#And people just couldn't believe it bc they looked so innocent

[masquenoire]

no but roman being so used to mary and how she operates that he's the one person she hasn't yet managed to pickpocket successfully, he ALWAYS catches her and it makes her so feral asklaldka

WOULD HE EVER!!! I'm so sorry for the late reply but this headcanon right here?? It's perfect and absolutely true, Mary being such a conniving little shit who can pickpocket just about anyone EXCEPT him. He knows what you're like, Mary. Go ahead and flutter those baby blue peepers all you want, you ain't getting shit from him. Bet it would be a fun little game between them though, keeping each other on their toes so to say.

[hyuckmov]

haechan - all my demons have your smile

demon!haechan x angel!reader genre: smut, angst, fluff if you're into it wc: 9.6k <3 warnings: dubcon-y & morally gray (reader is a literal angel and doesn't know a lot about anything so it's hard to give informed consent, haechan manipulates her emotions and dreams bc he's a demon), heavy on the corruption kink, wet dreams, masturbating (m), thigh riding / grinding, blowjobs and oral, fingering, haechan thick cock agenda, power dynamics (supernatural edition), sweet aftercare, overstim other warnings: angel demon lore is a mix of representation in pop culture and media and is very NOT based on its religious connotations a/n: happy birthday to me...ngl i wrote 40% of this either tipsy or drunk. this is for all the people who requested being corrupted by haechan….please lmk what you think i hope you guys like this!!! thank u to @saintlyhyuck for giving me the idea for writing demon hyuck <3

haechan thinks your reaction when he calls you angel is like a shot of pure pleasure in his veins. 

"hey, angel." 

you spin around, mouth falling open, flush high on your cheeks. "how could you…?" 

in the dim light of the club, haechan can hardly believe his luck. he raises his eyebrows, leaning in closer to you, delighting in the way you tense. the glow of your skin growing stronger, the feathers of your wings – folded and poorly disguised as a halloween costume, beginning to rustle nervously. 

how could he? more like how couldn't he, what with the way you looked then. the glow of your skin growing stronger, the feathers of your wings – folded and poorly disguised as a halloween costume, beginning to rustle nervously. 

"what do you mean?" he smiles innocently, tilting his head to the side. he has to bite back a laugh at the sound of confusion you make, a small whimper in your throat. "angel is what i call all the pretty girls i see." 

at the stricken look on your face, he lets his mouth fall open deliberately slowly, widening his eyes mockingly. "unless…you're a real angel?" 

you look like a deer in headlights, trembling slightly, unsure of what to say. it was only your first night in the human world. you'd heard there were demons and devils roaming the streets, monsters and spirits hidden in shadowy corners who would hurt you for your wings, worse ones who would strip you of your skin. creatures who were dying to get ahold of an angel and figure out what made you glow, harvest parts of you which were so holy and undamaged. you weren't supposed to let anyone know who you were, least of all strange boys in dark and shadowy places. 

haechan can feel his body burning. it's as if he's hyper-attuned to each breath you take, every single particle of you seeping with untainted innocence, something breathtakingly pure about the way you shake in your flimsy white dress. anticipation claws against his insides – he wants you, wants to learn every part of you, drink in your sweetness and choke on it. 

he's never ruined an angel before. the thought of it sends a heavy pulse through him, right to his gut. 

"relax…" he soothes. he wants to touch your skin, but he knows you might just burst into pure flame out of sheer fright. he softens his gaze as much as possible, tries to dim the desire. a soft smile on his face, he places a hand on his chest, to where his heart should be — if he had one. 

"i'm an angel too." 

you gasp, hands flying up to cover your mouth, relief flooding your system. "really?" 

he nods, lips morphing into a comforting smile. his hand reaches out to touch your upper arm, stroking your skin soothingly. he almost moans with how soft-to-touch it is, your angel's glow tickling his fingers with warmth, spreading through his body and churning inside him. 

"of course," he murmurs. "you're safe with me." 

"if you're an angel…" you lean closer to him, wary of others who may be listening to your conversation. you couldn't believe your luck, finding another angel the first night you got here. breath fanning lightly over his face, you whisper, "where are your wings?"

he can't help it – his breath hitches. he's able to count your every eyelash, feel your chest rise and fall, pretty pink mouth so close to his. there's no suspicion at all in the way your eyes sparkle with innocent curiosity, wide and trusting. 

he can't help it — he wants to see them fill with tears. 

"you want to see my wings?" he murmurs, leaning down. brushing a light hand on your shoulder, he skims the glow of your skin, reaching behind you and letting the tips of his fingers brush the feathers of your wings. 

you still. a strange feeling spreads through you, the room swimming slightly as it makes your head go light, settling deep inside your bones with a dark pulse. this is something you've never felt in heaven – and you're not sure if you want to scream, or run, or guide his hand further on your shoulder blades, letting them linger on places you're sure no angels would ever touch… 

"can you show me?" your voice, achy and soft, is the only sound he can hear. 

and he can't help but wonder, as he guides you towards the back door with a hand on the small of your back, your footsteps barely touching the ground, holy light misting around your body in dizzying waves, – what is an angel like you doing in a place like this?

x

you close your eyes, but open them to find yourself sitting up in an unfamiliar bedroom. 

not the one you had just gone to sleep in - this one had dark silk sheets instead of your white ones, a red glow cast over everything from the lights above. it made you dizzy, and your mouth felt dry as you turned and realised you weren't alone.

the angel you just met was sleeping peacefully next to you, his wings tucked out of sight, skin glowing slightly even under the red light. one of his large hands rests on your thigh, and you suck in a breath at the sight of his veins protruding from his arms and over the back of his hands, long fingers seeming to burn against your skin. 

something stirs in you, a heat you've never felt before that creeps all the way from your navel to the tips of your toes. you didn't know why, but you felt the urge to press your thighs together, letting out a small sigh at the tiny bit of relief it allowed you. you hardly know what you're doing, as if you're being controlled by some higher power or deeper desire, when you guide his hand between your legs with your own trembling ones. 

his fingers twitch, and you freeze. 

his eyes open slowly, nothing innocent about the way his eyes slide over your body and stop at where his hand is nestled between your legs. parting his lips, his eyes flick back to yours, a careful eyebrow raised. 

"angel…what are you doing?"

x

"that's called a dream, sweetheart." 

rubbing your eyes, you steady yourself on the kitchen counter. "so it's not real?" 

"it's not," haechan assures you, kindly. 

"is it…like…my imagination?" 

"some dreams can be pure imagination, but sometimes dreams are our mind's way of letting us know what we want," he explains, purposefully. you sit there, lost in thought, as he brings out dishes from the kitchen and encourages you to eat breakfast. 

while in the human realm, you were bound by the limitations of any human form – needing to sleep, being able to dream, having to eat and drink to sustain your energy. and although there were still aspects of your divinity which spilled over: such as your wings, and the heavenly fire which made you glow, haechan was much more interested in the other ways mortality would change you. 

your propensity to feel lust and desire, primarily. 

"so…" you chew on your lip. "the people in my dream…are they…actually….in there with me?"

haechan smiles to himself. "i don't know what you mean, angel," he fakes a look of genuine confusion when his eyes refocus on you. "who did you dream about last night?" 

"you," you answer, honestly. 

"really? what were we doing?" 

you drop your fork.

haechan laughs lightly when you fumble for it on the ground, smiling serenely back at you when you straighten up, looking at him through your lashes. 

"but, if you don't know…" you tilt your head to the side, slight hopefulness in your voice, "doesn't that mean you weren't actually in my dream last night?" 

"well…" cocking his head to the side to match your own movements, he relishes the way you tense up when he makes eye contact. "we'll only know for sure if you tell me what you were dreaming about." 

your hands fly to your mouth and you shake your head. haechan watches with fascination at the way you mist sparkling light, blush tinting your cheeks with embarrassment. "i don't want to say," you whisper. 

you don't have to say anything. haechan still remembers the way you had looked at him when he opened his eyes, the thrill of feeling you guide his hand to your core. 

dipping into your dreams had been easier than usual, your mind offering up no resistance at all and handing over all reins of control to him. 

"angel?" 

it takes him a second to realize you're referring to him. 

"yes?" 

"i realised i don't know your name." 

he only hesitates for a split second. "it's haechan," he decides. full-sun – a typical angel name. you test it on your tongue, carefully forming the sounds, and he savors it.

he can't wait for nighttime again. 

x

the second time you wake up in a dream, you almost feel at ease in the familiar red-light flooded bedroom, relaxing further when you realise it's empty this time. 

this is just my imagination, you remind yourself.

getting up from the bed, you tiptoe over to the window, looking out at the starry sky. it calms you even further, giving you the courage to turn around and explore your surroundings. aside from a bedside cabinet, and the ridiculously large bed, the room was quite empty.

wondering what lay beyond the bedroom, you make your way to the door of the bedroom, and your hand is just on the doorknob when-

"angel."

if this was just your imagination, then why did it seem so real? 

haechan lay on the bed you woke up in, one hand fisting the black silk sheets while the other traced down his body, writhing with what looked like pain. his eyes were closed, lips parted as he let out small sounds of some emotion you couldn't quite place. 

even as you try to take in what you're seeing, your mind races as you pick up a million other details. you've never seen him in clothes like this before — straps and buckles adorning his chest and pulling in his waist sharply so that you can catch every heaving breath he takes. and when his hand slides lower, ghosting under the waistline of his pants, the soft fabric shifts and you can faintly see the shape of something twitching between his legs. 

"haechan?" crossing over to the bed quickly, you place a hand on his shaking thigh, withdrawing it as if scalded when his back arches and he lets out a moan. "sorry-" you blurt out, "did i hurt you?"

"angel," he whimpers, eyes still closed as he rubs his palm over the front of his pants, his other trailing up under his shirt and teasing over his chest. "fuck-" you suck in a sharp breath at the profanity.

you know there's something wrong about the scene before you. there's nothing holy in the way he tilts his head back to let out a slew of sounds, the line between what was pain and what was pleasure blurring as his lips glisten with saliva, and when he slides that familiar veiny hand underneath his waistband, you could swear he purred. 

and surely, there was something desperately wrong with you too, because the ache between your thighs that you felt the last night was now burning something unbearable, and you felt the urge to reach out and touch him, hear what sounds he would make under your fingertips, beg him to open his eyes so you can see that hungry look again. 

his body stills.

his breathing slowly calms down, his hands slowly releasing himself from under his clothes, falling limply on the sheets. silence fills the room again and static buzzes so loud in your ears you feel like you're about to burst into flames. you don't know what you're doing, as you reach for one of his hands, guiding it towards your mouth as you dart out the tip of your tongue to taste the sticky white substance coating his fingertips. 

and then his eyes open, staring directly at you. 

x

"haechan?" 

"mmhm?" 

"did you dream, yesterday?" you ask him, hesitantly.

"yeah," he answers, easily. 

"what did you dream about?" 

"nothing much. i was in bed, –" a small gasp, and another sound as the mug in your hands slips and falls onto the table with a small thud. he grins, continuing to work on the wards guarding your front door, listening to you clean up behind him. "why? was i in your dream again?" 

a long pause. "kind of." 

when he turns, you're looking at him guiltily, hands clasped tightly in front of you as you twist your fingers this way and that. 

"angel…" he soothes, but the name only makes you shiver. crossing over to you, he pulls you into a comforting hug, your body relaxing under his touch as you lean your head against his chest. you can hear his words through his chest, a low hum filling your ears and making you feel so safe. 

"the dreams…" you admit, softly. "they're so scary…and confusing…i wish i didn't have to dream anymore, i don't think i like it at all…"

"do you want me to stay by your side when you fall asleep again? i can wake you when the dreams make you uncomfortable." 

you nod, eyes shining up at him with adoration and gratitude. 

he just can't wait for nighttime again. 

x

you can't fall asleep. 

haechan holds you against his chest, one of his thighs slotted carelessly between yours. he's resting peacefully, looking angelic under the moonlight, an arm slung protectively around your waist. but if it weren't for your white sheets and your familiar bedroom – adorned with flowers you had picked and shiny trinkets he collected for you, you would have mistaken it for another dream because of the desperate heat that throbbed inside you. 

you didn't know what to do to relieve the pain, body shifting clumsily as you tried to move your hips or rub your thighs against each other, the movement blocked by the way your legs were tangled together. frustrated, you give your hips a rough pulse against his thigh, and freeze when the sensation offers you more than a little relief, an insidious sweetness in your core. 

you move your hips again, grinding gently on his plush thighs, then a little harder as you realise it feels better the more friction there is as you rub against him. and now you're positively humping his leg, breaths coming quick and fast, whines seeping out from behind your closed lips as you try to make the pain go away, chasing pleasure as it comes. 

"angel?"

a rough hand grips your waist, and you gasp. 

haechan's wide eyes meet yours, darker than you've ever seen before, and for some reason when his hand squeezes your side you find yourself shifting even more uncontrollably against him, seeking the friction you craved. 

"i'm sorry!" your voice comes out as a whimper, as you try to back away from him. the room is burning hot, dizzying heat making you gulp. "i don't know what came over me, i just really-" your whole body flooded with shame and guilt, you pull his hand away from where it squeezes your waist.

"hey, hey, it's okay…" in the moonlight, you can see his face morph into an expression of understanding, a sense of authority in the way he helps you sit up and pulls you into his lap. he sweeps you into his arms, and you feel safer than ever before as you straddle him, your body melting with his as you nuzzle your face into his chest, still feeling the aftershocks of embarrassment when you realize he just caught you doing something so unspeakable to his unconscious body. 

you whimper out another apology, letting each stroke of your hair calm you down as he hums, low in his chest, the sound shooting straight to your core in a way that both thrills and frightens you.

"is this what the dreams were about?" 

"yes," you mumble, the sound of your heartbeat still rushing in your ears. timidly, you lift your head to meet his gaze. "i don't know why this is happening, i've never felt this way before…" 

"like this?" his hand slowly snakes down in between your legs, cupping your core with his large hand. the heel of his hand presses against some part of your core, and you keel over into him again, body shuddering as your hips buck into his hand instinctively, as if you were made to react that way. soft whimpers rise from the back of your throat as you nod in response to his question, body moving clumsily as you grind against his fingers. 

haechan swallows, hard. the image of his angel, dressed in that tissue-paper thin white nightgown, humping desperately against his hand like a bitch in heat, was more arousing than he could have ever anticipated. he wants to push you down to the bed and fuck you hard, splitting you apart on his cock and making you beg to cum, he wants to- 

"help me-," you pant in his ear, hips now moving in jagged circles, as if your body can't decide whether to lean into the pleasure or move away from it. "please, i don't know what's happening…"  

"angel, do you trust me?" he murmurs, quietly. 

the answering moan you let out punctures the air. "mmphh…

yes…" you gulp, hands now pawing at his chest as he ghosts his fingers over your clothed core. 

"then trust me when i say that all angels experience this," he advises, calmly. you're enraptured by his every word, and he leans even closer to you as he presses an insistent finger against your clit, smiling to himself as your body shudders.

hopefully, you gasp into his neck. "really?" 

dipping his fingers under your panties, he begins to rub slow circles on your clit, relishing the way you shake under his touch. "of course," he murmurs, voice dropping an octave. 

pressure begins to build up in your core as you submit to the feeling. you close your eyes, feeling him rub and pinch at your clit in a way that makes your hips jerk and your thighs go weak. you push your hips into his lap, not even really sure about what you're doing, being met with something hard that makes you whimper as it ghosts over your clothed cunt. strangely, when your hips meet his, haechan also lets out a pained groan, the hand at your core speeding up, wet sounds filling the room as he dips lower and lower, fingers tracing around your slit as he throws his head back and lets out a moan. 

"am i hurting you?" you ask, panicked, hips stuttering to an unsteady halt as you place both palms flat on his chest, trying to push yourself away from what was threatening to unravel you. "haechan i'm so sorry, i must be really bad at this-" 

he interrupts you with a searing kiss, his mouth moving against yours, tongue stroking into your mouth and claiming all your sounds. pulling you back against his body, his hips drag sinfully upwards, grinding into you with just the smallest hint of desperation. 

feeling you fuck yourself against his clothed cock, mind clouded with desire and not a single idea of what you were doing – knowing he could corrupt you in so many different ways, had his head spinning with all the possibilities.  

"you're perfect, angel." pushing you so you lay flat against the bed, he clambers over your body, all the while sponging kisses on your neck with a sweet tenderness.

"but," you shake your head, trying to get rid of the haze in your mind. "you sound like you're in pain, and-" 

"you wanna make it better, angel?" 

nodding vigorously, you sit up and almost hit your forehead against his. "please!" you beg, hands fumbling beyond your control as you struggle with the the waistband of his pants, trying to tug them down so you can see what he was doing in your last dream, so you could help with where it hurts. "i want to help, i want to make you feel good…" 

his hands sweep your wrists into a tight grip, and your movements freeze. you look up at him, breath caught in your throat. 

"from now on, angel…" he traps your hands above your head, his other dragging your nightgown up your waist with a flat palm, still trying to feel as much soft skin under his hands as possible. "can you be quiet for me? can you do that, sweetheart?" 

you nod, bottom lip snug as you bite down on it. he knows you won't be able to hold it for long. 

"i'm going to make you feel so good, angel," he breathes, hand now tugging your panties down your legs at a sinful pace. he answers your silent question with a smile. "feel how wet you are? do you know what this means, baby?" he taunts, quietly. 

"all of this…" he slides two fingers against your slick core, smiling as your hips thrust up, your body responding to him and completely out of your control. "all of this shows me how much you like me, angel." 

one long finger slides into your core, and he lets out a filthy groan at the way your tight pussy sucks him in, tight and eager. 

"have you ever touched yourself here before?" 

you shake your head. "i didn't know i could," you mumbled, hips still stuttering, fucking yourself on his finger. "haechan…it feels so…" 

he starts to slide his finger out, thrusting it slowly against your walls, this thumb comes out to rub your clit, and your back arches, a gasp wrenched from your throat as you cum, uncontrollably, all over his hand.

pulling his hand out from your core and freeing your wrists, he silences every single one of your gasps with a kiss, tenderly nipping at your lips as his hands roam over your body. he just made his angel cum for the first time. 

"m-more," you pant, hands scratching down his back as you attempt to thrust up against his stomach. "haechan- i don't mean to be greedy, but i want… i want…" 

two fingers slide easily into your core, your moans morphing into a pleasurable sigh as your eyes roll back in your head, drunk on a feeling you've never felt before. a slow heat crawls around your body, wrapping itself around you and suffocating until all you can think about are his veiny hands, the hard length in his pants, and the way you still felt empty even as he pushed a third finger into you. 

"you see how your cunt just sucks my fingers in?" his voice is baby-talk pitched, and you fall even harder under his spell, nodding vigorously as your thighs clamp shut around his hand. "such an insatiable, needy slut… thought you were supposed to be an angel, hmm?" you claw at his body, hips moving in time with the way his fingers were moving in and out of you. 

haechan feels like he's in seventh heaven, the way you're losing your mind over just his hand, obsessive over a feeling you can't even articulate. he crooks his fingers against your walls, a triumphant glow thundering in his chest when he sees you fall apart even more. 

it's when you're on the brink of cumming for a second time, your body glowing like a bonfire, spilling light all over the room, when he suddenly withdraws his hand. leaning back against the headboard, he tugs his pants down and feels his thick cock slap up against his stomach, precum glistening from the angry red tip. 

he's not prepared for the sight of you, on all fours, crawling towards him, eyes wide and begging. as if in a trance, your hand reaches towards his cock, and your palm wraps around it curiously, giving it a hard stroke. his lets out another groan, one of his own hands wrapping around yours and encouraging you to squeeze even harder, focusing your attention on the tip and covering it with your fingers. 

"i know a way that can make both of us feel good." he makes sure there's nothing but sincerity in his eyes as he watches your head shoot up in excitement. 

"how?" 

pulling you into his lap again, and whispering his words sinfully against your lips, he coaxes you with a quick nip to your bottom lip, a swipe of his tongue against yours. "let me fuck your sweet cunt, hm?" he pants. fingers sliding expertly into your cunt, he wraps an arm around your waist as he makes scissoring motions in you, stretching you out. "bet you feel so empty…" he pouts, nodding sympathetically towards you. "i can fill you up so good, angel, you'll realize this is what you were made for…" 

your mind is slipping out of your grasp. you forget everything about being an angel, about how weird it felt to be touched like this, how you never once had another angel touch you between your legs, ideas of purity and innocence and sin blurring in a happy haze. 

"are you…" you gulp, eyeing the girth of his cock, the way it twitched under your palm as you squeezed. "are you sure it'll fit…in me?" you wonder aloud. 

"would you rather have me fuck your throat, angel?" 

"would that work?" and fuck, you're back on your knees, head dangerously close to his cock as your tongue darts out, licking up a shiny bead of precum from his slit. he's frozen in place as he watches you nuzzle your face against it, making a soft whiny sound at the back of your throat as you messily tongue at the base, his cock twitching against the soft skin of your cheek. "i don't…" you lap tentatively at his tip, using a hand to steady yourself on his thigh, the other gripping his cock and gently sucking the tip into your mouth, withdrawing when you feel the stretch against your lips. "i don't think it'll fit…" 

"come here," he croaks, arms coming up to steady you as you rush up to meet him, doe-eyes searching his for answers to this desperate desire he's instilled within you. 

"i need you," you whimper, frustratedly. "haechan please, i'll be good for you, just make this feeling go away…"

his cock teases over your entrance, and your moan rips through the half-finished sentence on your lips. 

"feels good?" he murmurs, kissing you deeply again as he thrusts up gently into you. "sit on it, don't be shy angel…" 

steadying yourself on his shoulders, you sink down on him, stopping every few seconds as you feel a slight stretch. the prep you've done with his fingers and all the teasing allowing your walls to give way to him, snugly sucking him in as you pulse around his member. every time you whimper, wings fluttering where they were folded against your back, he kisses you gently, hands stroking up and down your spine and distracting you from the sensation in your lower half.

"just a bit more, baby…" he bottoms out in you, a satisfied groan rumbling in his chest as he squeezes you into his embrace, your arms wrapped around him, craving his skin against yours as you shudder. he's already ripping your nightgown from your body, the luscious feeling of bare skin making you purr in delight. 

your palms skid over his skin, settling on his shoulders as he gives a rough thrust upwards, and you feel his cock drag heavy against your walls. his hand moves purposefully over to your clit, mimicking a vibrating motion with his fingers so you only clench tighter around him. when you cum again – the inner sides of your thighs now so wet that the filthiest sounds fill the room every time your hips meet, he feels lke he could do this forever. 

slowing down his movements, he gently pushes your hair out of your face to give you a little break. "how do you feel, angel?" he asks, softly.

"g-good…" you hiccup, swivelling your hips this way and that, trying to find a rhythm now that he had stilled within you. 

he hums, still not moving, enjoying the way you squirm in his lap. "something wrong?" 

"it hurts…" you whine, now bouncing on his lap, nails digging into his shoulders. "it hurts when you don't move, haechan, please…" 

"do you believe me when i said you were made for me?" 

"yes," you rasp out, as he starts to fuck into you again, making you feel every ridge and vein on his cock as he grinds up into you, blunt tip insistent against your sweet spot and making you feel that mind-numbing pleasure again. 

"is this all you're good for, angel? sitting in my lap, looking pretty…" he bites down on your neck, and you let out a soft cry. "being fucked open on me…" 

you nod, words leaving you as you melt under his strong grip. 

"making me so happy, angel," he murmurs, and you smile dopily up at him, panting. 

"you like making me happy?' 

you nod, swallowing hard as you work yourself into a frenzy, and he loves it, loves the way you rock your hips into his at an embarasing pace, sensitivity all at once too much for you and never enough. he watches as your eyes roll back into your head, wings bursting open with the sheer force of how hard you cum, walls squeezing him so tight that he can barely move as he lets go too. you gasp when you feel his warmth painting your walls, a new sensation on top of everything you've experienced that night making you let out a distressed whine. 

"be good for me, angel, hmm?" he coaxes, pulling you harder down onto his lap so you can't free yourself from his embrace. "let me fill you up."

dumbly, succumbing to the way he pulls you in for another kiss, you let your eyelids flutter shut, an overwhelming sense of fatigue flooding your entire system. until the room goes blurry at the edges, and the last thing you're aware of is haechan's hands sliding low on your navel, feeling where he was buried deep inside you, hands pressing against the way you bulge out — his pretty little angel stretched out and filled with him.

x

he's never fucked an angel before, so it almost comes as a shock when he catches a glimpse of you on his way out of your bathroom, immobile on your bed, skin drained of all its heavenly glow, a dullness so abrupt he freezes.

if he was to be honest, which he almost never had to be, his original plan had included leaving immediately after he got you in his bed. he had only been drawn to the idea of defiling an angel, filling you up with a need you never felt before, staining the glow of innocence that lit up your skin from beneath. 

he wanted the sight of you on your knees — of tears rolling down your cheeks. but he never prepared for this – 

haechan. 

your voice murmurs in his head, and he can hear how hoarse and fragile it is. he doesn't dare to move as he watches you, so motionless you're barely breathing, your body shielded by your wings and drawing his attention to how your feathers look like they would crumble into ashes. 

your voice creeps into his head again, and it's like some form of sick retribution – first he plays with your dreams, and now he doesn't know if it's really your voice in his mind or if it's some sort of guilt that seeped out of you and into him. 

haechan?

he moves without meaning to, the next thing he knows he's sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands sliding against the sheets towards you. 

"angel?" 

your eyes open to look at him, and through the haze of fatigue and your slow blinking, he can see that you're terrified. 

what's happening to me? 

he touches the tip of your wing. he pitches his voice low, and soothing.

"you're just adjusting from being in the human world," he murmurs. 

what if what we just did was wrong? tears well up in your eyes, and your lips part in a silent cry. haechan, i've never felt like this before…

he shushes you with a soft sound, leaning over to gather up your limbs and hold you against his chest, rocking you back and forth as he murmured praises into your hair. 

"how could it be wrong if it felt so good, angel?" wiping away your tears with a careful finger, he smiles encouragingly at you, pressing a light kiss to your cheek.

you nod, hanging onto his every word, letting it wash over you as your truth.

 "and also…" his voice dips. "didn't you see how happy you made me just now?" he murmurs, lips nipping at your ear. "don't you like making me happy?"

you nod again. 

hesitating, his hand cups your face, stroking over your jaw. he knows what would make you stronger again — something he read about angels surfacing in his mind before, recalling how your power was usually most concentrated in the column of your throat, and why it was extra sensitive. creatures would slit your throat for just a taste of your angel's grace, but if he were just to touch you at your sweet spot, feel your divinity underneath his fingertips and coax it to grow stronger with his own powers…

quietly, so as not to startle you, he slides his hand to your neck, tracing his fingertips over where your pulse point would be. your body begins to stir as he rubs circles closer to the back of your neck,  limbs twitching back to life and falling limp again. 

"how does it feel, angel?" he asks, softly. 

your lips part. "strange…" your voice is raw, a hollow and broken sound. "never felt this before…" 

he reaches the nape of your neck, and suddenly your hand flies up to grab his wrist in a strong hold – halting his movements and causing him to freeze as your nails dig into his skin, threatening to pierce through to his veins. "don't-!"

"i'm not going to hurt you," he murmurs, voice dripping patience and tenderness as he slowly pries each of your fingers off his wrist, interlocking his other hand with yours. "this is going to feel really good, okay?" 

your body continues to squirm against his, finger locking his in a death grip as he ghosts his hand over the nape of your neck, finally locating your most vulnerable spot judging by the way you let out a soft sound in his ear. he applies more pressure, massaging his fingers in soothingly and whispering praises to drown out your whimpering. 

and sure enough, your glow begins to come back – starting from where his hand held yours, a warm golden light which flowed through your veins and under your skin, your body heating up and enveloping him in that blissful glow again. you taste sweet when he presses a careful kiss to your collarbone, and if he listens closely he can almost hear your body hum with power, wings fluttering against your back as their ashy color seems to wash itself off, replaced with the pristine glow he'd taken a liking to. 

"haechan?" 

"yes, angel?" 

"when can we do that again?" you mumble, shyly. 

fuck that – he was beginning to grow obsessed with you. 

x

strolling with you outside, haechan lets the fresh air wash over him and calm him down. you look ethereal next to him, passerby's eyes glazing over when they catch sight of the way you seem to glide rather than walk, peering curiously at the different shop windows and dreamily staring at the stars above. possessively, he wraps an arm around your waist just so anyone who looks at you looks at him too, and realises you're his as much as he was yours. 

"this is so pretty," you whisper to him, tugging him to a display of diamond jewelry up ahead. he's learnt that you like shiny things and the smell of spring-time, that he could make your skin glitter by gently nipping at your bottom lip when he kissed you. looking at you and completely ignoring the jewels behind glass, he takes in the familiar look of love in your eyes and smiles. 

he could have robbed the store for you before you even had the time to blink. a snap of his fingers and the very necklace you were pointing at could have made its way onto your neck. or he could have had some fun with you and convinced you to steal it, coax you into doing one more terrible thing. 

but he pulls you into the store anyway – even as you latch onto his arm nervously, tugging at his sleeve telling him you don't need the pretty jewels. but still he patiently converses with the store attendant, encouraging you to pick out the pieces you liked the most, enjoying the genuine happiness in your eyes as he spoiled you with gifts. 

when the attendant is busying himself in the back room, you peek over at him with barely contained excitement, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. 

"i'll make it up to you," you breathe, arms hooked around his neck. 

"how?" 

"i…" you look at him through your lashes, and he can feel your skin heat up. "i can do that thing you talked about last time…" 

"what thing?" he presses, pulling you closer so all of your attention is focused on him. 

you barely notice, caught up in your thoughts. "when i asked…and you told me…" 

"angel," he says, lowly. his voice is more raspy than he thought it would be, rough with need. "i won't know what you mean if you don't say it-" 

"you can fuck my throat," you say, softly. he searches your eyes and sees that you're embarrassed, yes, even a little guilty at the crude words which your lips just formed, but there's no trace of fear at all. you trust him wholly and completely, your breathing tinged with desperation as it picks up, as you brush up closer to him. when he doesn't respond, you hesitate a little, trying to decipher his expression. "if…if you still want to." 

"want to?" he murmurs. 

"i might not be very good at it, but you can teach me-" 

groaning, he swallows the rest of your sentence with a hungry kiss, the kind that lifts you off your feet and makes you feel like you're flying and falling all at once. 

x

he takes you home in an instant, dropping the bags of necklaces and diamonds as he pushes you roughly against the bedroom door. you slide to your knees in between his spread legs, his pretty angel, eyeing him with a maddeningly innocent look of wonder on your face. 

"how…how are you going to…" 

"do you want me to teach you?" 

you nod excitedly, hands now stroking his thighs absentmindedly, and he has to stifle a groan. 

"what if…" he clears his throat. "what if i changed my mind? what if i don't want to teach you anymore?" 

"please-" your eyes widen with fear. "i'll be good for you..." he still looks unconvinced, so more words fall at random from your lips. "and if i'm not good enough, you can punish me-" 

pulling you up, he kisses you harshly. it was almost as if you were rotten through and through, and it was all because of him. 

"i don't think there will be a need for punishments, angel," he assures you, gently pushing you back down on your knees as he shoves his pants down, tongue poking into his cheek and stretching his puffy lips apart as he watches the way you eye his cock almost hungrily. 

you start out by taking just the tip into your mouth, suckling on it lightly and letting go with a gasp when you feel like you can't breathe. he trains you through it, coaxing you to take more and more, holding your head down when you feel like giving up and stroking your face encouragingly every time you smile back at him, lips messy with drool and precum, eager for his approval. 

he finally gets you to sink down on him — feel your hot wet tongue licking over his veins, shoving your way through and choking yourself on his length, nose hitting his navel as your nails dig into his thighs with pain, trying desperately hard to breathe through your nose like he taught you as he fucks his hips up experimentally. 

it's like one of his filthiest fantasies, the way he pulls out to cum all over your face — your mouth lewdly open and trying to lick up as much of him as you could, unaware of how it made you look. 

"i'm sorry, angel," and he swears he almost feels it, as he pushes his fingers deep into you, rewarding you for your good behavior. "next time, i won't make it so messy." 

but you shake your head vigorously, back arching into his chest as your thighs clamp around his hand. "'m always making a mess of you too," you mumble, blush spreading to the tips of your ears as you smile up at him. "i don't mind you making a mess of me." 

drawing away from your body, he keeps his eyes on you the whole time he crawls down to situate himself between your legs. he keeps his eyes on you so he can catch the first look of surprise, confusion, and pure desire that spreads across your face when he sucks your clit into his mouth. 

"sometimes, i wish you could hear the things you say to me the way that i hear them." he laps at your entrance, and you swear you see stars. "you're so filthy, angel."  

and in the darkness of the room, you glow even brighter with pride. 

x

haechan feels a little stupid right now, sitting in his booth, letting some human girl put her hands all over him and hoping you're watching. 

"i'll only be a minute," he had murmured into your ear. "have something to take care of."

and for the past 5 minutes he's played his part well – fingers tilting her chin up so he can whisper words into her ear and brush his lips against her neck. playing with strands of her hair, eyes half-lidded and body slumped against hers, legs carelessly spread. he knows it's making her dizzy simply being around him, his body radiating lust.

it's when she slides into his lap that he finally feels your eyes on him, picking up on the way your breath hitches in a small gasp from all the way across the room. he doesn't bother to hide his smile as he rubs his thumbs on the girl's bare waist in slow, tantalizing circles. begging for you to take the bait. 

all the way across the room, your body tenses, hands trembling slightly as your vision zeroes in on haechan and the girl draped over him. you watch as she guides his eager hands up her thighs, the glint of his smile almost blinding in the dark. something roars inside your chest, clawing at your lungs, an acidic something you've never felt before threatening to melt you from the inside out as you watch her lean in towards him, lips dragging across his jaw where you had kissed him last. 

haechan closes his eyes when he feels her lean in, lips falling open as he mimics the look of someone lost in pleasure, hoping to rile you up even more. her lips barely brush his skin before he feels something searing hot take its place, pure pain rippling up from his palms where he was touching her skin. his eyes shoot open as he sits up with a jolt, but he doesn't have to look long to understand what happened.

the lifeless body of the human girl slumps to the dirty floor of the club. towering above her, wings fully extended, skin glowing so bright he could hardly make out your features, you look down at him with gold flashing in your eyes. 

"when you said you had something to take care of, did you mean her?" 

exhilaration races through him, your jealousy and your anger feeding each pump of blood in his veins. 

"angel-"

he starts to speak, but you cut him off with a tight hand on his wrist. 

"no." 

light briefly darts across his vision, the scene melting like wax as your bedroom materialises soundlessly around the both of you. 

he didn't even know you could do that. 

when you let go of his wrist, your wings are folded again, your skin returned to its normal pale glow. but there's nothing normal about the way you sink onto him on the bed, his body pliant under your touch in a way he isn't even able to control, all semblance of the power he just gained draining from him as you put your hands on his chest. 

"did i do something wrong?" you murmur, your voice lower than he had ever heard it. "is that why you went looking for her?"

his lips part, mouthing soundlessly as your weight shifts on him. he had forgotten how to speak, the way you were looking at him stealing his breath from his lungs and turning his mind to mush.

"why did you let her touch you?" you demanded, a slight growl to your voice he never heard before. "hm?"

"i'm s-sorry," he whispered. 

"do you want her?" your eyes flash dangerously, your skin burning hot to touch now, wings rustling along your shoulder blades. your hair moving unnaturally despite there being no wind in the room, reaching out and curling in lazy tendrils at the base of his neck. "are you thinking of her right now?" 

dazed and drunk on your voice, he shakes his head, eyes never moving from yours. drool glistens on his lips, his body numb under your spell. 

"want me, haechan," you breathe, pressing yourself into him needily, dipping your head so you can feel his labored breathing on your lips, lips brushing his as you beg – when really you have him under your complete control. "tell me you want me, just me." you push your hips against him, and he can feel himself throb with need. 

"i want you," he whimpers. "fuck, angel, i want you so bad, please-"

"show me," you murmur, your nails scratching down his chest and making him moan out breathily as you lift your weight from his. moving so you lie back against the headboard, you watch as he takes a second to catch his breath before scrambling up, eyes wild and movements jerky. 

positioning himself in between your legs, his hands drag your skirt up your thighs haphazardly, breath hitching when he sees you're already bare for him. 

"angel," he says without thinking, "fuck, angel, you're perfect." he dips his tongue into your cunt, moaning loudly and lewdly as your sweet arousal floods his tastebuds. sloppily moving his mouth over your folds, his tongue circles your clit expertly before dipping down to collect your juices. he moves his head this way and that, mindlessly holding you in place with strong arms as he licks his tongue as deep into you as it will go. your thighs clamp tight around his head, and he lets out a muffled sob of approval, his stiffened tongue pushing past your tight entrance and nose bumping your clit with his movements. 

you can feel your climax approaching, your body trained by him to respond to his touches. thrusting your hips into his face, he frees a hand to slip a finger into your tight hole, mumbling with pleasure when he feels you suck him in. 

"want my angel to cum," he begs, desperation dripping from his tone. the pads of his fingers brush your sweet spot, the warmth of your skin spiking again as the feeling makes you glow with pleasure, trapping him in a heat haze between your thighs. "my pretty angel," he hums approvingly, slipping in another finger. your hips twist this way and that but he pins you down firmly with his arm, stretching you out with his fingers as his lips move back to your clit. his mind is flooded with the thought of you and your pleasure, your small whimpers and each tremble of your body making his body buzz with satisfaction. his mind wiped clean of everything but your smell and taste. he spells out your name with his tongue, silken movements on your clit paired with rough drags of his fingertips against your walls finally making you release all over his face. 

he moans as he laps it up, sticking his fingers in his mouth to savor it. dizzy, he blinks up at you, feeling lightheaded as reality rushes towards him in a tidal wave. 

what the fuck did you just do to him? 

"angel." he starts, shaking his head to clear it again, loosening himself from your grip. "what did you…"

"did I hurt you?" you cup his face in your hands in one swift movement, tilting his head up so his eyes remain fixed on yours. "haechan? is everything okay?"

it's the way you say his name that pulls him right under again. gold specks dance in your eyes as your voice lowers, and it's like you slow time, and he can see your every word hang in the air, feel your angel's glow seep from the pads of your fingers into his bones and liquify every particle of him. 

"i-i…" he stammers. "angel…" 

"why did you stop?" his pretty pink mouth falls open when you place a thumb on his lower lip, his eyes glazing over as you let out a needy whine. "haechan…"

wordlessly, because he's forgotten all forms of language, he pulls you into his lap, letting you straddle him as he blinks up at you adoringly. kissing your collarbones, he removes your dress with shaky movements, reduced to nothing more than a human, forgetting to use his powers entirely as he shoves his own clothes away. 

his lips never leave your skin, sucking messy bruises and nuzzling his nose against your warmth. you're misting light in a hypnotic glow, and he's sure it's the reason why he's so hard it hurts, shaky hands now ghosting over your hips as he tries to stop himself from cumming untouched. 

"will you be good for me?"

amidst the fog in his brain, arousal shoots through him when he hears the words rise from your throat, and he bucks his hips up instinctively. his cock slides against your folds, and he lets out a choked sob, gripping onto your hips even tighter as he throws his head back. 

"i'm yours", he whimpers, hips shallowly thrusting up into you. a high pitched moan rips from his throat as he feels you sink down on him, gummy walls clenching onto him like never before. 

"are you mine?" you murmur, neediness still dripping from every syllable even as you have him reacting to your slightest touches like a livewire. you circle your hips, causing his to stutter. 

his arms wrap around your body, worshiping you with his touch. "i'm yours," he trembles, hips thrusting up to pound further into your heat. you clench hard around him, and he loses all control, cumming into you with an embarrassed whimper, his head falling against your chest. he slows to a stop as he feels himself coat your walls, sensitivity making him hiss.

"more," you urge, and his body reacts to the command before he realises what he's doing, thrusting up into you again as his voice cracks and jumps like a broken record. through tears in his eyes, he admires the way you look as you bounce on him, chest heaving and skin flushed, the soft sounds you make. he speeds up even as it hurts, a hand snaking in between your bodies to press at your clit, rubbing it in quick motions. 

"angel," he whimpers, like a prayer, breathing rough and shallow. "angel." you trace a hand on his cheek, and he nuzzles his face into it, bucking up into you with more fervor. he'd do anything to make you feel good, in that moment, no matter what it took. 

he cums when you do, feeling slick ooze out from where he was stuffed into you. he doesn't stop rubbing your clit, forcing your walls to clench in spasms around him. whimpering against your lips, you let him drive you into overstimulation as he fucks his spent cock into you again, dribbling out the last bit of cum he had left. 

when he pulls out of you, letting out a last gasp of pain, your eyelids are already starting to droop. the room is cold and silent without your glow, and he watches dazedly as you drain of all light again, a dullness spreading from in between your wings, faster than the last time. his whole body feels sore and spent, his arms barely able to hold you up as you slump against him. you look fucked out, and ashen, and — 

he pulls you in for a soft kiss. moving his mouth gently over yours, feeling stronger when you sigh into his mouth. his fingers caress the inner edge of your wings gently, moving to stroke comforting circles down your spine, his hand eventually trailing its way to the nape of your neck. 

"haechan…" 

"is this okay?" he murmurs, applying gentle pressure with his fingertips. your noses brush as you blink sleepily up at him, and he watches a little bit of glow flicker to life in your eyes, feeling your skin warm under his touch. you squirm a little in his arms, head nuzzling into his neck and throat letting out a soft whimper. 

"why…" you bite your lip as he applies a bit more pressure, "why is it always you taking care of me?"

the answer comes to him easier than breathing. "because you're my angel." 

"but i-" 

he gently maneuvers you around in his lap, strong arms lifting you so your back faces him instead. brushing your hair aside and gathering it up in one hand with a tenderness you can't even begin to place, his plush lips begin to graze your neck, reverently sponging kisses on the sweet spot he's had burned into his memory. you tilt forward, tingles running down your spine, but his arms encircle you and pull you back until you're almost flush against his chest.

this time, when he presses a soft kiss to your skin, warmth rushes through you like a shot of pure light through storm clouds, your whole body alight. 

"i want to take care of you too," you say, quietly. and then, bolder, "i don't know if i'm just weak because i haven't been here very long, but this never seems to affect you like it affects me…"

"you're not weak, baby," another kiss, a gentle brush of his forefinger. "you're just an angel." 

"but you're an angel too," you insist. 

haechan's chest aches. 

you continue, "and you never seem to grow weak whenever we…whenever we…" 

"that's because you're always so good for me." now burying his face in your neck, he pulls you closer in his arms, closing his eyes so he can breathe you in. "you're too good for me, angel." 

you relax in his hold, and when he next opens his eyes, you're glowing as bright as all the stars in heaven put together. 

x

haechan thinks of the way you reacted when he first called you angel, weeks ago, in this very club. 

now, the air is sticky, and it clings to his skin too uncomfortably. bodies press up against him, eyes seeking his, but he doesn't meet any of them – his mind in a completely different place. 

your skin glows gently even in the dark bedroom. 

you lie on your chest, wings folded against the sheets, your face turned towards the side so that he can see just a hint of your features in the shadows. even as he backs towards the door, he feels the inexplicable urge to wake you from your sleep, if anything to see your eyes open again, drink in the doe-eyed sweetness. the entire time he sweeps through your apartment – carelessly erasing the traces of his presence, picking up his jacket, pocketing shiny trinkets he bought you, — he wishes you would wake up and cling close to him the way you always used to in the mornings. longing to feel the light on his skin again, your touch hesitant and needy all at once. 

lust, envy, wrath, pride – all of these meant nothing to him, but watching the way they drained you, and realizing that by corrupting you he was killing you softly every night…it clawed at him like nothing ever had before. 

looking up from his drink, he's startled to come face to face with a girl he's never seen before. her smile doesn't reach her eyes as she reaches out to touch his hand, fingers drawing practiced circles on his wrist. 

he didn't tamper with your dreams the night he left, but still he wondered if you were dreaming of him.

he takes a deep breath. 

"hey, angel."

taglist: @jenomov, @91qowngus, @sundhaelatte, @jaemboi64, @sassy-author, @matchahyuck, @prdshobi, @smwhrinthehaze, @yesohhsehun, @chimiwimi, @haechaniesunshine, @hyukiebb (can't tag- sorry!)

[itsvenera]

Ooh my goodness I saw your post about Sasuke bringing back his S/O from the dead and the brainrot worms just immediately clocked in 😵‍💫 Please please give us a short fic about it! Specifically with the side effects//struggles of bringing someone back from the dead like memory loss, struggle to speak bc of either the previously mentioned memory loss or simple damage to their vocal cords (Ooor I mean, if you wanna go deep into angst bringing out the fact cognitive abilities being damaged at least for a while and the amount of pain they'd feel so they're dependent on him is also fair game)

Another fact that is just VERY angst filled is if they're brought back against their will but unless Sasuke let them go they're stuck there forever

I'll leave it up to you to decide how you wanna go about it though! thank u for your absolute god-like work as always! muah! 😚

author's note: Our brainrot worms must be in sync because the moment I saw your request, this fic basically 'wrote itself'! Thank you so much for the idea and I really hope I did your request justice! <3 <3

warnings: Sasuke is a bit yandere and maybe ooc, but isn't he always? ; death; revival; blood

Wanna know a secret?

People used to say that there was a never chance for me. That with everything that happened - the massacre, the lies, the hatred - I was always bound to become a monster. Poor little boy that witnessed the slaughter of his own family and spend years chasing the shadow of his brother, while slowly drowning in his own self-pity and anger.

But the truth is that it wasn't Itachi or Konoha that made me that way.

It was you.

You, who broke through the walls I've been building for years, leaving me raw and exposed. You, who believed that I could've been... should've been different. You gave me hope, you made me believe that maybe, just maybe, there is a chance for me.

For us.

And suddenly you left me. All alone, like I always have been.

I know you are not going to like what I am about to do. If you were here, you would tell me that this isn't the way. That I am not the person I was before that I am making a mistake by trying to bring you back. You would look at me with those innocent eyes of yours, before lacing your fingers with mine and tell me that I have to let you go.

But you are not here, are you?

Not yet, at least.

And you know I can't let you go. Not now, not ever.

If the cost of having you in my arms again is my soul, I would pay it. If it means burning the world and the heavens, then so be it. I will destroy it all - time, death and everything that separates us - till nothing remains but you and me.

. . .

i.

"-Edu Tensei is the only way-"

The cold edge of Sasuke's blade pressing against his throat was enough of unspoken warning for the white-haired male to know this was not the right answer to the demand he had just received. Closing his eyes, he tried to steady his breathing without letting his composure crack.

This was far from the first time he found himself on the receiving end of Sasuke's anger. Yet this time it felt... different.

Kabuto has spend enough years with the Uchiha to understand how he worked. Despite his cold and stoic demeanor, he had always possessed a dangerously short fuse. The slightest provocation, especially if it was connected to his past, was enough to ignite an inferno of rage. The Yakushi man has observed his evolution firsthand - from a grumpy boy hungry for revenge to a deadly shinobi, who kept swinging back and forth on the edge of his crumbling sanity.

The ninja that stood before him was a version of Sasuke that he has never seen before. There was no fire behind his gaze, only empty, glowing voids, so cold that Kabuto couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. Unlike the last time he saw him during the war, he looked cold, calculated and controlled.

Too controlled for the white-haired man's liking.

"Sasuke, you have to understand there are limits-"

"I understand more than you think", Sasuke interrupted, his right eye glowing with the Sharingan, while his left one remained hidden, "If Edo Tensei is your only answer, then I have no use of you. You are wasting my time."

The blade was lifted only for a second from Kabuto's throat before it flew toward his Adam's apple. He felt the cold tip slicing his skin, a few drops of warm crimson red blood falling on the floor.

"Wait!", Kabuto blurted out, his head falling back against the wall in a desperate attempt to create some distance between his body and the sword.

Sasuke's hand immediately stopped, but the cold metal did not move away from the cut it has created. Instead, it stayed in place, getting painted in red, while Sasuke his head in a silent command for Kabuto to speak.

"There may be another way...", the Yakushi gulped, his voice barely above a whisper. The Uchiha leaned forward, his only visible eye narrowing just the slightest as he studied the older man's face.

Looking at him almost two years after their last battle, Sasuke felt the bitter taste of anger and desperation mixing in his mouth. How could Kabuto, of all people, be the only person who could help him bring you back? The idea of having his sleazy hands touching your body, experimenting on it... The mere image of him being close to you made him naseous.

Yet he was the one who came here and demanded help. Much to his displeasure, he had no one else to turn to. Orochimaru had left the village, but even if he was here, it was the case that his student has surpassed him long time ago.

"I am giving you ten seconds to explain, before I slash your throat and hang you on this wall to bleed out."

The threat was clear and final, making Kabuto nod his head in a weak agreement. Once the blade was removed from his throat, his fingers immediately moved to touch the cut from which there were still dripping red drops. He pressed his hand against his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding, while his mind rushed through different possibilities of how to handle the situation.

On one hand, just like Sasuke, he was pardoned for his crimes and was given a second chance to rebuild his life in Konoha. He was a carer in the local orphanage and for the first time since he could remember, he felt somewhat... satisfied. It wasn't his dream job, but it was a job and it was the first step to clearing his image.

On the other hand, he was wise enough not to underestimate the things an Uchiha is ready to do, especially in the name of love.

"It is not a technique I've ever tried before...", Kabuto finally said, his fingers tightening around his throat, "It is a theory I was working on right before the war started. It goes beyond a simple reanimation and unlike Edo Tensei, it does not have any limitation. Once they are back... they will be fully back."

"Fully back...", Sasuke repeated, testing the words on his tongue. The snake-like man in front of him nodded his head, his free hand lifting up to fix the glasses on the tip of his nose.

"With their own will, thoughts and emotions", Kabuto confirmed, one of his eyebrows raising just the slightest, "It will be as if their death never happened. But.."

"But what?", he snapped through gritted teeth. Of course, nothing was ever simple or straightforward with the white-haired shinobi. For all the knowledge and skills he had, he never made anything easy, even when he was serving other people in the past. And while he successfully managed to convince Konoha he has changed, Sasuke had enough experience living and training with him to know the truth.

A snake will always be a snake.

And the mere fact he didn't seem to even try to convince him not to meddle with the world of the dead, was enough of a sigh that his heart remain to be just as dark as it was in the past.

"Like I said, this technique works only in theory", Kabuto said slowly, his gaze moving between the two different eyes of the Uchiha in front of him, "The person that comes back may not... be the one they were before. It may also have consequences not only on them, but on everything and everyone around. Disturbing the natural flow of life like this-"

Sasuke clicked his tongue, his mouth twisting into a displeased frown.

"I didn't come to you to listen to half-hearted warnings and lectures on balance of nature", he snapped impatiently, "Do it or I will find someone else who will - and you know well enough what that means for you."

Almost as if to prove the seriousness behind his threat, the blade pressed itself against Kabuto's throat once again, before moving to the side, successfully cutting a fine line against all four knuckles of the his fingers that were still pressed against his first wound. The man let out a loud hiss, his hand jerking away instinctively.

"I will need time to prepare", he muttered, his jaw clenching in a weak attempt to try and keep his mind away from the stinging pain, "Two days at least."

Sasuke let out a small 'hm' sound, his brain processing the proposed timeline. Every ticking moment without you already felt like a whole eternity passing. Two days was too much, especially since it involved the risk of Kabuto deciding to share his demand with other people. Not that he didn't plan to deal with Konoha soon enough for what they did, but now, for the first time, there was another priority other than revenge - and that was you.

"You have one", he said with finality, before turning around and starting to walk away.

One day. Even for a man who was used to deal with challenging situations and impossible deadlines, this was hard to achieve. Kabuto watched the Uchiha's retreating figure, his chest and head both feeling heavy with the realisation of what he is about to do.

. . .

ii.

From a far, you looked peacefully asleep. The moonlight that managed to find its way into the room was reflecting through the glass that covered your body, pale highlights dancing across your face and chest. Your fingers were crossed on top of your chest and for a second, Kabuto could swear he could see it moving up and down, as if you were breathing.

He blinked once. Then twice. Yet the illusion did not repeat itself.

He made a few cautious steps toward the see-through casket in the centre on the small hall, his eyes narrowing as he got a better view of your body. Your flawless skin, your carefully combed hair, your neat kimono - Sasuke's determination to bring you back the way he remembered you was clear in every detail. Kabuto had no idea how the dark-haired male did it, or even from where he got such precise knowledge about body preservation, but the sight in front of him was a pure imitation of life.

Almost flawless.

"Is that your work?", he quietly asked, his voice ringing with notes of both admiration and wariness. He kept his distance, his eyes scanning every inch of visible skin, searching for any signs of mistakes in the Uchiha's method. There were none. No signs of decomposing, decay or any imperfections. Putting aside the fact that your skin looked paler than it should be, the sight in front of him was a perfect replica of you, completely untouched by time.

Faint footsteps sounded behind him and he turned his head only to see Sasuke approaching the casket from the other side. He didn't pay any attention to Kabuto, as his gaze was focused on you, his lips pressed into a thin line. His eyes traced every line of your peaceful expression, before his only hand lifted and placed itself on top of the cold glass, right above your face. His fingers twitched, slowly dragging themselves down, as if he was trying to reach out and cradle your cheek.

"It is", he finally responded, his voice unusually calm and almost... soft? Kabuto looked at him with unease, before he moved his attention back to you.

If he was scared of Sasuke yesterday when he had his blade pressed against his throat, he was both terrified and baffled now. It was no secret the Uchiha harboured deep feelings for you - he had met you right before the war and since then he always tried his best to keep you away from harm, even during the times he was one of the most wanted criminals by every Hidden Village. You had been his pillar of support and light through the darkest times of his lives - from his pursuit of revenge on his brother to the brutal realisation of all the lies he has been told through the years. Even during the war, his main motivation was not so much to prove himself as capable leader for Konoha, than keep you save.

Ironically, he actually succeeded. He managed to keep you sheltered from all the horrors and blood the ninja world had to offer. Shortly after he was pardoned, he brought you back to his home village, much to the surprise of all of his fellow shinobi. He never introduced you as officially 'his', but everyone knew you were holding a great significance for him. You were not only his save haven, you were everything - his home, his purpose, his future...

All till the day some Leaf ninjas took you away.

It was Sasuke's fault, really. He knew that the past could not be erased, yet he foolishly believed he may be given the chance to start anew. The wounds he had inflicted to both the village and the people there were wide open and despite the years and his actions during the war, they never truly healed. Beneath the surface of the reluctant acceptance he had received by all the villagers, there was mistrust that changed his whole life in just a few seconds.

He remembered the event quite vividly, despite his attempts to erase it from his mind. Every waking moment it haunted him like a nightmare, clutching its claws into his body and soul and refusing to let go...

You laughing in the kitchen, while he watched you with admiration from the kitchen table, his fingers nervously playing with the small ring box in his pocket.

The two shadows which crossed across the wall almost too fast for him to react.

Sounds of broken glass. Table and chairs thrown to the side.

The sound of his name leaving your lips before you threw yourself behind his body, a chocked out gasp leaving your lips once the sword meant for him pierced your chest.

The way his heart stopped inside his chest, his hand moving almost automatically as he brought the last remaining intruder down before he collapsed next to your body.

Your lifeless eyes, who continued to stare at him, a small tear escaping from one corner and landing in his trembling palm.

Kabuto watched as Sasuke shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. The Uchiha casted one last glance to you, before he clenched his jaw and stepped away from the casket. His steps were rushed and urgent, showing his desperation to pull away from the the memory of that day and his failure to keep you safe.

Silence filled the room and for a while the snake-like man could not hear anything but his own breathing. While not one famous for showing sympathy, there was the tiniest spark of pity inside his eyes as he watched the broken man before him. It was then he understood it didn't matter what he said or how much he warned him about the potential risks involved.

Sasuke Uchiha, the man who was always been swaying on the delicate edge between reasonableness and insanity, has officially lost himself to the latter.

All because of you.

"We need a sacrifice", Kabuto finally said, his body moving toward the small table in the corner, where he left his bag earlier, "A life for a life. You did an outstanding job with preserving their body, but again I cannot guarantee what the side effects may be-"

"You will have your sacrifice by the end of the night", Sasuke interrupted, his usual cold and collected composure back in place. Before the white-haired shinobi could say anything else, he was left alone with the chilling feeling of two cold eyes staring right at his back.

. . .

iii.

The first thing you felt was the cold.

Not just in the air around you - it was inside your skin, creeping its way through your veins. The feeling was if you were being chewed alive, yet once you tried to open your mouth, you found unable to move. Your limbs felt heavy, the muscles - unable to respond. Your mind was slowly crawling its way out of the dizziness, yet your body refused to respond.

Then, you heard it - the faint sound of something moving on top of you and then a muffled voice saying something. You tried to focus on it, forcing your senses to sharpen. The words started to sound clearer and clearer till eventually your brain grasped them.

"Open your eyes."

The words echoed around you, ringing inside your head as you tried your best to do as told. The coldness inside of you felt like a heavy anchor which kept pulling you down while you desperately tried to break through the surface. The voice kept repeating the same thing over and over, becoming louder and clearer.

Suddenly, almost as if a bolt of electricity ran through your spine, your body jolted, your chest raising high in the air as you gasped for air. Your lungs felt like they were on fire as they expanded, the painful sensation spreading through your chest as you chocked in the mix of a saliva and cold air.

Something warm pressed against your cheek and it took you a good minute to realise it was someone's hand. Your eyelids, despite still feeling like stones on your face, fluttered open only to be met with a piercing and blinding white light coming from somewhere above you. Everything felt so distant and muted, as if you were waking up from a dream that has lasted all eternity.

The hand on your face moved, its touch gentle as you felt it cupping your jaw. You blinked rapidly against the harsh brightness, the world around you slowly emerging out of blurriness as a face came into focus above you.

A man. Tall, with sharp features and straight black locks reaching his shoulders. Only one of his eyes was visible, black like onyx and staring at you intensively. He had a few days stubble covering his chin and cheeks, while dark bags decorated the area under his eyes.

Who the hell was that?

And why was he looking at you like that?

You tried to open your mouth, but no sound came out as all you could do is let out a quiet gasp. The man's expression shifted slightly, a spark of concern flashing though his tired face. His fingers moved down from your chin, across one of your arms, before taking your hand in his. The longer he remained touching you, the more panicked your attempts to breathe became.

"It's alright", he murmured softly, his dark brows furrowing as he watched you struggle beneath him, "Just focus on breathing. Everything is alright."

Everything, however, was not alright.

Sasuke watched you eyes flicking between him and your surroundings, the feeling of panic evident in the way your chest rose and fell erratically. He could feel your fingers tensing under his while you slowly started to get control of your limbs, achieving nothing more but a few stirs. The expression on your face, however, was what hurt the most - it was one of pure fear and terror, almost like the day they took you away from him.

"Shh, stay calm", he whispered, yet his words seemed to have the opposite effect as he noticed your weak attempt to squirm away. His jaw clenched as he watched you struggling to come back fully to your senses.

Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong.

Of course, Kabuto has warned him that there will be side effects. That you may be disorientated at first and have problem with moving on your own. He expected you not to remember certain things, like the day you were killed of even some minor events from your life. What he didn't predict, however, was the possibility that you may not remember anything, including him.

His hand withdrew from yours and he casted a fiery glare at Kabuto who was sitting in the corner of the room, rapidly writing something on a piece of paper.

"You said you could bring them FULLY back."

The white-haired ninja did not look up immediately, instead focusing in finishing the report he had started once he saw the first signs of life appearing. In any other event he would probably give more of his energy in addressing the Uchiha's rising anger, however now he felt like he was the one with an advantage. Sasuke may be one of the strongest shinobi alive, but he had nothing on Kabuto's knowledge and skills, especially when it came to the delicate science of reanimation. His experience as the best student of Orochimaru and the man who managed to perfect jutsus like Edu Tensei gave him a dangerous sense of confidence, even in the face of a heartbroken lover who was ready to do anything to bring their soulmate back.

"I did", Kabuto said at last, his voice unusually calm as he attached the pen to the top of the paper before putting it away, "I also told you there will be side effects and you need to be patient. Not that it has ever been your strong suit..."

Sasuke let out a small scoff, his lips curling in disdain as he got to his feet and starting walking toward the other man. The urge to trap him in a genjutsu and force him to experience every single horror he had ever inflicted on other people was growing like a wildfire inside of his chest. Perhaps it was even a fitting punishment for a monster like him, way more deserving to be trapped in a cycle of his own sins than allowed to live peacefully working in an orphanage.

The Uchiha stopped a mere foot from the desk, his fist clenching by his side in an attempt to stop himself for reaching out and doing something he may regret later.

"Fix it."

Kabuto lazily lifted his eyes, one if his eyebrows rising slightly above his glasses.

"Fix it?", he repeated unimpressed, "You speak as if I am a handyman fixing an object. This is a human we are speaking about--"

The words seemed to strike a cord and Sasuke's hand shot forward, slamming onto the desk right next to Kabuto's head. His breathing was sharp and uneven, his anger radiating from every fiber of his being.

"You don't get to act all high and mighty, Kabuto. We have been knowing each other a little too long and a little too well for you to pretend that you can actually consider a person as anything other than an experiment."

Kabuto froze, his eyes instinctively shifting toward you and meeting your gaze. From where you were laying, the scene looked almost like a distorted dream. You heard voices, yet you couldn't understand what were they saying. The fear continued to run inside your veins like a paralyzing venom, leaving you completely helpless in the company of these two unknown men.

The truth was that Kabuto did not care about Sasuke. In fact, given everything he has done, it served him more than right to lose you and rot in guilt and grief all his life. But Kabuto had to agree that he had a right - maybe he was not the best person to be giving him a lecture of the difference between an 'object' and a 'human'. After all, in his eyes they were all the same.

But not you.

You were special. Different. You were not just a mere experiment, far from it actually. You were the culmination of everything he had worked for, the result of years spend in studying, experimenting, theorizing and manipulating. You were the proof he achieved what every great scientist had longed for - a way to cheat death. Completely.

Of course, he wouldn't leave the job half done. Not when he was so close to perfecting his greatest achievement. In his mind, he couldn't even think of the last time he felt so excited and so... alive. Whatever reservations he had because of Sasuke or his recent pardon by Konoha were now forgotten. Instead, all he could see was you. Breathing, blinking, looking around. Your existence defied nature and he felt a strange satisfaction knowing he had achieved what everyone else, even Orochimaru, deemed impossible. It was all way too different from any type of reanimation he tried before.

"The connection between their body and soul is still fragile", Kabuto finally muttered, his golden eyes still locked with yours. Slowly, he stood up from his seat, moving around the dark-haired Uchiha as he approached you. His steps were quiet and measured, as if he was trying not to scare you even more. Tilting his head to the side, he found himself in a strange trance.

"It's a delicate balance, the one of life and death. It can easily tip, especially when one lack patience and appreciation of this beautiful process. I told you this is not just attaching a soul to a vessel, it's about understanding and repairing the bond that connects them. It's about creating a..."

He knelt beside you, his face just centimeters from yours. Edu Tensei has always given these void and empty black eyes to the subjects it revived, an ugly imperfection that reminded that they were not truly alive. But yours... They were just like they were supposed to be when you were alive. Despite being unfocused, there was a spark of life in them.

"... miracle."

As Kabuto finished his sentence he reached out to touch your face, before his wrist was harshly grabbed by Sasuke.

"Don't touch them!"

The air in the room seemed to suddenly grow tenser as you watched the two men hovering above you. Any trace of softness that Kabuto's expression held till now disappeared as he furrowed his brows, his snake-like gaze turning toward Sasuke.

"I fear your demand may be unreasonable, Uchiha. I can't help them, if I am- "

"Your job is to figure out a way to fix your failure and finish the job I asked you to do", Sasuke interrupted impatiently, his grip tightening, "You can do that from your desk."

Kabuto tilted his head, his jaw clenching as he held his ground in the little staring contest he found himself in. After a minute, he roughly pulled his hand, before taking a step back.

"Very well then."

Without another word, he returned to his desk and started to gather the scattered tools he had left in a disarray earlier. He could feel two pairs of eyes burning at the back of his neck, but he refused to acknowledge any of them.

'Such a strong body, yet such a foolish mind', he thought as he put everything in one corner and then simply turned around toward the door. Once again, Sasuke has proved himself incapable of understanding, let alone appreciating, the power of science and what one can achieve with it. Instead he remained a big strong brute, driven by impulse and incapable to open his mind to all the wonders in his world.

As he stepped out of the room, Kabuto glanced back one last time over his shoulder, his golden eyes focusing on yours. He gave you a small smile, almost a friendly one, before shutting the door behind him.

. . .

iv.

The following weeks were like an eternal nightmare, from which neither of you could wake up.

Every day blended into the next, leaving nothing behind by growing frustration and thinning remains of patience. Time felt frozen in this place, as if all three of you were trapped in a constant loop.

For you, the world was a blur - everything was new, yet somewhat familiar. Even the small things, such as walking or playing with your hands, felt foreign and out of place. It was almost like you got into a foreign body and you were left with no choice but to learn how to work with it. It took a full week for you to gain full control over your body, but when you did, it still felt like an insignificant progress.

And what if you could walk, run and do everything you were doing before when your mind remained a dark fog with no clear direction or sense of self? Fractured images kept flashing before your eyes every now and again, leaving you more and more confused. Some felt like memories - stuff that actually has happened once upon a time - but some felt like nothing more than a dream your brain has created in attempt to escape the boringness.

On the other hand, Sasuke was always around. He slept in one room with you, he took you out so you can breathe some fresh air during the day, he brought you food, books and random trinkets to entertain yourself. He rarely kept his distance, and even when he was, you could feel his watchful gaze on the back of your head.

At first, he terrified you. His energy was dark, even sinister in a way. Yet you couldn't help but feel a strange feeling of a familiarity. Sometimes, when you thought he was not looking, you glanced at his profile, studying his face and trying to put the puzzle pieces together of who is he to you. He was a cold man, rarely talking or even responding when you asked him questions, yet he always hovered protectively over you.

And then there was Kabuto. A total opposite of Sasuke.

He was nice - always gently smiling at you, asking if you are okay. There was always a strange softness in his eyes, one that you wouldn't expect from a man with snake-like features like himself. Sometimes he would catch you by yourself and he would make the time to sit down and chat. Most of the time it was about mundane things - the weather, random interesting facts and when he was in a good mood, stories from his past. It took a while for you to be able to reply given your throat burned like an inferno every time you tried to produce any sound during the first week, but slowly you started to respond. At first it was by short words such as "yes", "no" and "do/don't", but soon you started to form full sentences till you relaxed enough to even laugh at some of his silly jokes.

Yet, despite his gentleness and understanding, your inner instinct was screaming at you to be careful. You couldn't tell exactly what, but something with him was ... off. Maybe it was the way his eyes lingered on you too long for your liking or the way his smiling mask quickly shifted into something more sinister when he thought you were not paying attention, but something was making your skin crawl every time he was near you and Sasuke was not.

"What is the relationship between you and Kabuto? Are you... friends?", you asked one night, breaking the peaceful silence that had settle between you and Sasuke. He was sitting on the opposite chair of you, calmly reading a scroll while your attention was focused on the playful dance of the flames in the fireplace.

Sasuke didn't look up immediately, instead using the extra minute to gather his thoughts before he lifted his eyes toward you. His expression remained blank, as it always was around you, but you could see the slightest tension of his shoulder muscles.

"Allies", the answer felt somewhat dishonest as he remained staring at you, "For now."

Picking the strands of the soft rug under your fingers, you searched his face, expecting him to provide a further explanation. Like always, such explanation never came. Instead, his focus returned to the scroll in his hands, his eyes dancing across the piece of paper as he pretended to be very invested in what was written in it.

"But you don't trust him, do you?"

The man snorted at your assumption and you immediately took it as confirmation of what you have suspected. The two have never outright fought in front of you, but there was always a certain tension in the room when both of them were in it. Sasuke always seemed to move closer to you when Kabuto was nearby, his lonely hand resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to react at any given moment.

"Trustworthiness and usefulness usually do not go hand in hand", he said finally, his eyes boring into yours as he started to carefully roll the scroll. You kept your gaze locked with his, unsure what he meant by his answer. It was clear that the the 'usefulness' was somehow connected to you but you still couldn't make a real sense of it. No matter how many times you asked either Sasuke or Kabuto why were you being kept here and why you were subject to so many tests and 'treatments', you were always met with the same answer : "Don't worry about it, it will all come back to you."

"What happens when he is no longer useful?", you asked as you watched him get up from his chair and walk over to the small bed in the corner of the room. While his constant presence around you bothered you at first, you appreciated that he kept some form of distance unlike Kabuto who often was too close to you for your comfort.

For a moment, you thought Sasuke would ignore your question entirely as he just started arranging his blankets and pillow, not showing any interest toward your questioning.

"Then he will be dealt with."

Deep inside you knew that his words should make you feel uncomfortable, worried even. Kabuto has always been kind to you, and it sometimes even felt like he cared for you, in his own strange way. If it wasn't for him, you may still be laying on that cold metal table you woke up on, unable to move or speak.

Yet you couldn't ignore the feeling deep inside your gut that there was a reason for Sasuke's warning. You felt guilty questioning the white-haired male's intentions, but you couldn't shake the feeling he was looking at you as an object opposed to a human. He has been very open to you - he had told you up quite a lot about his own past, including his experiments with people - but instead of appreciating his honesty, you found yourself fearing him. Perhaps this is why you found yourself trying to stay attached to Sasuke's side more often.

Or maybe it was because of these damn flashing images that keep popping in your mind.

Recently they have been coming more and more often. Sometimes they came and went so quickly, it was impossible to catch them. Other times, the lingered, dragging you into a world of unfamiliar faces, places and events. Every time you tried to make sense of them, put them in some kind of order in your mind, they kept blending, creating an even thicker fog of confusion in your head.

You never told Sasuke or Kabuto about it. With so much conflicting emotions and hidden motives, it was hard to tell which one you could trust and which one you could not. One thing you knew for sure - none of the two men were entirely honest. Sasuke, with his cold and collected behaviour, was surely knowing way more than he was letting on about who you were and how did you end up in this labyrinth of broken memories and sense of self. The kind gestures of Kabuto, on the other hand, felt almost disturbing as his eyes followed you like a pray around the hideout.

You were trapped in a rabbit hole of questions, falling deeper and deeper every time a new face or place popped in your mind. The only certainty you had that in this place you had only person you could trust - you. And you had to do everything in your power to get yourself out.

. . .

v.

One moment you were gazing at an old photograph, your brows crunched in confusion, the next one you were on your knees, your hand muffling the loud sobs that threatened to leave your lips.

The image you held in your hands was not one you've seen for the first time. In fact, you have seen it countless of times during your stay here. You have found it accidentally under Sasuke's pillow one day when you were cleaning around the room and while you never asked him about it, you periodically reached out for it, studying it. You were in the middle of it - lips stretched in a wide grin and eyes closed, while a small key was dangling from your pointing finger. Right behind you was Sasuke - his hair just a little bit shorter than now, showing his mismatching eyes who looked directly down at you. His lips were curved into a soft smile, while hand gripped the side of your stomach.

You had reached the conclusion that you and Sasuke were in some form of relationship a long time ago. Were you simply lovers or something more serious? Were you married? Did you had kids? You didn't know, but you were sure the little glances that he threw your way now and the way he was constantly hovering over you was not things a casual boyfriend would do. So it wasn't the image of you two that triggered this intense reaction in you.

It was the window behind you in the photograph.

The small wooden kitchen window, to which you have not paid any mind till now, but now you couldn't look away from it. The same window you were facing while you were putting away the dishes the day you...

died.

Your knees buckled after you as suddenly you were hit with ton of forgotten memories. One after the other, they kept filling your brain with a rapid speed, making you grip your head with both hands in attempt to stop it all.

Inaho Village. Your parents and brother. Bloodshed.

Growing up with your grandma. Healing lessons. Fire.

Sasuke. Sneaking around before the war.

Moving in together after the war. Konoha.

Death.

.

You were supposed to be dead.

The sudden realisation made your head spin and you fell on your bottom, your eyes filling with tears. The memories kept coming, your tears kept flowing and you could swear time froze.

For how long have you been sitting on this cold, bare floor? It may be a minute, it may be an hour. Or even two.

The sound of a door opening caught your attention and you lifted red, puffy eyes only to meet the shocked ones of your lover.

"Sasuke, what have you done?"

cc artwork: Leo Pold

[gingacat]

twisted from: Myth of the Victoria Water Lily

name: Lily V. Maven

birthday: February 12 (Aquarius)

age: 16

height: 155 cm

homeland: Starway River, a river that starts in the Oniric Rainforest and crosses the Golden Cordilleras. (my fan made locations)

grade: Freshman

class: D

club: Film Research club

best subject: Astrology

worst subject: History of magic

dorm: Astromunay (my Yzma fan dorm)

hobbies: Stargazing

pet peeves: Heartless people

favorite food: Avocado with sugar

least favorite food: Meat

talent: Acrobatic diving

nicknames: Mavis (Cater), Seaweed (Floyd), Mademoiselle Clown (Rook), Leaf bug (Miyuu)

quotes:

“What am I doing? Well, I'm counting clouds. It sounds boring but it's lots of fun, I totally recommen— Hey?! Why are you walking away?!”

Personality

At first glance, Lily seems to be innocent and naive, but she is still a fae from the Oniric Rainforest, a place known for its mystical and mischievous creatures. She is a playful person who loves playing tricks on people and talking in ambiguous ways that leave others confused. She also finds it fun to pretend to be dumb, when in fact she's secretly really smart.

It's easy to get along with her, but you have to be careful not to believe 100% in what she says. She likes riddles and puzzles and expresses herself or her thoughts through either weird metaphors or by using sarcasm that sounds genuine. It is hard to know when she is joking and when she's not.

But Lily is not that complex, it's just her nature to act in a more playful way, she just wants to have fun and thinks her way of acting will also bring fun to other people. She likes teasing others, but if she sees that she has hurt someone, she'll immediately stop and apologize.

When she is upset, Lily becomes quiet and distant, seeming to be in an entirely different place inside of her head.

She is obsessed with astronomy and when someone awakens her love for it, she gets extremely excited, rambling about stars, planets, galaxies, the universe, etc. Lily gets really happy when people actually listen or are invested in what she says, loving to share an interest of hers to others.

Background

Her father, Levi, is a water fae and her mother, Rosario, is a wood fae. Lily is their only child.

Her parents were always fighting, always stressed by their own personal lives, and the overall mood of the household was dark, sorrowful. Levi was fond of Space though, and he enjoyed taking Lily to go stargazing. Ever since she was very young, she was enamored with the stars.

Lily's first memory with stargazing was unforgettable. She remembers she was very upset that day and couldn't stop crying because she was the reason her parents had fought. Not wanting his daughter to be sad, Levi took her to see how beautiful the sky looked that night. For the first time in her life, Lily had seen something that wasn't gloomy nor dark, but shining so bright that it had touched her heart. Just as she was looking at the stars, the stars were looking back at her, embracing her with all their warm and beautiful luster.

Lily imagined how it would be like to be there, shining right next to the Moon. She wanted to be like the stars, who make people happier, who brighten people's moods even when everything seems to be horrible, even when the entire world seems to be so dark and so lonely.

Although, because of her mischievous nature, she eventually found a more playful way to shine and bring joy: by making others laugh.

Trivia

Her age is counted in human years because her mother is half-human and half-fae so Lily is not 100% fae. (i had to humanize Lily bc fae years are just so complicated 😭)

Lily mispronounces Diasomnia for Dysnomia, the name of a moon. Sebek keeps correcting her, but she never gets it right. (she's doing it on purpose)

She can breathe underwater.

Lily is very interested in scientific theories and loves debating about them. (ex: wormhole theory, panspermia theory, things like that)

She is the class clown. She keeps asking the most outrageously stupid questions to the teachers and manages to make the entire class laugh. (except for Sebek, lmao)

Lily never met Malleus but she would probably call him her broski.

If anyone is curious, the Victoria Water Lily myth tells the story of a woman who drowned after leaning towards a river to touch the reflection of the Moon, since she was in love with the Moon. The Moon (or Goddess of the Moon) was known for choosing women and turning them into stars, but to honor that woman who drowned, the Moon turned her into a Victoria Regia (water lily), which is known as the "Star of the waters".

[1whore1gang]

it's the little things 🤍

This is part 4!!

Read parts 1-3 HERE

Warnings: more angst, I'm so sorry BUT BUT BUT theres sickeningly sweet fluff at the end so bare with me ;), cussing, emotions, mentions of SA

I tried to make this one longer bc i feel like part 1 was so good and then 2 and 3 kinda flopped so heres me trying to write more than I usually do.

Also, I'm surprised no one has noticed a small writing detail I did last chapter regarding Price. I'll do it again in this chapter to see if anyone can catch on hehehehe :)

EDIT: not me saying I wanted to attempt to make this as long as part one when part one was 2,437 words and this one ended up 4,314 words....oops

Taglist: @gaymistakeboi @batw3nch @thedevillovesflowers @almightywdm @ghostslittlegf @sketchyfandomgirl @under-the-dirt @clear-your-mind-and-dream @darkangel4121 @vreselia @llemes @stargaliz @rockcollector3000 @nottrosaxx

(sorry if i forgot anyone!!! please yell at me if I did!!)

"Stop that!" Your voice was almost begging as Soap kept grabbing at Ghost's little hoodie strings. Soap kept fighting with Ghost all day and you couldn't handle it anymore. You finally picked up Soap and put him alone in the playpen. "You're in time out."

He began to wail, making you shed tears of your own. You were exhausted from the three little boys. They'd been causing trouble lately and keeping you up all night this week.

Gaz looked up at you with a little toy car shoved halfway in his mouth, blinking innocently as Ghost continues to play with his blocks as he was before Soap grabbed him. "At least you two are giving me a break today." Soap continued to wail dramatically, not even crying, just wanting your attention.

Laswell had told you that he needed to learn that he's not the only one you take care of, so you sometimes have to leave him to cry it out on his own to teach him. She'd stopped by the other day to brief you on a new group of recruits.

She was definitely questioning why you of all people had your Captain's so-called 'nephews' and you had to think on your feet, but she didn't buy it.

"Tell me the truth, who's kids are these Y/N?" Her voice was in that motherly tone she had mastered with all of you.

"You wouldn't believe me." You said, trying to quiet Soap's crying, which led to her advice about letting him cry it out.

"If you're going to tell me they're yours, yeah I won't." She shook her head, becoming increasingly more annoyed with you.

"Promise you won't report me for drugs?"

"Depends."

You had told her everything about finding the boys like this, and she had to take some time to think it over until she noticed how Soap only plays with Ghost, and how Gaz keeps to himself and didn't cry once while she was there. She took a day before she texted you again telling you she was there if you needed any help.

That was 3 days ago, and you didn't want to bother her since she had taken over some of your duties since your hands were quite full.

You leaned against the foot of your bed as you finally heard Soap's cries die down, turning around to see he had tuckered himself out into a sleep. You took a couple of deep breaths, trying to dry your tears when you felt little hands on your feet.

You opened your eyes to see Gaz and Simon grabbing at your toes. They both sit down at your attention. You went to go move to see what they needed when Gaz gave you a goofy smile.

Smiling back, you swopped him up to your chest to rock him, almost thanking him for bringing a smile to your face. You heard the familiar little grunt from Simon as you looked at him.

His hand was just outstretched towards you with one of his little blocks, offering it to you. Laughing a little, you took it and noticed the letter on the block was your initial.

Your eyes went wide as you looked back at Simon. "You know...or do you?" The question was more for yourself than him. You knew Simon couldn't understand you, he was a baby, there's no way he could.

"Is this me?" You cooed, pointing to the block he gave you. He grunted in response. "There's no way." Was he actually coherent? Was your Simon in there, he just couldn't express properly? Or had little Simon heard your name enough times that he knew? You felt something wet on your neck and saw Gaz drooling, thanking the universe that two of the boys so far have gone down for a nap.

Setting him in the playpen, you return to Simon, wanting to see if there was any way you could find out if he was cognitively adult Simon. "Do you know what's going on?" Your voice was gentle and quiet. Watching adamantly, you waited for him to give you any reaction. "Simon?"

His wide eyes looked up at you, focused shifted from his toys. "Do you know?" He blinked a couple of times, then looked around the room. He grunted a couple of times before looking down at his blocks.

"Simon?" You said again sweetly. You watched as Simon's lip began to quiver as he looked over his blocks, he began to cry, grabbing at the blocks and then throwing one before beginning to cry. "Oh honey, I'm sorry."

He reached out for you and you picked him up, comforting him. "It's okay honey, I'm sorry." You could tell something had bothered him, but what?

He wasn't wailing or screaming, just a silent whine of a cry. Almost like he was sad or frustrated. "Are you mad at something?" You moved to where you could see his face, cradling him.

You watched his breathing catch in his chest at your question. You ran two of your fingers over his little chest, rubbing circles to calm him. "Breathe Simon, don't hold your breath on me. You're okay, work through the cry sweetheart."

Your touch immediately helped him take in a good sized breath. "That's it." You watched him slowly calm himself down as you shushed him and held him. "Did your blocks make you mad?"

He crawled out of your arms clumsily, the most movement you've seen from him. He threw another block, not aggressively or at anything, but at the ground. "Yeah? Do you not like your blocks?" You reached for another toy for him to play with but he grunted.

You snapped your attention back to him, "What's wrong? I wish you could tell me." You felt helpless. He clearly was distraught over something, and you had no way of knowing what was happening.

He stared down at his blocks again, breathing in huffs. He held one out to you after picking it out. It was a 'Y' block. "What does this mean? Does this mean you understand?" He grunts.

You feel tears sting your eyes. "You know..." He grunts again. "Oh my God!!" You pick him up and stare at him. You bring him to your chest in a small hug, teary eyed. "I'm gonna get you boys back to normal, I promise."

Some hours passed and you had attempted to get a sign out of Gaz or Soap to no avail. It seems as if Simon was the only one who was cognitive of what was going on, but you still were unsure of the extent of his knowledge and awareness.

It's been a week since you had seen the Captain, and as much as you told yourself you wanted to keep it that way, deep down you wanted the softness he had when the boys were were first found. At night, you'd catch yourself dreaming about the way he looked that evening he popped into your office to ask if you were hungry, or the way he speak quietly to you in the mornings knowing you were up late with one of the boys.

Laswell hasn't mention anything about him either but you didn't know if that was a personal choice, or if she actually had no information regarding him.

You wanted to know where he was. Not only did you miss the warmth he held when you two were handling this situation, but you missed his help. He would always let you sleep in or let you take a rest. He cooked and stepped up so you weren't overexerting yourself.

You missed the companionship.

You glanced over to the clock to see it was nearly midnight, but when you scanned the time stamp on your phone, you saw a message from your email.

It was from General Shephard. It was sent hours ago.

Dear Lieutenant L/N,

I am writing this to you to pass it on that the Private you sent to me regarding sexual harassment has been found innocent. There was no camera footage found after review and he has no background violations or any previous infarctions.

Best Regards,

General Shephard

You felt your heart sink in your chest. There's cameras all over the training room, how could they not see it? The familiar sting landed in your throat as your emotions took over you.

Innocent? After what he did? How could Shephard not see that?!

You felt like you were going to scream, the pain unbearable.

It made you think back to Dubai. The severity of that event would've landed that man in jail. The way you had bruises on your neck and hips from the harsh grip of his hands for weeks, the way you limped for days. You remember the cold stare of your Captain when you told him, the nonchalant "Brush it off."

You were crushed.

You had lost.

The sun shone through the windows of your room as you woke up, looking over to see Gaz and Ghost already up. You picked them up to change them and then situated them in holsters, one on your chest, one on your back.

You did the same with Soap and then placed him on your hip, taking them to the kitchen to feed them.

Taking a moment while the bottles warmed, you took in the sight of all three boys in their highchairs, drowsy. Their little eyelashes fluttering as they struggled to stay awake, babbling and cooing.

It made you take a step back and really breathe in the moment, this may be the only time in your life that you're able to have this motherly role, even if they aren't your kids.

The microwave beeped and you shook the bottles, handing each one to the littles, watching as the half-hazardly drank the bottles. You felt a joy spark in your chest, enjoying this time with them despite the trouble they cause.

And here you thought they were troublesome as adults. Jokes on you.

You sat down at the breakfast bar as you waited, your mind drifting to distant memories.

"Y/N!!!" You could hear Soap's voice as you fell to your knees clutching your shoulder in pain. Removing your hand, you saw the blood seeping into the cotton material of your uniform. The sounds of warfare around you felt muffled as the pain radiated through your body from the gunshot wound.

You leaned on your hand to steady yourself, trying to breathe through the pain as the sound of skidding sounded in your ears. Looking up, you saw Soap sliding over to you, firing to cover you. "Get on my back! We gotta get ya outta here lass!" You moved slowly, trying to stay off your right arm. You winced as you climbed onto his back, squeezing your legs to keep yourself up as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

He had carried you out of the fire into a safe house not too far away as he immediately performed first aid to your shoulder. You remember the way he remained calm when his face was in your eyeline, but you could watch his muscles tense as he worried about your state.

The memory made you smile. Soap was always there for you, like he had eyes in the back of his head. Anytime you got hurt out in the field, he was worrying himself sick. He cared so much, and had such a big heart of gold.

"How dare you?!" You laughed, slamming down your Uno cards.

Gaz taunted you as he celebrated his win. You two were in a tent on a mission trying to boost both of your morales. Uno was your favorite game, but he was too good at it for your own good. No matter how strategic you were, he would always win.

Gaz was like that at every game, the rest of the team dreading game nights. Once in awhile though, you'd catch him letting you win because he enjoyed seeing you rub it in everyone's faces. It brought him joy to see you smile, so if he had to take a loss, he would.

You heard a whine as Soap finished his bottle. The other two boys were still working on theirs, so you went to go wash out the empty one.

"Ghost! How copy?" Your voice was panicked as you frantically looked around Las Almas. You were completely separated from Soap and Ghost. Soap had ended up around two miles from you, but Ghost wouldn't come through the radio. It had you so anxious you were going to be sick.

"Soap, do you have visual on Ghost?"

"No," his voice was strained from his shot wound. "There's a church about halfway between us, let's meet there and regroup."

For the next hour and some, you and Soap worked together to find a church, and when you did, Soap was already there. You rushed to him, relief washing over you until you heard a familiar hum.

Turning around, you say Ghost. "Don't fucking scare me like that ever again!" You punched his chest. "I thought you were dead!" You were angry with him, trying to land a hard hit on him.

He grabbed his arms and wrapped them around his waist as he silently brought you into an embrace. You cried into his chest as he brushed his hand over your head, the other drawing shapes into your back. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easy." He let out.

"You scared me so bad, I thought I lost you." You said through sobs.

"You'll never lose me."

Once the boys were finished with their bottles, you washed everything out and put the boys in some fresh clothes. You had decided you were going to take them out as you needed more supplies.

Maybe you'd stop by a park on the far end of town so they could get some fresh air too.

And everything had gone according to plan while you were out.

You even stopped to get ice cream, giving the boys a bite or two each of your own cup.

The day was full of fun and laughter, the sun was bright and the boys were well-behaved.

When you arrived back to base, you opened your door and set your bags down and put the boys in their playpen when you heard someone clear their throat.

"Y/N..." You turned around to greet the person in your room.

"Laswell, what's wrong?" You saw the solemn look ridden on her face.

"It's John, we need to talk about him."

You had brought her into the kitchen of the compound, brewing some coffee as you both sat down. "I don't really wish to talk about him right now." You said as you scoot your chair in.

"I know what happened, he told me everything. But, there's something you need to know. I know where he is, and I'm worried about him." She looked at you, silently asking you to hear her out. "I know he's not your favorite person but-"

"He disregarded my sexual assault in Dubai and prevented me from reporting it and when I called him out, he walked out on me. On top on everything else he's done, of course he's not my favorite person, he never has been." You were already fired up.

"I know what he did. I found him yesterday in his office, passed out drunk. He had your file pulled up on his computer. When I finally got him up and had him sober up, he spilled everything. He was crying. John doesn't cry Y/N." Laswell was trying to get to you through your emotions. You weren't falling for that.

"Why would I give a shit?"

"I've never seen you this fired up over him, there's something you're not telling me." That motherly tone is back. Your mind went to his kind smile, the gentle look in his eyes.

"He let me in." Your voice was quiet.

"Excuse me?!"

"When I brought the boys to him, hoping to find some help or answers, he wasn't the man I've come to know through my time of service. He wasn't Captain Price anymore, I saw John. He was kind and warm and gentle. He was sweet to me and helped with the boys, always letting me rest. I saw his smile, and the look in his eyes was unlike anything I've seen before. I've had a glimpse and now I'll never see it again." You felt hot tears sting your cheeks.

"I wouldn't say that." Laswell shook her head. "There is so much you don't know about him dear, you should go talk to him."

"I can't even look at him after he walked out."

"Give him a chance to explain himself." Laswell put her hand on yours. "Let him tell you for himself."

Your eyes widened at the gesture. "Tell me what?"

"What's got him so in his head. Please." She begged you to go see your Captain in his office. After some convincing and more tears, you finally gave in, just to get her off of you.

Your footsteps were loud in your ears as you approached his door, knocking lightly. There was no response. You slowly turned the doorknob, entering the room, closing the door behind you.

You froze at the sight before you. There were files all over his desk, most of them with your name on it. Your Captain was sitting with his head in his hands. "Captain?" Your voice was meek.

His head shot up, wide eyes staring into you. You could see the bags under his eyes, his eyes red from crying. He had a bottle of bourbon on his desk, only a droplet or two left in it. "Laswell said you had something to tell me." You said, not wanting to make anymore eye contact.

He remained silent, the room thick with it. You heard him stand from his chair, but you remained with your gaze on your shoes. "I-" He began. "I won you the case."

That's when your head snapped up. "What?"

"The Dubai case. With that guy. I, uh, I filed everything together and he's being put in jail."

You were confused. "You're 3 years too late."

"It's taken me three years." His words cut you deep. "I went straight to Shephard and Laswell when we got back from the mission. I filed a case against him in your name."

You stood dumbfounded. "That doesn't explain the way you reacted, nor the way you walked out on me." You were still hurt. You couldn't forgive him.

"Understandable." He sniffled as he began to fiddle with the files on his desk. "There's no excuse for the way I reacted, but you do deserve an explanation." He cleared his throat and looked up at you. When you didn't say anything, he continued. "When you came to me about it, at first I didn't think anything of it. I had a lot of female soldiers doing that to me that trip just so they could get sent home early or get a fat check. I caught them lying and they'd immediately back down. My mind told me you were doing the same thing." He takes in a shaky breath. "That was until I came to find you one morning and caught you changing. You were putting your shirt on when I saw your bruising. It looked like you had been beaten, I watched your walls come up that day and I watched you cower into a shell of yourself. That's when I know you were telling the truth."

"Why didn't you say anything?" You spoke up.

He sighed and took a second to collect himself, on the verge of tears. "I knew the statistics of women winning these types of cases, especially with the lack of proof. I snuck pictures of you to document your marks, and I asked every soldier I could to find a witness. No one came forward. The case would've never won, and I knew that. That's why I never said anything to you, I couldn't stand to watch you feel the pain of not getting the justice you deserved. Shephard and Laswell told me how poor the evidence was, and the three of us spent years trying to dig up anything we could." He paused, pulling out a piece of paper. "6 months ago, a witness came forward. That put the case over the edge and we won. I found out this morning."

You scanned the paper, the woman was a victim of the same man, same situation. Reading over it, you related to every word. This woman won you the case. "So what's your reasoning behind you being an asshole the entire time I've worked with you? Even as a Lieutenant yourself, you were always an asshole to me."

Price sighs, then walks around his desk to face you. "I was angry. All these years, I've been angry. Before my promotion, when I met you, you were just a Sergeant. I watched you in the field and around the male soldiers and I felt angry. I knew you'd be a problem and I knew I'd have to deal with it."

"Then why did you invite me to join the 141?" You were confused.

"The anger only multiplied when your case came to be, I was angry at the thought you'd lose and the son of a bitch who hurt you would still be loose to hurt others. I've been angry with you all these years because I knew one of these days, I'd run the risk of losing my rank." Price took a step towards you. "I was angry at the thought of losing you."

You continued to stare at him in confusion. "What're you on about?"

"I would never be able to have you the way I want, it'd be frowned upon." Your eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" You took a step backwards as his hand cupped your face.

"You haunt me. Your smile, your eyes. The way you laugh from your chest. My dreams are littered with images of you, reminding me of what I can't have."

"Why can't you 'have me'? I'm on your squad?" You were oblivious to his insinuations, confused as could be.

"Because I could never ask you to love a man you hate."

His words shook you to your core. "I love you Y/N, I have since I found you out in that shack in the mountains abandoned by your unit. I love the way you effortlessly care for others, the way your perfume lingers in a room. As soon as I thought I had suppressed by feelings, you show up at my door with three children. Yes, they're our coworkers, but I couldn't help but see the big picture. I see the way you interact with them, the way you molded into this figure that had nothing but admiration and love. It was so different from the woman I know in the field, the woman behind the rank."

He was staring into your eyes when it all hit you.

The way you played images of him shirtless that one night you opened the door, his kind smile, his gentle eyes. The way you dreamed of him in the kitchen cooking for you.

You loved him too.

You glanced down to his lips and without another word, John pulled you into a kiss. Your lips molded into his, his kiss warm and passionate. He kissed you like he'd never get to again.

The kiss slowed down time, and all you could think of was his hands holding you tightly against him like you'd disappear if he let go.

"John..." You said as you backed away. "I love you too, I've missed you." He kissed you again before sliding his hand down to hold yours.

"Let's go home."

The ride was silent back to the compound, even as you both approached your room. Laswell left with a nod and a wink to you.

You thanked your lucky stars you listened to her.

All three boys looked up at John from the playpen, wide eyed. Gaz began to cry as John swooped him up and comforted him. "They missed you too. It was tough doing this alone."

"I'm so sorry I walked out, I should've told you then and there, stayed around."

"You're here now." You smiled up at him as he leaned in to plant yet another kiss to your lips. You giggled as you heard Gaz giggle and Soap and Ghost let out little babbles and flailed their arms in excitement. John chuckled too.

"Do you think they saw this coming?" He asked.

"Probably." You moved to go change into your pajamas, John doing the same. Coming out of his bathroom, you saw him shirtless and wearing his signature flannel pants. You took in a deep breath.

"Like the view? Cause, I'm loving mine. C'mere." John sat on the edge of his bed as his hands ran over your thighs. "Do you feel comfortable sleeping here? Or do you still want the couch?"

You thought for a moment. "Can I have one more night on the couch?"

"Whatever makes you feel at home." John smiled as he crawled back into bed, wishing you a goodnight.

You smiled back as you climbed under the blankets on the couch. As much as you wanted to sleep next to him, it was intimidating for you. You needed to muster up the courage to be that close to him like that.

For now, you were just happy you found your feelings for him and you learned how his behavior all these years was because he was fighting for your honor.

You had John back, and that's all you could ask for.

[luna-rainbow]

i saw someone recently say that they preferred sambucky over stevebucky (either platonic or romantic tbh) because they felt bucky was happier not living under the shadow of his former self? suggesting that he intentionally spent most of him time post winter soldier away from steve because he didn't want to be compared to a former version of himself that he couldn't return to? I'm a big lover of stevebucky so the idea that steve wouldn't be able to stop comparing (even if subconsciously) post-ws bucky to pre-ws bucky made me question the ship slightly? or that bucky was actually happier without steve in the readjustment process bc he could become his own person without preconceived ideas of what he should be like hanging over his head. I've read a few fics about this and i kinda wanted to know what u thought - would steve's knowledge of the old bucky affect their relationship so negatively that bucky would be happier alone/with people unfamiliar with who he was before (sorry for the rambling question)

Thank you lovely for the very interesting ask! I love these kind of hypotheticals!

First and foremost, don't ever let anyone convince you that you're only allowed to ship one pairing. A lot of people DO only ship one ship, and kudos to them, but you are not a bad fan if you want to ship Bucky with multiple people. Heck, I got into Stucky via Sambucky, and uh…anyway, here I am.

The idea that "Bucky stayed away from Steve because he didn't want to be compared to old Bucky" is one of my favourite angsty "loss of innocence" tropes to explore -- because yes, that's going to be one of Bucky's major insecurities after the Winter Soldier. He isn't the same person as before and no matter how hard he tries, he's never going to go back to who he was before.

The absolutely fascinating part, then, is how a fanfic writer decides to address this. So yeah, I can see this as the jumping board for a SamBucky story (or any other non Stucky ship).

But this is also a concept that not only fits in well within the Stucky fanon/narrative, it's also crucial to explore in order to bring the two of them back together. How does Steve accept that Bucky has changed, and how does Bucky come to trust that Steve accepts this changed version of him?

The answer is, for me, this is Steve we're talking about. Steve with all his tenacity and empathy and loyalty. This is Steve who's known Bucky since childhood, who probably knows Bucky better than the current Bucky remembers himself. This is also a Steve has fought one of the bloodiest wars in history. He is young, but he's not naive. The people of his time didn't have the right words for it - but he has seen a lot of mental health issues on the field. He's come out on the other end of the war still believing in the goodness of humans (his "I'm willing to bet I'm not" speech), so I have no doubt he will look at Bucky and see that -- yeah, you've changed, you've had terrible things happen to you for well over half a century, but you are also still the same kind soul that I grew up with, and that kindness is what's most important; I can still see him in you, even if you are different, and I believe you deserve all the love I can give you.

And you know what, there IS canon evidence that Steve believes in Bucky, believes in the goodness that couldn't be burned away with 70 years of brainwashing. Sam saying to Steve - (Bucky) isn't the kind you save and he won't know you - and Steve replying without an ounce of doubt in his voice, "He will." Or Steve going after Bucky to save him from the SIT because "he'd have done the same for me".

I think another crux is that recent gif set - the "I'm following the little guy from Brooklyn" speech. That was a vow - it was Bucky saying "I loved you (platonically/romantically/wte) when you were a poor disabled scruffy kid in the dumps, and I will love you just the same even if you're a buff blue-eyed Adonis." Their story, as always, encircles each other's - it is now Steve's turn to say "I loved you when you were a nerdy protective flirt and I will love you just the same even if you're disabled and scruffy and dealing with horrendous PTSD". I think that vow also highlights just how important Steve was, even at that point, to Bucky, which means…their loyalty will always draw them back to each other. Once Bucky sees Steve has faith in him, he will have faith in himself to rebuild his identity in a way that's true to him.

It really depends on the writer, but most versions I’ve seen in which Steve and Bucky separate (over this issue) write Steve as either obtuse, selfish or emotionally immature…which is not how I read him to be. I think he has the emotional maturity to accept that Bucky will have similarities but will also have stark differences to who he once was...but then, time leaves its mark on everyone it touches, not just Bucky (I kinda touched on that concept on my "Learning to Want" fic *self plug*). It's a rough road and on some days there's going to be more setbacks than progress, and yeah on some days Steve is going to get frustrated and upset and maybe even a little defeatist, but I think both he and Bucky have that tenacious survivor streak in them that will pull them through, especially if they're together.

[whataboutsimple]

I can just see domino effect play out starting from when Gabriel meets Hadrian and Romeo. Romeo’s got no admin powers but he’s still an evil gremlin and Hadrian just escaped with Mevia. In walks in Gabriel who helps them and tries to get them to go good and then they both fall in love separately (Mevia is totally teasing Hadrian). Gabriel then reunites with Ivor, the two catch up and Gabriel talks about the people he met and formed a crush on and the names mentioned made Ivor spat out his drink and do a double take; “S-sorry… I think I misheard or perhaps I’m mistaking someone else who shares the same name. You said that you like Hadrian and Romeo?” “Yes, I did. Hadrian is a skilled builder, it amazes me how fast he can build with the resources he has and while Romeo is quite dramatic, he’s also funny at times.” “… Gabriel?” “Yes?” “THOSE PEOPLE ARE DANGEROUS!!!” “What? But they’re very nice and give great hugs. Sure they can be violent at times but they’re not too bad.”

Ivor flips his cauldron in sheer anger shock and disbelief and the protective instinct he thought had died in him cracked up through the roof. He’s shaking Gabriel, trying to convince him that these men are people he should stay away from but poor Gabriel and his darn optimistic golden retriever personality thinks that they’re alright and can improve which only makes Ivor panic and dread even more. He knows for a fact that this is a result of the order because Gabriel wasn’t like this and now that he’s left without supervision he got mixed into a bad crowd and Ivor is berating himself for thinking that Gabriel would remain the sanest, he was so wrong.

And so Ivor drags Gabriel to Beacontown and calls an emergency meeting with Ellegard/Magnus, Jesse’s gang, Harper, Otto and Xara to discuss the problem and needless to say, everyone lost it. Petra is in disbelief and denial, ready to shank a man, Axel and Olivia are completely baffled because why Gabriel?! Why those two?! There are better fish in the sea that give better hugs! Lukas is watching this all unfurl, gobsmacked and shaking unable to get everyone to calm down, Jesse’s trying to stop the old order from going on a killing spree, Harper and Otto are worried and Xara who started believing that there’s food in the world again, took one look at Gabriel, the man who somehow reminds her too much of her friend Fred and goes, “Alright, screw it. I’m going to murder Romeo. Who wants to join me?”

“I’m gonna make them regret getting close to my innocent boy!”

“Ivor I’m around the same age as you!”

“No, no, absolutely not! I am not letting those guys even lay a hand on my dad!”

“Wait, dad?”

The commotion gets so loud other people hear it and subsequently started freaking out because what the heck Gabriel. And later on, in the depths of the end Soren has been training the enderman to pick up more blocks, picked up a paper from an enderman who brought it alongside the block and screamed across the dimension, “GABRIEL HAS A CRUSH ON WHO?!?!”

Dear Anon, I don't know who you are, I don't know why you doing with, and I don't know what did I do to deserve this, but two things I know for sure: THIS IS PURE PERFECTION AND I LOVE YOU!!

My poor pillow got beaten up while I was reading this bc it's freaking funny, hilarious, silly and so on, and on, and on!

At this point I really think that Hadrian and Romeo are the ones who's in danger because- look at the gang. They aren't joking. Someone's going to be murdered.

It's also funny how I've come from talking about RomeoXGabriel with @yourdarlingwarrior to talking about polycule between Hadrian, Gabriel and Romeo with you. When I joined the fandom, I couldn't imagine I would have a chance to even open my mouth abt something like that.

And Soren's screams in the End are pick of humor. Old man hoped at least one of his friends kept his mind, but no, no he didn't. Oh gosh, what have he done?

You know what else is funny? How those two gremlins probably will do everything in their power to annoy each other. They both have "god-complex" and whole Gabriel is someone who gives them "admiration and attention they deserve", for each other they are more like.. "Who is this fool trying to imitate my greatness? And what is he doing near MY diamond admirer?"

But since Gabriel loves them both, they can't hurt each other bc he'll get sad. What now? Of course they will piss each other off.

"Wdym your house was blown up? Idk watcha talking abt."

"Huh? What was that? You fell into the hole full of slimes? Aw, poor thing."

And so on.

So our golden retriever wet puppy dog Gabriel sits there, pets his doggy (who's name prob Lucky or smth) and talks to Nurm cause he's the only one who kept his sanity unlike others (Jack lost it after Petra told him what's going on cause "THIS? THIS RED MAN? GABRIEL, I THOUGHT YOU WERE A SMART WARRIOR-").

Pure chaos. We can see here pure chaos of a big and strange family, chat. I will never get tired of talking abt them.

Anon, have my best wishes, good day/night, luck of life and ect. because I love you!

[edwardallenpoe]

Hey. Just wanted to put my two cents in, like everyone else on Tumblr dot com is. (It got pretty long so putting it under a cut)

I don't really care about what you think should happen to the fandom. Like. If you are going to continue to engage in the fandom without giving Neil any sort of gain is fine. I'm personally still on the fence on what the fuck to do now. But let's not make that the whole focus, yeah? What Neil allegedly did was fucking terrible. Like. Objectively worse than what JKR did when things first came out about her. Let's forget good omens and sandman and coraline for a minute (don't care if you still engage with those things or burn your copies and remove your tattoos, let's just put it down for a minute.) and try really hard to think. Because we all hated JKR. We burned her reputation to the ground. For good reason. But we can't even decide if we hate Neil Gaiman yet? Guys. Please. We have to believe all women. Plus he's a rich fucking white dude who has admitted to using his power for gain.

And if it turns out (which this is a 8% chance) that this is all not what it seems to be, or even all of it is fabricated, and Neil is innocent, we still gotta stop worshipping this dude. This has got to be a wakeup call that he's not some Messiah. He's a human dude in power who does the same shitty things human dudes in power do.

And I get it. You want to continue to like your stories that he helped create (key-word 'helped' bc he was a part of a team with a lot of these stories, including Sir Terry Pratchett) but me personally? I would be a massive hypocrite if I metaphorically burned my Harry Potter stories to the ground and put HP fans in my DNI because of JKR but said "separate the art from the artist" with Neil Gaiman.

And this is coming from any other Good Omens fan that became way too attached to the story. Like a lot of people have said that story helped in very. Very fucking trying times. It was my rock, some days the only thing keeping me going. The fandom has been an amazing place of creativity and community and love.

But so was Harry Potter. If you think about it. If any Good Omens fans were previous Harry Potter fans you'll know just how wide spread and open and creative and deep the hp fandom was. And this may just be me misremembering because it was a couple years ago at this point (plus everything with Neil Gaiman is still such news) but because JKR was spouting rhetoric that directly harmed us (us being majority queer and poc people) we drop-kicked hp pretty fast and focused on the artist and her shittiness.

Can we have the same attitude towards Neil? Can we separate the art from the artist long enough to fucking focus on Neil? When I say separate the art from the artist I don't mean "remove artist, continue to enjoy art" I mean "remove the art and focus on the artist, and study that motherfucker". How many video essays are their out about JKR? How many books referencing her terribleness? Without giving so much as a hint to Harry Potter?

Separate the art from the artist and focus on the artist and bringing him to justice. And believe the victims.

And yeah I can see your arguments against the source of the information and who the victims went to tell their stories, I can understand those arguments, but let's look at the data, okay? Let's look at what Scarlett and K actually said with their actual words and their actual messages and separate the source from the material. What Scarlett and K talked about is scary. Terrifying. I couldn't even read more than a little bit before I got triggered. I wasn't caring about how the source podcast was talking about it. What Scarlett and K said with their own words should be enough. Make your own judgements. If you can't look at a story without being influenced by the storyteller's hidden agenda and not have critical thinking skills????? I'm sorry but that's going to be your downfall.

Or better yet, if you can't believe victims because they have political views that differ from your own (which, they probably don't. From what I can tell nobody really fucking knows what Scarlett and K's political views are but it doesn't really matter) you need to really study and look into what you mean when you call yourself a "leftist". Because it's not very progressive or helpful to not believe or help victims because of their political views. Sorry. Is that wild for me to say? Idk

Uh anyways. I don't really care what you do in your free time when it comes to enjoying the fandoms. I don't necessarily think it makes you a terribly shitty person for still engaging in it instead of burning all your Neil Gaiman stories, and also like a lot of people have said (and since I'm on the same boat) treating fans like the scum of the earth when a lot of fans have had good omens as a way to escape and has become super dependent on good omens and are justifiably horrified by everything and trying to ignore it is shitty. But I'm personally going to continue to follow this story because I care about the victims. Not because I want to be guilt-free reading a fanfic about an angel and a demon. Because I care about real life people.

[voidedaurora]

You're literally a massive hypocrite, "she shouldnt send her massive fanbase after me" you started the whole call out thing PUBICALLY shes allowed to finish it PUBLICALLY so people can stop fucking harassing her. youre fucking insane

Very kind wording there's a difference between making a callout for things like ENDANGERING/FLIRTING WITH MINORS, her lying about the doc, etc. things that need to be publicly addressed, and her putting out private things that have absolutely nothing to do with the situation, her innocence, or ANYTHING. the only thing I brought to the public that is arguably "unnecessary" would be the Sexual Abuse stuff, though this was out of the fact I'd wanted some closure on all of that since I couldn't talk to her directly about it . She wouldn't be getting "harassed" if she weren't such a rotten individual, hurting everyone around her and rathering blame things on others and distract from her own wrongdoings than admit her wrongs and try and be better.

She is entitled to defend herself or "finish it off" but her outing private convos and vents isn't either of those things and has absolutely nothing to do with ANYTHING, its pointless petty jabs to try and make me lose credibility/look bad. I don't believe she's actually disproven anything from the main claims I've made against her :/ she just is allowed to go "nuh uh" to the things I, and others, have pointed out and brought to light without showing a shred of relevant evidence to prove this. - Anyway, In light of the recent stuff she's been putting out about me and for my own mental health and safety I'm going to be checking out of this situation and stopping my involvement in it. She's clearly willing to show whatever private and irrelevant stuff she has access to, venting/sensitive topics or not, to get her way, I don't want to feed her hate boner for me any-more than it already is and I do NOT want my private thoughts and feelings I was struggling with to be further outted by her. The things she's shown were between Clover , Her, and I PRIVATELY to be discussed, not shared around to prove some unimportant and unrelated claim she made up.

I was not a great person back around 2023-early 2024 as clearly evident in the priv convos she's shared, and I'm still not the best but I'm trying my damn hardest at the moment to be better, and do better. I'm not going anywhere but I'm going to be archiving all the posts related to Quartelz and her misdeeds on a separate tumblr. I've done what I made the callout for and beyond already so its up to all of you to make your judgments now So she cant lie ab shit and be like "see ! I tried to contact voided... she had me blocked!" as of (6:50pm 12/27/24) I have her blocked on discord, not like she was ever gonna reach out and talk about this maturely anyway. TLDR: This isn't hypocrisy bc some callouts need to be made, such as her interactions with minors, stuff to do with the doc she "wrote", etc. Her "callouts" for me so far have just been petty personal things she's aired out because she can </3 NON ABUSIVE relationship problems and private venting are NOT things that need to be "called out" I'm stepping away from addressing the situation and will be archiving all the posts on a separate tumblr. don't forget what she HAS done

[genocidehim]

Can you make a part 2 for nacho falling in love with Lalo’s wife!!!

PS: I loved the first one 💙💙

TROPHY WIFE

part. 1 here

notes: Keep in mind that this part is directly related to bcs and the episode of Something Unforgivable, the facts will try to be as canon as possible, but I will change a lot of things. words: 2143

"Hay un portón en la parte de atrás del lugar de Salamanca. A las tres de la mañana esta noche quítale el candado. Ábrelo, lárgate de ahí"

Nacho spent the whole day pondering the instructions given in that unknown call. He knew they were direct orders from Fring, and he sensed that he would do something when Lalo was more vulnerable, and his house was the perfect place. Nacho seemed to agree with that plan and even looked forward to the night, but there was a major inconvenience: You were in the house along with a bunch of other innocent people.

No matter what Nacho said or asked, he knew he wouldn't have a chance to get you out of that situation because, unfortunately, you were also a Salamanca and a potential victim of Fring's plans.

Even though you and Nacho had only had some silly flirting and slightly heated words, neither of you believed the other was interested, so there was only a sort of odd friendship between you. But you had already wormed your way into Nacho's heart, and he was enchanted by you.

He was restless throughout the day as he thought and thought about that situation. He couldn't find a fair solution that would only involve Lalo's death and not yours. He trembled with fear at the mere thought of you getting hurt because of Fring's plans, and the fear of you dying was much stronger than Nacho's desire to see Lalo dead.

Nacho needed to find a quick solution, and as the sky grew darker, he felt panic and dread flood his body.

"What ghost did you see? You're all shaky." you said as you approached Nacho and gave him a big smile.

Nacho had been lost in his own world since morning and hadn't noticed that you had just returned from the horse stable. You were slightly sweaty from taking care of the horses all morning.

"I think I'm just a little hot. It's quite sunny today" Nacho managed to look good, but he had that worried face as always.

"In Albuquerque it's not sunny or what? Man... you're a softie, you need to get some good sun in Mexico".

Nacho felt his heart beat faster as he saw how your relationship had become so strong and trusting. He adored how you treated him so naturally and enjoyed your sincere words. He couldn't imagine not hearing from you again; he didn't want to.

"I'll have time to get used to it."

Before you could respond with a tease, Lalo's voice in the distance caught both of your attention. "¡Ignacio, ven y ayúdame a reparar una cosa por acá!"

"I'm sorry, Lalo needs me..."

"It's okay, go," you smiled in response, but before he left, you took his arm and held him back for a second. "Lalo will have dinner at the house tonight... You should come down and eat with us. I'd like to have you at dinner."

The way you looked at him made Nacho's heart melt, and guilt struck harder in his chest.

"I will. Save a seat for me next to you."

Nacho bid you goodbye for the moment and went to help Lalo with cleaning the engine of his Montecarlo while trying to keep his mind clear and come up with an effective solution for what would happen that night.

It was already quite late, almost two-thirty in the morning, when Nacho remained awake and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He was desperate and paced back and forth in the kitchen, debating whether he should continue with the plan or sabotage everything. But it was impossible for him to think clearly when he knew that if he didn't act quickly, he would die that night too.

Nacho decided to stick to the plan and open the gate of the house. He managed to cut a tin can and took small pieces to pick the lock. After checking the time on the kitchen clock, Nacho headed to the backyard, and before he could react, he found himself face to face with Lalo in front of the bonfire, drinking a beer. Ignacio sweated and hid the pieces of tin in his pockets when he saw Lalo invite him to sit beside him.

"Take a seat."

Nacho sat on the wooden chair next to the bonfire, feeling his heart pound forcefully in his chest. Lalo grabbed a beer and offered it to him, looking somewhat calmer than usual.

"Are you still hungry?" Lalo spoke with a playful tone in his voice.

"No, it was a good dinner" Ignacio replied as he took a sip of the beer and tried to loosen the knot in his throat.

Lalo laughed in response and kept watching Nacho with some joy in his eyes. He was really starting to like him.

"She really knows how to keep a man at the table, huh?" Lalo mentioned you, and something inside Nacho made him feel awful knowing that you were asleep upstairs. "I never understood why she enjoys having dinner together so much, but if it makes her happy, well…"

Nacho couldn't understand how Lalo was incapable of understanding you. Was his ego so big that it prevented him from seeing beyond his own desires? It was obvious that you enjoyed having dinner with everyone for the feeling of being in someone's company.

"She must be a family-oriented woman…"

"She was like that when I first met her, but I think she no longer sees her family... They hate her for marrying a narco. Ugh, son puras pendejadas de la plebe" Lalo revealed as he scratched his mustache with his finger, apparently feeling confident enough to talk to Nacho about you.

Lalo wasn't even aware that you had no contact with your family because of him, and he had no interest in acknowledging that simple fact. He probably imagined that you were fine with the whole situation.

"She's somewhat lonely" Lalo continued. "I'm not complaining. She's quite intelligent and a good wife. I couldn't ask for a better woman than her, but she's somewhat... complicated, you know?"

Nacho tried to hide his expression of disgust and shook his head.

"You know, she demands a lot of attention... Sometimes she seems like a child" Lalo shrugged and took a sip of his beer. "She should have friends and go out or something, but she's at home all day waiting for me to return."

"I imagine it must be difficult for her to have friends while being your wife... right?"

Lalo observed Nacho for a moment and paused to silently contemplate what he had said.

"It could be... Maybe she's just as distrustful as I am and finds it hard to trust other people" Lalo smiled as he reached the conclusion that you were as reserved as he was. It only made him feel more secure to have you by his side. "But it seems like she really likes you."

Those words made Nacho's skin crawl. Was Lalo aware of the strange friendship you two had?

"I'm glad she gets along with you. Maybe someday you can introduce her to those pretty girlfriends you have, and she can make some real friends."

Lalo laughed at his own comment, and Nacho tried to play along while realizing that Lalo didn't suspect or feel threatened by his presence with you. Lalo's ego was probably so big that he couldn't feel jealous of Nacho. Or perhaps he trusted you too much and your loyalty to him.

Suddenly, Lalo fell silent and sat up straight in his chair, appearing attentive and alert. Nacho swallowed hard and quickly glanced at his phone to check the time: 3:37. He had missed the deadline to open the gate.

"Did you hear that noise?"

Nacho remained silent and looked towards the gate he was supposed to open thirty minutes ago. Lalo noticed that Nacho also sensed something was wrong and decided to focus all his attention on that spot.

Nacho felt out of himself. He had lost the opportunity to escape; he should have left before Lalo had kept him entertained. But he couldn't blame him. When the memory of the dinner with you invaded his mind, he became lost and forgot about everything else.

"Someone is stepping on the leaves outside…" Nacho whispered, pretending surprise.

"Chingad-… Go call Miguel and tell him to get the boys ready."

Nacho nodded and stood up from the chair. But before he could take another step, Lalo mentioned you, "Go to her and make sure nothing happens to her. Grab the revolver on the nightstand next to my bed and protect her."

The orders were clear, and Nacho felt a great relief knowing that he could ensure nothing happened to you. He quickly ran towards the house and informed Lalo's guards to be on alert for his instructions. Nacho began to climb the stairs of the house towards the master bedroom…

Ignacio hesitated, his hand on the doorknob, unsure if he should enter or not. He didn't know how you would react to being approached by him in the middle of the night. But when gunshots started ringing outside the house, he hurriedly pushed the door open and closed it behind him. He went straight to the nightstand next to your bed and searched for Lalo's revolver.

"Ignacio…?" Your sleepy voice snapped him out of his trance and made him look directly at you.

Nacho almost let out a sigh as he saw you in soft, almost transparent pajamas. Although he wished he could admire you in detail, he quickly reloaded the revolver.

"You have to stand up…. They are attacking the hacienda".

Your look of terror became more pronounced as you heard the sound of bullets and the noise of the garden's metal gates opening.

"Where's Eduardo?!"

"He's downstairs. He asked me to keep you here..." Nacho approached the bed and helped you get up. "I need you to stay behind me at all times... Is there a bathroom here?"

You nodded, trembling, and pointed shakily to the bathroom next to the bed.

"Good. Listen... Go into the bathroom and stay there while I guard the entrance, alright?"

"W-What?! I don't want to be alone, please... Come with me."

Fear flooded your body with each noise from outside. The sound of gunfire and Lalo's men shouting made your body tremble with fear. Nacho noticed this and felt his heart constrict. It was the first time he had seen you in such a vulnerable state, and a sense of protectiveness grew within him.

"Alright... Let's go to the bathroom, but listen to me: if they manage to enter, I will have to go out, but you have to hide. I will try to buy you some time to escape and find a hiding place."

"But Ignaci-"

"Only if they manage to enter... Come, follow me."

Nacho offered you his hand, and you held it tightly as he guided you to the bathroom in the room. Once inside, he locked the door and stood in the middle of the room, still holding your hand tightly. With each sound of gunfire, the tension between both of you grew, and terror filled the dark bathroom. You couldn't see much, and the only sense of security you had was the warmth provided by his strong hand.

"Nacho…" your whispering voice called to him, and he turned to see your frightened face in the darkness, trying to make out your features.

"Stay calm… Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let anything happen to you."

"And Lalo?"

"Lalo will be fine… You are the priority now."

Those words struck deep within you. The way Nacho was trying to make you feel safe and prioritizing your well-being, it all made you feel… important.

You were his priority. He was looking out for your safety and making sure you felt good by his side. The sensation of his hand holding you tightly, how his entire demeanor was focused on keeping you protected… And even though the situation was terrifying, you felt an incredible sense of happiness.

As the sound of bullets intensified, you moved closer to Nacho and wrapped your arms around his torso, seeking some security in his touch. Nacho felt his heart skip a beat as you got so close, but he remained steadfast for you. He enveloped you with one arm while holding the revolver with his other hand.

When the noise and gunpowder ceased, a sense of calm seemed to settle over the hacienda, and all you could hear was the sound of your heart pounding in your chest.

Both of you heard a knock on the bathroom door, and Lalo's voice seeped through. Ignacio quickly opened the door, revealing a tired Lalo with dirt on his clothes, completely sweaty.

Nacho let go of you, and he watched as you ran towards your husband, embracing him tightly while Lalo reciprocated and reassured you.

He felt empty, but he couldn't say anything about it.

[bubble-popping]

day 49 :D shorter today than 'usual' bc the next ones are gonna be crazy (i think)

Honestly, Dream knew his life was over the second he felt that rope around his ankle. It was a good trap. Hidden by leaves and sticks that Dream never would've looked twice at. In his defense, that chase had been going on for days. He couldn't even stop to catch his breath. That damn wolf hybrid was relentless. Speaking of...

His name was Punz--that was what he heard from one of the other bounty hunters anyway--and he looked to be snoozing away in a chair across from Dream's cell.

They also weren't just any bounty hunter. They were a hunter that worked for those fucking human purists. People that wanted those like Dream and Punz to die. Dream knew that symbol on their necks well, that it meant to get the hell out of dodge and never look back.

"How can you live with yourself?" Dream muttered. "What happened to hybrid solidarity?"

One blue eye cracked open and a brow raised, ears perking. "What are you talking about?"

"We should be sticking together! Not hunting each other. I'm not your enemy, they are!"

He sat up a little straighter, both eyes open now. "I don't care about all that political nonsense. They give me a job and I do it. Simple as that."

"Political nonsense? Innocent people are dying because of them, there's nothing political about it! If we all just banded together-"

"Band together? That's prey animal shit." They relaxed back in the chair, retrieving a knife from a sheath at their hip to mindlessly observe.

"What?? Wolves are pack animals!"

"Not me. Don't need one."

"Wha... Okay, what about your family? What if-what if you were given a job to-to kill your parents?"

"Heh," they laughed, smirking, "I did that for free."

"Then... then what your siblings? Wolves have litters of like ten-"

"Wrong again. I was the only one that survived."

He spoke so... so calmly. Completely nonchalant, not a single care or tear shed.

"So, you have no family? Any friends?"

"What do you think?" Punz spared him a glance, more focused on twirling the dagger around their fingers.

"That. That's so sad. Aren't you lonely?"

"Feeling sorry for myself doesn't pay the bills or put food on the table."

There was clearly no getting through to them. Dream just couldn't believe it, not a single word they said. Those purists must've taken advantage of his unfortunate situation and brainwashed him, that must be the reason. Nothing made sense, otherwise. What kind of hybrid would betray their own kind?

"Then... what's your job now?"

The knife paused, blade caught between his middle and ring fingers. "Making sure you behave."

[halliescomut]

LITA (jpn) Episode 1 Feelings

I watched the first ep of the Japanese LITA and I kinda wanna talk about it. I absolutely love the OG. It is probably one of my top 5 Thai BLs and top 10 BLs overall. I know and recognize the problematic tropes that Mame is known for using, but I think that overall the ones she brought into LITA were handled remarkably well.

But that penchant for using iffy tropes makes her work a bit scary to adapt I think. I am and will continue to be nervous over how they handle Sky's story, because that is where you have kind of the biggest pitfalls. Rain and Payu's story has some potential hurdles, but since kinda the main issue for it in the OG is how the D/s dynamic is handled (not well bc Mame doesn't really know how to handled it super well) and is that going to be exacerbated or improved in the Japanese adaptation? I'm only on episode one, so I couldn't really say. We'll really have to see how things play out in episode two to know, I think.

I know some people had very strong reactions (some very wrong- I'm looking at you the 'Payu's actor doesn't look like a top' people) to the casting announcements for the adaptation. (I made a little graphic to show who is who.) They've made some changes to their names, which is reasonable and makes sense, but I do think it's kind of odd in some ways how they went about it. It seems clear they changed Rain to Rei and Sky to Kai because those sound similar, and the changed Payu to Arashi and Prapai to Fuma because those names match the meanings of the original Thai names. Why it strikes me as a bit odd is that the novels are named Love Storm and Love Sky, so in my mind, those would be the names you would want to retain their original meanings, but I digress.

As far as casting, I thought everyone looked fine, but it's how they express the characters that matters most and while we don't get much of Prapai in this first episode (just a sprinkling) I will say the portrayals of Payu, Rain, and Sky are very promising.

We'll talk about Rei first, because there's just more to talk about there, he is the main character. I have mixed feelings on how the sort of inherent silliness of the Rain character is adapted, since when Japanese BLs do comedy it's a very specific brand of over the top...and adding that to Rain's already sort of overdramatic nature can be overwhelming.

Rei (and the actor who plays him) does go a little too hard for my taste sometimes, but it is reined in more than I kind of expected...at least so far. The whole concept of Rain is kind of young/foolish/a bit brash, and that's very well shown here. Rei I think comes off a bit more sexually aware, in that it's not quite the big doe-eyed innocence of Noeul's Rain, but it's still has that undertone of inexperience. We do see that curiosity of the character truly maintained, which I really am happy about, because I do find it to be one of Rain's best traits. I talked before about how Rain is kind of the classic ingenue character.

We see that upheld here, especially in terms of Rei continuously just believing the best of people, but also in the relationships he has with Kai and Arashi, who have a desire to protect him, though they both go about it differently. It's been a very long time since I read the novel, and I did intentionally not do a rewatch of the og because I didn't want comparisons to be coloring my view of the adaptation. But I will say that the kind of speaking without thought aspect of Rei is something I find pretty delightful. Rain did have that also, but I think they relied more on internal monologue for him, so only us as the audience was aware of his thoughts.

Talking about Arashi or Payu, it's difficult to get much of a read on him. Since this episode is basically from Rei's perspective, we only know as much about Arashi as he does. Just as Rei doesn't really know what to think of him, neither do we. As we know from the source material and the og series, he is a character that's a bit cold on the outside, but has his own softness and warmth. I think that concept is a difficult one to portray, and I think looking back it's almost surprising how well Boss managed to do it, especially in epsiode 1. Shoma (Arashi's actor) does a good job with this very difficult task. I don't want to continuosly compare one actor to another, because I think that's kind of pointless, but I think there's potential opportunities that might have helped to add that warmth. They've done some cutting down of the source material to fit a very different runtime (10 episode of about 30 minutes compared to 13 1 hours episodes) which I think cuts out the slower moments of Payu/Arashi watching Rain/Rei and us getting to see his facial expressions portray his feelings. But truly that a director/producer issue, not an actor one in my opinion. I've seen some discontent over how Arashi doesn't appear to be as wealthy as he is in the og, and while I guess that's true, I never felt like his financial status was super relevant to the plot in the og series. It's relevant to Prapai/Fuma's but not to Arashi. Him simply being older, established in his chosen career, lends the appropriate level of contrast between him and Rei's life experience. I was very happy to see that they kept the short scene at the end of the episode to really show us Arashi's gentler side. I think it was one of the most necessary things in the og version to help us really know how much affection Payu had for Rain, and that it wasn't simply a sexual cat and mouse game for him, so seeing it really helped to reinforced that knowledge in the adaptation.

Side note: I feel like for many people the NC scenes are what is iconic about the og series, and while they are certainly amazing, they're not what I would present as the most representative of the show. The quiet moments are what really show the heart of the series.

Now to talk about Kai. Sky is my favorite character from the series, so I have a lot of affection for him. The actor looks perfect from what we've seen of Sky as portrayed by Peat, but in adaptations, it's definitely not whether actors look like the previous actors, but how they inhabit the character. We're still in Rei's POV, so we only know as much about Kai as he does, which is not much. Kai is very closed off to us in many ways. But we do see the two kind of defining traits of Sky/Kai which is his sarcastic/dry humor and his quiet care of Rain/Rei. The deliveries from Reo are spot on in terms of humor, and I do feel like even when he scold Rei or teases him, there's very much an affection there.

I think that's all I have to say about it so far. We'll see where things go for episode 2. But I am enjoying it, which doesn't surprise me in itself, but I do sometimes wonder if I'm accurately expressing that while I have all of these thoughts or what could be seen as criticisms, I am having a good time.

[jacksepticeye-simp]

Pyre

(Gift for @mothgodofchaos bc they've been working hard on their stuffs, I hope you like it!)

TW: Witch trials, mentions of fire/burning

"People of god! Look upon this wench, marked by their wicked deeds, has rejected the way of our lord and instead embraced the darkness that is the devil. There is no mercy for the likes of them. Do not be fooled by their cries and pleas of innocence. Their heart belongs to evi, and their suffering is just. THIS is the price of disobeying the Lord's will! Let this punishment be a warning to all: Those of you who consort with darkness shall be found and purged from the face of this world. Before the flames cleanse their soul, let us allow this witch to speak their final words. Tell us your lies." Tears threatening to spill while struggling in your binds.

"Please! I am no witch! I swear this upon my soul!" That was probably the biggest lie you'd ever told. You were most definitely a witch, But you weren't going to tell these assholes that. You tried to warn them about the oncoming storms so they'd have some time to prepare, but did they listen? NO. Instead they were going to burn you alive & for what?! TRYING TO HELP THEM!

"Do not burn me for a crime I haven't committed! My friends know my innocence!" You pleaded, your gaze sweeping through the crowd for even a glimpse of your coven. You locked eyes with the high priestess of your coven. "Please, you know I'm innocent!" The crowd looked towards her. "No. You are not. You are a soulless witch." She said blankly, staring you dead in the eye from the ground. THAT BACKSTABBING LITTLE-

"May the lord have mercy on you." The priest told you, approaching with a lit torch. Well, seems like it's curse time then. "Fine. Set me ablaze. But know this: My blood will not cure your hunger for righteousness, with every flame I-"

The sound of shrieking cut off your monologue. Hands made from rotting flesh rose from the ground and grabbed at the feet of the priest and other villagers. Absolute chaos ensued as everybody else started running back to their homes, you stood there in confusion wondering how dead people were interrupting your execution but you were grateful nonetheless. Suddenly a man draped in a cloak of deep violet appeared in front of you, he sat atop a skeletal horse and held a fancy staff you could only dream of touching. The staff was adorned with all types of magical sigils and on the top of it was a beautiful glowing crystal. The man grinned at you. "Well hello there, in need of assistance~?" He asked, dismounting his steed and approaching you. "So you're the cause of this interruption, hm?" You looked at his arms, a good portion of it was dark as charcoal. His fingers ended in incredibly sharp talons, he looked pretty strong too. The man rolled his eyes at your comment. "Would you like to be rescued or not?" You scoffed "Just unbind me, will you?" In a moments notice your ropes were cut and you were free. You gasped and quickly hugged the man, knocking his hood off. "Oh thank you so very much.." You gazed into his gorgeous eyes. They were the most beautiful shade of purple you'd ever seen. A blush coated his cheeks. "Of course, I couldn't let a beauty such as yourself go to waste." You then walked over to the priest who was frozen in place by the hands of the dead, taking the torch from his hands. "May the lord have mercy on you." You remarked mockingly before setting him ablaze. You then turned back to the man who cleared his throat and offered his hand to you. "Shall we leave this dreary village?" He asked, winking at you. "Of course." You took his hand and he helped you onto the horse. "Oh, did I mention I'm a necromancer?" You just smiled adoringly at him. "I love a powerful man~" If you didn't believe in love at first site before, you definitely did now.

"I think I'm in love with you."

[rosy6maple6mothman6]

(Last one was Eaten by tumbls so here 2.0 I guess)

HELLO

I have both thoughts and feelings and I wish to share them.

I've fallen and I can't get up from digimon and I wanted to share who I'd like a Bruce Waynes partner digimon

Luxmon

I want him to have a sassy angel child who will not fuckin hesitate to call him out on his bullshit. Or snitch to Alfred.

We'll say this is a night that went poorly and he snapped at dick.

"hey Bruce, buddy pal boyo chum, I Will Not Hesitate,Do You Understand Me."

Walks in on Bruce stitching himself up after being EXPLICITLY TOLD TO STAY HOME AND REST.

Bruce:....

Lux:.....

Bruce: Please don-

"ALFREDO!!!!! BRUCE ISN'T TAKING CARE OF HIMSELF AGAIN!!"

At a league meeting after Bruce pissed lux off.

"WOW BRUCE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU REALLY SAID THAT ABOUT WONDER WOMEN!!!!!!" and proceeded to lie though his teeth to get Bruce in trouble with Diana. It worked.

The batfam and co. And the league absolutely Adore luxmon,bc every time he's around they get a free showing of The Batman,one of the scariest heroes around, getting his shit rocked by a lil angel child.

It's glorious.

He also is very good at actually Helping Bruce Convey his Feelings to his family! He's a master in the language of Bruce and always lets them know that he does in fact love them: he's just shit at showing it.

It helps that he never pressures them to instantly forgive him, always telling them to take their time.

"Hey Dickie. I know Bruce was a cock tonight, and don't worry I'll handle him so expect an apology when ever your ready to hear it! I just wanted to let you know that he love you bud. I promise. Now sleep tight alright?"

Jason and Dick especially appreciated this.

Now initially the champion and ultimate stage gave me a hard time But since this is my second go at this I have them decided ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧!!!

For the champion I have chosen the unfortunately named:

Piddomon

One bc I want him to keep being the angel that looks after Bruce and his family and bc I like him have a holy fire theme. No real reason. I just think he's neat, and angemon is old.

For the ultimate I wanted to keep up the holy warrior thing,but couldn't find one I liked to you get a wizard instead:

Mistymon

Like I said this dude is Technically a wizard not a holy digimon But I don't care bc I feel like he still fits. Love piddomon staff turning into a sword and him getting stronger fire power.

Now the mega.

I knew immediately I wanted a royal knight for Bruce. He's Literally the DARK KNIGHT it would be a waste of he didn't have one, but the problem was Which knight? And I ultimately picked:

Gankoomon

I picked Gankoomon bc I felt he fit lux's personality best. Plain and simple. And bc he's fucking amazing like images Bruce doing some bad parenting while This mother fuckers around.

He dead ass has the power to turn the ground into a table made of the hardest metal in the digital world and then flip it.

That's just epic.

Now imagine someone trying to fuck with Bruce and/or the batfam and co.

There is no surviving it. He WILL curb stomp the joker.

Alfred approves.

And FINALLY we have what form he'd take with Batman. Bc I fully believe he should get something else for Batman vs for Bruce. And what better than an armored evolution:

Gargoylemon

This lil freak is fucking perfect for him. He's intimidating and fully able to swoop in to save an innocent or family and more than strong enough to fucking destroy and enemy who Tries Him. Do it. He dares you.

And he's perfectly used to hold Bruce like a baby.

And he does, quite often in fact. Literally anywhere. Bruce doesn't actually mind it he just wished he'd STOP DOING IT IN FRONT OF PEOPLE HE HAS A REPUTATION DAMNIT!

Anyway

Thanks for reading my ramblings I really enjoyed this

Even if tumbler made me redo it

Please ask me about other charters (Alfred)

Bc id love to keep talking about this and just thinking about it. It's fun

Anyways thank you

Have a good day

Bye

[serickswrites]

Could you maybe whenever you have some free time do another misunderstanding trope?

Maybe something where Caretaker is a second in command who’s guarding Whumpee bc they believe Whumpee is a horrible person who deserves to be locked up? And that Whumpee did horrible things that deserve the torture only to find out they’ve been hurting innocent people and they feel partially responsible

I love your writing! 🤍

Hello, Anon! I am so glad you enjoy what I put out there. I would be happy to write this for you!

Warnings: captivity, restraints, torture, physical violence, bruises, broken bones, deception, unconsciousness, rescue

Caretaker walked into the prisoner's cell. It had been much the same day in and day out. Whumper had ordered them to guard the prisoner after the lengthy interrogations. Day after day, Caretaker took up their silent vigil, unwilling to let the prisoner out of their sight.

The prisoner was dangerous. Or so Caretaker had been told. The prisoner--Whumpee, or so Caretaker had heard them say once--had been responsible for terrible destruction and pain. They had done great evil on the world, and Whumper was punishing them for their crimes. And the list grew each day as Whumper interrogated the prisoner.

Caretaker knew that Whumper was just, was fair, and was doing the right thing. Caretaker had known that for years. Had supported Whumper's quest to rid the world of evil. They gladly guarded the prison cells, knowing that their work enabled Whumper to rest and recharge after a long day of work.

This prisoner--Whumpee--was different from the others. They watched Caretaker each day, their face swollen and bruised. They watched and tried to talk to Caretaker, though their voice became muffled as Whumper broke and rebroke their nose several times.

It had started simply enough. "My name is Whumpee, what's yours?" Caretaker hadn't replied. "That's ok, you don't have to talk to me. Do you know why Whumper brought me here?"

Whumpee's questions had continued for days, but Caretaker never replied. Whumpee began to tell Caretaker more about themself. Each day they shared more and more. Each day they professed their undying innocence. And each day it took everything in Caretaker to not strike the liar down. To not hook Whumpee's wrist shackles to the chain hanging from the ceiling and bat them. Because they could not tolerate the lying, the slanderous words against Whumper.

"Hey.....Caret'er," Whumpee said weakly. Whumpee had learned their name days ago--Whumpee had overheard a conversation between Whumper and them--and hadn't stopped using it.

Caretaker did not reply.

Whumpee coughed, their eyelids drooping. "'m tir'd, Care'er." They blinked hard several times. "I miss home. N-N-Notttt th-th-that there's any'ng l-l-leftttttt. Wh-Wh-Wh-Whumperrrrr de-de-de-destroyed 't'llllllll."

Caretaker finally snapped. "Whumper did no such thing. You destroyed your town. You killed innocents. That is the reason why you are here. Stop your lies. And never speak ill of Whumper again."

Whumpee gave a wheezing laugh. "Notttttt ly'g.......S'ry." Their eyelids drooped closed as they passed out at last.

Caretaker glared at Whumpee's silent form. They couldn't stand the liar. Caretaker looked up as Whumper opened the door. "Welcome back, Whumper."

"They say anything tonight?" Whumper leaned on the door jamb. They always checked in before heading out for the evening.

"Just that you destroyed their town. Lying sack of shit," Caretaker spat at Whumpee.

Whumpre chuckled. "I mean I did. It was the only way I could catch them. Well, I'll be back before morning. Keep me posted." And Whumper left before Caretaker could say anything further.

Whumper. Whumper had destroyed a town. Had killed innocents. Whumper had lied to them. "Hey, hey, you!" Caretaker shouted at the unconscious prisoner. "Open your eyes. I need to talk to you. Hey! Whumpee!"

But Whumpee didn't open their eyes. Didn't respond to Caretaker's terse words. They continued to wheeze as they lay there. Caretaker's mind raced. Whumper had lied to them. Had lied about everything. "I'm getting you out of here," they said more softly as they opened the cell door. "And when you wake, we are going to have a long conversation."

Caretaker lifted Whumpee into their arms, surprised at how small Whumpee actually was. There was no way Whumpee did everything Whumper claimed they did. No way in hell. Whumper had lied. And as Caretaker fled from the compound, Whumpee tucked carefully in their arms, Caretaker feared what other lies, what other pain, they had been complicit in all because they believed every word Whumper said.

[fizz-pop-thwip]

Hey people write Steve in character challenge GO

(warning long ass post ahead, character analysis turned Civil War analysis BC I'll never shut up about that movie)

Right off the bat, Steve isn't and has never been a rule follower. Steve has an extremely strong moral compass, he has the strongest feeling of right and wrong and he is going to go after the right thing even if he's told not too. This is so prevalent in ANY captain America movie.

Why he behaves so seriously would also come from how he grew up. He wasn't taken seriously ever due to his size and his health, if he wasn't loud and clear on what he thought, no one would be paying attention. But to be honest, I think the movies kinda do him wrong when showing he isn't serious outside of battle, he's always coping with some kind of fight or dilemma or stressful situation to be fixed, especially with the role of leader on his shoulders it's his job to take it seriously. On the rare occasions we do see him relaxed we can see he's just a calm and polite guy who's just maybe a little quiet in big groups. (Which would also be a product of his pre-serum days. In big groups no one's paying attention to the little guy)

I think a reason he's misconstrued as an asshole (aside from needing to be used as a plot point in a fic) is because of how he reacts in a battle. He's stern and being the leader of the group, is telling people what to do in the heat of battle. He takes problems seriously and looks at them from a very logical stand point, (again, which is his role as the leader) which is such a VAST fucking contrast from Tony who still thinks of problems from a logical stand point too but tries to find humor in every situation, even the world ending issues.

So it makes sense if you much prefer Tony's type of character, that you aren't going to like the way Steve handles problems, which is the opposite method of Tony's emotionally.

I think the first movie really enforced that divide between Tony and Steve fans with how opposing they were. And even with Age Of Ultron to clear the air, Civil War threw out all of the relationship we were supposed to believe they had.

If I'm being honest, on Marvel's behalf, I don't think they did a very good job in enforcing that Steve and Tony were good friends before Civil War. But it will always and forever be crazy to me that Tony would ever consider himself as close of a friend with Steve as Bucky is.

"I was your friend too"

He says like he was there when no one would listen to Steve, like he was there when no one took Steve seriously. Like he was there when Steve was sick all the time. Like he was there when Steve's mother died and he had no one. Like he was there for Steve when he got into fights he couldn't handle. Bucky was there since day one.

It links back to steve wishing to have someone who 'understood his experience' the ENTIRE catws movie being about how important Bucky is to Steve and Steve being willing to let Bucky KILL him to prove how much he cared. TONY AND STEVE NEVER HAD THAT CONNECTION.

And I know that's the point. I know that's the point of the movies, Bucky being the thing Steve is willing to leave the avengers for, the avengers who have been his new family in his time where he knows no one in a new world. But when I see people saying Steve betrayed Tony I just don't understand. Bucky means SO much more to Steve. And technically yes, the Avengers were all certainly helpful when he needed it, they were definitely important to him too, but they just don't compare to Bucky.

And quick side note, don't get me wrong, if someone killed my parents I'd want them dead too. It's not like I blame Tony's immediate reaction to the information but to look me in the eyes and say Tony had the right to, is ridiculous. Bucky was tortured and brainwashed and forced to kill and do what he did. That is an innocent man.