

Sundown 勿忘草 [Reno/Reader]{Final Fantasy VII}

AN: I’ve been wanting to write a Reno one shot, but never really managed to get my lazy ass into gear. This is a long one (though at this point, I’m just known for really long story posts... let me know if you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing). I was debating splitting it into parts, but you all know how bad I am with posting updates to any of my fics written in parts. Also, can anyone tell me why I keep seeing “#reno sinclair” in the Reno tags? Since when was Reno’s surname Sinclair? None of the Turks have last names that I recall. 

Was hoping to get it to 10,000 words, but I’m around 2,200 short :P 

Title is “Sundown Wasurenagusa” meaning “Sundown Forget-me-Nots; ”Forget-me-nots meaning “True Love” in hanakotoba (Japanese language of flowers)

If you like the content I create, please consider donating to my Ko-fi! Please help me feed my tea addiction!

|Masterlist Link|

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A heavy and tired sigh escaped your lips as you continued to read through the various reports scattered upon the table before you, scribbling down information into your work notebook that would act as relevant evidence to support your proposal for several structural upgrades to the plates. Though it was a concern that your boss, Reeve Tuesti, had brought up during various board meetings, it seemed that the executives of Shinra Electric Power Company would do nothing without a formal report containing sufficient evidence to support immediate action.

Already over worked from his other projects, Reeve had personally asked you to oversee the project proposal. As a resident of the Sector 5 Slums, you felt that it was your duty to do everything you could to make life for your fellow under city residents better. So, despite the fact that you would be working on the project alone, you accepted Reeve’s task.

Now, sitting at a corner table on the Relaxation Floor, you were almost regretting taking on the task alone. Outside the large windows overlooking Midgar, the sun had long since set, the city lights and mako lighting up the dark space below in a sea of various colors. Most Shinra employees had left the building hours ago, yet here you were, still working, dinner purchased from the cafeteria sitting off to the side and half gone.

After reading another set of reports, you paused in your scribbling to slam your head non too gently on the cafeteria table, “You’d think with all the complaints we’ve had about falling metal pieces from the plate almost killing slum residents, that the company would immediately do something.” No one responded to your muttering. Not that you expected an empty space to provide commentary to your misery and exasperation. So, you stayed in that position, debating whether to call it a night so that you could catch the last train home.

“Well, color me surprised, I didn’t think any of you pencil pushers liked staying after hours.” Just when you were about to relax, a sly and cocky voice decided to interrupt your solitude.

Jolting up with a twitch of your eye, you glared at the redhead who approached your corner table, suit and dress shirt unbuttoned and showing off an ample amount of chest. Had you not lived in the Sector 5 Slums for your entire life, you probably wouldn’t have recognized the man as a Turk. Besides, the people at Shinra liked to gossip. Red hair pulled into a weird ferret tail looking ponytail, goggles resting on the crown of his head, red marks under his eyes, and a severe need of a slap to the face… yeah, there was no doubt in your mind that the man steadily approaching your table was Reno of the Turks… and the Turk second in command.

Rolling your eyes, you sat up and began to straighten out the papers on the table, putting them into a pile to slip neatly into your briefcase. “Just my luck. The entire cafeteria is empty, Turk. Why are you bothering me?”

A little hostile, but you couldn’t help it. Having grown up watching these strange men in suits harass Aerith… you didn’t exactly have a kind opinion of them. Plus… they were unwaveringly loyal dogs to Shinra, something that didn’t sit well with you.

Reno feigned a hurt expression, placing a hand upon his chest, “Why the hostility? It was an honest question.” The redheaded Turk smirked and lifted his hand to raise his pinky, “Pinky swear.”

Reigning in your frustration, you huffed and propped your head upon a raised hand, closing your eyes in an attempt to calm down. “Yeah… yeah… Sorry.” After inhaling and exhaling for a few seconds, and listening as a chair was dragged out from the other side of the table, you opened your eyes to stare tiredly at the now seated Turk. “Uh… what are you doing?”

“Keeping you company, of course.” The cocky smirk widened as Reno leaned back and propped his feet upon the table, narrowly missing your half finished dinner.

Reaching a hand out to grab the remains of your dinner, you quietly started to finish said meal off, “Uh…huh… sure. I buy that.” You remarked sarcastically, eyes not leaving Reno’s form. “So Reno of the Turks decides to just randomly pop on by to keep a Shinra office worker company as they work overtime… sure…”

The grin didn’t falter as his blue eyes wandered to observe you, “It would seem so.”

“Right.” You muttered, finishing the last of your meal before standing up with your bag and tray, “Sorry to cut this short, but I’ve got a train to catch.” You weren’t sorry, but you still called out to him as you walked away, “See ya, I guess.” Hopefully not.

“You can bet on it!” Reno called back to you, watching as you threw away your trash and left the Relaxation Floor. As the doors slid close, you caved and turned around to look back at Reno, meeting his gaze just as the doors closed. Why did you feel like that was more than a promise?

…

…

…because it was.

The two days after were supposed to have been your days off. Yeah, perhaps you still had to structure your formal proposal a little more, but at least you were surrounded by fellow under city residents instead of Shinra employees… yeah, no, that was perhaps a little harsh of you. Not all Shinra employees were like the Turks and executives. But you were still bitter at how content the employees were with this company. It’s sickening.

When you left your home across from Leaf House on your second day off, you had fully intended to spend the day stocking up on groceries and helping either Aerith or Miss Folia. What you didn’t expect was to run into a duo of Turks when you stepped over the bridge to Aerith’s house. The duo had stopped to stand just outside of Aerith’s house, clearly speaking to one another and absolutely intending to enter the residence. The moment you’d cleared the bridge and walked into sight, you paused with wide eyes and gingerly took a step back, hoping to walk away without drawing any of their attention towards you.

You didn’t want to be seen outside work. Much less while you were wearing the sundress that Aerith had insisted you get for yourself. It was girly and feminine, and not at all professional. But still, Aerith had asked you to bring her flower baskets back home while she helped look for the Leaf House kids, who had all gone on patrol again.

Unfortunately, the bridge creaked under your foot, and two pairs of eyes were suddenly turned to stare you. “Uh…” you faltered for a moment before raising a hand in greeting, “Hi?” The end of the word pitched up into a squeak and you suddenly wanted to dive off the bridge and escape.

Recognition appeared in a familiar redhead’s eyes, “Pencil pusher! Didn’t think I’d see you here of all places!” The bald man with the shades coughed and glanced towards his coworker with raised brows.

Growling indignantly, you stomped a foot and approached the two Turks, “Don’t call me that!”

“And why not? You never gave me your name.” Reno pouted dramatically, “How’s it fair that you have mine, but I don’t know yours?”

Your expression doesn’t budge the slightest, “It’s Y/N. I work in the Urban Development Department. And I know yours because there’s only one redheaded Turk that draws in so much gossip.”

That infuriating smirk was back on Reno’s face as he pat the taller man’s shoulder roughly, “Ya hear that, Rude? The people know me.” Rude looked like he wanted to say something, if the slightest twitch of the brow and parting of the lips was any indicator. Unfortunately, the stoic looking Turk didn’t get a chance to respond before his partner opened his mouth again. “So… Y/N, huh? Cute name, cute face… it’s a wonder that I haven’t seen you in HQ before yesterday.” The statement seemed innocent enough, except for the strange look in his eyes.

For Shinra’s version of secret service, you already knew where this line of inquiry was leading to. So you stared at Reno dispassionately, “Yup, it’s an absolute wonder that a Turk such as you, who has  to work outside the building most days, has never seen my face in the five years that I’ve been employed at Shinra. It’s not as if I’m just a faceless grunt among a few thousand office workers who are also cooped up in their offices during the work day.” Rolling your eyes, you continued forward, practically bulldozing your way past Reno when he didn’t move aside with his partner. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” You waltzed up the front steps, raising the weaved basket in your hand, “I’ve got a basket to drop off. If you’re looking for Aerith, she’s not home, yet.”

There’s a sound of a metal baton snapping to full length behind you, “If you hurt her…”

Sighing in annoyance, you turned to glare at Reno, who seemed to look like he was going to charge at you with the stun baton. Rude, likewise, was in a combat ready position. “And why the hell would I hurt her?” You hissed, propping a hand on your waist. “Don’t just come to random conclusions. I’m simply here as a favor to her, she’s in the town helping Leaf House.” Waving your hand in a shooing motion, you turned to open the front door, “You Turks are all about the mission, right? So, go!”

Maybe you shouldn’t have been so antagonistic… maybe you shouldn’t have turned around. Because the next thing you know, your arm is yanked backwards, and you’re suddenly pinned facedown to the front porch floor, arms restrained behind you and the painfully tingly end of the baton jabbed into your back. The scream that left your lips was one of outrage, fear, and pain. “What the hell!” You cry out, tears in your eyes as you try to struggle.

“Y/N!” The front door of the Gainsborough household pulled open to reveal Elmyra, who cried out in horror at the scene before her. Before long, the blonde woman had settled on shoving Reno off you, “Get off of her! Just what do you think you’re doing?!” Startled into falling off of you, Reno merely stared wide eyed at the enraged woman, who gestured for you to run as she laid into the jerk with her words.

With Reno no longer pinning you down, your limbs were able to finally take on a more natural position, though the stabbing pain from having them forced into an unnatural position still remained even as you clambered to your feet and sprinted away from the house. Rude didn’t bother to stop you, going so far as to step way off the path to let you through. You didn’t look back as you ran, not even stopping to greet Aerith as she crossed the wooden bridge.

When you were safe in your shabby second floor apartment, you did everything you could to get rid of the pain in your limbs, stretching them out and massaging them.

No such luck.

The pain remained, following you into the next day as you prepared to head back to work. Luckily for you, your job mostly consisted of office work. Signing and arranging paperwork, project reports, and other desk work.

Unluckily for you, you were the only person in the department with your first name. When you returned to your office from lunch, rubbing an aching limb, Reno awaited you, leaning against your desk. The moment you saw him, you paused and walked out of the office intent on avoiding the Turk that had caused you bodily harm.

From behind, Reno sprinted after you, “Y/N! Buddy! Wait up!”

“I don’t see you. I don’t hear you. You are absolutely, definitely not following me right now.” You muttered, not turning your head from its fixed position staring straight and down. If I can just get my ass to Reeve’s office, he’ll leave me alone. If I can just get my slow ass, in these stupid heels, to Reeve’s office, he’ll leave me alone.

Reno, for his part, had no problems keeping up with you, catching up and strolling along beside you, making you growl inwardly in frustration. “Y/N, c’mon. I’m sorry about yesterday. Slow down, you’re going to-”

An uneven part of the carpet failed to catch your notice until your foot caught it, sending you sprawling toward. Ah shit. This is gonna hurt. You muttered to yourself, bracing yourself for impact and closing your eyes… only for the impact to come sooner than expected… and less painful than you expected… I’m still upright? You questioned yourself, opening your eyes to find yourself being held up by Reno, face practically buried in his open shirt and his arms gently holding onto both of your arms.

“See.” The cocky expression was gone now. Only mild annoyance remained as he made sure you could stand on your own two feet, roughly kicking at the uneven carpet in an effort to smooth it down.

“I… thanks.” You finished lamely, slightly unsure as to what had just happened, but glad that you were saved a few bruises… and probably a more severe injury to your limbs.

Reno raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, “Can we talk now?”

You wanted to say no, the memory of being pinned down and tasered still fresh in your mind, but by the Planet, the jerk had just saved you from further injury, hadn’t he? The heavy sigh and slump of your shoulder betrayed your reluctance even as you agreed to speak to the redheaded Turk. “Yeah, fine.”

The Turk second in command seemed surprised that you’d agreed, a breathy and relieved “Great” leaving his mouth as he followed your lead back to your small office.

As you walked the short distance back to your office, you kept a bit of distance from Reno whilst attempting to block out the stares from your fellow colleagues. I can practically hear the gossip spreading now. Oh, did you hear? Y/N’s in a relationship with Reno. Oh, Y/N probably got in trouble with the company if the Turks are investigating them. The thoughts only worsened when you entered your office and Reno closed the door behind him. And that’s my cue to put as much distance as possible between us. You thought to yourself, shuffling to stand behind the desk. Yes, because a waist high wooden structure is enough protection against a Turk…smart. Reallll smart.

“You know, I’m not going to hurt you, right?” Reno looked slightly put out and frustrated at the fact that you had immediately shuffled behind your desk. And you had to hand it to him… despite his reputation as a bit of spazz, his observation skills were fitting for a member of the Turks.

“Tell that to my poor arms.” You spat, rolling your shoulders in another unsuccessful attempt to alleviate the pain that remained from yesterday.

Reno deflates a little when you wince in pain, and lightly scratches his cheek. “Yeah… about that… my bad.”

“Your bad…” you mimicked back at Reno with a hint of disbelief. “Heck yeah it’s your bad! I mean what the hell! What kind of a reason did you have for assaulting a civilian!?”

“That’s uh… we were assigned to look after Aerith… and the way you were acting yesterday… I thought you did something to her.” The explanation that came pouring out of the redheaded Turk’s mouth was lacking, but you let him continue because oh boy did the man sound like a certified walking mess. “And um… I reacted too harshly… which is totally my bad. And I know that’s no excuse, and I’ve already gotten an earful from Elmyra, Rude, and Tseng, so… what I’m saying is… I’m sorry.”

…he looks like a kicked puppy. You muttered to yourself, heaving a sigh as you sat down at your desk and allowed your posture to relax just the slightest. “Fine, apology accepted, but my shoulders still hurt like I got trampled by a fiend. How the hell do I get it to stop?” Apology vaguely accepted, you just wanted him to stop giving you that look.

“I uh… figured that you’d still be in pain.” Reno winced before sheepishly slipping a hand into his pocket and pulling out a beautiful glowing green materia, “It might be overkill, but casting Cure will get rid of the ache-ah… if you’re okay with it?”

You wondered offhandedly what Elmyra had said to Reno for his behavior to have shifted so drastically towards you. Look at the Turk now, you figured that there was no harm in befriending the man. Besides, you probably needed more outgoing friends anyways. “If it’ll get rid of the ache, go ahead, Reno.”

The smile on his face was almost boyish as his arm glowed faintly, casting the healing spell on you. “One full body stress reliever coming right up!” Hm… maybe he’s not that bad after all. The spell was like a wave of relief, not only alleviating the pain from yesterday, but also taking away the tension from months and months of stress. “Feeling better?”

The groan of relief that escaped your lips was probably enough answer for Reno as you stretched, a smile on your lips appearing at the redheaded Turk’s chuckle. “Much better, thank you.”

A moment passed between the two of you until the silence was broken by the sound of Reno’s phone. You couldn’t see the caller ID, but by the way he picked up almost immediately, you guessed that it was his boss, Tseng. “Hey-” The redheaded man was cut off from his greeting as he listened, “Yeah, I just finished…” Blue eyes met yours as he mouth, ‘got to go.’

Reno started to move just as you gave him a farewell salute, smirking when the Turk simply winked back at you before the door to your office closed.

Although you initially didn’t expect the day to turn out so well, you went back to work in a good mood. I guess being friendly to Reno won’t be such a bad thing. As the day passed, your mind absentmindedly wondered when you would see him again.

December 11th… Twenty-four days and seven hours later

“Oho, staying late again?”

A familiar voice broke you out of your furious scribbling while you once again stayed late to progress further in the piles of maintenance reports on the plates. And while you were tired from staring at black and white letters all day, you pushed aside the cranky attitude to at least smile and greet Reno as he approached your usual corner table. “Hi, Reno.” You raise a brow at the drink tray in his hands and gesture for him to sit wherever. “Late night for you, too?”

Reno shrugged and took the seat just to your left, setting the tray down on a spot free of paperwork, “Turks are always on call.” He handed over a covered paper cup, “Coffee?”

“Oh boy, yes please.”  You beamed ecstatically when the redhead handed you the heavenly drink. “I’ve been working on this project proposal for the past… I don’t know how long… and it’s just… so much.”

Taking a sip of his own caffeinated drink, Reno took a peek at one of the files sitting on the table. “Huh… ‘Maintenance Walkways In Hazardous State of Disrepair’…’Infested with Mako Mutated Fiends’… I forgot you worked in urban development. What’s Reeve got ya doin that requires so many late nights?”

Despite his asking, Reno made no further attempts at reading the papers on the cafeteria table. Pursing your lips, you eyed the Turk second in command for a long moment, regarding him with as much suspicion as he had directed towards you nearly a month ago. It was well known throughout Shinra that the corporation had bigger goals and aspirations than to serve the people. There were many in the company that truly believed in the work that Shinra did, but as someone who had lived in the slums all your life, and one of the project leaders within Shinra’s Urban Development Division, you held no such illusions of grandeur. With the exception of Reeve, the higher ups in Shinra had no qualms of neglecting the public, only paying attention to the people beneath their feet in order to satisfy their egos and prevent rowdy citizens from forming anti-Shinra groups like AVALANCHE. Reno, a Turk, had to answer to the President and Vice President of Shinra directly, and everything they do is by the will of the two highest powers in the company. If you told Reno of the plate restoration project… would it cause a negative reaction within the company?

“If I tell you, Reno… you have to keep quiet about it.” Despite being tired, you leveled the red head with a grave stare.

Reno raised his arms and displayed his palms out in a ‘I’m harmless’ manner. “If it doesn’t have anything to do with an assassination attempt or terrorist attack, my lips are sealed.” The Turk shrugged, “And if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I mostly came here to keep you caffeinated… and to ask if you wanted to grab dinner sometime?”

Well… that came out of left field.

The blush that rose to your cheeks made your embarrassment pretty clear to Reno, who hummed and leaned forward to observe you closer. “Huh… Red’s a good look on you.”

The wink that the Turk sent your way did not help you calm down. “That’s not… uh… why?” Why was Reno asking you out to dinner? You’d known each other for all of twenty something days… not that it was completely unusual for individuals your age to go on dates… if this even was a date.

“I figure you could do with a night free of worries.” Reno explained, now positioning himself to lean on the table towards you. “Plus I get to take a beautiful woman out to dinner.”

You raised a hand to stop his flirting, knowing the rumors that spread throughout the company of Reno’s flirtatious ways. “I accept, but it’s just dinner, okay? I shouldn’t stay out too late.”

The red head seemed happy that you accepted, but pouted nonetheless, “Well then… that’s boring. I was thinking of taking you out drinking with Rude and I.”

You gesture towards the paperwork all over the table, “I have to get the work done eventually, Reno.”

“Fine…” the sigh that left Reno sounded more like a whine than acceptance. The mischievous smirk did nothing to ease your concerns as Reno stood up to help you clean up the piles of paper and notes. “C’mon, the sooner we clean up here, the sooner we can get some grub into your growling stomach.”

“My stomach is not-” Gurrrggghhh… You blushed crimson when your stomach cried out for food.

“You were saying?” Reno raised a brow, mirth glinting in his blue eyes as you tried to act nonchalantly.

“…” Snatching the last of the paperwork on the table and shoving it into your bag, you sniffed in embarrassment, “We’re dropping this stuff off in my office before we go anywhere.”

The red headed Turk actually had the audacity to smirk and salute you.

… Twenty minutes later, you found yourself in a car heading towards Sector Eight… Although Reno had advertised the outing as a dinner between just the two of you, the two of you somehow found yourselves seated in the back seats of the vehicle while Rude drove and Tseng sat in shotgun. Glancing to the side at Reno, he seemed at a loss for words for once, blue eyes glaring sulkingly at the back of Tseng’s head.

“So, Y/N, as I understand it, you work closely with Reeve Tuesti?” Tseng asked, his eyes meeting yours in the rearview mirror despite its angle.

Somehow, you felt like you were about to get interrogated by Reno’s ‘parents,’ if the groan of exasperation from the red head beside you wasn’t enough of a give away.

“Um… I would say closely enough. I’m one of his project leaders, but even that title can be grossly overestimated.” The explanation leaves your lips before you can so much as think, “Because I work on projects that focus on the slums, most of my time is spent doing research and putting together proposals for projects that urgently need to be addressed.” Not that any of my proposals have been accepted thus far. You left the last statement unsaid, and your bitterness at the company unheard. Still, the discontent must have shown on your face, as Tseng started to speak again.

“Do you not like your job?” Such a simple question, but not something you could answer simply. The pleasant smile on the Turk commander’s face, which you glimpsed from the side view mirror, told you that he was well aware that you would have to expand your answer.

Wincing, you turned your gaze away to stare out the window as the car pulled off the highway. “I don’t dislike it, no… but I took the job as project leader in order to help make a difference for my community. But every project proposal that I’ve drawn up and presented has been turned down by the people that have a say in the company.” The sneer that started to form froze before smoothing into a less intense expression as you took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Sorry. Forget I said anything.”

“If you only wanted to help your community, then why take a job at Shinra? And why didn’t you simply quit?” Tseng was prodding at you, knowing that you knew what he was doing.

“Uh, Boss? Bit of a touchy subject, yeah?” Reno protested, sending very clear glares at Tseng’s way.

The Turk commander’s lips twitched in the slightest of smiles, “My apologies, Y/N. I didn’t mean to press you.”

Didn’t mean to press me, my ass! What the hell is this? Another round of ‘Y/N is a suspicious person?’ You thought with a lot of snark, outwardly shrugging, “You Turks certainly do live up to your reputation.” When Tseng rose a brow and Reno stared at your questioningly, you elaborated with another shrug, “The questioning… the false pretenses… you guys are very good at what you do, but…” Sighing, you shook your head and decided to shut your mouth, “Nevermind. Forget it. So long as you’re good to Elmyra and Aerith, I don’t give a damn if you guys restrain me and take me in for questioning.”

“…I thought I already said sorry for that!” Reno pouted, a wounded expression on his face.

The car stopped in front of a restaurant, but you were no longer hungry. Glancing down at your watch, you feigned a sigh, “Well, looks like I won’t be joining you guys for dinner tonight. I just realized that I had something to do in Sector 5.”

“Wait… hold on-”

“Would you like us to give you a lift?” Rude offered, cutting Reno off from his protests.

Bowing your head, you made to get out of the vehicle. “No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine taking the train back. I’m sorry for the trouble. I’ll see you three at work tomorrow.”

With that, you slid out of the car, shutting the door with as little force necessary before strolling down the street towards the train station. After turning the corner, you paused and sighed, shaking your head at the dinner plans. If you were being honest, you were actually quite excited to have dinner with Reno. He had turned out to be more thoughtful and intuitive than you had first pinned him as. Maybe we can have dinner alone next time. Suddenly hopeful, you resumed your gait towards the train station. If you hurried, you could catch the next train back and be in time to eat at the restaurant around the corner from your home.

“Y/N!” A familiar voice called out to you, accompanied by the sound of sprinting dress shoes, just as you were about to enter the train platform.

“Reno?!” You stared at the red head as he sprinted the last few meters to stop in front of you, perplexed and worried that he’d run all the way to the train station. The people sharing the train platform stared at the pair of you even as the train pulled into the station. “I… um… thought you were going to have dinner with Rude and Tseng? Did you need something?” You asked, glancing towards the train as it opened its doors.

“Y-you…” Reno gasped, clearly panting for breath despite the fact that he was supposed to be used to this. “You don’t work tomorrow.”

Tilting your head to the side, you admired Reno for a moment, pleased with his listening skills during the times that you spoke. “You’re right. No, I don’t.” You watched as the passengers all started boarding the train. “Reno… I have to catch this train, what is it?”

“Let me walk you home!” the red headed Turk suggested, straightening up and gently taking your wrist in his.

“Wait… What?” What the hell-

“It’ll be fun.” Reno didn’t give you much of a choice, as he led you aboard the train, careful not to tug on your arm too roughly. Once the doors slid close, the red head smirked at your completely baffled expression, “I promised you a dinner date, didn’t I?”

Your turned red as you stuttered, completely conscious of the stares incoming from the other passengers. “But what about Rude and Tseng? How are you going to get home after?”

Reno grinned, “They’re the ones who ruined our plans in the first place, so of course I’m ditching ‘em. And if I need to head home, I’ll just head back with the infantrymen stationed in Sector 5. So don’t worry.” Then, as if realizing that your face was growing more and more red because he was now holding your hand and had moved just a breath away, Reno coughed and backed up. Letting go of your hand, the embarrassed Turk raised a hand to scratch his cheek in the same nervous tic that you’d noticed before. “Anyways, let’s find a seat, okay? It’s been a long day for you… so if you want to take a breather…” Reno’s voice trailed off as the two of you shuffled through the cart to find a pair of empty seats.

Once seated, you sighed and leaned back on the uncomfortable bench. “Five years ago, I was living with my parents in the Sector 7 Slums. My father was an infantryman in Shinra’s army, and my mother was just a regular housewife. Around that time, fiend attacks had mysteriously started to increase… and people started to go missing. My mother went missing one night, and my father was a part of the infantry that was sent to investigate.” The dull ache in your chest increased as you thought back to the events years ago. “Neither of the two came back, and suddenly I was alone. But… I wasn’t the only one who lost a loved one that day.”

“So, that’s when you decided to do something to help your community?” Reno muttered, having turned to pull you into a hug, “But why Shinra? The slums have neighborhood watches that you could have joined…. Oh… eh… but you don’t have to tell me if you’re not up to it.”

Leaning your head to rest on Reno’s shoulder, you chuckled, “You don’t have to worry about walking on eggshells with me, Reno. I mostly gave Tseng a hard time because he was being too nosey.”

“Well… that’s good to know.” The Turk gave a light hearted laugh of his own, relaxing in his mannerisms. “Felt like I was standing on trial for a moment there.”

Rolling your eyes, you elbowed Reno in the side lightly. “Drama queen. But anyways, after mom and dad disappeared, a SOLDIER and his protege were assigned to hunt down the fiends. Before they started their hunt, they made a point to visit all the families that lost someone from the fiends attacks. It was sweet of them, taking the time to check up on us. And it’s because of them that I decided to work at Shinra. That if those two truly believed in the company that employed them, that I would be able to make a difference if only I had those same resources.” The smile on your face turned bitter once you started to think about those two. “After three years, I found out later that both mentor and mentee were quite popular in Midgar… and that they had died.”

“I think I know the two you’re talking about.” Reno muttered, gaze taking on a far away glint. “It’s good to know that they left behind a legacy.”

“They left behind more than a legacy.” You whispered with a fond smile, “Zack’s fanclub became the inspiration for Sector 5’s neighborhood watch. They all wield wooden replicas of Angeal’s sword.”

“A new generation of heroes, huh?” Reno smirked and closed his eyes, “I bet Zack would be ecstatic.” Blue eyes suddenly meet yours, a brightness in them as Reno addressed you, “Be honest, were you part of that fanclub?”

“And if I was?” You raised a brow, glad that the tone of conversation had shifted back to something light hearted.

Reno pouted and slumped in his seat, pulling you along as he playfully whined, “Where’s my fanclub? I want groups of people singing my praises, too!”

“Now you’re just being silly.” You chided, amused by the man’s antics. When Reno continued to pout, you rolled your eyes, playing along. “Fine. Then from now on, you can count me as your first fanclub member.” You raised your head to look him in the eye, “Happy now?”

The hug tightened, but Reno stuck out his tongue in reply. “Eh… I don’t think I can handle having a fanclub. Too much noise. Nah. I’m good.”

This time, you didn’t bother holding back your strength when elbowing him.

…… Around twenty minutes later, the pair of you departed the train with the rest of its passengers, and found yourself seated at your favorite noodle restaurant in Sector 5. Although it was thirty minutes before closing, the boss and chef knew you well enough to take your orders without much of a fuss. While the food was being prepared, you and Reno swapped stories about work and random weird stories.

“-I’m serious about the doomrats! They’re always appearing in Sector 7, stealing random shit and everything! My entire childhood was spent with threats of doomrats coming to steal my toys! My friend, Eli, her entire toy house was taken when her side of the sector was overrun with the pests!” You laughed in between bites of noodles.

“But that’s nowhere near as bad as having to deal with Hojo!” Reno protested, a string of noodles slipping out of his mouth to hang against his mouth. “The guy just takes things without telling anyone and somehow it returns with a bunch of stains on it! It’s like he has no regard for anything outside of his research.”

Your brain brought up a memory of passing Professor Hojo in the hallway once, and you let out a full body shiver. “Ugh… yeah… he does give off that whole… egotistic mad scientist vibe… sometimes, I wonder what the hell is so important that we have to devote so many floors to his research lab.”

“Y/N?” Reno’s humor suddenly disappears.

You blink, startled by the change, “Yeah?”

“No matter what happens… stay away from Hojo, okay?” There’s some concern in his eyes and tone, but he doesn’t elaborate.

You don’t know how else to respond to a somber Reno than to reluctantly nod your head, “Yeah. Okay. He gives me the creeps, so that’s not a problem.”

“I mean it, Y/N. If anyone in the company tells you to bring something to Hojo, you refuse. And if it’s a higher up, you come to me first.” The intensity in his stare is startling.

“Got it, Reno.” Not knowing what to do, you reached out to lightly poke his cheek, “C’mon, I know you have your own reason to be concerned, but I work in urban development. There’s little to no chance that I would have to cross paths with Hojo. So, let’s finish our noodles and stop worrying, okay?”

Reno pauses for a brief moment, taking in a breath and letting it out, a small smile making an appearance again. “Okay. Fine.” Reaching into his pocket, Reno pulls out more than enough gil for your meal and stands up, leaving the money on the table and offering a hand to you, “Let’s getcha back home, okay? It’s gettin late.”

Trailing after the red headed Turk, you stared at his back with a questioning stare. Though you pretended like the sudden shift in attitude from Reno hadn’t alarmed you, your thoughts kept shifting to linger upon the warning that Reno had wanted to make sure you understood. I feel like… something bad will happen if I don’t listen to him… When Reno stopped just outside your apartment building across from Leaf House, you tilted your head to the side, “Why am I not surprised that you know where I live? That’s kind of creepy, ya know?”

Reno startled, spluttering excuses as he let go of your hand and backed up, the warmth from his palm instantly being missed. “I ugh… You know it’s my job-and I just wanted-cause Tseng’s super paranoid about people close to-I’m just gonna shut up now.” The Turk second in command stopped his muttering when he noticed the teasing glint in your eyes, “Oh, ha ha. Very funny.”

“C’mon, Reno. You think I was going to miss my chance at teasing you?” The grin on your face was infectious, prompting Reno to return your easy-going smile.

Gesturing to the two story building, Reno bowed, “I will rest easy knowing that you got home safely, my lady.”

“Oh my!” You gasped, a hand raised to rest against your chest in mock surprise, “What a gentleman!”

There was a silence before the two of you burst into laughter that was probably too loud for that time of night. From down the street, you could hear one of the residents open their window and shout, “Fer cryin out loud, would ya lovebirds shut up! People are tryin ta sleep!”

Stifling your laugh, you practically danced towards the metal stairway leading up to the second floor apartments. “I guess that’s my cue to get inside.”

Reno’s eyes glinted as he stared after you fondly, “Yeah…” There was brief pause before he spoke up again, “Hey, Y/N? Let’s go out for a proper date… maybe, tomorrow or the day after?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You smiled as the agreement fell from your lips without much thought except the want to get to know the man before you better. “I’ll be at my friend’s place celebrating her birthday tomorrow, but I don’t have plans for the day after.”

“Great!” Reno gasped, seemingly breathless as he took a step towards you, “I’ll pick you up at 10, then?”

“Ten works for me!” You agreed, watching the red headed Turk as he closed the distance between the two of you, closing your eyes as you expected something to happen, only to feel a hand rest on your cheek before pulling away.

Confused, you opened your eyes just in time to catch Reno’s smile as he turned away. “I don’t kiss on the first date.” A wink is sent your way as he rounds the corner, disappearing from sight. “Sweet dreams, Y/N.”

You don’t know if you want to squeal at the gesture, or punch him for leaving you hanging. Biting your bottom lip in a manner befitting anticipation, you turned to climb up the rest of the stairs with a smile, very much looking forward to the next two days.

When Reno returned to Shinra HQ for the night, Elena would make note of the stupidly happy grin on her senpai’s face… even when he was handed a datapad containing the plans for the next night’s operation.

December 12th

The following night…

You grinned as you watched your friend, Selene, open up her gifts from each member of your friend group. She had just been accepted at her dream career of being a planetary conservationist, and was due to move away from Midgar tomorrow. Though her apartment was empty, you and your friends had brought enough food for the lot of you while you all celebrated and bid your goodbyes to a long time friend.

“Let us know if you meet any handsome guys where you are!” you heard someone joke, patting Selene on the back with a teasing grin. “City men aren’t romantic at all!”

“Hey! I resent that! We’re not all bad!”

“No… she’s right. We’re not romantic.”

Maybe it was the good vibes and laughter that prevented you all from noticing when the ground started shaking. Maybe you had all indulged a little too much on the alcohol. Regardless, no one was laughing when a large steel beam crashed through the apartment roof and landed on top of where Selene had been standing with her parents.

The room descended into shocked silence as all eyes stared at the metal beam…the crumbling ceiling…the limbs sticking out from under the mess of rebar, concrete, and wire…and the blood… All of your faces went pale at the realization of what happened. And then, the panic.

“Oh god!”

“Selene!”

“Someone call emergency services!”

“Help me lift this thing up!”

“So… much blood.”

Stumbling backwards, your eyes darted from the rubble to the moving bodies in the apartment before looking at the hole in the apartment ceiling. The beam could only have been from the plate… But how had it fallen? Had a piece been loose this entire time? …Had this been your fault? You were in charge of the plate maintenance project… you hadn’t read any reports about structure integrity over Sector 7… but maybe there had been something hidden. You shook your head in denial. No, the project proposal was sitting on your desk at Shinra HQ, nearly finished except for the conclusion. There had been nothing irregular about the plate above the Sector 7 slums. Not even when you’d gone personally with the inspectors to investigate.

And then, above the shouting voices and confusion within the apartment, you heard it. Helicopters and gunfire… people screaming outside.

“No…” you whimpered, eyes wide as you sprinted for the front door, throwing the latch open and ramming yourself into the metal door in your rush to get out onto the apartment balcony hallway.

Now that the door was wide open… now that you stood with a view of the Sector 7 Slums, the cacophony of screams and noises reached your ears with no problem. The plate above groaned as explosions detonated along the underside of its structure, sending larges pieces of debris crashing down like meteors upon the residential buildings below. You could see several Shinra helicopters flying away from the plate pillar, where the explosions seem to have originated from. Down in the streets below, the residents of Sector 7 scramble in different directions to avoid being crushed by the seemingly crumbling night sky.

“The plate’s falling!” You cried out to your remaining friends before making a break towards the stairway down to the ground floor, ensuring that the path was clear before waving your friends over. Just as you stepped off the stairs, another massive explosion rumbled violently from above you, the sheer volume of the noise popping your ears and throwing off your balance. A random civilian ran in your direction, screaming and flailing his arms, knocking you down in his haste to get away from another falling metal beam.

You’d landed on your arm wrong, but the adrenaline running through your body kept you moving as you stumbled to your feet and trailed after your friends. Behind you, another giant piece of the plate crashed into Selene’s apartment building with such force that the ground beneath your feet shook as the structure caved in on itself. You watched as people fled from their homes, as fires started and spread. You watched as people begged to be rescued, their limbs trapped under flaming metal and wood. You continued to stumble forwards even when rubble rained down upon you all like hellfire, crushing the unlucky many on the path ahead of you and blocking you off.

You wanted to cry… or maybe you were already crying. All around you, the plate continued to fall, blocking you off from any means of escape. Your ears rang from the magnitude of noises. Your arm had begun to ache from your fall. The flames consuming the houses rose in intensity, scorching your surroundings while you fought to maintain your balance. Trying, among the chaos, to find a way out of this impossible situation. But no. If you went one way or the other, you would be burned severely. Any other way would require you to pick through pieces of metal that were easily ten times your body weight.

Another explosion, this time coming from the direction of the pillar, sent you crashing to the floor from the force it left in its wake.

I hope you all made it out of here. You prayed to the Planet that your friends had gotten out of Sector 7. Looking up towards the falling sky, you could only sob as it fell too fast for your liking. Resigned, you brought out your phone, intent on calling a certain red headed Turk one more time.

“Hey, Reno. It’s me, Y/N…” you dry swallowed and held back another sob, hand raising to muffle your cries of misery. “I just wanted you to know that I’m glad that I met you. I’m really annoyed that you didn’t kiss me yesterday night, and I-” the line on your phone beeped to signal a disconnect, and you pulled the phone away to stare hopelessly at the screen.

No signal.

A bitter laugh escaped your lips as you bent forward, pressing your face to the cracked glass screen. A shadow swallowed your figure whole as the last of the plate fell down. “Reno…”

“I was really looking forward to our date.”

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

Thank you for reading! 

[cheeriecherry]

The Dogma Of Childhood Friends [2/4]

Shinsou Hitoshi x Reader

Warnings: fluff

Part 2/4

It’s been months since you and Hitoshi last spoke. In the beginning, you’d chalked it up to him being disappointed about the hero course, and not knowing how to react. You’d seen him in the hallways at school, and tried to talk to him.

You know, to extend the metaphorical olive branch.

But every time you were left hanging, with him pushing past you, turning away, or just flat out ignoring you.

It crossed your mind that he might be jealous, but you discarded the thought as quickly as it came. Hitoshi wasn’t that kind of person, and even if he was, it wasn’t enough to warrant his actions.

And, somehow, said actions only worsened when the students moved into the dorms. Any time you’d see your best friend -in the hallways, on campus- he’d turn on his heel and start walking in another direction. Despite him being your oldest friend, he was making it very easy to be annoyed with him.

It was to the point where even your classmates started noticing.

“So,” Mina began one morning, sidling up to your desk, “what’s with you and the purple haired guy?”

“Huh?” Maybe if you played dumb, she’d leave it alone.

Uraraka turned around in her seat and regarded you with a smile. “I think she means Shinsou,” she clarified, “and I’ve been wondering the same thing! He avoids you like the plague. Were you guys rivals in middle school, or something?”

You fidget with one of your pencils. You supposed it wasn’t really a secret, what had happened. You weren’t ashamed or scared to tell anyone. They’d just...never asked? Maybe.

“Well…” and yet saying it out loud was still difficult.

“We’ve...actually been best friends since we were little. Our classmates used to pick on him because of his quirk, y’know? I stood up for him, the day we met, and it turned out that we had a lot in common. The rest is history.”

Mina cooed softly beside you, her eyes alight with mischief. “That’s adorable!”

“But it doesn’t explain why he ignores you,” Uraraka pointed out.

You sighed.

“Fine, fine. We applied to Yuuei together, hoping to get into the hero course. When he found out I was in 1A, and he was in the general studies department...he kinda just...stopped talking to me.”

Your two friends stare at you, the beginnings of anger blossoming on their faces.

“I still send him texts from time to time,to let him know what’s going on, but he never replies. Always leaves me on read.” You had hoped to placate the situation, but your words only seemed to make it worse.

Mina stands up tall, and crosses her arms. “You still consider him your best friend?! Why?”

You shrug. “Of course. Whatever he’s going through, whatever he’s feeling, I’m not giving up on him so easily. He’sprobably got it in his stupid purple head that he’s not good enough for me, or something. I won’t let our friendship die just because he’s being a dumbass about it.”

Uraraka looks sad beside you. “That doesn’t make it okay for him to treat you the way he is.”

“I know,” you say, “and I won’t pretend it doesn’t, like, hurt or anything, but friendships can be complicated. Especially when negative feelings come into play…”

Mina looks like she has a whole lot to say, but is cut off by Mr. Aizawa sauntering into the classroom, so she takes her seat instead.

Halfway through the lesson, Uraraka passes a note back to you;

‘If you still care about him, make a gesture that will mean a lot to him. Maybe he feels bad for what he’s done, and doesn’t know how to apologize.’

A grand gesture, huh?

You think on it for the rest of class. You’ll have to consult Mina on it later.

----

‘Later’ turned out to never come.

After classes had finished for the day, you’d rushed back to the dorms to prepare the idea you’d had during English. It was a little corny, but you’d decided that a small gift and an uplifting note would be perfect for Hitoshi. It was unassuming and personal, but more than a few simple texts.

You doubted he’d accept it from you directly, though, even if you could manage to hunt him down. No, instead you waited until most of the other students had gone to bed, and then sneaked out to drop the parcel on the 1C dorms doorstep. Addressed to ‘Shinsou’, of course.

It wasn’t until the next morning that you realized your mistake.

“Y/N, did you hear?!” Mina practically dove on you the moment you entered the classroom. “That Shinsou guy has a secret admirer! Someone left a present for him in the dead of night, and one of his classmates found it this morning!”

You felt like your stomach had been filled with rocks.

“Mina…” you groaned, “that was me!”

“You have a crush on him?!”

“No!” you retaliated, voice squeakier than you would have liked it to be. No, there was no way you had a crush on him. Not a chance.

Unless.

No. No way.

You realize Mina is staring at you curiously, so you make haste and explain the genius plan you’d had last night. The peace offering gift, the uplifting note, the midnight drop off.

“I guess I forgot to sign my name on the note…”

Uraraka pats your shoulder sympathetically. “Hey, maybe it’s better this way. Shinsou might be more likely to accept your gifts if he doesn’t know they’re from you.”

You hide your face in your arms, sinking deeper into your seat. “That completely defeats the point, though. He’s supposed to know they’re from me. What if…”

...what if he thinks they’re from someone else? What if he wants them to be from someone else?

You couldn’t place why the thought left such a sour taste in your mouth. The thought of him wanting someone else, someone besides you…

“Oh my god!” you groaned, gripping at your hair and tugging. “Mina, you’re right! I like him! As more than a friend!”

Both girls attempt to soothe you, trying their best to calm your overwhelmed nerves.

There was no way you could do this.You had to keep giving him gifts, had to keep showing you cared! But now, the thought of him finding out you were behind everything? You could practically see the look of utter disappointment on his face, having expected the trinkets and letters to have been from a pretty classmate, instead.

Not you. Never you.

“Everyone, take your seats, and open your textbooks to page thirty.”

You glance up just in time to see Mr. Aizawa bumble into the room, and begrudgingly do as you’re told.

----

You decide to actually consult your friends that evening, instead of going ham with a plan you thought was good. You were bent on making sure you didn’t make any more dumb mistakes with the next gift to Hitoshi.

“I gave him licorice snaps shaped like cats yesterday, so I was thinking tonight I might go with something cute? I found a cat figurine dressed as All Might the other day, so I had to buy it. He might get a laugh out of it.”

On the floor beside you, Momo smooths the pleats in her skirt. “I think that’s a sweet idea. It’s small and simple, but I bet he’ll smile when he sees it.”

“You should do it,Y/N!”

“Yeah!”

You nod as the girls around you cheer you on. “Alright! I’ll do it! And this time, I’ll make sure to leave the note anonymous on purpose!”

The four of you giggle a bit.

It takes about twenty minutes to find the necessary wrappings for the gift, and another ten for you to decide what to write in the note.

“I don’t really want to be over the top,” you say, “he’s not on for dramatics, but he likes honesty.”

Mina reads over the several discarded notes on the floor, wincing at how choppy and blocky they were. “Why don’t you go with something personal that he’s done for you, or something about how he makes you feel?”

You chew on the end of your pen. “That could work. How about this: You’ve inspired me every day to work hard in achieving my goals. I know that one day, you and I will be great heroes!”

The pink haired girl quickly snatches the note out of your hand, folding the paper into a heart and depositing it in the gift box. “It’s perfect,” she assures, “raw and to the point, as a love note should be.”

You feel your face heat up at that, but say nothing to disregard her.

“All right, I’m going to go drop this off, but if anyone asks, I’m just getting some air.”

----

Over the next week, you continue to drop off little presents in front of Hitoshi’s dorm. Every night, it was harder and harder to get the parcel into place, the students of 1C staking out the doorway until the wee hours of the morning.

It was when you almost got caught that you realized you couldn’t keep this up. Which eventually found you at your desk on friday evening, writing your final letter.

‘Thank you for being a good sport about all this, it’s been fun to show you even a fraction of my appreciation for you. But I’m not ready to tell you who I am yet, and it’s been difficult to sneak around (though I guess it was good practice for stealth missions, huh?). Even though my gifts will stop, know that there is someone out there who loves you as you are, and admires so many things about you. By the way, congrats on officially getting into the hero course next year!’

You carefully fold the piece of paper and slide it into an envelope. Hopefully it’ll be easier to stash away than a whole gift would. You at least hoped it didn’t get overlooked.

----

The following Monday, you wake up late. Having worried all weekend about whether or not your letter was received, you’d not slept particularly well. 

Thankfully, you arrived to class before the final bell, but you were certainly frazzled by the time you stepped into the classroom.

Immediately, all eyes were on you.

“What?” you ask, “I’m not late, so don’t scold me.”

A couple of the girls break out in giggles. “That’s not it at all!”

“I guess Shinsou’s secret admirer gave other people ideas!”

“Y/N has a secret admirer now too!”

You felt your face heat up, pure disbelief bubbling up in your chest.

“What?!” you exclaim, louder than intended. You all but run to your desk, almost tripping over Uraraka’s bag. Sure enough, there, on the small tabletop, is a small box with your name on it, wrapped in a pastel version of your favourite colour.

[dat-town]

beyond the horizon

Characters: Jongho & You

Setting: Star Wars au

Genre: adventure, action

Summary: They say the end is just a faraway beginning and running away from the planet you had known as your only home just to join the most famous smuggler of your generation in the entire Galactic Empire, you are sure up to one kind of an adventure.

Warnings: space fights I guess

Words: 2.6k

Happy b-day my dearest @lily-blue​! Please remember to take good care of yourself (both your health and mental being), keep smiling, try to be positive and look the bright side of things! Don’t forget I love you the way you are! (Also embrace the fact that there are handsome 00-liner boys out there as they are not that much younger than you than you are compared to me...)

The Horizon was one of the fastest spaceships in the galaxy and it happened to land on Xahar the day before. It was your chance to get the hell out of there. Perfect timing actually since the Galactic Empire's guards just found out about you getting your hands on information you shouldn't have. So  your plan was easy: sneak on board, hide until you land after a hyperjump far far away then get off quietly and start a new life under a new identity. Easy as pie, wasn't it? Too bad you didn't calculate with the captain of Horizon, the infamous Choi  Jongho.

You were minding your own business, swinging your legs as you were hiding in the control room while you felt the spacecraft lifting off ground, slowly leaving the sphere of planet Xahar with its deserts and three moons, the usual scenery of your home, the place you have never once left in your 23 years.

"Come on, petit, hurry up or they will catch up with us and cook you for dinner," a deep voice grumbled to which some animalistic mumbling was the answer. You didn't want to know what it was but it wasn't like you had any choice and yeah, maybe you could have found a better hiding place than the control room with so much handles and wires leading to the engines but it wasn't like you had a choice, you had to find an easily approachable, empty room on the spaceship. How should you have known that the owner was going to check this one specifically?

Because of course, a guy just opened the door of the control room, and his eyes found you frozen in place with your gun pointed at his chest immediately. Despite the silent threat of your posture, he cracked an almost amused smile.

"Alright, we will talk later about how you got here, now help me get the hyperdrive to work," he told you calmer than you had expected which made you dumbfounded. Was he really asking you, an intruder to help him?  Who was he at all? He was way too young to be the captain, wasn't he? Maybe he was the second pilot, although you hadn't heard that Choi Jongho was working together with anyone. And why did he had an ewok as his companion when those bearlike creatures originating from planet Endor could clearly not sense danger as this one started hugging your leg? You had too many questions flashing in your mind, but the guy mistook your silence as incompetence – though he wasn't that far from the truth with that; you knew nothing about space travelling. 

"You can't even do that? Hell. Can you at least fire big guns?" the guy raised a brow at you glancing down at the age old model in your hand.

"I can certainly shoot you," you claimed confidently, straightening your back, trying to erase surprise from your features. The guy just laughed.

"Then none of us would get anywhere," he shook his head. "Go up and start firing at the guards following us while I fix the hyperdrive, so we can get out of here."

He didn’t give you too many choices, so you had no way to say no such an order even if it hurt your pride. The spaceship was already getting unstable as you were getting surrounded by other aircrafts.

You swore under your nose while you run up to the shooter section and took a seat trying to figure out what all that buttons and wheels were meant for. After a few not so successful attempts (which resulted in turning down the heater and closing a door you weren’t supposed to), finally you found the button to ignite the guns and you took the aiming wheel into your hands turning in your seat to face the three fighter squadron after you. You grit your teeth and started firing at them by pressing the two buttons with your thumbs. You were surprised that you hit one gunship straight on and you wondered whether they were so stupid to think you weren’t fighting back just because they were yelling at you to land at that very instant through the radio.

You heard some cursing and the ewok running around when you got a hit but just after you managed to send another guard back to the ground, you heard the stranger guy yell at you to get a grip before the ship launched into hyperspace. You let out a long sigh before getting off the shooter seat to stump up to the pilot section where Mr. Can You Even Fire A Guy sat all so content. You wanted to wipe that stupid grin off his face but he was the first one to speak up.

“That wasn’t half as bad as I’d expected,” he admitted and only because it felt like a semi-compliment you didn’t call him out on his bravado and instead slum down in the second pilot seat, earning a cute grumble from the ewok that sat by your leg then.

“Don’t be too surprised. Girls can shoot, too,” you claimed confidently which earned an annoying grin from the guy. He had youthful features even under that dusty cheek of his, though his nose looked as if someone had punched him hard not too long ago. His hair had gotten pretty long too, it had almost got into his eyes, the brown of it reminding you of the colour of one of your planet’s moons. Although it wasn’t your planet anymore, you reminded yourself with a gulp and looked around in the galaxy in front of you. The world was so much bigger than you had known before.

“So… why were you hiding on my ship?” The guy asked and he sounded more amused than mad or anything, so you decided being honest wouldn’t have hurt then. It didn’t seem like he was going to kill you or hand you over to authorities after he himself had just run away from the Empire as well.

“I just needed a ride,” you shrugged, hand involuntarily slipping into your pocket checking whether you still had the map with you.

“And you didn’t care to ask?” The pilot snorted, tilting his head towards you.

“Not like it’s your ship to begin with. Isn’t it Choi Jongho’s?” You raised a brow challengingly. You thought you would have recognize the ship of the greatest smuggler of your time but you started to get a bit uncertain. The Choi Jongho you had heard of would have never let his ship taken away from him willingly. So you were half expecting the guy to say he stole it or wo it over in gambling but he just grinned.

“Well, it is. I am him,” he claimed which resulted in a scoff in disbelief from your part.

“What? No! You are too young!” you protested as if it was your only concern.

“I’m taking it as a compliment,” the guy, Jongho as he claimed, just grinned but you shook your head. You were not willing to accept the fact that he was the guy you looked up at as a twisted kind of role model when you had first gotten into the bounty hunting business.

“But… you’re famous! You have done so much stuff going behind the Empire’s back for years I thought you are a thirty-something guy at least,” you admitted the reason behind your confusion and he just laughed wholeheartedly.

“I don’t have to be old to break an imperial stormtrooper’s arm with bare hands.”

You supposed he was right although you still had troubles believing that you had been dead wrong about him so far. The picture in your head and him in front of you just didn’t seem to match and it caused you a headache, gosh. You let out a gosh, sliding lower in your seat fixing your gaze on the stars, Suns of other solar systems and whatnot.

“So where were you intending to go?” Jongho kept up with interrogating you though his voice wasn’t rude, just annoyingly arrogant enough to make you frown.

“Not your business. Just drop me off at the next stop and we will be alright,” you shrugged but he tsked.

“A-ah, you still have to pay for the ride, I’m a businessman, you see.”

Businessman, huh? If he slept better telling himself this, let it be. 

“Pff, me saving your ass while you tried to get this bunch of metal going wasn’t enough?”

“Hey, be nice to Horizon, she’s a sensitive lady,” Jongho scolded you as he caressed the control panel which earned an eye roll from you. But this said, he didn’t press you more. Neither of you talked about the reason why you were running away and why he was basically chased off Xahar.

You dozed off a bit only to wake up to you getting into an asteroid field. Oh, just what you were missing out on! You two were shouting each other’s faces off as you blamed him for getting in there in the first place while he claimed the ship had only clashed with one smaller piece of asteroid because you distracted him with complaining and in the end he had to perform an emergency landing on one of the biggest block of space stone to do some outer repair on the ship. You stood there with your arms crossed like a sulky kid while he was fixing some stuff.

“Hey, petite, hand me that Y-looking thing, will you?” he pointed at his equipment and you had to bite your tongue to not call him names too.

"It’s pretty offending that you call me petite just as you do with your ewok. I'm at least like 3 or 2 heads taller!" you argued which made him check you out from head to toe. It shouldn’t have made your cheeks heat up as much as they did.

"Still petite," he concluded with a grin and you threw that metal gadget at him hoping it hurt when it landed on his feet.

You played with the ewok that was unfairly good at card games on the rest of the way and refused to talk with Jongho until he asked you to sit behind the wheel for a minute. You were just about to whine when he explained that he needed to take a piss. Okay, you didn’t want to know that but also didn’t want to hit anything while he was minding his business, so you sat into the pilot section as he instructed you.

“So you have never learned to drive a ship like this?” Jongho asked as he leaned on the doorframe, looking over you.

“I have never been out of space, so I didn’t need to,” you shrugged which earned a hum from him. It was surprisingly non-malicious and rather understanding.

“Do you want to learn?” he asked and even though you had your doubts in the beginning but Jongho was a surprisingly patient teacher as he explained how the basics worked and let you land until you reached Goorouma’s atmosphere and the radio tower asked you to identify yourself.

“Captain of Horizon, AFLE-110 freighter, speaking. We’re bringing cargo to Lord Fahley,” he said and took to wheel from you to handle the landing.

Goorouma looked very different from the planet you had grown up on. It had hundreds of tall buildings reaching for the sky like needles sprouting from the ground. You barely saw any green as it was mostly blue glass and a fake illusion of sea waves beneath.

“I don’t have a good feeling about it. It’s too quiet,” you mumbled under your nose as the Horizon landed in the middle of a building’s rooftop and there was nobody waiting for Jongho there.

“Tell me about it,” the guy muttered through gritted teeth and he looked suspicious as well. He told the ewok to stay on board and grabbed his gun as he opened the ramp of the ship. You followed him because this was just what you had planned: to leave the moment you reach another civilization. But the two of you barely crossed the bridge leading to the tower’s entrance, it opened and a bunch of stormtroopers poured out of it.

The melody of gunshots echoed in the air as you were trying to make it out alive and at some point you saved him from a laser shot that burned a hole in the wall next to the two of you.

“How is it for a payback?” You raised a brow at the guy only realizing your closeness then. He grinned before pushing you off of him and started firing at the soldiers.

You were way too outnumbered but luckily Lord Fahley and his men came to save the day mumbling about how much he hated when the Empire got in the way of business. He invited the two of you to lunch after finishing the deal with Jongho but both of you refused. Although he did offer you to help you out if you intended to stay on Goorouma which sounded pretty nice.

“Hey, petite, do you still need that ride?” Jongho walked up to you because he didn’t plan to stay long, he had a lot more other business to take care of. While you didn’t want to be picky about where to stay, so you shrugged.

“Nah, I will pass.”

“Sure about that? There are countless other planets you haven’t seen yet,” he told you and it sounded almost as if he wanted you to join. It confused you a bit. But maybe he was just lonely on that ship with that ewok you had grown fond of so quickly. You weren’t sure about its owner/friend/captain though.

“Sure enough,” you said but it was mostly to convince yourself and when Jongho saluted to you as a goodbye, your heart made a silly little aching pause.

Watching him walk away it had drawn down to you that the chances of you meeting again was really low as he was always on the move and even though his fame would follow him around, you would keeping hearing stories about the Horizon’s marvelous escapes and his newest tricks but you probably wouldn’t get as lucky again as you had been on Xahar.

So in a split of a second you make a choice and before the Horizon could set off, you made your way up on it, waiting until you were already in space when you made your presence obvious with a few loud steps behind the cockpit.

Jongho turned around, surprised, aiming his pistol at your chest before he recognized you and smiled.

“You are getting better at sneaking up on me.”

“Or you are getting sloppier,” you retorted immediately as the ship tilted to one side when you got hit from some gunships that had caught up with you. But this time, you weren’t annoyed. “You will need a new hyperdrive at this rate.”

“Good thing I plan to get one,” the captain grinned signalling you to get into the shooting seat while he takes care of the rest.

“You mean steal one.”

“Oh come on, shouldn’t you know me?” he put a hand over his heart as if he was offended before grinning cockily. “Borrowing it.”

You laughed, genuinely and you knew it was just the start of an adventure.

[writingfandomfeels]

Jack Kelly - Jack Jelly

Request: Hello! Can I request a jealous jack jelly imagine? May I ask for 13. “I thought you agreed I should wear this costume to the party tonight?” “Oh I agreed to you wearing it tonight, but I had no party in mind” with Jack?

A/N: Can you believe I probably originally posted this already a year ago and here I am having to repost it now because I was dumb and accidentally deleted my blog? 

Modern AU

Smut after ~~~

A plastic witch cackled at the door as you entered the costume store with your friends. 

“I’m tellin’ you guys, this place is the shit. Ain’t nobody got better costumes than ‘ere.” Race said. 

“It’s a costume store. How great can it be?” Spot replied flatly. 

Race ran to a child sized devil costume hanging on a rack across the room. “So great it’s even got the perfect costume in a size small enough for you!” He teased, holding up the little red outfit. 

Spot looked from the costume to the blond, unimpressed. “I ain’t wearin’ that. And for your information I’m a size medium.” 

“Ohhh, well that can be arranged.” Race disappeared into the many aisles of the store. 

Holding Jack’s hand, you lead him to a section you saw labeled as couples costumes. You laughed at some of them. “Look,” you held up two large foam based costumes in the shape of bread. “We could be peanut butter and jelly!” 

Before Jack could respond, Romeo came up from behind you, holding up two medieval looking costumes. He handed you one of them. 

“Care to be the Juliet to my Romeo?” He asked with a wink. 

You took the silly medieval hat off the hanger that also held the dress and threw the hat onto your head. “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” 

Romeo and Jack both just blinked, unable to recognize that you were reciting the play. 

“Uhh… yeah.” Romeo responded, backing away. 

You giggled and took off the hat, hanging it and the dress back up. 

Jack pulled out from the rack a vampire costume. 

“How’s about this?” He suggested, a twinkle in his eye. 

You took the costume with you to the change rooms to try it on. The corset was a little tight around your chest and the skirt was very short, but then again you figured that’s probably how it was supposed to be. Exiting the dressing room you did a twirl, your cape spinning with you. “How do I look?” You asked. 

Romeo, Race, and Elmer were browsing the clothes nearby and all looked over at you when you spoke. Although you’d only intended to get Jack’s reaction, Romeo was quick to comment. 

“Is it true what they say about lady vampires? That they really know how to suck?” Romeo flirted. 

The others laughed. 

“Cute, but you’re not my blood type.” You teased. 

“Aw, c’mon, gimme a chance. You know, your skin wouldn’t still be pale after a night with me!” 

You laughed at Romeo’s remark. “I s’pose there is room for two in my coffin. But I had the spot saved for-” you paused as you turned, not seeing Jack standing nearby anymore. “Jack?” 

You searched the store, eventually finding him holding up two different costumes now, one a cowboy and the other a cowgirl costume. You took the cowgirl costume from him. 

“What’s wrong with this vampire one?” You asked, holding up the cape. 

He shrugged. “Couldn’t find a match for me with it.” 

You tried on the cowgirl outfit, this time the others were somewhere else in the store so only Jack saw the reveal. As with most adult sized halloween costumes it had to be a sexy cowgirl but you didn’t mind. And you loved Jack’s reaction to it. 

He grinned and licked his lips as he admired how you looked. “Yeah, let’s get that one.” 

Later that evening when it was time for the party, you were confused to find that Jack hadn’t actually expected you to wear the cowgirl costume. 

“I thought you agreed I should wear this costume to the party tonight?” 

“Oh I agreed to you wearing it tonight, but I had no party in mind.” Jack smirked. 

You let out a frustrated sigh. “Well I already told them we’d go and this is the only costume I have so I’m going in it anyways.” You stated, leaving the house to wait for him in the car. 

“What? But-!” Jack called after you. 

You could hear the muffled booming stereo even from outside the house but when you opened the front door it was like getting flooded with the bass beat. 

“I’m gonna go get us some drinks!” You shouted to Jack over the music. 

He nodded as he watched you walk away and disappear into the crowd. 

“Y/N!!!” Katherine yelled when she saw you. She was standing with Sarah. The two of them were dressed as Daphne and Velma from Scooby Doo, Katherine’s red hair perfectly fitting the costume. 

“Oh my gosh, you look amazing!” Sarah complimented. 

You thanked her. “Somewhere around here, Jack is a matching cowboy.” 

Continuing to mingle, it took quite some time for you to get the drinks and find Jack again. There were just too many people you knew, and even quite a few you didn’t who wanted to strike up a conversation with you. When you returned to him, you found him already with a drink and looking awfully grumpy with his arms crossed sitting on a sofa. 

“What’s that? Your Spot impression?” You teased, dropping onto the sofa and handing him the glass. 

He took it from you, setting down his nearly empty cup and continued to sip in silence. 

“What’s the matter?” You asked. 

Angrily he made eye contact with you, looked around the room, then back to you, then stood up without saying a word. 

“Jack?” You stood with him. 

He grabbed your arm rather firmly and began walking away, bringing you with him. Deciding he wasn’t going to answer, at least not yet, you chose to stay silent as he pulled you away from the noise of the party and down the hallways to the bedrooms. You passed various people talking and making out in the hallways and dark corners of the house and eventually found yourself in a dark empty bedroom. 

“Jack what-?” You started to say but immediately the boy was on you. 

He pressed his body against yours so that your back was up against the door. “You weren’t supposed to wear this out.” He growled, his lips inches from yours, sending a chill down your spine. “You’re makin’ everyone stare and want you when ya’ all mine.” 

Breathing quicker from the unexpected intensity, your mind raced with the excitement. 

He moved to your ear now, speaking in a rough whisper. “Maybe I need to remind you that you’re mine.” He tugged at your earlobe with his teeth then moved to kissing down your neck. 

~~~

Desperately you wanted more. You pushed away from the door, guiding the two of you to the bed, Jack falling backwards onto it. 

“Oh, sorry!” You apologized, not meaning for him to have fallen. 

He smiled. “You wantin’ to get rough too are ya’?” 

You blushed and moved to begin taking off your costume. 

Quickly Jack sat up, his legs on either side of you. “What the hell do you think you’re doin’?” 

“Getting undressed?” You stated the obvious. 

He brought his hands to your ass, squeezing it and pulling you closer to him. “No you’re not. I want you to wear it.” 

You lifted his cowboy hat a little so you could see his face better before wrapping your arms around his neck. “Oh really?” Slowly you moved into a crouch, trailing your hands down his chest. “What else do you want?” You flitted your eyes from his to the growing bulge in his pants that was now at your eye level. 

He took a deep breath as he considered the offer before shaking his head. “No, you’ve been too much of a tease lately.” He stood, taking your hands in his and pulling you up with him. “I want to fuck you til I’m the only name on your lips.” He whispered. And with that he threw you down, climbing on top and kissing every inch of exposed skin. 

Despite wanting to keep the costume on, Jack did take off the jean short-shorts you’d been wearing as well as his own pants and of course your underwear. He slid a finger up your slit, earning a shaky sigh from you. He pulled a condom out from his pocket, putting it on then teasing your entrance with the tip. You moaned softly, fluttering your eyes closed in anticipation. Without notice, you felt him roll the two of you over so you were now on top. 

You sat up, staring at him dumbfounded. 

“Save a horse, ride a cowboy.” He winked. 

You pressed your lips together to hold back the laugh that wanted to explode at the ridiculous joke, knowing that if you started giggling you’d end up in a laughing fit and never get back to the action at hand. Instead, you carefully positioned yourself over him and slid down onto his length. 

“You seems awfully cautious for the wild west.” He criticized. 

Taking the hint to get rougher with him, you took the lasso from his costume and pushed his hands so they were over his head, tying his wrists together. As you leaned forward tying the knots, you made sure to linger by his ear. 

“That wild enough for you, boss?” You whispered then bit at his neck. 

You felt him shiver underneath you, his chest rising and falling quicker than before. Rolling your hips against him, he let out a groan and bucked his hips up to meet yours. Quickly you fell into a fast paced rhythm with him, your bodies colliding together like violent waves on a jagged cliffside. 

“Fuck sugar, I want to touch you real bad.” He whined after it was becoming too much. “You look so good up there.” 

You untied his hands. “Then touch me.” 

Without hesitation he brought one hand to one of your hard nipples, the other to your clit. Furiously he rubbed tight circles on your bud, causing you to let out a loud cry of pleasure. Luckily the party was so loud you didn’t need to worry about keeping quiet. 

“Ah, shit Jack.” You moaned. 

“That’s right doll, say my name.” He commanded, relentlessly continuing to pleasure you.  

As you got closer and your thrusts became sloppier he gripped your hips, pulling you to him hard. His name echoed off the shadowed walls as you shrieked in euphoria. Jack let out a loud groan as he came too. 

A peaceful sleepiness washed over you and you flopped down next to him on the bed. He brushed the hair away from your face, admiring how lovely you looked even in the darkness, the only light shining in from the gentle glow of the moonlight outside the window. 

“Were you really jealous?” You asked, closing your eyes and cuddling into him. 

“What? ‘Course I was.” Jack answered. “Did ya’ not see how everyone be lookin’ atchu tonight? Not to mention Romeo flirtin’ with ya’ earlier.” 

You rolled your eyes. “That’s just Romeo though. You know he means no harm.” 

“Still,” he paused, “when they all were seein’ how good you looked in that vampire costume… well… I didn’t like it. That’s why I wanted just us tonight. But then I saw the cowgirl costume and I knew you’d look damn good in it too. But I got it wanting it to be for just me. I didn’t even want us to go to the dumb party.” 

You stared at him as he lay on his back, eyes to the ceiling. “I’m sorry sweetie, I didn’t know you were feeling that way.” 

Sitting yourself up so you were leaning on one arm you gently cupped his cheek with your hand and placed a soft kiss to his lips. 

He smiled. “Well, after all that I think I can forgive ya’.” 

You giggled and kissed him again. 

“Hey! Wait a second!” You exclaimed. 

He sat up a bit, leaning on his arm too, looking at you puzzled. 

“We really should have gone with the peanut butter and jelly costumes! ‘Cause you’ve been so jelly!!!” 

“Oh geez.” Jack fell back into the bed, unamused by the stupid humor but unable to hide his smile. 

[hecohansen31]

I know you wrote about Billy spanking the reader and also about Billy and little reader but what about both ? Billy punishing little reader and then lots of aftercare with daddy Billy 🥺

(A/N): Hello there, lovely! 

How are you?

I really hope you’ll enjoy this and as always, huge disclaimer if I didn’t exactly portrait perfectly the DDLG world, I am still learing the every feedback about my stories is useful for me to know which direction to choose.

And also... if you don’t end up liking it, please let me know and I’ll rewrite, and as always... sorry for being late!

Much love!

WARNINGS. Smut, Punishment, Use of Vibrators, Vibrating Wands, Orgasm Denial, Teasing, DDLG. Little Reader.

You had been having an awful week, mostly on the social side, since so many of your friends had proved not to be as nice and “real” friends as you had thought, which in turn got you to regress even further into your mental state, and in a rageful anger that Billy had tried to convert into something healthier at first with teasing and trying to drain your energy.

But nothing seemed to work long enough for you to be operative and not a “sassy little lady”, which Billy didn’t mind, since he honestly thought that it was hilarious and refreshing for your usual tame persona, but he knew that this would only bring you to burn and consume unhealthily.

So after you had sassed one too many time, even ignoring him and his orders, he had had enough and had easily raised you from the chair you had been trying to host your tea party from, carrying you onto one of his shoulder, roughness recoiling from all his actions and he hadn’t stopped it, no matter your screams and kicks and fist, till he had dropped you carelessly onto your shared bed.

You had tried to run away but with his strong body pushing itself onto yours, you were stopped in your tracks and soon your hands were bound onto the headboard, and your legs followed the same process, leaving you opened, after Billy had gently (but with much effort) pushed your shorts down.

You still fought, and Billy just left you to it, having you secured to the bed and knowing that you would eventually lose your energy, meanwhile he went to retrieve the few things you would be needing in that session, choosing a little bullet vibrator and a vibrating wand, both light pink, alongside a little bottle of lube.

Corporal punishment didn’t work well with you and most importantly Billy: they reminded him about Neil and he wasn’t able to carry on, without thinking he was hurting her, no matter how many times you told him it didn’t hurt you, he just didn’t feel comfortable.

And you respected that, since he had so many more punishments, he could use on you, such as this one.

When he turned back, you had calmed a bit, but you still tried to push your legs close, since your panties, a cute pair with little strawberries, were extremely soaked, shamefully enough that even your cheeks were tinted red and your eyes didn’t meet his.

But he quickly solved the problem, grabbing your chin to make you face him.

“Are you still sassy, little lady?” he mumbled, meanwhile he cooed you sweetly, and his hands went between your legs, immediately spreading under his hand, your body obeying to him better than her mouth “… not so tough”.

“Go to hell” you simply muttered, huffing lightly and spiting straight into his face, which gained you a swift swat onto your thigh.

“It isn’t this way you talk to, daddy” he mumbled, shushing you, stuffing your pajama shorts in your mouth, before he looked at you straight up in the eyes, to make sure that you would understand “… baby before we start I need to talk with you: you do remember what you do if it gets too much?”.

And, although you hadn’t been cooperative till that moment, you swiftly nodded, sniffling a bit.

“Show me, pretty girl” he continued, trying to get you to understand fully what would be happening, and you simply opened and closed both of your hands, your non-verbal safe word; one hand meant “slow down”, the second meant “stop” “Perfect, sweetie, now I am going to fuck the inner brat out of you”-

You hummed gently at the “fucked” part, sure you would get your way, but Billy was still dressed and didn’t intend to shed any type of clothes, and instead raised hers, showing him her perky little nipples, which he massaged softly, teasing them with the palm of his hands, gently reaching you nipples and there he switched form his finger to the little vibrating bullet, softly raising it just above your nipple, but the vibration still caught you.

Your back immediately arched as if you wanted more, but Billy pushed you back to the bed, with an hand pushed onto your stomach.

As you quieted down, your eyes shining with some kind of rage, he brought the vibration this time higher onto your chest, to the other nipple, getting your legs to curl lightly.

You fought for more, but whenever you seemed to reach the peak, he would bring you back, holding this kind of teasing for so so long that you were slowly losing your mind and had to softly open and close one hand.

Billy, immediately backed off, pushing away the vibrator to look at your face, gently caressing your face, and when you felt better you opened and closed your hand again, to say that he could go on.

This time it was the wand, first over your panties, already soaked, and then he gently pushed them to the side to reveal your mound, pretty and pink, puffy and red, definitely overstimulated, but never ever having reached the peak.

This went on for a good time, at least till your eyes went from total rage to fucked out bliss and when he gently pushed the shorts away from your mouth, you begged him desperately, tears shining in your eyes.

“Please, daddy!” you prayed as if Billy was your God, softly biting your lips “… pretty please… I need to… please”.

“Will you stop being a brat?” that would never happen, Billy knew it, but also loved this little session, the admission and the begging “… will you, for daddy?”.

And he softly kissed your forehead, his pretty blond curls tickling your forehead, meanwhile you nodded desperately and muttered in alternating low and high-pitched tones:

“No, I won’t be a brat, anymore!”.

He smiled and slipped up the wand so that it could stick onto your own clit and slipped his fingers in your soft wet mound.

All it took was a few strokes and reaching that soft spot in you and then you finally reached the edge and went over it.

Your eyes fell shut tightly and your legs strained the roped, meanwhile your toes curled softly and your body from taunt, during the peak of the orgasm, slowly relaxing under Billy’s soft cuddles and sweet nothings and when you came back your eyes were empty.

After punishments you went into a deep subspace and he gently tried to shake you, after he had  unbound you from the roped, gently massaging your burned wrists and ankles, in order to get a reaction out of you and when your eyes seemed a bit more focused he asked you a few questions:

“What is your name?”.

“(Y/N)”.

“How old are you, sweetie” he mumbled, meanwhile he made you sit up, so that you could move onto his lap, making you put your head in the crook of his neck.

You simply held up five fingers, and clutched tighter to him who bounced you lightly, although soon your sweaty body became too sensitive for you and you leaned back a bit, your eyes immediately shooting towards the bathroom.

Billy followed your stare, immediately understanding what you wanted and gently asked:

“Do you want to take a bath?” and you simply nodded and Billy maneuvered you so that you could hold you to his chest and pick you up easily, cooing you as you were slightly shaken by the way he got up and gently moved you to the bathroom and put you down onto the sink, meanwhile he set up the bath, gently shooting you playful looks which got you blushing and helped you out of your clothes, meanwhile hot water run into the tub, in which a few minutes later you and Billy were soaked.

Your back to his chest, his arms comfortably snuggled around you and his lips pushed onto your neck.

“Are you feeling a bit better?” he gently asked, meanwhile you played with the bubbles, and the colored water due to the bath bomb he had used (“just for you, babe”).

“… yeah, daddy” you mumbled softly, gently turning to kiss his lip, a tiny peck that made him giggle “I am sorry I was bad”.

“You weren’t, sweetie” he reminded you, softly grabbing your little hands in his “… and I don’t mind putting you back in your place, little brat”.

And you just blew a few bubbles on his face to reinforce the concept, meanwhile he messed your hair.

“… and also… I know how much you like my punishment” he smirked knowingly in the back of your neck.

“You are the best daddy ever, don’t you know it?”

[slytherinbangchan]

Badboy!Jeongin (I.N) (Gang!Au)

Blog’s Masterlist   >>Gang!Au! Masterlist<< (Every member’s storyline is linked somehow to the others so go check

I’d recommend to read every member by the posting order not to lose any detail of the storyline~

Pairing: ReaderxJeongin

Warnings: I wrote about depressive episodes and anxiety so if you find that triggering don’t read it please.

(Fluff ending tho)

-You work at an ice cream shop.

-It should be fine since you just finished high school and still live with your parents.

-You don't know what to do next year.

-You don't wanna know either.

-It's hard enough for you just getting out of bed every morning.

-Luckily most of the time you have the evening shift.

-It's not like that makes you feel better.

-But at least you don't have to fight yourself to get out of bed in time.

-It's not like you don't get enough sleep either.

-More like your brain won't allow you to be awake.

-Cause the moment you're awake it feels like shit.

-So even if you want to open your eyes you're just unable to do it.

-Most people around you don't understand this.

-They would just say things like 'just go to bed earlier and then you won't be so tired in the morning'.

-If only that was the problem.

-It doesn't matter tho.

-You're used to them saying stuff like that anyway.

-At least at work you can feel somewhat useful.

-The ice cream shop is next to a couple high schools.

-You went to the private one.

-Worst years of your life.

-You missed a lot of classes last year cause you were terrified of going out your house.

-The feeling would make you physically ill.

-Your mom thought you were just lazy and that made it even worse.

-But in the end you managed to get out of that hell called high school.

-Now you can see the highschoolers coming out all at once almost every day.

-Some of them stop for ice cream or some muffin before heading home.

-And they look happy?

-Amazing.

-You know some of them.

-Others are new years so you don't.

-But there's this guy.

-Jeongin.

-He was famous at your school along with some others.

-Well, he still is.

-Not a very nice guy.

-A couple years younger than you he must be.

-He looks so cute but he's not.

-He liked to throw little stones at you and laugh at it with his friends at breaks.

-It was humiliating to have someone younger kinda bullying you.

-But you were so apathetic about life in general.

-You wouldn’t even bother to say anything about it.

-At least that's the only bad thing he'd do to you.

-And now he's there asking to taste some of the ice cream before deciding on one.

-You hand him a tiny spoon a couple times with different flavours.

-His face so serious when there's nobody else around.

-'Ok, I'll get this one' he points at it.

-You nod and prepare it for him.

-'Thanks' he says as you hand him the ice cream.

-'Ah... Yeah. Come back soon'.

-'I will'.

-You can see a tiny smirk as he turns to walk away.

-The rest of your day just goes by.

-Next time you see him he comes in with his friends.

-He's all smiles and laughs now.

-They whisper something before Jeongin comes to the counter.

-He order his ice cream but stays right there after you hand it to him.

-'Did you want anything else?' You ask. You sound way unfriendlier than you may have intended.

-But those kids laughing next to the door make you feel so uncomfortable.

-He hesitates for a moment but then tries to look at you in the eyes. 'Actually, yeah....Would you date me?‘ He asks.

-Leaving you in shock for a second. 'Why don't you fuck off' you say turning your back at him.

-The other guys come to the counter still laughing. 'Omg Jeongin. y/n rejected you that's sad.' They say.

-That kinda hurts.

-But it feels more like using the ice cream scoop to pull out those kids eyes or something.

-Anyway.

-Jeongin laughs at it and tells them it was a joke.

-Well, he tells the entire shop.

-Just what you thought. A fucking joke.

-You roll your eyes and keep working.

-You have double shift today so when you leave the shop is already kinda dark.

-And you hate it.

-Walking alone at night.

-You're also so tired.

-So obviously you don't apreciate Jeongin's stupid friends hanging out at some park on your way home.

-They were waiting for you.

-Jeongin is not there tho.

-They mock you and throw stuff at you as you walk by.

-This scenario will happen every single day from now on.

-You try to ignore them but each day they become more agressive.

-Now going to work doesn't feel good either.

-The only thing that would make you feel slightly useful now terrifies you.

-So today you're not going home.

-Honestly is like your legs have their own will.

-They take you to the river.

-And before you realize you've taken off your shoes and you are getting into the water.

-It's already dark.

-But being there is less scary than walking by those kids in the park.

-You scoff and look at the sky. 'How pathetic am I?' You ask yourself.

-'Well' A voice behind you makes you jump out a little. 'If you ask me. You seem totally pathetic to me right now'

-You turn around and kinda feel relieved. 'Minho'.

-You dated for like a second when you were in high school.

-He smiles at you. 'What are you doing there? You know how dirty rivers are?'

-You sigh and go sit next to him.

-Then you tell him everything about what's happening everyday after work.

-He laughs. 'They're not that young why do they act like kids?'

-'Demon kids'.

-'And what's with Jeongin? He didn't mention any of this to the gang'.

-'What do you mean?'

-He lies down on the grass. Resting his head on his arms. 'It's weird he chose those kids to torture you instead of one of us'.

-'Oh well, that would be... Lovely of you guys'.

-He laughs. 'We wouldn't do it. But still...'

-'I think that's your answer right there'.

-'Nah. I'm thinking maybe he likes you for real. And he freaked out when asking you out went that bad'.

-You laugh. 'Ok, first of all. You're delusional and...'

-'I'm not'. He doesn't let you finish. 'I'm actually sure that's what happened. Why didn't you say yes tho? He's cute'.

-'Yeah, he's super cute. But I'm sure he just wanted to make fun of me'.

-He laughs. 'Why?'

-'Cause nobody in their right mind would want to date me'.

-'I dated you'. He says.

-'Yeah, exactly'.

-He laughs kinda offended. 'Okay then, I won't help you'.

-'Fine. It's not like being alone is anything new'. You say, standing up to leave.

-He smiles softly. 'What a stupid emo girl'. He says, standing up too. 'Let me walk you home at least'.

-The kids are still in that park when you walk pass it.

-At first they start mocking you again but they stop as soon as they realize is Minho walking with you.

-He rests his arm over your shoulder and look at the kids. 'Go home you idiots. It's past your bed time'.

-You laugh at what he just said.

-It's being a while since last time you did.

-'I don't know why he hangs out with younger kids, they're so stupid'. He says.

-'Maybe they idolize him and he just let them be'. You say.

-'Yeah I guess. You sure you don't like him by the way?'

-'Honestly I haven't think about it even, since I'm sure he was just trying to prank me'.

-'You know? He's not that kind of guy'.

-'What do you mean?'

-He sighs as you reach your house. 'Nothing. Just think about it. But if you like him talk to him, okay?'

-'Okay... I guess'.

-He waves you goodbye as he walks away.

-You lie on your bed after a shower.

-Normally you'd just binge watch some series or movie you've already binge watched thousands of times.

-But tonight your head is elsewhere.

-You try and think back to analyze Minho's words and match them with Jeongin's actual actions.

-Ok, he was kinda awkward but he failed to prank you so that's normal right?

-But, why did he told his friends it was a joke after asking you?

-Why only after they said that you rejecting him was sad.

-Your heart skips a beat.

-No way.

-You kick the only plushie there's on your bed. 'Stupid Minho'.

-He really got inside your head. 'You sure you don't like him?' His words is all you think about now.

-You grab a book and try to get your mind away from that stuff.

-It works for like a minute.

-Then Jeongin's smiling face is there again.

-Also his serious one as he was tasting the ice cream the other day.

-And the awkward one after you rejected him so mercilessly.

-Well who cares? He sent those idiots to bother you anyway.

-You end up getting hardly any sleep.

-You can see the sun slightly rising through your window.

-It's been a good while since the last time you were up this early.

-So you go out.

-Again to the river and sit on the grass.

-So sleepy you don't even know how you got there.

-But there you are.

-You think the scenery is kinda nice so you take a pic and post it.

-After a while your phone buzzes.

-It's Minho texting you. 'Hope you thought about it'.

-You blush just reading that but don't text back.

-The morning dew drenching into your clothes.

-But you don't wanna leave. Not yet.

-You hear some steps behind your back and turn your face to check.

-Your eyes meeting right away with Jeongin's who was checking his phone just a second earlier.

-Both of you frozen not knowing what to do.

-His phone buzzes so his eyes go down to it's screen.

-You turn to face the river but you can hear him siting down so you face him again.

-'What are you doing? You ask. Again, so harshly.

-'Sorry I have to be here'. He says. His face once more so serious.

-Nothing like when he's around his friends.

-You can hear how he's angry-texting someone on his phone then you remember Minho's words.

-'Are you... Meeting someone here?' You ask him.

-'Yeah, Minho woke me up and told me to wait for him'.

-You can't help but laugh a little at Minho's evil mind.  'Yeah, I think you can go. He's not coming'.

-He frowns but doesn't say anything at first.

-You stretch a little as he seems to think about something.

-'So, are you dating Minho?' He asks but he's not looking at you.

-'Where did you get that from?'

-'Someone told me'

-'Ah, right. Those kids you sent to torture me'.

-'I didn't send them. I didn't even know they were following you till last night'.

-'Sure'.

-'Why would I lie to you? I'm not afraid of you like that'.

-'Like what?'

-'The way those guys were afraid of Minho last night. That's why they told me about what they did'.

-'Well that's not the only reason why people lie. Sometimes you lie because you care about someone'. You blush. 'But of course that couldn't be the case'.

-He blushes too but you can't see that, same way he can't see you.

-Another awkward silence.

-'It.... Could be. But still I'm not lying to you'.

-You blush even harder.

-'Can you stop with that? It's not funny'.

-'With what?'

-'You trying to mess up with me and making me think you like me'.

-'But I like you'.

-'No you don't. Omg, shut up'. You're too flustered.

-He laughs.

-'Don't laugh at me!' You turn to try and hit him on his leg.

-But he keeps laughing as he moves a little to dodge.

-You end up grabbing one of his feet and dragging him down besides you.

-'Omg. How are you so strong???' he asks.

-'I lift'

-'No way. Are you serious? That's amazing'. He laughs again.

-You sigh as you let him go and he sits up. 'Why would you say that?' You ask.

-'What?'

-'That you like me and that I'm amazing'.

-He sighs. 'Ok, listen. I get why you may think I'm lying to you about that. But I'm not'. You whine as you still don't believe him. 'I panicked the other day at the ice cream shop'.

-You tilt your head as Minho's words come to life. 'Jeongin you used to throw stones at me at school'.

-'Well yeah I was a dick. I'm sorry. I found it annoying you would go around with a sad face on all the time'.

-'I wasn't sad I was mad'.

-'You looked hella sad'

-'I don't know what to tell you. I must have resting sad bitch face'. You say.

-He laughs. 'Well I get that. I do look angry when I'm not smiling'.

-You laugh too. 'Nah. Not angry just serious'.

-'You noticed?'

-'Yeah. Is that why you always smile around your friends?'.

-He nods.

-'Must be tiring'.

-'I got used to it'.

-You nod. 'I see'.

-Another silence. This time not as awkward.

-'So you're not dating Minho'.

-A smile scaping you. 'Nah'.

-'Then date me'.

-You smile again.

-This guy.

-You don't entirely understand why he would like you.

-Maybe he's crazy like Minho.

-'You're nuts'. You say. 'What about your friends? What are they gonna think if they see you with me?'

-'I don't care'.

-'You seemed to care the other day'.

-'Omg. Only cause you were so rude at me!'.

-You can't help but laugh.

-'What?' He asks.

-You keep laughing. 'Nothing. I was rude wasn't I?'

-He chuckles. 'Yeah'.

-A cold morning breeze makes you shiver for a moment.

-He moves closer making you blush.

-His arm over your shoulders.

-Your heart beating faster.

-So fast you can't hear what your head have to say about anything anymore.

-You lean over him a little still blushing.

-'You know... Actually this kinda feels like a date right now'. You say.

-Can’t honestly believe you just said that without exploding.

-His heart beating faster too.

-He's kinda shaking.

-Not sure if it's because of the cold or what.

-But you end up all tangled with that excuse.

-Your hands inside his hoodie’s pockets as you face him.

-His legs over yours.

-Just talking nonsense.

-And laughing.

-'I think my nose froze. Wanna check?' You ask, rubbing your nose against his neck.

-'Omg, no' He laughs. 'I believe you, stop!'

-You look at him.

-His forehead resting on yours. 'Wanna check how cold is mine now?' He asks.

-You shake your head as you grin at him.

-He smiles and suddenly licks your lips.

-'Omg' You laugh. 'Gross!' You say, he just laughs so you do the same to him.

-Next thing you know he's kissing you.

-And boy, you were so used to being numb you didn't know you could still feel butterflies as strong as those.

-Your phone buzzes and you eventually stop kissing to check it.

-A smile on your face as you read the text. 'I knew you liked him'.

-Fucking Minho.

-You look around for a moment to see if you find him.

-But you don't see him anywhere.

-'What's wrong?' Jeongin asks.

-You smile again before looking at him. 'Nothing'.

-He shrugs. 'Ok then'. He says before kissing you again.

Part2

[7-wonders]

Where Angels Fear to Tread

Summary: When the morning comes, so does regret. Both you and Michael must deal with the choices that were made last night, choices that could either make or break Satan’s “plan” for his son and his son’s bride.

Word Count: 3062

A/N: Y’all this is so late and I’m so sorry. Nevertheless, I managed to get it up! Feedback is always appreciated, and if you liked this chapter, reblogs and comments would be wonderful to receive!

Read Mad Love (part one) HERE | Read Totally F***ed (part two) HERE | Read The Isle of Flightless Birds (part three) HERE | Read A Hard Day’s Night (part four) HERE | Read Pour One Out (part five) HERE 

For a brief moment when you first wake up, it doesn’t feel like you’re hungover. Although you’re tired, you’re not bolting out of bed to throw up. That blissful feeling lasts for a total of ten seconds, the hangover waiting until the sunlight hits your eyes to fully hit you. And boy, does it hit you.

“Oh, God no.” You groan, covering your face with your pillow in an attempt to alleviate some of the throbbing in your head.

You’re not too terribly nauseous, but you’re still not going to be eating a three-course meal right away. Every time you try to take the pillow off of your face, your head spins. You haven’t been this hungover in a long time, and it can only be one thing causing your pain.

“The fucking vodka.” You realize, sighing and rolling onto your stomach so you don’t have to put in the effort to hold the pillow up.

Although you’ve had vodka before, it was only a shot or two at a time, never as much as you had during your pong victory last night. It should have been enough of a warning when it smelled like gasoline, but drunk (Y/N) likes to disregard clear signs of danger. When you finally feel able to lift your head from the pillow, you thank your lucky stars that a bottle of water and some ibuprofen sits on your bedside table. Remembering how you ended up back at your apartment, you wrinkle your nose in a mixture of disdain and embarrassment.

You take the medicine quickly, too hungover to be able to think clearly about the consequences of last night’s actions. Maybe you were better off with the pain of a headache, considering that each drunk memory is even worse than the one before it.

“Did I seriously pet his hair?” You mumble, sitting up against the headboard and burying your face in your hands. Speak of the devil (or the devil’s son), your phone starts ringing the oh-so familiar ringtone. You don’t even have to look at the caller ID to know that it’s Michael; no one else that you know would call you, especially on a Friday morning. “Hi, Michael.”

“(Y/N), good morning.” He greets, sounding mildly shocked that you’re awake and functioning. You’re a little shocked too, honestly. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a truck, but the truck was only going like five miles an hour.” Michael chuckles at your colorful description of how you feel. “Thanks for coming to pick me up last night, by the way. I don’t even know why I called you.”

“You called me to berate me on my behavior. You also lamented the fact that you’re married to, and I quote, ‘the fucking Anti-crust.’” You grimace, shaking your head.

“Oh no, I am so sorry.”

“No, I deserved it. Plus, you made some good points, and I’m glad you called me instead of deciding to drive yourself home.” A smile tugs onto your face at the concern Michael has for you, quickly being wiped off when the reminder of his actions yesterday sends a bolt of pain through your lip.

“We wouldn’t have driven anyways, we took a Lyft there.” You explain, pulling at a loose string on your blanket while you wait for Michael to speak.

“(Y/N),” he says after a silence long enough to make you start to wonder if he had hung up, “can I ask you a question?”

“I know what you’re getting after, and I’m sorry for referring to you as my husband when I was in front of my friends last night. In my defense, we were all really drunk and they all thought I was just being a smartass. If you’re going to punish anyone, punish me and not them.” You interject, fully taking responsibility for your slip of the tongue that gave both of you mini heart attacks.

“Huh? No, don’t worry about that. Trust me, I know that it was just a joke to them.”

“Really? Okay then, ask me your question.” Another long silence follows, one that has you huffing in annoyance. You could easily be sleeping off your headache right now, if it weren’t for Michael being dramatic on the other end of the call.

“Would you...if you would allow me to, would you like to go on a date today? With me?” It’s your turn to initiate a long silence.

The all-powerful Antichrist, who you’ve seen command congregations of ravenous followers with a mere glance and force you to give yourself to him, who holds the most frightening amount of power you’re sure anyone on Earth has ever possessed, is nervous about asking you out on a date? You’re startled out of your inner monologue by Michael calling your name through the phone.

“What?”

“Well, I asked you if you-”

“I know. I guess I was just caught off-guard. I mean, aren’t you supposed to ask me on a date before you marry me?” You ask, smiling wryly.

“I think you and I can both agree that our union is nothing if not unconventional.”

“Hmm. Say I did agree to go on a date with you. What would we do?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve never been on a date before and this was a very spur-of-the-moment decision.” Michael admits.

“Awww, how cute!” You tease, giggling when you hear him scoff.

“I’m the Antichrist (Y/N), and though I’ve been described as many things, ‘cute’ is not one of them.” He notes. It’s quiet for a moment while you consider your options, eventually deciding ‘what the hell?’

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Michael, I’ll go on a date with you.”

“We-I-uh-great.” He stutters out. “Tonight, then? I’m sure you have classes and such today, and I’d hate to force you to do something when you’re already forced to spend the weekend with me.”

You stretch the arm that’s not holding your phone above your head, glancing over at the clock to see the time.

“I actually don’t have class today. Wanna meet me at my place at eleven?” You can tell he’s shocked at your response, and you’re a little shocked too. You’re not sure if you want to confront him while sober about how he smacked you, or if his whole ‘poor, socially-stunted Antichrist’ act actually was an act.

“That would work for me.”

“Cool! I’m driving though, so you’re gonna have to do your teleporting thing.”

“Why do you get to drive?”

“Because you’re the most boring driver ever. Seriously, you don’t even listen to music?”

“It’s distracting! I like the quiet, it allows me to think.” Michael argues.

“Car rides are for bumping your favorite music, not sitting in silence, but I digress. Does eleven work for you or not, golden boy?” The ‘golden boy’ nickname is one you’re quite proud of, seeing as it’s one of the only productive things you thought of while giggling to yourself in Michael’s car last night.

“Yes, eleven works. I’ll see you then.”

“See you in a bit!” You chirp, hanging up your phone and sitting up. Suddenly, you’re aware of your devastating mistake: you have to actually get your hungover ass out of bed and dressed within an hour.

It’s definitely not your finest date outfit, but considering the man has seen you bloody and scared out of your mind, you’re not too worried about impressing him. Besides, the point of a date is to get to know a person and make them want to see you again. You’re already stuck with Michael for life, so one half of your ‘mission’ is basically completed. You rush to the door when you hear him knock, peeking through the peephole before you unlock it fully. It’s a little infuriating just how perfect Michael always looks; he seriously could have walked right off of a runway during Fashion Week. His regular attire could put some movie stars to shame, so needless to say he makes you feel extremely underdressed. Nevertheless, he still smiles the moment he sees you.

“Hi, (Y/N).” He greets, stepping into your apartment. “I, uh, got you some flowers. I know that’s what you’re supposed to give a girl before a date.” He produces a bouquet of your favorite flowers from behind his back, making your face red.

“Did you read my mind to find out my favorite flowers?” You tease, taking the bouquet from him and turning to find something to put them in.

“No, actually. You had told my Ms. Mead that these were your favorites once.” Now that you think about it, you had told Ms. Mead that; they had been on sale at the market you both frequented, and you had made a note that you had to buy them when she noticed them in your basket. “Are you feeling any better?”

“My head still hurts, but other than that I’m fine. I usually only throw up after I drink hard liquor.” There’s no vases in your kitchen, so you just grab an old water bottle and fill it up to place the flowers in.

“If you’d like, I can take your pain away?”

“You already left the painkillers out on my nightstand, pretty sure if I take anymore that’s considered drug abuse.”

“Not like that. I can...use my powers, and take your pain away. Only if you consent, of course. I told you after the wedding that I wouldn’t use magic on you without your permission, and I intend to keep that promise.” This side of Michael, the one who actually cares and shows human emotions, is easily your favorite.

“You can do that?” He nods.

“I could heal your lip, too.” Before either of you can really process it, his hand gently cups your chin, thumb lightly running across the scabbed-over cut.

“We’re going to have to talk about this, you know.” You mutter, Michael’s thumb moving away so that he doesn’t accidentally slip it into your mouth.

“Let me heal you, and then we can?” He proposes.

“Yeah, okay.” You lead him over to the couch, sitting and facing him. “So how does this work? Do you have to perform some sort of spell?”

Michael chuckles, shaking his head. It startles you to realize you’ve picked up on some of his idiosyncrasies, knowing that playing with the large rings decorating his fingers means that he’s nervous.

“No, you just need to trust me.” You hesitate for a moment before nodding your head slightly.

Michael places both of his large hands on either side of your face, your breathing hitching at the close contact. You watch as his eyes flutter closed. He doesn’t say anything, nor does he move, but you can feel the exact moment that his magic hits you. The pain in your head disappears slowly, but when it’s gone, it’s completely gone. You lip pulses in pain as the skin starts to rapidly stitch itself back together, speeding up the healing process by weeks. After Michael lets go of your face, you snatch your phone up and glance at the black screen. You’re completely healed, without even a scar to show for last night’s events.

“Who would have thought the Antichrist could use his powers to fix things instead of break them?” Michael rolls his eyes, studying your face to make sure your split lip is healed to his liking.

“(Y/N), I do want to apologize to you now that you’re sober. I wasn’t lying when I said I had never hit anyone before. I’ve done many, many terrible things in my life, but my terror of a grandmother taught me one useful thing, and it’s that you never lay your hands on a woman.”

“So why me, then? What changed last night to make you want to smack me?”

“I...I wish I had an answer that would satisfy you, but the truth is that I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” You scoff, crossing your arms across your chest and laughing. “What a cop out. ‘I don’t know,’” you mock, “is one of the most blatant lies in the world. You do know, you either don’t want to admit it or you haven’t thought hard enough about it.”

Michael huffs loudly, running a hand through his hair as he stares up at the ceiling.

“I’ve never met anyone like you before. All my life, people have either been terrified of me or they’ve worshipped me. You’re neither of those types. You challenge me, and constantly let me know that I’m not as special as my followers have led me to believe. You’re my equal, which is exactly what my father created you to be. I obviously have not handled this realization well, and I lashed out when you snapped at me.”

“Michael, you need to promise me that you’ll never touch me like that again. I don’t care what we are, or what your father wants us to be; you smack me again and I promise you that I’ll ruin your life.” You’re not quite sure how you’d ruin his life, but you both know that this is a threat you’ll follow through on.

“I promise you, (Y/N). I’m not someone who regrets his actions very often, but I regretted hurting you the second my hand left my side.”

“I believe you.” You say timidly, placing a lot of trust in his word. Although you’re not sure if this is the right decision, it’s one that you’ll have to make if this ‘marriage’ is going to work.

“Thank you.” Michael smiles. “Shall we go, then?”

“Where are we going?” You ask, taking his extended hand and letting him help you up.

“Well, I did tell you that I’ve never exactly been on a date before.” Michael says sheepishly. “What do you normally do on a date?”

“There’s a few different things that we could do.” You say, thinking for a moment. “Michael, do you like ice cream?”

Twenty minutes later, you’re walking through a small park across the street from your favorite ice cream shop with Michael, your hands subtly brushing against each other. As it turns out, he does like ice cream, and was more than pleased when you had suggested it. What he wasn’t pleased with was your taste in music on the drive over, begging you to unlock your phone so he could pick a new song. You had tortured him a little bit before obliging, only to learn that Michael actually likes some good music. His ice cream choice isn’t too bad, either: mint chocolate chip in a dish. It’s not something you’d have normally thought of getting, but it’s a flavor that seems to match Michael perfectly.

He watches while you talk about just how much precision and planning went into taking the first picture of the black hole, stopping every so often to have some of your own ice cream (chocolate chip cookie dough on a cone). You had assumed that he would be bored by your newest fascination, but instead he listens intently, smiling at how much you care about this subject.

“I never would have thought you’d be interested in space.” Michael notes.

“I’ve always loved space; when I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Why?”

“There’s so much out there that we haven’t explored. It’s entirely likely that there is life on other planets. While we know that black holes swallow matter, we don’t know what happens to it or where it goes. There’s a law that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, so either black holes bend the laws of science or that matter goes somewhere else. It’s extremely plausible that there could be other dimensions. Plus, I really like the night sky.”

“Oh?”

“It’s...calming, in a way. It makes me feel so small, looking up at all of the different stars, yet I also feel connected to so much. Everybody sees the same sky at the same time, and it’s interesting to know that we’re seeing the light of stars that have died thousands of years ago. I could look at the constellations for hours.”

You turn around when Michael stops, facing him in confusion. You almost think he’s tripped, since he keeps looking down at his shoe, but there’s nothing there to have made it the focus of his attention. When he looks up at you, there’s a strange look in his eye. It’s not scary or anything, it’s just one that you haven’t seen Michael wear before. It’s a mixture of pain and confusion, as if he’s deciding to do something that could easily have dire consequences.

“Why’d you stop?” You ask, smiling at him reassuringly. You’re actually rather enjoying this date, and his company.

“I-uh--” Michael stutters before suddenly leaning forward and kissing you.

Your eyes widen in shock, arms at your sides as you’re momentarily stunned at this turn of events. Quickly, you decide that you actually like what’s occurring right now, closing your eyes and wrapping your arm that’s not holding anything around him. For someone who’s never been on a date before, Michael’s a pretty good kisser. His full lips work easily against yours, and you can still taste the mint on his lips. He’s a little too hesitant with his kissing, but that’s something that can be easily rectified.

It doesn’t last very long at all, Michael pulling away before you can ‘show him’ how to make out. The kiss is short and sweet, two things that you would not normally associate with Michael Langdon. His face is flushed and he’s breathing heavily, looking at you to make sure he didn’t screw everything up.

“How long have you been wanting to do that?” You ask, smirking as he touches his lips.

“A week or so.” He answers.

You smile at his expression, one that’s eager to kiss you again while still being hesitant towards what you’re presuming is how you’ll react. You press your lips to his again, making Michael smile widely after you’ve finished.

“You know what you’re doing, I’ll give you that.” Since today is, apparently, about being bold, you take his hand in yours when you start walking again. With hands clasped tightly and ice cream all but forgotten about, your conversations and chaste kisses continue long into your walk.

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[blindestspot]

No Bastard Ever Won a War by Dying for His Country

Over the past year I've gotten a lot of asks about Jon and what I think is going on with him. During that time I've also managed to calm down about the inconsistent number of redshirts during the Wight Hunt. Yes, I remember that this was a thing that happened, along with a bunch of other dei ex machina, like Cersei's brilliant strategies for everything, Jon's repeated, increasingly dumb survivals and the whole Winterfell plot.

But calming down about them meant that I could think about Game of Thrones again in a manner that kind of naively assumes that the work is coherent . That 2+2=4, not 5, or orange, or a tiger. And this is what I think is going on with Jon and why it is so crucial to the whole work.

George R.R. Martin once said that A Song of Ice and Fire is supposed to have a bittersweet ending. Now that phrase covers a lot of ground. A bittersweet ending might be just ASOIAF's Scouring of the Shire (which at this stage is assured) and a few good guys passing into the Great Beyond (also nearly certain) – which would be a copy of Lord of the Rings.

A bittersweet ending might also be Davos, Brienne and Sam emerging alone from the rubble like the unhappy winners of a Battle Royale. A few good guys surviving would technically make the ending not a complete downer and thus "bittersweet".

However, a more nuanced look at a bittersweet ending should look beyond mere survival and destruction but at an ending that irrevocably changes the characters and how and what we think of them.

An issue that strikes readers as unrealistic about Lord of the Rings is  that a lot of its human and hobbit-y heroes move on from the events of the story into psychologically very ordinary, uncomplicated lives that they would have lead even without the events of the story. Sam, Merry, Pippin's (and to a lesser degree Faramir, Aragorn and Eowyn's) easy passing into normalcy feels vaguely hollow.

If GRRM really plans to have a realistic take on Lord of the Rings and its "bittersweet" ending (and with his complaints about Aragorn's tax policy it appears that this is a crucial element of ASOIAF), then obviously he is going to continue what he has been doing all along and create an interplay between narrative events and characterization. Take Arya, for example. In the early parts of AGoT she would have not wanted to become a Faceless Man – for obvious reasons. But Arya from a few books later, after events have matured and traumatized her, wants to become one. And that choice will again impact her characterization and that will in turn impact future events. 
It is logical that this interplay will continue right up until the end. So speculation has to take into account that these characters are dynamic and can be pushed by events into new directions. And not just "can" – but will be.

The question is not who will be alive to experience the Scoured Shire but who they will be at this point. And that change shouldn't just be cosmetic or physical, it needs to be psychological, visible, noticeable and profound. We shouldn't get an Aragorn who just walks into a kingship after a two battles, marries the cute elf girl and then doesn't have a tax plan.

And obviously, I am not talking about Gilly. I am very much talking about ASOIAF's Aragorn. I am talking about Jon.

...

Now here is a hypothetical scenario for Season 8: Jon with the help of Dany and her dragons (and, to paraphrase Roger Ebert, the usual stock characters who fight every fictional war for us, even those in space), fight the White Walkers, win, then fight Cersei, then win (the order of this is might be reversed) and then Jon's revealed to be true heir and has to rebuild Westeros.

How does any of this really change and mature Jon as a character? How does being right about everything (the White Walkers being the real threat), then leading a righteous force to victory over evil make him a realistic take on Aragorn?

It doesn't.


What Jon needs after five books and seven season of making serviceable to great, sensible, ethical, right strategic choices (with admittedly a number of great tactical errors in between) is being wrong. And not just being wrong about failing to communicate to his sworn brothers what his strategy is, not just wrong about going on that Wight Hunt, not just wrong to send Sam away, not just lightly ethically challenged for exchanging a pair of babies against one mother's will or misleading his love interest on his commitment to her political cause... but wrong in a truly profound way that the audience cannot blame on stupidity or short-sightedness.

I admit that calling it "wrong" or even "profoundly wrong" is a bit of misnomer. What I am trying to get at is the character going into a direction where the audience cannot and should not easily follow. Those actions would be too alien as might be their rationalizations. These actions should strike the audience as questionable, reprehensible, immoral, unethical, or dishonorable.

A perhaps too perfect example of such an action is Cersei firing up the Sept. It's mass murder and it's intended by her to be mass murder. If anyone in the audience found it not reprehensible and immoral, I would have some questions for these people.

But Cersei firing up the Sept was a success. Her survival was at stake - and she survived. Before her kingdom was full of powerful enemies and afterwards it wasn't. And she even snatched the Iron Throne afterwards despite having no royal Targaryen or Baratheon ancestry.

In realpolitik terms, Cersei made the "right" choice. All other choices would have lead to her death. The first rule of anything is that you cannot do anything if you're dead.

And frankly, that's a lesson Jon desperately needs to learn. His twice-tried strategy of rushing alone against an army of his enemies is idiotic. It might be honorable for a war leader to be the first person on the battlefield but it's not a winning war strategy.

It's not a nice thing to say, but it's necessary for a war time general or commander to be willing to have other people die for him and his goal. And not just for him but in front of him, literally shielding him. An army commander who isn't willing to ensure his own survival, is gambling with such terrible odds that he has already lost the war.

Cersei's strategy of killing her enemies instead of allowing herself to be killed is profoundly wrong, immoral and yet Jon needs understand that when mankind's survival are at stake an immoral action like that might be a necessary choice.

His attempt to drown in an ice lake alone is a sign that at this point he hasn't understood the necessity of being alive to lead a war at all. As George S. Patton put it: "no poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb son-of-a-bitching bastard die for his country."

Out of all our main protagonists, Jon has never been willing to play as dirty as it should be necessary for an apocalyptic fight such as his. Unlike Sansa's willingness to go along with Littlefinger's nefarious plans for her cousin in the Vale, Arya's willingness to kill potentially innocent people for the Faceless Men, Tyrion raping a prostitute and killing Shae, the torture of innocents during Dany’s Slavers’s Bay arc, Bran warging Hodor... Jon has nothing in his arc that is as dark, dishonorable or questionable as these things. Jon appears to be a character class apart, like the hero of a more classic fantasy epic.

Is this because Jon's so special that his arc is a whole different genre or is this because he hasn't leveled up in realpolitik yet?

Or is there perhaps even a third option to deal with his relative over-the-top good guy characterization?

***

You know, when it comes to stories about morality like Game of Thrones a crucial factor for their success is not just the quality of the good guys but also the quality of the villains.

And what makes a compelling villain?

IMO, they hit more than one of these characteristics:

1. They are well-rounded, fully realized characters, drawn with the same care as the heroes.

2. They are able to win against the good guys. They are not a cardboard that will be blown over once the heroes wave a magic stick or sword around.

3. Their evil deeds get an emotional reaction out of the audience. (Most audiences tend to have a vague discomfort with CGI mass carnage while reacting to a well-executed scene of high school bullying with actual empathy or even horror.)

4. Their motivations are understandable, perhaps even sympathetic. At best they are a well-intentioned extremist, utilitarianism gone wrong, rather than setting stuff on fire because their mom was mean to them once.

Now looking at this list, it becomes obvious that GOT has a problem with its current crop of villains. Any of the three that are left (Cersei, the Night King, Euron) could be the Final Boss – to use a video game term. But none of them are very compelling villains. Two of them are inhuman monsters. To call their characterization shallow would be an insult to puddles.

And Cersei, the only one with a decent characterization (and some past Mean Girls bullying sins of her own) suffers from being incredibly stupid in the books, having a prophecy running against her and stealing Aegon from Essos' story in the show. In other words, Cersei's chances of success and survival and actually making it this far in the books are as good as that of a snowflake on a hot summer's day. One suspects that she is a show-only final-ish villain, so if one looks for GRRM’s final-ish villains, they would not find Cersei.

Talking about chances of success – the Night King isn’t winning this either. Because then ASOIAF would reveal itself to be a nihilistic mess in which all the human storylines were nothing but shaggydog stories. So the Night King is  bound to melt in the summer sun along with Cersei. There is little question about it. And is Euron "was he even mentioned in the first book?" Greyjoy  really going to win the Iron Throne in the end? Is anyone taking this possibility seriously?

And what are their motivations? Ambition, being evil and being anti-human. None of them are particularly sympathetic.

In one word, GOT's current crop of villains is not particularly exciting – especially if you compare them with some of the villains that came before them. And if one of these three is the Final Boss, he or she is gonna be lame.

But a lame Final Boss is actually a great tradition in the genre. In Lord of the Rings Sauron appears to be literally two-dimensional and about as interesting as a character. (Gollum gets to be the well-written villain and he is doing very little damage to the world at large.) Voldemort in Harry Potter is completely outshone as the most despised, scary villain of the series by the one-book-wonder Dolores Umbridge who excels at committing low-key evil deeds that make every reader/viewer wince in sympathy. The Emperor in the original Star Wars trilogy is... there and then dead and has fewer fans than a one-line bounty hunter. And the same fans that endlessly shout "Han shot first", don't even appear to care that he got a complete face replacement in the Special Editions. And if there is one consistent complaint about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's that its villains tend to be boring and forgettable. Yet they're lame and forgettable to the tune of billions of box office dollars.

So a lame Final Boss for the heroes to fight... that is indeed a thing. And that might be just the thing GOT/ASOIAF is doing. This is what we have to seriously consider. We are likely to get a MCU villain... you know on the level of Ronan the Destroyer or Malekith, the Dark Elf. And you probably need to google in which movies those two turned up.

That would be a terrible let down.

Or maybe it's not actually that terrible of a thing? Because if our final boss and villain is not Cersei, the Night King, or Euron, it's a good guy gone bad. Someone who is currently fighting on the side of the living before becoming someone who needs to be fought.

It's possible that this is in the cards. After "Ozymandias", the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad, aired, GRRM wrote on his blog that "Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros, I need to do something about that."  

The thing is that White appeared to start out as a sympathetic if flawed hero you were rooting for even as he was making meth. What made White monstrous is not doing depraved psycho shit beyond comprehension (like nailing a living, pregnant woman to a ship like Euron Greyjoy) but that he appears to evolve into this monster before the audience's eyes.

Breaking Bad tricks the audience into liking a character for much longer than he ever deserved and that becomes crystal clear in that penultimate episode. If GRRM wants a monster like White he can't use his old, repetitive trick of making a one-dimensional psychopath do depraved stuff. He has to logically progress a character we root for into a monster.

(Of course, GRRM might also not be able to pull it off, however much he wants to. It could be that he has not prepared the ground to make a main character go Walter White and thus it will always fall short of Breaking Bad's accomplishment. Sure, Greyworm or Dolorous Edd could become evil and monstrous but even GRRM should know that's not quite the same as making your main protagonist evil.

I might also be wrong on GRRM understanding what makes Walter White feel so monstrous. The first big sign that White took the road down to hell is not an act of murder or sadism but simply not helping someone who is choking to death. His monstrosity is based in a three-dimensional characterization, not in particularly outrageous acts of evil. He is monstrous because he used to be likable. If GRRM doesn't see that, he might actually think that one-dimensional psychopath Euron nailing his pregnant girlfriend to a ship is nailing the same kind of monstrosity.

He also could be talking about a plot point we now know about but that he has not published yet – like Stannis burning Shireen. So one should be careful looking for ASOIAF's Walter White.)

Interestingly enough, the trick Breaking Bad is pulling is quite old. White isn't making meth by chance, it was the worst thing his creator could think of besides him becoming an arms dealer. The twist of Breaking Bad's "Ozymandias" is actually not that White becomes bad but that he has always been bad. You'll find a similar character in Humbert Humbert in Nabokov's Lolita where his monstrosity is barely a plot twist and even Milton's Paradise Lost where it's none at all. (The trope of the protagonist being a piece of shit throughout the whole story usually goes down as "villain protagonist" and the list of stories containing one is pretty expansive.) But the plot twist of a surprise villain protagonist is such an old one that Aesop already codified it in his fable "The Farmer and the Viper" around 600 B.C. (Farmer helps harmless looking viper, then viper bites him because it's a viper. And has been a viper all along. Duh.)

Now if Dany, for example, turned into a villain then she would fall squarely into villain protagonist territory. But the fun thing is that doesn't mean that she is already one. The viper is not a villain until Aesop has it biting the farmer. If Dany decides to slaughter her future subjects by the thousands just so she can have the Iron Throne (and this is portrayed as despicable) then this will be in line with the Dany from the first season/AGoT who wanted the Dothraki to wage their type of warfare (pillaging, raping, enslaving, killing) onto thousands of her future subjects, so she could have the Iron Throne. But that doesn't mean that Dany will cross this particular moral event horizon.

Whether Dany will turn out to be a villain protagonist is not a question of foreshadowing. It's a question whether the authorial intent will will it into existence. The viper is a poisonous snake but if the author hasn't it biting the farmer, that poison doesn't matter at all.

Now Dany is a well-rounded character (same as Cersei) and might be difficult to defeat but her most likely, hypothetical, evil deed (mass carnage via dragon) is not particularly compelling and neither is ambition as her motivation. Villainous Dany is about as compelling as Cersei. Keeping Cersei for so long when there is Villainous Dany in the wings strikes me as a weak narrative choice: “Meet your new villain, same as the old villain...” The difference would be the element of surprise but that's a paltry surprise, especially since Villainous Dany was supposed to be The Big Plot Twist.

Honestly, Dany as the mass-carnage causing, ambitious type of villain is a low-hanging fruit. Call me edgy, but it's just nowhere near "Ozymandias". It's Boromir getting seduced by the Ring.

And there are not a lot of precedents for that storyline in ASOIAF. You know the story of a good guy gone beyond redemption evil. There is Theon, whose ambition, jealousy and insecurity drove him into sacking Winterfell and killing two children – but even he turned out to be not to be beyond redemption. There is Catelyn, but she goes crazy and becomes a zombie, so it's hard to compare.

But there is, of course, the most compelling, interesting and meaningful character arc of a good guy gone bad: Stannis Baratheon. But he isn’t a good precedent for a mass-carnage causing, ambitious type of villain.

***

You see, Stannis starts out as not exactly the most sympathetic character: he burns people and places of worship, he is a religious nut, he has his brother killed. But after getting defeating at the Battle of Blackwater, his arc does a 180. He gets the call from the North to save the realm, and out of all of the five Kings involved in the war of the same name, he is the only one he realizes that in order to "win the realm, you have to save the realm."

That isn't a coincidence. Stannis is also the only king who fights for a higher purpose. Joffrey, Balon, Robb, and Renly just fight for power (be it the power over all of Westeros or the power that lies in independence). Stannis is fighting not just for power but also for his religion, for his one true god; he is fighting a crusade. That out of all the kings, the king who believes that his religion will save Westeros ends up wanting to save it from a supernatural threat is not a coincidence. One thing clearly causes the other.

And once he makes this choice, Stannis, the Mannis (as he was lovingly called by his fans once upon a time) always fights the bad guys, he fights for the living. Of course, he doesn't stop being a religious nut, he doesn't stop burning people, he is inflexible in his beliefs, he still thinks he is the chosen one, he is Azor Ahai, he is the One True King, he belongs on the Iron Throne. But he is also the man who executes soldiers of his army who rape. He has good sides. But what weighs so heavily in his favor is that out of all the people in power in Westeros, he is fighting the bad guys.

And that matters – until it doesn't when Stannis strikes out to fight the Boltons. The Boltons are special because they are despicable without exceptions. Even the Freys have Robb's squire in their midst to have that one decent family member/bannerman that all of Westeros' notable houses appear to have. All but the Boltons anyway. There is not a good or decent living Bolton. They are the literal worst Westeros has to offer.

And yet, Stannis manages to cross a moral event horizon that makes everyone forget that he is doing it to fight the Worst. And that moral event horizon is not the sacking of a city, the killing of hundred of thousands. He is not extinguishing a house or a people. He manages it, doing something every single GOT character could do right now (save for little Sam.) He kills a single person.

And he doesn't come back from that. Like a proper Ozymandias, his hubris, his pretension to predestined, prophecied greatness is followed by his inevitable decline. Killing Shireen has Stannis losing his real world fans and his in-story followers, his wife, his fight, his priestess, his army, his purpose and consequently his life. He proves very quickly that not all ends justify all means. He is the living embodiment of the Friedrich Nietzsche quotation that "those who fight monsters should take care that in the process they do not become monsters themselves."  

Stannis' final turn into villainy is actually paralleled by something another character does in ASOIAF. Except he is not a character we meet; he is a story-within-a-story; a legend, a prophecy or both. He is who Stannis thought he was: he is Azor Ahai.

And Azor Ahai absolutely does what Stannis did to turn into a villain, a monster: he murders... sacrifices an innocent to forge Lightbringer to end the Long Night. The way the story gets told makes that murder necessary, but Azor Ahai as the hero and winner of the Long Night gets to tell that story, gets to tell history his way. It's a legend and of course Azor Ahai is its hero. But remember the first person who claimed that "only death can pay for life" was a liar who wanted to make sure that "The Stallion Who Mounts the World" died in the womb. (The second was Melisandre who tends to be wrong on a lot of things and whose track record on human sacrifice is abysmal.)

So there is absolutely a chance that Nissa Nissa's death was as necessary as Shireen's. We won't get the opportunity to fact-check the legend, the ancient history. But if it's a prophecy we might see its reality.

Of course, if GOT really goes the way of making a good guy go bad, then they can do this the middling way, the mediocre way. Theon's Sack of Winterfell Redux or Catelyn's descent into madness and murder. Or by making Dany a villain protagonist who is basically just another Cersei with dragons. And despite not quite measuring up to Stannis' dark turn – ambition, grief, fear, insecurity, jealousy, vanity, or disappointment leading to mass carnage delivered onto a hundred-thousand computer-generated extras is still more interesting than the Night King Sauron with his ice dragon.

But the reality is that we don't care about the 100,000 inhabitants of King's Landing. We will cry over a single Hot Pie before ever giving a fuck about a massive number of fictional people without any characteristics. Mass carnage is easy to oppose morally because it's something we oppose in real life but emotionally there is no difference between 10 fictional people or a billion fictional people – if they are simply there to be nameless, featureless cannon fodder. The ability to cause mass carnage doesn't make you the most emotionally effective villain by default. Quite the opposite.

If Bran were to warg a dragon and set King's Landing on fire, we would get that this whole Three-Eyed Raven thing didn't work out well for his ethics and be, like, "okay". If Bran set fire to Arya, he would immediately become the most hated character ever on GOT. (And that isn't an exaggeration for effect). And any good intentions regarding defeating evil would matter as much as the fight against the Boltons did once Shireen started screaming.

I would like to add that Stannis died pretty much immediately after killing Shireen, blown over like a cardboard once Brienne showed up. But who would defeat or want to defeat a Stannis, an Azor Ahai who succeeded at ending the Long Night?

The ultimate story subversion when it comes to the classic "good vs. evil" plot is that the bad guy wins.

And wouldn't that be something if it was surprise villain protagonist? We get someone winning that we would have been okay with winning until they turned into GOT's least liked character? Wouldn't that be bittersweet? Getting who you were okay with, perhaps even wanted on the Iron Throne, who might even know which is the right tax plan and what to do with baby orcs...  except they suck now?

Now who could that true Azor Ahai possibly be?

Is there someone who has been fighting monsters longer than anyone else has? Who has been so corrupted by that fight that he has tried and sacrificed already everything he could and had to defeat them? A man on quasi-religious crusade? A man who has the sort of righteous hubris and single-minded focus on the White Walkers that makes him often deaf to good advice? Who who has already laid down his life for a chance... and even a "no-chance-at-all-now-let-me-drown-in-an-ice-lake" at defeating the Night King? Is this possibly the same guy who we think is going to be crucial to the defeat of the White Walkers?  The one who has the perfect bloodline to claim the Iron Throne in the end? The one who is shown to Melisandre when she looks for her prophecied chosen one in the fire? The one who appears to be the straight hero of the story, the Luke Skywalker, the only major character where pulling a Stannis would actually shock us?  The one who has never been "profoundly wrong"?

I am not saying, we are getting "Aegon, the Worst of His Name". I am saying that if I wanted to create a villain who subverts all expectations while fulfilling them, a villain who is truly compelling and whose turn emotionally wrecks the audience, I would not make it happen by having Daenerys or Bran roast King's Landing. I simply would choose a more likable and successful version of Stannis and have him doing something terrible, wrongfully believing it's the right thing to do.

Now theoretically this could be anyone but little Sam. And regardless of that character's identity, they would be a great, compelling villain. Practically though, the best candidate for going off that particular deep end is not some random second tier character. And it's not Daenerys "What Even Are White Walkers?" or Bran "I'm a robotic, omniscient plot device now the Three-Eyed Raven now" Stark either.

It's Jon.

***

There is an issue with this though. Stannis murdering a family member/sacrificing a child for their royal blood to win a battle was simply a continuation of Stannis' previous actions. Stannis had no issue with his wife's uncle being burned as a sacrifice to R'hllor, had his brother murdered to win a battle, and attempted to have his underage nephew (Edric Storm in the books, Gendry in the show) sacrificed for his royal blood.

Killing Shireen is Stannis taking this to its logical extreme. Everything he does is simply something he has done before. Except this time the audience isn't given an out: Shireen doesn't escape like Edric/Gendry, we care for her (unlike Alester Florent) and she isn't Stannis' opponent in battle (Renly).

What Stannis is doing, is not surprising or entirely unprecedented. It is ultimately just a darker twist on something he has done before. Which is weird because you would think that something that crosses a moral event horizon would be a real departure from his previous actions. But it's not and that is really crucial if we want to discuss Stannis 2.0.

If a good character goes bad then having them simply do something they've done before –  except this time it's just too much – makes sense. Just like the road to hell is paved with good intentions, escalating villainy should be a slippery slope of ever indefensible bad deeds.

And this is why it makes no sense to look at Jon and wonder who he is going to burn at the stake for R'hllor – because he won't.  What he would do to incur the audience's disdain needs to be something he has kind of done before. And that he has done on the show before, because it stands to reason that the show would want to keep its foreshadowing. (Hence Gendry's slightly pointless kidnapping by Melisandre in the show.)

So the the baby swap is out since it didn't happen on the show. Breaking a vow is a bit too generic and on its lonesome will not evoke any emotional reaction. And making high-handed, impulsive decisions that end up with terrible consequences has been already done with Jon making a series of high-handed, badly thought through decisions that netted the Night King a dragon and destroyed the Wall and yet netted Jon no audience disdain at all. So probably not that one either.

That leaves his relationship with Ygritte. In the books, we only see this relationship from Jon's point of view with all his justifications and inner struggles and his self-knowledge that while he lies about his allegiance to the Wildlings' cause, his feelings for Ygritte are real.

Now if one imagines that relationship from Ygritte's point of view (as she is in the books), Jon would come out of that as a supreme douchebag. He lead her on, lied to her, pretended to have feelings for her, then left her, publicly humiliated her and finally participated in a battle with her on the other side. Jon doesn't kill her but he is willing to do so by fighting her.

Now a real neutral point of view that doesn't vilify Ygritte to prop up Jon as a cool dude (as the show has done with her allying herself with cannibals and the village massacre), would be more of a wash, ethically speaking. Jon lies to Ygritte but his life is at stake and it wasn't even his own idea in the first place. There are consent issues with their relationship and Ygritte is as willing to kill Jon when she participates in that battle as it's the case the other way around.

But then Stannis wasn't that unjustified to go after Renly who was willing to fight and kill him in battle after all. Killing Renly nearly rates as self-defense. And Edric Storm got away. The question is not how horrible Jon's actions towards Ygritte were. But rather what the escalation of that sort of overall action would be like.

Now due to time constraints the only relationship where Jon could pull an escalated "Ygritte" is his relationship with Daenerys. And here I am kind of puzzled by the discourse around the idea. Because as passionately as people argue about it, they actually agree quite fundamentally: that Jon is doing it/not doing because he is the quintessential good guy.

That he either betrays his lover or the plutocratic will of his nation is disregarded as some sort of higher purpose collateral that doesn't at all reflect on his moral character.

But isn't Occam's Razor to the question of how a "good guy" manages to betray either lover or nation simply to question the "good guy" part?

But let's step back a bit. The theory that Jon is playing Dany proposes that Jon initiates this emotional manipulation because she wonders aloud about two things (while he wants her commitment on the fight against the White Walkers): 1. Her ability to achieve her overall strategic goal of winning the Iron Throne 2. What happens to her rear if she pulls all of her forces north.

Now, Jon never actually answers any of these questions (or any questions on how to get the Northern Lords to remain loyal to him and Dany) and that is a bit problematic. Because the second question of what happens in a war if you leave one side open to your enemies is an enormously important one.

What Jon appears to do, is rely on a truism about the North: that it cannot be conquered in Winter (and Winter is here.)

*beleaguered sigh*

This truism exists in our world about two countries. One is considered unconquerable in Winter, the other unconquerable in general. And while these truisms have held true for few centuries now, the reality is that attempts to conquer them have devastated both countries on more than one occasion to the sound of millions of dead inhabitants and bombing it to the bottom of the HDI.

If Jon relies on Winter to protect him and his allies from Cersei, he is an idiot. If Cersei attacks the unprotected North from the South, his ability to fight the White Walkers will be profoundly diminished even if Cersei fails at conquering the North itself. Dany is right to ask this question and he is wrong to ignore it.

And if that theory pans out and Jon took these strategic, legitimate concerns as a sign that he needs to loverboy it up instead of thinking how to protect the North from the South, then that's next level mansplaining.

But forget that point for a bit and go back to the situation in which Jon supposedly initiates it. He is recovering after the Wight Hunt and Dany swears to avenge her dragon while musing on her overall strategy of winning Westeros. And while Jon isn't in good shape, he is not in mortal danger. Not in general, not specifically by Dany. She is letting her hair down and she's pledging her support to his cause.

Jon's life is not the least on the line and the question whether Dany would or would not have pulled out of the war against the White Walkers if Jon hadn't started flirting with her in that moment is an unanswerable hypothetical. No matter how you slice or dice it, it's not certain at all (not to the audience, not to Jon) that she would have pulled out.

So Jon had three choices in this moment: not initiate a romantic relationship with Dany, initiate a romantic relationship out of genuine feeling, initiate a romantic relationship to manipulate her.

None of these choices would spell certain doom. It's not at all like the relationship with Ygritte, where not going along with it would have blown his cover and cost his life. It's also distinct from that situation insofar as he didn't choose to go undercover with the Wildlings in the first place but was commanded into the situation by his superior officer.

If Jon initiated the relationship to manipulate Dany, he chose to do this voluntarily without true necessity. It's, in fact, as necessary as Littlefinger manipulating Lysa into intrigue, murder and ill-fated marriage was. Of course, without that manipulation Littlefinger would have never advanced at court and become Master of the Coin, Lord of Harrenhall and Sweetrobin's guardian. But none of these things were necessary to grant his survival at any time.

The key difference between Jon and Littlefinger is that Jon allies himself with Dany to ensure mankind's survival instead of personal gain. But on the balance, another difference between Littlefinger and Jon's situation is that the romantic relationship wasn't necessary to ensure Dany's support. In fact, even the idea that Dany's concerns are sign of her wavering in her commitment is a minority if not fringe opinion among GOT's audience.

And that makes the idea of Jon manipulating Dany very unpalatable. The lack of necessity makes him a Littlefinger, rather than a Robb or a Ned or even the Jon who lied to Ygritte. And audiences prefer to see their heroes as honorable fools rather than manipulative, emotionally abusive jerks.

Because there is the heart of the problem. If Jon is truly manipulating Dany, he is an emotionally abusive jerk. He is profoundly wrong. He is the guy that your BFF has warned you about. "He is just using you for [something.]"

And that hits home in a way shadowbabies and Frey Pies and Qyburn doesn't. We don't know any necromancers who vivisect people. But we know the kind of jerk that Jon would be. It's not theoretical, it's something we know and because of that will not appreciate.

***

But while this absolutely checks off “make the evil deed painful to the audience” point in the “compelling villain” check list, it’s still nowhere near as ethically questionable as Stannis burning Shireen.

But Jon's Ygritte storyline doesn't end with him duping, betraying and leaving her. It ends with her getting killed. And not just killed, but killed in battle against Jon and his brothers. While Jon is not directly responsible for her death – he neither instigated nor executed the killing – he was willing to risk that his actions would kill her in that battle. The goal of a battle is to win and to use the Patton quote from above "make the other bastard die for his country." Of course, Jon acted in self-defense, Ygritte was fighting that battle against him and the NW voluntarily, fully willing, ready and able to kill him.

But then, to go back to Stannis, Stannis was also just acting in self-defense when he send the shadowbaby assassin to kill Renly. Renly had the superior force and showed himself fully willing, ready and able to kill Stannis in battle. The question whether Stannis' assassination of Renly is justified is a digression too far because that is not the point. The point is that Jon and Stannis got some person killed who was really close to them (brother, lover) and that was kind of, maybe, perhaps justified self-defense. You can argue for it in both cases.

However, as I mentioned before, Stannis' ultimate escalation of Renly's murder is killing Shireen. There is no maybe, perhaps, kind of, about the lack of justification for it. Stannis did not act in self-defense, Stannis was not provoked. The true necessity was also absent... although the proof for that is just hindsight. The sacrifice was supposed to save Stannis and his army. It did not. Thus it was never necessary. The whole thing is just wholly indefensible.

Now would an escalation of Jon's Ygritte storyline limit itself to the affair and betrayal or would it go all the way down to that self-defensive arrow that Jon wasn't directly responsible for? Except for a Stannis-like escalation that arrow could not be self-defensive, it would have to be undeserved, unjustified, unnecessary and Jon's responsibility.

The audience doesn't even have to like Dany at that point. That would be just crossing all moral event horizons, turning Jon into a villain and serving a "King Arthur Aragorn Jon  Snow is the final villain" plot twist that makes R+L=J look like child's play in comparison. It would be truly an epic twist, ending up in the plot twist pantheon next to "Bruce is a ghost" and "Soylent Green".

However, I don't think this is gonna happen. A villain protagonist on that level would have been foreshadowed much, much more, both in the books and the show. "The villain wins" is also really nihilistic and ends up on a quite bitter note with very little sweetness. Davos, Brienne and Sam emerging alone from the rubble would be a more positive and happier ending. It's also the sort of plot twist you think of five books and seven TV seasons later (too late), not when you conceive the story.

So what will happen to Jon instead if he doesn't become a villain?

There are really only two options: his characterization remains in a class of its own and he remains the only truly good guy protagonist or he takes a level in realpolitik and starts to play as dirty as necessary in whatever way. Not quite Jon, the villain but Jon the ethically challenged, Jon the Utilitarian.

(By the way, I am not saying that he has to play dirty with specific characters to qualify, just that that he has to play dirty somehow. In fact, playing dirty with certain characters might evoke a negative, emotional audience reaction that is not in proportion to the ethics violation it presents and thus the whole Utilitarianism bit might accidentally devolve into perceived villainy.)

The really fascinating bit about this is that Jon's characterization will define ASOIAF quite significantly. Jon is so crucial to the story's most fundamental conflict, that even if you discard the idea that he is The Protagonist, you would still have to agree that he is one of the most important protagonists. His characterization will contribute and lead to the resolution of that conflict. If he resolves it by playing dirty, the moral of the story will quite different than it is if he resolves it by always taking the heroic, high road.

And it's not just the moral of the story. Once the story decides to land on "Jon, the moral" or "Jon, the Utilitarian", the question whether we are consuming "Lord of the Rings with boobs" or a true deconstruction of Lord of the Rings will answer itself. And that will reflect on more than just Jon's storyline. If Jon stays heroic, Night King Sauron, our final, two-dimensional villain and other neat and flat resolutions become much more likely.

As such I would argue that the Jon’s characterization will define how good ASOIAF's famed realism truly is, what ideals it propagates, and what kind of story ASOIAF is.

I honestly can't predict how this will play out. But I remember that Ned and the Red Wedding promised a deconstruction of the genre, an acknowledgement that taking the high road constantly can be a dead end in real life. Jon not needing to be smarter than them in the end would break that promise.