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[windybluebelles]

Batfam Ages!

WOOOOO LETS GO

This is a mishmash of canon ages in an attempt to make a coherent time line, this is in no way actual fact, these are just ages that make sense to me. Feel free to give constructive criticism if something is entirely inaccurate

Also, I think some things I’ve put in this timeline aren’t strictly canon at the moment, but I like them sooooo

Bruce Wayne became Batman at 21 after training with the league of assassins for like 3 years

Dick Grayson is 10 when his parents die,

24 year old Bruce Wayne saw it happen

And 2 year old Tim Drake was in the audience

Barbara Gordon became batgirl when she was 12 and Dick was 11

The Titans was formed when Dick was 14

When Dick was 16 he left home and became Nightwing a year later,

9 year old Tim Drake starts stalking Batman (and Robin/Nightwing)

Damian al Ghul is born when Bruce is 31

32 year old Bruce Wayne adopted 12 year old Jason Todd

Jason Todd died at 15,

22 year old Babs gets beaten by the joker and becomes disabled

Tim Drake started training to be Robin around six months later and became Robin at 13, Bruce is 36

Spoiler becomes an active Vigilante when both her and Tim are 14

15ish year old Tim gets beat up by 18 year old Jason Todd (maybe 19 idk) in Titans Tower

16 year old Tim temporarily stops being Robin,

16 year old Steph became Robin

40 year old Bruce finally meets 9 year old Damian Wayne

41 year old Bruce is lost in the time stream,

11 year old Damian becomes Robin

42 year old Bruce starts fostering 16 year old Duke Thomas

…Gang I’m gonna be honest, I know borderline NOTHING about Cass’s character, I have no clue where to put her on the time line

No idea if any of what I just wrote is in anyway correct or makes any sense, I did try and reference canon using Birthdays and such but I think I definitely fucked up Damian

The only thing im pretty sure is officially no longer canon is Tim being at the circus when Dick’s parents died, but I love that concept so much and really don’t care. Also, a lot of comics just decide to not make Babs disabled, which is a massive bummer

I’m pretty sure young Batman is only a thing from a few films but the idea of him being a vigilante when he can barely drink is funny to me

Also, and this really has nothing to do with the time line, the idea of both the teen titans tv shows and the titans comics being canon is so funny to me. Like, yes, of course they did all that wacky shit in the span of approximately 3 years (not counting after Dick becomes Nightwing)

I know people don’t like the TV shows (especially TTG) due to how badly characterised they are, but the concept is funny to me

[primaviva]

my experience with rashad.

tw: racism, use of the n-slur (hard r for context) proceed with these things in mind and also don’t go and bring him attention by going to his page as he should not be on the internet for his own peace and everyone else’s. this is going to be long and have a lot of receipts/descriptions. do not send him shit on my behalf i ain’t move like that.

before i start, i want it to be clear that this is not confirmed. however, he has a history of doing fake anons to himself and to his (ex) moots from what i learned to either start drama, topics, or fw them so he can act as a supporter or victim if he sent the anon to himself. and this is NOT me jumping on the rashad toxic gossip train of tumblr 2023 but this type of behavior is disgusting and inexcusable. i am very convinced that it was him and want to share it to you all while leaving it open to criticism and speculation but PLEASE be careful and pick up the warning signs with these people from everyone coming out with stories about him.

now let’s get tf into it cus it’s a lot…

me snd rashad became moots after he noticed me like a post of his i think. his first inbox to me was him trying to do self promo for a fic of his he was writing which i thought was odd and a little weird so i ignored it but he ended up continuing to inbox me random things (which i don’t generally mind) so we ended up building some mutual association or sum on here.

however, around 9-10 days ago, rashad had got “sent” something in his inbox about afro latinos. this was the ask:

now, i am not going to invalidate afro latinos who have experienced this. as a latino, i have experienced prejudice but that is never comparable to a black latino or a black person in general who is mixed/has another ethnic group of origin. these things are said to people and have been said to me in a different context. however, this ask was directly after he had posted it and on top of that it simply is not something someone would say as an ask. i don’t know how to describe it, but it’s too directed, crafted in a way that it’s wording seems like someone trying to be racist, and so on. we had never talked one on one either so i was confused when i first saw he had tagged me in a post since i hadn’t seen what it was about yet. i don’t know how to describe it but there’s something in the wording and just the context of it all that made this ask so in genuine almost as if it was something he had asked himself on another account.

this was me tagged in it:

i of course reblogged and said my peace and now disgusting and ignorant it was because afro latinos are a minority even in their own community because of generationally taught racism from colonization and just our traditional way of life and teaching stripped from us and our culture. but at the time, i had no idea of his “track record” of doing this type of thing or even the drama he was getting messy with behind what everyone knew of him.

i wanna say this as it’s very important as to what i have to show next. i am not black. i have never stated that and my day one followers and moots know that i have black family and in fact most of my relatives are afro latino but i, myself, am a lightskin latina which is something i feel i have always made known at least in sum damn context clues. i also want to add that this took place september 18th and that’s alway really important to the story.

ok now lemme get into why this is even a post.

shortly after this, i had gotten sick and ended up going on a break from just the internet in general because i needed to rest my ass up before even doin a thing like school and writing n allat. i was gone for around 3-4 days. so this post was long “old” or at least not being seen by anyone. and the thing is my spam posts never get hella reblogs unless i add hashtags or say something that makes everyone and they mama wanna join in on the conversation. so tell me why, exactly three days later, around the day i came back, i receive this in my inbox:

what the fuck is this? like genuinely.

i had not seen this the first day i came back because my inbox was flooded with my actives rambling to me, compliments, requests, etc until yesterday morning when i was taking the time to reply to some stuff and it had come up. i was gagged like this language was so vile, nasty, ignorant, and dumb as fuck. why? for starters, i am not afro latino or black. me and others believe that rashad was under the impression that by the few posts he saw of me talking about the issue that he just assumed i was afro latino as well. i am not and people that follow me from long before all this know that.

and like let’s really read the text and what it says because it’s speaking about black latinos not being latino because they have no “true” spanish or indigenous blood, which is something that this man is always talking about and presents, to me, as an insecurity (a valid one DONT get it twisted) as a afro latino. he, or “anon,” goes on to call me the n word with the hard r multiple times and tells me i should have stayed a slave and then goes on to bring up taino ancestors (my ancestors) which i just found beyond disrespectful and crossing a big ass fucking line. im not sure if im describing this well, but just by the way that these anon asks are worded they seem very “fake” as in not that this couldn’t happen or hasn’t been told to anyone, but it doesn’t feel organic and just feels like forced racist comics to give you content.

he also texted me for the first time in tumblr dms the same day as this post or the day after the ask was sent to me, i believe, so coincidence or not …

i am 85% sure this is rashad.

to me, it feels like he did this as a way to maybe validate how he feels as a afro latino with other mixed latin im him since afro latinos face so much prejudice. however, to seek validation by doing an anon to yourself about your own post to get others to hype you up and validate YOUR ethnicity is completely unhealthy especially in this way. THIS was vile. THIS was uncalled for and beyond einstein level comprehension skills. THIS is inappropriate and a sign you shouldn’t be on tumblr.

rashad has been involved in a lot of drama public and not and has a constant thing to blame it on his “episodes” and such. while i think that self diagnosing is valid because people, especially poc, can’t get proper mental care rn, to state it as a fact is something that self diagnosers do not do and acknowledge it isn’t right. even so, it is not valid to blame bad behavior on your mental health. and even if you did “take accountability,” in your so called apologies rashad, you go from saying you don’t use your mental health as an excuse but at the same time use it in that context for why you shouldn’t get hate and we should all stop criticizing you and your actions because it should all be forgivable in a way where we can just move on with no consequences.

yes, rashad does suffer from mental illnesses or some type/types of mental issues whether they are underlying or not but the problem is that the internet is literally his scapegoat from this and is feeding into his problems which is why he does the anons, the posts putting people on blast, etc. if you have not seen he has taken this drama from tumblr to discord to instagram. but it is clear he does not feel any microscopic ounce of guilt or genuine sorry in this specific situation. he says he’s “acting like the big person” but goes to attack people who tried to talk some sense into him in his petty onika miraj type posts sayin shit about shoving ice dildos into peoples puss puss and sneak dissin mfs who have a right to see what he’s doing when he is continuing to be petty in the heat of this whole thing by talkin abt people.

he’s struggling with so much and the internet is not for him and it shows in the way he handles confrontation, parasocial relations w people online, and how he copes with his issues by running to tumblr or any other social media. he has stated before he is an ex manipulator and so on and a place like this is not where he needs to be. so do not feed into the anons he sends, do not feed into the petty and compulsive posts he puts together, and just don’t interact with him. he needs to find his own inner peace on some preacher to the church type shit like this a tyler perry movie and not effect those around him with his own internal mess.

so don’t take this as me trying to like ride off this situation or just me saying these things just because all my moots or in it and i wanna be involved on some nosy bitch shit. but something like this is very serious and i was gonna be quiet on my suspicion but something as disgusting as this being said to me and not put on some blast by my classy ass just didn’t feel right. do not go to his page like he his “gone” just take this in a way to educate yourself on the typa person he is and as an example of why you shouldn’t get emotionally attacked to the internet or get involved with people like this.

pay attention to how ppl act and the red flags so you can just cut them off and save y’all both the “i survived” trauma. again, this isn’t confirmed (the racism post) because i have no way to prove it but he has a history of it and i just wanted to come out with this because it made me uncomfortable and disgusted.

NOT EVERYTHING IS FOR THE INTERNET !

[muthaz-rapapa]

Hirogaru Sky Impressions (3/5)

Alright~

So we're more than halfway there. Excited for leaks season yet?

Show is still going good despite the last 10 episodes being mostly filler. I don't have anything to really complain about since as far as fillers go, the quality of HiroPre's is definitely better than those of previous seasons.

But me being me, of course there is going to be some form of criticism so let's gogogo~ and get that over with.

Again, the fillers are quite enjoyable but ever since the recovery of Captain Shalala, doesn't it feel like we've gone too long without any plot-related episodes?

Thankfully, it seems they're getting back to that with ep 31 next week. But even so, the lack of clues or hints about the Undergu Empire and the reason for its antagonism dragged the show's momentum slightly. So it felt longer to get through these 10 weeks.

"Filler doldrums" as I'd like to call it because tuning into Precure weekly became more of chore than something to look forward to.

But it wasn't that bad so let's hope the next 10 episodes will be more balanced.

Moving on.

I spoke too soon on not having to worry about the handling of Mashiro's character arc anymore. Why am I surprised, though? Whenever I let my guard down, my expectations are always betrayed. Oiy.

But honestly, they got me all hoping and excited since they actually gave her potential content to work with. Like her taking an interest in creating picture books. Or even her cooking skills or passion for makeup. Or her long distance relationship with her parents. That's quite a bunch of material to expand on for her.

Instead, she's been regulated to the passenger seat again to let Sora drive.

On one hand, I understand and can accept that Sora would receive more focus since the she is the main character of the overall story. Her coming from another world and therefore being a fish out of water bird out of Skyland when it comes to most things Earth-related...along with being someone who's never had friends before due to spending most of her time training are all prime real estate for development.

However, you can't deny that there is a blatant amount of lead favoritism.

It's not as bad as previous seasons since the writing for HiroPre is a lot better. But when the rest of the cast individually gets one episode of spotlight for every five or so the lead gets, it can be tiresome or even suffocating to sit through.

...on another note, my theory about Captain Shalala possibly being a double agent for the Undergu Empire turned out to be wrong after all. But I think having the enemy take Shalala hostage was the more suitable direction to go for breaking Sora down in order to let her renew and restrengthen her resolve as a hero. The loss of respect for your idol can be a really difficult thing to bear and that might be too harsh a topic for Precure's target audience. It achieved similar effects to the Broken Pedestal trope anyway so no complaints there.

Anyways, we may have broken the Pink trend this year but I'm not optimistic it will stay that way as long as there's always one primary lead in each group. Frankly, I think we're going straight back to special Pink treatment for another 4 years before 25th anniversary but that's a thing to worry about later.

As for Tsubasa and Ageha, I was more satisfied with their focus eps. Mostly.

Tsubasa's always teaches you something new. I really liked the one about branching out your dream, which is something we all need to hear should we ever reach our goal or get stuck on what to do next. And Ageha's most recent one with her older sisters and her parents' divorce when she was younger provided more depth into how she became the person she is today.

But I wasn't pleased when the Peach airline promotion ep that should've been about Mashiro spending time with her parents went to Tsubasa instead. I mean, Tsubasa showing off his airplane knowledge is always amazing but...ngh, they really don't care for Mashiro, do they?

Another thing. I became a little concerned about the portrayal of Ageha. She is shown to be consistently confident and composed in most things she does...but most 18-year olds aren't like that. So I worried for a bit if that might've sent an unintentional message that "you should be as competent as Ageha when you reach adult age" which is like ehhhh......not true.

Though it's only a flaw you notice if you're incredibly scrutinizing like I am. And given Ageha's personality, there's nothing wrong with presenting her as such cuz she wouldn't be Ageha without those traits. But definitely think of her more as a role model instead of one to emulate, that's all.

Right so, next week...is not the debut of Cure Majesty.

YET.

But very soon. Maybe even the week after? September titles haven't been released yet (as of checking right now) but with only...wow, 18 more episodes to go, they better make the best of it.

I don't think Ellee-chan suddenly getting older will become too much of an issue with pacing...as long as they don't put her in school if she still largely retains the mind of a toddler.

Or maybe she'll only grow older when transforming into Precure and return to being a baby during off-hours? That'd be interesting...it wouldn't be as fun as seeing her more grown up, yea, but it'd be unexpected, at least.

Whatever. Just give me more lore and I'll be good.

Finally (haha), let's talk about the future of Precure for a bit.

This season is obviously not going to be the last of 'em. If it was, they wouldn't try to scare you with it in an All Stars movie preview of all things. They'd likely do it the boring way by just announcing it in the news. :P

Anyways, we can definitely expect the franchise to continue for another 5 years. 25th anniversary is something Toei absolutely has to aim for because it will be a double milestone.

Quarter of a century run for the Precure franchise.

And (if my projected calculations are correct), if we keep to teams of 4-5 every year up until till 2028, we will hit over 100 Precure total.

Pretty exciting, yes?

With mixed-gender teams no longer being just a dream (look, Cure Wing even made the news! WAAAAHHH!!! xD) and upcoming projects like the Otona Precure series and the all-male Precure stage play in the works, it's definitely a confirmation that this franchise has no intention of ending any time soon.

If you want more consumers of your product, you need to accommodate for a variety of people and all sorts of new and different ideas, aspects and tastes.

Formula they probably won't budge on too much (not for the main tv series anyway) but there always will be other rooms to explore, y'know?

Ok~ So Precure won't be ending but summer is~

Hope everyone enjoyed it in spite of the heat and best of luck in school or whatever your future endeavors are!

See you in another 10 eps! (^ _ ^)/"

[miraluking-respectfully]

For all my hipster pretensions, I do love Hunter. I also love the hyperspecific intricate, intense, and often erotic relationships everybody’s agent OCs have with him. It got me thinking about him and my own agent, and honestly?

He disappointed her. Deeply, and personally.

Like, okay, despite her misplaced fealty to the Empire, this is a woman who's had almost exclusively bad interactions with Force users in both camps. Her Sith grandfather belittled and tormented her for the crime of being born without her sister's powers. Her mother, his apprentice, only risked enough interference to keep her alive. When the same sister she was always compared to abandoned her and escaped to the Jedi (who then never let them contact each other again), Lyde only narrowly avoided being sent to Korriban in her place.

And then when she made it to Intelligence, Darth Jadus maimed her, compromised the missions of her employers, and critically endangered the Empire. One of her first missions as a faux-turncoat to the Republic was tracking down and incapacitating a fallen Jedi. The protégé she gained on Hoth? Another semi-Force sensitive, hiding from the Sith. Sith meddling dissolved Imperial Intelligence; Sith infighting ate up resources and cost Imperial lives on Corellia.

And, of course, the Dark Council called for her brainwashing, and a former Jedi abused it.

Sure, like Hunter said, the Star Cabal was never recruiting. There was no incentive for him to care about gaining Lyde's allegiance when he already had the remote to her shock collar, so to speak. But, holy shit, he had no clue how many concessions, how much sympathy to his cause he could have wrung out of the woman designated Cipher Nine, if he hadn't made her his whipping girl. If things had gone juuust a little bit differently, Hunter might've turned over the Black Codex, implored her to take care of it with his dying breath - and she might have fucking done it. Nobody, not the SIS, not Sith Intelligence, not even her former ImpInt superiors would have ever seen that data ever again.

But Hunter wasn't that sort of guy. What sort of guy he was learned Cipher Nine's codeword and used it every chance he got. He didn't have to pretend to play nice with her like with his other colleagues, so he made a point of whisking her brain like cake batter, and acted like it was the funniest thing in the world.

When the Dark Council pushed for Lyde's brainwashing, and when Ardun Kothe used it to control her, she was furious - but she wasn't offended. They're trained and powerful Force-sensitives, and as far as she's concerned it's in their nature to sting.

Hunter, though?

Hunter was a fellow frog.

[kienansidhe]

heres an anecdote ive been thinking about.

i grew up in an evangelical christian cult under very extreme surveillance and censorship of incoming information. i didnt know the actual history of christianity, the real history, not the fake stuff i was taught, for many, many years. as far as i knew, the bible i read cover to cover every year was the only bible there had ever been, was the literal word of god, and the only issue was how to translate it from the original hebrew and greek. i had no reason to question this until high school, when my brother and i were sent walking around the neighborhood wearing brightly colored "ask me about jesus" tags.

an older neighbor working on his front lawn called us over. "okay," he said. "ill bite. tell me about jesus." so of course, we gave him the story we had been taught. original sin, hell, jesus dying on the cross, etc. etc. he listened patiently, then talked a bit abt his own personal spirituality. i dont remember the specifics, i think he actually was a sort of christian in a way, but only as a personal, private thing, no church, smth we had never encountered before. more importantly, he told us to look up the council of nicea.

our parents were very vague about their answer, so i ended up looking it up on wikipedia. i read that the bible as i knew it was only one canon, defined fairly recently, by one faction of the church. i learned about the existence of the apocrypha, that a bunch of old men had sat down and decided which books of the bible they considered the real word of god, which were fake.

of course, our upbringing had already provided their own magical answers for this kind of problem, but the seed was planted, alongside many other little seeds that were beginning to sink in and take root. what i knew came into direct conflict with the outside world, which gave me a point of entry for questions. how do we know which men were inspired by god? what did the other rejected books say? through this train of thought i came to find countless questions about the bible that were not as conclusively answered as i had been led to believe. prior to this, my conflicts with christianity had been on the basis of my own gut feelings. this feels wrong, arent i hurting people? but that one clue, the council of nicea, gave me a point of reference to start dismantling the whole theological basis for what i was taught.

eventually i found out that even the very concept of hell was a fabrication. i had read the bible faithfully for my whole life, once thru, cover to cover, every year. things like a lake of fire, eternity separated from god, a lot of the pieces that make up the popular concept of hell were there, scattered throughout, but when i realized that these fragments i had read had been manipulated and conflated to me from toddlerhood, that the bible never actually describes hell as i knew it, well. the whole tower crumbled.

for years i had struggled with the basic conflict of seeing with my own eyes that the things i said and did hurt people, that many horrible things had been done in the name of god. this was and always had been the original, basic instinct for my difficulty with christianity. but hell, hell had been the ultimate lynchpin. if hell was real, if not being christian doomed you to an eternity of literal torture, then any hurt i and other christians inflicted was justified. i truly evangelized and told people they were bad and going to hell out of a brainwashed desire to save them. i was terrified for them, for myself, for everyone. i dont think i will ever fully be able to convey how afraid i was, from my very first inklings of consciousness. hell tied it all together. i would do anything, anything to keep myself and those i cared about from suffering for eternity. even if my friends hated me, i had to plant the seed and pray for god to grow it in them. i had to.

once hell came into question, that fear finally began to lighten. cracks in my prison. a critical piece of information that had been carefully hidden my entire life. information that changed everything.

when youre sufficiently brainwashed, its hard to know where to even begin to question the world as you know it. your gut might tell you something is wrong, but when your world has self contained answers for everything, when it all seems to be one smooth globe around you, it can be hard to find the cracks. it seems impenetrable.

sometimes you need a little help to find the cracks.

i dont rlly have a point to this post, i just think about that weird old guy a lot. he sold heirloom tomato seedlings out of his backyard for $5 each, had torn up the entire yard without his landlords permission, and god those tomatoes were the best ive ever had. i wonder if hes still around, selling tomatoes, teaching people to question what theyve been told. id like to tell him how much he changed my life.

[mewwile]

as someone who Grew Up In A Cult (tm) aka Actually Brainwashed, i feel the need to chime in.

this post is absolutely correct that in my experience being gay/nb (once i got out of cult of course, it was there before but i wasnt trained to recognize it so i had no clue ajgklfjd) as has been said, it really does feel like an extension of the 'does this rule actually have a purpose?' ethos.

It(gender) also interestingly felt the same way as other social things that are unspoken that I failed to grasp- I kept trying to figure out the Precise Limits of how things are 'gendered' and got unclear answers, which was frustrating and felt like a whole lot of effort for something pretty inconsequential, so i just was like. Ah, Nah. Come back when you have a good reason ok?

(and yes people fucking HATE when i do that. noooo please tow the line! its not fair that you get to ignore this pointless rule that complicates our life! maybe also ignore it then. not my problem)

that said, critical thinking is still something that must be learned. I was lucky enough to have things like mythbusters as a kid, which (as is the legacy they wanted to leave behind, which makes me happy) helped me acquire a basic form of critical thinking. But my parents are both also definitely neurodivergent, and DEFINITELY still got tricked into a very dangerous religion and are fully brainwashed, in the Cult Sense of the term (look up BITE model by steven hassan)

Autistic people are not resistant to some forms of brainwashing. Do not let your guard down. These groups are designed to prey on you when you feel weak and in need of community, or are sharing vulnerable feelings of being unsafe- that's how they're designed, they hijack a VERY important survival mechanism in order to trap you, and being unable to read between the lines in social interactions can mean you're occasionally MORE easy to deceive with words.

Even terfs use similar insidious tactics, and if you're not careful, they can have you repeating their talking points- I've seen how they can twist 'some men are the WORST' (generalized statement of frustration born from being at the whims a patriarchal system) into something far more horrible like 'some men are the worst, so obviously theyre pretending to be women to prey on us further!' (taking advantage of the feeling of persecution in order to further their hateful beliefs)

All this to say- do not think you are immune just because you are autistic. Its true that there's often a greater amount of critical thought among autistic people, but the way these types can twist words will ensnare ANYONE who isn't carefully looking for such behavior. Learn the tactics people use to sway your thought and don't let your guard down when people start generalizing entire groups of humanity.

terfs keep mentioning the % of autistics who are trans/nb and that we're 'brainwashed'

and because i'm an asshole, i decided to look into why so many autistic folks are trans/nb. it's not an inaccurate statement, at least the first half, but terfs lie through their teeth so i decided to get to the scientific root of it.

the answer blew my fucking mind.

the study on gender and autism i found said two very specific things about autistic people: we are more mentally resistant to things like social conditioning and binarism. we like our secret third things, y'know.

an excerpt:

“The finding that non-binary identities are most elevated seems to support hypotheses focussed on autistic resistance to social conditioning, which are consistent with existing evidence of the same effect with respect to self-description of sexual orientation. Perhaps elevated rates of trans identity in autism might result from a rejection of the binary cisgenderist norm, which combined with a below-typical concern for social norms could promote the disclosure of the identity.”

94% of autistics surveyed for that paper identified themselves as non-binary.

other studies have found autistic people have higher levels of critical thinking, and require more evidence to maintain or convert to a belief system (hence why many of us eventually fall away from religion) than allistic people.

which means, at least from my perspective, that:

a) the 'brainwashing' terfs are accusing the trans community of inflicting on autistic folks would likely not even work if they tried.

b) the current binary definition of gender flies directly against embedded autistic modes of thinking to begin with.

you cannot brainwash someone into thinking something they already believe.

[irkimatsu]

Caught up on Hazbin Hotel! It's a fun ride! I don't have nearly enough words for it - there's someone in my circle way, way better at that when it comes to this - but I did want to ramble a little bit:

-Charlie. CHARLIE. I am about 60% here for Charlie. You could have told me nothing about this show besides "the Princess of Hell is basically a shoujo protagonist" and you would have gotten me from there. Is my love for Charlie proof of my namby-pamby hippie ways of love and kindness and forgiveness? Probably! But it's fine. I love Charlie. I want to know her dreams of redemption are possible. (Sometimes I really need to know that you really can be redeemed no matter how badly you've fucked up...)

-I'm also really loving Husk. How much is the personality and how much is the character design? No clue. (I'm a furry, baby~) He's a good straight man, though, and someone that most of this hotel's residents are gonna need, especially Angel. Glad I'm not the only one on the Husk/Angel train, looking forward to where that's going

-Sir Pentious is a pathetic baby man and I love pathetic baby men. (My main fandom is still an anime about six pathetic baby men, after all.) While there's other characters I care more about as a whole, I fully expect to be laughing my shit off every time this guy's on screen. Idiot. <3

-God damn the music is good, just as I expected after years of Helluva Boss. Standouts so far are "Poison" (obviously, even though that scene fucking hurt to watch - which isn't a complaint, it did what it was supposed to); "Stayed Gone" (Vox is such a petty bitch and damn do I see why a friend of mine favors Alastor, he's effective as hell); and "Loser Baby" (maybe because I literally just watched it and boarded the Husk/Angel train, but hey, it was fun, and a desperately needed cleanser after "Poison". You know "Poison" was rough when a cheerful song about how much your lives suck is a cleanser.) There hasn't been a dud yet, though! Gonna have to loop the soundtrack to commit everything to memory, though that might wait until the whole season's out. Don't want to not give later songs a fair shake because I was too busy looping the earlier ones.

-If I have to complain a little, I do admit to being lost on some things, and I don't know how much of that is "I'm supposed to be lost, they'll explain later", "I'm dumb and didn't absorb things properly", or "that was explained in side materials". I hope most of it is those first two and not the third - side materials are fun, but I do think the show should be able to stand on its own. Even with the pilot - is that on Amazon? I don't know because I watched the show, um, elsewhere. I have my doubts about it, though, since so much changed between the pilot and the main show, as it tends to happen with pilots. If it's not, that does feel like a bit of a problem, since I think this show has its best chance of success if someone sees it turns up in their recommended section, knows nothing about it but thinks it looks cool, and tunes in there. Treats for the dedicated fans are great, but continuity lockout makes it hard for newbies to care, and I'd rather this didn't turn into "well you're not a real fan because you didn't read all the side comics and blog posts". No elitism, please! Let people who don't live on the Internet enjoy the funny demon show, too!

-Twitter is annoying and my engagement with this show in public will probably be slim-to-zero because this show's hatedom is one of the most obnoxious I've seen in a long time. It's fine to hate the show, obviously, but god, all the reaching for straws to prove that everyone who watches this show is evil and supports all the crime in the world. It's okay, you don't have to like the violent Hell show where people say fuck. It's not for everyone. You don't need to prove you're better than everyone else for not liking it. It's fine, love, it's fine. Of course there's stuff to criticize, every show can be critiqued, but "it's gross for Niffty to make sex jokes because she's tiny"? Go away with that shit.

I hope at least some of this was coherent. Looking forward to more!

[sebastianmartrus]

Preserving the flow, a water conservation crusade.

DEFINTIONS:

Story: an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.

Tales: a writ for summoning substitute jurors when the original jury has become deficient in number.

Science fiction: fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes.

REFERENCES:

Definition of story. (2023). In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/story

Definition of. (2023). In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tales

Sterling, B. (2023, August 4). science fiction. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction

STORY:

In the last 50 years, the world has faced up to a slow but steady decline, reaching a critical point of water scarcity. Oceans have dried up, rivers have disappeared and lagoons evaporate in seconds, with no chance of preservation. The cause of this devastation was wild pollution from factories that shrug off the consequences of their actions. In 2073, I understood how vital it is to take care of water, remembering the lessons of my childhood and my father's advice: "Take care, think, observe and then do what you think is right." I feel like I'm not acting on time. With less than 200 people in the world, we decided to create a time machine to correct the past.

After months of work, the time machine was ready, but we faced a dilemma: we did not know when and where to intervene in history. The first group, composed of Juan, Mendoza, and myself, had strong training. Marks on our skin would remind us of the mission, deep memories in our subconscious would guide us, and chips in our bodies would track us.

Our first time jump took us back 100 years, but we found no clear clues to change course. After 47 jumps, we decided to go back exactly 50 years, to 2023, meticulously planning every detail. However, upon arrival, the machine washed up and we were scattered around the world. Mendoza, the closest to the goal, began to explain the clues marked on his skin.

In 2073, unable to return without the machine, we were left waiting in Mendoza. Years passed and, eventually, Mendoza forgot his original mission, keeping only the importance of water and its care. He became a passionate supporter , affecting the future and changing the course of history. Desperate to return, Mendoza never managed to master the machine.

Eventually, Mendoza passed away, his story was appreciated by his family, and on the astral plane, he was reunited with his friends from the future-past where no one could believe what was happening. Juan said aloud, "WE MADE IT" as I jumped with excitement. Mendoza replied, "I am so confused about all of this, I thought we were never going to see each other." To which Juan replied, "We are always going to be there for you, brother."

IMAGE:

VIDEO:

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[the-grey-hunt]

talking with friends in the ol dracula daily chat and:

jonathan cares SO MUCH for mina in today's entry. we know what's going on, we see mina's side, but jonathan is trying so hard to keep her well and safe and he's been told that the way to do that is to not tell her what's going on. his train of thought is just "aw man it goes against every fiber of my being not to share everything with mina but she's already not feeling well, i'd hate to make her feel worse"

it also made me realize what's going on with the harkers and why jonathan agreed to exclude mina in the first place. they were lonely when they were apart and unstoppable as a team, but now that other people (and jonathan's peers, no less) are a part of the dracula team, the harker duo has been defeated by a terrible foe: Social Norms And Expectations.

they're victorians! there are so many social rules all the time and it's nigh impossible to break them, especially if you're higher up on the social ladder! it is Simply Not Done. jonathan has been absorbed (awkwardly) into the boys' club and is competent and can go along with it, but he clearly doesn't enjoy mina's exclusion. mina doesn't enjoy being excluded, and misses hanging out with jonathan, but the Token Woman trope for a team-up of adventurers hasn't been invented yet. this is also why jonathan considers sending her home to Exeter: if the wife goes home, she'll be happier, right? they're both trying very hard to do what society tells them they should be content doing.

(obviously there's a gay way to read this—something something compulsory heterosexuality—but I'll get back to you)

I read some great meta a few entries ago about how jonathan enjoys mostly female society and this is his first time being in this kind of boy's club. i've posted before about jonathan's role in the female gothic trope (the victim in the castle, the dramatic sufferer of victorian novel disease). right now we're seeing him, by being brought into the wider circle of male characters, do his best to make a turn-about into conforming with them (both from an authorial standpoint, as in how stoker writes him, and from a character standpoint).

jonathan declares that when van helsing brings him into confidence re: dracula, he's curned from his Victorian Novel Disease. brain fever who? now jonathan's running around doing solicitor things, paying small bribes and getting information from lower-class men (as we have seen various (male) News Correspondents do so far). He goes with the boys as they mimic Dr. Seward and observe Renfield; he goes with the boys as they follow Van Helsing into the gamut of vampire fighting. Notably, Jonathan's ill-fitting adoption into the group is notable in the way Seward forgets to introduce him to Renfield.

At the same time as he makes this turn, Mina, who has been critical in figuring out what's going on, is pushed into a more traditionally female role in the proceedings. the boys can't clue her in on things. Why? Perhaps they're all still scarred from what happened to Lucy—three lovers, doing what they wish they could have for their loved one and trying to keep her far away from danger. But also, when you have a Boy's Club For Fighting Vampires, you can't just have one of the boys' wives hanging out with you. Mina becomes the wife waiting at home for their triumphant return, watching through the windows, not unlike the women Jonathan once imagined might have lived in the nicer apartments at castle Dracula.

the harkers, as tumblr's favorites, have of course had queer labels bestowed on them in interpretation (not that i'm against that). their attempts to ascribe to the social norms expected of them, and seeming inability to do so successfully, speaks to me to a very similar experience that many queer people have in this day and age, trying to fit into a heterosexual, cis framework of life. while it's possible to LOOK like they're getting it right—as a m/f couple they can at least look the part—queer readers understand that the novel can only make real breakthroughs when they give up trying to pretend; when jonathan is free to include mina in his thoughts and knowledge, and when mina is free to contribute and be taken seriously by the group.

[randomimaginesforrandompeople]

Scared to death | Riven imagine

Request: Can you do a Riven one where he and reader are always at each other’s throats but then she gets critically injured helping him and he confesses that his anger was driven out of uncertainty for how much he genuinely liked her and that he couldn’t handle it?

A/N: I do not own this gif, I hope you enjoy! 

Warning: there is some cursing in this one and of course Riven and his sexual advances. 

This boy was going to be the death of you. There was no one as frustrating on this planet as Riven. It was as if he was purposely trying to drive you insane. The two of you were partners, which you hated, Silva wanted the two of you to train together because you were two of the best specialists around. He wanted the two of you as a team when there was another search party for burned ones. 

You hated being paired up with him and the feeling seemed to be mutual. The two of you were training once again, you had multiple training sessions a day because of the burned ones, Silva wanted the specialists to be ready when the time came and he imagined it being sooner rather than later. 

‘’Are you fucking kidding me’’ you huffed in frustration, the two of you had only been at it for 10 minutes when Riven wanted a break. ‘’Sorry princess, not the whole world revolves around you’’ You rolled your eyes. You just wanted to get on with the training, you wouldn’t really admit it to anyone but the whole situation that was gripping Alfea kind of scared you and you wanted to be prepared, Riven was a good specialist if he was not acting like a lazy piece of shit.

You took a sip from your water bottle ‘’Come on! the faster we get started, the faster we’re done’’ Riven sighed and joined you again, you could barely keep your surprise to yourself, he actually listened to you once. 

You had him pinned to the ground, very satisfied with your win ‘’I could get used to having you on top of me’’ Riven grinned and you rolled off of him with disgust. Riven was not bad looking, okay he was hot, really hot. But he was also the very worst which is why you ignored his advances. You held out your hand to pull him up, instead he used the opportunity to yank you down and pin you to the ground. ‘’Asshole’’ you mumbled. ‘’What was that love? Happy to be a bottom for once?’’ You rolled your eyes ‘’Fuck you Riven’’ He grinned ‘’Oh how I wish you would’’ You huffed in annoyance, you couldn’t wait till training was over.

Riven didn’t want to be an asshole to you, he just had no clue how to act around you. He liked you, which was something he wasn’t used to, of course he had liked girls but those were for different reasons, you weren’t like them. Yes, you were hot and he sure as hell was attracted to you because of it, but not only because of it and that’s what freaked him out. He was genuinly into you and he had trouble processing, which is why he acted the way he did, keeping the distance was easier than allowing himself to get close to you.

Tonight was the night, the first burned ones search party you’d be on. You had been feeling nervous all day, you knew you were prepared but seeing what these creatured could do, made you feel uneasy. Especially, cause your partner was Riven. The two of you were walking through the woods, you were nervous but you could feel that you weren’t the only one, Riven had not made one single sexual or annoying remark and had only communicated with you through necessity. Somehow the fact that he was nervous made you feel a little more at ease, you didn’t think he was capable of having emotion so seeing him like this actually comforted you in a way.

Suddenly you heard a hissing noise on your right ‘’Riv, on the right’’ you whispered, If it was any other situation you would’ve felt embarrassed for calling him Riv, but you had no time to worry about that right now. Riven nodded your way, apparently he also didn’t have the time to respond to the nickname. Riven and you stood back to back ‘’Okay, just like we practiced, you do left and I do right.’’ You gulped ‘’Just like we practiced’’ Riven wanted to comfort you and calm you down but he thought it would be weird for him to do so, first of all because of the burned one being a very urgent threat at the moment and secondly, because you hated his guts.

The two of you fought the burned one as well as you could but it hurt you. Badly. ‘’Ý/N’’ Riven yelled and ran to your side, completely ignoring the burned one that was still alive behind him, luckily for the two of you, other specialists heard you and started attacking the creature. ‘’I need to take her back, can you guys handle it?’’ Sky nodded and Riven took you back to Alfea. He had never been this scared before in his life, you were laying unconscious in the infermary. 

Riven sat next to you, he wouldn’t leave your side. Professor Harvey was working on something to strengthen you. ‘’There is nothing more we can do for her now until they track down the right burned one, you should get some rest Riven’’ He shook his head, there was no way he was leaving you alone, he couldn’t, not after failing you like this already. Professor Harvey left the two of you. Riven took your hand ‘’Please wake up, I’m so sorry for anything and everything I’ve done, please just come back’’ he pleaded. Riven drifted to sleep after a few more hours of fighting it, he was exhausted after everything that had happened. 

Meanwhile the specialists had killed the burned one that hurt you, you were still asleep but were already getting better. Riven had woken up early, he could barely sleep, the events playing over and over in his head. You were regaining your abilities, however opening your eyes was still something you couldn’t do. ‘’Fuck y/n, please wake up. I care about you’’

You couldn’t have heard that right, that sounded like Riven saying he cared about you? Did you have a concussion? were you getting insane? You then realised that he was holding your hand. Holy shit, did that mean you heard it right? You suddenly were able to move a little, you could move the hand that Riven was holding nearly giving him a heart attack. ‘’Y/n? y/n are you awake?’’ You weakly squeezed his hand ‘’Holy fuck you’re responding’’ you slowly opened your eyes. 

You groaned, soreness filling your limbs. Sky and the other specialist that killed the burned one had alerted Professor Harvey upon arrival and he hurried over to you. ‘’You can stop holding my hand’’ you croaked and Riven smiled sheepishly at you while scratching the back of his neck, you would’ve laughed if you had the strength. ‘’How are you feeling y/n?’’ professor Harvey checked your vitals ‘’Like I’ve been hit by a truck times three’’ Riven chuckled, you were definitely back. ‘’You will be sore for a few days but you are stable, you will be ready to leave in a few hours’’ Riven let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding ‘’Thank you’’ Riven thanked professor Harvey who left again. ‘’What happened to you? I wasn’t out for that long right?’’ 

You tried sitting up and with the help of Riven you managed. ‘’I..’’ Riven sat down on the edge of the bed ‘’You scared the fuck out of me’’ he sighed and looked at you ‘’I like you okay, genuinly’’ Hearing that could’ve made you pass out again, you still felt as if you were hallucinating, Riven liked you? ‘’I have for a while’’ he added softly while looking down. You had never seen this side of him and never thought you would have ‘’I just have some trouble with the whole ‘having feelings’ thing’’ you snorted ‘’Yeah I’ve noticed’’ He let out a chuckle ‘’Sorry for being such a dick to you though’’ you ignored him ‘’You stayed with me the whole time huh?’’ He nodded, surprised that you didn’t respond to what he had said.

‘‘Didn’t know you were such a softy’‘ Riven let out a laugh ‘‘Guess there is plenty you don’t know about me’‘ you grinned ‘‘Well, I would like to get to know you’‘ 

[fruitcoops]

MY LORD WE NEED A LILY REMUS AND REGULAS FRIENDSHIP - imagine the chaos all of them just talking so fast over something they’re exited about - and pots cap and the team just stand their like wtf

I love this ask!!! I combined it with the one below because they just fit SO well. Send your prayers to Kasey, everyone <3 Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

Anon 1: Loops nerding out on something (stars and planets) and unloading shit ton of knowledge to Sirius. Sirius is just there sitting and smiling (because LOOK AT MY SMART BOYFRIEND!!! ) but also actively listening to it and asking questions and doubts. that just meeelttts Loops’s heart because nobody actually listens this intently or are even interested in Astronomy

To say Kasey was lost was…an understatement. The Triplets of Terror had been talking for well over thirty minutes; their trains of thought were fully off the rails and had ground his own little mining cart of a thought process into dust about twenty minutes prior.

Thankfully, he wasn’t alone—Logan and Finn had given up to play Candy Crush on their phones while Leo napped, and most of the other guys had straight-up left the room, not that the triplets would notice.

Sirius and Pots on the other hand, had never been more whipped.

“—and then they had to change the battery type for the new rover!” Remus was saying as he flailed his hand around in excitement. Lily nodded along, but Regulus made a timeout motion.

“Wait, didn’t they redesign the entire thing?” he asked, looking to Kasey as if he had any clue what topic they had moved on to.

Kasey shrugged. “Perseverance was supposed to be the better version of Opportunity, right?”

From the looks on their faces, he may as well have admitted he was a serial killer. “Bliz,” Lily said indignantly. “Are you trying to say something about Oppy?”

“Because if you are, you need to sit your ass down and learn some shit.” Regulus narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. Kasey died a little inside. “Both of the Mars rovers are meant to take pictures and samples of the landscape—”

“—but in different ways,” Remus finished. Regulus didn’t bat an eye, though Kasey was pretty sure that if anyone else had interrupted him, they would’ve lost an eye. “And when Oppy’s battery pack died, they knew she still had valuable information and that they would need another rover to collect what they couldn’t bring back from her.”

“Which is where Percy comes in,” Lily said, as if it was obvious. “James, you’ve been watching the livestreams with me. Kasey’s wrong, right?”

James hummed his agreement, though Kasey was willing to bet he wasn’t registering a single word she said. “You’re so smart, honey.”

“What do you think they’ll do next?” Remus asked, his eyes getting the same unfocused look they did when the topic was about to do a 180-degree turn. “Like, we can’t land rovers on stars yet, but it would be pretty cool if we could plot constellations in 3D models.”

“That would be awesome,” Regulus whispered.

Sirius snorted. “The family would go batshit over that, Reg. Can you imagine how insufferable they’d be?”

“Ugh, you’re right.” Regulus wrinkled his nose. “Do we sacrifice science for even more status symbols?”

“No,” Remus and Lily said at the same time. Kasey settled back into his chair and closed his eyes; maybe he could fit a nap in while they talked.

Something smacked his foot lightly and he cracked open an eye to see both James and Sirius giving him disbelieving looks. Listen, James mouthed, gesturing to the triplets as they chatted at light speed about the origins of planet names.

“I’m telling you, Re, it should’ve been named Helios!” Regulus sighed.

“I don’t care if it’s a star, the sun is the sun and it deserves its own special name!” Remus argued. “Besides, Helios is already a system. If we were keeping with naming conventions—”

“Who cares about naming conventions?” Lily grumbled. “Pick the one that sounds the best so people remember it.”

“If we were keeping with naming conventions,” Remus continued aggressively. “The sun would have been named Apollo, and that just sounds lame next to everything else.”

There was a beat of blessed silence.

Lily bit her lip. “You’re not wrong.”

“Of course he’s not,” Sirius scoffed, still looking at Remus like he hung the stars.

“Love you too, babes” Remus leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. He practically glowed with happiness.

“Apollo isn’t lame!” Finn piped up from his couch with a frown. “Apollo is the coolest of the pantheon!”

“Which pantheon?”

“Both!”

All three rolled their eyes at the same time and James stifled a laugh in Sirius’ shoulder. “Haven’t you guys talked about this before?” he asked, bemused.

“Yes,” they chorused.

“The consensus was Athena and we’re not talking criticism,” Regulus said.

“War goddess, strategist, artist, engineer.” Remus counted off on his fingers. “She checks all the boxes.”

“And she’s a badass,” Lily added. “If Athena is in a myth, it’s gonna be good. Oh, we should do that for Halloween this year.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Dress up as Athena?”

“No, the gods.”

Regulus nodded slowly. “That could be cool. Dibs on Persephone.”

“Not Hades?”

“Nah. I’m not emo enough for that.”

Lily and Remus’ instant disagreements were lost in the explosion of laughter from everyone left in the room. Kasey leaned back into the cushions and prepared himself for a long, long afternoon.

[theopolis]

Extremely long, extremely salty Kindred criticism post

Yk the thing about the Kindred storyline is that it failed at being everything it was trying to be.

It wanted to be like DeMatteis' Goblin Junior arc while simultaneously inverting every concept from that arc. Harry is a gentle soul going down a dark path and hurting not only others but himself in the process? No, he's the comically evil mastermind who would throw his friends - Gwen and MJ, who even by his own standards have done him no wrong - under the bus to get revenge! Norman is the looming influence that follows Harry and motivates him to bend himself into who his father wanted him to be? No, he's the repentant, permanently dewey eyed reformed Norman who we're supposed to feel bad for when he gets dismissed and punched around by evil Harry/his demonic clone vessels/whatever the fuck. Peter is the best friend who, despite of course feeling angry and betrayed, believes in Harry's softness and their love and wants the best for him? No, he's immediately and with zero explanation ready to believe Harry is a literal demon all of a sudden and, I quote, "through with helping him". And I don't even think this (later clumsily backpedaled on) change of mind in Peter isn't justified in-universe - Kindred did uh, dig up the skeletons of Peter's loved ones and put party city wigs on them and also smash him with a big rock a couple of times, so there's that. But that's exactly the problem - Spencer set the stage for a story that doesn't actually involve Peter, or Harry, or Norman. He created mostly completely different dynamics between mostly completely different characters, and decided to project that on the the three of them. While also periodically inserting hamfisted callbacks to the DeMatteis stories, as if he didn't just take a giant dump on everything they established.

And here's the thing, even if I did enjoy the idea of Harry forgiving Norman, or the idea of Harry returning to villainy, or the idea of Norman becoming a character we're supposed to root for - which I cannot stress enough how much I don't - the execution of all these ideas was perhaps the worst it could have possibly been. Rushed, convoluted, and hollow.

Norman's sudden goodness is the result of a supernatural, vague process that apparently "freed him of his sin", whatever that means. Like, how do you quantify sin? How can you take it out of a person when it's their moral ideology and conscious choices that make them sinful/bad/evil? What happened to Norman simply reads like brainwashing to me. He is aware he's done something really bad, but he hasn't actually learned anything, and that impression is only backed by the way he talks about his past actions. It's always "oh it's my fault you're like this Harry" and "oh I can never make it up to you" etc etc but does he ever actually recognize his mistakes for what they were? Recognize where the errors of his past convictions lie? Of course not, because Spencer has zero reading comprehension and therefore no clue about the intricacies of Norman's character, his abuse of Harry, or what motivated it, or what he demanded of his son. It's funny how these four panels from a recent What If issue managed to paint a more compelling, if brief, picture of Norman as an apologetic father than Spencer has in a year worth of comics:

Harry's sudden villainy and the way it evolved throughout this story is just a train wreck. He has not had a substantial role in the comics for a long time now, but suddenly he's back AND he's evil! Who cares about complexity? Who cares about how Harry's feeling? Why he's doing what he does other than some extremely vague idea of revenge on apparently both Peter and Norman? Even though he was neck deep in denial about Norman being a horrible father and person at the time he supposedly launched the whole (checks notes) "create clones from Norman's and Gwen's DNA to stick it to his old man AND Peter in the future" plan, which he concocted because he somehow (????) knew his father wasn't gonna stay dead, which begs the question why he was so torn up about it in the first place, and- Look I could sit here all day trying to decipher the whole Gabriel and Sarah Stacy twist. It's impressive what an inconsistent, incomprehensible mess it is considering it was only introduced two issues ago. ASM 74 sort of hinted that Harry was being piloted by Mephisto when he created the clones so they could later become his hellish lackeys? I uhm, think? It's impossible to tell because no part of that retcon makes any sense to begin with. It doesn’t want to make sense because it was written - most likely on a whim - with the sole intent to garner good will for undoing Sins Past. Harry, for this entire arc, was not a character but merely a tool to bait us with an OMD reversal and ultimately do a Sins Past one. And of course, there's the fact that post OMD Harry - one of the only good things to come out of OMD in the first place - was just a clone all along, putting into question how valid all the amazing and inspiring development he went through since his revival was. Thanks a lot.

Lastly, I don't think I have to say how insulting it is to not just use Harry's character as a cheap plot device, but eventually force him to sacrifice his life for the very man who ruined it in every way. The man who abused him since birth, betrayed him on every level, attacked and murdered so many people Harry loves, including almost getting Harry's son killed. Why? Because he’s had a suspicious sudden onset of goodness that Harry has no context for? Norman and clone!Harry have not even interacted for this entire arc, but the sole act of Norman offering himself up to the rabid Kindred twins makes Harry instantly forgive everything he’s ever done. There was no build up to this whatsoever. It’s bad writing. And I don't think the abuse apologism implications of all this are intentional, I think Spencer just thought up the groundbreakingly subversive concept of "what if Norman good and Harry bad" and ran with that. But those implications are there nonetheless, because Harry and Norman's relationship has pretty much always been about abuse, about being mistreated by your parents, about not feeling good enough for them and eventually realizing that you were wronged and you don't owe them anything.

Spencer had Harry, a man who fought for years to rise to his best, most authentic self and fully turn his back on Norman and his legacy, die to save the father who never valued him for that self. And to add insult to injury, paralleled that with Harry dying after saving his best friend who loved him unconditionally. The latter mentioned death being a direct consequence of the actions Harry took to fit the expectations said abusive father had drilled into his head. I feel like that ending explains everything about this plotline.

[etherwal]

THE BNHA BOYS ON A SUMMER PICNIC WITH YOU

pairing: izuku x gn!reader, bakugo x gn!reader, shoto x gn!reader & kirishima x gn!reader.

warnings: pure fluff!

author's note: hey, this is a first for me, so please be kind. English is NOT my first language, and I am really nervous to post this, but I'm quite pride of it.

⭏♡ IZUKU MIDORIYA

he was probably the one that made it. He invited you, but he was so nervous! He started to stutter and asked Uraraka to give you an invitation. It was just a folded up white paper, with his round note inside:

"Picnic at 4 pm. Here's the adress: xxxxx. If you can't go, it's okay! Izuku :)"

Do I have to say that he genuinely thought you wouldn't accept it? He was mumbling about it all day, and even considered canceling it! But there you were, so beautiful with that smile on your face.

You two sat on the ground and there was that beautiful picnic including the red checkered tablecloth and a basket, and of course all your favorite foods and drinks. There was even music! A playlist full of the songs you hear the most.

Deku looked at you with expectation in his big green eyes. He sighed in relief as you smile even more and sit with him.

"You did all of this for me?"

"Of course y/n! You're the most important person and I'd love to be with you for this picnic. Not that I wouldn't like everybody else to be here but..."

And he started mumbling about it, until he heard you giggling, eating a piece of the watermelon. He was mesmerized by the view, but started apologizing for talking too much. You didn't mind, and to be sure he knew that you loved every part of him, including the mumbling, you kissed him.

With his red face, Izuku kissed you back. So, you stroked the boy's freckled cheeks and told him:

"Thank you, Izu. I love you."

And there, eating, kissing and laughing, Izuku knew he felt the same.

⭏♡ KATSUKI BAKUGO

I won't lie, you're probably the one who made it. I feel like Katsuki's love language is acts of service (no, i don't accept criticize on that).

Anyways, you invited him one week before it, and you tried to talk to him multiple times. But sometimes he was with Kirishima, later, he was studying and he didn't even want to talk to anyone, so he went to train and so on. By the end of the day, you didn't get the chance to properly invite him. So you texted!

"Hey! I couldn't talk to you earlier, and you're probably sleeping right now but, I wanted to invite you to my picnic. I'll send you the information later!"

He didn't even reply. You were sad but the show must go on, so you prepared everything. And oh, your surprise when you saw that angry face coming and sitting next to you.

"What? Didn't you call me here? Why are you surprised?"

Typical Katsuki. Not wanting to cause any trouble, you only said "nothing" and started to eat. There was several snacks and drinks that you knew he liked. Specially the spicy ones. And he noticed it, but didn't say a thing.

Then, he took out of his backpack a bunch of home-made food. Was it all of the sweets that you eat the most or are your eyes deceiving you?

"What are you looking at???? I just did it cause I know your foods are all industrial food, so they aren't healthy for me."

You knew he didn't like sweets that much, and you saw the blush on his cheeks so he was obviously lying, but you decided to let it go.

After a while, you two were actually having a great conversation, and Katsuki couldn't think straight when he saw your beautiful smile.

"You are so beautiful. Thanks for everything."

He thought. Yes, he just thought, he would NEVER admit it to you, but he want to watch and talk to you for the rest of his life.

⭏♡ SHOTO TODOROKI

Okay, so you did it. Sorry, but I DON'T think he would do such thing. He has never been to a picnic before, so please, be pacient with the boy.

You sent him a beautiful red envelope, with a formal and polite invitation inside, just like you thought he'd like.

"Dear Shoto Todoroki from Room 1-A of the Heroes Course,

It would be a pleasure to have you on my picnic on xxxx at 3 pm. Below is the address. From your classmate, Y/n L/n."

He thought it was pretty cool, and texted you an "I'll be there. Thanks for the invitation." I mean, he had no clue what he should take to the picnic, and he thought everybody from the class was invited. So, he went to Midoriya.

"Hey, Midoriya. What should I take for y/n's picnic?"

"Wait, Todoroki-kun... What picnic?"

And then Izuku spent half an hour explaining to his friend that this was actually supposed to be something just between you and him, and that Shoto could take something, but that it wasn't really necessary.

Shoto looked handsome when he appeared at the day. He took a lot of drinks and of course... SOBA! But when he looked at what you had prepared, he was quite shocked. There was a lot of soba for him! The fact that you remembered what was his favorite food got butterflies in his stomach.

"Thanks for the soba, y/n. I appreciate that."

Now he has an even deeper love for you. You, the person that organized all of that just for him and who was eating strawberries with a big smile on the face. Yeah, Shoto is in love, whatever that means.

⭏♡ EIJIROU KIRISHIMA

Now, this one I think he could do it. Think: he is so sweet, daring and manly! And it was so hot that day that he HAD TO.

So he did. He invited you while talking, actually. Naturally, you accepted the invitation. But the Bakusquad couldn't ignore that convenience, and the blush on Eijirou's cheeks.

So, they were determined to make sure that everything went great (even Bakugo helped, although he will NEVER bring that up). So it went like this: Denki would buy a towel, Mina would buy sweets and drinks, Bakugo would cook the healthy food (according to him, the good food), Sero would buy candles to make it more romantic and Jirou would take care of the songs.

All settled, the day it was supposed to happen, the Bakusquad showed Kirishima what they have prepared. Kiri wanted to tell them that he already did everything, but his friends were so happy that they didn't even listen.

At the time that you arrived, Kirishima was already at the Bakusquad picnic and you sit there, thinking that it was... hm... a little too much. But you weren't going to say anything.

And of course, everything fell apart.

Denki was supposed to be the waiter for you, but when he was taking the glass of coke, he spilled on Jirou's notebook, what ruined the music. Than, he tried to wipe it of with his hands, and wanna guess? He somehow bumped into a candle and the towel started to burn. Ok, now all of your friends were trying to help and were screaming. Oh gosh.

"Hey, come with me!"

Kiri hold you hand and you two ran off to the CORRECT place, the one he prepared and was much simpler. There was a small towel, a few snacks and a couple of drinks. Perfect.

"I'm sorry for that, my friends can be... a little bit too much."

You laughed. He was so mesmerized by your laugh, it was so manly!

"It's okay. What matters is that now I'm here with you. Thanks, Eiji."

He had a big smile in his face, and, oh gosh, was it great to have you so close. You two had a peaceful and amazing evening, and at the end you two were sleeping together on the grass.

"I told you guys it would work at the end!"

"Shut up Denki!"

END<3

[leviiattacks]

Two Faced | Chapter Eight

↳ levi ackerman, the very person who was about to kindly behead you by a surprising turn of events manages to become your loving husband? you would be elated if this was true love, but it’s all thanks to a mysterious magic spell that your life is spared, for now at least.

pairing :: duke!levi x duchess!reader genre :: royal au ??? (at this point idek) angst, fluff, slice of life etc ?? word count :: 4.8k author note :: i’ve been very ill so yeah, not the best writing but i really can’t go that long without wanting to write so i ended up writing an update, i hope you enjoy it, it’s longer than usual :D sorry for any mistakes it hasn’t been proof read at all :-( → next part coming soon!!

“Hey, newbie you haven't spoke about your home town much have ya?"

You lift your head, verifying Reiner's suspicions with a nod. You recall he's the same distasteful blonde brute who made those snide remarks about Hange. He must be at least a towering six foot if his shadow is able to cover the majority of the Sun's rays from hitting you.

You would maybe bother to give him and his inquiry more attention than you currently are if he hadn't been so unnecessarily impolite during the morning speeches.

Calves yelping in stinging pain from the first tastes of the full time training regime you simply cannot find the effort to strain your mind with small talk.

Temples throbbing it feels as if a sword has been forced through the side of your head,  but that's not it at all. Reiner has thrown a small rock at you and you hear him chuckle under his breath.

Twisting your position so you face him you glare in displeasure.

Although you don't particularly enjoy the idea of joining Levi's unit and having to become a concealed agent of sorts you can't really take your pickings at how it is you wish to survive. You're going to have to deal with it and you've come to the stage of acceptance now.

However, you are not willing to respect the attitude some of these cadets are giving you, it's clear there's already a strong hierarchy in place.

Reiner just so happens to be one of the big guns from what you've been able to observe. He possess strong upper body strength and his hand to hand combat isn't a laughing matter either. That means he's higher up in the ladder of cadets, that's for sure. To top it all off you know you're not as powerful as other members in the team in terms of skill and he's probably silently making a mockery of you for it.

Pursing your lips you decide to play this game cautiously, asking him what it is he needs from you isn't the best option. You're aware he's after something, it's written all over his face. You practically know every deceptive look in the book off by heart. You suppose it's the only perk you got out of living in a noble household for most of your life.

"Why do you care?" You bluntly question him.

"Ohh, you're feisty. Might not want to butt heads with Annie."

"Not sure who that is but I don't plan on it."

Turning away from him it look like you're distracting yourself by collecting pieces of firewood. Trailing around you act as uncaring as possible to annoy him. You need to gauge this man's reaction somehow.

Your plan seems to be working in your favour because you're able to see his footing shift from his natural stance, it looks as if he's about to risk charging at you due to your vulnerable position but you rotate again offering him a knowing smile.

You don't tell him you're conscious of his suspicious nature but if he's quick witted enough he'll be able to figure out you aren't a threat and apparently don't have a clue what it is he's up to. The only reason he'd even consider attacking you would be if he saw you as an issue. For now your act should at least keep him at bay.

"Fine. I'll tell you about my hometown, I'm just..." You pause to make yourself look believable and proceed to look up at him through your lashes, you dart your gaze away and awkwardly scratch the back of your neck exuding coyness.

"I'm incredibly homesick. I miss mother. I always made supper for her, now I can only pray she's not eating burnt chicken." Your act has to be working because his eyes soften and he takes half of the firewood in your arms offering to help you carry it.

"My mum's a great cook, can't relate squirt."

"Who you calling squirt?" You playfully snap back.

"I call everybody that, even Captain Levi... Well, when he isn't around to hear it."

You bite the inside of your cheek at the mention of the Levi's name.

“So you and the Captain? What’s that all about?” His question makes no sense at all, one minute he wants to prod and poke in your personal home life yet the next minute he's asking questions about Levi. The doubts you have surrounding him only thicken.

You take a moment to consider his question,

“Whatever do you mean?” Clueless, you're delivery is excellent. Acting naive is easy enough, everyone within the corps has already decided that's what your automatic disposition is.

Reiner gives you a skeptical look then smiles faintly, “Glaring daggers at Jean after he got handsy with you?”

You cover your mouth with your free hand and laugh so hard the firewood nearly flies out of your grasp.

“Me and Jean are friends, and Levi? He just wanted to find a reason to get mad at us probably.” You hope the explanation suffices because you truly have no idea why Levi had done what he did.

Reiner hums in approval at your answer but he then grins.

“You on first name basis with the Captain?”

Fuck, you called him Levi.

Play it cool.

“Huh? When have I ever said his first name?” Clueless. Your delivery is still perfect.

“Just now.” He fires back, Reiner doesn't seem to be letting up but he doesn't know how smooth of a liar you are.

Living with your father for all those years conditioned you in ways you hadn't even noticed until quite recently.

“Did I? Pardon, I didn’t mean for it to slip out. Sometimes I silently curse him out in my head and forget to add his title.”

Your acting is impeccable, Reiner has no reason to doubt you. As you expect he doesn't instead he shifts the conversation to his hometown, just like you he doesn't explicitly mention a name. Reiner is sharp but he hasn't noticed the way you've left a name out just like him. He's terrible at catching out his own kind.

You decide at that moment that Reiner Braun is a liar. The accusation is more of a hunch meaning more investigation is required.

You won't inform any of the higher ups about it just yet.

The walk back to base is filled with excruciatingly troublesome small talk and you make a mental note to take Mikasa along with you next time it's your turn retrieve the firewood.

You can't afford any more close encounters with Braun or any of his possible accomplices.

Sniggers batter your ears as soon as you step foot onto the grounds, you have a sixth sense when it comes to spiteful bad-mouthing and after the abysmal day you've had you anticipate there will be unpleasant commentary.

"Seen the way Y/N ruined the assault course today?"

"We're the finalized cadets across all the regions of Paradis. That means we have to rely on that embarrassment to fight titans."

"Good Lord, someone have mercy on our souls."

Fellow cadets press on in their criticism thinking you aren't within earshot. That, or they purposefully aim for you to pay attention to the disapproval they have of your presence.

But, you do understand where they're coming from. You make another mental note - practice a bit more later today.

The gossiping isn't anything you're unfamiliar with, your father's palace never offered kindness to you or your existence. In fact it's rather comforting being talked badly about behind your back.

That statement sounds absurd but you can't explain it. Maybe it's due to Levi typically hurling his unnecessary remarks right at you without warning. Then again he does provide everyone with that treatment, even Commander Erwin.

As you hurry away increasing the distance between you and your loud mouthed team members you spot Levi from the corner of your eye. He's in conversation with Hange but you notice how his jaw is clenched in frustration, you feel a pinch over your skin when he spares you a fleeting look. Eyes acquainting yours. Paying  no attention to him you walk away as fast as you can.

The cadets only blow up in volume now, they definitely want you to hear what they have to say.

"Maybe we should ask the higher ups to throw her ou-"

"Questioning authority? Pesky mutineers aren't you?" Levi's booming voice shakes anyone within a five metre vicinity, he comes out of nowhere and seems nothing short of furious.

"You're all," He continues, voice rising, "Incredibly spineless aren't you?"

One of the cadets embellishes their face with a scowl, it doesn't go unnoticed by Levi but he astonishingly doesn't lash out, physically at least. His deathly glare is more than enough to finish the job.

Stupidly you suffer feeling your heart palpitate in your chest watching him talk to the group of three. Stupidly, you're getting your hopes up again.

He scoffs coldly, "If you're all talk why not offer to duel her?"

It doesn't take long for your heart to stop throbbing with its previous intensity. You know it was too good to be true. Levi suddenly defending you that is.

The gesture isn't done to protect or shield you. No, you're sure this man loathes you and is intending to persist on making your life as bleak and dreary as possible.

"Up to a battle Y/N?" The unnamed blonde cadet's scoffs in derision and you find yourself wanting to punch her square in the jaw.

Irritation sears through you but you meekly shake your head mumbling a weak "No thanks.", you're much too afraid to duel anyone just yet and you don't remember her from the training sessions. She must have been in a corner keeping to herself.

With all that being said and done you pathetically withdraw, and just like the past few days you sense Levi's piercing gaze erupting into your soul.

The blistering Sun hits every nook and cranny of the training ground. Waking up early already has you wanting to pass out and the heat isn't any help.

The crowd of cadets mumble in fatigue but observant Mikasa jabs you in the shoulder pointing out how far away Jean has stood from you.

You feel guilty that Jean had to suffer through the humiliation tossed at him yesterday but you are grateful to not deal with his constant questioning and talkative self this early in the morning.

All the way at the other side of the throng of soldiers he stands with Bert, who might you add is a mammoth of a man.

Through some digging (more like asking Mikasa) you've discovered he's close with Reiner and the blonde cadet from yesterday's confrontation, turns out she's the Annie that Reiner warned you off.

"ATTENTION!" Hange sing songs at the front of the training ground. They're jumping around along with Squad Leader Mike checking if everyone's in the correct uniform - Apparently the year prior a cadet showed up wearing a thick cardigan and fainted from heat stroke...

“Today’s exercise is a time to redeem yourself!” Hange’s eyes dart towards you and you smile at one another.

“A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!”

Everyone murmurs looking at each other in pure confusion.

“A fight up against another person. Whoever wins their individual fights will receive extra special privileges." The explanation seems simple enough and you’re confident that if you’re put up against the right people you can make it out safe.

The promise of a reward is also enticing.

The 104th Training Corps are thrilled, there’s nothing too hazardous about the task and it’s nothing difficult to ask for. Even you’re looking forward to it. The chance to rescue your reputation has you pumped up with adrenaline.

“My, my my. Don’t excite yourselves just yet little hens, there’s a pretty little catch.” Hange's voice is laced in mischief. This can't be any good.

Everyone stops breathing in unison and it’s pin drop silent.

“You must cause harm to your opponent in some way. Whether it be making them faint, breaking an arm, breaking a leg. There are no rules when it comes to playing dirty!”

With a playful shrug of their shoulder Hange hops off the podium.

Squad Leader Mike pulls out the list of competitors. He’s decided the line-up on his own and begins the announcement with Bertholdt.

“BERTHOLDT HOOVER..."

Bert turns to look back at Reiner hesitantly and for such a giant it’s adorable how worried he is when everyone else is perturbed thinking about the poor individual who has to go up against him.

"AGAINST Y/N L/N!"

The crowd falls silent and your mouth is wide, this is unjust there’s no way this is allowed.

“Hey, don’t you think that’s kinda unfair?” Krista speaks out for you even though Ymir is by her side trying to talk her out of getting involved.

“She stands no chance against him.” Reiner is supporting your cause too.

Mikasa takes a step forward. “I agree, it’s not right, may I take her place instead?”

“No, no! It’s alright, I’ll go for it.”

Honestly you don’t want the corps to see you as a coward. Bravery and courage is what brought everyone here. Your story is different. You’re here to selfishly save your own life, you aren’t anywhere near as valiant as the rest of them. The very least you can do is partake in activities correctly.

Stepping up to the podium you stand by Bertholdt he gives you a pitiful look whilst he mutters an apology.

Mike continues announcing the names. A few include Jean against Mikasa (Jean may as well forfeit), Marco against Annie and Connie against Reiner - that pairing eases you. At least you aren't in this alone. You and Connie stand no chance against those beasts.

Everyone lines up in their separate areas and again Bertholdt is profusely apologizing asking if you want to fake faint or anything of the sort. You shake your head and promise to give it all you've got.

And then the games begin at the sound of the bell, and damn that Bertholdt because he isn't keeping to his end of the bargain. He lunges forward viciously aiming to crush your entire body but you swiftly dodge, he tries the same approach but when you duck out of the way again he stops knowing he needs to rethinks his strategy.

"Just give it up I'll win either way."

Well, the Mister nice guy act was definitely a believable performance. He was so convincing you even contemplated feigning unconsciousness when he proposed the idea to you.

Bertholdt is much slower than you giving you more time to deliberate your incoming moves. If you can get him to edge close enough to a nearby tree and deceive him into colliding with the oak trunk you should win - only on the condition that he passes out.

The scheme is far-fetched but it's your only hope.

Dashing from various corners he flies after you, each time unable to catch up to you.

That is until you stumble and lurch to the ground. The wind is knocked out of your lungs and you panic when a large hand clutches at your ankle. Your solution? Booting him right in the teeth.

However with an earth-shattering amount of force Hoover's hold on your ankle doesn't weaken. Instead he tightens his hold like a vice. You feel it bruise and the violet discoloration that'll be present in a few hours makes you wince.

Entire body going limp on command, you stop yourself from breathing - another talent you picked up back at the palace to avoid extra beatings.

When you no longer thrash around Bertholdt stalks in to check in on you and as expected he’s now towering over you, blood overflowing in terror.

"SQUAD LEADER HANGE, CAPTAIN LEVI SHE'S NOT MOVING!" He's roaring for their help frantic and anxious. If he's caused any permanent damage he's as good as dead meat.

"Oh my Lord. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Bertholdt's voice is fractured in unadulterated horror and judging by the direction you hear it at he has to be facing away from you.

Unbolting your eyes you learn your assumption is correct and despite hurried footsteps being within audible range you take your chance by the reigns.

Leaping to your feet and with no forewarning you swing your leg to the back of his neck. Stunned by the surprise attack he falls to his knees and you situate yourself in front of the oak tree you've been eyeing from the time the exercise began.

"You cunning bitch." Staggering back up he makes a swift rebound. At this point all mercy has left him and his one true aim is to completely pulverize you.

Everything is falling into place. All you need to do is wait for the right moment and finally you come across it when he suddenly pounces for you. Darting to the left you leave the space open for your prey.

Poor Bertholdt falls right into the palm of your hands like a rag doll. His momentum can't be controlled and he smashes headfirst into the trunk with a loud crunch sounding out. Bark splits and scrapes off the tree upon impact.

His head has to throb and you don't want to imagine how painful it is to feel the rivulets of soreness.

He doesn't get up and only groans, you feel half bad but after the tricks and antics he pulled you come to the conclusion that it's all deserved.

"Well, Y/N, you've proven yourself to be quite quick witted." Hange's praise is strange to hear but you beam proud that you've proven your worth.

"Oi, don't get ahead of yourself." Levi orders. "It could have been pure luck."

In spite of Levi's pessimism you bask in the glory of your win.

A week into joining Levi's unit you're becoming more accustomed to the new environment, in fact the gossiping and horrible rumours stop completely after your win and interactions with your fellow comrades feel easier and lighter.

You think the taunts will have only got more relentless after the duel fiasco but you suppose Annie chose to be considerate and take pity on you.

"Your progress has been remarkable so far." You jump when you hear Jean's deep voice appear right next to you.

Looking around to see if any other cadets are around you finally release a breath you didn't even know you were holding in.

"Ah. Thank you." You murmur quietly.

"I know it's been a week since I was scolded by the Captain but this won't count as flirting will it?"

Impeding the one sided conversation you're reflecting, you're not sure what exactly about. Probably whether or not you should maintain the discussion - if it can even be referred to as such.

Forget it. You know what they say, you only live once.

Flicking his forehead you roll your eyes, "We were never flirting he's just an over dramatic, bitter hag. I put my money on the fact he's never felt the touch of a woman before."

Jean's eyes widen in disbelief, you half expect he'll split open in tremendous laughter but he looks terrified. Then you become conscious of the fact he's not even staring at you, his eyes are engrossed by whatever is behind you.

Unfortunately for you your body tells you all you need to know. His cologne floods into your nostrils, you can't even reassure yourself and pretend it's anyone else, you know he's the only one who smells that strongly of fresh linen.

Being unable to see him doesn't stop you from imagining his dark lifeless eyes accompanying themselves with what is before them.

It doesn't even take Jean a minute to abandon you, he breaks out into an awkward smile, hurriedly pats your shoulder before dashing away, dispersing all the way to the other end of the hallway in a matter of seconds and turning the corner away from you.

Heart rate soaring you hesitantly spin on your heel. Levi's stood there, looking beyond unimpressed.

You intend to breeze past him, cool and collected. You take a step forward but God has never been one to bless you with luck, stumbling and tripping over thin air lands you flying.

Ready for impact you brace yourself but it never comes, instead solid hands are firmly placed at the small of your back steadying your position and your palms have unceremoniously landed atop his torso.

"Play along." Levi's voice is low and rumbling, and you can't look him in the eyes. Not out of fear or dread, more so exhaustion but you muster the energy to look to your left. There Erwin and Hange stand giggling to themselves like children. As quick as you spot them they vanish in the same fashion. It's as if they were never there.

You're worn out and fatigued wanting nothing more than a good night's rest. If there's one thing you haven't grown used to it's the lack of sleep.

"Let go." Moving to shift his hands away from your waist you halt your movements when he without warning lets go of you, not even giving you the opportunity to renovate your balance.

Flying to the ground and landing with a thud you rub your backside at the blow.

Mirthlessly chuckling the lack of amusement is clear in the way he composes himself.

Making a dash for it sounds tempting but you may as well let him have his way. There's no action you can take to avoid him reprimanding you. It's your fault for having the gall to make that crude and foul-mouthed comment in the first place.

You gulp comprehending the situation is even worse now since you really only said it for the sole reason of Kirstein's amusement.

"Y/N, I'd like to have a word with you."

Hesitantly you look up at Levi, he has an indecipherable expression on his face, it's been a while since you've last been left in his company alone.

The two of you are stood in his office, his desk is flooded with papers, they're haphazardly scattered all over the place and spikes of worry weirdly make them self present in your belly. This isn't right. He'd never leave his work space in this state.

"Are you okay?" You ask it because you’re sure he isn't.

His shoulders and spine stiffen. "Cut the crap and keep the formalities to yourself." He chides, most definitely defensive in his stance.

Without asking him you shuffle to his desk stacking the papers into organised piles, most of the documents are related to an up and coming expedition and it's all beginning to add up. Even humanities strongest soldier has moments where he cracks.

Then you notice your name on the formation plan but before you're able to make anything out of it Levi snatches it off his desk and away from you stuffing it into his pocket.

Without another sound he observes you cleaning the rest of the mess away but doesn't ask for you to stop. There's no reason for him to.

If you do this maybe he'll go easier on you, yeah that's what your motivation is. That's not exactly the truth, really you're just concerned about whatever has him worked up.

Placing the last document in its rightful place you want to give your mind a moment to recollect itself but Levi doesn't think the same.

He places his arms on either side of the desk, trapping you with no way out. Oddly, there's nothing threatening about him looking down at you this time, the greys and blues of his iris' captivate you.

"Do you enjoy making a mockery of your husband?" The question is whispered. It's unanticipated and the title of husband is uncharacteristic coming out of his mouth.

"It was just a joke." You mumble your answer under your breath.

"Would you have spouted that shit in front of the rest of the unit?"

Mildly shaking your head he then sighs. He’s not angry, he genuinely seems let down.

"Do you prefer him over me?” You swear you hear the faintest hint of self-doubt.

His questions are getting more out of the ordinary by the second and you’re waiting for him to crack a malevolent grin before he ridicules you like he always does.

“Of course I don’t prefer him over you.”

“Prove it.”

Tilting your head up towards him you have no idea what he wants for you to do or say, why does this suddenly even matter to him?

And then you imagine it happen, him digging his hands into your shoulders. Your weight along with his shifting up against the desk making it creak. Your mind details how he would kiss you agitatedly and you flush thinking about how you would feverishly return the favour.

It seems like your imagination predicts the future. He grips your jaw with his hand, his touch isn’t firm and for once it’s quite soft. Relishing in the new experience as he leans in you secure your eyes shut in expectation.

Stroking your cheek with his thumb the warm sensation that courses through your body is rather pleasant. His hands come out to run against your body, pinching the sides of your waist. The motion makes your heart stall for a second. Involuntarily, you find yourself leaning into him.

“This seem like a man who hasn’t felt the touch of a woman before?”

And just like that he leaves you hanging. You flutter your eyes open and there he is. He’s back, the same cynical man, smirk etched onto his features, his body still parallel to yours.

You find yourself enraged at how he's just lead and dragged you on, you should have stuck with your gut feeling and not given into temptation but you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat. It's very obvious who the cat is in this situation.

Brows furrowing you can’t face him ever again after the scalding embarrassment inhabits your abdomen.

"Going to cry, Cadet?" He's pushing all your buttons, eagerly choosing to provoke you.

The frustration you’ve been feeling fills you to the brim and you clamp down on your bottom lip. If you must turn to inflicting harm onto yourself just to muffle the sound of your whimpers you will.

“Did you need to do that?” You choke out your response feeling helpless, still not looking at him.

“Simply gave you a taste of your own medicine.”

Silence.

"Sometimes I wish you killed me back then."

Silver eyes become dark and he visibly flinches at your confession.

Still boxed in-between his arms you attempt to push past but he continues to obstruct the exit. He's not done yet.

"I gave you another chance at life." His blunt one-sided view is about to drive you crazy.

"Within my first day at this unit I had to avoid being attacked by another cadet in the forest if you call that a life I do-"

“Who?”

“Not important."

“If you know what's good for you, you'll spit it out."

For the sole purpose of irking him you heavily shake your head to emphasise your refusal to give in and name the culprit. It's not like you want Reiner to fall into trouble because of you. He hasn't shown any suspicious or out of the ordinary behaviour since then and you worry what Levi is capable of doing when given a reason to hurt someone.

Glancing at him dismissively you try to make your point again. "They haven't done anything since. Therefore, it's of no importance."

Conflicted emotions scurry over his face as he looks at you.

"It's of importance if my wif-" He growls and stops midway. His hands grip onto the desk even harder, knuckles turning white.

Was he about to say, wife?

Levi immediately realizes what he's nearly just said sounds exceedingly questionable. A look of uncertainty flashes over his face and then it seems he loses all regard for self-control. His willpower isn't enough to get him through this situation and he only amplifies.

Encroaching further into the very little space amongst the both of you his tone is icy. "Tell me." He's glowering and for Reiner's wellbeing you decide you should just come out with it now. He'll be in an even more difficult spot if you don't.

"Reiner, it was Reiner." You gasp out the answer, shallow breath ragged. Head turning away to the side you're not particularly sure why you're so shaky and why you feel a tremor flood past you inundating your movement. It may all be a combination of how close he's standing to you and how intoxicatingly strong his aura is.

Or, perhaps it's due to how he nearly referred to you as his wife during his primal outburst of anger.

He turns away. Automatically creating yet another blockade between the two of you.

"You're dismissed."