#And you couldn't do anything about the clown?! Not a single damn thing?!

[jasontoddsno1simp]

Jason is that dream sequence we see pop up in superhero/fantasy media from time to time. We all know the one; it's of the victim who claws their way out of the ground, and blames the hero for their death. Except he's not a dream that the protagonist can be soothed into accepting as a guilty conscious; he is the manifestation of why Batman's methods are flawed and ultimately do more harm than good.

He can never be Some Guy^TM, because he matters too damn much. He represents too damn much. It's why he exists in this weird limbo, imo. DC can't rly do anything with him, because if they do, they're shooting themselves in the foot. Bringing back Jason Todd was one of their worst mistakes, because it means they're gonna have to eventually deal with the way they killed off a child character for shock value and then spent the next 15 years smearing his name in the mud to cover up for that shit

Do you ever think about how horrible of a title "Batman's Greatest Failure" is? How degrading and dehumanising? Everything you achieved in life is forgotten and reduced to the way it ended.

You aren't a person. You are a failure. Your whole life is pushed aside and made a part of someone else's life story. You never mattered, if it weren't for that person you would have meant nothing at all.

Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad you are remembered as something? Even if that something is just saying your whole existence equals just to a mistake in someone's life? An old page that everyone is so desperate to forget. A lapse in judgement. A regret. The people you saved, the people you loved, what you did in life, none of that matters. All that matters is how another person was affected by your death. That is all you will ever be. Everything you did and didn't do will always be irrevocably tied to that person, for better or worse.

You are unable to exist without that person and the only way for you to exist is through his perception of you. The only way for others to see you is to look at you through his biased interpretations of who you were.

You weren't a child or a hero or a martyr or a son or a victim. All you ever were, and will be, is someone's "Greatest Failure".

[yandere-romanticaa]

Dabi is such an interesting character to me. I find it so fascinating how he says that he does not care about some things, how he could not give a single crap about anything that's going on. With his easygoing attitude and flat tone, no one could blame you for thinking that way.

It was one of the many reasons why you wanted to break up with him.

Falling for Dabi to begin with was beyond unexpected. The man positively reeked of trouble. The second he stepped foot in your favorite coffee shop, you know that the only thing that guy could bring was chaos. The way he carried himself was a dead giveaway, even if most of his face was covered. You had no idea that he was a wanted criminal at the time and perhaps that was one of the reasons why you approached him to begin with.

Besides, life was just dull. Nothing was going on in your life, no sparks, no excitement. Every single day started to feel like the same shade of grey, the old colours of the world morphing into something so forgettable that it made you want to pull out your hair. So what if talking to this guy was a possible mistake?

It was better than nothing, you told yourself.

You can still recall his strong smell - smoke with a hint of some cheap cologne, perhaps a vain attempt to cover up that third metallic smell which couldn't be hidden no matter how hard he tried. Beneath that dark hoodie of his you could see his lips twitching and just as he was going to tell you off for bothering him, you introduced yourself.

The rest was, as they say, history.

Dabi was a bit of a weirdo but you didn't mind. You enjoyed his quirks and even liked to compliment his appearance from time to time, which made the villain wonder just how sick in the head you really were.

He never made any moves to shoo you away though.

And that stone cold fact was something which the League would often make fun of him for it. Dabi would usually end their jabs and jeers with an annoyed scoff and just leave the bar, hands in his pockets but no one was buying it.

Dabi wasn't sure if he wanted you near those clowns. The thought of someone else oogling you, in the same manner as he did, set him off. Dabi started to make the effort of seeing you more, whether or not you knew he was actually there was up for debate. He stuck to the shadows, tailing you day and night and he would reveal himself only if he saw fit.

Dabi wasn't sure why he was doing this, wasting his time with some weak little civilian.

When the day had ended and the sun was setting, Dabi would lazily walk back home. His mind would be rushing with thoughts of you, his knuckles in a tight grip as he kept them hidden in his deep pockets.

He could kill you whenever and however he damn well pleased.

Dabi had the terrifying ability to snuff the life out of you, and that thought gave him a rush of adrenaline, dare he say confidence.

Your life really was in his hands.

You often felt the need to explain away Dabi's red flags - he's just tired, that's why he's so cranky! Oh, he got mad that you went out with someone else? Well, um... There are so many bad guys out there, it makes sense that he would be worried. Because that is what a good boyfriend did - worry about his precious baby.

Dabi was smart (even a little kind) enough to keep his burn scars hidden away from you but the ones on his face were impossible to conceal. The villain would often find himself enchanted by your gentle touch as you'd trace your delicate fingers across the rough flesh, a stark contrast to the sheer softness you radiated.

He was often torn between two options - does he keep that softness safe or will he sink his fangs deep in your neck, claim you all for himself?

Day after day, the second opinion started to sound so much more appealing.

Dabi's love was all over the place. There would be times when you would hardly ever see him. No calls, no texts, no nothing. For all you knew he could have been dying in a ditch somewhere and you'd be none the wiser. You tried countless times to open up to you about his job but he would just shut you down in record speed. He would never get annoyed or angry with these questions but that did not ease your worries.

And with the prying eyes of friends and relatives, it got even harder to keep yourself so delusionally in love.

None approved of your relationship with Dabi. You shed countless tears due to their harsh protests, which often meant that you would run away straight into the arms of the main issue. Dabi would hold you in your bed, his arms wrapped tightly around you. His shirt would be covered in your tears and snot. Perhaps he would grumble about it later but not at the moment.

He was not a good person, but he did not want to be a complete monster towards you.

After these incidents, almost everyone who was ever close with you would start dropping like flies. All died violent, brutal deaths with the main cause usually being severe burns inflicted on the victims of various parts of their bodies. Sometimes the scarring was so deep that even days later the corpse would radiate heat, the disgusting smell or rot forever sticking to your nostrils.

To describe the experience of being forced to identify those bodies as "traumatic" would have been the understatement of the century.

The walk back home was excruciating, perhaps even a little otherworldly. There was no left in the world who cared for you anymore, no one you could run to for safety and comfort.

The only one who you had left was Dabi.

Maybe, it wasn't so bad, being with him that is. Yeah, he could be a little mean sometimes but he would always make it up to you. Dabi would call you his doll and pepper your face with gentle kisses, which often made you giggle. Sure, not knowing what Dabi was doing at the dead of night made you worry so much that you would sob until the cracks of daylight but that was okay because he would always cross the threshold of your home in one piece.

You only had Dabi to worry about, and that was... Odd to manage.

Gone were the walks with friends, meals with family. There was no living soul on this Earth which cared about you, wanted to see you happy and thrive.

Dabi was the only person left in your life.

And that was when the horrible realization hit like a bucket of ice cold water.

Dabi was the only person you had left.

Every single complaint, he had memorized them, each and every one. You knew that this was the case as he would sometimes bring up the most random things you had said months after you said them to begin with, proving the fact that he actually was paying attention.

The door opens with a powerful slam which startles the man. He asks you what's the problem but all hell breaks loose.

You scream, shout, cry. You accuse him of every possible crime he could have committed and he says nothing. Dabi sits on the sofa, his legs crossed as his cheek rests on the palm of his hand. You go on and on and Dabi doesn't bother to stop you.

Not until he lets out a deep chuckle.

Took ya long enough, he said to you. The tips of his fingers ignited with blue flames, a silent threat to keep you from screaming. You couldn't even bolt towards the door and there were no other escape routes.

He finally had you where he wanted you.

Dabi wasn't stupid. He knew that you planned on dumping him for a while now. He could not allow that, not now. Not when you had forced your way deep into his heart and made a home there. Dabi had nothing in this world and he made sure that you had nothing either.

Now, you had each other. And to him, that was more than enough.

[akwolfgrl]

How sweet it is to be loved by them 40

“You mentioned earlier that neither you or Zoro intended to join, what changed your mind?” Nami asked.

“We were in Shell's town,” Sanji began, Nami interrupted him.

“The town run by ax-hand? I was just there myself recently.”

“Yes thire, his son used the town as his own playground. Triozing the people there. He had a visiasois animal as a pet, and it attacked a little girl. Zoro stepped in the way and killed it , saving the little girl.”

“OK? What does that have to do with luffy?”

“Zoro was arrested for that. If he didn't spend a month in the stocks with no food or water, the little girl and her mother would be killed. Nine days later, Hellempo renigs on his deal and tires to execute Zoro. Luffy shields us with his own body after hunting down Zoro's swords. If not for him, we'd be dead.” Sanji stops for a moment shield her with his free arm. “Nami stay close to me. We have to pass by where Buggy is docked.”

“Oh don't you worry about me trying to fight. I've seen what he can do. No, thank you, I'll let you handle that!” Nami would probably yank the sack from his hands and make a run for it if need be. Forget the whole coroparting thing. A woman had to do what was necessary to survive in this cruel world by being just as cruel sometimes. “Hey Sanji, since we're passing by anyway…want to help me grab more treasures? Please, I promise I won't be long.” Nami batted her lashes, sticking her bottom lip out into a small pout. “It's really important.” The more money she gathered at once, the closer she was to buying her village and her freedom.

“Of course we can!” Sanji gushed happily. “Anything you want.” Nami grinned as they slipped into an alleyway circumventing the fighting.

With Sanji close on her heels, his steps are as quiet as her own. Maybe if they did continue this whole coroparting thing, she could drag him along as protection during her next hiset. She peeked out around the corner, Zoro was fighting someone on a unicycle, bleeding from his wound. She watched as he finished fighting the man before clasping on the ground. She should tell Sanji, but there are things to do. She glanced back at him. “Follow me.” They made their way into Buggy's treasure room once more.

“Wow I knew he was obsessed with treasure, but to think he actually found this much in the east is crazy.” Sanji muttered to himself, Nami paid him no mind as she began to fill a second sack.

“All right I think I'm ready to go!” Nami happily heafted the second bag over her shoulder.

“Do you need me to carry your other bag?” Sanji offered, holding out his hand.

“Nah, I've got it.” Nami shook her head, now if he did betray her she had a back up bag.

They slipped back out and began to run for the docks when suddenly Sanji shoved her behind his back. She glances back to see the upper half of Buggy the clown coming at them with knives between each finger. Nami couldn't stop the scream spilling from her lips as she hid behind Sanji.

“Neither of you are going to make it out of this town alive!” The angry clown swooped down upon them, Sanji blocking his swipe with his leg raised above his head. “I offered you a position on my crew, and this is how you thank me!” The dragged clown screamed. “I'll slice you to pieces! You and the alpha crowing being you!”

“Fuck off! I was never going to join your curics act!”

“I'll send you both to your graves!” The clown screamed before letting out a painful, sounding choking noise. Buggy's eyes began to water as his torso closepaesd upon the ground as he groaned pitfuly. Nami takes a peek from behind Sanji to see Lufy standing next to the pirate's legs. “Damn you straw hat! kicking my poor Buggy balls!” The clown sobbed on the ground.

“Come on, Nami, let's get out of here.” Sanji prompted. “When he recovers, he will try and take your treasure.”

“He will have to pry my treasures out of my cold dead hands!” Nami straightened up and began to run once again. She needed every single scrap of treasure.

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "A Dish Served Odd" Episode Followup, Part 2

We move on to Part 2. Will Orli get the tour she deserves? Let's go and find out!

That's...it's...Orli, sweet summer child, we have discussed what that is.

Worse still, it's not even used for a gag or anything. It's just used so the librarian can get more shouting mileage. Jon, there ain't no "kachow" in the world that can save you.

JON I'M SERIOUS JON. JON. THAT'S NOT EVEN A CLOWN NOSE THAT IS A TARGET SPHERE WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING.

It...belonged to a clown...who bought things of the wrong size...off the Internet.

Look, this is the Oddverse, and that means I can look some stuff over, but I can't forgive this shit. Everyone and their mothers has bought stuff of the wrong size off of the Internet. Hell, I've bought stuff of the wrong side off the Internet. Where the fuck is my statue, huh??? WHERE THE FUCK IS MY STATUE.

"Yonder?"

"It means 'over there'. And if you watched Wander Over Yonder, you'd know that."

"...What?"

"Oh, it's a Disney cartoon."

"What's Disney?"

"Ozzie, you poor unfortunate soul."

Ah, I see I've found the "gadzooks" guy.

Unfortunately, it came free with a fucking "what person has photos of X" gag.

...YOUR ASS IS FUCKIN' TELLIN' ME THE MOVIE THING WAS A SCAM??????? ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? ALL THIS TIME I THOUGHT IT WAS ODD SQUAD THE MOVIE BEING CANONIZED AGAIN AND IT'S NOT AND I'M SO MAD and i'm off to the local wallfart to cry in my car

fuck you.

That's gonna be a "yikes" from me, bro. Followed quickly by "hell of a ventriloquist to be speaking like you have your mouth full."

Okay, Trifler, we've had big boi words dropped in this franchise before where no one explained what they meant, thank you.

"Come on, sweetie!"

I can feel the internal Olive cringe from where my ass is sitting in the living room right now.

I can also feel the stupidity radiating off this sonuvabitch and I'm waving my stop sign like a madman.

"See you in 10 years, big red bus."

"Who said you're going to be alive in 10 years?"

"...No, actually, you make a fair point. Damn."

"Act 2 cliffhanger!"

Honey, we are two minutes away from ending the episode. There are no acts. There are no cliffhangers. Smarten up.

Y'know, before today, there wasn't really any villain that I actively hated, other than Xavier and Xena. Who weren't really villains, but they were villainous.

Here, I finally found a bitch. Thank you. Kachow your way on outta here.

So they zap her with an Elbow-Patch-inator -- which, why do they have that in their inventory other than sheer plot convenience? -- and she likes it because it looks like sprinkles.

I couldn't make this sorry shit up if I tried.

Even in this spinoff, we still have the good old "agents let the villain walk away scot-free and don't monitor them for cleanup efforts" cliche.

There's a reason why cleaning up trash as part of community service has someone there to make sure you don't flake.

All that shit Orli had to go through and all she had to do was stop a criminal.

This would be like me getting free unlimited McDonald's because I tackled a guy stealing from the till, when I already paid through the app for my food.

It's stupid, is my point.

Y'know, I've made cracks about writers on drugs before, but Lightning Jon Macqueen must have been on something else to have this much flawed logic in the span of a single episode.

If you have the tour every decade, of course people are gonna get overexcited. If you have it, say, every month, the magic goes away because it's more common.

Don't have to be a dumbass lil' American like me to understand that. And the only way the faulty logic could be justified is if finances were brought into play, and I'm not willing to have a spirited discussion on Britain's financial status without many bottles of chardonnay and a couple joints of grass.

"Ma'am, this is an 11-minute episode of a TV show. This is not a movie."

"...So it's a movie?"

"I just said- ah, to hell with it. Forget it. But I hear there is a new Looney Tunes movie coming out soon..."

And your cast for this episode! Honestly, Horatia Hollywood sounds like a really weird villain name...especially considering there is no Hollywood in Britain as far as I'm aware.

------------------------------------

So that's it. Overall, for the first 11-minute episode, it was...a bit lacking. I don't think this spinoff, nor the staff working on it, have found their footing yet and are just tripping over their own feet. It's a good premise for an episode, but...it wasn't executed very well. I feel like not enough focus was given to the tour Orli was supposed to go on -- being an immigrant, it would make sense for her to take a tour of her new country, let alone her new town, but more focus was given to solving the case than the tour in and of itself.

Jon Macqueen has potential. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, absolutely (because after all, Britain is not Odd Squad's home country). But I'm hoping that, within the rest of the 20+ episodes we've got (going by 11-minute episodes, mind), he'll right himself and get to crafting beautiful episodes that make me smile and go, "Yes. This is what I want to see."

With that being said, thanks for reading. I'll see you all for the next followup for "Odd Jubilee". Which should be a funner episode, seeing as how it has a song. And anyone who knows me well knows I am a sucker for songs in my funny secret agent children math show.

Seren out!

[ask-serendipity-sky]

The cult needs to STFU. Even if Jikook aren't dating, he has shown up more for Jk, then anyone lately. Who went to be with Jk during his single release in NY & Silver Day? Jimin. Who didn't? Who was first to post about Jk's BB 100? Jimin. Who didn't? Who was first to congratulate Jk on his bday? Jimin. Who didn't? Who came live to tell us to keep wishing for Jk's birthday? Jimin. Who didn't? Who was with JK on White Day in 2022? Jimin. Who wasn't? Who visited JK in his comments on White Day live 2023 when JK was alone, even tho he himself was out of the country and busy & when others were actually in Korea and didn't see JK? Oh that's right, Jimin. You know the live where JK was lonely, sad, crying, bringing up GCF Tokyo trip, playing There for You, spoiling all of Jimin's songs, even playing JVKE, knowing it was about to be released Jimin was working with him. Spoiling Set Me Free part 2 and then eventually told us to look forward to it. It was Jimin again and again and again. Where was Tae during all this? Since they want to always drag Tae into Jikook's business. Where was Tae last year on JK's bday? So Tae flew 14 hours from Washington to go straight to his friends premiere off the plane, but couldn't go see JK on his bday, after a 14 hour flight, his married partner he shares two adopted kids with? I guess between spending time with JN his GF in NY (since she was there when Tae was) and that 14 hour flight home, he just didn't have any more energy to go his husband. Where was Tae during JK's 2020 birthday? Oh yeah, at home asking Jimin to come sleep with him instead. Tae loves JK okay. You don't have to tell us. We know they do, but they aren't fucking and they aren't dating. They are friends. And honestly, if I were you, I'd just shut my fucking mouth about Jikook, because if this really was a dick measuring contest, which Taekookers try to make it out to be on which duo is more gay and has more potential to be real, sorry, but Taekook are coming in last. Vmin have a more real chance of being real over Taekook, considering Tae actually writes songs about Jimin and said he likes him the most. Clowns. All of them. So, no amount of TK Premiere appearances or bowling with friends, will ever change the fact that Tae just went public with JN in Paris, holding her hand, after nearly 2 years of dating proofs of them were leaked. Don't ever fucking speak on Jimin or Jikook again. Not while one half of your ship is in a now made public relationship, done on purpose by both Tae and JN. Losers. You got bigger things to worry about, then Jikook.

Oh and get your damn lies straight while you're at it. JK didn't hear Tae's album first. JK never once said this. Stop making up shit. He said he heard it. It was Jimin in 2022 Festa who said he and Tae had a listening party TOGETHER and Tae played him all his songs first. So sorry cult, soulmate is the one who actually heard his album first, confirmed by Vmin. It was Jimin and Tae agreed. But guess what else. Tae was with JN like 3 days after that Festa Dinner filmed, so he probably played them all for her too, while they were caught by a local in the car together on their Jeju date. Better luck next time losers.

Hi anon,

Agree with everything!

Tkkrs should be the last people celebrating anything right now.

Their ship never sailed to begin with.

The interactions between Tae and Jk have always been because they are friends. There is nothing else other than a friendship bond.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[lizadale]

MISS! I Cast *Fluff Attack* as retaliation to your tripple angst attack. You got me to 2/21 hp like damn. /j

Fr though, poor sad clown, i hope he dies stuck in a glue trap.

So. I got the motivation to write for the Polterpup speaks fic C:

{“This is what you ate?”

“Yes.” Luigi Picked up the can that were still on the floor, a tripping hazard Dimentio said when he saw it, then he went to a free counter and opened it “Not a single drop left, that’s impressive.”

“Thank you.”

“We could see the other’s of the same brand?” Luigi asked

“Yeah but it could’ve been just this one can too.”

“True but if we don’t want a talking we best not rule out any possibility” “It could just pass too.” Luigi said, moving back to the shelf.

“It keeps sassing me, I’m not tanking any chances.” Dimentio hissed

“If you say so.”

---

"Good Morning!" They greeted Mario on the gardens, everything is dormant and it's beautiful. He widened his eyes but he knelt to pet them.

"Hello Doggy!"

"How are you? did you have breakfast? I didn't. You still have the best jerky treats?"

After they showed Luigi where they eat the most delicious treat. Dimentio was still very confused and asked for them to stay away from the kitchens for the time being. "Who knows what will happen if you eat anything else you shouldn't?" He argued when the pup asked about the scraps.

"Sure do, " He said reaching for his pocket, he barely pulled the package out of it when Luigi jumped down from somewhere screaming "No, Bro Wait!!" then there was Dimentio's jingle.

"Huh?" Mario stopped midway through opening it, they could sniff it's tastiness too…

"As you can hear, Polterpup can talk now." Dimentio told.

"Yes and…?"

"Apparently, it's because they ate something weird," Luigi continues for him. "And I'm afraid of what will happen if something else mix to it."

"Like the children's book series?"

"i guess?" "the what now?" Luigi and Dimentio said at the same time. They looked at each other and Dimentio gestured for him to continue.

"I don't know if it was a abc soup it ate, but something like it definitely happened"

"Can you tell me the title of the book for later research?"

"Dio, do you even read children books?"

"It became relevant."

"I mean if you want it, but there's nothing-"

"Are they always like that?" Mario said with amusement in his voice.

"Most of the time, they stopped doing it for important things now though, that's how they say "i love you" i think." The puppy says while watching, they see Mario placing a hand on his chin as to contemplate their thoughts.

"You are very smart", he says after a minute.

"Yes! I'm a smart puppy!" They say. "Smart puppy gets treats?" they do their best pleading eyes

"No." Both Luigi and Dimentio stop their thing to say it to them.

"Aw…"

Mario gets down to their level and ask "Hey Puppy can you do me a favor?"

"I can!" Maybe helpful pups gets treats? that they don’t say out loud, hopefully.

"Go to the Peach and ask her to come to the garden"

"Okay!" They say and rush towards the castle, then they stop and go back "Wait, who's the Peach?"

Mario tilts his head "You don't know?"

"No, I've heard of her before but i don't know anybody named Peach "

"But weren't you playing with her and Toadette yesterday? The girl with the crown?"

"The Princess? She got two names?" they said with an air of wonder.

"Yeah, people call her Princess Peach most of the time"

"So those koopas weren't talking about The Princess and Peach yesterday?"

"The castle guard?"

"No. they were outside trying to get in but not by the doors. Dimentio told I couldn't scare the toads, so i scared them instead until you called me to play." They tell "I had to bite the big one to scare him though. but I won't tell anyone because good pups aren't supposed to bite."

"Bro, you'll stay until the weekend, right?" Mario turns to Luigi with a hopefull look.

"Sorry, I've already thawed tomorrow's roast." Luigi said "Also it's Dio's choosing how we're spending this holiday you know he gets fussy around parties."

"Dump him."

"Is everyone in this castle out to ruin my patience" Dimentio grumbles "I'm right here!" Luigi makes the funny holding in laughter face before dragging him out by his forearm “You are not going to like the day I lose it, I swear.” He Says when he’s almost out of earshot.}

Don't worry Puppy nobody knows you bit the Big Koopa ;)

i had to stop here because i couldn't stop snickering, i almost woke up my nephew twice, hope you're having a good day ^-^

(formated the pc and lost the little guy T-T)

JFISDLK "Dump him." i mean it's a sound solution...

also there's something very in-character about Mario encountering a talking dog and just shrugging. it is the mushroom kingdom after all

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 35

💖first time reader click here💖

Reader and Eddie going on their mission. They're all morons, okay? Some canon-typical violence, bad guys being bad guys. You guys can see that I treat the fighting plot points as total crack, right?

Eddie Brock was pissed, at the Avengers mostly - for not telling him of my accident - but also at me, for the fact that I didn't call him sooner. Venom had taken over at some point, eager to participate in my plan - and it I was being honest, my uncle's space boo was the one I had relied on to participate in the mayhem that was to be caused to finally let my family breathe in peace.

The Avengers wore various expressions of guilt when an angry Eddie stormed the tower, berating them for not getting into contact with him when I was in danger. Venom growled at them, too, just the right amount of teeth and drool for Tony to quickly usher me out to 'take a walk, have some fun, build a snowman' with uncle Eddie and Venom. It was almost too easy, too predictable. The guilt that reared it's ugly head was stomped down by me and two glasses of whiskey in Eddie's rented Airbnb as I went into the fine details of my plan.

Both I and Eddie were equally surprised when Venom dropped their sarcastic, angsty teenager attitude and approached the topic with maturity, giving valuable input. The goth space goo was much, much smarter than their first impressions showed. I belatedly remembered their remark about being an apex predator species... Scary.

The plan was pretty simple.

Eddie was a professional investigative reporter and an unregistered mutant, his files being hidden so deeply due to the alien nature of the symbiote that it was unlikely that underground gangs would have any idea as to who he truly was. His involvement with SHIELD was buried under so much red tape, even Coulson himself had very little idea about Eddie's body-mate.

My uncle would sniff around the mutant underworld, just enough to catch a whiff of the mercenary's whereabouts. It should be enough if he was as famous as Natasha claimed him to be. And if it wasn't enough... I'd be bait. I doubt that the merc knew the box has been retrieved and secured; every now and then, I still caught chatter about the SHIELD agents trailing me catching a person sent to monitor me. They weren't even trying to hide that hard.

I had my suspicions SHIELD was indirectly using me as bait, too, and both Eddie and Venom were inclined to agree with the notion. Over beers and ridiculous amount of chocolate cake, a third side of the operation Baby Thief had been formed. SHIELD played their own game, the Avengers and SI threw a ridiculous amount of resources on their own and then there was me and Eddie, two halves of a whole idiot.

For once, the plan didn't go south immediately off the bat. Eddie and Venom got the information - there was a lot of uproar in the mutant community, rumours about an artifact that would let them assume their rightful place in the world, pushing the pesky humans off their pedestal. I definitely supported mutant rights - but the common notion that violence was necessary to achieve the recognition of said rights didn't sit well with me at all. Eddie agreed with me, his own curiousity pushing him to dig deeper into the situation.

My uncle could be a brilliant investigative reporter with the proper motivation and his significant other at the side. I could never tire of Venom's stories: each and every time they saved Eddie from making a clown out of himself was remembered, documented and brought up at the quickest available opportunity. I haven't laughed so hard in months.

The positives of our plan? We got a hot trail and enough information to know about the mercenary's whereabouts. We possessed the manpower needed to off him in record time, Venom eagerly offering his digestive system for our convenience.

The negatives? We'd need to bring me. Apparently there was a hefty bounty on my pretty little head and the merc himself had given up trying to chase me, hiring a bunch of muscle to do the legwork for him instead. The mercenary, a man who went by the nickname Cadre, was an ex-shield agent, who knew enough to successfully avoid the organisation following hot on his heels.

And neither SHIELD, nor Tony nor Eddie knew who had ordered the retrieval of the artifact. The mysterious person had deep pockets: all of the men were supplied with high grade weaponry and the mutants participating in the missions had equipment specifically tailored to their powers.

Perhaps, I wasn't as clever as I wanted myself to be. There was something big and ugly brewing and the bounty on my head was just the tip of the iceberg. But what was done, was done, and Venom was looking forward to a hefty meal and we set the date of Eddie "kidnapping" me in a few days time.

I hoped I'd make it home for Christmas.

The biggest surprise was that nobody suspected anything. Not even Natasha's watchful eye and inherent knowledge of shit about to be stirred - somehow, Nat always just knew those things - had revealed itself and that's how I knew it was absolutely necessary for me to be successful. There was no room for failure. In the day before my planned trip to Cadre's lair, I forced the team into a movie night and took extra time with everybody, seeing as even the most cheerful people - Thor and Wanda - walked around with sullen faces for most of the time. Perhaps, deep down, I knew that chances of my plan going awry were pretty damn high.

It felt like I was leaving for war. And perhaps, I was. The nervous, anxious energy increased as the hour X drew closer and I couldn't hide it anymore. My insomnia wore Tony's face: I could see his disappointment as clear as day, but I figured he'd forgive me for the betrayal eventually. Every single thing I hid from my newfound family made me feel a traitor. Unfortunately, there was simply no other option.

That afternoon, Eddie picked me up from the tower and drove me to one of the hideouts that belonged to Cabre. He'd tied my hands together and blindfolded me, all for show of course, whilst Venom briefly connected with my body to induce a drowsy state of mind. I didn't actually mind to be drugged and was way more wary of the symbiote's effects on my body but the space pudding extended his tentacles so quickly, I barely had the time to even swear at them.

To my (and their) surprise, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. In my hazy state, I briefly head Venom growl that I could be a decent short-term host if something would to happen with Eddie; I did not know how that information made me feel but did not disregard it completely. I was out of my depth on this one yet marched on towards the danger with grim determination.

"Here's the girl," Eddie's voice penetrated through the curtain of chemicals that Venom had dosed me with; I was tossed none too gently on what felt like a mattress, the landing haphazard but not painful. Venom must've dulled my pain receptors, too. "Where's our money?"

I was unceremoniously groped, my face examined by a man with ice-cold hands. Whatever he found, he deemed it satisfactory. "I'm impressed," He whistled. "We've been trying to get her for months. Care to share how you achieved this?" The strange man sounded suspicious.

"WE HAVE OUR OWN TRICKS," Venom's deep voice filled out the room like thick smoke and I just knew that the man who had been groping me was twitching in discomfort. "SO?"

"Alright, alright," The man mumbled, voice unsteady. My drowsiness slowly began to recede and I finally could focus my eyes somewhat; Eddie was partially obscured by the writhing, onyx mass of his symbiote and the man was dialing up the phone, speaking in a rapid-fire dialect I did not know. "Cabre will be here in an hour. Care for a beer?" Just like that, the man was obviously attempting to placate Eddie.

"HOT CHOCOLATE," Venom announced flatly and I had to struggle to hold back my laughter at the image of a seven feet tall tentacle monster sipping hot cocoa from a tiny porcelain cup. My nerves had me feeling ten types of way, as usual, and props to Ven making me unable to speak. I would have already killed myself by running my mouth ten times over.

The hour passed by with me floating in my mindsphere, Eddie loudly playing Candy Crush on his phone and Venom consuming ridiculous amounts of hot chocolate. It was absurd and the eerie calm was beginning to make me suspicious; I had expected... More. Threatening thugs with guns, experiments, blood tests and physical violence. Instead, the man who met with Eddie was sitting with a vacant, bored expression as he practiced card tricks in the corner furthest away from Venom.

Finally, a knock on the door forced all of us to pay attention to the newcomer. It was a tall, massively built man in his early forties. His face was covered in scars, narrow red lines that looked like small cuts; one of his eyes was completely black while the other was blue. He looked like the man at the coffee shop but at the same time, nothing like him at all.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," His voice was low and quiet. If not for the heavyweight weapon hanging over his shoulder, I would have considered him to be one of those men who only look threatening but actually are gentle giants. With steps too quiet for a man his size, he approached me, crouching down to look me in the face. "Hello, child. I've been looking for you for a long time. It's a shame we had to meet this way," He removed the strands of hair sticking to my face. For all purposes, his touch could have been considered fatherly. "Richard, bring the money." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the man who was babysitting me and Eddie and he promptly disappeared behind the steel door.

"Hello," Eddie briefly shook his hands with Cabre after the merc left me alone. I noted Venom had disappeared into the reporter's body completely. "We are Venom," Eddie introduced himself (they introduced themselves?).

"Cabre," The Merc watched my honorary uncle with a sharp eye, taking note of Eddie's lack of weapons, his worn clothes and the shaggy hair, the bags under his eyes. "Tell me, Venom, what do you know of this child?"

"Not much," Eddie shrugged, convincingly. "Just that the Avengers picked her up for some reason and locked her up in Stark's tower. We're guessing she didn't like it much 'cuz she kept sneaking out and trying to shake off the tail. Had to go through quite a few SHIELD agents to get to her," Just like we agreed, Eddie spoke with slight disdain towards Tony and SHIELD, making sure to let Cabre believe he was on the mutants' side. "We just need the money, man. Not many people will hire us," To top it up, Eddie spread his arms, showing his skin ripple and move on it's own prominently under his ratty t-shirt. Atta boy!

Cabre appeared to have bought the lie, chuffing sympathetically, before pulling out a tablet and typing on it. "Well, not for long. My superiors have found an artifact that, if unlocked properly, will render most of the technology suppressing mutant powers useless. They won't be able to get rid of us that easily anymore."

Eddie nodded eagerly, for all purposes appearing to be ecstatic about the news. "Yeah, heard some rumors here and there. Well, you and your superiors know where to find me. I could always go with some extra cash," He scratched his head, carefully watching Cabre's fingers dance on the keyboard. "What's the kid got to do with it anyway? Seems like an ordinary spoiled brat to me," Eddie threw me a look, blinking twice. The fatigue and wariness, courtesy of Venom, had begun to recede quite some time ago; with Eddie's signal, I knew the shitshow was about to start very soon.

Eddie was smart, however, finding out the bits of information SHIELD hadn't bothered to disclose to me. The residue that the cursed box had left in me was removed, so I could not understand why SHIELD was still guarding me. There had to have been another reason, a reason that neither of us knew for sure.

Cabre paused his typing. "We've been watching her for years. She's a genius. We were hoping she could help us solve a few problems..." The merc paused to rub the bridge of his nose. "We tried to get her to come willingly but her parents forbade her from it. My superiors suggested to use the artifact but something malfunctioned." For all purposes, Cabre was looking apologetic. "I am not overly fond of kidnapping children but some things just need to be done." With that, the man turned around, landing his eyes on me. "Glad to see you're up and about." Something about his smile was unnatural, forced, malicious.

"Charmed to meet you," I sat up, dazed and confused about the turn of events. The things he was saying, they didn't add up. I hadn't received any requests for my participation in ANY kind of project, illlegal or not. No scholarships, no internship offers. Something was very, very wrong.

As soon as Cabre's back was turned, Venom enveloped Eddie, turning themselves into the seven feet tall outer space monstrosity I had seen on the first day. Their combined form was terrifying - but Cabre's fingers merely twitched at the rapid change of the situation as he took slow steps towards me. "Hmm," His voice still quiet, he once again crouched in front of me. "You fought us off once but we are many. There is nowhere to run, child," Cabre's eyes began to darken, his speech turning flat.

I recognized the speech pattern, recalled the expressionless, vacant face that stared at me. Cabre was infected with the Legion from the cursed box; I hadn't prepared for that, hadn't even regarded that, thinking the little epic speech the demon had given me was a mere intimidation tactic. Fear bloomed within me, opening it's jaws like a hungry Venus flytrap but I refused to succumb to it, clenching my fists against the waves of paralyzing terror.

Venom made a confused growling noise behind me, extending a tentacle to push Cabre away; with a sickeningly wet splat, their whole form collided with the opposite wall, sliding down it like a puddle of misshapen goop. "MORSEL, GET OUT." The symbiote growled, reforming itself back.

"Silence, beast!" Cabre shrieked, unstrapping his weapon and aiming it at Venom. No bullets came out as he pressed the trigger but my ear started ringing, eyes watering as the whole form of the symbiote began to morph and ripple. Pained groans and whines came from them. A sonic gun?

"Screw you, man," I attempted to draw Cabre's attention to myself by kicking out a leg towards the gun, disrupting his arm briefly. Things were going to shit faster than a party full of teenagers and alcohol. "Fuck you, listen, FUCK YOU!" I knew antagonizing people was my best skill and that's what I did, figuring the time needed for Venom to reassemble themself could be acquired if Cabre was pissed off enough at me.

The backhand hurt, not going to lie. I saw stars from that one sloppy hit the possessed merc delivered to my face. The adrenaline rush allowed me to stay somewhat coherent and just like that time when I was trapped in my nightmares, I dove for Cabre, winding myself around him as both of us landed on the floor in a heap of limbs.

Despite my best hopes, Venom remained a puddle of black on the floor. I saw something shiny attach itself to Eddie's chest; apparently that something prevented them from combining into one again. My smaller size proved to be a great advantage; I remembered Venom's words about being a suitable short-term host and with a shriek, I placed my palm into the nearest piece of symbiote I could reach, my vision being obscured by blackness a second later.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95 @gladiosamicitias @warrior1-19 @toomanyrobins @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming

[ambivalent-anarchy]

You've Got Moves (Part 2)

Masterlist

Part 1

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

A/N: Better late than never, right?😂😂 (wow 2 fics in one week that's crazyyy) Also I put one of my favorite comedy tiktoks in the dialogue soooooo oops? Also Harry and Ned are wingmen who share one brain cell and I like it that way

I might make one more part to this but idk

---------------------------------------

It took 7 months for Peter to ask you out.

It took the time for MJ and Asher to become a couple, homecoming to go by, MJ and Asher to break up, winter formal, midterm exams, MJ and Asher to get back together, and Christmas to go before Peter Parker gathered the guts to even consider thinking about asking you out.

Scared wasn't even the word for it.

Harry Osborn, the new transfer student, laughed at how nervous Peter was at lunch. "Asking girls out is easy, Peter. I do it all the time!"

"You say it like it's the simplest thing on earth," Peter dreaded, to which Harry shrugged.

"Because it is! You just ask. How is it that I've only been at this school for 2 months and I've had more chicks than both you and Ned combined?"

"Hooking up is not a hobby of mine. That's why," Peter retorted with a pitifully unintimidating glare.

Harry shrugged with his shit-eating grin. "It's not my fault the girls and gays can't resist these lips."

Ned chimed in as he threw a french fry into his mouth. "Peter, this isn't like Liz last year. You and [Y/N] are already really close, dude. I'm sure you can just ask her. Who knows? She might say yes!"

"But what if she says no?," Peter groaned. "Then I'll just be one of those people she avoids and barely talks to out of awkwardness." He shifted in his seat nervously. "I don't want that."

"But if you don't say anything then you'll always regret it," Ned pointed out.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "Peter, pull out your phone."

Peter raised his eyebrows in confusion, but followed Harry's instructions.

"Go to her in messages and say 'hey let's get dinner'." He smiled. "See? Simple."

Peter opened your messages in his phone and stared at your profile picture.

'You can do this, Peter. You can do this.'

He bit his lip. "Okay but should I say, 'let's get dinner' or 'do you want to get dinner'?" Seeing Harry's impatient face, he explained himself. "I just feel like those two sentences have completely different vibes, y'know?"

Harry glared at him. "Are you really about to have us telling you what to tell your crush like a bunch of girls?"

Peter didn't know how to answer that question seriously. "Uh...yes?"

Harry pondered the question for a small bit before simply shrugging and answering. "Hmm, go with 'let's get dinner', so you'll sound all confident and assertive."

"Okay."

Before Peter could press send without thinking twice, Ned stopped him. "Well, actually now you sound a little aggressive, man."

"Really?," Peter asked with a wince, immediately erasing the message.

"Yeah, I mean the last thing you wanna be like is the guy that's all like 'let's get dinner' like you're some kind of caveman."

Peter groaned. "Oh no, definitely not."

Ned ate another fry. "You want to ask her to dinner, not tell her to dinner."

"I'll go with 'do you want to get dinner' then," Peter said with a nod.

That one didn't sit well with Harry. "No Pete. Cuz now you sound like a pussy."

Peter slammed his phone onto the lunch table. "This stuff is tough!"

Ned turned towards Harry. "No but listen. The last thing Peter wants to do is come off as the overly masculine type that's all like 'let's get dinner cuz I'm the breadwinner, bitch', y'know?"

Harry shook his head. "Yeah but women also love assertiveness. You have to know what you want."

Peter stared at the table, desperately wanting the conversation to be over. Why would he even go to these two for relationship advice? Harry was the king of hookups and Ned's relationships never lasted longer than a few weeks. What was he thinking? For a guy with a 4.5 GPA, he sure did feel stupid.

"I got it!," Ned exclaimed. "Okay. Text her this. 'Dinner would be something that I would enjoy taking you on, but only if YOU were also interested in attending the meal'." He held his hands up for praise.

Harry nodded. "Mhm. Perfect balance. And the more words the better."

Peter just stared back at them, wondering where he'd gone wrong in life. "...no.... I'm not gonna send her that."

Harry shrugged. "Welp,' he sighed. "I guess some people just don't want to be helped."

So close to slamming his head into the table in front of him, Peter felt a tsunami of relief hit when he saw Asher walk into the cafeteria.

Asher was your best friend. If anyone knew the proper way you'd want to be asked out, it'd be him.

The second Asher noticed Peter looking at him, he made his way over. "Hey Peter. What's up?," he asked as he found an empty seat.

Harry spoke up before Peter had the chance. "Hey Ash. Pick one. 'Let's get dinner' or 'do you want to get dinner'."

Asher thought for a second. "Depends on the girl," he said before taking a bite into his apple. "-but 'do you want to get dinner' is nicer. Why?"

Harry slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it!"

"Yes!," Ned cheered.

Asher looked around the table. "Okay, by why?"

Harry and Ned went quiet and looked to Peter, who was staring anywhere to avoid eye contact. He began to mumble pitifully."I....I-i wanna.. I wanna-"

Harry and Ned spoke up, already tired of the conversation not getting anywhere. "He wants to ask-"

"-I wanna ask [Y/N] out!," he blurted, feeling his cheeks start to burn when Asher's smirk turned into a wide grin.

"Well it's about time!," he exclaimed. "She's been crazy about you since you met."

"Really? She has?," Peter asked. That wasn't even in the realm of possibility in his mind.

Asher nodded. "She's always going off to me about how-" he mocked your higher pitched voice. "I've been dropping him hints since, like, foreverrrr!"

"Seriously?! She has?"

Ned laughed. "Well Peter. She has been calling you cute since the day she met you..."

"But I just always thought it was the friendly kind of cute, y'know?," he rambled. "Not the boyfriend type cute!"

"How many girls are out here calling you cute for you to make that assumption, dude?," Harry asked.

Asher sighed. "So this is what it's like to have low confidence." He shook his head and gave Peter a disappointed look. "I can't say I like witnessing this, Pete."

"Just-" Peter groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "Just tell me what will work, okay? I need to ask her out perfectly."

Asher tilted his head in confusion. "She's a simple girl. You just have to straight up ask her out. What's the confusion there?"

"That's what I said!," Harry yelled.

"You know he's got to make it difficult for himself for no reason," Ned pointed out.

"Okay can we all talk about how terrible I am at this after you help me?," Peter begged.

"...yeah."

"Sure."

"Ugh, fine."

Peter sighed. "Alright. So?"

"What are you going for?," Asher asked. "Like a gift or something?"

"I just want whatever's the absolute best way to ask her out."

Asher pinched the bridge of his nose. If he was gonna set you up with your crush, he wanted it to happen right.

"Okay," he said, staring Peter in the eyes with a new sort of intensity. "Think about your best moments with her. Now pick something special from all those moments and voila! You'll have it!"

Peter nodded and stared at the ground as he thought for a while about everything he'd done with you since the beginning of school. You were truly the most extraordinary, most confident girl he'd ever met.

Every time he'd thought you couldn't get more perfect, you'd just show him another side of you that was better than the rest. He always stayed endlessly impressed and most of all, he felt as if he didn't have to try too hard with you. He could be himself and mess up as many times as he could manage and you still stuck around, showing him that there needn't be any worries.

And your style? Fuck, you could make anything work for him. You were the only one who could get him out of his comfort zone and in front of a camera, for something as frivolous as a TikTok. But he'd always do it, and even find the fun in it, because it made you happy.

"Remember how we freaked out that first time when she called you cute, Pete?," Ned said. "She said that you were cute and that you only had to put it use!"

Harry laughed. "This girl is literally giving you the instructions, Peter. Take them."

"Hmm." Peter looked up with a smile and snapped his fingers. "I got it."

-

You tossed popcorn into your mouth and snuggled yourself further into the blanket. "Ash, how can you even say that? 'It' is a horror movie!"

"Yeah, technically," he retorted. "But there's literally not a single part of the movie that's scary. It's more of a drama than anything else."

"You realize the clown phobia rate skyrocketed when the movie came out right?"

Asher scoffed. "Uh, your point? It's not my fault some pussies couldn't sit through it. Still a drama. The story definitely played with your emotions more than your fears."

"Whateverrrr," you laughed. "I can't deal with you."

"Pennywise literally got up and did this," he said before breaking out into Pennywise's dance. He laughed as he kicked his legs out. "What kind of horror movie has this crap in it?" He stopped when he felt the full force of you throwing a pillow on his face. "Ugh!"

"Sit down and get under the covers, idiot," you hissed. "I wanna keep watching these HORROR films."

"Whateverrrr," he drawled out, mocking you. He sighed and plopped down next to you, grabbing a handful of popcorn after.

When school was getting suffocating, marathoning horror movies with Asher were a must. He had an endless repertoire and all the time in the world for his best friend.

Halfway through 'It: Chapter 2' though, the movie was the least of your focus and instead was TikTok.

What could you say? The app was addictive.

It was a big, entertaining, completely useless collage of everything every no-name had to offer, from stupid debates to cringey POV's to fun dance routines.

You tried to hook every friend you could on it. Asher, of course, already knew about it since it first came out and he, of course, had thousands of followers because most of what he posted was random thirsts traps whenever he was feeling hot, which was always. And thirsts traps are always in high demand for the people on TikTok.

You tried to hook MJ on it, but she'd already decided that she didn't like it before even giving it a chance. Even the messy, political side didn't reel her in.

Of course then there was Peter, who didn't know was TikTok even was before he met you. You made it your sole mission to get him hooked, but you'd since given up on that. It was a lost cause. The only time he probably ever saw TikTok nowadays was when he was doing dances with you before gym started. He let you put the app on his phone but he never used it. You wouldn't even put it past him to have deleted it, but it was whatever. TikTok had started his friendship with you, so needless to say, it'd done an amazing job in your life.

Plus your followers were always asking about him. All of the "omg couple goalssss" and "you guys look so cute together" served as massive confidence boosters. A girl can dream, right?

You shifted over a bit when you felt Ash getting closer and closer to you.

When he moved over again, you scooted away, only for him to get closer again. "Ash, what is your deal?"

"Easy there," he chuckled, backing up a little. "I'm looking at the phone, not you."

"You've been all up in my phone all day, what's up?"

"I can't tell you," he shrugged, a sly smirk stretching across his face. "But," he pointed to your tiny screen. "Some idiot is taking wayyyy too long to shoot his shot."

"Shoot his shot?" You gasped. "Who?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," he said with a smirk.

"Nooooo," you whined. "If someone has a crush on me you gotta spill! C'mon, please?"

He laughed and repeated himself. "I'm sorry, but I am not at liberty to say!"

"Bullshit! Who is it? C'mon! C'monnnnnn!"

He shrugged and this time you knew that he was dead set on not giving up the mystery guy.

"Ugh," you pouted. "Fine. Let's just finish the stupid movie."

-

"Kids next door, battle stations!!!!"

And now it was sometime after midnight. The popcorn was all gone. The movie was done and now you were watching old cartoons so that the horror movie wouldn't be the last thing on your mind before bed.

Looking over, you saw that Asher didn't need any cartoons like you did. He was already passed out, snoring as loud as ever.

Grumbling in boredom, you stared at the wall, trying to connect the tiny dots in the designs. It was like something was officially keeping you from being able to fall asleep.

*Ding!*

At the sound of your phone receiving a text, you sat up curiously. Who was texting you at this hour?

You smiled when you saw that it was Peter.

Pete: hey y/n

You were about to send him a quick,"why are you up this late" text, but he kept typing.

Pete: pls dont judge me too hard for this

With that completely vague warning, you furrowed your eyebrows, concerned.

Y/n: whats up r u okay

He sent you a link next, which confused you, but not as much as when you actually pressed it.

It led you to TikTok, and the video was waiting to be pressed to start. Peter was standing in the middle of the screen with one of his typical corny sweatshirts on. The caption at the top read: "For [Y/N] Only". Smiling already, you quickly pressed play.

You slapped your hand over your mouth. "Oh my God."

"So he finally got the guts, huh?," Asher mumbled, having woken up from the loud music on your phone but was still half-asleep.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?," you asked. You turned down your phone.

"Don't worry about me, you just got a boyfriend," he chuckled, moving to lay down so he could get to sleep again. "Text him back for god's sake."

~~~

Y/n: its been almost a whole year and youre still so cute when you make those

Pete: haha thanks

Pete: uh

Pete: i really like you y/n

Pete: do u think you'd wanna go out with me or get dinner sometime?

~~~

"He asked me out," you gasped. "Ash, he asked me out!"

Asher rolled over and groaned. "I thought that was already established? Jesus, you two couldn't possibly be moving any slower."

You rolled your eyes. "Fuck you."

"Nah, you're with Peter now," he laughed. "You're gonna have to fuck him instead!" That comment earned him another pillow to the face.

You looked back at the messages and sent a tiny cute one. You smirked at the new idea of what was about to happen and turned it off before going to sleep.

~~~

Y/n: kiss me at school tomorrow and find out

~~~

Didn't do a third edit cuz I got lazy but I'm pretty happy with the turnout anyway. Thanks for reading!

Tagging: @allegra-writes, @allegra-soleil, @yumings, @hey-its-grey, @spideyyeet, @sunkissedspidey, @tommyunderoos, @chaoticpete, @snarky--starky, @sovereignparker, @thesherlockianavenger, @bubblebucky, @kelieah, @eridanuswave, @ithoughtthiswastwitterbutfr, @kidney9-9, @gwenvrse

[h3l10tr0p3]

Headcanon: Deku, the Serial Shipper

Contains- Mentions of sexual activities, established relationship - Bakudeku; Crack pairings- TodoIna, JiroMomo, UraTsuyu, UraTenya, DenkiSero, Kirimina, platonic Kiribaku etc.

(Beware- Long post)

Jesus Christ, I just had this HC and now I gotta spill, otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight. Here's another annoying Long Post for y'all)

Deku, as a Pro Hero and Katsuki's Duo Partner, has a pretty hectic life since the media are crazy bloodhounds, the villains are a pain in the ass, interacting with fans becomes exhausting at times, and the critics are demons wailing for his blood.

Yeah, very hectic. And on top of that, there's very little time to relax. Most of the days he sneaks some solace in the gym, if he can buy more time he likes to read and immerse himself in his notebooks and research. Fighting Katsuki to blow some steam is a last resort to shed off weeks of frustration and only reserved for off-days or desperate times - because something like that inevitably devolves into gratuitous rough sex or worse, day-long fuck-a-thon. Not that Deku doesn't enjoy it, he simply doesn't have the time to indulge and he knows Kacchan doesn't either, so they try to keep their hands off each other unless the occassion begs for much-needed violent release.

But sometimes, you just want instant relief. Sometimes Deku just wants to kick back and relax like a normal person, go on the internet, without everyone hounding him for a piece of his mind.

So he does.

Under Anonymity.

Et viola @allmight9000 comes alive on several media platforms including Tumblr and Twitter. At first, Deku masquerades around as a hardcore All Might fan fighting anyone who dares to diss the retired Symbol of Peace . But since his retirement, his popularity has gone cold, not many heated debates take place around him anymore and as sad as this makes Deku, he decides to discover new venues.

Now, Deku knows there's this dark void of fanfiction lurking on the net and there's no escape from it should he ever set foot into it. He is also aware of the dark things that beckon him from the sewers like Pennywise the Dancing Clown (eg. All Might/Endeavour, Hawks/Endeavour, All Might Bowl, All Might/ Hero Harem, All Might/Midnight, All Might/Aizawa/Present Mic and so on), things he should rightfully keep a safe distance from. But this is fucking Deku we are talking about- ofcourse he dares to dip his foot into the murk of fanfiction.

For science, he thinks, and takes the plunge.

It all goes downhill from there.

One day, Katsuki comes back from his shift to find Deku face-planted into the sofa, he hasn't eaten lunch, hasn't bathed and is claiming trauma, repeatedly insisting that he has sinned and he is going to hell for it, then he shakily holds up a 367k word fic of Villain Might/Endeavour. Katsuki has to slap him back to his senses. Later that night, Deku calls up Toshinori and asks him for forgiveness, when Toshinori asks him worriedly, 'For what?', Deku assures him he DOES NOT wanna know.

After obsessively going through various tropes and completing every Enemies to Lovers / Mutual Pining / Unrequited Love fic there is (and there is a lot, Deku hates himself every day for it), waiting torturous weeks for dead authors to rise from the ashes for a teeny tiny update, Deku finally gives up his small lake of unfulfilling All Might ships (because frankly it's hard to find a fic that suits his tastes and convincingly fleshes out a love story around a man who has pointedly avoided romance for the better part of his LIFE or a find a fic which is COMPLETE) and sets out into the sea of Ships.

Bad Idea.

Very VERY Bad Idea.

(We know it, he knows it. Katsuki is the only one who is blessedly oblivious because he chooses not to wade into Deku's mental shit and compromise his own sanity.)

Strangely, Deku has come to take an odd satisfaction of returning to fan mentality of shipping two people without restraints (rarely more than two)-it's simple, senseless, easy. It gives his head a break from all the overanalyzing it does and gives him a small dose of endorphins when he cant work out, eat out or fuck out the frustration. He was adverse to it first, since these are strangers trying to ship two random people (people he is friends with), and it was unsettling to find so many people shipping them when they've BARELY had any interaction in canon real life! What's the premise of shipping them at all? He just didn't find any allure to it back then. So he kept his reads under fluff and under mature ratings because he feels uncomfortable reading smut about his friends.

But Deku had a 'Oh my God they were ROOMMATES' moment when Jirou and Momo announce that they are dating to the U.A. Alumni, that too after reading a really fluffy Creati/Earphone Jack fic which accurately referenced their public sightings together and spun it into plot-points quite masterfully. ( the author did a real good job on it) And the most horrifying thing about the fic, Deku finds, is the fact that NO ONE, not even the AUTHOR knows how correct they were in their estimates! No one except Deku.

That realization shakes the foundations of Deku's beliefs and morality as he wonders how many fics out there , sfw or smut, requited or unrequited love, enemies to lovers or lovers to strangers, fluff or smut have come so so close to the truth, been so damn close - like an alternate course of their love-story? and WHY IS NO ONE GIVING IT MORE KUDOS?

This is how Deku ends up being the most irredeemable Shipper of the universe- with a mission in hand:

To curate proof of all valid ships and to supply aforesaid proof of it to the world (as subtly as he can of course, so as to not compromise his own identity or the privacy of the Shipped.)

He begins to scour through the net for paparazzi photos, indulges in gossip, pries out information of who is dating whom from his Hero contacts, authenticates it, creates folders and subfolders of photographic 'proof' (they are just teasers really) and whenever anyone writes a fic that comes anywhere close to the real thing he makes sure to tag them in his tumblr/twitter post with photos which basically pour gasoline over their fiery passion to continue dreaming and writing fics around those Ships. Like:

You wrote a fic of Fluffy Iron Fist x Real Steel? Here you go- an obscure pic of them leaving her apartment together

Uravity x Ingenium and Uravity x Froppy? A love triangle that could possibly end in heartbreak?!! Damn, sistah, who knows? (She's confused too, imho) So here you go- Uravity getting tipsy with Froppy and Uravity snuggling to Ingenium under the rain.

One-shot of Chargebolt x Cellophane getting frisky in an alley? Honey, I gotchu. Here's a pic of them arriving at a villain scene together with dishevelled clothes.

All Might x Endeavour Slow Burn? My dear friend- here's a picture of the Symbol of peace roasting marshmallows with Shouto on flaming Endeavour merch. Please don't make me block you.

All Might x Midnight? Here's a pic of my mom, me and my Dad AllMight. Midnight, Who binch?

Celsius (Shouto) x Gale Force Stripper AU? Oh, hey, look I'm totally that one lucky guy who was in the right place at the right time, okay? I dont know these guys personally, OKAY? Not. At. All. But I have some Opinions™ about your fic? and pics to support it. Just wanna show you that maybe...i mean...MAAYYYYYYBEEEE...the stripper is Galeforce, not Celsius? Yeah? Don't worry though, You're doing good. Love the slow build, keep up the good work!

Deku becomes a sensational fic-writer-enabler and often gives inspiration to writers who are looking to write for a new fandom. Deku's got their backs.

He sinks so deep into this Shipping business that one day Katsuki catches wind of it. It was becoming painful to keep ignoring Deku's descent into madness. Katsuki was okay with it as long as the nerd did his job well and fucked him even better (which Katsuki will never admit to enjoying, even at gun point. Pull the trigger, you coward). So, yeah, Katsuki could have accepted all of Deku's weird stalkerish behaviours (even if they weren't fixated on him all the time anymore and the 'Kacchan, sugoi!' comments had plummeted drastically....who needs the shitnerd to validate his worth, right?! Right...it didn't make him pissed AT ALL. because admitting that would mean he enjoyed it, WHICH HE DID NOT, MIND YOU)

What Katsuki couldn't accept was Deku accidentally using his official Hero twitter handle to post a very platonic (but in the eyes of rabid fans- borderline homoerotic) pictures of him and Eijirou and posted it as #Ground_Riot. The fucking flood of Zeku-haters and pro-GroundRioters had the comments section on FIRE. The post goes VIRAL.

Deku, fucking DEKU, the man who is secretly ENGAGED to him, is promoting GroundRiot like NO ONE's business and HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE DID WRONG.

Katsuki finds Deku happily puttering around their shared apartment completely oblivious to the PR hell that has been licking at his heels. He immediately attacks Deku's account and is completely gobsmacked. Lo and fucking behold- every fifth picture in his blog is fucking GROUND RIOT.

Not just that, apparently, THIS MAN, his fucking FIANCE, is not only a renowned peacemaker in inane Ship wars, but is hailed as a Soothsayer of Ships for always correctly prophecizing "Ships that will Sail into the fucking Sunset', he is basically some minor god in the Hero fandom who is extorting excitement out of fic writers and fans alike so that 'the crime of incomplete fics' can be eradicated once and for all. And Deku's fucking commited to it.

(perhaps more commited to Ground Riot than his own betrothal because there isn't A SINGLE POST of ZEKU on his blog)

There's even a post where he answers an ask from anonymous. The question: "Are you also anti-Zeku? I have never seen you post anything related to that ship. Is it because you think it won't Sail?" And Deku answers shortly how he isn't explicitly Anti-Zeku, but doesn't like the idea of reading fanfics of that ship. He clearly witholds his opinion if the ship will sail or not. Katsuki also finds the chat which started all this shit.

Chat-

Hey! @allmight9000. I wanted to write a GroundRiot fic? Could you give me some inspiration?

Aww, sure! It's my favourite Ship tbh. I love GroundRiot. I have a whole gigabyte of inspirations in my laptop. I'll send you some when I get back home, okay?

Yup!!! I am actually a hardcore Zeku fan. But recently my friends got me into Ground Riot and I am addicted!! But Zeku will always have a special place in my heart <3

I see. :)

Do you wanna try it out? I know you mentioned you don't like it. But I know some REALLY good fics.

No thank you ^_^ I make it a point to not read those fics. I just can't visualize it working, you know?

Oh...np. Each to their own. But I really hope one day you try reading some if you can?

I don't think so ...😅...uh...but..Any preferences for your inspiration though? or genre youre interested in?

Fluffff!!

Haha, okay! Look out for the new post on my twitter!

YASSS!! Love ya!

You too!

Katsuki sees red, he's about to flip his shit when he decides to give Deku one LAST fucking chance to explain WHY THE FUCK is he promoting Ground Riot when he should be shipping Zeku and demands of him if he really wants their Fucking Ship To Sail Or Not.

Deku gets defensive and says of course he does. Katsuki asks why he has been trying to push him onto Eijirou all this time if he wasnt serious about it. Deku doesnt want to answer. Then Katsuki gets fruatrated and asks WHY the fuck didnt he post Zeku.

"Because I don't want to support it"

"We are literally fucking engaged, you moron. What the FUCK do you mean you don't support it?!"

"I support Us, Kacchan! I just don't wanna support Zeku-shippers! Those two things are different!"

"WHy dont you wanna support them?! tHere is No Difference!"

"There is! I am not obligated to do anything for you. But if I admit to shipping Zeku out loud to the shippers, then I'm obligated to post pictures of us and I know that if I start posting that then my blog will literally be a flood of just Us all over!!"

"What is WRONG with that?!!"

"WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ENGAGED IN SECRET! NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW! you said it yourself! That you don't like the useless yapping of reporters about your love-life where it isn't their business!"

"YEAH? WELL FUCK THAT!"

And Katsuki whips out his phone, takes a selfie of french kissing the hell out of Deku and immediately posts in on his twitter. Deku has hardly reeled back from that intense kiss when he realizes what Katsuki has done and he practically explodes in shame.

"Kacchan!! Our secret!"

"Your fucking fault, Deku. If I have to deal with the shitty extras at all, it better be for the right Ship, you dumbass. I'll punt you straight to China if I hear Ground Riot from your mouth ever again...capiche?"

"But I like Ground Riot...It's a valid ship, Kacchan. You cant diss on it just like that. It has wonderful scope, and the fluff in this ship is AMAZING. I think I have a soft spot for Uke!GZ and Soft!GZ now... and it is a really mutually productive ship unlike- hrmff!", Katsuki shuts him up with a smack to his mouth and sheds his shirt.

"Shut your mouth and strip, shitnerd. I'll fuck the Ground Riot out of you. Also, let's make this fucking clear that if you mention ANYTHING that goes anywhere near Eijirou's dick,ass, balls or mouth", Katsuki shivers, "then I'll wreck your dick, ass, balls and mouth. Remember that. Now STRIP"

"But what about platonically? That's a solid ship, right? Right, Kacchan? Also It doesn't mention Eijirou's- fuck!!!"

Deku gets wrecked thoroughly.

(Let's observe one moment of silence for his Shipping ass 🙏)

(r.i.p. Deku)

Katsuki later asks him why Deku doesn't read Zeku fics either, cause pretending to not like it to weasel out of obligation is fine, but it doesn't explain why he refuses fo read any either.

"A fic, especially the ones that I like, always are these perfect little stories which always have a happy ending. Can't help it, I'm weak to it, Kacchan- it's why I read fics at all, you know? For the rush of happiness and feels! It's always written with the intention that it will be perfect! And it is. But it doesn't come close to the real thing. There can be fics out there that come really close to what we really have though - but I refuse to accept that any fic could be better than the imperfectly perfect things I have with you, Kacchan. No matter what anyone insists, what I have with you is perfect to me. You are perfect to me. And that's all that matters."

Katsuki calls him an incorrigible sap and turns away to hide a violent flush that turns him red like a stop sign.

Omake:

Katsuki's #Zeku goes Viral too. But at this point no one understands what is going on or WHY. Because GZ appears to be a Zeku shipper when Deku is a GroundRiot shipper. Confusion abounds. Zac Efron memes agonize over Both ships, Captain America Japan Civil War Memes make a comeback. And for some reason, Deku keeps posting Ground Riot afterwards too and everytime he does, the next day he is seen limping.

"Did you have a hardtime with Zero-san at training yesterday?"

Before Deku can answer the one who asks him that, Eijirou comes up, winks and answers in his stead, "Very hard", and runs away to Mina's side before Deku has a shame-filled meltdown.

(The Ground Riot thing stops only when Mina and Eijirou get finally married.)

[cannot-decide-on-a-fandom]

Part 2 of this way too long already crusade

This time, manga match ratings! Same rules as last time. Here's part 1-

Nekoma Vs Fukurodani Tokyo Qualifiers

Can I just appreciate how there's an entire arc in this series where our main characters only appear a couple times, about completely different teams playing matches they are not in any way involved with? It's so cool to see this, especially because Fukurodani isn't really Karasuno's rival as much as Nekoma's. Haikyuu really, really does give the spotlight to every single person at one point or another. And we see this happening in the nationals too, we don't only see Karasuno play.

Specifically for this match, I loved seeing the inner workings of all their plays, and it was such a great thing, as this was the first time we saw an official match with high level teams where it still remained relatively friendly, without removing from the competitiveness. I'm so glad we're getting the OVA of this.

Also, Akaashi having a numbered freaking list of Bokuto's weaknesses...I just can't deal with this

I love those dorks so much

And we met Akane and Alisa!

7.5/10

Nekoma Vs Nohebi

Alright, so I completely DESPISED Suguru at first. The first character I thought negatively of.

But...dammit Furudate, why are you such a great writer? How can you make me love him eventually?

Anyway, let me talk about the MVP of this match (in my eyes anyway!)

My boy!

I'm so sorry you got hurt! But you did so well!

Do you know what? When I was reading this and heard it was a sprain, I was like "oh, that sucks. But hey, it could be worse"

Then I sprained my own ankle in a competition and... damn, that hurts! I couldn't walk properly for like a week, and I couldn't exercise for 6. It's so much worse than I expected. My poor boy.

But we got Shibayama playing due to this, and that was great. And the moments with Lev. And HUGS!

I also liked the backstory for Yaku and Kuroo.

They're just...nerds. I love them so much.

I need to reread this match soon.

8.5/10

Okay, there weren't really any "matches" as such I could comment on during training camp, and Karasuno/Dateko practices we didn't see enough of, so! Jumping straight into nationals!

Karasuno Vs Tsubakihara

I have to apologize to Tsubakihara because for like a month, every time I tried to think of their name I couldn't remember it.

But still, this was a nice match. It brought us some new things like the ceiling serve, and the characters on the opposition were nice. It wasn't extraordinary, but you know what? I'm glad it exists.

Also! We started getting Kinoshita development! Yes, baby! He was always the least explored person on the team and I'm glad Furudate didn't ignore him (like they ever would, though, they're too great for that)

It was also the start of Hinata's improved receives, at least in official games. And I really liked how there was exploration of how the arena effects plays, because that is definitely the case. you perform in anything better when it's more similar to your own regular location. I love it.

7/10

Karasuno Vs Inarizaki

HELL YEAH!!!!!

This is my second favourite match of the entire series

It's so good! The Miya twins are stupidly chaotic, Kita is just wonderful, the entire team is great, and as for the actual match?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS?

How can I not love it? Hinata, I'm so proud baby! The twins version of the freak quick? Awesome. Tanaka's backstory? I LOVE IT!

Showing mistakes and screw ups by each player was fantastic, there was a lot of humour as well without detracting from the seriousness of this game, the freaking declaration of Atsumu tossing to Hinata one day, I just....I can't deal with this game

9.5/10 Would be 10 if the next match didn't exist

Karasuno Vs Nekoma Nationals

Okay. I'm not gonna say much, because I could honestly rant about this game for like 2 hours straight no problem. But....YEAH!

This is EASILY my favourite game of the entire series. It was the most emotional game of any of them, the freaking symbolism of the birdcage and all, seeing Kenma planning and Hinata being frustrated is so weirdly satisfying, Yamaguchi and Tsukki celebrating together, the HUGS!

KENMA!!!!!!!

I'm so proud of you! Are you kidding me?

Like, I know we say Tsukishima has had the best development, and I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but can we for a moment appreciate my precious boy?

He grew SO MUCH! IT'S SUCH AN AMAZING THING SEEING HIM SAY HE'S HAVING FUN! I JUST ABOUT DIED!

There's so much more, but I think I might burst if I talk about this more.

10/10. If I could give it 1000 I would but that would destroy the point of the scoring system.

Fukurodani Vs Mujinazaki

Oh, boy. How are we gonna follow up the best match of the series?

I'll tell you how, by more backstory, this time of Akaashi, hell yeah!

...I say that too much.

Anyway, this arc is what cemented Akaashi's place in my top 10 characters. I love seeing usually calm and collected characters struggling and feeling frustrated, but he handled it so well. He tried so hard, and he overcame it, and I love the little glimpses of his past with Bokuto.

I'm pretty sure the line "no matter what other people may say, we are the protagonists of the world" came from this match too (though I could be wrong), which is the rawest freaking line possible

I just...I really enjoyed seeing a Fukurodani match like this. As I said earlier, Nekoma and Fukurodani are rivals more than Karasuno and Fukurodani, but because Nekoma and Karasuno are strongly correlated, they were kind of tangentially related to the qualifiers, and they were mentioned a few times too.

But this was purely about Fukurodani. We got character arcs entirely about a team who we never actually saw Karasuno face

The entire game was great. It was good enough to not feel like a let down after the previous match, but also a nice cooling off period. I do adore this match

8.5/10

And, Finally

Karasuno Vs Kamomedai

...oh boy. Why not just hit me with a brick while you're at it?

Gonna be real, Hoshiumi is my least favourite rival (again though, that doesn't mean I dislike him, I love every character in this series) and when reading this match at first, I was like...I won't be able to get into this, will I?

...I need a clown mask or something.

This match made me cry so much! Hinata abandoning the name "Little Giant" and aiming for the title of "The Greatest Decoy", and how mature he was throughout this match, and everything alongside it...I can't deal with it without feeling things.

Actually, and I swear I'm not adding this just as a self promotion or something but purely because it's a lot faster to just link this than describe my thoughts here again, I made a video pretty much about this match, so check it out if you want my thoughts

9/10

And we've come to the end

This was...way too long

But oh well. Do you agree?

[333vam333]

All I Ask of You | j.tw (VIXX)

FT. a lot of Cha Hakyeon

Title: All I Ask of You

Word Count: 3k+

Rating: NR

Genre: Drama, Romance, Mystery

Warnings: A lil Profanity

Pairings: Phantom!Leo x fem!Reader, Cha Hakyeon x Reader

Summary: You couldn’t take him terrorizing you anymore, but after he overhears your plan to leave him, things begin to escalate in a way you didn’t expect.

~

Your footsteps crunched in the snow as you walked quickly towards the railing on the opera's roof. You couldn't take it anymore. Ever since Carlotta left the opera, terrified and destroyed by the coincidence that took place during the last show when she croaked like a toad, you became the new Prima Donna. You were the opera's biggest hit now. All pressure was on you.

The chilly weather surrounding you didn't phase you as you couldn't get the thought out of being part of the upcoming and long awaited show. You didn't mind being in the show, that's not what you feared, but you knew he would be watching as he always was. That thought made your body shiver and your heart stop beating.

"Y/N!" Distant crunching comes closer quickly and you turn to see a familiar face that makes relief fly onto you for an instant. Your childhood sweetheart met your eyes and smiled brightly despite the lack of air he was receiving. He was panting lightly, dawdling sluggishly towards the railing you stood in front of and leaned against it with his elbows on the snow. Your hands were stuffed into your light jacket's pockets and your hood on top of your hair. You came out in a rush without a care in the world about what you wore, but frankly, getting sick would help a lot in a crisis like this. Your smile was small and didn't last long.

“Why’d you come here, Hakyeon?”

"I'm wondering the same for you.." he stood straight then, attempting to dust off the already melted snow off his coat's sleeves. His head tilted once you didn't answer. "You stormed out of the director's office with tears in your eyes."

He saw? You frown. Great, he's probably like him now..

"It was nothing." You turned your head and faced forward at the dead, yet beautiful, scenery in front of you of the city. The tears were beginning to form and you damned your eyes and emotions for being so sensitive now. Here was the love of your life wanting you to pour everything out, and all you were doing was trying to be an independent woman and solve this on your own. But you knew you couldn't. He's too powerful. He didn't need his looks or personality to attract you. All he needed was his voice- the voice you mistook for an angel's.

Hakyeon shook his head. "Don't waste your breath on lies, Y/N. I know something is bothering you. You can tell me you know-" His hand touches your shoulder and instantly you pull away. You knew a single touch would make you burst into a nasty cry.

His sigh was defeating but he kept pushing.

"Lately" he began, his voice soft, comforting, tempting you to slam into his embrace, "I've been noticing how you haven't been acting like yourself necessarily, kinda like you feel bothered by my presence..." There was a ounce of sadness overwhelming his voice that was usually strong when talking to others, but when it came to you, Hakyeon would show emotions without really realizing it. "When I first came here you were happy. You remembered me.." You peer over at Hakyeon and see his head dropped down slightly, a small smirk plastered on his lips. The sight makes regret flood over you.

"It's nothing against you." you mumble, causing him to glance at you. "You'll understand in time. It's just that..I'm..I'm afraid."

He arches closer while examining your face with a concerned look on his. "Of what? The show?"

You drop your head and bite your lip, thinking about what you can tell him. You trust Hakyeon with your whole heart and he's given his to you, even after all these years. The connection between you two picked up right where it stopped when you were just children. It's fate, isn't it? You can tell him anything...right?

Not being able to form the words, Hakyeon embraces you suddenly, whispering "Oh, my precious Little Lotte, you have nothing to fear while I'm here. Nothing can harm you." You look up at him, a childish and relieved smile shown on his beautiful face. Feeling his warm body pressed against you makes you almost forget what was happening and where you were.

"Can you promise me something, Hakyeon?" you ask, smiling up at him in relief and your heart fluttering with butterflies at the sight of his smile.

"Hmm?" his eyes are closed, savoring this moment he didn't think he'd get since you were playing hard to get in the beginning.

"Take me to Canada when my performance is finished."

He pushes you away from him only enough for you both to look at one another. He furrows his eyebrows, "Why do you suggest that?"

You shrug and smile. "After all this time, I've just wanted to be with you. If I go with you I'll never leave your side, I swear."

He giggles like a little school girl, causing you to laugh, and he agrees. "Then, promise me something as well, Little Lotte." You nod as you continue to stare into each other's eyes, taking in this beautiful moment. "Love me, that's all I ask of you."

His words fling into your ears, making a bright smile appear on your face instantly. You needed to hear those words. Getting on your tippie toes, and with your hands on the sides of his face, you gently press your lips against his. Both of your hearts flutter.

"Showtime!"

You head snaps towards the closed door of your dressing room. "I’ll be out in a second!" Quickly facing your vanity's mirror, you apply lipstick trying not to mess up and go on stage looking like a clown as you normally did. You stand and examine your dress before hurrying out to the rest of the performers.

Passing by all the props being pushed around, you approach one of the directors who smile in relief at your sight. "I'm so glad you decided to sing for us, Y/N. We thought the opera would be a disaster if someone else didn't play the main role. Thank you so much, you look stunning!" You smile and thank him for his compliments. In the back of your head you curse him for making it seem like it was only you who could save the opera when you knew a bunch of the backup dancers would kill to get the main role. He pats your shoulder lightly before heading to scold someone for putting a prop in the incorrect place, leaving you alone.

Slowly, you make your way to the center of the stage, staring straight ahead at the blood red curtain before you. Your hands shook just imagining the crowd, and the single person you knew would be watching. From above? From directly in front of you? From the side? Oh, it didn't matter. He was always there.

"Y/N." You look at your coworker who was in the duet song that was going to be played second. He was dressed as a Nobleman and is mustache just added to the look. "You ready?"

You shook your head, but once you added your smile, it seemed like you meant it. "For whatever's to come, of course."

It wasn't long before everyone got into their places, either on the stage or on the side behind the wall. And your heart was beating. The spotlight wasn't on you yet but you could feel yourself sweating. You shook off the nerves and grabbed the prop from the table you sat on. And the curtain rose all too fast. You froze.

In front of you was pure darkness except for the exit signs that stood out. Oh..oh..what did I get myself into?..

Your eyes flew from seat to seat as you tried your best to see who sat in the seat. You eventually gave up once you remembered that he wore a black cloak. He was the shadow, so it was no use.

The Nobleman and his single Knight were singing as you shined the apple on your skirt. Your bug eyes kept flinging everywhere, but once you gleamed up at Hakyeon sitting in one of the boxes to the left of you, smiling and silently clapping despite you barely doing anything, the cautious feeling calmed down and you acted more natural.

Soon the duet came, and as soon as the Knight disappeared from the stage, you heard a voice fill the whole opera house. It was familiar but not the Nobleman's. Emerging from the curtain of the small prop meaning to be a house, you come face to face with a man draped in a full body cloak. Chills run down your whole body as it arches closer to you and continues to sing. Oh, his voice is sweet, dominating, hypnotic - it was Leo’s.

Your mouth dropped open and you ran to get off stage. One of your directors holds a hand up, before you take another step closer, and shakes his head violently. He shoos you back on. All went silent and you slowly looked back at the man who you knew would be here. The one who makes your body go weak.

Your eyes automatically search for Hakyeon. As your eyes meet, he mouths "You're safe" and it makes your eyes tear up.

The first note is quivered but you swallow back the tears and make your way to HIM as instructed in rehearsals. The shows go on. Your voices harmonize and go together like puzzle pieces. The lyrics of the song...you can feel the way he sings it with an emotion you didn't know he would possess in a dead, soulless, creature like him.

Soon, the end of the song came, and you hadn't realized that you got off the rehearsed actions. You stood in front of him now, listening to him sing words that weren't part of the song. Without thinking you gently push down the hood of the cloak. Gasps fill the house but he continues to sing. You're met with a white mask, narrow eyes, and his exposed face that was left unblemished. As you stare into his narrow eyes that looked down at you with tears forming and a moony gaze, his voice begins to get louder.

"Y/N, that's all I ask of-" your hands fling to the white mask he wore on half of his face and the screams came, including his own. The opera house goes dark.

He was ugly. You couldn't hide your face that retorted in disgust.

"You did this, Y/N!" his voice boomed throughout the corridors, echoing. You hoped someone would hear him. "You betrayed me! I gave you my music and this is how you repay me!? Your Angel Of Music?!” Everything was happening all too fast for you to react properly. You didn't scream or pull away from his death grip on your wrist, you almost thought that if you moved further from him then your wrist would snap.

Once you made it to the lake, he threw you on the small boat when you first refused to do so. Slamming into the boat caused you to hit a small bench on your head. He jumped in after, untied the boat from the dock, and began rowing quickly as if it were his way of releasing anger.

He began to ramble, shouting as he did so. You couldn't get your eyes away from his face.

It seemed so surreal. He was a dead man walking. There was an unusually big gnash on the side of his head nearly exposing his brain, a few strands of raven black hair on his head, a single nostril was sunken in only looking like a small black hole, his eyebrows and eyelashes were nonexistent, the side of his lip was swollen, and even his cheek was sunken in. The multiple deformities on his face were unearthly, and it was odd that they only occurred on one side of his face. You almost felt bad for him. But he killed people. Even if he were attractive you still would've feared him.

You can see the fire gleam in his narrow eyes as he notices that your eyes haven't left him. He throws the paddle down on the boat near your feet and takes off the cloak, tossing it on the water.

"Stare all you want! This is your future husband" the smile on his face is menacing, making you curl up closer to the other side of the boat that was across from him "might as well get used to the sight of his vile creature, baby!" His voice caused you to wince. He leaned closer to you, sitting on the only bench on the small boat, his hand meeting the paddle. You couldn't lean back any further since you'd fall off the boat. He stood up and you managed to catch sight of the frown now placed on his face.

Once you got to the space where he lived just near the water, you attempted to jump in, but as he caught you and threw you back onto the concrete floor you nearly shit yourself since you knew there was no hope left. You knew your only chance of living would be to submit to him.

It was just you and him and his small shrine dedicated to you.

"You were going to leave me!" his booming voice caused you flinch as you stayed on the cold floor. He knew?.. You didn't move any further until he came up to you and crouched down at your level. You picked up your head slightly to meet his dead eyes but in a quick movement his hand flies to your throat. Your head was held back and you squinted your eyes tightly as his grip around your neck slowly tightened as well. You couldn't move. Fear swarmed over you and your mind went blank.

"Did you think I wouldn't hear you on the roof with your lover?" he growled through gritted teeth. His face was close to yours now and his eyes looked upon your helpless face. "Did you think I wouldn't have followed you up to the roof to comfort you myself? Wow, how foolish do you think I am?"

Your heart began to pound as you could no longer breathe comfortably. You attempted to gasp for air and your hand even went up to his, but he only looked at you and slowly released. He threw you back and your head hit the concrete.

"I love you, Y/N, and I assumed you felt the same.." suddenly his voice was softer but you didn't pay any attention. You were too busy inhaling the air and rubbing the back of your head. "b-but..you lied to me.."

Sitting up steadily, you eyed the man who sat with his head in his hands just a few inches away from you. You backed up from him but he suddenly lifted his head. Leo's red, moistened eyes caught your attention and caused you to come to a halt.

"You played with my feelings, Y/N..why do I still want you?.."

You don’t know what to say.

"I-“ his hand flew up ordering you to be silent. Leo faced you and his smile sent chills down your body once more. "We have a guest."

"Y/N!" Your head snapped towards the enterance of the area Leo lived in. Seeing Hakyeon running through the water caused you to do the same. You ran into his arms and smiled, tears already spilling over once you touched him.

You knew he’d come to save you.

"We need to leave! Before it's too late, Hakyeon!" You tugged on his sleeve in the direction of the enterance. You caught sight of the pistol in his hand and your heart sunk. "Hakyeon!"

He pulled his arm away from you, "I have to kill this man! He's been terrorizing you and everyone!"

You shook your head and worry and eagerness became to consume you. "NO! Hakyeon, please! Let's leave I don't want him to hurt you!"

"He won't.." Hakyeon's tentative eyes gazed around before meeting yours. He places his free hand on your cheek. "I'm going to make sure he never haunts your days again, Little Lotte."

Hakyeon's words always find a way to make you feel the right way, but a shadow emerges from behind him and wrapped something around Hakyeon's neck. You scream as you watch Leo drags Hakyeon like he were a rag doll despite Hakyeon trying his best to break free from the man's strength. You chased after them and tried prying him from Leo but it was no use since Leo pushed you with force that made you hit the floor harder then you thought a human could be capable of. Leo brought your sweetheart to a pipe that hung a few inches off the ground and tied the end of the rope to it, while Hakyeon's neck was stuck in the noose.

"Leo! Please, don't! He didn't do anything-"

"HE TOOK YOU FROM ME AND YOU.." he stopped, his expression softening and his head dropping, "you let him take you.."

Leo shook his head and faced forward at you, who looked at him in desperation.

"So what'll it be, Little Lotte?" he mocks Hakyeon, smiling like a fool. "Either this man gets freed or you send him to his death?"

Your eyes dropped along with your eyebrows and your breathing quickens. "Don't be like this, Leo! Don't be unfair-"

"And you aren't unfair to me?"

You remain silent. "So? Either me or you send this fool," his hand gripped the end of the rope and pulled down a little which caused Hakyeon to gasp and almost stand on his tippie toes, "straight to his death?"

You back up, your chest popping up and down. Tears are forming once more in your eyes. "I..I.." Something catches your attention in the corner of your eye. Swimming in the water, nearing the concrete where you're standing, comes the pistol that fell from Hakyeon's hand when Leo put the noose over his neck.

Your eyes meet Leo's again.

~

Hi! This is my first fanfic here, which I hoped you enjoyed! Please tell me what you think of this and how I could possibly improve my work. I take requests as well so don’t be shy! I write for many groups (as you can see on my master list) so ask away! Thanks for reading! 😄

[thesilkentheater]

vintage pistol

He's been kinda tuckered out recently. This is only the second this month and it's nearly over. Usually he goes for three, sometimes four, except for February where he only does one cause he's gotta have a week free to bother every poor man in town who happens to be single. Surprised at this rate he hasn't become a prostitute yet, cause lord knows he's already fucked every man at least once anyway.

Man, meanwhile, is runnin' away on his scared-cat of a horse, who's started whining and neighing its concerns at the next canyon over. He keeps thrashing the reins, kickin', hittin' it even with a riding crop he got the other town over, but it refuses. Starts trying to buck him off, even, sends the gun in his hands flying and well if this ain't just the most pathetic scene I've ever had the fortune of laying my eyes upon.

"Ain't going well, is it?"

"Shut yer mouth, you- Damn horse!"

Unfortunately for him, he messed with the wrong angel. I pick him up by the neck all easy-like, plop him down on the ground next to me. He lands like a child on his ass, face scrunched up like he bit a lemon and legs stretched out. Even a kitten lands easier- it's kinda funny.

Lassie trots her way up to the other horse, calms them down with some nudges from her own snout and those trecherous eyes of hers. Could be a siren, I think sometimes, one who made it into heaven in disguise and never bothered to change even when they mistook her for one of the blessed steeds. Tell you what, too- I wouldn't rat her out.

"Got somethin' for me?"

"Not for you, you goddamn- What the hell is takin' him so long?"

"Who, that ol' miner with the dynamite?"

"Ah, hells, course you found him. Man couldn't keep his mouth shut if it was sewn."

"Y'aint wrong about that, I'll give you that. Took him two shots of whiskey to start tellin' me everything, and I wasn't even askiin' yet."

"Stupid, stupid…argh, fine. Now where the hell is it…"

"What, you lose your prize on the way?"

"Hell no, I know what that thing's worth. If I saw it fall I would've dove after it myself."

"To your death?"

"Let it never be said that I am a smart man over a greedy one."

"I will not begrudge you that, I promise you."

"Oh, how kind." He makes a small noise of triumph, and pulls exactly what I'm lookin' for out of his pocket. Nice vintage pistol, stolen straight from its ribbon-wrapped box in my desk back in the sherrif's office. Quite bold, if I do say so myself, but it's not like I'm gonna let him get away just for that.

"Thank ya kindly."

"Gonna arrest me now?"

"Nah. That'd be helpin you get out of this here gorge, which I will have plenty of entertainment watching you figure out."

"…Goddamn horse."

I let out a hearty laugh, Lassie joining me with her own set'o noises. The man again scrunches up his face in an adorable pout as I pocket the pistol and take to the skies on the winged beast, surely planning another heist.

He's been kinda tuckered out recently. This is only the second this month and it's nearly over. Usually he goes for three, sometimes four, except for Feburary where he only does one cause he's gotta have a week free to bother every poor man in town who happens to be single. Surprised at this rate he hasn't become a prostitute yet, cause lord knows he's already fucked every man at least once anyway.

Well, hopefully this'll cheer him up.

Let it never be known that I am a bland angel. I enjoy myself a good show tune, for sure, and I love to perform just as much. Anything in the general vicinity of irony or comedy or the like- lemme at it, because I am the whole goddamn circus when I wanna be. An absolute clown, just the pinnacle of comedy, everythin' in between, too.

Lassie's lookin' at me like she's laughing. See? Natural-born comedian right here, ready to amuse and make fun of anythin' worth my talents.

Martin's worth my talents, I say. Absolutely worth- if only because he reacts so well you'd think we're doin' a routine together, the two of us, a pair of entertainers made for this sorta thing. I ain't ever seen such a crowd here when I got him cornered somewhere in town, and I ain't ever heard such laughter either.

Hoo boy, are the townspeople in for a goddamn treat.

From here it is quite the spectacle to watch that man struggle. He first tries to get his horse to jump back across, but that doesn't work; tries to get it forward, to no avail. Starts lookin at the space, wondering if he can jump it himself before he solidly decides that no, he can't. Then he looks up and thinks maybe he can climb the rock wall, but no, that's too sheer and points slightly inwards, just enough that he'd pop out a couple of joints unless he's got sticky fingers like a spider.

Well, he does have sticky fingers if his hoard is anything to go by. But they ain't helpin' him here, and he plops down on the ground, defeated. It is, apparently, at this moment his horse nudges him onto its back, guiding with gentle touches and whines I can only really guess at from here based on his reaction. And then, with all the best comedic timing in the world, the horse bolts across the way it came from, leavin' 'im barely hanging on for dear life.

That's a hoot, I daresay. Lassie wasn't paying attention, and looks at me funny like I shouldn't be whoopin' and callin' over such a thing, but I never cared much. If angelhood is about image then call me a goddamn song, cause I ain't got none.

But I should finish up the act. I head over to the town at the same time he does, get to the entrance just before he does. The few people out and about do gather and look, cause they know it's gotta be funny.

"Heya there."

"What, you gonna arrest me now that I made it back."

"Nah. Heard you need a new pistol now, though."

"'Course I do. Old one's workin' alright but it's been a couple years, even with maintenance it fails pretty often."

"Well, here, then." I say, and with the best goddamn smile I can manage without breaking out into laughter, I hold out the vintage pistol.

He stares at me for a good five seconds. "You- fuckin'-"

"Are you goddamn kidding me?"

And the cackling laughter I cannot stop spewing follows him even as he snatches it and starts raving on and on about how goddamn annoying I am.